Father, my greatest desire is to honor You with my all. My “job” feels home bound and often mundane. Help me remember You in each day and every task. It is You who sees me. May I be found doing my best work in these day. Find me faithful, O God. To You be the glory. In Jesus, amen.
Father, help my words and actions toward my kids and grands truly lift them to higher ground and help them know and trust You. Flow through me to truly love each one in righteousness and truth with Your everlasting love. Defeat the enemy who seeks to still, kill, and destroy family relationships. Grant wisdom to know when to speak or step in to take action, and when to hush, be still, know, and pray. In Jesus, amen.
Father, thank You for instructing me in how to honor a parent who did not behave honorably in her parenting. Thank you for empowering forgiveness, granting love for her in Your name, and instructing me to live in such a way as honors You, making her look good as a parent. And thank You for helping me smile and not correct those who brag on how great she must have been. I thank You for helping me understand her own childhood pain and the struggle it caused her, snd her mental issues from that. And thank You for healing me daily. Forgive me my own failures as my childhood effected my way of parenting. Bless my children to be free and not carry familial issues to the next generations. May each generation experience greater deliverance and freedom from these generational issues. In Jesus, amen.
Suitable: Appropriate to a purpose or an occasion. Capable of suiting; fitting; accordant; proper; becoming; agreeable; adapted. Having sufficient or the required properties for a certain purpose or task; appropriate to a certain occasion.
Father, thank You for my relationship with Johnny. Thank You for suiting us to each other for Your good purpose. We truly are suited to one another. Thank You for the work of grace You’ve done in each of us throughout our lives as one. Thank You for continuing that work of grace day by day. May we be Your instruments, revealing the unity, oneness, love, and grace You desire we have with You, as one thing marriage is purposed to accomplish is to provide a picture of all our relationship with You should be. Make us one as Father, Son, and Holy Presence are One. In Jesus, amen.
“Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” …But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” …But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.””Matthew 2:13, 19-20, 22-23
In biblical days, God often used dreams to make the path clear for those following Him. I believe God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and whose Word tells us of His use of dreams and visions in the latter days, still uses dreams to instruct, direct, and warn us.
Not all dreams are significant. Most are brought on by the days events and concerns, or the pizza that didn’t set well. From my experience there is a distinct sense of value on dreams worthy of focus. When that sense of importance comes with vivid recall of details in the dream, it is important to seek God for discernment.
There are people in life that are gifted with the ability to interpret dreams and visions. Some believe interpretation of dreams can be taught. I believe it is a gift from God that cannot be taught, but is given only through the work of His Spirit.
I’ve had many experiences of dreams from God, both my own, and the interpretation of the dreams of others. Like with the prophet, the dream and its interpretation prove to be from God when it is fulfilled in life. God never lies, and what He says always comes to pass.
When you have a dream you sense is significant, don’t just ignore it. Hand it over to God and ask Him to instruct you concerning it. He may give the interpretation to you. He may lead you to an interpreter of dreams. But God is faithful to respond to a seeking heart that is set to believe, receive, and walk out His will.
The robbing of the Temple and everything being carried away to Babylon is heart breaking. The rebellion and hardened heart of God’s people is difficult to fathom. Even those who love and follow You can have blinded eyes and be dense in faith. Such hard hearted refusal of all Your glory is a robbing of Your temple, which You lovingly make to dwell in us. Father, reveal to me any area of my life that is hardened against You. Take out the heart of stone and grant me a heart of flesh, pliable, adapted, and yielded to You. In Jesus, amen.
Father, by Your grace I stand and thrive most days. But my plate is full. Right now, anything else trying to get on my plate feels like a tsunami. It just overwhelms me and I struggle to enter Your rest. I am very tired. Thank You for the yoke of Christ. Help me cooperate with Your lead and trust the load to You. Help me rest my plate on Your wagon and trust You to fill it with good that brings You glory. And when I am overwhelmed, grant me peace with faith to trust You in the storm. In Jesus, amen.
“The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah…. Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. ….” Matthew 1:1-17
The lineage of Jesus is a picture of the redemptive power of God, how God takes those who commit great evil and works good out of it, and how good and evil alike ultimately work the will of God into this world experience. Looking at the kings of Israel is a roller coaster ride between good and evil. For me, as I read the names of all theses who struggled in this life and yet were included in the bringing of the Christ to us, it gives assurance to God’s ability to use even me. Just looking at the five women mentioned in Jesus’s family lineup is such a beautiful picture of redemption.
Tamar – the daughter-in-law of Judah who tricked Judah into fulfilling the law of birthing a child to carry on the name of the deceased don, who was her husband. She played the harlot in tricking Judah into lying with her so she could conceive and birth one of the fathers of Jesus. Despite the trickery she felt forced to practice in order to receive her due, Tamar was counted more righteous than Judah who refused his last son to her out of fear. Through her story we see deception, trickery, fear, faith, hope, and restoration.
Rahab – a harlot in Jericho who helped the spies of Israel escape and was protected on the day the walls fell and God’s people took possession of that land. She and her family were saved, and she was taken as a wife by Salmon, rewarded by God as one added to the line of Christ. Through her story we see harlotry, mercy, and redemption.
Ruth – the Moabitis daughter-in-law of Naomi. After the death of Naomi’s husband and two sons, Ruth refused to leave Naomi’s side and committed herself to follow Naomi and her God, no matter where that led her. It led her through commitment, faithfulness, and redemption to the pages of the history of Israel and its coming King.
Bathsheba – wife of Uriah, taken in adultery by King David who tried to hide the sin leading to pregnancy, even having Uriah killed in his attempts. But the prophet of God knew. The child born was taken in sickness, leading David to repent his sin. God’s grace to David and Bathsheba brought Solomon to life. We see lust, adultery, deception, murder, repentance, comfort, grace, and redemption.
Mary – believed to be of teenage years, was a virgin, considered a woman in her time frame, betrothed to Joseph. Found with child before the consummation of their marriage vows, no one believed her story of miraculous conception by the work of God’s Holy Spirit. If found out, she was destined to death by stoning for out of wedlock relations; the growing fetus considered proof of indiscretion. But God.
Angelic messengers, sent by God, prepare the couple for their journey of faith. Gabriel lets Mary know of her chosen estate, which she willing accepts by faith, despite the danger to her life. An angel in a dream brings Joseph into the loop of understanding the calling of God on them. And our Savior was born. Mary’s and Joseph’s story is a one of faith, humility, courage, hope, intrigue, anticipation, and, yes, redemption, as God protects mom and Babe, seeing Jesus safely to His destiny as redeemer of the world.
Redemption is throughout the history that brought the time of Christ to the earth. Now we have a part in His story. Jesus paid the price of sin that separates us from God, giving us a way to Him anew. His life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension removed power from sin’s death, granting all humans opportunity to choose life – relationship with God for all eternity. All sin is paid for, but each person must choose to believe and receive the gift of Christ for themselves. The only sin that continues to separate us from the Father is refusal to believe and receive the truth of Jesus, the redeemer. By grace through faith we are saved. And once we choose Him, we become part of His redemptive story. What are you writing on His pages with your life?
Father, Your love and grace amazes me, yet I’ve only touched the hem of it. I can’t wait for the face to face. Thank You for loving us Jesus-much. We are indeed blessed.
Father, I cry out for those yet to reach Your hem. Shine Your light and draw their reach to You. We need You to do that now, before it is too late. Bring about a great spiritual awakening as never before, and bring Your people into a life altering revival before love grows cold in these days when evil abounds.
I especially pray for children and grandchildren to the thousandth generation. By Your grace, as You have given utterance, I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved me may be in them, so they may know, receive, and possess Jesus for themselves. This I ask of You, Father, let not one of them perish. This is Your heart, too, according to Your Word. Thus I ask with trusting faith for You to have Your desire in these we so greatly love. In Jesus, amen.
I trust You to direct my path for Life, Father. You are my supply along the way and will walk me through to my destiny. You are faithful.
I look to You and You help me. You’re my Sunrise, my guiding Light, my help in need, my Shelter from the storm, my hope and song. You take my hand and lead me on, giving strength to all my need as we go. You are gracious.
By Your stripes, I am healed. In Your Presence, I stand. There is nothing too difficult for You, nothing beyond Your reach. You are able.
Because of You, I am safe, secure, amply supplied, and fully equipped for all You bring me to. Thank You, Father. Be glorified and magnified in and through me. In Jesus, amen.
Father, thank You that You, knowing our frame, are mindful that we are but dust. We are Your creation, given breath, life, strength, and purpose by You. We can do nothing of eternal worth and true goodness apart from You. Only with You as our true supply of wisdom, direction, and power sourcing can we accomplish the work You prepared for us to do and succeed at fulfilling Your divine purpose and plan. You know how difficult it is for mere dust to maintain focus and not be blown off course by every wind.
Thank You for making The Way of redemption through The Truth of Christ, giving us The Life You desire we possess. He is our anchor that holds us, the wind of Your Spirit directing us on paths of righteousness, uprightness, and right standing with You, for Your Name’s sake, as pleases You. Thank You that our past is behind us, covered by Christ, and You use the lessons from it to bring us to a good end. May we not be stuck in the mud of dead dust. In Christ, we are free indeed.
Father God, thank You that You are with me and for me, You never leave nor forsake me. You are in my midst to make me stand as Your servant and not be moved from my position in Christ. You are The rock upon which I stand secure. Because Your mercies are new every morning and Your compassions fail not, You are faithful to help me when morning dawns and walk me through my days. I trust You who give me strength. Be strength for my weary bones this day and increase power to me for this day. Direct my path in righteousness for Your name’s sake, just as Your Word says You will. This is my hope, and You are my song. In Christ I pray, amen.
Father, some people say Jesus was in agony in the garden that night because of us. That is truth, but it’s way more than that. Jesus’ agony, from my understanding, is the knowledge that, for the first time ever, when all our sin came to His shoulders, His Father would turn His back to Him in utter rejection. He agonized the load of sin without the Father’s smile. Then He warned His disciples against falling to temptation. Why? Perhaps to spare us the experience of life with the Father’s smiling face taken from us as His back turns to us. Father, perish the thought! Protect me from temptation by causing Your smile to be my greatest desire. In Jesus, amen.
Father, thank You for helping me learn how to better grow tomatoes and prune them with a focus on fruit bearing. A lot of limbs produce no fruit. They just grow, and their growth hinders and limits fruit production. I also learned that the plant’s purpose in fruit production is to make seed so it can make more plants that can produce fruit. Apparently, pruning causes the plant to think it is dying, so it must ramp up fruit production to be sure it has viable seed ready to go. Your creation is awesome. Thank You for understanding of how Your creation works so we can make wise use of all You give us. And Lord, thank You for pruning me so I can bear more good fruit with seed that You can use for Your glory. Please remove and cleanse me of anything that hinders and limits my fruit bearing, growth, and seed spreading. In Jesus…oh yeah. And thanks for the laugh at the look on hubby’s face when I snipped a bigger non-fruit bearing branch so a smaller one with fruit on could have supply for growth. It was priceless. Amen.
Father, thank You that You are a warrior, caring for us watchfully and caring about us affectionately. Draw near to us as we draw near to You in humbled submission, seeking Your face. We need You to show Yourself strong on our behalf, leading us and these we love on Your paths of righteousness for Your Name’s sake. Avenge Yourself on every foe that stands between us, our beloveds, and You. The days are evil, Lord. We watch with earnest expectation and hope of Your soon return, praying nothing and no one of value is left behind. No. Not one. For it is Your desire that none perish, but all come to repentance, enter right relationship with You, and fulfill Your purpose in them. In Jesus, make it so. Amen.
We are called to make disciples: followers of Christ. As we faithfully do that, evangelism happens by accretion.
It is vital that we learn God and live Christ. As we live Christ, we become a light that draws others in from the dark.
