Tuesday Devotional

Blessed are the Poor in spirit

The poor will eat and be satisfied ;

they who seek the Lord will praise Him

Psalms 37:11

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 5-7) provides for us an outline of how to live a life of worship . Starting with the Beatitudes , Christ reveals the kind of attitudes we need to worship "in spirit and in truth" ( John 4:24) . Each of the Beatitudes provides a truth that leads us to a more intimate relationship with the Savior . Applying these truths to the way we worship gives us the promised results of the kingdom of heaven.

There is no better starting place than to start with allowing ourselves to be " poor in spirit ." Being " poor in spirit " brings us to a denial of ourselves ,a dependence on God and the reward of heaven ..... Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

submitted by:
Annie

Monday Devotional

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength, they will sour high on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint. Isaiah: 40:29-31

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

All around me are cries of people, young and old and in between. “I am tired, life is hard.” I think of my children ages 22-28 expressing their exasperations of life. Even my grandchildren at the young ages of 6 and 8 how they struggle with the challenges of life.


But oh, the faithfulness of God! He says to us “Be still and know that I am God”. His word is truth. How do we put our hope in the Lord? We must hide His word in our hearts.

We must ponder His beauty, the beauty of His creation. I love the mountains, to be surrounded by nature. It reminds me of what a big God we serve. If He can take care of the plants and birds of the air, certainly He can and will take care of me.

He reminds me again and again of His faithfulness. He brings me songs of worship and praise. He surrounds me with love and kindness through sisters in Christ. He lifts me up through His word. There is power in the smallest of phrases, “It is finished”; “Let it be done”.

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!

Written by Debbie Rodriguez
     

(Graphic used is called Heart of God)

WORTHINESS

Devotional for Sunday, 5/6/12 (repost/rewrite from 7/11/10)


What is your worth? There is an e-mail that goes around called The one Flaw in Women, which extols the virtues of women, and at the end says that the one flaw in women is that they forget their worth. Many of us live our lives for others every day, giving our all to those around us. We support one another, bear one another's burdens, share our hope, love and joy, and laugh and cry with our friends, even when we are sad or hurting inside. Is this what brings us value? Perhaps that is what brings us worth in some people's eyes. 

But, then what is our worth when we fail at these things? Sometimes we may feel totally unworthy because of something we have or have not done or said. There may be people we have hurt or neglected, even if it was unintentional. Some days we might be too absorbed in our own lives to share our gifts or talents with others around us. Maybe we didn't reach out to someone in need for various reasons, even though we had the means to do so and saw their need. Or perhaps we simply didn't stand up for what was right in a certain situation. Does that make us unworthy people?

What brings us worth in other people's eyes may be whether we "do good things" - but what is it that brings us worth in God's eyes? First, He creates us with some intrinsic value.  "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Psalm 139:14). Then He redeems us again and again when we falter. God sees us through his one and only son, Jesus, who died on the cross to save us from our unworthiness/sinfulness. Thankfully, God is endlessly all-forgiving, because of what Jesus has done for us, not because of our own efforts! Because He forgives all of our short-comings, no matter how often they appear, we can start anew with a clean slate, each and every moment of every day as we turn to Him in faith. When we "do good things" in this world then, it is not what brings us worth in God's mind, but rather it is what we do to thank Him for the free gift of forgiveness and salvation already given to us by Him. It is our witness to the world of the love of our wonderful Lord and Savior. 

So, what is your worth? When we are noble/faithful we are worth far more than rubies! "A [woman] of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." (Proverbs 31:10)  And as we witness to others about our faith in Christ, we do not have to be afraid, because we are worth more than the many sparrows of the earth.  "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31) 

So what is our worthiness based on?  We are worthy because God made us and we remain faithful - and that is ALL!  An affirmation to remember:

I am a worthy creation of God, and I am continually redeemed and made worthy again through faith in Christ!

Written by Jan Andersen, worthy child of God

Saturday Devotional...5/5/12

Plans and Choices

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.

“They are plans for good and not for disaster,

to give you a future and a hope.

When I read this verse, a million things come to mind. I’m serious! That much comes to my mind.

As a writer, often I will have in mind a beginning and an end to a piece of writing. Then, what to put in the middle is a different thing all together. Yet, as a writer, I’m dictating every stroke of my pen, but God does not dictate. He allows and intercedes into our choices to bring about His plans. Still there are a million different choices that we can make in life. There’s no telling how many of them He’ll allow and how many He won’t.

Would I be where He wants me to be had I made different choices? Does He have a set number of plans that He determines will happen in my life regardless of my choices even though many of them were not good. Had I not made the rebellious choices in my teenage years, or if I had not given birth to a child out of wedlock, would He still bring about those plans? Some of my choices were sacrificial, and I know they lined up with His will, but what if I had not made the right ones? What if I had chosen to take that promotion at work instead of staying home to be “domestic” as a stay-at-home wife and mother? Would He still bring me back around to where I should be?

What about the choices that were not my own? If I had not been removed from Christian school, if I had not the sinful exposure to a number of things growing up, if my daughter’s biological father had not chosen to walk away from responsibility, would God have different plans for me?

So, I ask again…are there a certain number of set plans He has for each of us…the kind of plans that He says will occur regardless of our choices? I believe so, but I also believe there are more than just those. I believe He has plans that hinge on our choices. I believe that I have missed out on wonderful prosperous plans because of wrong choices. Likewise, I believe I have experienced plans come to fruition that could have been lost had I not chosen the right way.

Yes, there are countless plans that this verse could allude to. The possibilities are mind-staggering. And yes, there are a million different ways a life can go at every turn. He will allow it if He can use it to bring about His plans. Likewise, there are just as many circumstances He’ll say, “No,” to.

