I Hope in Your Word

 

An Emoji Devotions for Thu 20th May, 2021

Topic: I hope in Your Word

Highlight: Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

Psalm 119:114 KJV

As believer, we need grace to stand on His word. God said in Isaiah 43:13 NLT that "From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.” It is advisable that we continue to hope on God's word even when things seems different. Gods word do not fail.  His words are powerful and they never disappoints. When we hope on God's word in the middle of hard times. We will be consistent in knowing and doing what is right till answer comes our way. A man called Daniel Prayed and God answered his prayers but a Prince of Persia delayed his prayer for 21 days but with the help of Archangel Micheal he was able to receive the angel with answers to his prayers. The essence of this story is that Daniel was able to persist in the place of prayer for 3 weeks because he hope in God's word. Daniel 9:2. 

It is good to hope in God's word because God is merciful when keeping His covenant. Psalms 107:20 tells us that God's word heals and saves from destruction. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; Habakkuk 2:3a. We must continue praying for grace to hope on God's word because the entrance of His word gives life. 

Prayer: God grant me the grace to hope on your word. Do not allow enemy to sway me away from hoping on your word. Amen

Hope to live

 An Emoji Devotional Tue, 18th May 2021

Topic: Hope to live

Highlight: 

And everywhere the river goes, there will be many animals and fish. Wherever this water goes the Dead Sea will become fresh. So where the river goes there will be many living things. Ezekiel 47:6 

There is hope for you so long the river has not run dry. River gives hope to every living things. As river flows even the dead sea becomes fresh. Every living things can live because of hope. Hope is like a river; a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. It flows to give life to whoever wants to live. If you want to love someone and they are not loving you back, but you have hope in love. Hope will bring a better person to love you more tomorrow. In whatever you want to do in life, have hope in it. Jesus Christ is the Hope of glory. Without hope for tomorrow there is no way anyone can survive.  

It is essential to bring the hope of Jesus into your life so you can partake in His eternal glory. This is possible once you have hope in Him. It is the only hope that never disappoints. Are you having difficulty in your life. Have hope in Jesus today.  Jesus told Martha in John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;" There are many words of hope found in the Bible that can build our hope in Christ. If you have a doubting mind about the future, it is time to call Jesus the hope of hopes into your life today.

Prayer: I am calling on Jesus the Hope of Hopes to come into my life,my family and my situations from now on and forever. Thank you Lord.  In Jesus name. Amen.

Your Eyes

 

An Emoji Devotions for Fri 14th May, 2021

Topic: Your Eyes

Highlight: “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. Matthew 6:22 NIV

There is a door to your soul. Are you conscious of that aspect of your personality that sees a situation? Your Eye. 

What are your thoughts? Are you afraid or confident? Angry or sympathetic? Constructive or destructive? Is your eye closed or open to the truth.

If your eyes are healthy your whole body will be full of light. Be honest with yourself. What do you see?

He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." Mark 8:24

Once again, How do you see things?

Every member of thy body shall be enlightened by the light of thine eye, and directed to perform its proper office. But if thine eye be evil it will misguide thy love, thy choice, and all the tenor of thy life: if thy judgment then be blind, which must guide thee, what a miserable erroneous wretch wilt thou be!

There are treasures in heaven. It is our wisdom to give all diligence to make our title to eternal life sure through Jesus Christ, and to look on all things here below, as not worthy to be compared with it, and to be content with nothing short of it. 

Prayer: Please Lord I want to see with healthy eyes. In Jesus name. Amen.

Do Not Hide Your Face From Me

An Emoji Devotions for Thu 13th May, 2021

Topic: Do not hide your face from me!

By H.U.Wenger

Highlights: The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)

Psalm 27 spreads joy and confidence in the victory of the Lord in the first six verses. The Psalmist is very certain about God’s help. When the wicked will devour him, they will stumble and fall, when war will rise against him, his heart gets not afraid, because he relies on the Lord. He wants to dwell in the house of the Lord to gaze on the beauty and goodness of the Lord and seek him in his temple. He firmly believes that in times of troubles the Lord will hide him in his dwelling place and eventually exalt him above his enemies. He sees himself bringing sacrifices to the Lord with shouts of joy, with hymns and music. Is the psalmist here just in an enthusiastic mood or does he depicts reality? Jesus makes clear that the words of Psalm 27 speak out a spiritual reality, for now in the faith and spirit and once in plain visible reality. (John 14:1 – 3; 17, 24 et alii) 

David has intimate moments with the Lord and gets  glimpses of what will be in the future for ever and ever, and in the same way it applies for us. Good keeps his promises, there is no doubt. David and we with him, do, however, not live yet in that glorious time.  Verse 7 has therefore a slightly different tune. It is the urgent plea to God to hear his voice, to listen to him and to answer him. He is thirsting to meet the Lord, and to look into his face. Do not hide your face from me – you are my only help – do not reject or forsake me. In all of his thoughts he clings to the fact that the Lord is his savior. Although he is afraid of his oppressors, he holds the conviction that he will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. To his own soul and to us he exclaims: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

When I do not see the face of the Lord, when I have a feeling he hides his face from me, I need to keep on searching and like David, I will finally have glimpses of the future kingdom actuality. I need to search the Bible  with patience to see what His word is saying concerning my situation.  Patience in God's promises can be defined as awaiting God’s time without doubting God’s goodness and love. 

Prayer:  Lord God, thank you that you are my light and my salvation. Thank you that you are the stronghold of my life. Let me never fear humans or be afraid of circumstances or powers. Let me wait for you with patience and let me always seek your face – I need you. Amen

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.

 

An Emoji Devotions for Tue 11th May, 2021

Topic: Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.