Evangelism without discipleship is like making tons of babies and walking off, leaving them squalling to fend for themselves and be overtaken by the wolves of life. Evangelize, yes. But we, the church, must make sure to disciple the evangelized.
To try to disciple others without being a disciple is a façade that hurts the cause of Christ. We must continually draw near to God and learn of Him so God’s light in us is real and bright.
We never outgrow the need to be an actively growing disciple of Christ. And when we do that well, others will draw near to learn what we know, be evangelized, and become disciples that make disciples.
I look around at the trouble and turmoil in all the earth today, and I cry out, “Lord, come quickly! Surely Jesus is coming now, for it cannot possibly get worse on the earth. Surely evil has completed it’s appointed course.” But looking back at 200ish years ago, the time of the plagues and warring crusades; or a hundred years ago, with WWI, the Spanish flu, and WWII, we find the same cry of the heart that cannot fathom evil could possibly get worse.
Here’s the facts: evil has brought its trouble to the earth since Adam and Eve fell to it’s influence and were sent out of that glorious garden of God. Evil remained through the days of Christ, even as Jesus paid a price none of us could even begin to pay. Evil will remain and grow ever stronger until Jesus returns and ushers His own back into that garden of God. Each age watches for Him, calls for His “soon” return, and expects Him in our today, unable to fathom that evil will possibly get worse.
But only The Father knows the day or hour when He will say, “enough” to evil’s trouble, and send Christ to usher in the eternal Kingdom. Ours is not to know the day or the hour, but to live in such a way as to be ready, should His coming be our now. If, in a hundred years, some child of God looks back from their own trouble with thought of, “Surely today, Lord,” may they see faith and faithfulness in our life story to help them stand firm in the wait.
“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
Matthew 24:42-44
“…heal instead of becoming bitter so you can act from your heart, not your pain.”
From experience I have learned that, my being prone to feelings of rejection or a sense of being judged by others because of past hurts, if I am not careful, I will choose to be offended where no offense was intended. Then I become the one who is passing judgment based on my sense of offense rather than seeking God’s truth regarding the other person and their opinion. Doing so closes my ears and causes me to refuse to seek God’s opinion about the insights and concerns of others, and then to deal improperly with a person who may be His messenger to my need. When that happens, I too easily become the offender. The hurting heart tends to hurt hearts.
God continues to teach me to choose love (1 Corinthians 13) and trust God to reveal truth. I am learning that sometimes others see something I am missing or refusing to realize. I need to allow God to help me evaluate their concerns and show me if it is wisdom and instruction from Him. My course has been rightly corrected many times as I refuse offense and seek God’s evaluation.
And there have been times when God showed me the misjudgment of another’s opinion, firming up my resolve. In these times, God always leads me to forgive the other person any offense I may feel, to keep loving and praying for them, remaining in right relationship with them.
The devil uses our tendency to offense to divide and conquer. God directs through wise discernment and love to unite and strengthen. Always choose love and grace over hate and offense. Let God deal with offense (Romans 12:14-21).
PS: I speak my concerns to people I feel love and care for. When I speak, it is out of a sense of God’s leading to do so. Offense is never my intent. Loving and encouraging others in wisdom and righteousness is my intent. I do so with prayer, trusting that I am speaking His truth, not my opinion, and with faith that God will lead the other person to His truth and His way for their situation. And I do so knowing that words from Him will prove true. God’s truth is all that matters.
God has taught me, if I am speaking His truth out of His leading with a right heart attitude and motive, a person refusing my words is truly a rejection of Him, not me. So, if my words are rejected, I have no need to be offended. God will prove whether the words are mine or His.
The thing that hurts more than the rejection of a person is when God tells me to stop speaking His truth to them. When God says to knock the dust off our feet and stop casting the pearls of His truths before those who trample them under foot, that is heart breaking.
We must be careful about choosing offense. Our offense may offend God.
