5-29-18 Daily Devotion

May 29, 2018

Crying Out to God

When we face a crisis, the Lord is willing and able to help. But before He will become involved and release His divine energy into our situation, He requires one thing: a righteous heart.
This, of course, is not an expectation that we live a perfect life, which our Father knows would be impossible. When a sinner turns to God for salvation, He cleanses the heart of iniquity and gives that person a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). Yet even believers will follow old flesh patterns at times, so the Lord calls us to confess and repent when we miss the mark. Then He will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Thankfully, He hears us in our imperfection as long as we desire to walk in His way. The problem arises, however, when a Christian knowingly lives in sin and chooses not to turn from it—the Lord will not hear an unrepentant heart.
Today’s passage shows that the heavenly Father wants His children to cry out to Him. During trials, we tend to pray this way—with increased focus, passion, and sincerity. Hannah is a good example. Heartbroken over her barrenness, she went to the temple and beseeched the Lord with such emotion that the priest thought she was drunk! God answered her plea and opened her womb (1 Samuel 1:1-20).
When a crisis comes, cry out to our almighty God, but be sure you do so with a righteous heart. Then He will hear and answer—either fulfilling your hoped-for request or providing a different solution. Because He is omniscient, loving, and sovereign, you can fully trust that His answer is in your best interest.
Bible in One Year: Nehemiah 11-13

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-16-23 Santa Staleness

Santa Staleness :: By Edwin Tan Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles My one and only trip to Israel had more than a profound effect on my present-day psyche. It might have been three decades ago, but there is more than a lingering aftertaste. It happened smack in the last fortnight of the year. Surprisingly absent were the familiar sights and sounds of the Christmas most people are accustomed to. Hardly any Christmas decorations in downtown Tel Aviv, if not any of the shopping thoroughfares across the Holy Land. Hanukah was a breath of fresh air – not anything resembling a Christmas carol most people grew up with did surface. The Christmas Eve service in a small Protestant church not far away from Jerusalem’s Old City was awesome; songs that truly celebrated the virgin birth of our Lord, which though seemingly unheard of, were a welcome inspiration to many a soul. There was even one sung in Arabic! So it began, my overt disdain for the secular Christmas t...
Read more

9-25-23 The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas

The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas :: By Bill Wilson Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:Bill Wilson, General Articles There are a lot of terrible things going on right now in the world. But we are at the time of the year when we, as Christians, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We can choose to be impacted by the world around us in its dimly lit arena, or we can choose to let our light so shine. I choose the latter. I want to tell you a little about the Christmas that I had growing up on our family farm in Ohio. I was blessed to be born into a horse and cattle farm that has been in our family for some 200 years. And Christmas, especially Christmas Eve, was a wonderful time for our family. December 24 was my Dad’s birthday. And my Dad was well-loved by his neighbors and friends, so we had a lot going on Christmas Eve. I remember one special Christmas Eve. I must have been about four years old. The night was falling, and the wind and snow were whipping across the barny...
Read more

9-15-23 Miracles 2

Miracles 2 :: By Jim Towers Published on: December 21, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles This story is a continuation of the exciting things God continues doing in my life. I was supposed to have died a while back, and sometimes I feel as though I may do so soon. But since I’m ready to meet my maker, I have no fear of death. In fact, my evangelistic zeal has only increased, especially as I see the fast approaching of the “Tribulation period” mentioned in the book of Revelation. Insofar as my acting career is concerned, I just finished filming a soliloquy featuring Melchior, one of the three Magi who followed the star to Christ lying in the manger, and am preparing to portray a Jewish Priest on stage. Like I said, God is working overtime in my life, and I will be appearing on stage singing Broadway show tunes sometime in March, so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. In the meantime, I will be signing Christmas carols acapella at a park here in Naples. Since it is a spontaneous th...
Read more