Daily Devotional for October 11, 2016

Psalm 62:5-8
Only God gives inward peace,
    and I depend on him.
God alone is the mighty rock
    that keeps me safe,
    and he is the fortress
    where I feel secure.
God saves me and honors me.
    He is that mighty rock
    where I find safety.
Trust God, my friends,
    and always tell him
each one of your concerns.
    God is our place of safety.
  
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

I got a little behind on reading the daily devotionals in Jesus Calling*, but in the last few days, there has been some “good meat” there that I think we need.  So I am going to paraphrase a few of the best thoughts…

• Instead of worrying – about anything – give everything to Jesus and trust Him with all of your concerns.
• We need to look past what is happening all around us and focus on Jesus.  We need to see Him looking back at us and feel His abundant love.
• Jesus wants us to stay close to Him…and He wants to hear all that we are thinking – even the complaints.  But He wants us to reserve those for HIM…and not vent to the world at large.  HE can help us put our thoughts in perspective.  But when we gripe to others, we open the door for the devil through such things as anger and self-indulgence.
• We cannot do “life” alone. We must depend on Jesus. Instead of focusing on what we cannot seem to accomplish, concentrate on what Jesus can do out of His abundance.  We must trust Him to always meet our needs - and then some!
• All of the delights that Jesus has given us are superficial.  What matters is HIM…the One who blesses us with these abundant gifts.  We must learn to focus on the Giver…not the gift – and on His continual presence in our lives.

I know that this sounds somewhat like an oversimplification…especially given all that is happening around us these days.  But the answer really IS this simple…let go, trust Jesus, and stay close to Him.  He will handle the rest.  As I look back over the events of the last year, I see that the times I felt “eerily calm,” I was resting in this hope.  I was trusting Jesus to do what I could not…and He did.

I don’t always like the way Jesus answers.  I don’t always want to hear what He tells me.  But in my heart, I know that He would never lead me in the wrong direction…and that He truly does know far better than I what is in my best interest.  My prayer for all of us today is that we would truly learn to surrender to Jesus and hold Him close at all times.  He truly is our only hope.  Are you walking with Him today?

 ©2016 Debbie Robus

*Jesus Calling - http://jesuscalling.com