I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
I have been reading the Book of Job and have discovered many spiritual nuggets there that are profound in their simplicity. Although Job’s friends missed the mark in their advice, sometimes what they say has a tiny little sliver of truth that can be extrapolated and is certainly useful to hold onto. I think of the friends who gave Job unsolicited advice, Elihu is my favorite. Here is one of the things he says:
Read that verse several times as I did. It is absolutely awe-inspiring to realize how powerful God is. He made the earth and all that is in it, sustains life on earth, sends storms, keeps the seas within its boundaries, and even numbers the hairs on our heads. Through all that we do to show that we desire our independence from God, He continues to be just and righteous and does not just wipe us out with one word. He could, but He doesn’t because His love is more powerful than His anger at our sin. A day is coming when this earth will be destroyed and all that is in it, and God will be totally justified in His wrath-filled judgment. In the meantime, He gives us His Word, with verses like this to remind us of His grace and mercy.
Do you recall when you were a child and playing a game and something happened to cause you to perform badly? Maybe a leaf blew across your field of vision or a small child was yelling on the swing set and distracted you. So, when you tried to kick the ball, you missed because you were not paying attention. That’s when you would call out loudly that you needed a “do over.” Usually, because you were playing a game meant to be fun and with friends, they would grant your wish and you would get to do the whole thing again, this time with better results.
Sometimes, in our Christian walk, we need a “do over.” We need to press into God and appeal to His mercy and grace, deeply and sincerely repentant for messing up and asking for the grace to do that thing you messed up again. Maybe it was the opportunity to speak to someone about the Lord and you blew it. Maybe it was the chance to be kind to someone in need and you ignored the whisper of the Holy Spirit to reach out. Whatever you missed out on, God is the God of second chances. He is the God of the “do over” , not because we deserve it but because of His great love and mercy for us. He shows us grace, His unmerited favor, and allows us to try again, and again, and again. We just have to be willing to admit that we have blown our chance, missed an opportunity or sinned once again when we really didn’t want to. Distracted by the things of this world, it’s hard sometimes to stay focused on the important things that God has for us to do and the changes He wants to make in us so that we become more like Him. But when we straggle behind or go in the wrong direction, God is right there, waiting for us to request a “do over” so that He can lead us back on the path He wants us to be on.
Just when we think that God cannot possibly still love us and continue to forgive us, He does. We confess, repent and He is always faithful to His promise to forgive. Even better, He grants us a “do over” so we may get the chance to see that person again and tell them about Jesus or do participate in a ministry that we neglected previously. Whatever it is, God is in the business of providing grace to His children. It’s one of the ways He instructs us and expects us to extend that same grace, mercy and forgiveness to others.
I don’t ever want to get to the point where I cannot receive instruction from God and His Word. I have had a lot of “do overs” in my lifetime, but none has been as important as the ones when I know for sure that I have disappointed God and I need to go back and try again. I have learned a lot from those experiences, mostly about being more aware and striving to do things right the first time. Nevertheless, because I am still a disciple in training, I still need His grace and mercy every day. I need a “do over” more frequently than I would like, and I am always thankful that God graciously provides those opportunities for me.
Many times, when we are trying to make a difficult decision, we choose to consult friends, counselors, those whom we trust and consider wise. But the best person to consult is God because His wisdom has all of the characteristics of leading to true success.
Look at all of the adjectives that describe the wisdom that comes from God as you read the verse again. Pure, peace loving, gentle, willing to yield. The phrases that lead to a good Godly decision include: full of mercy, full of the fruit of good deeds, shows no favoritism and always sincere. I need to practice asking God for His wisdom and then waiting for the kind of answer that is full of all of His promises for me and also not harmful to others.
May you be blessed today and every day with the knowledge of how important it is to seek wisdom from God.
Many years ago, my husband and I attended a Bible training school called Youth with a Mission. I don’t recall a lot that we studied there, but at least one truth we learned and book that we studied stuck with me through the years. The title was THE INTERCESSOR by Norman Grubb and it relates how to be an Intercessor like Rees Howells, a man of God who made a difference by praying for others. If you want to perhaps purchase the updated version, here is a link to do so:
The reason this book made such an impact and stayed with me is that this true story of a man who believed in prayer and made a difference with his petitions to God was amazing to me. Since then, I have strived to be an Intercessor for others, but I have never reached the heights of Rees Howells, not even close.
Today in my devotional, the verse that jumped out at me was about Jesus’s being my intercessor.
I cannot imagine Jesus sitting at God’s right hand and speaking up on my behalf, but that is what the Holy Bible says that he does. The tense used is one of the present ongoing tense, not past, not done, but rather still happening. I remember when I was a child that my father was my mediator with my mom. She had a heavy hand of punishment and I seemed to be always in trouble for one infraction or another. It was my father’s soothing voice that calmed her down and prompted her to think before she dealt out severe blows to my legs. I still got punished, but the punishment was not half as severe as when daddy wasn’t there to intervene. Now, I can put that into the context of Jesus speaking to God on my behalf and letting the Father know that I am His and the price has already been paid for my salvation. Yes, I still mess up, and there are consequences to actions, but Jesus’s intercession is there and the Father has shown me mercy and grace over and over again.
