Devotionals

Monday:  Making the Best of Babylon

Philippians 4: 8 Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think of such things

Jeremiah wrote to the captives in Babylon instructing them to move ahead with their lives and to pray for the pagan nation that had enslaved them. He is reminding us that life does not grind to a halt in troubled times.  It is in the times of our storms that we often recognize His power and see His hand in our lives. Adversity sometimes a blessing, often provides us with the opportunity to listen and learn what God is teaching us. God is with us and has a plan for each of us.  In His strength we are victorious during the storms of life.

It is important that we maintain the right attitude when going through the storms of life.

Maintaining the right attitude is easier than regaining the right attitude. Helpers are:

Trusting the Lord,  Praying,  rejoicing always, and doing what you know to do.

Change often brings increased stress, but with it comes new life  and greater blessings.

Let us keep our Focus on the positive and look for ways to encourage each other.

Tuesday: Your Prayers benefit more than just who you pray for.

Ephesians 3:20 God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us.

Our first response when we find ourselves in difficult situations is not often what we think it should be. As a matter of fact often Prayer is the last thing that comes to our mind.  And we

often find it hard to pray when we enter times of trouble, this is however the time you need prayer the most. Only Our Lord has full knowledge of out situations and a plan already in place to bless not only us but others that we do not know about as well. He will never run out of resources and nothing takes Him by surprise.  Scripture tells us He is always faithful and we can depend on him and His plan.  Our First Response then is to except good from our Lord. We show this by giving thanks, remembering the good things he has done for us in the past. Giving Praise, it is hard to remain discouraged when you are praising God. Prayer and trust, these things release God to move on our behalf. Then Trust God to do what only He can do.

God’s word tells us we do not have certain things because we do not ask, and part of the great mystery of prayer is that He requires us to ask for what He already has in store for us.

As we move forward in this new season God is leading us into, let us look expectantly at how we can support one another and become active partners in God’s Plan.

Wednesday: “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart so he is.”

What we think is very important, if our thoughts lead us, where are we headed?

Our thoughts influence our perspectives, our productivity, our relationships and over all quality of life. Negative thinking steals our joy and exposes us to poor attitudes.

Positive, encouraging thoughts build us up, and increases our joy as well as our health.

It is important to understand that you have the ability to choose your thoughts. We are to have the Mind of Christ. Jesus thoughts were always focused on His Father’s will, not his own.

If we learn to agree with God in our thoughts, that is to think the way He wants us to think, we will become who He wants us to be. Filled with the Holy Spirit, walking in his power and filled with his joy. Seeing the big picture helps us focus on the positive aspects of an issue, even as we struggle through difficult situations. If we look hard enough, we can find good in almost every situation. Refuse too be negative, look for the positive in every situation, and trust God.

Being difficult to offend and quick to forgive helps us remain in the positive realm of life.

Avoid the trap of gossip and complaining, instead redirect your thoughts in a positive direction. Memorizing God’s word will give you a treasure chest to pull from when your mind is not where you want it to be. Romans 8:28 tells us “God works all things together for our good….” Lets be anticipating His good as we go forward with new friends, a new church home and mission for COAH in the new year.

Thursday: Contentment in Christ

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Paul is sharing with us one of God secret gifts for His people. He is sharing something we all seek but is found only by a few. Like everything of value, the world offers us empty counterfeits. Eventually we see the failure in the contentment offered by the world and go searching again for the real thing. True Contentment brings peace and Joy. Oddly true contentment is not having all our desires granted. Often the desire for more or better possessions is really a longing to fill an empty place in a person’s life. More stuff will never bring us lasting contentment. That is the illusion of the counterfeit. Paul knew Contentment and was filled with joy. He had detached himself from the nonessential needs of this world, so he could concentrate on the eternal. He was content because he saw life from God’s point of view. His secret was drawing on Christ’s power for strength and having a heart focused on his mission to know Jesus above all else. We can trust the Lord to always meet our needs. When we aline our heart with God’s plan for our life, our desires change and become like his desires. Then we know real contentment and joy. It is then we also enjoy peace.

Friday: Joy in serving

Philippians 2: 3

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

As humans we have the inborn ability toward selfishness. Look out for number one.

The world teaches us that we must put ourselves first. But that is not Christ’s example.

Jesus was humble, willing to give up his rights in order to obey God and serve others.

As believers we are called to follow that example. Our lives should be characterized by moral

purity, patience and serving one another. We are to imitate Christ’s humility, and put the needs of others first.  As the body of Christ we are all given different gifts to serve one another.

We are all important, we are all part of His plan, and we were all made for one another.

You can approach life expecting to be served, or you can look for opportunities to serve others.

Don’t let our schedules, and daily concerns crowd out our love for others, and miss what God has set aside for you to do as one of His beloved children.

We are to be like minded, being one in spirit and purpose. Ask the Lord to show you who you can bless today, and watch for ways to encourager one another. Look for ways you can be the answer to someone’s prayer. What has God Gifted you with to serve others? Seek to help others and In that you too will be blessed.