Welcome to Day 11 of our Bible based, Christ focused devotional.
Purpose: With so many people suffering during these tough economic times, I wanted to create a daily devotional which would promote faith in God as a solution to overcoming anger and fear.
Each devotional will provide a daily passage of Scripture for you to reflect on throughout the day. In addition, an “Action Item” will assign a daily, simple task to help you address your fears with faith and move forward with God's plans for you.
Thank you and God bless you for reading this devotional--please share it with others!
Steve Kendall
-------------------------------------------------- DAY 11: LEAN NOT UNTO THINE OWN UNDERSTANDING
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE FOR REFLECTION: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 (King James Version)
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OPENING PRAYER: In your opening prayer, please ask God for wisdom and discernment in making decisions instead of relying on your emotions.
Lean Not Unto Your Own Understanding With less than 30 days left before Election Day on November 2, I think more and more about voter anger as shown on television.
When I see people express their anger about the current state of our government and the economy as a whole, I always wonder if they prayed before expressing an opinion.
We live in such a microwave society. We want change for the better quickly. We want God to solve our problems quickly. We want God to be “on-call” like an emergency room doctor, to be nearby when we need Him to save us from a crisis, but we have no relationship with Him when things are going well.
We lack patience and make decisions, often without first consulting the Lord in prayer.
When we lean on our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our heart, we may make decisions that have long lasting, bad consequences.
Voters have a history of rushing into decisions and suffering for years afterward. For example, in the late 1970s, California voters passed a measure to cut property taxes. This property tax cut, many argue, led to budget problems and the increase of other taxes, which haunt California to this day.
TV commercials and many political talk show hosts, on cable TV and radio, craft a message to persuade you to their point of view.
Talk show hosts today often prey on our fears and anger. Why? So that they will become, or stay popular, increase their ratings, leading to more money for their network and for thus, for themselves.
We know that politicians will often say, and do anything to get our vote. They may offer things, like tax cuts, without fully explaining the long-term consequences.
Sin often operates in this fashion. Sometimes we cry out to the Lord and ask, “Why me?” when problems linger, without first asking ourselves, “Are my problems the consequences of my sins?”
You may be a follower of Christ, but if you have overdue bills because you used your credit cards for things you didn’t need, the bill collector probably will not wipe away and forget your sins as the Lord does.
Even when things happen to us financially that are beyond our control, the Lord is still there for us. He’s there to comfort and guide us during these low, tough valley experiences.
We can maintain a sense of peace and calm in these storms if we truly trust the Lord. We may lose things in the process, such as possessions, a car, or even our home, but I know from experience that no matter what material things you lose, with faith in God, you can overcome catastrophic problems.
It may take more time than we are willing to endure, but remember, “God’s time is not our time.” We have to be patient that while we are living and praying in faith through problems, God is working things out for us for the better.
It may mean that we have to live with friends, or family, or get food from a food bank, or beg for money, etc., but the real blessing is that each day we are alive, whether we are penniless and homeless, is another day that the Lord can work His plan for our lives.
I always try to remember that no problem is too difficult for God and all things are possible with his help.
It truly, truly, takes faith to have the confidence that God can take an awful situation, and turn it around for good. The best way to prepare for those situations, or survive them, is to strengthen our relationship with God, by first humbling ourselves to His will, which is to accept Jesus as our Savior and ask forgiveness for our sins.
Again, in today’s microwave society, we often become too proud, or arrogant to accept Jesus because we think we can do anything on our own, with just hard work, or luck—simply put, in poor English, that ain’t true.
If you’ve tried everything else and failed, why not try Jesus this time?
------------------------------------------------ ACTION ITEM: Today’s Action Item involves prayer and preparation for voting. This is actually an Action Item you should perform throughout the remaining days leading up to the election:
1. Pray for wisdom and understanding when voting.
2. Do your own research about issues and candidates.
3. Make decisions in consultation with God, not based on what a TV commercial, or talk show tells you
Have a safe, peaceful, blessed day, everybody!
I love you and thank you for reading this devotional. You are truly a blessing in my life. ------------------------------------------------------------
CLOSING PRAYER: For the remainder of our devotions, please pray about whatever the Lord places in your heart and mind.
I also ask that you pray for me as well. I pray daily for everyone who comes in contact with these devotions and need your prayers.
------------------------------------------------- STAY IN TOUCH: You are cordially invited to share how things are going with you and our devotions thus far. I welcome comments and suggestions as well. You can reach me via Facebook or my personal email address: Steve@BibleStudyCafe.com -----------------------------------------------------
Free Stuff For You! Stop by sometime soon to visit my ministry Web site, Bible Study Café, and download free stuff including a prayer journal.
Join Bible Study Café on Facebook and follow my twitches and tweets on Twitter.
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A True Relationship with God If you would like a relationship with God, the only way to do it is through His son, Jesus Christ. This is supported in the Bible: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. --John 14:6 (King James Version)
We begin this relationship by first accepting Jesus. Click Here for a link to more info:
