Devos

God Cares for You

   

As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me….Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:16, 22)

Most likely, you already know that God commanded you to honor your parents. You know that He commanded you to be kind. But did you know that Jesus commanded you to think about flowers? He did!

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow,” Jesus said. “They toil not, neither do they spin.” In other words, they don’t worry about a thing! “And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Jesus continues, “Consider the ravens; for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?”

If God cares enough to take care of the flowers and the birds, how much more does He care about you, the child He created in His very own image! It doesn’t matter how small your problem is. Flowers and birds aren’t very big, either, but God cares about them. He is concerned about everything that you’re concerned about.

Since God cares so much about your problems, how should you respond? Should you wring your hands and try to fix your problems all by yourself? Should you go running to a friend or to your parents, expecting them to make everything right? No; your Lord Jesus doesn’t want you to be worried. He told His disciples the same thing: “Therefore take no thought saying, What shall we eat? Or What shall we drink? Or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”

Isn’t it wonderful to know that God hears you? He is more concerned about your burdens than you are, and if you call upon Him, He will help you. He will hold you up. He will give you the strength you need to face your problems – He really will! He cares more about your problems than you do. He created you.

Cast your burden upon Him today, and then do what you know is right. Just obey Him, trusting Him to take care of the rest.

God takes care of birds and flowers, so He will surely take care of me!

My Response:
» Am I trusting my Heavenly Father to take care of my needs?

Truth in Real Life Moments

Dwight L. Moody

   

“The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

“After our great generals, great statesmen, great scientists and great men of letters have passed away and been forgotten… the work of D. L. Moody will go on and its saving influence continue and increase…. Yes, it will continue throughout the ages of eternity.”

The above words were spoken by the evangelist and Christian author R.A. Torrey – who had been a personal friend of D. L. Moody. And he was right – the legacy of Moody’s ministry continues and in that sense will live on in the hearts of men and women generation after generation. Many people and their descendents will be in heaven partly because God used Moody to introduce them to Bible-based teaching about Himself.

The sixth in a family of nine children, Dwight Lyman Moody was born on February 5, 1837, in Northfield, Massachusetts. Although his parents were godly, he would never know a normal home life. When he was just ten years old, his father died, and the boy Moody was forced to leave home to get a job.

After a Sunday School teacher led Moody to Christ when he was 18, his life changed dramatically. During the forty years following his salvation, he led at least one million souls to Christ, taught thousands of men how to preach, started three Christian schools, and created the world’s largest Sunday School. (Abraham Lincoln was once a guest speaker for it!)

Moody teamed up with the talented Christian musician Ira D. Sankey; and together, they conducted Gospel meetings all over the world.

“There are many of us who are willing to do great things for the Lord,” Moody once said, “but few of us are willing to do little things.” Such little things might include encouraging a brother or sister in Christ, showing love to someone who is ungrateful, or doing kind things in secret. What “little thing” can you do for Christ today? If you hope to do something big for Him, you ought to be content to start with “small things” and do them well for Him and His people. Being faithful with small things is good practice for faithfulness in bigger things, if that’s what God wills.

Mark 9:41 – “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Devos

God Created Everything

   

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

When you look at a building, you know that there had to be a builder. The evidence of his work is right in front of you. When you look at a painting, you know that there had to be an artist. When you look at a pizza, you know that there was a pizza-maker!

What if I told you that the building built itself, that the painting painted itself, and that I had an empty fridge, but somehow pepperoni and cheese and flour just appeared and became a pizza? You would probably laugh just thinking about it. Many people, however, think that the universe did just that; it just “came together” on its own. They don’t believe that there was a Designer or Creator. Are they right? God says in Genesis that God created all things. He created the sun, moon, and stars; He created the animals and plants; He created us!

Let’s look for a moment at our Universe. Did you know that there are 70,000-million-million-million (that’s 7 with 22 zeros behind it) stars in the universe? Did you know that there are 206 bones in our body (and 6 of them are in your ear!)? Wow!

Those are only two facts that demonstrate how amazing our universe is. It is so complicated that even the most brilliant scientists do not understand how everything works together. What does that show you and I? Paul says in Romans 1:20 that since the beginning of the world, God’s invisible attributes – specifically His power and “God-ness” – have been clear to anyone with eyes because God’s creation proves that He’s powerful and that He’s God. If we simply look around us, we can clearly see that there must be a Creator and Designer of the world.

God says that He cannot lie (Titus 1:2). He has told us that He created everything. Let us praise Him for His wonderful design and creation!

God tells me in His Word that He is the Creator of all things.

My Response:
» Do I believe that God created everything?
» Do I praise God for creating everything?

Devos

God Is Sending a King

   

“Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.” (Psalm 72:18)

Do you ever wish you could be a king or queen? It seems like kings and queens have everything! They have whatever food they want. They have servants to do their every bidding. People have to bow down to them out of respect. They tell their military leaders when to go to war. They can give away their money or jewels to whomever they want. It seems like being a king or queen would be the best thing in all the world.

David was a king, but he knew that his subjects, the people of Israel, deserved a better king than he was. So he prayed for a great king to rule perfectly over Israel. He wrote this prayer down in Psalm 72.

God is going to send a righteous king (vv.1-3, 7). Because God’s king will treat all people fairly, whether they are rich or poor, there will be peace for a very long time. When God’s king rules, there will be peace all over the world. God’s king will rule “from sea to sea and….unto the ends of the earth” (v. 8). Kings from all over the world, including places such as Spain and Saudi Arabia, will come to him with gifts because of how great he is.

God is going to send a king who will protect the “poor and needy” from evil. He will “redeem their soul from deceit and violence.” This king will care for his people so much that he will protect them not only from physical danger but also from spiritual harm.

God is going to send a king who will rule forever! Sometimes people in history have been glad when a king died, because he was not a good king. But the king that God will send will be blessed – that means honored – by all nations because of how wonderful he is.

So David blesses the Lord God because He will do the wondrous thing of sending this great king. David did not know who the king would be, but you and I do. Jesus is the king! When the wise men came looking for Jesus, they asked where the King of the Jews would be born. At the triumphal entry the people called Jesus a king. When Jesus spoke to Pilate at His trial, He told Pilate about His kingdom. Jesus is the king for whom David prayed.

God has sent a King for you to honor – and that King is coming again!

My Response:
» King Jesus came once to redeem sinners, and He is coming again to be King of All. Are you praying for Him to come as David prayed? Are you expecting Him to come as David expected Him?

Devos

God Will Provide a Way To Escape

   

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

I’ll never forget an experience I had as a five-year-old. I was visiting kindergarten for the first time, and I got stuck in the restroom. I was able to unlock the door, but it just wouldn’t budge open. I pushed and pulled, but I couldn’t get it to move. Then I panicked. Had the teacher forgotten about me? Would anyone ever find me? I began to cry, and thankfully, the teacher came to my rescue. She told me to crawl under the door to get out. How silly of me! Why hadn’t I thought of that myself? Soon I was on the other side and finally felt relief!

Have you ever been trapped somewhere and had the feeling that you wouldn’t be able to get out? Have you ever been tempted to do something wrong and just didn’t feel like doing the right thing? Sometimes when being tempted to do wrong, you feel so alone and maybe you even think that the most important people in your lives have forgotten about you.

But God hasn’t! In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul says that God is faithful and will not leave you helpless in times of temptation. God will always provide a way for you to escape temptation.

Sometimes God allows temptations to happen in your life in order to test your faith in Him. Your circumstances may seem tough, but God offers you encouragement for each test. First, you are not alone. Every Christian is tempted to do wrong. Second, God knows how strong your faith is and knows how much you can take. Third, God always provides a way for you to escape temptation. He provides parents, teachers, and friends to help you resist temptation. He also gives you His Word, to help you fight temptation (Ephesians 6:10-11). Remember when Jesus was tempted by the Devil? Each time the Devil tempted Him (Luke 4), Jesus responded with verses from Scripture.

As a five-year-old, I wasn’t able to see that I could just crawl under the door to escape. Sometimes you might think that there’s no way that you escape temptations. But God knows exactly how He can help you, and He has promised to provide a way!

God always provides a way for you to resist temptation.

My Response:
» When am I tempted to do wrong?
» Do I look to God for help when I’m tempted to do wrong?
» What verses can I memorize to help me when I’m tempted?