Meditation: March 19

“And you? Go about your business without fretting or worrying. Relax. When it’s all over, you will be on your feet to receive your reward” (Daniel 12:13 MSG). 

There are places to go and things yet to be done by those who have put their trust in the Lord. None can predict the future, but we can rest assured that the outcome is in His hands. Situations can be paralyzing to those who have no hope beyond what they are able to see. Then others have completely ignored the signs and have not prepared themselves for what we have been prophetically forewarned. There is a God-given task to which the sons of men ought to be engaged. We are to occupy until He comes. The threats are real, but should not create fretting or worrying to the prepared. We have One in whom we have placed our trust. When the storms have passed us over, and the clouds have lifted, we will be standing on our feet to receive our rewards from God who rewards the faithful. 

Meditation: March 18

“The field is wasted, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails” (Joel 1:10). 

There are times when conditions are bleak and the people are called to repentance. Nothing occurs by chance. God withdraws His hand among a people who think they have the abilities to manage their affairs. It is not that the people are completely abandoned, but rather they are allowed to experience the results of decisions made when He is no longer reverenced as Lord. Without His oversight, the field is wasted, the grain is ruined, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails. Each requires what only God is able to give for their sustenance. Without His care, the people must manage without the rain that must fall from heaven. Nothing planted is able to grow without the rain. When it touches the seed, it will spring forth with new life. Spiritual dryness is a condition where the people have not come to realize the source of challenges facing the world. God’s people must, in humility, seek His face and turn in the direction of righteousness in order for the rain to fall from heaven and cause all things to flourish. 

Meditation: March 17

“You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance” (Psalm 65:11). 

Whatever happens and however it may happen, God ends with the placement of His crown of goodness. That is why He is called good even when things happen that are difficult to explain. When there are valleys there also must be mountains and the deeper the valley, the higher the mountains. Valley experiences are not always fatal. They can be but are not necessarily fatal. His path is frightening to the fainthearted. Every wall in the valley contains a message that you have reached the point of no return. But as long as you are aware that He is leading you, you can trust Him throughout the journey. A crown awaits you at the end of the season of testing. Not only is there a crown, but there are rich blessings to be gathered along the way. 

Meditation: March 16

“The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open; the earth is shaken exceedingly” (Isaiah 24:17). 

The earth is violently disturbed as the result of the violent offenses committed against its Creator. It awaits the rule of the sons of God whose aim is to reflect the glory of Jesus Christ. Until then, it is held captive, not willingly but anticipating a liberty that will only come as the rule of the righteous. Some will grow bitter towards God because of the calamities that many of earth’s inhabitants are now suffering. They will think of God as being cruel and unfair. But His judgments will ultimately bring an end to sins that often appear to be benign, but are the root cause of wars and all earthly calamities. The mark established by God is not the aim of many leaders who now lead many astray. Thus sin runs its full course. He created the earth to be a habitation of rest and peace, but sin has left its mark producing turbulence and death. Pray that righteous rulers will arise in order for the people to rejoice because the Prince of Peace is ruling over them. 

Meditation: March 15

”The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray” (Proverbs 12:26). 

Choices made in relation to lasting friendships: What should we look for?—the importance of having friends.  The righteous ought to practice the art of carefully choosing their friends. Once the purpose of friendships is understood, each one can be taken seriously. There are commitments made to each other to be genuine and trustworthy at all times. The character of men is like a magnet which draws like-minded individuals together: Deceptive people seek those who they envy, with the character they could only wish to possess. Yet their deceptive ways have reduced them to mere pretense which leads many who trust them astray. The blind lead the blind into a ditch. Our influence is either positive or negative. We assimilate the character of the company that we keep. Choose friends carefully because our own character is reflected by these choices. 

Who are you leading? Who are you following? Our influence over our friends, and their influence over us, can strongly affect our attitudes, behavior, and decisions. We must choose our friends carefully. We will influence them and they will influence us. Mutual sharing is not wrong or inappropriate and can be a very positive thing if both the neighbor and the friend have committed their lives completely to Christ. 

Meditation: March 14

“For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? (Romans 3:3). 

