Word for Today, Mon, 20 Aug 2001: You Are In Control Over Everything!

#1 · August 19, 2001, 6:21 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on August 19, 2001, 6:21 pm
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Not everything that goes on around us seems good, right, fun, or
even fair. Yet the Word of God reminds us that God is in
control. I think about that thought often. One of my favorite
praise and worship CDs comes from Vineyard Music. It is
entitled, "You Are In Control". The very first song on the CD is
a paraphrase of the well-known 23rd Psalm... "The Lord is my
Shepherd, I shall not want.". In this song, the writer uses a
modern paraphrase and writes, "YOU are my shepherd, I have no
needs. You lead me by peaceful streams and You refresh my life.
You hold my hand and You guide my steps. I can walk through the
valley of death and I won't be afraid --- Because You are in
Control..." (The rhythm and beat are reminiscent of the 1960s
Chriatian Rock group, "The Birds" --- remember the ones. "To
everything, Turn, Turn, Turn, there is a season, Turn, Turn,
Turn, and a time to every purpose under heaven (based on
Ecclesiastes).

Well, I am a deep, firm believer that God is, indeed in control.
Today, our family uncovered another calamity in the list of
difficulties we've had this summer. My wife found out that her
brother, Tom, has been hospitalized. Indications are that he has
a form of acute leukemia. We had not heard from him in about two
weeks and we had been concerned. (Tom is in his mid twenties,
with a young wife and a very young baby). My wife is very
concerned. We've already had our own list of disappointments
this summer. My wife's grandmother has been diagnosed with
cancer and has a limited time left to live. Both of my wife's
parents have had various health-related difficulties, and I have
been out of work since the end of June.

Where is God in all of this? God is completely in control. I
have no clue what the outcomes of any of these situations will be
--- except for one thing. I know that in my case, anyway, God
will certainly teach me something about Himself, draw me to
Him. bring our relationship closer, and give me opportunities to
share about my relationship with Him.

Can that be unsettling? Only if you do not trust God for the
outcome. As for me, I have had plenty of difficulties in my
life. Not a one of them has been easy, yet in every single one
of them, God has not only brought me through them, in each case,
He has taught me things about myself and about how His Word
relates to me, and to our relationship with one another.

I don't enter a day and ask for a new calamity. But I do enter
each day asking God to be with me in whatever events I have to
face in this life. I have every confidence that He is preparing
me for something far more rewarding. That, alone, is sufficient
reason to have "strength for today and bright hope for
tomorrow".

I do ask for your prayers for my family and especially for my
wife's family, and for her grandmother and her brother. Leukemia
and cancer are scary things for any of us to face. I pray that
God will sustain all of them, bring healing if possible, and most
certainly draw each one into a deeply intimate relationship with
Him.

We don't NEED calamity for us to seek a personally intimate
relationship with our LORD, or do we?

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

Reply-to: Quiet Walk <quietwalk@lists.crosswalk.com>
Subject: Quiet Walk for Sunday, August 19, 2001

Q U I E T W A L K D E V O T I O N A L
by Walk Thru the Bible

BIBLE READING

Romans 9:1-18

OVERVIEW
God manifests His sovereignty through His dealings with
the children of Abraham.

INSIGHT
When we look at the affairs of men, we are tempted to
believe that God is not sovereign, that things are
running amuck, that the world is out of control. However,
one look at Romans 9 reminds us that this is not true.
God is completely in control. He is working out His
sovereign and mysterious willregardless of appearances.
God can be counted on to bring about everything He has
promised.

PRAYER

* The Lord will use our repentance to minister to
others. Praise Him for His grace:

Because Your lovingkindness is better than
life,
My lips shall praise You.
Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow
and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful
lips. . . .
Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will
rejoice (Psalm 63:3-5,7).

* Now pray this confession to the Lord to keep your
life free from sin and in fellowship with Him:

O Lord, I know the way of man is not
in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his
own steps.
O Lord, correct me, but with justice;
Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to
nothing (Jeremiah 10:23-24).

* Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your
mind. As you agree with God's will, voice your
affirmation of His Word:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever (Hebrews 13:8).

* As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray
for:

health and strength to serve Him,

* His will to be done on earth,
a gracious, humble spirit that puts
the needs of others first.

* Now offer this prayer of worship to the Lord:

Now may the God of peace . . . make us
complete in every good work to do His
will, working in us what is well pleasing
in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to
whom be glory forever and ever. Amen
(based on Hebrews 13:20-21).

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Walk Thru the
Bible. Copyright 2001 Walk Thru the Bible. All
rights reserved. See www.walkthru.org/ for more
information about Quiet Walk and other devotionals from
Walk Thru the Bible.

