In my almost 40 years as a Christian the Lord has shown me many insights into drawing closer to Him. In today’s devotion, I plan to share four of these insights. And, in tomorrow’s part II of this devotion I will share an additional four more insights. I pray these eight thoughts will help you in your walk with the Lord.
Insight 1 – Obey God and leave the circumstances to Him.
(1 John 5:3) says: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” It is clear from Scriptures that we are to always obey God. I also believe that God will always work out what is best for us if we just trust and obey. (Romans 8:28) tells us: “ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Things may not always work out the way we would like them to but God has a divine plan and purpose for every trial we go through. God tells us to trust Him in the circumstances because He is sovereign over everything. God has a master plan for us and difficult circumstances are often part of the plan. But when we let God take care of the circumstances we can relax because remember God always has your back.
Insight 2 – Praise God when you are feeling down.
All of us go through times when we feel down in the dumps. It is part of being human. Our emotions are not always in our control and difficult circumstances often leave us feeling down. One of the greatest ways to get our spirits back up is to start praising God when we are feeling down. (Isaiah 61:3) tells us to put on: “…The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…” Praise is not only one of the greatest ways to bring glory to God, for we read in (Psalm 50:23): “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me…,” but praise is wonderful medicine for a wounded soul. I know when you are feeling down you may not feel like praising God but when you do watch how God will lift you up.
Insight 3 – We don’t praise God based on how we feel but based on who He is.
This insight is similar in tone to Insight 2 but it goes even deeper to understanding the purpose of praise. One of the greatest verses in all the Bible can be found in (Psalm 150:2): “Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!” In a time of prayer about 30 years ago God showed me that I shouldn’t just praise Him based on how I feel but that my praise should be based on who He is. Notice in (Psalm 150:2) it says to “Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.” And just how great is God – well He is the Sovereign God of the universe and His greatness is beyond our highest superlatives. If we start to think of praise in these terms we will never have problems praising God because He indeed is always worthy of our highest praises. So, remember we don’t just praise God based on how we feel but based on who He is!
Insight 4 – God has a myriad of precious thoughts towards each of us.
One of the greatest meditation verses in all of Scriptures can be found in (Psalm 139:17-18): “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.” I use to think that this verse was hyperbole, which basically means God is just using these two verses in an exaggerating way. But while meditating on these verses I began to see that God is concerned not only about me as a whole person but He is concerned over every one of the 30 trillion cells that make up my entire self. Let’s face it God is crazy about you and has a great sum of precious thoughts towards you. The next time you meditate on these two verses let your mind begin to explore just how awesome God views you – I can guarantee you will never run out of thoughts on how special you are to God!