Daily Devotion

August 24, 2006

Psalms 106:46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

The life of the child of God is one of tribulation. Sometimes, God ordains the tribulation as a correction to his child, (Judges 2:13,14) and other times, He allows it to spiritually purify his children (Daniel 12:10). The time is coming when tribulation will be used all over the earth to reveal God’s true faithful ones (Rev 13:16,17).

In spite of this, it doesn’t mean that every time something goes wrong in our relationship with neighbors and government that this is due to tribulations and persecution for righteousness’ sake. Sometimes, our social conflicts stem from the fact that we may just be wrong on something or blind to some truth, or even that we have an arrogant obnoxious attitude about it, which God does not bless (2 Timothy 2:24).

God owns the heart of his children, and he also owns the heart of the nations. None of us, and none of them, can make a move without God’s permission. We need to always remember that God is ultimately the one in charge and ultimately responsible for everything that goes on in the world.  When we repent from our errors, when we harmonize our soul with God’s Spirit, God will also pour His blessings on us in the form of the favor of our enemies.

So when we are faced with social or political conflict, let us not be so quick in adopting the ‘persecution syndrome’. Let us check our heart to see if maybe our poor relationship with our ‘neighbor’ is a reflection of our disharmony with God’s Spirit.

Pro 16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

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