God is determined to fulfill every one of His promises. Too much is at stake for Him to fail. Yet there are many who doubt Him and question His authority and abandon their post defecting from the faith. Does unbelief negate God’s faithfulness? He allows the rain to fall on the unjust as well as the righteous. He provides for believers as well as unbelievers. Seasons of the year that change for all to receive the benefits of change. Yet God is determined to raise up a remnant among His people who will obey Him and receive the full benefit of His promises. They will hear His voice and heed to His call. If not the parents, He may reach some of their children. What is rejected by one generation may have been embraced by their successors. God will provide future evidence of His truth. When all else is shaken and crumbles to the earth, His Word will remain. And what was once cast down and rejected will be raised by and through what God has already spoken. Our faithlessness cannot alter His faithfulness. What parents may reject their children will be open to receive. What one generation may ignore the next generation will fully embrace. God is faithful even when we are faithless. No actions can change what He has decreed. If prayer is communication with God and He answers prayer, then why is it that so many prayers go unanswered? The demand is for evidence preceding faith rather than faith in God preceding answered prayer. Faith brings us to a new place of trust. 

Meditation: March 13

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). 

God has the ability to stabilize our walk and keep us from staggering. It is the staggering walk or the unsettled and unsure steps that eventually lead to a fall. We don’t have to waver in unbelief, but can maintain a steady confidence that God is all that He says in His Word. The world has a dizzying affect upon all who focus their attention in its direction. The contrary winds of error spoken by the majority blow in such ways as to cause the fainthearted to sway under its control. But God has a path that is straight and the power to keep us straight on the path. It leads to the presence of His glory as one who has victoriously endured the pressures that otherwise would have caused us to drift away. Even if we stumble or stagger or even drift for a moment in time, He gets us back on course and teaches us what we need to know in order that we may stand erect in the center of the storm. There His peace abides and we learn to trust in Jesus as Lord over the storm. 

Meditation: March 12

“Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God” (Psalm 143:10). 

We often look to God with questions of bewilderment and doubt wondering why God does not give more attention to what we want and consider as important. Sometimes it seems as if the heavens are as brass when we pray our prayers and put forth our best effort to do our thing. He awaits our desire to be rightly taught before we engage in endless pursuits for worthless gain. The things that matter most await those who are willing to be instructed rightly. “Lord teach me to know Your will first that I may do the things I have been instructed to do.” We were born to cooperate with God in what He is doing. Every other effort will ultimately end in frustration and ruin. He alone is God and His will is to be known by and through all of His creation. “You are God. That is enough for every creature to know. But more importantly, You are my God. That says it all! 

Meditation: March 11

“Blessed is he who takes no offense of Me” (Luke 7:23). 

The offense that occurs among men is the contradistinction between His deity and His humanity. Some would view Him as not being human enough to understand man’s dilemma and the challenges that all men face, while others would reduce Him to being just a man, the son of a carpenter. Then there are those who view Him as being an impostor who proclaims to be God. The paradox of His life as being fully God and fully man is the reason for many taking an offense to Him. But blessed is he who has received from the Holy Spirit the revelation as Peter received, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In this statement, both His deity and humanity are genuinely and fully expressed. Flesh and blood cannot make this known. Only the Father in heaven can reveal this to us thus positioning us to receive the revelation of the Father through our surrender and obedience to Him. 

Meditation: March 10

“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?” (Psalm 139:7). 

When we are born of the Spirit, the Spirit remains with us wherever we go. He is there in those moments when we feel alone and abandoned. He is there when our hearts drift in directions that would be far removed from the warmth that comes as result of meditation and deep contemplation on His goodness towards us. Our reluctance to draw closer to Him does not affect His pursuit of us. His Spirit is wooing us in our darkest hour to deeper levels of intimacy with the Son of God. Only Jesus can reveal to us the love of the Father that will provide stability and purpose for our lives. He was that voice of conscience convicting us when we were wrong. He was that voice of encouragement pressing us forward when we had the opportunity to do right. The Spirit is both our Comforter and our Guide. He alone can reveal to us the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.