The power of one (plus God!)
When you read the Bible a lot, certain patterns emerge. One that has come to surprise me is the strategy that God keeps going back to over and over, especially when a major crisis looms. That strategy is to send one guy. In the 9th century b.c., at a time of terrible spiritual weakness and even worse spiritual leadership, God’s Plan A was to send Elijah to rebuke an evil king (sounds like a death sentence) and to encourage the few faithful believers.
Elijah was sent to oppose the spiritual ruination being brought about by Ahab and his miserably idolatrous wife Jezebel. They developed a reputation for simply having their opponents killed.
Elijah was God’s agent in bringing about a punitive drought and famine, but also in bringing about the merciful rainfall that ended them. “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain” (James 5:17,18).
When you are in tune with God’s agenda, your prayers have the power of dynamite. Don’t ever say, “I’m just one.” From God’s point of view, one is plenty. ………. TimeOfGrace.org
Not abandoned!
My heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. ~ Psalm 16:9-10
Occasionally we hear the unfortunate report of a mine collapse. We pray for the safety and rescue of the miners, but our prayers are not always answered the way we would like. It is especially hard when they can’t get the miners out, dead or alive. The mine is too dangerous. They can’t even go in and try to find the bodies. They have to abandon the mine and the miners inside.
Our risen Savior said, “Because I live, you also will live.” By his own resurrection, we are assured that the Lord will save us from our graves—we will make it out alive!
The Lord did not abandon Jesus to the grave. He will not abandon you either.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, keep my mind fixed on your glorious victory over death so that I may know the joy of your resurrection and the hope that it brings. Amen.
Today’s Devotion is brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com
Nobody Likes Me
Isn’t it amazing how long our memories of rejection persist? Last to be chosen for sports . . . no one to dance with at the prom . . . years of struggle to get hired . . . 40 years old and still single. What’s even worse than not having anyone close, is to be rejected by the one person you thought you could count on.
When memories of rejection dominate our thoughts, it’s because we are putting human relationships in first place. The way out of that gloom is to let God take his throne back in our lives. Sometimes God allows us to be rejected and burned by other people so that his steadfast love will shine all the brighter. “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me” (Psalm 27:10).
When you read the stories of the books of Joshua and Judges, you get the sense that God will do absolutely anything-even breaking the very laws of the universe he created-to make the lives of his people better. If God’s faithful love and promises are the first thing we trust in and depend on, everything else will fall into place in its time. When you know that you can absolutely depend on the Lord’s affection for you, you can face anything. “In the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5). TimeOfGrace.org
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