Often when I am under stress and pressure, I feel one of my greatest needs is to get a good night’s sleep. But I’ve found that physical rest alone is not enough to revive my flagging spirit. I need the spiritual revival that comes from spending quiet time alone with Jesus in prayer and in thoughtful meditation on His Word.
A careful study of the life of Jesus reveals that as pressed as He was, He “often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” If Jesus felt He needed time alone in prayer with His Father, why do you and I think we can get by without it? How is your prayer life? Could some of the exhaustion you are feeling be the result of simple prayerlessness? How motivating it has been for me to view my early morning devotions as times of retreat alone with Jesus, Who desires that I “come with Him by myself to a quiet place” in order to pray, read His Word, listen for His voice, and be renewed in my spirit.
The Lord of peace Himself give you
peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
Peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come. § The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” § Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
The Helper … the Spirit of truth. § The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. § The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us?”
2 Thess. 3:16; Rev. 1:4; Phil. 4:7; Luke 24:36;
John 14:27; 15:26; Gal. 5:22; Rom. 8:16; Ex. 33:14–16
We … glory in tribulations.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. § Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! § They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. § The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. § Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Rom. 5:3; 1 Cor. 15:19; 1 Peter 4:12–13;
2 Cor. 6:10; Phil. 4:4; Acts 5:41; Rom. 15:13; Hab. 3:17–18
This title describes the eternal omniscience of Jesus Christ. The alpha is the first letter and the omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. Through the alphabet all of our words, all of our wisdom, and all of our knowledge are expressed. Jesus is the beginning and end of the alphabet, the summation of all wisdom and knowledge.
What does the omniscience of Christ mean to me personally? It means I have always been on His mind. Think of it: The most important Man in the universe has always been thinking of me! Wonder of wonders! I have never been out of His thoughts! Even as He hung on the cross, He was thinking of me by name! Dying for me by name! And when He was raised from the dead on that first Easter Sunday, He was raised with me on His mind!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house.
One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. § He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.
He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. § I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.
Ps. 65:4; 27:4; Matt. 5:6; Luke 1:53;
Ps. 107:9; John 6:35; Ps. 36:7–9
Do you now believe?
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? … Faith … , if it does not have works, is dead.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son … concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead. § Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? … You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
By their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. § If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
John 16:31; James 2:14, 17; Heb. 11:17, 19; J
ames 2:21, 24; 1:25; Matt. 7:20–21; John 13:17
Apart from understanding the work of God in our creation, there is no real meaning to human existence. If there was no Creator, then you are some cosmic accident, having come from nowhere and on your way to nowhere. You are just a nobody with no ultimate accountability or eternal value. Now that’s depressing! Praise God, it’s not true!
Where are you seeking lasting satisfaction? You may find temporary satisfaction in things and people, but permanent, deep, full satisfaction of your very being is only found in a right relationship with God for Whom you were created.
Not only is your being created for God, but your doing is created for God also. You and I were created for commitment to serve God. The Garden of Eden was not only a place for man to live, but it was a place for man to serve.
