Thursday Devotional...Watch Your Step...

...and be mindful of your path

My morning walk often takes me along one of the paths that run parallel to the small complex of townhouses where my family and I live. It was another a beautiful morning, and I was enjoying the Saturday morning peace and quiet. My eyes scanned the area, looking for the new growth that heralds the coming of Spring!

I will not come for several weeks, but I love feeling the anticipation of the changes to come. So, I strolled along, looking around, bubbling with joy. Then the next step tipped me sideways! I had stepped off the edge of the paved road, stumbling into the bump on the side. I did not fall, but did hear the clear sound of my pride landing on its knees. I looked around quickly to make sure that no one saw my graceless steps. Whew! The coast was clear. I’d better watch my step.

“The simple believe anything,

but the prudent give thought to their steps."

Proverbs 14:15

This stumble got me thinking about the true path, the one that leads to righteousness. How many times have I taken my focus off God’s plan and trotted along on my own, certain that I knew what was ahead. Stumbling, tripping, flopping; often landing on my knees, or flat on my face. I have been saved from total failure by God's Amazing Grace, again and again.

Further on, I find an open space, with new-grown grass; inviting me to wander in this miniature field of green. Almost tempting me to run. I look around for the tiny wildflowers that add sparks of color to the landscape. Just beyond the focus of my vision, I see a hint of a dark spot on the ground. It was a small, round hole, probably a burrow for a chipmunk. Too small for me to fall into, but large enough to catch my heel twist my ankle. I need to watch my step.

Walking one of the first things we are taught to do alone. We are encouraged crawl, stand and eventually take those first, wobbly steps of independent movement. Once we learn this, we forget that while we may chose when and how we walk; our Creator has laid out a path for each of us.

 

We can walk with confidence when we know who is leading. Not our family, not our friends, not even our church. If we allow ourselves to follow someone else, we run the risk of thinking that God’s plan for them is exactly the same for us. When we only listen to ourselves, or always listen to another person; we are using the wrong map. The steps of our lives are leading us towards the place where we will finally hear the name that has already been written for each one of us. Are the lessons and blessing He has for us are left waiting along the way for someone else, or are they wasted? We need to walk in step with God’s plan. For the burdens and blessings that build our faith.

My prayer for today should be my prayer every day.

“Thank You Almighty Father, for guiding me, for leading me through yesterday. Please continue to lead me through today, according to Your Will. I ask the Holy Spirit to convict me when I falter, so that I do not stray or fall. I submit myself to Your will.

I pray this, in Jesus’ Precious Name,

AMEN!”

"Observe the commands of the LORD your God,

walking in obedience to Him and revering Him."

Deuteronomy 8:6

Written by

Lynda Kinnard

Powerful "Popcorn Prayers"

I remember hearing a friend of mine tell me that at times that she was extremely busy she would send to the Lord "popcorn prayers." She would go about her day working but throughout the day send those quick prayers to the Lord. Different needs would come to her mind and those short little prayers would be released to the Lord. Even when we cry out the name of Jesus He so hears us.

In Proverbs 18:10 it says,

"The name of the Lord

is a strong tower;
The righteous run to it

and are safe."

In that one beautiful word, JESUS, is so overwhelmingly powerful. Times when we don't know what to pray, just speaking out His name can move mountains.

If you don't think you have time to pray, think twice. "Popcorn prayers" are highly effective, especially when you call on the name of our all powerful Savior, Jesus!

In His Radical Love,

Sandy Billingham

Devotional for 2/12/13

Just Ask

One of the things I often request for prayer is wisdom. When I am facing a challenge, I am very aware that every step and every word matters, and from an abundance of experience with misteps and mispoken words, I know my own neediness because I know my own past!

In my worry about doing things right this time, I notice that I am easily distracted by 'what happened last time' and then I keep turning the event over and over in my mind looking for the way I could have or should have handled it. Although I believe I should study the past so that I won't repeat it, I also know that only God knows the future and knows me and everyone in it. No matter how many times I watch a replay tape in my mind, I can only get so much out of it.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

 

When I ask for my friends to pray for wisdom for me, I actually am asking them to pray I will remember to ask Him for wisdom as I walk through my day, situation, and relationships.  Then having asked Him to lead me in the way I should go, that I will be brave and do what I then know I should do.