If I believe what He says, if I trust that whatever happens, He has allowed it, not dictated it, but allowed it, then I’ve opened myself up to receive the strength He has available for me to get through whatever needs to be gotten through, so that I can finally get to those plans
.

By the way, if you are a writer, can you imagine, having your beginning and your end figured out, as well as each character? Then can you imagine a list of ideas that you know will be included in your story, and a list of many more ideas that you would love to be included in your story, but chances are that most of the wonderful things on the second list won’t make it to the final draft? Finally, think about this…the reason they won’t all be included is because you’ve allowed your characters to write the middle of the story themselves, and you are not allowed to control their choices.

Wow! How frustrating! If we knew all that God has for us, and if we would just ask for His guidance and follow it, how different life would be. He knows them…He knows them all, and they’re all good.

Amie Spruiell

Friday Devotional...5/4/12

(Proverbs 1:33)

But all who listen to me will live in peace; untroubled by fear of harm.

When I read the first line of this scripture (But all who listen to me will live in peace) ....my mind went immediately to when my Mom passed away in 1995 suddenly and unexpectedly, she was only 67 years old.

I will never forget the excruciating pain and sorrow that I felt. I couldn't stop crying and moaning with a cry deep down in my gut. I cried that whole night through. The next day my dad, brother and myself went to the mortuary. My dad and brother went inside, but I couldn't face reality. I couldn't face death....the death of my Mother, so I sat in the back seat of the car alone in the deepest sorrow I'd ever experienced. When that "still small voice" (most distinctively) spoke to me....and I listened.

The scripture came to me

 "Peace I give to you, not as the world giveth, but as I giveth."

I knew the Lord's voice! And then Jesus said to me >>> "BUT, AS I GIVE IT TO YOU, YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT." And from that moment on, I took the Lord’s "Peace". I embraced the words that He gave me, and I then was at peace within myself. Yes, I still grieved, but it was a different feeling. I was not in agony any longer.

And so this scripture still stands:

"But all who listen to me will live in peace"

Glenna Williamson

Thursday Devotional...5/3/12

The Constantly Connected Club

In our technologically savvy culture not everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, even some electronic geeks held out, not wanting to be entangled in yet another way. So, I was a little surprised when I was home for a visit and heard that my dad had a cell phone. I got the number entered into my contacts and a few days later breathed a sigh of relief when I arrived somewhere ahead of him and needed to reach him. A few button presses later and I could hear the number ringing. Hmmm, no answer, and no voicemail was set up.

Later on I ask my dad if he was out of cell phone signal range earlier in the day. He wouldn’t know, he explains, because he didn’t have his cell phone turned on. Then, with fake patience painted over my frustration, I ask the obvious question: Why do you have a phone if you are not going to have it on so we can reach you? His answer was as truthful as they come and sincerely spoken: He has a phone so that when he needs something he can reach us!

Four years have passed, and my dad, with a latest and greatest Smart phone, Googles and sends texts with the best of them. I believe it was my youngest brother serving overseas that helped convince my Dad of the benefit of joining the ‘constantly connected club’.

Our own dads, whether present or absent, attentive or distracted, connected or unavailable, can color the way we view our heavenly father.

But God is not a man that he should lie

 or not keep His Word to us (see Numbers 23:19).

When God says He will do something for us, or be there with us, He will. Even if we doubt God, it only makes us uneasy and miserable, it doesn’t change who He is.

When challenges and temptations pop up in front of us each day, God has already made a way, an escape hatch, for us to choose right over wrong

(see I Corinthians 10:13).

When we read His Word, repeat His truths in our minds, and do what is good and right we will grow in wisdom and understanding. But we must be completely connected to Him for that to happen (see John 15).

Before the first young rider delivered the first letter for The Pony Express, or Thomas Edison invented the telegraph, God created us to be a part of His ‘constantly connected club.”

Jeremiah 29: 12-13 (NLT)

“In those days when you pray, I will listen.

 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”

Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously,

and he will give you everything you need.

II Chronicles 7:15 (AMP)

Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive

to prayer offered in this place.

Revelation 3:20 (NLT)

Look! I stand at the door and knock.

 If you hear my voice and open the door,

I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

Dear God, thank You for always hearing my heart’s cry, even when I don’t have the words to speak. I thank You for patiently drawing my attention back to You over and over each day. I have learned from Your Word that peace and wholeness only comes when I am completely trusting, resting, and depending upon You. I desire to grow in faith so that I will look to the hills (heaven) from where my help (You) comes. In Jesus name, amen.

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

Wednesday Devotional...5/2/12

"Shining Bright In A Dark World"

It still amazes me every time I think about the fact that I have the living God within me, since I have received Christ as my Savior. His very power is within me. It is sometimes difficult to grasp that truth. Especially when there are times that I don't feel powerful and I am not always experiencing His peace and presence.

But the truth is that He truly does reside within me. And because of that truth I carry His light wherever I go. When I walk into a dark place His light overcomes the darkness and the very atmosphere shifts. We are representatives and ambassadors for Jesus. He will give us courageous words to speak to those that need to hear the truth. And it is God's truth that brings them out of darkness into His light. In fact God's word tells us in...

 1Peter 2:9b

"who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

As believers we do shine bright and we have been commissioned through Christ to bring the lost into His saving grace. We are empowered and equipped from on high to accomplish what God has asked us to do. In Him we lack nothing.

I exhort each of you to go forth and allow God's light to shine brightly through you and make a difference to the lifes around you. You will find great satisfaction and purpose as you shine brightly for Christ onto a dark world.

Rich Blessings,
Sandy Billingham