You can purchase the NKJV MacArthur Study Bible Hardcover and other
titles at christianbook.com (Christian Book Distributors - CBD).
< shopping.crosswalk.com/bye/bible_nkj >

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< devotionals.crosswalk.com >
-----------
To read the Current Feature Story from ReligionToday,
go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentFeatureStory/

For today's complete News Summary from ReligionToday,
go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentNewsSummary/

-----------
For Copyright Terms go to www.crosswalk.com/info/copyright

____________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO_______________________

* To subscribe, send an email to:
< SUBSCRIBE-quietwalk@lists.crosswalk.com > or go to
< www.crosswalk.com/lists > for a complete list of
our newsletters.
* Copyright 2001 Crosswalk.com, Inc. and its Content
Providers. All rights reserved.
____________________________________________________________

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger
phonecard.yahoo.com/

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Not everything that goes on around us seems good, right, fun, or
even fair. Yet the Word of God reminds us that God is in
control. I think about that thought often. One of my favorite
praise and worship CDs comes from Vineyard Music. It is
entitled, "You Are In Control". The very first song on the CD is
a paraphrase of the well-known 23rd Psalm... "The Lord is my
Shepherd, I shall not want.". In this song, the writer uses a
modern paraphrase and writes, "YOU are my shepherd, I have no
needs. You lead me by peaceful streams and You refresh my life.
You hold my hand and You guide my steps. I can walk through the
valley of death and I won't be afraid --- Because You are in
Control..." (The rhythm and beat are reminiscent of the 1960s
Chriatian Rock group, "The Birds" --- remember the ones. "To
everything, Turn, Turn, Turn, there is a season, Turn, Turn,
Turn, and a time to every purpose under heaven (based on
Ecclesiastes).

Well, I am a deep, firm believer that God is, indeed in control.
Today, our family uncovered another calamity in the list of
difficulties we've had this summer. My wife found out that her
brother, Tom, has been hospitalized. Indications are that he has
a form of acute leukemia. We had not heard from him in about two
weeks and we had been concerned. (Tom is in his mid twenties,
with a young wife and a very young baby). My wife is very
concerned. We've already had our own list of disappointments
this summer. My wife's grandmother has been diagnosed with
cancer and has a limited time left to live. Both of my wife's
parents have had various health-related difficulties, and I have
been out of work since the end of June.

Where is God in all of this? God is completely in control. I
have no clue what the outcomes of any of these situations will be
--- except for one thing. I know that in my case, anyway, God
will certainly teach me something about Himself, draw me to
Him. bring our relationship closer, and give me opportunities to
share about my relationship with Him.

Can that be unsettling? Only if you do not trust God for the
outcome. As for me, I have had plenty of difficulties in my
life. Not a one of them has been easy, yet in every single one
of them, God has not only brought me through them, in each case,
He has taught me things about myself and about how His Word
relates to me, and to our relationship with one another.

I don't enter a day and ask for a new calamity. But I do enter
each day asking God to be with me in whatever events I have to
face in this life. I have every confidence that He is preparing
me for something far more rewarding. That, alone, is sufficient
reason to have "strength for today and bright hope for
tomorrow".

I do ask for your prayers for my family and especially for my
wife's family, and for her grandmother and her brother. Leukemia
and cancer are scary things for any of us to face. I pray that
God will sustain all of them, bring healing if possible, and most
certainly draw each one into a deeply intimate relationship with
Him.

We don't NEED calamity for us to seek a personally intimate
relationship with our LORD, or do we?

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

Reply-to: Quiet Walk <quietwalk@lists.crosswalk.com>
Subject: Quiet Walk for Sunday, August 19, 2001

Q U I E T W A L K D E V O T I O N A L
by Walk Thru the Bible

BIBLE READING

Romans 9:1-18

OVERVIEW
God manifests His sovereignty through His dealings with
the children of Abraham.

INSIGHT
When we look at the affairs of men, we are tempted to
believe that God is not sovereign, that things are
running amuck, that the world is out of control. However,
one look at Romans 9 reminds us that this is not true.
God is completely in control. He is working out His
sovereign and mysterious willregardless of appearances.
God can be counted on to bring about everything He has
promised.

PRAYER

* The Lord will use our repentance to minister to
others. Praise Him for His grace:

Because Your lovingkindness is better than
life,
My lips shall praise You.
Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow
and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful
lips. . . .
Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will
rejoice (Psalm 63:3-5,7).

* Now pray this confession to the Lord to keep your
life free from sin and in fellowship with Him:

O Lord, I know the way of man is not
in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his
own steps.
O Lord, correct me, but with justice;
Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to
nothing (Jeremiah 10:23-24).

* Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your
mind. As you agree with God's will, voice your
affirmation of His Word:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever (Hebrews 13:8).

* As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray
for:

health and strength to serve Him,

* His will to be done on earth,
a gracious, humble spirit that puts
the needs of others first.

* Now offer this prayer of worship to the Lord:

Now may the God of peace . . . make us
complete in every good work to do His
will, working in us what is well pleasing
in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to
whom be glory forever and ever. Amen
(based on Hebrews 13:20-21).

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Walk Thru the
Bible. Copyright 2001 Walk Thru the Bible. All
rights reserved. See http://www.walkthru.org/ for more
information about Quiet Walk and other devotionals from
Walk Thru the Bible.

You can purchase the NKJV MacArthur Study Bible Hardcover and other
titles at christianbook.com (Christian Book Distributors - CBD).
< shopping.crosswalk.com/bye/bible_nkj >

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< devotionals.crosswalk.com >
-----------
To read the Current Feature Story from ReligionToday,
go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentFeatureStory/

For today's complete News Summary from ReligionToday,
go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentNewsSummary/

-----------
For Copyright Terms go to http://www.crosswalk.com/info/copyright

____________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO_______________________

* To subscribe, send an email to:
< SUBSCRIBE-quietwalk@lists.crosswalk.com > or go to
< http://www.crosswalk.com/lists > for a complete list of
our newsletters.
* Copyright 2001 Crosswalk.com, Inc. and its Content
Providers. All rights reserved.
____________________________________________________________

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger
phonecard.yahoo.com/