If you get a chance to read THE INTERCESSOR, remember to put it into the context of Jesus interceding for you, on a daily basis and every time you need it. He is right there, always ready to go to bat for each of us because He loves us so much. Yes, He is the King of Glory, He is the Lion of Judah, and He is also the Great Intercessor who speaks to the Father for us, always operating with unfailing love and forgiveness. I want to be like Jesus, in Intercessor for others, and I am thankful for His example and His sacrifice that makes Him the Intercessor for me and for each of His children who know Him as Savior.
May you be blessed today with the knowledge of how dependable an Intercessor Jesus is for you and be confident in His love, grace and mercy.
Many years ago, my husband and I attended a Bible training school called Youth with a Mission. I don’t recall a lot that we studied there, but at least one truth we learned and book that we studied stuck with me through the years. The title was THE INTERCESSOR by Norman Grubb and it relates how to be an Intercessor like Rees Howells, a man of God who made a difference by praying for others. If you want to perhaps purchase the updated version, here is a link to do so:
The reason this book made such an impact and stayed with me is that this true story of a man who believed in prayer and made a difference with his petitions to God was amazing to me. Since then, I have strived to be an Intercessor for others, but I have never reached the heights of Rees Howells, not even close.
Today in my devotional, the verse that jumped out at me was about Jesus’s being my intercessor.
I cannot imagine Jesus sitting at God’s right hand and speaking up on my behalf, but that is what the Holy Bible says that he does. The tense used is one of the present ongoing tense, not past, not done, but rather still happening. I remember when I was a child that my father was my mediator with my mom. She had a heavy hand of punishment and I seemed to be always in trouble for one infraction or another. It was my father’s soothing voice that calmed her down and prompted her to think before she dealt out severe blows to my legs. I still got punished, but the punishment was not half as severe as when daddy wasn’t there to intervene. Now, I can put that into the context of Jesus speaking to God on my behalf and letting the Father know that I am His and the price has already been paid for my salvation. Yes, I still mess up, and there are consequences to actions, but Jesus’s intercession is there and the Father has shown me mercy and grace over and over again.
If you get a chance to read THE INTERCESSOR, remember to put it into the context of Jesus interceding for you, on a daily basis and every time you need it. He is right there, always ready to go to bat for each of us because He loves us so much. Yes, He is the King of Glory, He is the Lion of Judah, and He is also the Great Intercessor who speaks to the Father for us, always operating with unfailing love and forgiveness. I want to be like Jesus, in Intercessor for others, and I am thankful for His example and His sacrifice that makes Him the Intercessor for me and for each of His children who know Him as Savior.
May you be blessed today with the knowledge of how dependable an Intercessor Jesus is for you and be confident in His love, grace and mercy.
How many of you love to take tests? When I was in school, I used to almost have a panic attack each time I had to take a test. It wasn’t because I didn’t study or wasn’t prepared. I just always had test anxiety. That lasted all the way through college. After college, I accepted Jesus as my Savior and continued my studies with a Master’s Degree from Oral Roberts University. When I took those tests, I was calmer and was able to focus more because I always prayed before my tests. I recall our young son in kindergarten and his attitude towards testing. As I drove him to school one day, I asked him if he had studied his spelling words for the test that day since he had not asked me to call them out as usual. He calmly told me that he had not studied, but it would be okay because he planned to pray before the test, and Jesus knows his “abc’s and 1-2-3’s”. That’s a good thing to remember, isn’t it? I chided him, though and told him that God wants us to put effort into the work that he has given us to do and to always do our best. I’m not sure my lesson to him really had any effect on him since he got a perfect grade on the spelling test that he admitted he didn’t study for.
Sometimes as I ride next to my husband down the road, I get frustrated with the other drivers and will say things like, “That foolish person is going to kill someone if he isn’t more careful!” My husband reminds me to pray for his safety. And God reminds me that I need to do a self-test and check out my attitude.
No matter what circumstance I find myself in, I am carrying Jesus around in me and like a battery that needs to be checked occasionally to see if it’s fully charged, I need to check and make sure that I’m “in the faith” and not “of the world.” When I respond the same as others would with churlishness or selfishness, I know exactly where I am and that I am not passing the self-test. Time to reign myself in and get myself under the control of God again!
The good news is that once we have examined ourselves, we have the opportunity to take the test again and pass the second time around. Same test, same questions, same everything. But passing is possible the second time because my heart has changed and I have plugged back into the Lord and His view of the situation instead of my own.
Jesus is not ever going to leave me hanging, without hope and without knowing for sure that He is still working in me. That’s why the Word tells us to examine ourselves, to test ourselves and see whether what we are doing or how we are acting lines up with God’s Word. I don’t get nervous when God reminds me to do a self-check because I know He is reminding me of how much He loves me and how He wants me to become more and more like His Son by making the choices that are best for me and others. When Jesus returns, all of the testing will be over, but in the meantime, I have to examine myself daily, sometimes more than once a day and sometimes over and over again, to make sure that what I am doing and saying passes the test of representing Jesus to a world that needs to see Him and His love, not His judgment.
May all of your tests today be ones that show God’s mercy in your life, extended to others, knowing that as you pass each test, you are getting closer to God.
As humans, we have a tendency to wake up each day and hope for a good day with good things to happen in our lives. God wants that for us, too, but more importantly, He wants us to realize and to tell others that the only hope we have is in Jesus.
God spoke the world into existence and Jesus was right there with Him. Then, when God sent His Son to earth, He did not come to save us because of our own worthiness. Rather, we are saved only because of God’s great mercy. He sent and He saved.
We cannot overcome the sin in our own lives by just hoping that it will go away. We have to believe that Jesus delivered us from that sin on the cross and that we don’t have to bow to sin any longer. We are children of the Most High God, not slaves to sin as we once were. There is where our real hope lies, for today and for eternity.
If we awaken and have hope in things or events coming to pass, then our hope is misplaced. We need to fix our hope on the grace that Jesus gives us each day and the grace that will be ultimately revealed when He returns and takes us to be with Him. That is our real hope.
When I awakened this morning, I was thankful for a new day and hopeful for what it would bring. With my devotional completed and my meditation on the word “hope”, God has shown me that He is my hope and things that happen are just circumstances that change from moment to moment. But His love, grace and mercy in my life stand forever. Real hope!
May each of you know the real hope that is only found in the person of Christ Jesus. God bless you!
One of the habits that I have tried to cultivate is to count my blessings before I get up in the morning. Of course, I have to be alert enough to do this, but I have found that it starts my day off on a positive note. It only takes a few minutes to tell God how grateful I am for His blessings and for being able to be alive for a new day.
One of my greatest blessings is being able to read and memorize God’s word, hiding it in my heart so that the verses and sometimes scripture songs go through my mind as I fall asleep. This morning was one with this verse front and center. God gives me counsel daily and that is a blessing. He orders my steps, helps me organize my busy days and to take time for Him first every morning. The best news is that after all of my life is done, He has a big plan for me. He will take me to be with Him in glory! I didn’t and couldn’t do anything to earn his mercy and grace, but I am so grateful for it and for His unconditional love for me. Before you head out today, I hope that you will take a few minutes just to reflect on God and His goodness and blessings in your life.
May your day be blessed with the knowledge that you are blessed to be a blessing!
It has been seven plus years since I grabbed a salt shaker and liberally sprinkled it on my food. Any food I ate was doused with a few shakes of that magic shaker that made things taste better, even brussel sprouts. But, alas! After my stroke, my sodium intake is restricted, so I don’t add salt to anything these days. In fact, I read labels to make sure that there is little sodium in anything that I eat or drink. It makes for a bland palate sometimes but it is also keeping my blood pressure down and hopefully saving me the grief of another stroke.
On the other hand, I am called to BE salt, and so are you. I never realized how much flavor salt added until I wasn’t allowed to use it. So in being salt, you don’t know what you are adding to the world because you are just there, doing what you are supposed to do, sprinkling the presence of Jesus into the lives of those who need to see Him.
We are called to show others Jesus’s love, mercy, grace and encouragement. In so doing, we are liberally sprinkling Jesus from our hearts to the hearts of others, hoping that change will happen in their lives. Just as you sprinkle salt on your food and it “magically” tastes better, so your salt in the lives of others should be making their lives better in some way. A smile of encouragement, a thank you that is heartfelt, a blessing in the lives of people who go unnoticed from day to day and have lost their sense of purpose in life. We are the ones Jesus told to “go and be”. He did not say to stay at home and hope that everything turns out okay for the rest of the world. Each time we go out into the world, we are supposed to sprinkle it with truth, love, hope and His greatest attribute of forgiveness. Think about it. What can you do to be more like salt to a dying world? They are dying from spoilage, the spoilage that comes from having sin take over their lives. Whether you call it being “woke” or whatever, the same fate awaits them. They will die in their sins without the hope of salvation unless the salt that we are meant to be sprinkles the truth and stands firmly knowing that we are changing the world, one dash of salt at a time.
My blessing for you today:
As a former pastor used to tell us at the end of each message, “May the Lord bless you real good.”
Just a short encouragement today to do what God says and to show mercy and compassion to all that we meet. We don’t know what others are going through, but we know that everyone is facing something new every day. Instead of looking at ways to get back at someone who offended you, how about looking at the ways that you can show love to them. After all, isn’t that what Jesus told us to do?
May your day be blessed with others who will show mercy and compassion to you just as you extend it to them.
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 