Someone is calling or wanting something as soon as you wake up. You haven't had time to read your Bible, pray and just be alone with GOD. Do we let others "sap" or strength with their "busyness"; and "this needs to be done NOW syndrome"? "Choose this day who you will serve..." (Joshua 24:15-19). Do we just say words without commitment? If so, we really don't want DIVINE INTERVENTION, because it doesn't fit our schedule. Just how PEACEFUL and LOVING were you when you just "jumped" into your day without prayer? Serving and loving GOD is not impossible, but it cannot be done without DIVINE ASSISTANCE! NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, OR WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES ARISE; can you say, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD?
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What does GOD want me to do? What is GOD'S WILL for my life? BE THANKFUL! When we GIVE THANKS our life changes right then. The negative things disappear because they are not GOD'S WILL for us. A GRATEFUL HEART replaces pride, anger and selfishness. How can GOD help but have JOY and be PLEASED when we GIVE THANKS in spite of our "stubborn", "grumpy" and "self absorbed" SELVES?Hebrews 13:5, "...the fruit of lips that GIVE THANKS to HIS name." Have you ever thought that GIVING THANKS is our mindful and willful act of PRAISING GOD? To choose to be THANKFUL, IS SOMETHING GOD CAN'T DO FOR US; it is our response to HIS love, mercy and salvation. IT IS UP TO US TO REJECT IT; OR ACCEPT IT BY GIVING THANKS WITH A GRATEFUL HEART!
We all have a place, that is Undefiled, safe, and has a Presence of Holiness. A place so sacred that love is love without definition, IT JUST IS. It is a place where our SPIRIT soars beyond contemplation; where the world is just a dream and the SPIRITUAL is REALITY. A place of absolute clarity, where questions of Purpose or Why do not exist. Leviticus 21:12, "He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his GOD, for anointing oil is upon him..." A place we and GOD are in communion, inseparable and untarnished; IT IS OUR SANCTUARY!
No one can make us feel guilty if we are doing what is right. Do we succumb to the "pressures" around us and then feel guilty? Think about this; "...I serve with a clear conscience..." (2 Timothy 1:3). Or, think about this; "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled...nothing is pure...both their minds and consciences are defiled." (Titus 1:15). I often think "mothers" have a unique way of exposing our "guilt" with pointed questions like: "wouldn't you like to save some cake for your brother or sister?" Or, after you go to the store for her she asks, "was there any change left?" Really, mothers are "gifted" to ask the questions everyone else is thinking. If you are doing what is "RIGHT" you can answer and act without GUILT, because you can answer with "purity" and a "clear conscience". BUT IF THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN VERY OFTEN, you might want to look at the friends you are around, your own values as to what is RIGHT, or your own inability to say NO to what is WRONG!
Have you done all that you know to do? Are you hanging at the "end of your rope" with no where to go but down? Sometimes "NEW SPIRITUAL BEGINNINGS" are disguised as "PAINFUL WORLDLY ENDINGS"! Painful Endings, or just plain worldly pain, is our NOT BEING IN AGREEMENT WITH GOD! Have you every gone to Church, but didn't want to? Have you had to "bite" your tongue not to say something "curt" or "sharp" to someone, but you really wanted to? Isaiah 55:8, "...MY thoughts are not your thoughts, ...your ways are not MY ways..." Do we put on a "Christian" face, but our thoughts are not in agreement with GOD?It is our PRIDE, SELFISHNESS and IGNORANCE that keeps us from agreeing with GOD in ALL THINGS! If we are at the "END OF OUR ROPE" it is because, WE CHOOSE TO BE!
Have you ever asked yourself, or even GOD, how does what I do, matter? Insurance sales, farmer, factory worker, professional or homemaker; is it just something to do until we die? The Bible tells about people who were architects, cupbearers, accountants, lawyers, doctors, noble wives, judges and seamstress. Although Nehemiah was cupbearer (food taster) GOD used his job to put Nehemiah in a position to Glorify GOD (Nehemiah 1:11). We might want to remember that "we did not choose" the job we do; GOD put us in it (no matter how many jobs we have) to Glorify HIM! To meet people who other wise may never know HIM, if it weren't for us! So if we think today, it's just one more tax return, or one more pair of shoes sold, WE MIGHT WANT TO REMEMBER WHO WE'RE REALLY WORKING FOR! TODAY IS GOD'S DAY IN EVERYTHING WE DO!
Did anyone get to watch film clips of Soldiers coming home on Veterans Day? When their children saw their Father's face, they began to run with all of their might, with arms outstretched. Revelation 22:4, "They will see HIS face, ...and they will need no light or sun, for the LORD will be their light..." We have all heard and visualized going to the "Pearly Gates" or Angels escorting us to Heaven. I wonder when we see GOD'S FACE, if we too, will run with all our might, WITH OUTSTRETCHED ARMS?
Psalm 119:106, "I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep YOUR righteous rules." Do we think our tears wash away the blood and pain of some wars that betrayed us with false promise of GOD, HONOR AND FREEDOM? Do we know the fear, anger, and loneliness of those who died without holding their loved ones just one more time? Are we confused to learn that the Mother's Children we fought, were also fighting for GOD, HONOR AND FREEDOM? Maybe today we can HONOR ALL VETERANS, OR JUST REMAIN SILENT.
How many of us pray for GOD to remove our infidelity, lying, cheating, stealing and immorality (AND THE LIST GOES ON, IN FACT IT IS ENDLESS)? Do we "pray a little" to satisfy our conscience and then move on? Do we, IN FACT, pray about our symptoms and NOT THE DISEASE? What causes us to lie, steal and cheat? All of these actions in our lives are "SYMPTOMS" caused by the "LACK", or dare I say, "THE COMPLETE ABSENCE", OF GOD IN OUR LIVES! Romans 12:2, "...be transformed by the renewal of your mind, ...discerning the WILL OF GOD, what is good and acceptable and perfect." It isn't the SYMPTOM that makes us SICK, it's AN INDICATION OF SOMETHING MUCH MORE DEADLY! THE ABSENCE OF GOD!
"Christians repel" Christians and anyone else they "preach" to! In religious efforts to "become HOLY or STAY HOLY" we have put ourselves "under a curse" (Galatians 3:10). It is like we think we can earn "HOLINESS". If we are trying to Live Under the Law we are already cursed, because violating one part of the Law is failure in all of the Law! When we are constantly aware that we live under GRACE, we become tender, kind, gentle, merciful and patient. When we live "under the law" we become religiously perverted, following self-imposed rules with "zero tolerance". We are end up "CURSED" NEVER KNOWING GOD'S BEST!
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About the Author and writerThe writer for our daily devotionals wishes to remain anonymous in regard to his work, giving instead Glory to the Author. Archives
December 2015
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