About Our Daily Bread | RBC Ministries | Donate Our Daily Bread -- What Do We Want? June 7, 2014 Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn READ: Psalm 73:1-3,21-28 There is none upon earth that I desire besides You. —Psalm 73:25 My friend Mary tells me that she doesn’t always sing all the words to the hymns and choruses in a church service. She says, “It doesn’t seem honest to sing, ‘All I want is Jesus’ when my heart wants many other things too.” I appreciate her honesty. In verse 25 of Psalm 73, Asaph sounds like a spiritually minded man who wants God only: “There is none upon earth that I desire besides You.” But that’s not how he began this psalm. Initially, he admitted that he wanted the prosperity that others around him had: “For I was envious of the boastful” (v.3). But when he drew near to God, he recognized that he was foolish to be envious (vv.21-22,28). Even when we know God, we are often distracted by the prosperity of others. C. S. Lewis wrote, “It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. . . . We are far too easily pleased” with lesser things than Him. What do we learn about God in this psalm that might help when our desires distract us from God’s best? Well, we see that even though we may be tempted to envy what others have, He is continually guiding us and bringing us back to focus on Him. He “is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (v.26). —Anne Cetas Lord, we do believe that You are the place where true satisfaction is found. But we’re weak and sinful and easily distracted from Your best. Teach us to draw near to You, and may You, in turn, draw near to us. A daily dose of God’s wisdom will heal the heart disease of envy. Bible in a year: 2 Chronicles 28-29; John 17 Insight Today’s psalm deals with an ancient and perplexing problem: Why do the wicked seem to prosper while those who seek to obey God suffer adversity? In Job, we read of the prosperous wicked who have nothing but contempt for God: “Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?” (Job 21:15). This contradiction has troubled believers in every generation. Yet the psalmist ultimately realizes that temporal prosperity cannot be compared to divine guidance now and eternal glory in the next life. “You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Ps. 73:23-24). Share your comments on today’s devotional at odb.org. You can make a difference. Even the smallest donation helps reach people around the world with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. Donate Special Offer Subscribe Mail Receive ODB at home Podcast Download ODB on iTunes Mobile Get ODB on the go Facebook facebook/ourdailybread Twitter twitter/ourdailybread Instagram instagram/our_daily_bread Google+ Add us to your circle RSS odb.org/feed To read todays Our Daily Bread online visit odb.org. Copyright © 2014, RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA. Written permission must be obtained from RBC Ministries for any further posting or distribution. RBC Ministries produces a variety of Bible resources, which are available for the asking. Many people, making even the smallest of donations, enable RBC Ministries to reach others with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. We are not funded or endowed by any group or denomination. Write [email protected] for more information. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. This message was sent to joycey821@roadrunner from: RBC Ministries | 3000 Kraft Ave | Grand Rapids, MI 49512 Email Marketing by Unsubscribe
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 15:37:57 +0000
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