"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God,

and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.

Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled

as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind."

James 1:5-6 NLT

 

Dear Lord, thank You for hearing our prayers and watching over us. Please help us to remember that we can always depend upon, believe in, and rely on You. In Your Son's precious name, amen.

 

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

Monday Devotional...2/1/13...Be Still

Be still, and know that I am God!

~ Psalm 46:10

NLT

I have always felt a peace thinking of this scripture…like I could just relax and come to some new knowledge of God. The problem has always been that I have no clue how to be still. I have found that when I am still it gets on my nerves. I am not used to being unoccupied. I have so many involvements that there is something to do every day. To name all the things I do is not necessary. They are all good, and they all take lots of time.

I was recently away for a month in Bangladesh. We stayed with a nephew. Everyone there loved and honored me by not allowing me to do a single chore or even to help a little. One day I tried to test their seriousness about my not being allowed to help out. I grabbed my plate and made a run (well rather a quick walk) for the kitchen. I managed to avoid the grab for the plate by our niece. As I reached the kitchen door, however, Mahera, our niece’s mother, blocked the door and put her hand out for the plate. Checkmate!

I went back to the table which was what was expected of me. They were all smiling when they saw me retreat to where they hoped I would be able to feel their love. They loved seeing me be still. I smiled and thanked them…one of the few things I know how to say in Bengali.

I wonder if there is a problem of language between God and me. No, it cannot be that. Even though the prevalent language in the home where we were staying, I pretty much always knew what the topic of conversation was even if I did not know all the particulars of it. I was aware of their desire to take care of me and honor me by relieving me of any business. In fact my run for the kitchen was kind of a joke to me.

God has so many ways of trying to reach me…to reach all of us. If we are honest we will admit that most of the time we are aware of the Godly behavior we should follow. God speaks all the languages of His people. In addition, He has additional ways of sending us messages through music, words of friends, and messages at church among other ways. However, there is one way that we can rely on finding out what God wants us to do or know. It is the written breathed word of God found in the Bible. One of the important scriptures that gives us what God wants us to do is…

God wants to us to know Him the way He knows us. He has been still watching us and knowing us deeply. He knows what He created us to be and is overseeing what we do with that. We know about God, but do we know Him? The only way to know Him is to be quiet enough to experience Him.

Heavenly Father,

Show me how to be still…to be quiet…and to shut down the meanderings of my brain. Let my quiet times with you be just that. I want to be still. I want to know You. Help me to be silent and tranquil so that I may hear Your voice as you draw me to You.

Amen

Written by

Corinne Mustafa

THE VINEYARD

Sunday devotional, 2/10/13

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  John 15:5 NIV 

I am attending a retreat this weekend with the theme of "The Vine Speaks" based on the above Bible verse.  It has been a very uplifting time of studying God's word, singing, and fellowshipping with other Christian women.  The speaker* owns a vineyard in California and is able to share her faith as she gives tours at her vineyard and also as a presenter at retreats like this one.  

There is so much in God's word that the vineyard reflects.  The grapevine and it's tending provides a great analogy of our Christian life, how we are grafted into God's family in Christ, how we are tended to and nurtured by Christ our root stock, and how our lives are thinned and pruned to strengthen us in our faith and focus our energy on what is important to bear the best fruit.  One of my favorite gems so far from this weekend is that pruning does not mean cutting away diseased branches or bad stuff from our lives.  Pruning in a vineyard is actually the cutting away of specific healthy branches that are extra in order to direct the energy of the plant in the best pattern to produce the most fruit.  While pruning is drastic at times, and involves injury to the plant at those cut areas, in the long run it is healthy not only that year, but also in the following years as it builds the plant in the best and most productive way.  So it is with our lives.  True growth is not painless or easy most of the time.  It is not passive as it involves struggle and putting forth great energy. But in the long run as our energy becomes more focused on healthy growth, we are able to build on that in future years to come.  In this way we are able to bear the best and the most fruit for God's kingdom.  With Jesus as our root for stability, structure and nourishment, and the Father as the vine dresser for thinning and pruning, we become the healthy fruitful branches in His vineyard.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."  John 15:1-4 NIV

written by Jan Andersen

*(our presenter at the Pacific Southwest District LWML retreat was Cindy Steinbeck of Paso Robles, CA)

Devotional for 2/9/13

Holding On So We Can Let Go

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Hebrews 11:1

As human beings we want to hold on tight to everything that means something to us. Whether that is a person, a relationship, a dream or you fill in the blank.  It is our nature to hold things close, to grasp them tightly, to never let them out of our arm’s reach. We do this because we are afraid of losing them. We tell ourselves it is because of our love that we do this, but truly it is out of fear.

