#MondayMotivation is a free weekly devotional
which includes bible verses, stories, thoughts, and prayers.
This weekly devotional guide by #WorldVisionPH was crafted to invite people to:
Weekly read the scripture as God’s personal message, linking their stories to God’s story;
commune with God in prayer;
realize OUR connection through God as a universal family of believers;
see their daily choices and small acts of obedience as part of God’s work;
Weekly Devotion
God’s Power Brings Hope
Biblical References:
“Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ”
– Exodus 33:15
Moses was convinced that without God’s presence in his life, it was useless for him to attempt anything. When he spoke face to face with the Lord, he said, “…If thy presence go not with me, carry us up not hence” (Exodus 33:15). He was saying, “Lord, if your presence is not with me, then I’m not going anywhere. I won’t take a single step unless I’m assured you’re with me!“
Moses knew it was God’s presence in Israel that set the people apart from all other nations. And the same is true with us, believers of today. The only thing that sets us apart from nonbelievers is God’s being “with us” – leading us, guiding us, working His will in and through us.
Moses didn’t care how other nations received their guidance, formed their strategies, ran their governments or directed their armies. He said, “We operate on one principle alone. The only way for us to be guided or governed, to make war and survive in this wasteland, is to have the presence of God with us!
“When the Lord’s presence is in our midst, no one can harm us. But without him, we’re helpless, reduced to nothing. Let all the nations of this world trust in their mighty armies, their iron chariots, their skilled soldiers, their new weapons. We will trust in the manifest presence of our God!”
How do you describe God’s presence in your life? Does it bring hope and assurance that everything will be well?
Monday Devotion
With God you are confident that you will rise above the storm
Biblical References:
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23
There are places in Scripture that are powerful, so deep, that to recite them is to experience them. Psalm 23 is one of those places.
Psalm 23 is very personal. There are no references to “we” or “us” or “they,” but only “my” and “me” and “I” and “You.” This is David’s testimony, his personal experience with God. But what comforts us and helps us is the psalm’s confidence. David really believes this about God. We realize as we linger over these words that what David writes is not poetic exaggeration. He has experienced God in these ways, heard His voice, followed His lead, felt His care. Beneath the beauty of his words there are solid convictions, formed in his daily experience.
In verses 1-3 you will notice that the pronoun used were “he”, “his”. Then, in v. 4-5, David shifts, referring to Him in second person: “I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me . . . You anoint my head with oil.” And then, he closes by returning to third person: “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.“
Why does David switch from talking about God with ‘He’ to talking to God with ‘You,’ and why does it happen in v. 4? Why didn’t he just go on to say, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for He is with me; His rod and His staff, they comfort me’?“ It is because in verse 4 he speaks of the valley he has walked. He has felt the shadows closing in. Verse 4 describes the crisis points in his life. And in those times, something deep happened between him and God. David changes from comments about God to communion with God because during his valley time, he stayed ever so close to the Shepherd, never taking his eyes of Him. He had experienced God in a way there that had ushered him toward intimacy with the Almighty Shepherd.
As we look closely at the Psalms we are invited to a familiar oasis where we will see that God is closer than you think in times of crisis, that with God you are confident that you will rise above the storm clouds in our life, even as David did. The Shepherd has you covered.
In this time of crisis, we are invited to fix our eyes on the Good Shepherd and in fellowship with Him find comfort, peace and assurance of His presence.
Share your experiences on how your relationship with God grew in this time of crisis.
We offer the weekly devotional in digital format, and we encourage you to SUBSCRIBE and EXPERIENCE God’s love weekly, daily and evermore.
