Christian Daily Devotionals

by Marilyn Ehle

“If we confess our sins…”  1 John 1:9

Cameras recorded the public official’s unwise and potentially dangerous behavior. Although initially denying the gravity of the situation, his eventual public statement included these words, “I sincerely apologize for allowing myself to be placed in that situation where there’s a perception of wrongdoing”.

We might at first dismiss and decry such words as cautious “politikspeak”,  but they reveal a practice we often adopt in our own approach to confession—to both God and our fellow travelers. Frequently we couch our apologies in protective words like “I was stressed…or tired…or hungry”. “I was just doing what everyone else does”. “I never learned how to do it right”.  Or—even more wounding—“You did (that) so I did (this)".

How strikingly different was David’s response when faced with his heinous wrongdoing. “I have sinned against the Lord…I acknowledged my sin…I will confess my sin”.

To confess sin means “to agree with God”, about it, to have His view toward it. With that kind of honest confession and determination to turn from the sin comes the incredible flood of forgiveness: “…He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”.

Father, forgive my tendency toward self-justification instead of honest confession. Help me learn to understand the difference between “God is love, BUT God hates sin”, and “God is love, SO God hates sin”!

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/03/15/me_lost-art/

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By Dr. Bill Bright

"I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears"
Psalm 34:4 (KJV)

Susie seemed outwardly to be a well-poised, lovely young wife and mother with everything under control. She was active in her church and attended other Christian gatherings during the week. But secretly she was filled with fear from which psychologists and psychiatrists with whom she consulted were unable to set her free.

She became very discouraged and depressed. "What can I do"? she asked through her tears. "I have everything to live for and no real reason to be afraid, but my days are consumed with worry and dread and fear, as I anticipate all kinds of evil things happening to me, to my husband , to my children".

"Do you believe that God in heaven has the power to remove your fears, Susie"? I asked.

"Yes, of course," she replied.

"Do you believe He loves you"?

"Yes, I believe that."

"Do you believe He wants to remove that fear from you?" And I read her the above passage.

We turned together to 1 John 5:14, 15: "If we ask anything according to God's will, He hears and answers." This is the promise that every believer can claim whenever there is a command or another promise. I asked her if she would like to join with me in a prayer of faith that God would deliver her according to this promise.

Together we prayed, and though there was no immediate, dramatic deliverance, with the passing of days God set her free. Day after day she claimed by faith this and other promises from God's holy, inspired Word.

Are you plagued with fears? Are your days consumed with worry? Saturate your mind with God's truth - God's supernatural promises - and begin to claim by faith this supernatural life which is your heritage in Christ.

Bible Reading: Psalm 34:1-7

Today's Action Point: At the first sign of a fear in my life, I will commit it to the Lord and trust Him for deliverance, and I will seek to help others whose hearts are filled with fear. I will seek to introduce them to the Prince of Peace - the God of all comfort.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/03/13/bb_deliverance

By Francis Frangipane

"How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion! Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring". Psalm 84:5-6

Baca means "weeping." Each of us has times of weeping when our hearts and hopes seem crushed. Because God has placed in our hearts "highways to Zion," however, we pass through valleys; we do not live in them.

"Passing through the valley of Baca…" Once we are on the other side of weeping, our Redeemer makes our valley experience into "a spring." The very things that overwhelmed us will, in time, refresh us with new life. Whether we are experiencing the height of success and power or are in a valley of weakness and despair, the Lord is our God continually!

Has the enemy isolated you, causing you to doubt God's love? Do not forget, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Even the hairs on your head are numbered. He cares. It is His love for us that redeems our hardships and not only brings good out of what was meant for evil, but also trains us to deliver others.

How did Jesus prepare to do wonderful works? Part of His training involved suffering. Christ was a man of sorrows. He was One who was acquainted with grief. Yet His suffering was the Father's means of acquainting Him with the actual feelings of mankind's need and pain. Because He suffered what we suffer, He is able to serve as a faithful high priest. If we yield to God's plan for Christ to be formed in us, God will take our sorrows to enlarge our hearts. Once we have been acquainted with grief, we then can be anointed with compassion to deliver others.

Thank You for redeeming the conflicts of my life. I praise You for healing me and causing me to forget all the trauma of my past. Now Lord, help me to remember what I have learned. Cause me to remember that the crises in my life always precede the enrichment of my life. Help me to recognize that the place of my fruitfulness is in the land of my affliction. In Jesus name. Amen.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/03/12/ff_zion/
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by Sylvia Gunter

I don't know your story and you don't know mine, but we share a common theme. We are driven by the search for true identity, a desire to be understood and appreciated for who we are. We have longing to seek out something more. Those are not evil desires. God gave us the desire to seek the essence of who he created us to be, so that he can fulfill it.  He created the thirst so we can enjoy the Living Water.  Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time and energy looking everywhere else but to him for that fulfillment.

In Jeremiah 2 God paints a picture of how his people loved him like a bride loves her groom, full of passion and complete in their devotion to him. But their hearts changed. In Jeremiah 2:13 God says that his people have forsaken him, the spring of Living Water, and have dug their own cisterns. They are looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places. You can hear the Father's grieved heart as he lays out their behavior before them and then ends with "How's that working for you?"

My heart sinks as I see the areas in my life where I have chosen to find identity in my own cisterns, rather than drinking the Living Water. We too easily revert back to our own cisterns that can hold no water. Look at the cisterns in your life. What seemed like such a good source of legitimacy suddenly pales in comparison to true legitimacy found in God. That is why it is critical to meditate on the truths of who God is and who we are in Him until it sinks down deep into our spirit, soul, and body. John Calvin wrote in The Institutes Of The Christian Religion, "It now remains to pour into the heart itself what the mind has absorbed. For the Word of God is not received by faith if it fills the top of the brain, but when it takes root in the depth of the heart." Calvin is urging us to take deep drinks of the Living Water of who he is and what we have because of who he is:

He is Jehovah-Jireh (provider).
Genesis 22:14 Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.
You can be sure he sees and knows your every need.
Matthew 6:8 Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

He is Jehovah-Rophe (healer).
Exodus 15:26 I am the LORD, who heals you.
You are being renewed.
Isaiah 40:31 ... those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength...

He is Jehovah-Shalom (peace).
Judges 6:24 ... and called it The LORD is Peace.
You have life and peace.
Romans 8:6 ... to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

He is Jehovah-Nissi (banner).
Exodus 17:15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.
You are led in Christ's triumph.
2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ...

He is Jehovah-Rohi (shepherd).
Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd...
You are his well-tended sheep.
Psalm 100:3 We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

He is Jehovah-Tsidkenu (righteousness).
Jeremiah 23:6 This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
You are free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:2 Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

He is Jehovah-Shammah (THE LORD IS THERE, Ezekiel 48:35)
Matthew 28:20 Surely I am with you always...
You are continually with God.
Psalm 73:23 Yet I am always with you...

Stop and allow these truths to sink deep into your spirit.  You may "know" these Scriptural facts, but now really receive their truth deeply in your spirit where your legitimacy, identity, significance, and birthright are defined by God.

Remember whose you are... and who you are in him!

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/03/09/sg_whose-you-are/
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