This Day With God – A Spiritual Journey | Share The Word

Consider His Great Love and Call Out for Help

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Mark Shields

In reading Psalm 107 and writing about it in the previous post, what was observed is that the Word brings strength and should be the food for our souls on a daily basis. We face difficulties in life with things like our health, our relationships, or in our jobs but if we consider the great love of the Lord and call out for help, He will provide what we need to overcome. We can trust that God is with us to always provide what we need.

Everyone faces trials in life but God is more powerful than our problems. Pray every day, trust every minute, always have hope, and believe God is at work in your life. With one word, Jesus calmed the sea and with one word can turn a walk in the desert into a vacation on the beach. Here’s a video to give a little hope for our day: Held – Natalie Grant.

Let us treasure in our heart the wonderful works of God; praising Him and being thankful.

Questions for Reflection – Psalm 107 – 109 (thisdaywithgod.wordpress.com)
Stressed-less Living (greaterislove.wordpress.com)
You’ve Got to Go Through It – Psalm 107:6-9 (stevesbiblemeditations.com)

Posted in Psalm | Tagged Christianity, daily basis, God, God’s Word, Health, http www youtube, Jesus, Jobs, Lord, Natalie Grant, Praise, Psalm, Psalm 107, Relationships, religion, Strength, Word, works of god | 3 Comments

Delivered from the Trials of Life

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Mark Shields

Think of how God has delivered His people throughout history from starving in the dessert, from oppression, during sickness, or in distress at sea. He saved Daniel from the lions, Moses rose to prominence at age 80, and He gave David the courage to defeat Goliath. With God there is victory.

Pour out your hurts and needs to God and He has the power to turn it around for you. Take comfort and be patient. God is big enough to turn it around and make it better than you could ever dream. In modern times, here’s a list of difficulties along with the people that went through it to eventually succeed:

Dismissed from drama school – Lucille Ball
Critiques didn’t like their sound – The Beatles
Was cut from his high school basket ball team – Michael Jordan
Teachers told his parents he couldn’t learn anything – Thomas Edison
Lacked imagination and no original ideas – Walt Disney
Defeated in eight elections – Abraham Lincoln

If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived. When we do succeed, our response should be one of thankfulness. When delivered from these trials of life, we should sing joyful songs, praise God, and tell everyone what He does for us.

The Time of Your Deliverance (handmaidathisfeet.com)
Attitude #1 of a Giant-Slayer – Staying Connected With God (maidentomotherhood.wordpress.com)

Posted in Psalm | Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Beatles, David, Deliverance, God, History, Joy, Lucille Ball, Michael Jordon, Moses, Praise, quotes, Thankfulness, The Walt Disney Company, Thomas Edison, Trials | 14 Comments

Questions for Reflection – Psalm 107 – 109

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Mark Shields

Over the last few weeks, the journey has taken me through 1 Chronicles 24 – 29. Some of the main lessons learned were that a lot of planning and organizing goes into a project. David wanted very much to build the Temple of God. Just as David wanted to build the Temple of God, our desire should be to build up our own bodies as God’s temple. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, the Word says “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”.

Much planning and strategy is needed in our society today as we set out in competition against the negatives that hold us back. As believers, we can defeat the competition by using the Bible is our playbook, knowing our role, and following every detail. Jesus has shown us how.

The task each day is to follow God’s commands by beginning with prayer, planning for success, and accepting the help of the Holy Spirit to guide our steps. A daily devotional should be a system of study that documents insights, allows application of God’s Word in our lives, and can be passed on.

David would not build the Temple of God but His son named Solomon would. In the twilight of his life, David was thankful for all that God had given him. He had accumulated many resources for Israel and personal treasure. His priority at this point in his life was to prepare Israel for the future and to give back to God by using these resources to build the Temple. In a similar way, when we read and write about faith, we are building treasures in Heaven. Like David, we may not see the end result of our effort while here on earth but we are contributing to God’s purpose of building lives for the future.

The journey through 1 Chronicles is complete. As I continue the journey through the Bible, the next adventure will carry me back into the book of Psalms. Over the next few weeks, I will be posting about the journey through Psalms 107-109 and will use the questions below to help focus on each passage. Feel free to respond with a short note or a comment about any of these questions. Also, I welcome any other thoughts or ideas, favorite inspirational videos, photos, or favorite Bible verses. Just add them to the comments or to a Facebook page I’ve set up at this link: This Day With God.

