What
should I write about today? How can I come up with something you might like to
read about? Will you be blessed from what I write? Where can I go to find a good topic? I don’t
know about you, but I need to look in His Word!
Every
Word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not
add to His words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar. Proverbs 30:5-6
Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; Proverbs 30:25
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of
the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of
deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things
into Him who is the head -- Christ from whom the whole body, joined and knit
together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by
which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of
itself in love.
Ephesians
4:11-16
Okay,
now that I am prepared to share what I read in the Word of God I will go on.
When I started out this morning I
thought today was a wonderful day. I had peace in my heart; it was cold in the
house but warm under my covers. I rose and enjoyed the quiet of the morning. I
found my Bible, and then found another one as I sought the Lord for today’s
Word. I do not only do this type of searching for this devotional but on other
days as well. I have to admit though I have not been in the Word every day in
the past few months. I get into a relaxed attitude now and again, just as
anyone does I am sure, and forget to read more than a verse here and there on a
day. Eventually my prayers become straight and to the point, “Lord, I lift up
this person to be healed, that person to be encouraged. Help so and so and
bless me today with energy to get through the day…” etc, etc. You know the
drill. So many prayer requests come in each week that I feel as though my day
is spent in prayer for others more than it is in building up my own foundation
in His Word! Then I realize what I have been doing and get back on track
reading and studying His what He would have for me to do each day instead of
what I would do. I seek to find what He desires for me to study, where He wants
me to go with that verse and go on doing this as the days go on. Now if I can
just keep this daily routine of being prepared as the ant does!
He is such a diligent creature, the ant! And talk about consistent! We live on an anthill here in Pittsburg and we have seen the diligence of these creatures! They are amazing, and they keep on coming! They do not let up for a moment! They follow the path laid out before them and do not fail one another in bringing the food to the den. Their den, not mine!
God
planned it that way, and His Word even tells us to consider the ants. Watch
what they do. He knew that they would be creatures we could see and know how
they are, maybe they were created to teach us how to keep going and be resilient?
God planned what I was to write on
today, as well and all it took was a few extra moments in prayer to get the
answer!
I also have to admit that I was
distracted today by my children, being their teacher runs into my writing time
some days. It is a matter of priorities. I was also distracted by my mother’s health
today*. That took a few extra moments of thought away as I took time in prayer
for her healing as well as to send out the requests to others to pray and
update them and thank them for praying.
Still, I felt peace through my
morning knowing that God was at work, He was in control and even in the tearful
moments I spent in worry over my mother I knew He was in control.
It
has been mentioned to me three to six times this past week that God has the big
picture, and He knows what He is doing. Those are not the exact words each
person said it in a slightly different way but the main point I received is not
to worry, God is in control! So, I choose to follow those words, knowing that
when we get the same message many times like that there is usually a good
reason!
I
know that not everyone has the same walk in his or her life. Each of us has a
different road to follow. Many of us will walk a similar road, near one another
yet on our own path. Okay before I start to sound way off course let me get to
the point of this devotion today.
God has a plan for your life; He has
a purpose and a direction for you to follow. Once you choose to follow Him, and
His direction, you will need to stick to it! Do not give up on Him because He
will not give up on you! He asks us a simple thing to believe Him. Once we do
this and forget about having doubts and fears and worries, then life becomes
just a little bit easier to handle.
Will
all our trials and tribulations stop just because we choose to walk in His path
and do what He chooses for us to do? Probably not, but we will not walk it
alone! He walks before us to check for rocks and ruts, bumps and holes in the
road, but Jesus also walks with us! He is there to lift us up when we stumble
because we were not watching where we were going, and when we reach a new
height on the trail He rejoices in our victory!
Okay,
if you do not already know the Lord personally this may sound a bit flaky to
you. I want you believers to know this too, Jesus really walks with us, and He
helps us to make each day bearable. He is our shield and actually protects us
from many things, some are small, and some are huge, and we do not always know
about them.
There
are times when He protected us from that
we can only see when we look back in our lives and see how close we came to
disaster only to make a last-minute change. Often that change was not something
we had any control over, sometimes it does, but either way God has made the
difference
I
have spent a lot of time in Proverbs 30 this morning and a lot in John, 14 and
15. Both of these areas will be in our weekly reading because God really chose
to speak to me through them.
Each day, what we go through is not
about what we want, it is not about us at all in the ‘big picture’, but it is about
glorifying our God in heaven. In reality it’s not our life’s problems that
matter, but how our problems can bring God glory in some way.
In exchange for giving Him the glory Jesus has promised us that if we ask anything in His name, in John 14, that He will petition the Father, and that He will do it! Just because we believe in Him! Wow! Now that is an awesome God! But it’s not about what I want; it is not even about what I want in this prayer for Him to heal my Mom. It is about giving Him the glory, acknowledging that I can’t do it myself, but that God can. Knowing my limits in life helps God to be able to work in my life and through it. If I think I can write a devotional all by my little self I am silly! Without the Lord it is not possible, but with God all things are possible!
I
just need to ‘keep the Faith’! And that Faith is in Christ! Christ Jesus has
the answers that I seek, and He will give me the Word for each week!
As we go on through this week let’s
make it a plan to seek Him daily for what He wants us to focus on, then do it.
Then let us spend the time looking around us to see who inspires us as well as
who we maybe inspire by our walk in Christ!
You will be surprised!
Dear
Heavenly Father, thank you for today. Thank you for the time I spent in Your
Word, seeking Your face, direction and guidance for this day and my life in
general. Bless us all this week as we walk according to Your will, not our own.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Monday:
Proverbs 30 (all) Tuesday: John 14 (all),Wednesday: John 15 (all),
Thursday:
Ephesians 4:1-24,Friday: Matthew 11:1-19,Weekend Readings: Luke 17&18
- Since this original post was
years ago, my mother has gone on to be with the Lord. I believe that the
prayers I was praying at that time gave her an extra 8 months of joy in her life. Do not give
up on praying for your loved ones, He hears your prayers and will answer
in one way or another! In His Love, Teresa Wilson