Daily Bible Reading - Wed. August 5th

As we started reading in Ezra the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. The hearts of kings are in the hand of the Lord. God governs the world by his influence on the spirits of men; whatever good they do, God stirs up their spirits to do it. It was during the captivity of the Jews, that God principally employed them as the means of calling the attention of the heathen to him. Cyrus took it for granted, that those among the Jews who were able, would offer free-will offerings for the house of God.

In Corinthians Paul had been bred up in Jewish learning; but the plain preaching of a crucified Jesus, was more powerful than all the oratory and philosophy of the heathen world. This is the sum and substance of the gospel. Christ crucified is the foundation of all our hopes, the fountain of all our joys. And by his death we live. The preaching of salvation for lost sinners by the sufferings and death of the Son of God, if explained and faithfully applied, appears foolishness to those in the way to destruction.  But those *****ceive the gospel, and are enlightened by the Spirit of God, see more of God's wisdom and power in the doctrine of Christ crucified, than in all his other works.  As we see Corinthians is full of wisdom if we’ll only meditate on it and let the Word speak to us. 

God has a place of Victory for us all, cir****tances may be blocking our way of seeing that victory but its there by faith, we have to believe it and receive it.  We can’t let cir****tances rule us, we have to look beyond them and see the victory God has in store for us, when we do that we’ll see the victory coming into our lives. 

***Bec*** That small verse Romans 12:12 might be few in words but wow is it ever more powerful when applied to our lives.  You are so right, if we can only do what that verse says just think how much stronger we’ll be throughout our cir****tances.  That sure gets me to meditating and looking at myself, thank you for sharing that.  WooHoo be joyful we even have the hope!!!

Today’s Reading

Ezra 1:1-2:70
1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
Psalm 27:7-14
Proverbs 20:22-23

Daily Devotional

Genesis 13:14

"…Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;"

God has a place of victory in store for you today! You may be facing challenges. You may look around you and see impossible cir****tances. In the natural, it may look like things won’t ever change, but God is saying today, “Quit looking at your cir****tances and look up! Lift up your eyes of faith and look beyond where you are because there is victory as far as the eye can see!

Your enemies may have some power today, but remember, our God is All Powerful! There’s no foe that can stand against Him. Those things you are facing are temporary, but God Almighty is eternal. He’s the God who flung the stars into space. He’s the God who spoke the world into existence. When He said, “Let there be light," light came at 186,000 miles per second. That’s power and that’s the God we serve.

I encourage you to stand strong today. Keep believing because He is working behind the scenes on your behalf. As you lift your eyes to Him, as you focus on His goodness, He will guide you and direct you in the path of victory in every area of your life!

A Prayer For Today:  Heavenly Father, today I choose to lift up my eyes of faith toward You. Thank You for surrounding me with Your goodness and mercy. Thank You for believing in me and for preparing a good future for me. Fill my heart with Your peace and confidence as I continue to trust You in every area of my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.