Change

The Holy Bible

^{38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes — both calamity and blessing?39 Why should any living person complain when punished for his sins?40 Let us carefully examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord.41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven}

(Bible Translation and Location: The New English Translation – Lamentations 3:38-41)

Thoughts:

I have always been told that the truest meaning of insanity is: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results! In verse 40 we are reminded that there should be a reckoning day where we have a serious, honest day of inflection with ourselves, especially when we realize that we the reason for our struggles and/or hardships might be because we are being punished by the Almighty because of our sin. For God is telling us that we should then stop, carefully examine our ways (compared to the ways taught by God in His word – not compared to your neighbor, coworker or your best friend), and return to the Lord. Now, I believe it is very evident to see that for us to redirect our lives from something that God dislikes, or something that is contrary to His Word and His will for our lives, then 'Change' has to take place. Otherwise we will continue doing the wrong thing knowing that we are living out of the will of God and contrary to His commands. The next verse (41) helps us to understand how we might achieve this change. In this world, whenever someone is caught doing something wrong, they are asked to surrender themselves to the authorities. When we lift up our hearts and hands to God, we are surrendering ourselves to His authority. To truly come before a righteous and holy God, we must first seek a cleansing from Him, and agree to accept the change that He might dictate to us, in order to be like Him. When last have you placed yourself before the God of all creation and asked Him to examine your very thoughts and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, so that You may be more in line with His will for your life? To truly represent Him, be His child and be more like Him, we must surrender the ways (sin) of this wicked world, seek His face, and return to the ways of God. Anything less than this will merely be lip service and life as it is right now. Please let us commit to 'Change', right now!


Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Your Word achieves its purpose every time. It drives deep inside and causes us to see our unfaithfulness and our sin, the reason for our separation from You, the reasons why our loved ones and friends are not being impacted by us for You. Please forgive us. Please don't give up on us, but continue to patiently direct us towards all that You need us to see, and all that You need us to understand and follow in Your Word. Thank You for loving me enough to care about my future with You in Heaven. Thank You for providing The Way of us to enter Heaven's portals one day and worship You in person. You are Holy, Almighty and worthy of our praise oh Lord. I thank You for Your amazing grace and Your indescribable love. Please touch each one reading this devotional today. Direct them to the areas of their lives that must be affected by 'Change' for them to know You personally, and/or draw closer to You, if they already know You. My prayer is asked in humility and thanksgiving, for I ask it in the precious name of Jesus - Lord, Savior, Almighty God and Everlasting Father, AMEN!

 
FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day's devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL!