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.
Before reading today’s devotional, I had never really considered the significance the Sabbath Day played in the defeat of Jericho. God’s victory was a sure thing as long as the people did the work of obeying God on the other six days. That sounds like a simple thing, but it is sometimes difficult to walk out our faith all the way until we can enter into our eternal rest with God. Our walk has to be one of total dependence on God, knowing with a certainty that He was, is and will be victorious. And we can humbly say when God leads us to victory, “I’m with Him,” knowing that He is the reason for our own triumph.
The answer to my question is a resounding “no”! But sometimes, in the light of the daily headlines and the evil we see all around us, I wonder why God is holding back His judgment. Then He speaks quietly into my heart that He is watching and waiting for more to turn to Him.
Habakkuk was a very bold prayer warrior, not hesitating to ask God if he is being silent and knowing that God cannot stand the sight of evil. I have to wonder what Habakkuk would say about the evil that is rampant today? Is one generation’s evil worse than another’s? I think not. Evil is evil. Sin is sin. And God will not just watch us self-destruct forever. He has sent us as His messengers to warn the world of the judgment to come. They scoff and do not seem to listen, but God works on hearts. That is the thing…But, God…He is not winking or silent. He is pure and holy and will not withhold His righteous judgment forever. Man sins and laughs in God’s face. God doesn’t strut around and say, “Gotcha.” I think He is sad for our world and its desperate trust in the worldly powers. I know that I am sad each time I read a new headline glorifying sin. God, who sent His Only Son into the world to save us, must be heartbroken over mankind’s choices. But, He is not silent. He is working in the background to draw people to Him so that as many as possible may be saved before His wrath begins. But God…
If you are like me, you have numerous projects that you began but never completed. I used to crochet, back before arthritis made it too difficult, and I would start one project for one grandchild and another for another one and eventually, maybe, finish one. I had yarn for my first five grandchildren, but I only completed the blankets for three of them. I ended up giving the yarn away to a friend from church who loves to crochet so I knew that she would actually use it. I have started projects with coloring pages, projects to organize my books, and others that just never got done. I’m more than a little in awe that God always finishes what He starts.
Whereas I tend to get distracted by the next thing to do on my list, God always has His eye on all of His “projects” and He continues to work diligently to bring them to completion. God started a good work in me fifty years ago on February 28th, and He is still working hard to help me to be the person He created me to be.
The ultimate goal is eternity with Him, and our Sovereign Lord has prepared the way for us to escape death by saving us from it, daily. He continues to work with us to keep us out of the abyss and headed in the right direction. I don’t know about you, but I am so thankful that God hasn’t given up on me and never will. That’s how dedicated He is to His creation and to His purpose to establish a lasting relationship with each of us!
Have a blessed day and I hope that you will be aware of God’s working in your life today and every day.
Since it is Holy Week, all of my devotional material is focused on Jesus and His death, burial and resurrection, just as it should be, of course. In keeping with that theme, that is my focus this week.
There is absolutely nothing we could ever do to be righteous enough to stand before the Lord on our own merits. We were not saved by our own works but rather by the sacrificial blood of Jesus. But He didn’t stop there. He also renews us daily by His Holy Spirit. Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior means entering into a relationship with a God who held out His hand to us first, expecting nothing in return, and who made the ultimate sacrifice for our benefit. I think that often when I plan to do something for someone, my selfish thoughts first go to how a certain action will affect me. God just sent His Only Son to die for us, without a single selfish thought.
Our response to the sacrifice of Jesus is to devote ourselves to doing good. No, good works don’t save us! Jesus does! The good works are our response to having Him live in our hearts. Our lives are only productive if we are meeting the needs of others instead of only focusing on self.
The excuse that many use for not doing good is that others will ridicule us because of our position as Christians. A younger me shied away from helping others publicly because I didn’t want anyone to notice me. But Jesus was not ashamed of me when He went to the cross willingly. There is nothing that I can do for others to ever compare to what Jesus did for me. So, ridicule is nothing. Being called names online…nothing. Being ostracized from certain unbelieving family members…nothing. Yes, my beliefs might be considered radical to some. After all, I believe in a risen Savior who died that I might live eternally with Him! But isn’t that what His sacrifice on the cross was all about? His entire life was focused on doing God’s will and fulfilling the destiny that He knew God the Father had established for Him. Can I do any less than seek God’s will and do it, regardless of peer pressure?
May you have a quiet day of meditation and reflection about all the Lord has done for you and all He is still doing for you daily. God bless you!
What does it mean to be “equipped”? According to the dictionary online, this is the definition:
equip
ĭ-kwĭp′
transitive verb
To supply with necessities such as tools or provisions. synonym: furnish.
To furnish (someone) with the qualities necessary for performance; prepare.
To furnish for service, or against a need or exigency; to fit out; to supply with whatever is necessary to efficient action in any way; to provide with arms or an armament, stores, munitions, rigging, etc.; — said esp. of ships and of troops.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
All of these apply to the Scripture verses that I read this morning.
Our purpose for being created is to do good works, and bonus! God already prepared for us what He wants us to accomplish. We just have to get in step with His plan.
How do we as Christians get equipped, ready to fulfill God’s purpose? All of the answers are found in God’s Word. We prepare ourselves for our Godly assignments by immersing ourselves in His Word, thus getting the tools and the qualities that we need for each day of service to Him.
My prayer for you today is from the Bible and I hope that it will bless you as it is blessing me.
God already knows what we need and will give us all that we need. Powerful truth!
May the God of all creation be with you today as you discover your daily work for Him and may He equip you to do it with all of your heart. Be blessed to be a blessing!
It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to another year of work, another year of school, another year of setting and trying to keep goals. Yes, it is Labor Day. Did you know that this day was established back in the late 1800’s when people marched in NYC demanding better pay and time off? Of course, they were working twelve hours per day, six days per week. These days, there are many who have decided just to remain at home and get the paycheck from the government who has so willingly decided to make them dependents. My thoughts on that come from the Scriptures.
We are to work so as to not be a burden to others. Our primary goal is to do the work of the Lord, but we also have to have a job that pays for our food and shelter. The government, also known as the taxpayer, does not owe us anything.
Harsh words, right? I have read in several books that in establishing the colonies, several of the governors used this Scripture to make sure that the people understood that working was to be undertaken by everyone. How far we have come from this! It has become the responsibility of Uncle Sam to feed us (EBT), to shelter us (HUD) and to meet our medical needs, too. That was not how God established things to be. Work=Eat. Simple equation that we need to return to. I know what you are thinking: But, Covid….Yes, there was and is a pandemic (I prefer my daughter’s word for it, the “plandemic”), but God doesn’t say to work and eat as long as there are no dangers to your health. I don’t see any conditions to the statement above. We did what the government said to do for over a year. China sent us a virus, tanked our economy, influenced our election and still has many too afraid to go out to earn a living. Work=Eat.
The final word for Labor Day is that we should not get tired in doing good for others. I don’t know about you, but I am most energized when I have a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning and to get my day started. Imagine if every day, each of us awakened with a sense of having a partnership with God and doing good each day for someone! What a different world it would be! Instead of “me, me, me”, it would be “you, you, you.” I would like to live in such a world, a world where people are kind just because it’s the right thing to do, where people understand that we are all humans sharing this planet until God calls us home to be with Him. Our time on earth is finite, but our kind words and deeds can last forever. We just have to reach out to a hurting world and give them the same hope that Jesus has given us.
My prayer is for each of you to have a blessed Labor Day, reflecting on God’s goodness to you and directing it out to others. 🙏🏻
www.bible.com/reading-plans/13696/day/25
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