Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Thursday, May 12, 2016
Today’s Scripture Focus: Acts 17:23-28
We are focusing on sin recovery principle number three of 12: “We have decided to submit our wills and lives wholeheartedly to God.”
There are many times in our lives that God is on the move even though we don’t always understand it. People often say things like, “For some reason, I did not go to work on time today,” only to realize that the route you would have taken to work is now cordoned off because of an active shooter incident. For some reason? That Reason is really a Person. That Person is the Holy Spirit of God. God redirected your path. Or someone might say, “I am so fortunate to have [fill-in the blank with a positive outcome or blessing here]…” Well, you were not passively or as a matter of happenstance “fortunate,” you were actively taken care of by God, and that outcome was a direct outgrowth of God’s tender loving care.
I would like to express it this way: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17). It is incumbent upon us to adjust our perspective. We need to seek out ways to give God the glory He deserves. We have worshiped the gods of good fortune, opportunity, and happenstance too long. We have bowed to the idols of, “being in right place at the right time,” the law of attraction, and speaking so-called affirmations as the vital elements of success too long. It is high time to redirect our allegiance to the God who gives every good and perfect gift. The time of our ignorance on this is over. It is high time for us to arouse to the reality of God’s hands-on approach to our lives and His active blessings.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness today. Recognize His mighty acts in your life. It was not merely willpower that helped you stop smoking. It was God giving you both the will and ability to do His good pleasure. It was not luck that facilitated your new route to work and allowed you to avoid catastrophe. It was that Voice behind you saying, “Here’s a new way to work; drive ye in it.” It was not the fact that you came from a long line of survivors why you have overcome domestic violence. No! It was God who gives you the power to do all things giving you strength. Break down the shrines to the unknown gods in your life and actively identify the wonderful works of your Creator, Jesus Christ. He deserves your worship and devotion. Give it to Him.
