“It’s too hard. I don’t think I can do this,” said one of my students when I asked her to answer a math question. On that day, she started learning a new chapter of a math lesson. As her tutor, I taught her how to remember the formula and to use it in problem-solving. I started testing her with easy questions and then moved to medium and hard ones. When she tried to solve the hard questions, I always encouraged her by saying, “Don’t worry. You can solve it. I’m here, ready to help you.”
This experience with my student reminded me how often I have been worried about the problems I have faced. Like her, I cried out, “God, it’s too hard for me! I cannot endure this.” At those times I forgot that Almighty God was always with me.
God is able to help us with our problems but not always by removing them. Instead, sometimes God teaches us and strengthens us to overcome our problems. God always stands by our side, showing us that we can be more than conquerors.
TODAY'S PRAYER: Thank you, God, for helping us to endure the challenges we face. We are not afraid because we know you are always with us. Amen.
TODAY'S READING: Psalm 84:1 (0) For the leader. On the gittit. A psalm of the sons of Korach:
2 (1) How deeply loved are your dwelling-places,
Adonai-Tzva’ot!
3 (2) My soul yearns, yes, faints with longing
for the courtyards of Adonai;
my heart and body cry for joy
to the living God.
4 (3) As the sparrow finds herself a home
and the swallow her nest, where she lays her young,
[so my resting-place is] by your altars,
Adonai-Tzva’ot, my king and my God.
5 (4) How happy are those who live in your house;
they never cease to praise you! (Selah)
6 (5) How happy the man whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are [pilgrim] highways.
7 (6) Passing through the [dry] Baka Valley,
they make it a place of springs,
and the early rain clothes it with blessings.
8 (7) They go from strength to strength
and appear before God in Tziyon.
9 (8) Adonai, God of armies, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Ya‘akov. (Selah)
10 (9) God, see our shield [the king];
look at the face of your anointed.
11 (10) Better a day in your courtyards
than a thousand [days elsewhere].
Better just standing at the door of my God’s house
than living in the tents of the wicked.
12 (11) For Adonai, God, is a sun and a shield;
Adonai bestows favor and honor;
he will not withhold anything good
from those whose lives are pure.
13 (12) Adonai-Tzva’ot,
how happy is anyone who trusts in you! (Complete Jewish Bible).
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31)
PRAYER FOCUS: Tutors
READ MORE: The Key to Being More than Conquerors
The Key to Being More than Conquerors for Thursday, JULY 5, 2018 BY LINAWATI SANTOSO (EAST JAVA, INDONESIA)
RELATED DEVOTIONALS: MORE THAN CONQUERORS
At the beginning of 2018, there were many problems happening in my family. One of them was that my father, who was previously healthy, was suddenly diagnosed with coronary heart disease. My family and I were worried about both his condition and the costs of medical care. In that situation, we prayed more often and held onto God's words in the Bible. Then I understood that the message from the woman's prayer was truly God's message for me. Thanks be to the Lord, our friends from Christian fellowship also prayed for us and strengthened us. Praise God, for now my father’s condition is better. By the grace of God, other challenges in my life were also gradually cleared up.
There are so many challenges in this life. However, they will not beat us down if we know the key to overcoming them. Yes, the key is to build a life on prayer and God’s Word! In Philippians 4:13 we read, “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” With God, whatever will be, we can bear it and live victoriously.
David is known as a man after God’s own heart. In fact, David’s life was not smooth but very tortuous. Despite his difficult life, David was not disappointed with God, he praised God. David said, “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle”(Psalm 144:1, NIV). David considered all the challenges of his life as only exercises, and he praised God because he knew that the victory would be his part.
Like it was for David, victory is also part of our lives. However, we will not reach victory if we do not live close to God. In order to be more than conquerors, we must hold onto the key — to build a life on prayer and God’s Word. Let us remember the truth in Romans 8:31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” If God is for us, there are no challenges in this life that can make us lose.
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