Verse of the Day 9/2

 

A friend responded to yesterday's verse about "casting our cares upon Him for He cares for you' with " Isn't it interesting that verse 8 follows verse 7... If we don't cast those cares, anxieties on the Lord, Satan is there to discredit our Lord and shake our faith."

 

Have you found yourself in that position, having kept it to yourself, allowing Satan to discredit our Lord and shake your faith?  It is easy to do if we allow ourselves to stay "under the (or our) circumstances".  As mentioned in yesterday's passage, Satan can use those circumstances to devour us.  But Jesus has something better to offer.

 

For today's verse we'll go to John chapter 10 where Jesus offers abundant life.

 

John 10:9-10 Amplified Bible (AMP)  ⁹I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live). He will come in and he will go out [freely], and will find pasture.

    ¹⁰The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

Saint Irenaeus wrote - "The glory of God is man fully alive".  This raises the question, when are we fully alive?  What I've noticed over the years is that I've never been more alive or seen others more "alive" than when they've come through an illness or an injury or perhaps are living with that same illness or injury with a new frame of mind.  Sometimes those circumstances and God's grace through them give us a renewed vision and appreciation for how precious life is.  Like sunshine after the rain or the first flowers of spring pushing through the soil after a long winter

 

Both of my sons have shown this to me in my life.  Jeff's accident left him with a brain injury and permanently (in this life) disabled, yet through it all he is probably the happiest person you'll meet, he often thanks Jean and I, thanks God, for this "wonderful life". 

 

The other is my son Jason who never let his brain tumor let him down.  After his diagnosis he had to withdraw from school for a semester.  He returned and ended up finishing his four year degree in three and a half years.  Got married, went to seminary and is now going for his doctorate.  As mentioned in a recent devotional, on a recent check up, he found out that the tumor is now gone, no (scientific) explanations.  But what really showed his attitude was when I was taking him to school at Union Seminary in New York,  I asked him if he had questioned God about the tumor.  His response astounded me.  He said, if it hadn't been for the tumor, I would never have met Kristen (his wife).

 

Those same things that can kill and destroy can also lead us to a life lived to the fullest.  It may have a lot to do with what do we do with those burdens.  The Amplified Bible (see below) speaks of the abundant life as living it "to the full, till it overflows".  This kind of life has an impact on others, the joy of the Lord lived out in life, especially in hard times, will overflow.  I just made a typo, I typed "overglow" by accident, but it fits, let His light shine, may others feel the overglow of the sunshine after the rain.

 

After the Rain - Aaron Geoffrey

Everyone needs 
Everyone hurts 
Everyone feels 
The weight of the world sometimes 
But don't let the wind sweep your heart away 

'Cause even the roughest waters cleanse 
So when they come again 
Let them serve as a reminder 
You can always know that

 

After the rain
You can look to the sky again
The clouds will give way
To the light of the sun
After the rain
You know that you've made it through
And you'll finally see the joy from the pain
After the rain

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied with Him. " - John Piper  Being satisfied in him, can lift us out from under the circumstances, help us "find pasture" (v.9) and lead us into an abundant life.

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

Through the Bible - Psalms 137-139, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

John 10:7-10

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁷So Jesus said again, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that I Myself am the Door for the sheep.

    ⁸All others who came [as such] before Me are thieves and robbers, but the [true] sheep did not listen to and obey them.

    ⁹I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live). He will come in and he will go out [freely], and will find pasture.

    ¹⁰The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).