Daily Devotional – Sept. 9, 2020

Faith Baptist Church

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holiday, got you some rest. And so you were able to charge into Tuesday and now Wednesday. And so it already seems like, wow, the week's half over already.

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Ah, that's a great feeling, isn't it? Well, again, I hope you're having a good day and a good week, a good week.

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Well, I've heard this story too many times, some variation of this theme. A young man or a woman begins their career and they do so with a great deal of zeal and enthusiasm.

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They work hard, which they should, and we talked about that the other day on Labor Day, and their efforts are generously rewarded, which typically will be the case when one works hard and gives his all.

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And then comes a promotion and maybe a raise, what the world would call success.

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But too often what happens is that each step up the ladder of success is accompanied with a corresponding stepping away from God's will.

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If married, a spouse is neglected or the family ends up playing second fiddle to the office or career, and oftentimes the spouse, in an effort to keep moving forward and keep climbing the ladder, will spend less and less time at home, more and more time at the office or with office personnel and so on and so forth, just to network and all of that kind of stuff.

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Church services start to become optional. Devotions, what's that?

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And who really has time for prayer? I mean, there's a client to meet, there's a sale to close, there's just too much to do.

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I've got to maintain this success and keep driving for greater.

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Well, if this budding successful prodigy is truly a child of God's grace, it won't be long before some showers are going to fall on this one's parade.

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I shared with you a quote from Thomas Manton yesterday. In that same larger quote, he said this, we warp in the sunshine, a shower does us good.

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We warp in the sunshine, a shower does us good. Now, what in the world is he talking about? Well, Spurgeon explains.

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He said, timber warps if it's exposed to noontide heat, and men are all too apt to be influenced one way or another by success.

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Poor fools that we are, we cannot, while on earth, bear too much happiness.

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The Lord will soon damp us with showers of sorrow, then allow us to be spoiled.

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Now, what Spurgeon is talking about there when he says we can't bear too much happiness, he's not talking about the blessedness that the scripture talks about, but the giddy happiness that comes, that we feel when we are so successful and don't feel anymore like we need

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God. We can't bear that kind of happiness, too much of that. God's going to send some showers along the way.

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Now, the psalmist understood this and experienced it himself. Listen to what he said in Psalm 30, verse 6.

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He says, as for me, I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.

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And it's like our successful young prodigy, right? I'm successful, look at me, look at what

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I've accomplished, look at where I am in my career already and everything. I'm doing great. I'm not going to be moved.

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I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved. And what he's expressing in that statement is that in his prosperity, in his success, he got a bit cocky, self -confident, almost feeling invincible.

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I shall never be moved. The timber was warping pretty badly.

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But then he says this, he says, by your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong. You hid your face.

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I was dismayed. Now, the first part of that verse, it's verse 7, follows right on the heels of what he said in my prosperity,

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I'll not be moved. He said, by your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong. In other words, he's saying, before I said this, you're the one that made my mountain stand strong.

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I wasn't the one who was so strong. I wasn't the one who gained my prosperity. Because then he said,

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I experienced this, you hid your face. And I was dismayed. So in his prosperity, he said,

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I'll never be moved. And the timber was warping pretty badly until the

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Lord hid his face, sent some showers along the way. The sales dried up.

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Customers quit calling. Orders slowed down to a trickle.

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Conflict started to erupt between co -workers and between the subordinate and his superior.

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And the Lord hid his face. That means he wasn't showering the blessings.

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He wasn't making his mountain stand so strong anymore. So the psalmist came to realize that his mountain had stood strong because of the

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Lord's favor, not because of his own skill or cleverness or winsomeness or his own innate ability.

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So where did the rain come from? Where did the rain come from? What did he do when that rain came?

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The Lord sent the rain. He hid his face and led him to dismay, to a sense of despair.

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Like, what do I do now? So what did he do when the rain came? Well, verse 8 tells us.

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Psalm 30, verse 8. He says, To you, O Lord, I cry. And to the Lord, I plead for mercy.

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Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me. O Lord, be my helper. He prayed.

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He learned a very valuable lesson that my success and my prosperity is not due to me.

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It's due to the Lord who made my mountain strong. So the Lord sent showers to humble me.

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I now pray, Lord, be my helper. And that prayer will oftentimes turn to praise as it did for the psalmist.

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He said, You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

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O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever. So he summarized the whole experience this way.

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Right before he talked about saying in my prosperity,

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I said, I'll not be moved. He said this, His anger is but for a moment and his favor is for a lifetime.

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Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. In other words, when you look at that summary, you realize that the shower did him good.

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The shower did him good. So I don't know where you are in your level of prosperity, your feeling of success and so forth.

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But wherever you are, always remember, you are where you are because of the gracious favor of the

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Lord. Don't allow the timber to warp in the sunshine. Let the do of the

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Lord's word, His truth, His favor, let it ever remind you that where you are is due to Him and not yourself.

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Don't get proud and cocky. Be grateful. Be grateful. So our

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Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the showers you send our way sometimes. We need them to keep us humble, keep us straight, keep us understanding our real place and more importantly, understanding your place and who you are, who you are to us and who you are for us.

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And so our God, I pray, help us to be humble and trusting and use us.

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Use us mightily. Use us and grant us great success and prosperity in the work that you've called us to do.

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But may we ever be mindful that it is you who grants such blessings.

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All this we pray in Jesus name. Amen. All right. Well, go forth and do the work that God's called you to do.

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Do it with all your might. And as He grants you success, as He shows

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His favor, praise Him, thank Him, rejoice in Him. Have a good day.