Daily Devotional, Jan 12, 2024 Recalibration

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22

Calibration is essential in ensuring the accuracy of testing equipment and precision machines. Gauges, readers, and meters all need to get regular calibration to ensure that it gives out exact and correct readings each time, avoiding failures and costly mistakes. Just imagine the impact if weighing scales, gas pumps, and even barometers are not calibrated regularly?

Like these precision equipment, our hearts and minds need routine recalibration. The wear and tear brought about by both positive and negative experiences can make our judgements and mindset off-centered, leading us to make poor spiritual choices. 

For instance, most of us may tend to be lax when it comes to our prayer life when we are not encountering a lot of challenges. We may even forget to nourish our relationship with God because things are going too well for us and we tend to get too busy with the gifts that we fail to thank the gift-giver.

In times of trouble, some of us become way too hopeless that we forget that we have a God who is bigger than all of our problems. When we get too de-focused in life, that is when we need to re-calibrate our hearts and minds the most.

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” 
James 4:8

So how do we re-calibrate our souls? It is fairly simple. By focusing on Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, our spiritual gauges will again be accurate that we will tend to make decisions in line with His will.

When we focus on the Lord, we get to remember that more than the gifts, we have to be thankful that there was a Giver who redeemed us so that we can enjoy our lives. When we train our gaze on Jesus, we get reminded that He is in control, and we can get through all our difficulties with Him beside us.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6

So how do we focus on the Lord? We can focus on Him by worshiping Him all days of our lives. Yes, not just on Sundays — EVERY SINGLE DAY. We can start our days with prayer, an intentional quiet time we set apart for remembering how good our God is. How powerful and mighty is His name, and how we have personally felt His presence in our lives.

We do not have to be intimidated by it all if we have not done this type of quiet time yet. Imagine talking to your own dad, or a very very best friend without any hesitations that you will get judged. Without holding back anything. Like a parent of grown up children, our Heavenly Father will appreciate us updating Him about our lives. He may be all-knowing, but us coming to Him to spend time displays faith, trust, and love to the one true God who longs to bless us.

"But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." 
Matthew 6:6

During that same prayer time, we should also ask forgiveness for our mistakes, thank Him for all the blessings we have received, and ask Him for guidance so that our will would conform with His plans and will for us.

Focusing on the Lord also means reading the bible and studying it daily. When we know our Lord’s words, promises, and attributes, we will grow in faith. Like a well-calibrated equipment, we will be better at making decisions that honor God. We can respond to challenges in such a way that is pleasing to the Lord.

"I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” 
Psalm 119:15

When we know how great our God is we will never be enamored by worldly pursuits. We may see problems for what they are, but deep inside of us we have the confidence that we have a Lord and Savior who can rescue us and would never allow us to be shaken.

Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on  Psalm 27 to dig deeper on today’s topic.

Reflection Question: Is your heart focused on God?

Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, I praise and thank you for your goodness and love, and for allowing me to seek you. Give me the confidence to pray and surrender everything to you. Amen