Lessons for Life

As I read through the Bible, I'm constantly looking for ways of applying the truths I find to the nitty gritty of my daily life. Today I hit a goldmine in II Chronicles 20. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, faces a formidable enemy and sets a great example for me to follow. Here are some quips that I want to remember:

v. 3 - When I am afraid, the first thing I should do is "turn [my] attention to seek the Lord."

v. 12 - This is the essence of prayer: "I am powerless...I don't know what to do...My eyes are on Thee.."

vs. 15-17 - God's response to our prayer is: "Do not fear. The battle is Mine. I am with you."

vs. 18-20 - My response to God should be: to fall down before the Lord in worship, and then stand up to praise Him in a loud voice, and finally to go forward in immediate obedience to His direction.

v. 22 - As the people obeyed, gave thanks, sang praise, then the Lord worked victory.

As I go into this new week, I can't think of a better way to approach any and all circumstances of my days.

Blessing

I don't know anyone who doesn't want to be blessed, do you? God's word gives us clear instruction on how to experience that happy state of being. This morning's Daily Light highlighted some of those gems.

Whom thou blessest is blessed.

LESSED are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.--Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

NUM. 22. 6. Mat. 5. 3. Mat. 5. 4-12.--
Lu. 11. 28. Re. 22. 14.

Two quotes

This morning I flipped over my Elisabeth Elliot calendar and read the following:

"This hard place in which you perhaps find yourself, so painful and bewildering, is the very place in which God is giving you opportunity to look only to Him, to travail in prayer, and to learn long-suffering, gentleness, meekness - in short, to learn the depths of love that Christ Himself has poured out on all of us." from Keep a Quiet Heart, p. 233

Then from Daily Light:

The LORD shall be thy confidence, and

shall keep thy foot from being

taken.

URELY the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.--The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.--When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.--I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.--Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

PROV. 3. 26. Ps. 76. 10.--Pr. 21. 1.--
Pr. 16. 7. Ps. 130. 5, 6.--Ps. 34. 4.
De. 33. 27.--Je. 17. 7. Ro. 8. 31.

What a great way to start the day! To "learn the depths of love that Christ Himself has poured out on all of us", and to have the the eternal God as my refuge with His everlasting arms underneath me. It doesn't get much better than that!

"Without Him we can do nothing"

I read this from Spurgeon this morning and was reminded again of the great necessity to be faithful in using the means God has chosen with a conscious reliance on His power to accomplish His plan.

"Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught."—Luke 5:4.

E learn from this narrative, the necessity of human agency. The draught of fishes was miraculous, yet neither the fisherman nor his boat, nor his fishing tackle were ignored; but all were used to take the fishes. So in the saving of souls, God worketh by means; and while the present economy of grace shall stand, God will be pleased by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. When God worketh without instruments, doubtless He is glorified; but He hath Himself selected the plan of instrumentality as being that by which He is most magnified in the earth. Means of themselves are utterly unavailing. "Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing." What was the reason of this? Were they not fishermen plying their special calling? Verily, they were no raw hands; they understood the work. Had they gone about the toil unskillfully? No. Had they lacked industry? No, they had toiled. Had they lacked perseverance? No, they had toiled all the night. Was there a deficiency of fish in the sea? Certainly not, for as soon as the Master came, they swam to the net in shoals. What, then, is the reason? Is it because there is no power in the means of themselves apart from the presence of Jesus? "Without Him we can do nothing." But with Christ we can do all things. Christ's presence confers success. Jesus sat in Peter's boat, and His will, by a mysterious influence, drew the fish to the net. When Jesus is lifted up in His Church, His presence is the Church's power—the shout of a king is in the midst of her. "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." Let us go out this morning on our work of soul fishing, looking up in faith, and around us in solemn anxiety. Let us toil till night comes, and we shall not labour in vain, for He who bids us let down the net, will fill it with fishes."

The Lord is my Light

"God is not all we would ask for (if we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my Light." Elisabath Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart, p. 57.

"The LORD is my light and my salvation -whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1