Psalm 107
Passage Lookup
List the areas of life for which God has brought deliverance (vv. 4, 10, 17, 23). What should be the response of those delivered? Why? Enumerate the wonderful works God does for his people. How do you respond to the love of God? Why?

Psalm 108
Passage Lookup
What is the significance of the repetition of Psalm 57:7-11 and Psalm 60:5-12 here? For what is God worshipped? How do the people respond?

Psalm 109
Passage Lookup
To what extent can you identify with the psalmist’s situation presented here? How is he treated? Why? To what extent does David request judgment on the accuser? On what basis? In what areas? On what basis does David pray for deliverance?

The above reading plan will be used as I share over the next few posts. It’s important to have a plan. I’m thankful that Jesus is God’s plan for us and by accepting Him as Savior; we have taken the steps necessary to make this day with Him amazing! At this link: God’s Plan for Us, is a post about accepting God’s plan or reaffirming our “YES” for Christ.

__________________________________________

Resources and Supplementary Helps Used in Posts
Adeney, Carol. This Morning with God. Downer Grove Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1978
First United Methodist Waco Podcast
Christ Notes
Family Times

Book of Psalms (altruistico.wordpress.com)
Pass It On (thisdaywithgod.wordpress.com)

Posted in 1 Chronicles | Tagged Bible, book of psalms, Daily Devotional, David, God, God’s purpose, Holy Spirit, HolySpirit, Israel, Jesus, Journey, journey through the bible, Lessons, Organizing, personal treasure, Planning, Prayer, Psalm, Psalms, psalms 107, Solomon, Temple of God, Treasures in Heaven | 8 Comments

Giving Back to God

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Mark Shields

In the previous post titled “Pass It On”, it was explained that David’s reign was in its twilight and he was thankful for all that God had given him. He had accumulated many resources for Israel and personal treasure. His priority at this point in his life was to prepare Israel for the future and to give back to God by using these resources to build the Temple. He wanted more of God and less of himself much like what this video makes clear: Empty Me – Jeremy Camp.

This day with God, we have a chance to give of our time, talents, and treasure. Giving demonstrates our love for God. It allows us to express our gratitude for what God has blessed us with and is never regretted.

Pass It On (thisdaywithgod.wordpress.com)
God’s grace is sufficient unto all (bummyla.wordpress.com)
Sinning against someone. (apolloslloyd.wordpress.com)

Posted in 1 Chronicles | Tagged Christ, Christianity, David, Giving, God, Israel, Jeremy Camp, Lord, personal treasure, Priorities, religion, Resources, spirituality, Temple, Treasure | 2 Comments

Pass It On

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Mark Shields

Reading in 1 Chronicles 29, David was up in age and as his reign draws to a close it is evident that his top priorities in life were God first, family second, and being king third. He gave willingly as a cheerful giver to the building of the Temple. As his son Solomon was being prepared to take over as king, David made sure all his resources of gold, silver, and bronze were put into the building of the House of God. He led the way by giving his personal treasures to this good work and drew others with him to give of their time and treasure to the magnificent temple.

The temple would be made of gold and silver; a magnificent structure but the riches of Christ exceed the brilliance of the temple. As Christians, we are told that we are the temple of God and that the Holy Spirit lives in us. We may not abound with affluence in the worldly definition but there is a way to gain spiritual riches beyond measure; giving our time, skills, and resources into the building up of new followers of Christ.

What can we give of our time, skills, and resources? I began to think and pray about this a few years ago. An idea for me came in praying about how I might contribute to God’s purposes. This blog was started because over the years, I had studied God’s Word but struggled at taking in and keeping its concepts so that I could begin to apply them in my life. Over the years, I’ve worked at coming up with a personal Bible study system that puts an emphasis on documentation of insights as one reads God’s Word. This system is a tool in application of God’s Word and I hope to pass this on to others. It is kind of a Spiritual road map that hopefully will be used by others to make their journey more interesting, effective, and efficient.

This day with God, consider your place in the ongoing history of the people of God. Thank Him for helping you make a significant contribution to His purposes.