Reading your Bible for today January 16

January 16: Psalm 31:13-18

KJV Key Verse: Psalm 31:17
17 Let me not be ashamed , O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed , and let them be silent in the grave.

Devotion:
If you are going to put your trust in God, how far are you willing to go? How far are you willing to have that trust and faith stretched? I’m pretty sure we will all have our limits and some of us will have shorter limits than others – so we cannot and must not judge each other by our strength of trust or amount of faith. I think the Psalmist here gives us good insight into how we should see our strength.

If we are honest with God and with ourselves we will all admit to failing at some stage with lack of faith or lack of strength to carry on. The Psalmist admits to loving God and trusting Him; you would think therefore his faith is unwavering. Just like him we all have people who will be against us at some stage in our lives, be it spiritually or physically, we will have or make enemies of others. Asking God for protection shows faith in believing God is able to protect us.

Asking God to allow His own light to shine through our faces is an admission that we fall short of the mark and need His strength to carry us through our daily lives. Just because we have faith does not mean we have enough strength to carry us through everything that will come up against us. We do need His strength and guidance daily to keep us on the right track.

God will also be able to put the right words on our tongues, the right thoughts in our heads and the right feelings in our hearts. We need to show faith by trusting God to show us while we wait on Him. He will give us the courage to face up to the doubters and the enemy, allowing us to be much more confident than we are in our normal lives. I know God allows me to stand up in front of others and teach them about Him. I know it must be God because I failed to live up to any expectations when I tried it on my own before getting God involved!

Points to Ponder:
How much faith do you think you have?

Did you ask God to strengthen your whole body and mind?