Let’s take a relationship, for instance.  At times we allow ourselves to settle for a lot less than we deserve out of fear of losing the person whom we are in relationship with.  We hold onto them rather than allow them the space they need to grow, to mature, and to develop their character. We are fearful that if we allow them space that we may lose them forever. Out of our own need, we neglect ourselves the time to do the same.

The same is true of our dreams.  We hold onto them and try to “rush” things in our lives and we try to “make” things happen.  We are afraid that if we truly let go of them that they will never become a reality.  Because of this we don’t allow the Lord to have the space He needs to work things out in His own way and in His own time.  As a result, we can actually hinder the process of our dreams becoming real along with hindering our own individual growth and progress.

I love the example that God gave to us by sending His Son Jesus to die for us.  God the Father knew that He had to “let go” of His one and only Son, for a season, in order to “gain” the lives of others whom He loved so much. He wanted to save us all into eternity.  In a sense, God was holding onto Jesus and Jesus was holding onto us.  Jesus became a bridge for all mankind and made us the way of reconciliation to His Father. 

Although a distance was created between Jesus and His Father when Jesus came to the Earth, that distance was not without a hope or a purpose.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  If we can allow ourselves to grasp this truth, we will begin to see things differently in our lives.  If we can take whatever it is that we are holding onto so tightly and “see” that Jesus is holding onto it, or holding onto them, or holding onto whatever that situation may be, and then we can also see that He is holding onto us at the same time, perhaps our fear can turn into hope.  Perhaps we can trust that He will not let go of us and He will not let go of the other side, and maybe then we can allow ourselves to simply let go and allow ourselves to hold onto Jesus.

  My only biological Sister was taken from me just a short month ago.  My instinct is to “hold onto” her by gathering around me as many reminders of her as I can.  I want to keep her phone number in my cell phone, I want to wear her favorite colors, I want to wrap myself up every night in the quilt that she made me, I want to keep smelling her favorite perfume, I want to continually listen to her favorite song, all so that I can hold onto that feeling of closeness that we had when she was alive.  I know those things are not wrong, however, they can only comfort me to a certain degree.  What truly comforts me is that the Lord is here with me, holding onto me, and knowing that the Lord is also in Heaven with her, holding onto her.  Although her death has created a distance between us, that distance is filled with hope, it is filled with promise, it is filled with purpose, and it is filled with faith. All of those things can only come from the Lord, and from trusting in Him and in His Plan.

Today I am thankful for Jesus.  I am thankful that He has fashioned Himself into a bridge, and that He connects us to those whom we love, to the dreams that we carry, to the purpose that we desire, no matter how far the distance between us may appear. Above all, I thank Him that He brings us the ability and the desire to hope… even when and especially when things appear the most hopeless. 

Written by Beverley A. Napier on February 4, 2013

Devotional for 2/8/13

Get Back Up

 

I recently heard a saying:

“Greatness is not what you’ve achieved….

But what you’ve overcome”

I find this to be a true saying and can identify with much in my own life of enduring hardships and failures. But what counts, is that we learn from our mistakes, endure the cross that the Lord has given us and when we fall, get back up.

We get back up with a renewed strength of encouragement and a mindset of boldness and endurance to go through, or go over whatever our trial may be. Again, it’s not the achievement of winning the battle, but rather the triumph that you’ve overcome. In Isaiah 40:31 the Bible says:

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as Eagles, they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint”.

Christians that hold on till the end shall over come (Life) by the Blood of the Lamb. For He will be with us even until the end….if we get back up.

Arise fellow believers in the Name of the Lord, fight a good fight of faith, believe till the end, hold to the truths of our for fathers and we shall rise on that glorious morning to see our Savior face to face…Amen, Amen, Amen !

Written by: Glenna Williamson