‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty (inaccessible, isolated) things, which you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3 [NKJV]
What an absolutely incredible promise! If Jeremiah prays, God promises that He will not only answer him, but reveal “great and mighty things.” These are things that could not possibly be known any other way. The idea of the word “mighty” in Hebrew would be better rendered “isolated” or “inaccessible.” God is offering revelational insight based upon a pursuit of Him in prayer.
All successful, spiritual enterprise is based upon clear understanding of the forces which oppose us and direction for dealing with these influences. The carnal mind is unfit for spiritual warfare. Our natural human perception can at best only lead us to the doorway of understanding and never through it. Even former spiritual victories and the experience of walking with Christ for years cannot substitute for fresh spiritual insight that comes from our daily walk with Him in prayer.
How is your prayer life today? Turn to the Lord now and He will provide all that we need: guidance, insight, strength… and “great and mighty things.” (Jack Hayford)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Peace Beyond Understanding
Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 [HCSB]
There is a peace with the understanding, and there is a peace that goes beyond the understanding and finds its warrant in personal trust and love. The peace within the understanding is the result of a clearly perceived proportion between need and supply, between danger and precaution. "I have seen what peril is likely to occur, and I have guarded against it; I have found out all the weak points in my house where the fire or the hurricane might smite it, and I have strengthened and secured them; therefore I may dismiss my anxieties and sit down at rest."
The peace which goes beyond the understanding says: "I have done all this as well as I knew how, but there are regions of danger which I cannot explore, there are perilous forces which I cannot measure. The universe is large, and out of any distant corner of it there may come a sudden blow striking right out of my life. Beyond what I can provide for, then, I find out Him who is in all the universe, and, loving Him, I trust myself upon His love. It is not knowledge, now, of what will come or how it will be met; it is only the sympathetic apprehension of His love and care who is all-strong, all-wise. This is what I rest upon. This is the confidence in which I sleep by night and work by day."
Follow Christ... and He will lead you certainly to God and to "the peace of God which passeth all understanding." (Phillip Brooks, The Law of Growth and Other Sermons)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.
There is a peace with the understanding, and there is a peace that goes beyond the understanding and finds its warrant in personal trust and love. The peace within the understanding is the result of a clearly perceived proportion between need and supply, between danger and precaution. "I have seen what peril is likely to occur, and I have guarded against it; I have found out all the weak points in my house where the fire or the hurricane might smite it, and I have strengthened and secured them; therefore I may dismiss my anxieties and sit down at rest."
The peace which goes beyond the understanding says: "I have done all this as well as I knew how, but there are regions of danger which I cannot explore, there are perilous forces which I cannot measure. The universe is large, and out of any distant corner of it there may come a sudden blow striking right out of my life. Beyond what I can provide for, then, I find out Him who is in all the universe, and, loving Him, I trust myself upon His love. It is not knowledge, now, of what will come or how it will be met; it is only the sympathetic apprehension of His love and care who is all-strong, all-wise. This is what I rest upon. This is the confidence in which I sleep by night and work by day."
Follow Christ... and He will lead you certainly to God and to "the peace of God which passeth all understanding." (Phillip Brooks, The Law of Growth and Other Sermons)
Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Bible, (Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1993.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
