Latest Thoughts of the Day

Isaiah 33:2

5/31/2020

O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.

If God Himself is our salvation, we don’t need deliverance from our earthly woes. The economy does not have to bounce back. Covid-19 infection does not need to disappear. These results for which so many hope will not really bring blessing if men and women, boys and girls do not turn to the Lord. Fear and disruption will not have done us good if they have not drawn us close to God. Real salvation is not the restoration of the “normal” we once experienced. For many the “normal” they knew had nothing to do with Jesus. God’s gracious use of all that He has brought to pass in our land will be the drawing of many to trust in Him. May our Strength every morning be Jesus!

Jeremiah 33:6

5/30/2020

"Neverthekless. I will bring health and healing to it. I will heal my people and let them enjoy abundant peace and security."

Right in the midst of deplorable devastation, God declares His purpose to restore Jerusalem, granting them health and security. His purpose of judgment for their sins must be accomplished. Their idolatry must be purged. Seventy years of judgment must be endured. But God says, “Nevertheless…” Lord, we fear the economic devastation You have brought upon our land. Do You have a “nevertheless” for us? Covid-19 healing is important, but we see far more as we look to the future. Can Your people, in the midst of a twisted society, turn from their idolatries and cleave to You? Can they experience the kind of healing You promised to Jerusalem? Is there a “nevertheless” for us? We thank You that Your great and glorious “Nevertheless” is Jesus.

Deuteronomy 32:39

5/29/2020

"See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver from my hand."

We sometimes speak of God as “allowing” things to happen in our lives. Most often we speak thus about things we do not want to say God did. Perhaps the Devil did it! We try to avoid thinking of God as personally involved when something painful occurs, being prepared to let Him off the hook. In this text, God reveals Himself as personally involved both in killing and making alive. If we are sick today, God has made us sick, and if we survive, God has brought us through. Thank You, Lord, for Your immediacy in our lives. Help us to receive good or bad from Your hand, trusting in Jesus.

Jeremiah 30:17

5/28/2020

"But i will restore you to health and heal your wounds", declares the lord, "because you were called an outcast,'Zion for whom no one cares'."

Seventy years will pass before Israel is restored to the land and reestablished as a national entity. Many onlookers will have concluded that it is over for Israel and nobody cares about her anymore. But God will restore. God will bring healing and strength to His people. They will not always be in their present lamentable state. And one of the elements of their condition that moves Him is the opinion of the ungodly that there is no hope. God will show the power of His love. God will not allow one of His own to perish. Lord, look upon us in our weakness and defeat. Remember Your promises and Your purpose to bless! Show the power of hope fixed on Jesus.

Luke 10:9

5/27/2020

Heal the sick who are there and tell them, "The kingdom of God is near you."

Jesus is giving general instructions concerning what the disciples are to do as they go forth to minister. He is giving them extraordinary healing powers, but His desire is that the healing received would call people’s attention to the kingdom of God. What good will it be to be well and to go to Hell? Social and physical well-being only have to do with this life. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. We are praying for physical healing of individuals and a broader healing for our whole society. But what about our souls? If men survive Covid-19 and continue on the path to destruction, what profit can there be? We must do what we can to bring physical and social healing, but our greatest challenge is to declare Jesus.

Proverbs 17:22

5/26/2020

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Attitude affects healing. If I feel sorry for myself when I am sick, and battle with why such a weakness should happen to me, I cultivate an attitude that will keep me sick. If the reference to bones is speaking of the solid strength upon which my system is built, the problem I am facing is fundamental. Lord, refresh my spirit. I deserved much worse than I am getting. Jesus felt forsaken by God so that I never would be. This sickness is a very small part of my life. Lord, grant me an attitude that is willing to bear whatever You desire for Your glory in my life. Once my spirit is where it should be, the body will start to come around. My body will start healing when I surrender to Jesus.

Psalm 41:5

5/25/2020

The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.

Sometimes you bounce back quickly and other times it takes longer. Covid-19 seems to hang on. The Christian who gets it needs joy, peace, patience to endure cheerfully. He needs kindness and goodness so that he can be as little burden to others as possible. He needs to bear it all faithfully, be gentle with frazzled care-givers and self-control when he feels frazzled himself. God has promised to give His Spirit to those who ask, and the fruit of the Spirit will sustain him. Lord, help us to see what You are doing in our lives when we get sick. Sustain us by your Spirit until You are pleased to raise us from our beds. Reveal in us Your power to sustain and Your ultimate purpose to heal. Help us seek Jesus.

Psalm 103:3

5/24/2020

He forgives all my sins and heeals all my diseases.

David is praising God with all his inmost being. He recognizes the degree to which physical sickness is a picture of sin. Debilitating preoccupation with self, alarm at our fragility, fear for our very lives, disgust with our condition are responses common to sickness and to sin. Sometimes deliverance from soul-sickness strengthens us to fight physical disease. May those struggling with Covid-19 today see their weakness and distress as a picture of the condition of their souls, May they be encouraged that Jesus speaks of the healthy not needing a physician, but the sick, and that he has come to take away our sin. His life displayed power over both physical and spiritual sickness. He came to bring healing wherever sickness is to be found. We need to hear His voice and to come in faith to Jesus.