Devotional 220109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The misty and rainy weather made us feel like staying in the comfort of our bed. But there is so much in life that God has prepared for us to explore and be blessed. Yes, life is bigger than work. But work is a big part of our lives that we can experience God's molding and creative power. That’s why God put Adam to work in the Garden of Eden from day one, even though God has provided abundantly for Adam and Eve to enjoy before they even start their work in the Garden. Therefore, work is more than just a means to make end meet. Work is a blessing to experience His creative power that Creator God has installed within us, since our conception in our mothers’ womb. And molding is part of His continuous work of creation.

"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other…" (Isaiah 45:22). Do we expect God to come to us with His blessings and save us? He says - Turn to me or look unto me, and be saved. The great difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and it is His blessings that make it difficult. Troubles nearly always make us look to God; His blessings are apt to make us look elsewhere. The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is, in effect - Narrow all your interests until the attitude of mind and heart and body is concentration on Jesus Christ. "Turn to me."

Many of us have a mental conception of what a Christian should be, and the lives of the saints become a hindrance to our concentration on God. There is no salvation in this way; it is not simple enough. "Turn to me " and - not "you will be saved," but "you are saved." The very thing we look for, we shall find if we will concentrate on Him. We get preoccupied and resentful with God, while all the time He is saying - "Look up and be saved." The difficulties and trials - the casting about in our minds as to what we shall do this summer, or to-morrow, all vanish when we look to God.

Wake up and look to God. Build your hope on Him. No matter if there are a hundred and one things that press, resolutely exclude them all and look to Him. "Turn to me," and salvation is, the moment you look. It is important to reprioritize our lives in the midst of busyness and stress. When we are under stress, we are driven by a sense of urgency; we do what others think important and urgent. We become restless and frustrated in spinning ourselves in worry and fear. We don’t understand why we are so fatigue and going nowhere. We just feel like we can’t stop worrying. We allow noisiness of our fears and worry crowd out the little small voice of God within us saying, “Turn to me…”

Fixate not on the bad news of our economy but on the Good News of our Lord Jesus. Yes, we need to know what is happening around us. But in the midst of a hopeless and fearful world, we fixate on the inner voice of the Lord calling out to us, “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth… Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth (Psalm 46:10).”

Your brother in Christ,
Lawrence