Devotional 131008

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It was always wonderful for Loretta and I to worship in our home church - to rekindle our friendship in Christ with brothers and sisters, and to be edified together by the presence of God and His Words.
Life is full of all kinds of unknown and challenges. Sometimes, we were frustrated by many difficulties that took place in our lives like waves after waves of attack. Comparing with many other Christians, we might think we were active enough in serving God. But somehow God would put us into some kind of situation as though He did not care or totally forsake us. In reality, it was the time when God used circumstances to mold us into the kind of person or vessel that He intended to use for His great purpose. The story of Moses did give us this kind of affirmation.
Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After the first strike for God and for the right, God allowed Moses to be driven into blank discouragement, He sent him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared and told Moses to go and bring forth His people, and Moses said - "Who am I, that I should go?" In the beginning Moses realized that he was the man to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in the individual aspect, but he was not the man for the work until he had learned communion with God.
We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and we start to do the thing, then comes something equivalent to the forty years in the wilderness, as if God had ignored the whole thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged God comes back and revives the call, and we get the quaver in and say - "Oh, who am I?" We have to learn the first great stride of God - "I AM WHO I AM that has sent you." We have to learn that our individual effort for God is an arrogant behavior; our individuality is to be rendered incandescent by a personal relationship to God, just as the way He honored His son, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (see Matthew 3:17). We fix our eyes on the individual perspective of things; we have the vision - "This is what God wants me to do;" but we have not got into God's stride, which is to focus on His greatness and His strength. If you are going through a time of discouragement or turmoil in life, remember that there is a big personal enlargement ahead of you. God is going to do great things in your life.
Do not be fooled by the evil spirit, who always attempts to remove your faith in God. Remind your soul that God is always in control, and focus on His attributes instead of in your own ability or personal calamity. Paul said, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9). This is Paul secret to sail through the ups and downs of his life and in his ministry. I am sure you can experience the peace of God during the economic tsunami around the globe when you stay focus on Him at all times.
Love you because He first loves us,
Lawrence