Grace and Peace to you. Todays Fresh Manna. To Encourage, Edify & Equip You: 21 (27.1.14): What is your Perspective on life? ************************* He makes the (storm) clouds His chariot. Psalm 104: 3. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55: 8,9. Our human perspective on current events is naturally low-centered. We tend to look at the circumstances of life in terms of what they may do to our cherished hopes and convenience, and we shape our decisions and reactions accordingly. When a problem threatens we rush to God, not to seek His perspective, but to ask Him to deflect the trouble. Our self-concern takes priority over whatever it is that God might be trying to do through the trouble. One of the harder lessons of life is to learn that our self/low-centered, sense-oriented subjectivism militates against our effective co-operation with God in His purpose for us in a given trial. In order to bring this point home to us, I want to introduce you to Daniel, a Daniel you may not be too well acquainted with. Try to visualize, as you walk with him in the captive train as he is driven from his beloved country across the weary, dusty miles to Babylon. And then pray with him as he anticipates the ruthless pressures of monopolized life in a totalitarian state, without the accustomed religious props. But how do you pray in a situation like this? What are you to pray for? What chance will there be of any use to God or country as a captive in a heathen land? How do you pray when your storehouse of hope and promise is suddenly emptied, and the future turns into a dead-end street? How are you to confront God with the fact that your life potential and possible usefulness to Him has just been cancelled out? Thousands of others besides Daniel have had to face similar situations. Or them and for us, Daniel has some strong meat. It is the sort of circumstances that Daniel had to face that mature us and drives us to seek God, not just for our relief, but for His own sake. When we study the book of Daniel, we are taught that above the dead-end streets of human perspective there is the divine perspective that unfolds limitless opportunities within the will of God. God fulfills Himself in many ways. Jonahs witness might have been given on the street corners of Nineveh, but Daniels band had to give theirs in the fire and in the lions den. In both places the results were dramatic and effective. Nowhere is the greatness of God seen to such advantage as it is in His ability to use as His chariot of conquest the circumstances that pose the greatest threat to His cause. So let us discern and be sensitive to the circumstances that we live in, and see how they turn out to be Gods ways of bringing out the best in our lives. And also they may be the ones bringing most blessings to others as we persevere in them. Having the positive and divine perspective in life is essential to harness all our seemingly bad times into best times of our life. Be encouraged! Yes, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. Romans 8: 37. Amen!
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 09:00:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015