Lamentations 3:37 NASB1995
Father, anxiety over the horrors going on in these days is a plague to our hearts. It is too easy to become anxious over so many evils and atrocities we see happening in our day. Your word wisely warns us to not anxiously look around at these things and be overcome by fear, but to remember that You are God. Through trusting belief that knows You are working for our good, even bringing good out of things Your enemy intends for evil, we enter Your rest and find peace that umpires our hearts in these days. Only in keeping our eyes on You can we walk through evil days in ways that honor and glorify You.
Thank You, Lord, that as we turn our hearts to focus on Your faithful truth, You bless us with strength to persevere as we experience Your trustworthy help. Thank You that You uphold us with Your righteous right hand of power, protection, and provision. In Jesus, I rest myself in You and find your peace that passes all comprehensive understanding. Let Umpire Peace lead me in paths of righteousness, uprightness, and right standing with You, not for my earning it, but for Your name’s sake. In Christ, Amen.
You may not choose God, but He has chosen you. How do I know that?
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NASB1995
He loves you so much that He gave His only begotten Son to pay a price you cannot pay, so you can choose a reward you cannot earn: eternity with Him as Father God. If you refuse Him, He will still love you, for He is Love and He cannot deny Himself. He will still love you even while you deny the gift of His Son and choose eternity separated from Him.
However, there will come a time when we all stand before Him. Those who accept His gift while there is still time will enter eternity in His Kingdom. Those who refused His gift will enter an eternity separated from Him. Will they know his hate as they go?
God is love. He does not hate those His Son died to save: all the people of the world. I believe those who refuse Him will know beyond a doubt the fullness of God’s love for them before they are removed from His presence forever, a love we all long for but cannot know except in Him. All who do not choose Him in Christ now will know exactly what they refused: love made full and complete.
Which are you? Are you one who has believed and received this gift of God and are now walking in His love to eternity with Him? Or are you one who has refused His love? It’s your God given choice. No one else can make that choice for you.
Don’t wait until it is too late. Don’t wait until you stand before Him, knowing for the first time the fulness of that love, only to be cast into outer darkness, never to be touched by pure love again. Don’t be one left with nothing but longing for a touch of His love through an eternal hell of knowing His love is out there, just beyond your reach forvermore.
In a group I am in, where we are working to help each other know how to recession proof our pantries and live lives where we are not dependent on government allotment and dwindling store supplies, the question posed is how are we to be self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency without inadvertently walking out from under reliance on God and His Lordship. Christine Hoover’s thoughts help address this concern in a devotional series titled “With All Your Heart”:
“Remember that you can’t understand your heart.
“Remember that you can’t reach into your heart and change it. You can certainly alter behaviors and choose a different course of action, but the true work of sanctification happens only as you RESPOND TO THE LEADERSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
“Remember that this is good news, because you have a King who can and, more importantly, willingly does. You are not expected to rule and regulate yourself. WAIT ON HIM.”
In our practice of the wisdom of the ants, storing up in the season of plenty for the season of need, seek God and follow His instruction. We don’t do self-care apart from Him. We walk with Him to do what pleases Him in ways that acknowledge our need of Him and that works under His Lordship. It is a heart issue.
I plant a garden at His inspiration of the wisdom in it, trusting Him for its produce and for strength and ability to know how to store the plenty for the day of need. He is faithful to supply sufficient for me and mine and the wisdom to share with others responsibly. We put trust in God to bless the hunting, fishing, and foraging.
In all things, our faith is in Him who makes effort productive as we look to, follow, and trust Him.
With All Your Heart: Day 7 • Devotional
I shared the following in a YouVersion plan conversation, responding to the instruction, “Describe a time you have let fear or fatigue rather than God’s promises shape an experience.”
“I could share many times when God’s word has shaped my thoughts, actions, steps to trust Him and walk by faith, but I guess the area I struggle with most is my sense of security in group relationships. I do okay one on one with people, but I feel like an outsider in group situations. Getting a hold on God’s promises that overcome a spirit of rejection and insecurity is my biggest challenge.”
Thinking on this, I remember the experience of our neighbor inviting me to join her church ladies for fellowship time at her house. It was answered prayer for a season in life when I needed time with other ladies. So the invite was from God through Donna. I knew that, and by God’s grace, I was relaxed and peaceful, enjoying every minute of it.