Highlight: “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” James 1:21-25

In the Gospel of Luke (Luke 11: 27 – 28) only, we read about a very short, but nevertheless utterly important event. Jesus is preaching to the crowd and a woman who must have been deeply touched by his teaching suddenly exclaims:  “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” As a woman she may have felt the rightful pride and thankfulness of Mary, to call Jesus her son. In his answer Jesus confirms her excitement, but corrects it at the same time. The Greek word that Jesus uses here is mainly used in answers and can be translated with “yes, but much more …”   He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” The exclamation of the woman aims to fleshly human specifics, whereas the response of Jesus gives emphasis to the attitude of the heart. 

It is no coincidence that Mary serves as well as an example with regard to that. When the angel tells her that she will get in trouble with society, by carrying a child from God without being married, she shows a very obedient reaction.  “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38) Not what we are called to do, not what we have done or missed doing is important. We are blessed, we are to be praised when we are servants who willingly hear the word of God and do our best to obey, to live it out in our everydays life.

 “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:16-17

Yes Mary is blessed and to be praised, but although she was the mother of Jesus, she has no special stand among the followers of Jesus. She is not to be praised due to her motherhood, but due to her attitude of heart. If you and I are hearing the word of God and do our best to shape our lives in obedience to the very word, we are to be blessed and to be praised in the same way. Only the obedience to the message of Jesus makes us to salt of the earth and to the light of the world. With regard to history, most of us are insignificant little people, but we all live in an environment in which we are important and significant to some people around us. By obeying the word of God, God lifts us out of our smallness and makes us to a destination boards and to a force that works against rottenness and decomposition. As a follower of Christ, you are a VIP, a very important person and an upholder for the society in which you live.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, let me look away from fleshly privileges and concentrate on the attitude of my heart. Do not let me forget that being obedient to you is the way to true greatness. Teach me your word and make me a professional in living it out in my everyday routine. Amen   

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge

An Emoji Devotions for 10th of May, 2021

Topic: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge

By H.U. Wenger

Highlights: 

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17, 3)

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1, 15 – 20)

The fear of the Lord has nothing to do with anxiety or being intimidated. Fear of the Lord means much more the acceptance or the acknowledgment that the Lord God is the origin of all existing life and the creator of heaven and earth. True wisdom and truth can only be found in him. Proverbs 1:7 therefore states: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” By searching for him, by listening to his revelatory word, I can gain true insight in the functioning of the world and the human soul and accumulate some wisdom. If I am getting lost in the philosophies of the world, in theories about fake origins, like the evolutionary development of life from the spontaneous and random convergence of proteins into a single celled organism and from there upwards to complicated and intelligent life forms, I remain a fool.

 Everything I can produce from there is only an always new level of ignorance. Wisdom comes from the LORD and from the LORD alone. He does not only give wisdom and understanding as the bearer of GOD’s fullness, but he presents himself also as the redeemer for us as human beings. God is totally and unchangeably good for all of his creation. Our ancestors, Adam and Eve did not stick to this axiom and got alienated from God. Life in the fallen creation got heavy on them and together with Satan they became enemies of God, accusing him for the misery they got us all into. Christ paid our guilt and transgressions through his blood shed on the cross and offers now everybody who comes to him life eternal. All he wants from us is to learn from him and to change ourselves more and more into his character and image. He tells us that the same way he has been sent by the Father to show us how good, how gentle, how long suffering, how humble of heart and how forgiving the Father is, we are sent from him to show the world around us all this wonderful attributes he has revealed to us. For this we need discipline. Without disciplined following him, we remain fools and betray ourselves. By following in his footsteps we will be people of knowledge and wisdom. 

Prayer: God, I do accept that you are totally and unchangeably good for my life, no matter what. To you belongs all glory. “Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O LORD my GOD, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. Turn to me and have mercy on me.” (Psalm 86:11 – 13; 16a) Amen  

 

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s guidance

 

An Emoji Devotions for Sun 9th May 2021

Topic: Thanksgiving for the Lord’s guidance

By H.U. Wenger

Highlight: Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! (Psalm 66:20)

The highlight is the very last verse in Psalm 66. It is an exclamation of a person who has experienced the Lord’s guidance in the midst of hard and inconvenient circumstances. “For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you — vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.” (Verses 10 – 14) In such testing times we are often afflicted by the devil with thoughts like, God has forgotten me, my guilt is way too big that he would save me from the dire circumstances. He does not love me, his punishment is upon me, and so on. We might even get angry at him, as did the Israelites facing the read see in front of them and the Egyptians behind them. Why could we not die in Egypt? Why that tedious journey, just to be slaughtered in the desert? But Moses was among them, and Moses was a man who believed God according to his word through the Holy Ghost, who was in him. 

Believers in the New covenant have all received the Holy Ghost and can count on the word of Jesus in John 7:38: “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” He obeyed God and he made the impossible happen. The biggest danger turned into the biggest victory, orchestrated by God alone. 

It is therefore not astonishing that Psalmist exclaims: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. Say to God, How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name. Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot — come, let us rejoice in him. He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations — let not the rebellious rise up against him. 

Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. (Verses 1 – 9) You may say: “How can I praise him as I am in the midst of troubles, crying out for his help and he does not seem to care?” You can do it by faith! “Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.” (Psalm 50:23) Jesus makes in Mark 11 clear that he, who has faith in God will eventually see, what he has believed: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” 

Psalm 66 gives us just one warning. God does not hear us, when we live in sin: “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” (Verses 18 – 20)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I want to praise you with Psalm 66. I am confessing to you all my conscious sin and I ask you to search my heart for everything that is not dedicated to you. Thank you for your abundant love to me and for the gracious acceptance of my prayer. I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! (Mark 9:24)