Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture;

"Such people claim they know God, but they deny
him by the way they live."
Titus 1:16 NLT

Embarrassing God

Not so long ago I saw a man shopping in a grocery
store while his young son ran up and down the aisles.
The boy was unleashed and hyper, making a complete
nuisance of himself. The father kept calling his son's
name, but the boy only ran faster — up one aisle and
down the other.

Just as the father caught up with him, the boy reached
out and grabbed a handful of candy bars. The father
tried to take them away, but the boy held on tightly.
Then he started to scream. It was a high-pitched,
piercing scream that reverberated throughout the store.
Clerks and customers turned to look from every direction
as the frustrated father tried his best to squelch his son's
cries. The boy only screamed louder and started to kick.
Finally the father let him go, and once again he ran down
the aisle with all his might, chocolate still clutched in his
greedy little grip.

I caught a glimpse of the father's face. It was the look of
complete and total embarrassment. Although I'm sure he
loved his son dearly, at this moment he was ashamed to
be his father.

Do you think God ever feels that way with his children?
Imagine how he must feel when we become so earthly
minded that we run through life, ignoring his voice and
oblivious to his warning, grabbing things as we go and
holding them tightly.

Do you think God doesn't get embarrassed by the way
his children act? Our life is a reflection of his authority.
And when we disobey, he is the One the world scoffs at.

From Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry B.
Jenkins and Frank M. Martin (Tyndale) p 148

(God's Daily Promises)

Scripture:

And those who are rich should boast that God has
humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower
in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers;
the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades
away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with
all of their achievements.
James 1:10-11, NLT

If wealth, power, and status mean nothing to God,
why do we attribute so much importance to them and
so much honor to those who possess them? Do your
material possessions give you goals and your only
reason for living? If they were gone, what would be left?
What you have in your heart, not your bank account,
matters to God and endures for eternity.

(Life Application Daily Devotion)

We don't always get what we pray for. But we always
get what we need, and that makes all the difference.
When we pray for one thing and we don't get what we
asked for, it feels as though one of two things has
happened: Either God didn't hear our prayers, or He
has denied us a gift. But neither is true. God hears
every one of our prayers. Sometimes He says "yes"
and other times He says "no." But when God says
"no," it's not because He doesn't want us to have
good things. When God says "no" to what we asked
for, it's because He has something even greater to
give us!

Thank God for your unanswered prayers because
those are often the greatest gifts of all.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein