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The Upper Room International Editions: Changing Hearts and Lives
Not long after the first issue of The Upper Room daily devotional rolled off the press Read More
Anthony Peterson | Read Psalm 138:1-8
Warnings abound regarding hyper-partisanship globally. While many around the world work for peace, just when we think a new age is on the horizon, new hostilities break out somewhere. Those hostilities breed dissatisfaction and discord, government action and inaction, attacks and war. Some issues that we think should be inconsequential...
God of peace, I call on you to deliver me from adversity, and I commit to work for peace even in the midst of adversity. Amen.
We sometimes struggle to believe in the power of a God we cannot see. The psalmist declares that God is greater than any earthly king and will preserve us in the face of our enemies. However, in the time of Samuel, the Israelites demanded a human king to lead them into battle. God was not enough for them. Paul admonishes the Corinthians not to repeat this mistake. We should not think that what we see is the ultimate reality. What we see is temporary; what cannot be seen is eternal. Perhaps Jesus is teaching a similar idea in this somewhat troubling passage in Mark. Jesus is not against family, but he is emphasizing that human families are temporary; spiritual family is eternal.
Read 1 Samuel 8:4-20. How are you influenced by the culture around you? What helps you try to align your priorities with God’s?
Read Psalm 138. When you “walk in the midst of trouble,” how do you remember God’s presence with you?
Read 2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1. How do you find yourself being renewed today in spite of parts of your “outer nature” that may be “wasting away”?
Read Mark 3:20-35. Who is your spiritual family? Whom do you identify as your brothers, sisters, mother, and father?
Respond by posting a prayer.
