leadership integrity family education

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Key Verses:Isaiah 43:2 (NIV); Isaiah 54:4-5 (NIV) - awesome. 2 Chronicle 20:15

Post blog Reading: Ephesians 3:17b-19; Psalm 27: 1-3, 13-14; Psalm
4:3; Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalm 36:7; Romans 8:35, 38-39; Psalm 103:13;
Psalm 10:17-18; Psalm 146:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Peter 2:5-9; Psalm
55:22; Psalm 34:8, Psalm 91:1,2,14(the whole chapter!) Proverbs 2:
7-9; Jeremiah 50:34; Deuteronomy 3:22; Deuteronomy 31:6; Isaiah 41:13;
Isaiah 35:4


Please follow this link before you read the devotional...

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZKjYR_tCPc

Thank you Father. God we honor you and acknowledge that you are a
sovereign God. You are holy and the entire universe is filled with
your glory. All creation bows before youThe angels in heaven adore
you! Nothing is impossible with you! Nothing is too big for you
because everything was created by you! Help us never to forget who you
are, Lord. May we never lose sight of the fact that you hold our
beginnings and our endings in the palm of your hand. May we always
remember that all things will work together for our best only if we
draw near to the One who holds tomorrow. We praise You, Lord. Yet we
are human and for this reason we need affirmation. We need reminding.
At the end of this blog, remind us God. You are Great... there is no
one else like you. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ, we pray,
Amen.


Truth#1: We are all striving. We all have goals, ambitions, desires..
we all have some sort of hope. We all want to believe that we can
attain our dreams through determination, strong work ethic.. burning
the midnight oil.... We just know that we have a plan and if followed
to the T, it will be smooth sailing. And it should, no doubt.
Financial aid should come through on time, our boss should acknowledge
our hard work, our family should always be there for us, we should
receive adequate rewards for our labor, etc..etc.. However, there is
another truth:

Truth #2: Life is hardly rewarding. In fact, life can prove to be unpredictable.

Discounting those who claim a hassle-free life, the majority of us
sometimes find ourselves short of where we want to be. Some may, in
the hustle and bustle of trying to stay on top of things, find
themselves in personal crisis. We may find ourselves alone,
discouraged, or betrayed. We may come to some daunting realizations.
Uninvited sickness may attack us or the ones we love. The economic
recession may sneak its way into our homes. The dreams we've had for
as long as we could remember are now giving way to back-up plans. One
problem ends and two more begins.

The reasons for the majority of our setbacks is simultaneously obvious
as well as obscure. Unforeseen Events... they permeate through our
lives. There's nothing we can do, no plans that we can draw, no
measures that we can take. For some individuals, the unknown provokes
fear and anxiety. My plans didn't turn out the way I wanted it to...I
don't know where to go from here... Or... My loved one has fallen
ill... the doctor has no idea if they'll get better... I don't know
how I'm going to make it through this economic setback..I'm unsure how
to face the day. I can't see what's coming, I don't know what's
happening, I don't know where to start.

Truth#3: We don't know about the future, but we know Who holds tomorrow.

The song that was heard is an old hymn, yes. But the words are
relevant to our circumstances both present and future. These two
verses and refrain are the words of a human being that acknowledged
that life is unstable and recognize that the only hope we have is in
the God who made the days.

I don't know about tomorrow...
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from it's sunshine,
For it's skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry over the future.
For I know what Jesus said!
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

Refrain
Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow!
And I know Who holds my hand!

I don't know about tomorrow!
It may bring me poverty;
But the One Who feeds the sparrow,
Is the One Who stands by me! -------------> Hallelujah, right?
And the path that be my portion,
May be through the flame or flood.
But His presence goes before me!
And I'm covered with His blood!

This is an individual who knows they can't bet on life to be smooth
sailing. This is a person who knows what it's like to be failed by the
people or materials they put their trust in. A person caught off guard
by Unforeseen Events. Yet this individual does not worry about
tomorrow. Although there are many things they do not understand.
Although tomorrow may very well bring poverty, heartbreak, sickness..
they put their faith and trust in the God who feeds the sparrows...

As you meditate on this Truth, find time to read the verses of text.
Search the verses for the assurance that God so desperately wants us
to have in Him. Find confidence in God. Be secure because you walk in
the will of a God who has no creator. A God who is so deeply in love
with you, He told His only Son to take the form of a human for the
purposes of hanging on the cross. To pay our debts. Oh how He loves
you and me!

Have faith in God.

DS Esther Ekpin.

No comments:

Post a Comment