JMD Devotional 198 Psalm 81:7 The Place of Testing
You called in distress and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
When God delivered the Nation of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, human nature likely assumed that the work of God was finished. While their physical slave-masters were gone, though, the people continued under another form of bondage to idolatry and sinful godless ways. 500 years of slavery in a pagan land left a deep impression on them. Therefore, God brought them through the desert and let them get thirsty to see if they would come to Him for help or would they revert to their old ways of getting by. The essence of sin is reliance on anything other than God in your life to meet your needs; crisis is a test, like thirst, which often reveals our latent idolatry. When we accept Jesus Christ, it is just the beginning; trials, tribulation and testing are needed to purge us of our unregenerate ways.
Vs10-16 I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. But My people would not hearken to My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust and let them go after their own stubborn will, that they might follow their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! Speedily then I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. [Had Israel listened to Me in Egypt, then] those who hated the Lord would have come cringing before Him, and their defeat would have lasted forever. [God] would feed [Israel now] also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock would I satisfy you.
Dear God,
You always test your handiwork; and I so often fail the test. I praise You for being so patient with me, for giving me time to take the same tests again and again until I gradually improve my score. Please give me the sense to quit running from the troubles You use to condition me into a true saint. Forgive me for so often reverting to my old, futile solutions. The right answer is always to trust in, cling to and rely upon You. Testing is for my own good; so help me to face it bravely. I so look forward to the day that You hand me my diploma; that we may rejoice together in Your finished work!
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
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http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
When God delivered the Nation of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, human nature likely assumed that the work of God was finished. While their physical slave-masters were gone, though, the people continued under another form of bondage to idolatry and sinful godless ways. 500 years of slavery in a pagan land left a deep impression on them. Therefore, God brought them through the desert and let them get thirsty to see if they would come to Him for help or would they revert to their old ways of getting by. The essence of sin is reliance on anything other than God in your life to meet your needs; crisis is a test, like thirst, which often reveals our latent idolatry. When we accept Jesus Christ, it is just the beginning; trials, tribulation and testing are needed to purge us of our unregenerate ways.
Vs10-16 I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. But My people would not hearken to My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust and let them go after their own stubborn will, that they might follow their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! Speedily then I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. [Had Israel listened to Me in Egypt, then] those who hated the Lord would have come cringing before Him, and their defeat would have lasted forever. [God] would feed [Israel now] also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock would I satisfy you.
Dear God,
You always test your handiwork; and I so often fail the test. I praise You for being so patient with me, for giving me time to take the same tests again and again until I gradually improve my score. Please give me the sense to quit running from the troubles You use to condition me into a true saint. Forgive me for so often reverting to my old, futile solutions. The right answer is always to trust in, cling to and rely upon You. Testing is for my own good; so help me to face it bravely. I so look forward to the day that You hand me my diploma; that we may rejoice together in Your finished work!
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 7:24 AM
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