Devotion for Wednesday Dec. 9, 2020 6 Minutes

Devotion for Dec. 9, 2020

Good evening everyone watching by video this evening,,, it's time for our weekly devotion.

I'm praying that all of you are having a wonderful week and hopefully getting close to finishing up your Christmas shopping.

I'm sure that some of you out there have already finished,,, have the presents wrapped and under the tree,,, but I can assure you that we don't have things together that well,,, like we should have.

Speaking of having things together like I should have,,, I'm still having trouble with my internet but if you are watching this close to 6 o' clock this evening,,, maybe it's getting better and I'll be able to post the worship services from Oakdale and Seminary this past Sunday,,, either tonight or first thing in the morning.

Our devotion this evening will come from my reading this morning,,, in the book titled "David Jeremiah Morning and Evening Devotions"

Our scripture will be Psalm 27:13 and I'll be reading from my Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Psalm 27:13

13 I am certain that I will see the LORD’s goodness in the land of the living.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this evening.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this evening,,, with all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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David Jeremiah talks about how he sees God's goodness in the land of the living.

As Christians,,, we expect to see His goodness everywhere.

Many people that aren't Christians,,, have trouble seeing God's goodness in the world today,,, especially during all of the sickness and heartache that we are dealing with during this pandemic.

David Jeremiah says that as Christians,,, he doesn’t have to debate with you about the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

We,,, as Christians,,, expect that as God’s people,,, but sometimes we don’t see it because we don’t look for it.

He said that he has been keeping track of the goodness of God in the land of "my living",,, as he called it.

And he keeps a little journal in which he writes things that God does for him,,, and he says that his list is continuing to grow.

Then,,, when he's in trouble and his faith gets down to a flickering flame,,, he can open up his journal and read that list,,, which shows the goodness of God in the land of my living.

What a great encouragement it has become to him.

God isn’t on our time schedule.

We need to remain calm when God delays.

Sometimes when we pray, “Lord, help,”

He doesn’t do it right away.

Sometimes,,, He doesn't do it right away because He is working on other things first,,, things that need to be finished first before your plea for help is answered,,, plans put in place that we know nothing about until later,,, after our prayer has been answered.

That's why a list of answered prayers are important,,, to help us through the times when we do wonder if God is answering our prayer,,, or have we been forgotten.

Also,,, sometimes,,, we never know why God doesn't answer our prayer right away,,, but if we continue in faith,,, and we remember past experiences,,, we know that God will answer,,, again,,, a reason to keep a journal of answered prayers to look back over.

And then,,, we come to the one that to us,,, we all dread,,, the seemingly unanswered prayer that we cannot figure out why it turned out that way.

Again,,, another reason why we need the journal of answered prayers.

But we can always go back to Isaiah 55:9 where it says: "For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts".

Because we will never understand everything that God does,,, sees,,, knows,,, and on and on,,,

But the one thing that we can be sure of,,, is that God loves us,,, and He wants what's best for us,,, even when we can't see it!

When you pray in times of trouble,,, respond to God,,, rely on Him,,, resign to His will,,, and remain calm until "His" help arrives.

Jeremiah, David . David Jeremiah Morning and Evening Devotions (p. 708). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.