Daily Devotion

January 7, 2006

(Psa 119:7 KJV) I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

Do you know what to praise the Lord for? Do you know what to thank Him for? Jesus asked if we sometimes may mistake the bread He provides us for a stone, and that the fish He may give us for a serpent (Luk 11:11-13)!

Now, what about this situation you are struggling with? What about these issues that are not working out? This disease that is not going away, this weakness, which makes you desperately cling to the grace of God (2 Cor 12:7-9). Do you think that these could be the “bread” and “fish” that He promised, but that you can’t see them because you are looking at them with eyes of “flesh” instead of with the eyes of the spirit?

George Matheson, the well-known blind preacher of Scotland, now with the Lord, says: "My God, I have never thanked Thee for my `thorn'! I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my `thorn'; I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross as itself a present glory. Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my `thorn'. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow."

When you apply yourself to learn the righteous judgments of God, to learn what He considers to be the right and blessed events in your life, to learn to trust Him for what He gives or withholds. When you have learned to totally yield your life and sprit to Him, giving up the controls, then, oh yes, then, you will see the “bread” and the “fish’, and be able to praise Him for His many blessings.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
(1Th 5:18 KJV)