NSM Evotional 06/26/2012

A Glory Seed Devotional
Cities of God…

“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.” (Psalms 46:4-7 ESV)

I suspect over the years you have been called a lot of things. And all of them have helped you become the person you are, even the things that have not been so nice. Sunday afternoon I had the wonderful opportunity to engage in conversation with a young lad named James. James has been a victim of being made fun of and called by some not-so-good names. It got so bad that his mom and dad had to take him out of public school and home school him. As we walked and talked James told me about two teachers that did not treat him well yet in spite of their lack of respect for him he told me the reason he thought they treated him the way they did. One was old he told me, “and when you get old you forget things.” The other teacher had a class full of rowdy kids and was always angry and for some reason took his anger out on James.

This morning as I listened to Psalms 46 I found myself thinking about the mature young man James becoming and I found myself thinking of him as “the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.” I’ll bet never in his young life has he ever been called a city, and especially a city of God, but because God is so actively immersed in James life that’s exactly what he is. In fact, each of us can be called “the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.” And in the midst of James life (and ours), there’s a spiritual life giving and sustaining river constantly refreshing and re-strengthening us. And it is out of that “Living River Water” we can draw the strength and other resources needed to become victors and not victims.

“In this life you will have difficulty people will not understand you and treat you badly,” Jesus said (paraphrased), “but don’t be distressed because I have overcome the world.” And the waters of God began flowing freely through the lives of those that love God not through lip service but through the “sweat of their brow.”

What impressing me most about James was the fact that in spite of how deeply those two teachers hurt him out of the “Living River Water” he was doing his very best to forgive them.

Grace and PEACE!
Gary


Note: Should you want to go back and review this Glory Seed or others you can do so by clicking on this link: http://gloryseeds.wordpress.com/.

Scripture quotations marked ESV "Are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."