Joni And Friends 23 March 2024 Devotional Message
Joni and Friends 23 March 2024 Devotional Saturday Message. As you study today’s devotional, remember this; “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 (NLT)
TOPIC: Highs and Lows
“After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.” – Mark 9:2
“Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.” – Mark 14:37
Does it mystify you that one day you can be on top of the world, in love with the Lord, soaring in his Spirit, having faith to see far into eternity, and the next day you go splat? You find yourself at rock bottom, your faith dried up, your spirit as dull as dishwater.
It happens to you and it happens to me. And it happened to the Lord’s three best friends, Peter, James, and John. In Mark 9 they were on the Mount of Transfiguration. They got an up-close-and-personal, snow blinded look at the dazzling glory of the Lord as he revealed himself in a way he never had before. They dropped to their knees, jaws agape, dumbstruck with wonder. What ecstasy!
Now, you would think that experience would carry the disciples for years to come. But a short time later in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus revealed another part of himself. He showed them how deeply distressed and troubled he was. You know what happened next: Peter, James, and John yawned, then hit rock bottom. All that spiritual get-up-and-go got up and went.
We are no better than they. We rise to some new level of spirituality and commit ourselves to a fresh allegiance to the Savior. Then we are bewildered at the depths to which we fall almost the next day.
Your spiritual life must not hinge on your commitment to Christ. That only sets you up for defeat. Rather glory in his commitment to you. Daily come to him in spiritual want and leanness. Acknowledge moment by moment that he is the one whose arms are underneath you as you rise to the mountaintop and he is the one who preserves you as you descend the other side.
Lord Jesus, thank you for your sustaining power and everlasting arms that I can lean on.
READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY