Devotionals and Musings

A Constantly Updated Document

Copyright by
Joan Saunders

Day 37 Power

Continuing on power:

We are weak of ourselves. God is the one who provides our power.

Ecclesiastes 5 (New American Standard Bible)

19
Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also
empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this
is the gift of God.

Even in the smallest actions, it is God who enables. Without our health, we have no
strength.

Ecclesiastes 6 (New American Standard Bible)

2
a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks
nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a
foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction

When counting your blessings - think on these two verses. Consider the story of the
king's son who quit eating because nothing tasted good. The king had all the best chefs
cook for him, but still the prince wasted away. One day the young man snuck out in the
early morning and came upon some wood choppers. He helped them all morning and
then was offered some of their lunch - water and hard bread. The prince raved about how
wonderful the bread tasted. The moral is obviously about the value of hard work - but
there is also the fact illustrated in Ecclesiastes - riches don't do any good to a person
without the health and wherewithall to enjoy them.

Ecclesiastes 8 (New American Standard Bible)

8
No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of
death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who
practice it.

God chooses. We don’t. As we follow His will, there are promises. And if we claim the
promises and fulfill the associated requirements, we receive. But God made the promises.
God made us. God is God. We aren’t.

Isaiah 40 (New International Version)

26
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
 and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
27
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
28
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

God is immense. Jehovah is powerful. All-powerful. And God wants us to serve Him.

Isaiah 50 (New American Standard Bible)

2
"Why was there no man when I came?
When I called, why was there none to answer?
Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink for lack of water
And die of thirst.

God can and will give power to those who serve.

Jeremiah 27 (New American Standard Bible)

5
"I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My
great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in
My sight.

Remember the immenseness of both the power of God and the weakness of man.
Consider the wonder of God’s caring for us.

1 Peter 5 (New International Version)

7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

And remember that it is God; it is God who gives us power.

Day 38 Power and Glory

We choose whether to enjoy God's blessings and to continually be blessed or not. We
serve by what we do, and also by what we think and say.

Proverbs 18:21 (English Standard Version)

21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.

God wants us to thank him. To praise him. To realize how blessed we are.

Jesus has great power. When He walked this earth, all He had to do was speak, and His
will was done.

Matthew 8 (English Standard Version)

7And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am
not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will
be healed. 9For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to
one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do
this,' and he does it." 13And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as
you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus healed and the people glorified God.

Matthew 9 (New International Version)

6But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...."
Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." 7And the man got up
and went home. 8When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised
God, who had given such authority to men.

And it is the will of God that people give glory to God. That we thank God and praise
Him for what He has done.

Luke 17 (English Standard Version)

15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a
loud voice; 16and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a
Samaritan. 17Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18Was
no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19And he said to
him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

And sometimes bad things happen just for the sake of the healing and the resulting glory
of God.
John 11 (English Standard Version)
3So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." 4But when Jesus
heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the
Son of God may be glorified through it."

Sometimes most of a life can be devoted to setting the stage for a glorious miracle.

John 9 (English Standard Version)

1As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi,
who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3Jesus answered, "It was
not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in
him.

God’s will is not our will and God’s ways are not our ways. Sometimes what He says and
does seem inexplicable. But, we DO have instructions. We are told clearly what we are to
do in many, if not most, instances. And one of those things is to thank God. To glorify
God. To recognize the miracles that surround us and praise His name for them.

Day 39 God

God is in control.

Jeremiah 32:17 (New International Version)

17
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power
and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

Things can change in a moment. We tend to believe this for the negative: a loved one can
be snatched away; a job can be lost; a fire can take away our home – but we have a lot
more difficulty believing it for the positive.

Jeremiah 51 (New International Version)

15
"He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

God IS the creator. He can. He is able. We need to remember that God has ALL the
POWER. God IS in control. He grants us freedom to choose. He gave us life. It because
He granted and gave that we live as we do.

Something which I have seen and also read in various biographies is how the worst
mothers will never-the-less wield enormous power over their young because 'they gave
them life.' The children acknowledge this fact and will be obedient and helpful to awful,
awful people. There exists an inborn reverence for the gift of life.

This reverence of our creator should be so much more true with God.
2 Samuel 22 (New International Version)
33 It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.

God makes us strong. God perfects what we do. Perfection totally eludes us otherwise.

2 Kings 17 (English Standard Version)

36but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great
power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you
shall sacrifice.

We should fear God, not just because He is awesome, but because without Him we are so
helpless.

1 Chronicles 29 (English Standard Version)

11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the
majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O
LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from you,
and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make
great and to give strength to all.

We need God to make us great. We need God for power and might and strength. Riches
and honor come from God.

2 Chronicles 20 (English Standard Version)

6and said, "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all
the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to
withstand you.

God is great. God is powerful. God loves us. We need Him.

Day 40 Shame

God has tremendous power - so why doesn't He get mad and squash the bad guys? In the
O.T., He did do that a number of times. Drowned them in rivers, scared them so that they
killed each other, gave people the power to hit them in the head with a rock or to beat
them to death with an ass’s jaw. What a way to go!

However, the fact is, none of us is all that great on the God scale. So let's talk about
'mercy'.

Exodus 20 (English Standard Version)

4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth
generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who
love me and keep my commandments.

God states very clearly that He has the right to punish. But, even before Jesus came to
spare us from that 'visiting iniquity' part, God still promised mercy to those who are
obedient.

Mercy wouldn’t be mercy if we deserved it. He will forgive, let us off the hook, give us
better than we deserve – if our hearts are obedient to Him.

Exodus 34 (English Standard Version)

6The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping
steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will
by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the
children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation."

There is punishment lurking for those who do not accept the gifts of God. How do we
know if our heart is obedient? Jesus is the guarantee of forgiveness. Accepting Jesus as
Lord provides assurance of mercy and not punishment.

For those who do not accept Jesus and who are not obedient to God, the punishment may
extend to their children and grandchildren. Can you imagine having your children take on
the spiritual guilt for your bad judgements?

We are going to make bad judgements.

Psalm 25 (English Standard Version)

2O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.

We tend to bring shame onto ourselves. But when we serve God, we are protected, by His
mercy, from the shame that should come to us.

3Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;

they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
5Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
6Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
These laments could come from us today. “Help me to do better, God. Teach me, lead
me, I will do what you want, I will. God, remember how much you love me.”

7Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!

“Please, don’t remember all the bad and foolish things I have done. You are good, God,
be good to me because YOU are good.”

8 Good and upright is the LORD;

therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

Because God is good, He teaches us. He instructs us.

9He leads the humble in what is right,

and teaches the humble his way.
10All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

God will lead those who follow His instructions.

11For your name’s sake, O LORD,

pardon my guilt, for it is great.

God will pardon even great guilt.

12Who is the man who fears the LORD?

Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

God will teach us how to make better choices.

13His soul shall abide in well-being,

and his offspring shall inherit the land.

Our children will be blessed and not cursed. Our souls will have peace.

15My eyes are ever toward the LORD,

for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

If we just keep looking towards God; He WILL rescue us from the traps that have snared
us.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely and afflicted.
We make ourselves troubled. We get into messes.

17The troubles of my heart are enlarged;

bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
19Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
God will rescue us and He will get us out of our messes – if we take refuge in Him. He
will spare us from the horrible, stinking, sucking, quicksand of shame.

Romans 10 (New International Version)

9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe
and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the
Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."