RLCC Daily Devotional

If you were to list down on a piece of paper all the things that you like about yourself and those that you don't like about yourself, which list would be longer? It all depends on how you see yourself. But it's even more important to know how the Lord sees you. The Lord delights in you as a father delights in his son or daughter, which means He likes you even though He knows you fully more than you can ever know yourself. But so what?

Knowing all the blessings that a person can experience through faith in Jesus, we are confident that if we share the Gospel with someone, he/she will readily believe. Right? Wrong. This is often not the case. We need to understand why.

All of us go through storms in life. No one is exempted. But when it does happen, our response reveals the status of our spiritual lives. For most of us, our faith is severely tested during such times. We sometimes wonder, "Where is God?" He seems to be absent or unconcerned about what's going on in our lives during those critical moments. What must we remember during storms of life?

Prayer is the privilege that God has given us so that we can communicate with Him at any time. If you think about it, it is indeed an awesome privilege. But sometimes people don't appreciate this privilege. They take it for granted. If ever they do pray, it is often very shallow, routine, and sometimes insincere. How can we respond to this awesome privilege in a way that glorifies God? We must learn how to pray authentic prayers.

Knowing about God and His kingdom is a gift. He allows us to know the truth so that we can grow in our faith. If we are faithful with what we know about God, He will reveal more to us. If we are unfaithful, we will lose what we think we know about God. This is a principle that is important to understand and remember.

God wants all men to be saved, but not all men are saved. Why? It depends on how people respond to God's word. The word of God is the means of grace whereby people can be saved. It is also the means of grace for their spiritual growth. If we don't choose well our response to the word of God, it will affect our actual experience of God's salvation.

We've all been there. We find ourselves in situations where we are being unfairly treated by people. We feel angry and we want to fight back. We want to defend ourselves, to show those people that they are wrong and we are right. The more we plan our counterattack, the more we feel miserable inside. It's like a no-win situation. What can we do? Of course, we can pray. But how do we pray?

We all have a need to belong. God knows this. That's why He created the family of Jesus so that together we can belong to Him and to one another. However, some people do not understand this. They think that being a Christian is just a personal decision. We don't need to think about others. We can have a relationship with Jesus all by ourselves. But this is contrary to the vision of Jesus for His church. We are called to be His family.

People try to find joy and happiness in the things of the world. But believers find their true delight in the Lord. However, because we are not trained to be thankful, a lot of believers feel that they too must find their joy and happiness in the world. They do not realize that everything we need for a life of joy and fulfillment is found in the Lord.

Many Christians fall into the trap of not being mindful of their spiritual lives. They live each day unaware of the condition of their souls. Consequently, they fail to address issues or concerns early on that might affect their relationship with the Lord. We should practice the Prayer of Examen daily so that we would be aware of God's work in our lives and so cooperate with Him more faithfully.