DEBUT (Part 1 of 4)

DEBUT (Part 1 of 4)

In a simple yet incredible way, our life on earth is like a debut in the drama of eternity.  When there was nothing but God, in His Sovereignty, He conceived the plot and ordained the acts.  In His Power and Providence, He produced the props and directs the participants.  And finally, in His Righteousness, He functions as the ultimate ‘critic’, judging the performance of every living soul.

And although God knows everything that was, that is, and that is yet to come, we, being bound by time on earth, have a very limited perspective on eternity.  We exist in the moment, look back to the past and long for something in the future. 

This four part devotion focuses on the outlook Christians should maintain concerning the past, the present and the future.  With faith in God, we must learn to:

• Appreciate the Past – we can’t Change yesterday
• Anticipate the Future – we don’t Control tomorrow
• Acknowledge the Present – Concentrate on our purposes today

Scripture

Psalm 63

¹O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

² To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

³ Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

⁴ Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

⁶ When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

⁷ Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

⁸ My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

⁹ But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

¹⁰ They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

In the next part of this devotion, we will examine a proper view of the past.  For Part 3 we will discuss our outlook on the future.  And finally, in Part 4 we will explore an appropriate attitude about our lives today.

Prayer

Eternal God, my rock and my strength, as I struggle with the concept of eternity and my limited human capacity to understand it, I pray that You will bring peace in this moment.  In all things, past, present and future, I know that I must trust in You.  Forgive me when I get stressed or hung up on things I can’t change or control.  May Your Word and Your Holy Spirit enable and empower me to maintain a positive attitude about the course of my life and the events that take place around me.  I love You Father.  Praise to Your Holy Name.  In Christ’s precious name I pray. Amen.

H.O.S.T (Part 5 of 5)

H.O.S.T (Part 5 of 5)

H.O.S.T. is a five part devotion dealing with our attitudes towards God, how we approach Him and the resulting impact on our character and in our lives. Our ultimate goal should always be to honor and glorify God in all we do (thoughts, attitudes, desires, actions and words).

Part 1 was posted on January 19, 2013. Reading Part 1 will provide an overview of this five part series and cover Trait 1 – Humble. Part 2 was posted on January 26 and deals with being Obedient. Trait 3 – Submissive was posted on February 2. And on February 9, the last Trait – Trust was posted.

Part 5 – Self-Reinforcement

With these four basic attitudes associated with our approach to God covered, I want to present a topic I call self-reinforcement. Self-reinforcement is the wonderful truth about how these traits work together to strengthen and sustain each other.


Ø When you humble yourself before God, you will obey Him.


       Ø When you obey Him, you develop a submissive attitude.
 

            Ø When you submit to God, you will put your trust in Him.
 

            Ø As you trust Him, you become more submissive.


      Ø As you submit to Him, you become more obedient.


Ø As you obey Him, you become more humble.

 

Now that God has remade you to be more humble, if you continue to die to yourself daily, a never ending Holy Spirit empowered cycle of self-reinforcement has completed its first full sequence. You will now pick up your cross, follow Christ, and move on to obey more diligently, submit more freely, trust more completely (and on, and on, and on…). This ongoing process (part of your sanctification as a Christian) will draw you closer and closer to Jesus Christ.

• Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

The key to this self-reinforcement is appreciating and understanding that it only works because of:

 

The Character of God

• Exodus 34:6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

The Sacrifice of Christ

• 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The Power of the Holy Spirit

• Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Prayer

Gracious loving Father, I praise You for Your goodness, I praise You for Your patience. I fall so very short of Your standards. Thank You for the righteousness You have given me through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Yet in my righteous position before You, I confess the weakness of my flesh and the sin in my life. But You continue to work in me, cleansing me, perfecting me, loving me. Sanctify me by the ongoing process of dying to myself and conforming me to the image of Christ. Make me more humble, give me an obedient attitude, grant me a submissive spirit, and bless me with a deep trust for You and Your Word. HOST is just a small part of what You are doing in my life. But I pray that I am faithful to You, as You are faithful to Your promises. Glory to You in the highest. I praise You and pray to You in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God, my Savior. Amen