Daily Thought For November 4, 2020

-

 Depending On Him

I WANT YOU TO BE ALL MINE. Your security rests in Me alone: not in other people, not in circumstances. However, you are not yet weaned from other dependencies: You want to depend on helpful people and favorable circumstances, as well as Me. 

I am not asking you to become a hermit or otherwise isolate yourself from other people. On the contrary, I want My children to help and love one another. One of the main ways I bless people is through the loving acts of others. However, you need to remember that every good and perfect gift is ultimately from Me, even if it comes to you through human hands. 

The main danger of misplaced dependence is that it can border on idolatry. If you let your basic well-being depend on another person’s behavior, you elevate that person to a position that only I should occupy. This is not only displeasing to Me, it is destructive. Because people are imperfect and unpredictable, your life may come to resemble a roller-coaster ride: subject to the whims and moods of another. Even worse, your intimacy with Me will be hindered by your preoccupation with someone else. I deserve first place in your heart! 

I want you to rejoice in Me always, in all kinds of circumstances. You may ask freely for whatever you desire, bringing Me your petitions with thanksgiving. Regardless of how I answer your requests, this prayer-transaction comes with a promise: My Peace will guard your heart and your mind, keeping you close to Me. 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights. JAMES 1:17 

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” REVELATION 2:4 

Rejoice in the Lord always. . . . Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. PHILIPPIANS 4:4, 6–7

Young, Sarah. Jesus Lives (pp. 292-293). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. 

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Thought For June 28, 2017

-
Bearing Good Fruit Lectio Matthew 7:15–20 Meditatio “So by their fruits you will know them.” Jesus is counseling the disciples to avoid being naive. He wants followers who are simple, that is, childlike in their simplicity—uncomplicated, unsophisticated, but wise, aware, and astute. We should know our faith well enough to realize when we are being fed an untruth and familiar enough with Christ’s life to recognize a charlatan. Some people use religion for various types of gain: money, pleasure, honor. Occasionally someone will use religion as a front for evil purposes: to steal, to harass, to exploit. Jesus uses the example of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, possibly a popular metaphor of his day, to help us picture the danger. I immediately think of the stuffed animal—a wolf with a removable sheepskin—that sat for many years in my parents’ living room. Their grandchildren loved to play with it. Real-life versions aren’t as easily identified. Whom exactly is Jesus cautioning ag...
Read more