If you’re like me, sometimes you wander away again. But the Good Shepherd won’t let us wander too far away from His loving arms. I’m so thankful that I’m safe in the arms of Jesus and pray that many others will come to know that secure feeling, too.
Category: Scripture
From the Holy Bible
The Goodness of God
How long has it been since you took time to think about God’s goodness? I don’t mean some rote prayer or a list of all God’s blessings. I am talking about His goodness, an attribute that I think is generally overlooked.
When Moses requested to see God’s glory, God agreed to show him His goodness, saying he could see God from behind and His goodness would pass before him.
God answers our prayers even when they are unusual requests, particularly if our goal is to know Him better, as Moses desired.
So, I ask you again. Have you reflected on God’s goodness? As you listen to this song, take time to worship our Creator and acknowledge His goodness.
Ask, Seek, Knock
Some wisdom here.
A Quiet Voice in a Loud World
We live in a society that likes to make its voice heard. Whether it is shouting at rallies, giving interviews or just lecturing an employee in our office, we like to be heard. I think all of us should pay more attention to what Jesus says about putting the needs of others first.
If I follow this verse in Philippians, everyone is more important than I am. Sobering and humbling thought! That guy who cut me off in heavy traffic. I pray for him, for his safety and that he has a good meeting that he must be rushing to frantically. The lady who snatches the last box of my kind of tea off the shelf? Pray for her because she must need it for a reason. We are to be humble and defer to others, not laying down like a doormat, but allowing others preferential treatment if that is what they want. We have the attitude sometimes that others have to do something to earn our respect and our deference to them. No, we have to step back and show them that they are special to God and loved, in the small ways that we can.
We are living in a world that everyone is loudly demanding his own way, but we are called to be different. We are called to step back, observe and sometimes to even quietly walk away. We are no longer children standing in the aisle of the store demanding that our mom buy us the latest toy or new junk food. We are supposed to be maturing Christians and since we bear the name of Christ, we need to act like it, especially when others are watching. (Which, by the way, is all the time) People notice if we act differently than they do; they hardly glance at us if we are doing the same kind of selfish and attention-seeking actions that they are doing. The lifeboat is there at the dock and there are six seats and seven people. Your only chance at surviving is to quickly push someone aside and jump into the lifeboat. What do you do? I hope that you defer to others, knowing that if God sent the lifeboat to begin with, He can save you a different way or He can take you to be with Him. Like I said, defer to others and wait for God to tell you what you are supposed to be doing.
In our very noisy world that is constantly calling us this way or that, we have to be attentively listening to hear the voice of the Lord telling us what to do. He will guide us into the right way to show humility and preference for others so that we don’t cause offense. He will also tell us what we should be doing instead of forcing our way to the front. It’s easy to follow the crowd and just do what they are doing. But to follow Jesus, we have to be quiet and listen for His voice, even in this loud world that we live in.
God and Details
In one of my devotionals, we are studying the book of Exodus and just got to the chapters about building the tabernacle. Goodness! Such minute attention and detail God gives to each part of that Holy dwelling! The curtains, a certain length, the altar a certain wood, everything measured and made just so. As I read, I got a little weary with the all of the minutiae, but God spoke clearly into my heart and asked me aren’t I glad that He is concerned with details because that lets me know He cares about the little things in my life. Wow! Talk about getting hit over the head with truth! Nothing is too small that it escapes God’s attention, not when He was instructing the Israelites on building the tabernacle where He would meet with them and not when He is dealing with the little things in my life that are sometimes big things to me.
With that being said, I also studied the a chapter in Hebrews today. From this marvelous book, I got a blessing to share with you and a promise. First, the promise:
We don’t have to be a High Priest to enter in the Most Holy Place. In fact, we don’t have to go into the Most Holy Place to be in God’s presence. He is everywhere we are because of Jesus’s sacrifice for us that provided a way for open communication with the Father. What a blessing that we don’t need to go through priests of any kind but can go before the Father ourselves and make our praises and petitions to Him!
This is a blessing that I will leave you with today. May God truly equip you with all you need to do His will and may He produce in you all that is pleasing to Him. Read the verses, meditate on them, and thank God for these blessings for they are ours to hold on to and cherish. Just another detail that God has included in His Word to show us how much He truly cares!
My Hope Is In God
There are a lot of things these days that can cause sleepless nights for me and a lot of anxiety, not the least of which is the fear of another excruciating headache and loss of vision. But God has been speaking softly and reassuringly to my heart, telling me that He is with me and not to fear.
God is helping me to trust and to rest peacefully. And when I have difficulty falling asleep, He puts a song in my heart and off I drift to slumber.
God’s love surrounds me, at home, in doctor’s offices and even in the hospital. He is the only one in whom I have complete trust and hope.
Giving God the glory because He is worthy helps my mind to recall all of the good things He has already done and that my future is in His hands. So, praising Him helps restore my hope and my peace.
Gifts from God
When I was growing up, my mom was an absolute stickler for good manners and followed Emily Post religiously. When holidays or birthdays came and we children received gifts from relatives, the thank you notes came out and we were tasked with writing a thank you note to each person, naming the gift and telling how useful it would be for us and how much we sincerely appreciated it. When I graduated, I can remember having a mountain of gifts to write about, mostly checks or cash, that would help me in my quest to go to college. I wrote thank you notes for days, it seems, until at last, I was done and my mother was satisfied that I had fulfilled my duty to my family members and friends who had been so thoughtful.
