Daily Reflections from the Word Dec 6, 2011

December 6, 2011

Luke 10:38-42 While Jesus and his followers were traveling, he went into a town, and a woman named Martha let him stay at her house. She had a sister named Mary. Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to him teach. But her sister Martha was busy doing all the work that had to be done. Martha went in and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are getting worried and upset about too many things. Only one thing is important. Mary has made the right choice, and it will never be taken away from her." (ERV)

Luke 11:8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. (KJV)

Be persistent, fervent, and constant in prayer every day to your Heavenly Father.

Luke 11:20-23 But I use the power of God to force out demons. This shows that God's kingdom has now come to you. "When a strong man with many weapons guards his own house, the things in his house are safe. But suppose a stronger man comes and defeats him. The stronger man will take away the weapons that the first man trusted to keep his house safe. Then the stronger man will do what he wants with the other man's things. "Whoever is not with me is against me. And anyone who does not work with me is working against me. (ERV)

The Lord Jesus is referring to His Kingdom (thru His death, burial, and resurrection) overcoming that of satan’s here on earth. All who receive the Lord Jesus Christ; satan has no more power or dominion in their lives.

Luke 11:27-28 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman with the people there called out to him, "Blessings from God belong to the woman who gave birth to you and fed you!" But Jesus said, "The people who hear the teaching of God and obey it--they are the ones who have God's blessing." (ERV)

We must go about isolating the Word of God in the heart and mind and to watch and be on guard in your life by using the Word of God as your weapon against the enemy. We must preserve the Word of God in us and obey all that it speaks to our hearts and minds.

Luke 11:39-40 And the Lord said to him, You Pharisees make the outside of the cup and the plate clean; but inside you are thieves and full of evil. O you foolish ones! did not he who made the outside in the same way make the inside? (BBE)

Wow! Remember what David said in Psalm 51:6 “Your desire is for what is true in the inner parts: in the secrets of my soul you will give me knowledge of wisdom.”

1 Samuel 27 Do you realize that David was the anointed King of Israel and went and joined himself with the Philistines (Israel’s enemy) and fought with them and for them, until the Princes of the Philistines rejected him (at the Lord’s prompting I believe).

1Samuel 30:11-19 And in the fields they saw an Egyptian whom they took to David, and they gave him bread, and he had a meal, and they gave him water for drink; And they gave him part of a cake of figs and some dry grapes; and after the food, his spirit came back to him, for he had had no food or drink for three days and nights. And David said to him, Whose man are you and where do you come from? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master went on without me because three days back I became ill. We made an attack on the south part of the country of the Cherethites, and on the land which is Judah's, and on the south of Caleb; and we put Ziklag on fire. And David said to him, Will you take me down to this band? And he said, If you give me your oath that you will not put me to death or give me up to my master, I will take you to them. And when he had taken him down, they saw them all, seated about on all sides, feasting and drinking among all the mass of goods which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah. And David went on fighting them from evening till the evening of the day after; and not one of them got away but only four hundred young men who went in flight on camels. And David got back everything the Amalekites had taken; and he got back his two wives. There was no loss of anything, small or great, sons or daughters or goods or anything which they had taken away: David got it all back. (BBE)

The Lord will use the enemies’ cruelty and carelessness against him to give you back all that he has stolen from you and give you complete Victory in Jesus Name Amen!!!

MAN'S WAY! GOD'S DIRECTION

"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps."-- Pro_16:9.

THE WAYS of a man, we justify them to ourselves, and think that they are necessarily right, but we are liable to be self-deceived. We must employ our sanctified common-sense, or, to adopt the phrase of our text, our heart must seriously and thoughtfully devise our way. First pray for direction; then weigh the pros and cons; then view the matter from the standpoint of trusted friends; see that your eye is single to do only the will of God; be sure that no selfish or evil consideration is allowed to bias or divert you: then make your decision, asking God to block you in whatever would be hurtful, foolish, or perilous. You will not make a mistake if you sincerely and prayerfully adopt these rules. If your eye is single (i.e., straight), your whole body will be full of light.

There is every reason why we should employ the faculties of judgment and choice. When Samuel sent the young Saul away, he said, "Thou shalt do as occasion shall serve thee"; we are also told of Peter, that when the angel left him, he considered the matter, and came to Mary's house.

But God's purpose is behind all human decisions. There must be room for man to devise his steps, else we should become automatons. But all our volitions and choices must be ultimately subjected to the Rule and Will of the Most High. Let us commit our works and ways to God. We must roll our burden and ourselves on our faithful Creator. Of what use is it to worry over past mistakes? We cannot undo them, but we can ask God to bring good out of evil. He will put right the mistakes, and compensate for the failures. Let the Father's hand direct your steps. If with all your devising and planning, you cannot settle the matter, throw the whole responsibility back on Him and ask Him to undertake it.

Let us seek so to live that our ways may please the Lord (Pro_16:7). "We beseech you," said St. Paul, "that as ye received of us how ye ought to walk and please God, even so ye do walk." We need to wait on God that He may show us the right way, and there is a sure sign--Via Crucis, via lucis. Jesus said, "I am the Way: Follow Me!"

PRAYER

Lead us, O God, bypaths we have not known. Make the darkness light before us, the crooked places straight, and the rough places plain. Let Thine Angel lead us forth into the liberty of the sons of God. AMEN.

By F. B. Meyer