Daily Devotion (Monday, June, 1st - Friday, June 5th)

Monday

"And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will." - Romans 8:27

We don't always know what to pray in every given situation. That is when the Holy Spirit will help you, even interceding for you. Romans 8:26-27 tells us, "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will."

But what is God's will?

We as humans are always in interested in the here and now, what will benefit us temporarily. God, however, sees things a bit differently. He is also interested in the "bye and bye" and the eternal.
In other words, God has a bigger plan than our personal happiness in the given moment. He desires our holiness as we are conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

It is interesting that following Romans 8:27 is Romans 8:28: "People don't read what follows Romans 8:28." Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

Right after that, Romans 8:29 tells us, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (nkjv). We need to read Romans 8:26-29 to get the whole picture!

Let's put this all together, because this is showing the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. There are times when we are overwhelmed with the way life is going. We are so distressed that we don't even know how to pray. In our hearts we groan. But the Holy Spirit takes these groans and sighs and turns them to prayers to the Father.
No matter what is happening, God is going to take your present circumstances and bring good out of bad. But His ultimate goal is take all that happens, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, and make us more like Jesus. Because that is the objective and endgame for every believer.

One other thing, happiness does not come from seeking it, but from seeking God. If you dedicate your life to being happy, it's doubtful you ever will be. But if you focus instead on being holy, on being the person God has called you to be, you will find personal happiness as a byproduct of having your priorities in order.


Tuesday

"And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die'" (Gen 2:16-17).

Everyone needs the gift of freedom and boundaries in their work to succeed. God set up the ultimate work environment in the Garden of Eden. He gave Adam and Eve responsibility to manage the animals, the agriculture and every activity. He gave them specific instructions as to how things were to be done but gave liberty of expression for fulfilling their tasks.

He also told them what was off limits. They could not eat from the tree of good and evil because He knew it would be bad for them. He was not trying to withhold from them; He was trying to protect them.

If you are a manager it is your responsibility to clearly define the job responsibilities of those under your care. They should know clearly what the freedoms and the boundaries are in carrying out their duties. They should be given adequate freedoms with authority to enforce their decisions that will impact whether they can be successful or not.

Once freedoms and boundaries are established, this allows a healthy accountability to take place between management and worker. Both can have healthy expectations of each other.

Do you have a clearly defined job description with measurable goals outlined? Are your freedom and boundaries clearly defined so you know what you can and cannot do within the scope of your job? If not, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Today, evaluate your job function and make sure you have clearly defined expectations and the way in which you are expected to accomplish your tasks.


Wednesday

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever."
--John 14:16

There are times when we don't really know what or how to pray. Maybe you are overwhelmed by a burden. You find yourself discouraged, depressed, and overwhelmed. It is at that point that the Holy Spirit will help you.

Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as a "comforter." In John 14:16, He said, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever" (KJV).

We have lost the meaning of the word "comforter." It comes from the Greek word Paracletos, which means "called alongside to help," a helper, aide, or assistant. Some versions translate Paracletos as the word "advocate," which is applied to Jesus in 1 John 2:1: "If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous."

The purpose of an advocate is to plead the cause of another, an intercessor. This is part of the work that the Holy Spirit has come to do in your life. Sometimes a sigh will do. Why? Because we don't always have to put words to our prayers.

Here's the good news--sometimes just a sigh or groan will do. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.
Many times we don't know what to say, or how to say it. We just know that we are in pain, so we sigh, groan, and sometimes cry.

That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. As Romans 8:26-27 tells us, "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."


Thursday

"For David...served the purpose of God in his own generation" (Acts 13:36 NASB)

Imagine for a moment that you have just died and you are about to come before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Jesus is speaking to his angel about you. He then says these words: "Janice served the purpose of my Heavenly Father for her generation."

Will God be able to say you served your purpose in your generation? Imagine being able to say that. God was able to say this about the life of David, even though David made some incredibly bad choices in his life that led to long term consequences. However, because David repented each time he erred, his purpose was accomplished on earth as God had designed it.

One of the prayers we should often pray for people is this; "Lord, may you fulfill every purpose for which you made them. May there be no inheritance left on the table that he/she is entitled to."

That is really the definition of success. Success is fulfilling the complete purpose for which God made us. It has nothing to do with wealth, accomplishments, stature in life, or standard of living. It has to do with living a life of obedience to the Father. And when we live a life of obedience to the Father, we will fulfill the purposes that God had in mind when he made us.

In 1924, Eric Liddle, a Scottish Olympic runner who's life was chronicled in a movie entitled the Chariots of Fire, was challenged by his missionary sister to forego running in the Olympics in lieu of going to China with her as a missionary. He responded by saying, "When I run I feel His (God's) pleasure. I was made to run and I was made to be a missionary too." Eric understood his complete purpose for his generation. As a result, he brought glory to the Father through his running and his missionary service.

Today, ask God to fulfill His purposes for your life in your generation.


Friday

"Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully." (2 Corinthians 9:7)

I don't know about you, but when Christmas rolls around, it seems as if there is always someone for whom we feel obligated to buy a gift. Although we don't really enjoy the process, some of us do it out of duty. On the other hand, it is exciting to buy a gift for someone you really love, isn't it? You look forward to it.

This is how God wants us to give to Him--not out of duty that says, "Oh, I had better give to God and help Him out." Or, "I guess I should help in the Sunday School. After all, God needs my help with those kids." Or, "I ought to go tell someone about Jesus, because God needs my help in getting the gospel out."

If this is how we feel, then we should keep our money, our time, and our service, because God doesn't want them. Our hearts and our attitudes matter more to Him than our "gifts."

If you give your money, time, or anything out of duty, constraint, or an expectation of receiving something in return, then your motive is wrong and it won't count for anything before God.

Your heart needs to be right first. Giving is a voluntary action. You don't have to do it if you don't want to.
Maybe you feel as though you don't have much to offer. God can do a lot with a little. Just take what you have, present it to Him, and say, "Lord, it isn't much, but here it is. It's yours."

Then watch what God can do and how He can bless the life that has been dedicated to Him with a willing heart.