Thinking on that, it dawns on me: believing the providence of God, that He directs my steps, isn’t every encounter an invite from God to relationship with those I meet along the way, whether one on one or in a group? Shouldn’t that welcome mat be sufficient for me to relax and be the me He invited to that moment in time?
When God calls us to a situation, it’s because He has placed in us qualities and characteristics, gifts and abilities, skills and experience necessary for the encounter. I can trust Him who is my sufficiency. No matter the response of others, if God steps me into it, I am not rejected, I am invited. He is my secure passage. Help me possess this truth, Father.
Molten Gold in the Throne Room Dream
Years ago, after falling asleep while crying out to God for my children and grandchildren, I had this dream that God has greatly used to help me trust Him more fully with my children’s relationships with Him.
In the dream, I am sitting in a just-my-size throne at the right hand of Jesus, facing the side of His just-His-size throne, the armrest of which is a good foot above my head at standing height. It was a huge throne, holding His bigger than life frame.
So I’m sitting facing the side of His armrest, looking up at Jesus’ smiling face, looking down at me in my little throne – an exact match to His own. He very lovingly says, “You sit here. I’ve got this.” Then He faces forward, His great smile exuberant with joy.
Turning my gaze to see what has Him smiling so enormously, I see human figures of pure, molten gold, all shining so brightly that beams of light rose from each one up into the heavens. I instantly recognized that these before Him were my children, their mates, and grandchildren – many more than I currently have – generations standing before His throne: in the throne room of the Master Goldsmith that is working diligently, performing His transformational will in each one.
It’s hard to see our kids struggle: even harder still to realize that struggle as the fires of testing, used of God to remove the dross from the gold in them. We may not see what the Father is doing with full comprehensive understanding, but we can know that He is faithfully working in response to our prayers.
This dream led me to study the significance of being placed on the right hand or left hand side of God. The left hand side is totally protective. It is where we are when God tells us to be still and let Him do it all: it’s the side of His shield, covering us. The right hand side is a place of protection as well, but it is also the place of imputed authority. Jesus the King gives us authority as parents to participate in what He is doing. Taking the authority He gives and using it righteously keeps us under His protective cover.
In my dream, the authority seen there for me to practice is to pray, to trust, to watch with the earnest expectation of hope’s assurance, to await further instruction for opportune times to participate in what the Lord is doing (loving, helping, teaching, instructing, encouraging, etc.), and to obey Him.
My throne always faces Him, not the problems that concern me. I can only be ready to do my part as He gives opportunity when my focus in life is Him, His throne, His authority, His opinion, His purpose and plan. And I can only receive His clear instruction when my heart is tuned to His, in faith’s believing trust.
One may have to fight for the right of religion, but faith is a heart issue that cannot be dictated, hindered, or stopped.
One may have to fight for the right of assembly, but worship praise and prayer is a personal and private intimacy that cannot be dictated, hindered, or stopped.
One may have to fight for the right to speak what we believe, but belief is a personal choice that cannot be dictated hindered or stopped.
Faith in God is an intimate relationship, a personal choice and discipline with God that no worldly, fleshly, demonic force can dictate, hinder, or stop.
When individuals praise, worship and pray, they do so in the personal and real Presence of God, even in the quiet of our souls, where we are transported to the throne room of the Father, made one with Him and each other. Worship assembles us as one before God, inseparable for all eternity, now and forever, whether we stand under the same roof, or seemingly separated, but truly in one heart.
This deep, abiding, personal relationship cannot be dictated, hindered, or stopped. Not even death can separate us from this love life with God that makes us One. Stand Firm in Faith, and do not grow weary in well doing.
