“‘But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” - Romans 9:20

In life, whenever someone achieves success, criticism usually follows—regardless of their skill or the effort they’ve invested. An old story illustrates this truth. A woman crafted artificial fruit so flawlessly that people couldn’t tell it apart from the real thing. Yet, critics never ceased to find flaws, pointing out supposed imperfections in color, shape, or texture. One day, as they gathered around a display of her work, they singled out an apple, insisting it looked particularly fake. When they finished, the woman calmly picked up the apple, sliced it in half, and took a bite. It was, in fact, a real apple.

The opposite of praising God is mocking and criticizing Him. Today in prayer, confess any sin of criticism and praise the Lord for He is good.

“The most insanely daring thing that any man can do, the most exceedingly foolish thing any man can do, the most desperately wicked thing that any man can do, is to reply against God, to enter into controversy with God, to criticize God, to condemn God. Yet that is what many people are doing.” - R.A. Torrey

God’s Word: “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘You did not make me’? Can the pot say to the potter, ‘You know nothing’?” - Isaiah 29:16

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2025, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING †

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." - Romans 1:21

In his book “Prayer” Pastor Timothy Keller writes: “Cosmic ingratitude is living in the illusion that you are spiritually self-sufficient. It is taking credit for something that was a gift. It is the belief that you know best how to live, that you have the power and ability to keep your life on the right path and protect yourself from danger. That is a delusion, and a dangerous one.

We did not create ourselves, and we can’t keep our lives going one second without his upholding power. Yet we hate that knowledge, Paul says, and we repress it. We hate the idea that we are utterly and completely dependent on God, because then we would be obligated to him and would not be able to live as we wish. We would have to defer to the one who gives us everything.”

We need to be grateful for all the Lord has given us. Today in prayer, confess any sin of ingratitude and be thankful to the Lord.

“Ingratitude is always a kind of weakness. I have never seen that clever men have been ungrateful.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

God's Word: "People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy" - 2 Timothy 3:2

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2025, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING  †