January 24th, 2009 Bible Blog

Today's Reading:

Psalms 119:49-104
1 Corinthians 4

My Response:

Well, my blogging has seriously fell behind as if you could not tell, but thankfully I have kept the rest of my devotions going and while it has been tough some days to get in the four or five chapters God continues to teach me things along the way. In today's reading I am struck by something that many of us would struggle to admit in our own lives:

Psalms 119:71
71 It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I might learn your decrees.

We are so afraid, myself included of being afflicted that we neglect the fact that in these times God teaches us many great things. It is not easy and it cannot always be explained, but there is a reason for our affliction. In this time of suffering rather than complaining we should be asking the Lord what He wants to teach us. Take this national economy that we are facing right now. Might there be something that God wants to teach us all during this hard time? Rather than being depressed or a whiner we need to be seeking God's direction and listening to what He wants us to learn. I have been bad about this recently with business struggling to keep busy and bills being harder to pay, but tonight I am reminded that I too need to wait upon the Lord and see what He wants me to learn during this time.

In our NT reading today we learn one important lesson right off the bat. In the first verse Paul tells us that as apostles of Christ we have been entrusted with the secret things of God. But we see the second verse telling us what we are to do with this:

1 Corinthians 4:2
2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

We must prove ourselves faithful to what God has called us to do. Are you an apostle of Christ, have you been faithful to that calling in your life? I cannot judge your motives, only God can as we see Paul speak of later in this chapter.

My Prayer:

Lord please forgive me for not looking to You in all things that I do, even during the hard times. Lord forgive me for complaining and whining during this hard economic time. I pray Lord that You would teach me what You want me to learn and help me to gain wisdom and understanding in this time. Lord this is all uncharted territory to me and I rely entirely on You for guidance.

I love You Lord and I worship You alone.