Father, You are my exceedingly great reward. Thank You for meeting my every need according to Your riches in glory as I focus myself on fully seeking You as my first, most vital need and necessity. My desire is for You. In finding You, all else is taken care of. I have no lack. Thank You, Lord, for meeting me at my greatest need. In Jesus, amen.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.” Psalms 103:2-5
This in verse 4 really struck me. Forgiveness 1: participates with Christ’s redemptive work toward the person we forgive. We accept Christ’s payment for the sin done against us. He bought it, so the sin done against us is no longer ours to punish or exact payment for through vengeance. It’s God’s to deal with. Let it go. And then…
2: He crowns us with lovingkindness and compassion, not only covering us with His, but crowning us with responsibility, authority and resource to give our love and compassion in His name to those we forgive. His mercy is new every morning. His compassions fail not. This is the reservoir – the River – of resource we work out of as we practice forgiveness toward others.
Father, thank You for empowering forgiveness in me through Your redemptive work toward those who sin against me. I accept the price You paid and relinquish their debt to You. Now pour forth through me Your lovingkindness and compassion to them. Make it new and fresh every morning, and may they see You in my eyes and feel You in my love actions. In Jesus, amen.
“I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, WHEN ONCE YOU HAVE TURNED AGAIN, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:32
We turn away. God doesn’t. Jesus knew that Peter would fall. He also knew that Peter would get back up, dust off, and turn back to follow Jesus: looking to Him and walking with Him anew. And Jesus knew that during the process, Peter would learn valuable truth he would then be able to use to strengthen and encourage others.
We are perfect in Christ, our essence already seated with Him in the Kingdom of God, assured of our position with Christ for all eternity. When we leave this world to cross over the line at those pearly gates, all of this world and worldliness will be burned away, so only righteousness and godliness enters in those Heavenly walls. All of this world that is still attached to us will be no more, but in our flesh existence and fleshly battles here and now, we are continually being perfected.
Just as a child learns by trial and error, gaining strength and maturing, so are we to do in this journey. Get up, dust off, turn back to Jesus, continue walking with Him, take what we learn to heart, and strengthen others. The more we do that, the better we get at letting go of world and worldliness now, the less there will be to burn away when our earthly body gives way to eternal glory.
Two devotional’s this morning point out Your faithful, abundant supply for our NEEDS, Father. In scripture, when You say “truly, truly” or You repeat a thought, it signals a truth vital to our need to understand and receive it, so thank You for this reminder in these troubling days.
You don’t always give us what we want, but You ALWAYS give our need with abundance. Discerning the difference between want and need is the challenge at times. I pray for wisdom to know this difference.
Realizing that need is more than food, clothing, and shelter is as important as differentiating want from need. Trusting that when You call us to a position, You abundantly supply our need of wisdom, discernment, gifting, talent, skill and ability to fulfill the call is vital.
Realizing that You withholding a desire is provision for a need we aren’t seeing is critical to our faith in trusting You as well. And in these troubling days, trusting Your provision, protection, peace and power is a great need.
Thus I cry out with faith for You to meet our every need according to Your riches in glory, beginning with our need to trust Your faithfulness to fulfill this great promise to us. Fill me and these with me with faith to trust and believe Your faithful, abundant, supply. In Jesus, amen.
Father, grant me to have a “God habit”: to habitually walk with You, seeking Your face as I trust You who are my first, most vital need and necessity to respond to my seeking heart. You, Lord, are my number one confidant, counselor, comfort, companion, champion, King. I trust You. Father, grant me greater depths of the knowledge and understanding of You and Your ways as I spend time with You day by day, breath by breath, and step by step. You are the greater One and You are faithful. This I know in Christ, amen.
“You caused sentence to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still– When God arose to [establish] judgment, to save all the meek and oppressed of the earth. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; the remainder of wrath shall You restrain and gird and arm Yourself with it.”
Psalm 76:8-10 AMPC
To my understanding, this says that when we have righteous anger, anger fed by God’s anger over an evil, it is a praise to His ears. He restrains and dictates that anger for His purpose, arming Himself with it for His use.
Father, I’ve experienced righteous anger, restrained and used by You. Thank You for that experience. I surrender my anger to You and trust You to use me as You will, to deal with every evil. Make me Your victorious weapon against evil. In Jesus, amen.
Darlene's Ponderings 