Daily Devotion

May 15, 2006

Psalms 119:156 Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.

Are you discouraged from the fight?  Does the way seem long and hard?  Do you think that you should be able to endure things better? Do others seem to have an easier path?  Do you feel your lot is unjust?  But do you like Job, Abraham, Jacob and David have the confidence to contend with God?

My friend, what does a relationship with God look like to you? What is He to you? Is He that great distant ruling potentate?  Is He so far from your heart that His commands seem cold and unreasonable?  Is He like the rulers of this world who exercise authority over the children of men, or like the gods of the heathen who only require sacrifices and care not for the welfare of their followers? And tell me now, does such a high and haughty god make you feel “religious”, does it feed your spiritual ego?

But now, look at life.  Who are the people with whom you have the faith to plead your cause with, to ask for mercy, to plead for reprieve and forgiveness?  Is it the stranger, the governor or the blind justice of the land?  Nay my friend, it is from your friends, those closest to you, those who you know love you.  Those are the ones we argue the most with because we have faith in their love for us, that they will even forgive our contentions.  

So my friend, do not be unnecessarily “religious”.  Leave that for those whose gods cannot speak nor hear nor feel.  Leave that for the people who do not want a living god who will reason and talk with them; or a god who will get involved in their lives. Yea, leave it to them who want to place there god on a shelf in a shrine outside their home.  

Like the patriarchs of old, plead your cause, demand His mercy, claim His promises.  He loves to hear His Children contend for His love and care, to wrestle with the angel for His blessing.  He loves to prove Himself to be the God of their salvation beyond and above all circumstances.

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Patrick Lumbroso
For past issues of the daily devotion go to my blog at:
http://hearthstoneministries.blogspot.com/