I formed a habit in my youth of writing thank you cards to people who had gone out of their way to provide something for me. As I read my devotional this morning and this Scripture verse was part of it, I realized that sometimes I take God’s gifts for granted and become like one of the nine lepers who walked away without thanking the Lord. Last week when I got out of the hospital, I thanked God before I left but then, as I was getting into my own bed that night, I remembered that I had not said thank you once I got home. I was beyond grateful to be around all of my familiar things, eating food my husband and I chose together, and going to the bathroom whenever I needed to do so. I had only been home for a few hours and already I was taking these things for granted. How often do each of us do that in our daily lives? I am more aware than ever of my total dependence on God for every breath I take, for the minutes without my head aching or my blood pressure spiking, for life in general and the blessings that I have every day.
If I sat down to write a thank you note to God, I don’t think I have enough paper in the house for all the gratitude that I have. Last night, one of my young grandchildren called to FaceTime me and practice her new skill of reading. What a delight to be able to share that time with her! I talked to my daughter about the other children and some challenges with school this year. I sent a birthday wish to my daughter-in-law and got photos of her outings with her family. I talked to my sister for a couple of hours, both of us grateful that I was alive and able to talk and laugh together. So many, many things to be thankful for! And everything comes from God…my health, my family, my peace, and most of all my faith and belief that God is with me now and in the future. I am more aware than ever of just how quickly life can change and how grateful we should be that God is in control and His love is operating in our lives.
Prayer for Israel, Part 2
Yesterday, my prayer was focused on Israel’s physical enemy. Today, my prayer will center on their spiritual well-being. It is not a new truth that the people of Israel need to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and most have not accepted Him as their Messiah. So, let us pray together for their salvation, that many will come to know the Lord even through this great suffering in their land.
I pray that they will see the need for Jesus and confess their belief in Him and His resurrection. That is the only way to salvation. The Israelites know much about the Old Testament and the Law. I pray for God to open their hearts to the truths of the New Testament and all of the prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
May these blessed and chosen people of God believe with their hearts and be justified, professing their faith in the Lord aloud and rejoicing in the salvation that comes with their belief in the only One who can truly save them. Jesus is the Passover Lamb, the final and ultimate sacrifice. May the Lord open their eyes and hearts to see and believe.
It is only by grace that any of us has been saved. It is a gift, and no amount of following God’s laws can save us. Only God’s grace and our faith in Him can lead to salvation. May the eyes of the Jewish people be opened and their ears attentive to God crying out to them to turn to Him.
No one…not one person can be saved without believing in Jesus. My prayer is for the Jewish people, especially those in Israel, to see their need for a Savior and the truth that the Messiah has come and will come again.
None of us is better than another. God desires to save both Gentiles and Jews. My emphasis today is on the Jewish people who have suffered so much for so long, in the darkness and without hope. May the Lord bring them into the knowledge of His Son as their Savior and into the light of His presence where there is hope and life everlasting.
It is fitting to end my prayer back in Exodus where I began yesterday. I pray that God will use His unfailing love to lead His people and to guide them to the real promised land, eternal life with Him.
In Jesus’s Name. Amen.
Prayer for Israel, part 1
Part of my devotional each morning is a study of the Old Testament and our online group is currently in the Book of Exodus. Today, I read Exodus 15 and as I read, the Holy Spirit prompted me to turn some of the verses into a prayer for Israel.
Lord God, I pray that you will once again be the strength and song of your people Israel. I pray that you will grant them victory so that they will be reminded of all you have done for them and will be able to exalt and praise you as in the days in the wilderness. The battle is yours, Lord!
It is you, Lord, who crushes the enemy, the evil ones who destroy, pillage and take humans as hostages. Do not let this evil stand, O Lord, I pray. Stretch out your right hand against this powerful foe and smash them completely so that they may never rise against your people again.
For nothing is too difficult for you, Lord, so I call on your to swallow up the enemies. The Israelites have weapons and manpower, but they cannot win this battle without your right hand firmly holding them and on their side.
I pray for the peace of Israel, Lord, but as they are surrounded by such a great enemy, I pray that they will have the spiritual eyes to see your hand at work on their behalf. I pray that their leaders will have the wisdom to listen to your battle plan and that you will grant them victory and peace again in the land that you have given them.
In Jesus’s Name. Amen.
Searching for God
When I read this Scripture verse this morning, at first I was puzzled. Why are we searching for God when we know that He is always present? Why, indeed? Perhaps because we need to know that He can be found and when we are continually seeking Him, He is easier to find in our hearts. God’s strength is there for us when we call out to Him and tell Him honestly that we need Him, that we are not self-sufficient. This was brought home to me when I was in the hospital. When you are lying on your back most of the day and have nothing much to do or anyone to talk to, I found that talking to God not only passes the time, it also brings comfort and a sense of peace and hope. God wasn’t lost or anything…I just had to stop the self-focusing and focus on Him.
Likewise, we cannot hide from God. When we are being churlish or anxious or even bitter, God knows. He is always right there. And the good news is that He loves us in spite of how we are feeling or acting or being. I sing “Jesus Loves Me” to my young grandchildren and my favorite verse is this one:
Jesus loves me when I’m good, When I do the things I should. Jesus loves me when I’m bad, ‘though it makes Him very sad.
God never stops loving me, not when I am feeling sorry and lonely in the hospital, not when the pain is overwhelming and I am crying out to God for relief and a little upset that He isn’t sending it quickly enough, and when I am at home typing my blog and struggling for the words to write to express the deep emotions I have been feeling. I had so many specialists and nurses remind me that if this last episode was a TIA, it could be a warning of another stroke, and my risk is higher since I already had one, and I need to get to the hospital right away. Fear was creeping in, but God stopped it in its tracks and told me firmly that He is the One in control and He is with me to the end of this life and to the beginning of the next one. God is indeed everywhere and that comforts me that I don’t have to go far to search for Him. I just have to call out His Name.
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