In Touch Daily Devotional 25th January 2023 By Dr. Charles Stanley, Wednesday Inspirational Message
Read In Touch Daily Devotional 25th January 2023 and be blessed.
TOPIC: Spiritual Discouragement
SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: Psalm 34:1-8
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.
I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
In Touch Daily Devotional 25th January 2023 MESSAGE
For the believer, discouragement can come in many forms, but Satan is usually the instigator. He wants to keep our focus on negative things instead of on God.
One form of spiritual discouragement is subtle—the idea that we cannot please the Lord. If you were to write down everything you thought you must do to please God, how long would the list be before it was complete? You might assume you should read the Bible more, pray more, give more, witness more. All of us could probably fill both sides of our paper. But then we’d realize it’s impossible to consistently accomplish every task on the list. That’s the trap. What pleases the Lord is our obedience, not our adherence to a long checklist of duties.
Another source is unanswered prayer. God does not necessarily answer in the manner we want or with the timing we would prefer. When that happens, we might want to give up on prayer or even on the Lord Himself.
Next time you’re feeling disheartened, turn your focus to God and pray three things aloud: Thank Him for being with you through the discouragement, admit He’s in control of your life, and acknowledge that He loves you and is working circumstances for good.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 28-30
REFLECT: Though we may not always understand God and His ways, we can find encouragement in His goodness to us.
In Touch Daily Devotional 25 January 2023. Charles Stanley is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, both located in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Stanley’s heart’s desire is to get the gospel to “as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, as clearly as possible, as irresistibly as possible, through the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God