Shadow of Your Wings

Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings

from the wicked who are out to destroy me,

from my mortal enemies who surround me. –Psalm 17:8-9

As shared in the post “First Down”, David prays that God would help him in a distressful situation. Life had blocked David from gaining momentum just as life blocks our path at times. 

The lesson for us is to remain optimistic because with God, we are highly favored. We can overcome our enemies in life by taking in God's Word to fortify. Sometimes the greatest enemy we face is within our own mind. We may say stuff in our own mind like “It’s too difficult … I can’t do this”.

I heard a story one time about a field goal kicker in football who said he recites scripture in his mind when in a pressure situation like kicking the game winning field goal. A scripture like Philippians 4:13 “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” and other memorized scriptures can be very useful when faced with pressure moments in life.

Lord, we pray today that you will protect us. That we will take in Your scripture to fortify us and prepare us for the challenges of life. The devil tries to break us in life but You never forsake us. We are thankful for songs like Savior’s Shadow by Blake Shelton because we gain confidence and inspiration to follow the Way. This day, fill our minds with thoughts like this one from the song: “Grace leads us to where we are free”. In Jesus name. Amen.

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Ideas To Deal With The Stuff In Life

Written about in the post “Overcoming the Pressures of Life” was how Jesus went through the pressures of life on earth by praying and submitted to the purpose for which God had sent Him which was to die for our sins. In the Garden of Gethsemane, sweat was falling from Him like drops of blood to the ground. We may not face this type of pressure but we face stuff in life that can get to us. Maybe it’s trying to meet impossible deadlines at work, maybe it’s a health issue, or a relationship that’s not working out.

What can we do to deal with these challenges we face? Some ideas might include keeping positive, praying, planning out each step, and taking action with faith that God will provide the resources needed to get through anything. Another idea might be to set out each day to memorize scripture and try to internalize them so they can be used in time of need. With the Word of God internalized, we have more poise in stressful situations like talking in front of an audience or taking an exam or going through a medical procedure.

Each day has its challenges and that’s why we want to seek God first thing to help us take on these challenge the best we can. Today’s video is about this stuff of life: how God can use these moments to help us appreciate that maybe our stuff is not as bad as we think and we can step ahead with faith: This is the Stuff – Francesca Battistelli.

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:10

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Gaining a Heart of Wisdom

As I wrote in the post Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, the blessings of God brought Joseph great success. With each passing day, there was success in everything he was in charge of and we can take this lesson to help us in how we live. Each day, we can live more abundantly than the day before. Knowing that God is with us, there is faith that we can accomplish more than we could ever have dreamed possible.

Make the decision to live by God’s standards and He will be faithful so that our every need is met. Like Joseph who faced adversity, stress, and temptation, the favor of God can bring us out of our difficulties and turn them around for good. Today’s video is about asking for God’s help as we take on the challenges we face: Carry Me – Josh Wilson.

Teach us to number our days aright. That we may gain a heart of wisdom. - Psalms 90:12

Index of devotionals