by David Brenneman
"To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. For Your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. His soul will abide in prosperity, And his descendants will inherit the land. The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant. My eyes are continually toward the Lord, For He will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins. Look upon my enemies, for they are many, And they hate me with violent hatred. Guard my soul and deliver me; Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You. Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all his troubles." Psalms 25:1-22.
Have sort of written about this book n chapter before and I don't see it as unnecessarily repetitive when it came up again in my devotional readings last night.
Adversity comes to everyone in Christ because the sin nature we live with until we die or the Rapture of the Church happens...has no desire to let go of our lives. The Bible says as well that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus are going to be persecuted. They're going to have difficulties. Where we once were blind now we see and upon seeing now we learn how to do.
Realistically speaking if adversities aren't coming upon some people it's either because a time of rest has been determined for them or their sin nature is currently content with where they are. Satan's minions aren't going to bother people already doing what they're happy with.
Reaching out to Godly council can often help understand personal situations better. Job thought at first that his friends would be better companions during his difficult times but sadly they were not. Only the youngest offered the right kind of wisdom. The Lord Jesus rebuked the rest. King Rehoboam refused to listen to the older wiser men who offered the wisest counsel in favor of the much younger friends of his and it cost him dearly and others their lives.
Because so-and-so said is an oftentimes weak defense. We decide to listen to the wisdom of God or we don't.
Remembering who we are and who's we are is extremely important in living a God approved life.
When going through struggles, Dr. Charles Stanley recommended reading through Psalms 25.
Rushing into decisions isn't something God seems to favor. We are to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto us.
While in another place in Psalms we read that a multitude of counselors ensures success...be careful of what counselors you choose.
Peter started off great in declaring that Jesus indeed was the Son of God...then promptly fell on his face in mere minutes. He relied on his own wisdom in following where they took Jesus and he promptly failed.
First and foremost relying on the Lord Jesus Christ has never failed anyone. Peter walked on water only because his eyes were set on Jesus. His faith was pointing in the right direction.
What are you looking at in your day-to-day?
Don't be surprised if others don't understand your life when you're striving to stand firm in the Lord. True wisdom comes from above.
Forgiveness also impacts your ability to digest wisdom. Without a clean conscience distractions abound from the minor to the major. Without true forgiveness we read that it puts up a barrier between us and Jesus. If we don't forgive then our sins won't be forgiven.
The only one who's truly walked a mile in my shoes...is Jesus because He was there the whole time. To anyone else they're only getting a fraction of a percentage of what's going on in my situation. Arrogant presumption can take root in some cases because human beings often think what little they see is the whole picture.
Jesus knows our worries and our concerns. He was in today before today came into being. He said to not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough trouble of its own.
Sheep. We are very much like them. We really do need to listen to the wisdom of the Great Shepherd in getting through life. It's been a rather eye-opening study this year on just Psalms 23.
I have been seeking direction with employment. I seek the Lord daily. He's been providing for all our needs. He keeps providing a peace that passes understanding. He helps me accomplish my obligations with being on unemployment. He's still speaking to me daily. Some think the way I ask for prayer about it seem to think that I am struggling with this. God's word to me is to be patient, it's coming. My humanness gets in the way and the often stillness and quiet waters of this job market get to me. I then return to prayer.
My life is what God's overall plan is for me. He directs, I go and do. He says to stop, I stop. Not getting ahead or behind where He's wanting me to be.
In your life and mine we will have friends who mean well but aren't seeing the picture that God sees. Some will be like those 3 friends of Job n then others will be like his 4th friend who spoke wisely in God's eyes.
Scripture says that wisdom is vindicated by her children.
Praying the prayers we find in the book of Psalms for ourselves isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's many prayers we read that have no bearing on anyone else other than the people we read in the Scriptures. A good example is the prayer of Jabez. That was meant for him alone.
Praying must be personal. We read in Psalms 25 of a very personal prayer. Prayer is more about Jesus than its to be about us. A heart-to-heart prayer accomplishes much. Sometimes we have no words...in those cases open in prayer and just sit with Jesus. The Spirit will do the talking for you.
Trees that have seen their share of storms will always outlast any that have only had smooth sailing days.
Pray on, pray over, pray through life.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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