JANUARY 9

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

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Ephesians 1:3

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

2Peter 1:3-4

“as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

1John 1:9-10 (Amplified)

“ If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].  If we say that we have not sinned [refusing to admit acts of sin], we make Him [out to be] a liar [by contradicting Him] and His word is not in us.”

Mark 14:26

“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Jesus and His Apostles after the Last Supper…..going to Gethsemane.)

Job 35:9-11

“Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out;

They cry out for help because of the arm of the mighty.

But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,

Who gives songs in the night,

Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,

And makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?’”

Psalm 42:8

“The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,

And in the night His song shall be with me—

A prayer to the God of my life.”

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This month we’re reading  the new devotional   “Becoming New”,  written by  Warren W. Wiersbe and compiled by his grandson.  Pastor Wiersbe was the President of Moody Bible Institute before the current President, Erwin Lutzer.  

GOD’S RADIANT FACE

Read Numbers 6:22-27; Psalms 4 and 67

Children learn to “read” the faces of their parents and teachers and interpret what the various expressions mean.  A smile means delight, a side-eye means caution, and a frown, danger.  The Jewish people understood the Lord’s face to do the same.  Whenever they said the Lord’s face was “shining” or “smiling” upon them, it meant that God was pleased with His people and was blessing them, and when He hid His face, He was displeased and disciplining them.

God covenanted to bless Israel with every earthly blessing they needed as long as the people obeyed Him, and He kept His promise.  When they began to worship idols, He removed these blessings and put His people into bondage.  He has blessed His church today with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. (Ephesians 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3-4).   As long as we walk in the light and obey the Lord, we can draw upon His blessings and experience a transformed life.  To disobey means to walk in darkness and forfeit the sunshine of His love.

It’s remarkable that the face of the Lord shines upon His obedient children even when everything around them is dark and depressing.  Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into a dark dungeon, but God’s face smiled upon them, and they prayed and sang hymns, and God’s light broke in (Acts 16:25).  The Bible calls this experience “Songs in the night”

Before He went to Gethsemane, Jesus sang.  (Mark 14:26).  “Everything is going against me,” said Jacob in Genesis 42:36, when actually everything was working FOR him!  Because we know God is for us (Romans 8:31-32) it matters not who or what may be against us.

There’s an old hymn called “God Holds the Key” that sums it up well:

“I cannot read His future plans;

But this I know:

I have the smiling of His face,

And all the refuge of His grace,

While here below!”

Everyone else may be frowning at us, but if we have “the smiling of His face” we can go forward, do our work for His glory, and hear Him say, “Well done.”

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