_devo
in the event you want to take a moment for yourself and connect with the creator of the universe
*the following is from Pete Scazzero’s Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day
Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading: James 1:2–5 :
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete,
not lacking anything.
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,
who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Devotional
If there were never any storms or clouds in our lives, we would have no faith. “His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet” (Nahum 1:3b). Clouds are a sign that God is there. What a revelation to know that sorrow, bereavement, and suffering are actually the clouds that come along with God!
It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials. Through every cloud He brings our way, He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in using the cloud is to simplify our beliefs until our relationship with Him is exactly like that of a child — a relationship simply between God and our own souls, and where other people are but shadows. Until other people become shadows to us, clouds and darkness will be ours every once in a while. Is our relationship with God becoming more simple than it has ever been? . . . Until we come face to face with the deepest, darkest fact of life without damaging our view of God’s character, we do not yet know Him. - Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest, ed. James Reimann (Grand Rapids: RBC Ministries, 1935, 1992), devotion for July 29)
Question to Consider
What is one thing God might want you to unlearn today?
Guided Prayer
“Father, I confess that when difficulties and trials come into my life, large or small, I mostly grumble and complain. I realize the trials James talks about are not necessarily “walls,” but they are difficult to bear nonetheless. Fill me with such a vision of a transformed life, O God, that I might actually consider it “pure joy” when you bring trials my way. I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief. In Jesus’ name, Amen”