Daily Devotion #2

He is Real

 

"But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name."  John 20:31 NLT

 

Growing up in a Baptist church and as the child of a PK (Preacher's kid, lol) I most certainly heard and knew a lot of hymns.  One of my favorite ones is 'My God is Real,yes God is Real'.  I did not really know what I was singing, but in growth I truly understand it now.  God is real, Jesus is real--in fact even history does not dispute He lived.  Even other faiths and religions recognize Him as a prophet and acknowledge the validity of His miracles.  Here are the lyrics to the first verse and chorus:

 

Verse 1:
There are some things I may not know,
there are some places I can't go;
but I am sure of this one thing,
that God is real for I can feel Him deep within.
Chorus:
Yes, God is real,
real in my soul.
Yes, God is real
for He has washed and made me whole.

His love for me is like pure gold,
yes, God is real

 

I was talking to my linesister Ebony yesterday and during the course of our conversation I said that I believed that if someone had an experience of which they cannot doubt Jesus' existence and presence in their lives, it would be impossible to question if He was real.  I have always believed in God (of course, being a PK's kid), but I did not always know or feel God's presence in my life.  I believed in Jesus truthfully because I was supposed to, but I did not really know Him for myself.  Only in recent years and in studying the word on my own lately that I really come to understand the brevity of what Christ did.  And even more recently on receiving an email from a friend about the ongoings in her life, I can truly say I thank God for the gift of Jesus.  But nothing has more clearly proved Christ exists to me than the acts of God in my own life--saving me from death time and time again and reuniting me with Him whenever I fall short--because, why save a sinner?  Why heal someone undeserving?(Rom 8:11) Why deliver me from certain death?(Rom 5:8) Why if He isn't real????  I have experienced for myself the loneliness of having people doubt, ostracize and scorn you...but were it not for God and Jesus in my life...I would have long given up.  Only through Christ am I--a sinner--able to go to God in all of His holiness and pray before Him.

 

In Romans, Paul talks extensively of what God did for us.  In Romans 5:6-11, Paul says the following: "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." Jesus died to redeem us (both Gentile and Jew) from life under a unlivable law--that really only applied to the Jews.  In the email my friend revealed how she tried to conform her life to the law and how miserable it made her, even down to how it affected her family life.  Reading that showed me that were it not for God's mercy and compassion, and Jesus' humility, we would truly be condemned to death, both in life and after life.  Because we know that no single good work will get us to heaven, but God's grace alone.(Eph 2:8-9) 

 

I read and actually heard someone mention recently how the priests of the Old Testament went once a year to offer a sacrifice of atonement to God.  The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the mercy-seat that covered the Ark of the Covenant and as long as the Blood was seen, the people were forgiven and in right standing with God.  This no longer has to be done because God gave a better, all-inclusive sacrifice for our sins.  Being covered by Jesus' blood allows us to focus on God and His eternal grace, and thus conform ourselves to the image of Christ.  Because of Jesus, I have the Holy Spirit living within me, leading, guiding and comforting me.  Because of Jesus, I am alive and well to see another day.  Because of Jesus, I am forgiven and entitled to share in His glory.  Like the song says, Jesus' blood washed us--and made us clean of the guilt that sin brings.  We are no longer condemned; instead we are free to live with God forever.  Because of Jesus, we can come to God for ourselves instead of through a proxy--because He is our proxy!  No more animal sacrifices, no more going to the priests with our mess, but we can go straight to God, because Jesus is our High Priest and He lives.  Jesus is real...all you have to do is believe it...or better yet ask Him to prove it to you!

 

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.'  Philippians 3:8-9 NLT

Daily Devotion

A Heart That Forgives

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."  Matthew 18:35 NIV

Its this song by Kevin Levar...A Heart that Forgives.  It says my every feeling.  Everything I have felt over the years against everyone who wronged me all my life.  I look in the email listing and even my contacts list at some of the people in my family and former friends that I have refused to talk to because of the things they have done.  And the last few days God has caused me to see how important my forgiving them is. 

In the parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Jesus speaks of how the king canceled the debts of one of his servants that begged and pleaded with him for mercy.  The same servant then turns around and chokes another who owes him only a 100 denarii, and then has the man thrown in jail until his debt was paid.  The king was told of this by his other servants and had the same servant thrown in jail until his debt could be paid (Matthew 18:21-35).  I have been praying and asking God to show me what is hindering me from receiving some of the things I ask Him for.  And the most prevalent thought has been forgiveness.  I look at the names in my contacts that I will not allow my finger to touch, will not allow myself to chat with...and why because I have not forgiven.  Instead I hold on with a death grip to the feelings of pain inflicted by their actions and words and I just haven't let it go.  "Let it go Marquita" and "Give it to me" are things God speaks to my heart about the hurts.  To hear some of the names still causes me to wince with hurt.  I sit here tearing up again thinking back at the painful memories.  But its like the servant...not wanting to forgive a small error (or big), not letting go of the pain and consequently causing yourself to live it over again.  So how do I have this heart that the songwriter speaks of?

I take it one day at a time.  Because in essence, I am not promised tomorrow.  Neither are any of us.  Life does not owe us another day to make things right.  On the contrary, many people leave here with unresolved issues and never free the offender or themselves from the weight of the burden.  So I ask God each day to purify my heart and make it able to forgive.  Make it so that I can in my human strength through His supernatural strength forgive and forget the things that were done to me so that instead of tending to a festering wound, my body can heal the things that it was created to.  God is the only one that can heal broken hearts caused by the wrongs of others.  So like the king, like God who cancels our sins because of Christ's righteousness, I can cancel the debts caused by the offenses of yesterday, and start today anew.  Letting it go and releasing it to God, who releases me from my sins, releases me from carrying that forever.  It frees up positive, healing energy.  It allows me to fill that wounded place with God's love, which is greater than any force in the universe.  Just think about it: God who hates sin and turns away from it, did the inconceivable to allow us passage in His presence; He presented a better sacrifice--Jesus, who was clean and pure--as the atonement for everything we will ever do.  The only thing we have to do is forgive as He forgives and let it go. 

One thing I used to ask my mom repeatedly before my daddy passed was had he forgiven everyone.  I know he did because of the peace I now have when I think of him.  As for those people, I forgive each and everyone of them.  My family members, former friends and acquaintances, and everyone because I do not want to miss out on what God has for me by being in my own way.  I do not want to not be forgiven because I am too afraid to trust God to keep His word.  The greatest gift you can give yourself is the freedom to forgive because that is how you can truly love others.  Besides, it is of no use for me to ask God to answer my prayer it I do not apply what He reveals to my life.

"But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."  Mark 11:26 NASB

Daily Devotion

Seventy Times Seven

 

Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.  Matthew 18:21-22 NASB

 

We all have our burdens to bear and our particular assignments in life.  Some days the weight of them can get so heavy because it seems that the puzzle is missing a few pieces to be complete.  I know I try to fix everything and everyone.  And so for me, life seems out of order and confusing when I cannot fix things.  It was a very hard for me to learn that I cannot control things, even my own life, and especially other people.  Now the other people part was not so hard to accept, because as quickly as things I am wronged by someone, I can just as easily write that person off.  All weekend long and actually it has been longer than that now, God has been weighing on my heart about forgiveness.  Forgiving others, ourselves, Him, and circumstances of life.

 

I read about a study that said there were people afflicted with serious diseases and illnesses and when instructed to forgive, many of them got better.  It has long been a no brainer that bitterness can cause serious health problems for you.  It really made me think about how nonchalant I can get about things, and really how I can shut people out of my life, namely my family.  A good deal of my hurts have been inflicted by them.  I think about how I tell other people to forgive and I have yet to forget the wrongs and let them go.  I do not want people to write me off because of things I have knowingly and unknowingly done to them. So I must forgive...even past seventy times seven.

"For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."  Matthew 6:14 NASB

Daily Devotion

Faith to Believe in a Delay

 

"But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."  James 1:6 NIV

 

Over the years that I have been experiencing health problems, I have worked to taper down the number of days each year that I get overwhelmed with sadness about my circumstances.  I spent a great deal of time going to spiritual groups, counseling, and just in prayer to reconcile my feelings about my life.  I even barely think about it now as I methodically put the pills I take day and night in their respective boxes each week.  But for some reason, I was just overcome with sadness this morning, not wanting to accept this as the plight for the rest of my life.  I read scriptures daily to reaffirm my faith and healing and I know that God is still healing people.  I have been praying for my healing since the day I was diagnosed with kidney disease, and with every subsequent diagnosis after that.  It is my avid daily prayer that God takes away all of the things I deal with.  I was reminded this morning of both David and Job, who endured trying situations at the hands of others, and in David's case, some of his own doing.  In both of their relationships, God allowed them to cry out to Him...and God proved Himself faithful, because He restored them both beyond belief.

 

David was chased by King Saul for many years, having to live in exile with his men.  It was during this time that some of the most heartfelt Psalms claim their origination.  I cannot imagine the emotions David felt at that time as he fled to cave and remote village alike in fear for his life, but I'm sure like me he cried out to God and said he could not take anymore.  All I know is that God restored the order in David's life--He brought David back to Israel and made him king!  That's better than restoration--God brought David from the bottom to the top!

 

Many of us know the story of Job...he lost everything including his health.  Even his wife wanted him to give up and curse God.  I felt like I could most closely relate to Job, because most of my problems I did not realize what I had done to contribute to their happening.  I often felt like there was some health miser that has a lottery ball full of issues that he randomly picks to pick on me with, hahaha.  But Job defended his innocence to his accusing 'friends' and even had the favor of hearing from God.  In the end, God restored everything Job lost times two...making him a 'greater man' than he was before (Job 42). 

 

James 1:6 above says "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."  The one thing I can say is that neither Job nor David wavered in their faith.  They believed beyond all reasonable doubt that God would hold true to His word and promises.  We are reminded of God's faithfulness in Numbers 23:19--"God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?"  God cannot tell a lie!  If He made a promise, it is what He will bring to pass.  So knowing this I hold on to the truths He gives me about all I have lost.  Even in Jeremiah 29:11, He says He has good plans for us--plans to give us hope and a future...and I know that does not only apply to eternity.  The enemy only inflicts us with memories of our afflictions and circumstances to defeat us right when our breakthrough awaits.  Just like Job's wife, he wants us to curse God and die, give up without realizing dreams, promises, and our futures.  I also know that God is not a respecter of persons, and can do the same things He did for both Job and David in my own life, if I just remain firm in my faith and hold on to the promises.  So when I get to the point of 'no more,' I can trust that He will very soon bring me justice. 

 

'Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.  God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.'  Hebrews 6:17-18 NIV

Daily Devotion

Saved by the Prayer

 

"But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer."  Psalm 66:19 NASB

But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.  Luke 23:34 NASB

 

I know that everyone has woke up on the wrong side of the bed once or 10 times lol.  And to tell you the truth actually I didn't this morning.  I was in a great mood; I had been playing my praise and worship music, singing as I got ready for work.  Then one thing after another started to make me angry.  My own lack of awareness and clumsiness caused me to hit the corner of my eye really hard against the molding in the linen closet...which, by the way, still hurts, ouch.  Then the usual horror played out as I dodged someone turning into oncoming traffic causing me an early morning shake-up and my other personality took over, enraged at the driver's miscalculations.  I took the time then to pray and ask God to forgive me for not praying and started the day over while I was on the highway.  Then I was angered once again when I realized I left my ID card to get on the base and on my computer.  By sheer favor, I got on base.  However I wasn't sure if I had left my ID at the gym the previous day or in my clothes.  So I searched my purse and gym bag...I think by then the anger was nicely boiling over.  Fortunately, thanks to God again, it was in my clothes and my brother sat it out for me.  So at my desk, I started the day over for the third time.  And shortly thereafter, I started to notice some blessings God sprinkled along the way. 

 

But I remember this poem about how rotten the person's day was when they did not pray.  It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did...and that is how I felt this morning so fortunately I did not let it go too far before I fixed my error.  It made me think, thank God for reminding me to pray because I could only imagine how much worse my day could have gotten.  Prayer has a way of framing your mindset, regardless of when you take the time to utter one.  Prayer does many things, most importantly having a life-changing impact on the user.  Prayer can ease physical pain, emotional distress, and spiritual anguish.  Prayer, when done correctly and repetitiously with fervency, even gives you great things like unbelievable blessings, favor, and peace.  The key is to recognize that when we pray, we are communicating with God.  We have to wait to hear back from Him, and be sure to not run ahead and do our own thing.

 

I know there have been many instances in my life when my day and nerves for that matter have been saved by the prayer.  Today could have been down right rotten had some of the blips along the road actually been worse.  If it were not for prayers of our own or of someone else, most likely we would not even be here.  Ironically, if it were not for God ignoring Jesus' prayer the night before He was crucified--had God decided to spare Jesus' life instead, levying the weight of all our sins upon us, we very well may not even be here.  But God chose to redeem us once and for all, forgiving us for things we are unaware of and restoring us to our place as His children.  If you have nothing else today, and you feel like you have tried everything and it did not work for you, try praying to God for His help.  He sure saved me today!

 

"I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.  Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live."  Psalm 116:1-2 NIV

Devotion posted on StreamingFaith!

Hey everybody!  Just wanted to share with you the link to my writing on StreamingFaith...God is amazing as I went from angry to humbled in a matter of seconds lol... But it is one of my devotions from Monday I think.  Anyway here is the link and be sure to pass it along!  And the title is much better lol...

 

http://www.streamingfaith.com/news/church/story/let-god-do-god/

--
"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
http://lifeinspiredbygod.blogspot.com/

Daily Devotion #2

The Master of Confusion

"For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."  1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV

 

A little over two months have passed since I have had this fog around me.  It was the day I found out I did not get the scholarship I applied for.  Around lunchtime, I had finally crossed off my list the long-postponed (and quite frankly, procrastinated) meeting with my pastor and began to take steps towards embracing and acknowledging my calling.  This has been a journey for me since I first acknowledged it, and it has been full of naysayers and opinion-givers.  I know I am not perfect and I thank God for His hand being on me, molding and scolding me.  But as far as the scholarship was concerned, it was my second time applying to this program, and I just knew I would get it this time.  I had an amazing (or at least me, my proofreaders, and friends so thought) essay submission, and it seemed like God had opened every door for me to get it...including extending the submission deadline after I missed the original one.  I just knew I would soon be relocating back to Atlanta and going to Emory in the fall for seminary.  I had no doubts at all that I would get a job offer and that all would fall into place after that.  I had made a mental note to call the school to find out when they would be notifying students.  Then shortly after that, the same day actually, I got the email and my heart sank.  "Although we loved your essay on The Alchemist,..." and the rest is history. 

 

Then immediately after that, the enemy had those close to me and not so close to me to throw all kinds of monkey wrenches and kinks in my machine.  Between conflicting advice and guidance to flat out lies, he had every kind of attack thrown at me.  And needless to say, for the last two months, I have been in a whirlwind fog about it.  I have felt confused, distressed, uncertain, oblivious, and flabbergasted about what steps to take ahead in my life.  For once in my life, I, Marquita that has everything seemingly under control, realized I had no plan, no goals, and no clear strategy for what I wanted to do with my life.  I will tell you, I have been trying to move somewhere away from South Carolina since 2008 (smile) with no avail.  Every significant event that has happened since I moved here has added fuel to my moving fire...and then about three weeks ago I realized maybe I am not supposed to move yet, maybe not ever.  And of course it is always when God has me speak into someone's life that I get the revelations I need...because no message I have ever given to someone else has not been applicable to that exact situation in my life...go figure.  My heart was crushed, and it served to bring on yet even more confusion.  I had to accept it, but it did not clear the fog.

 

I accepted that cold, harsh fact only yesterday after talking to my mothers here at work that maybe I am not supposed to move yet.  There is a such thing as unfinished business and I have not known God to leave things undone...no where in the Bible has He done that, nor in my life thus far.  I have left things undone, and quit on things that I thought served no benefit to me, and I wish I could say I did not have regrets about them.  And yet this confusion has persisted...why you say?  Because the enemy tries to do everything he can to get us off our God-appointed paths onto those side streets.  He does not want us to fulfill our destinies or to walk into that greatness in which we are all called.  Why?? Because to do so, draws us closer to God in ways we cannot fathom and gives us that sense of peace and fulfillment material things, people, and we ourselves fail to do each time.  It is easier to tempt us with the promise of temporary satisfaction time and time again to keep us lost or in my case, trapped momentarily, in the mist.  Because what happens when we resist his attempts and cling to God??  In essence, he loses and we win!  James 4:7 says "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."  That clearly says loser to me...

 

So I've been praying persistently, fervently, with constant petition to God about all the things on my heart and ironically enough...I am seeing, hearing and realizing the answers.  And now I clearly understand, that sometimes you just will not understand how God is working.  I had to simply lay my heartfelt feelings out before God.  Life is definitely not going according to my original plan...but I thank God for His plan, and how He always, always has a plan to reel me back onto the path that lies ahead.  Now I won't say that I will not fall victim to confusion again, or rather more aptly applied, a persisting diarrhea of thoughts, but I will be more prayerful and seek God's voice until I know without a doubt that it is His voice that I hear.  I will keep on knocking and calling God until I know the path by heart.

 

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;"  John 10:27 NASB

Daily Devotion

Keep Praying Until

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."  Philippians 4:6 NASB

I had to look up what the word supplication meant.  There are a lot of words in the Bible that I am a little vague on the meanings, and this has always been one of them.  Fortunately, I was able to read the commentary on the scripture as it broke it down into sections, and thus defined what supplication meant.  I also read a few other translations and discovered they used petition instead.  I have read this scripture countless times and I did not fully grasp the meaning of it until today.  I have been uncertain about many aspects of my life lately.  I have been praying for everybody and seeing God moving in their lives, answering question they have, and I have yet to see some of my own answered.  I think it is because I did not know what supplication meant--at least fully.  So after a much-needed talk today, I realized that I have not been continually petitioning God about my concerns, and I have instead been trying to figure them out on my own.  I have come up with ideas and plans about the way ahead and yet I still lack peace about the right direction to follow.

And so I realized, if I do not have peace about it, then that means that I have not heard from God on it, which means I have not brought it to Him enough that it is a priority for Him to answer me.  Or on the other hand, I could be so preoccupied with my plans, that I have not heard God's answer.  At any rate, I realized that I have not petitioned God enough on the things that have been bothering me, and so I have allowed the enemy to plant his seeds of doubt, whether it be through a trusted friend and their 'well-intentioned' advice or simply my being lost in the clouds.  The scripture above does not say sometimes or some things.  But it tells to be anxious for nothing--in layman's terms do not worry about a single thing, not the weather, not the future, not the past, not your family or friends, your job, NOTHING.  Then comes the but; I was once told that everything you say before a but is basically irrelevant--so your worries and concerns are irrelevant and meaningless in the face of continual prayer and petition.  If you constantly bring and leave your concerns at the throne of God, then God has room to work on them.  As long as you do not pick them back up again, God can move those mountains that you entrust to Him.  It is like the parable of the unjust judge and the persistent widow in Luke 18:2-8--she kept coming and coming and coming until he got tired and saw to it that she got the justice she sought.

Keep getting on your knees, keep falling on your face before God and see what He will do!

And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"  Luke 18:6-8 NASB

Daily Devotion #2

Help Our Unbelief

"But you haven't believed in me even though you have seen me."  John 6:36 NLT

I think about the man whose son was possessed and got discouraged when the faith of the Disciples could not heal his son.  In Mark 9:24 the story notes 'Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."'  Help my unbelief.  Sometimes I experience blessings and I will thank God for them.  Then the next challenge that arises, I immediately forget and sometimes I allow doubt to enter my mind.  Among other things, the enemy has been attacking me in my faith and in believing the things God has told me.  But as the Word says, Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). 

I'm sure you are familiar with the old saying, "Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear," right?  I actually wrote a devotion about this before, and I realized that we are so conditioned to not believe what we hear.  We instantly doubt.  It took the man in Mark to actually bring his son to Jesus before he believed his son was healed--not only because he doubted, but the Disciples doubted as well.  If we do not believe in our own confessions, we waste God's time asking Him to move on our behalf.  We in turn negate our own faith and allow the perverted faith, or fear to rule in that situation.

The mobs and the Jews only believed in Jesus' miracles that they actually saw Him perform.  Even sadder is the fact that many still doubted who He was, worse yet some accused Him of being demon-possessed!  God wants us to believe in Him.  Believe that once you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and asked for the forgiveness of your sins, that it was done.  You instantly became the righteousness of God through your faith in what you professed to believe.  Believing that God will do what He says is one thing, but believing that God will do what He says in your life is a whole different concept.  Why?  Because it forces you to activate your faith for yourself.  It is easy to trust God for someone else.  But when you have to wait patiently for God to move on your behalf, righting some wrong or restoring to you what you lost, it requires you to remember His Word and His promises and truly trust that they will produce a harvest in your life.  It requires that you enact the kind of faith needed to move mountains...and according to Matthew 17:20 all that takes is mustard seed-sized faith!!  'And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.'  So maybe you have microscopic-sized faith, and it is time for you to tell God the same thing, 'help my unbelief' so that you can grow.


And Jesus said to him, "'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes."  Mark 9:23 NASB

Daily Devotion

God's Way

"I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord."  1 Corinthians 7:35 NIV

Although this scripture is from a passage that is in reference to behaviors of married and unmarried people, I think it is perfect for this topic.  Way too often nowadays people just go about living their lives their way, not caring who gets hurt in the crossfire.  They do not think about others, they do not think about the repercussions of their actions, and I highly doubt they consider God or His plan in the process.

I have been under a cloud of uncertainty lately.  I have felt like in instances before, I have planned and planned and planned--with all going according to plan.  Most of the goals I had set for myself as a child I have already accomplished; I graduated both college and graduate school before I was 23, I have a great job, I live on my own and I have been self-sufficient for many years now.  Of course one of those goals I have yet to achieve, and I do not know when that will happen.  But I realized today through talking to my mothers at work that much planning and goal-setting on my part is not a bad idea, but when one is seeking to live life according to God's will, we must acknowledge that those plans may very well never pan out.  We must acknowledge that life will certainly throw its curve balls in the midst, but in the end, that God will make sure it works out according to our good (Rom. 8:28). 

Looking at the scripture above in this particular context helps ease the discomfort I feel.  Knowing that as long as I try and seek God for the right way to do whatever He wants from me, it will work out for my good.  God will align the path and make it straight, removing any obstacles that will prevent me from doing what He wants.  The key is that I must  be willing.  As a recovering control freak (well at least when it comes to my life, I've learned that I can't control anything someone else wants to do) I recognize that there are details God has not revealed to me yet and that my simple act of obedience with the steps He has given me will ensure that when the time is right, the next set will be revealed.  God is so great that He looks ahead at the finished work, while we can only see what may lie ahead of us.  Proverbs 16:9 says that "The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." (NASB)  So if we simply relinquish control to God, and just go along for the ride, things will go much smoothly.  The difficulty for us lies in turning over the reigns and becoming a passenger for the trip.  This is a difficult lesson for me, but I'm learning that it is much easier to just sit back and let God do God because I was not equipped with those skills.

"You can make many plans, but the LORD's purpose will prevail."  Proverbs 19:21 NLT

Daily Devotion

Looking for Love

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:38-39 NASB

When God made man, He created him as a complete being--that is complete in himself and having a direct line of communication with God.  God did observe that it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18) and out of the man God created woman.  After man's fall in Genesis 3, God made it so among other things that woman would be desirous of her husband, with him ruling over her.  Never at any point throughout this process does God say that mankind should look to themselves for love, or to others to gain love.  I do believe that was a product of sin invading the earth, that warped pride and self-love would elevate us as gods alongside or above God.  How can God--being that He is love (1 John 4:8,16) even want us to do such a thing, as He created us for Himself--so that He could love us and we love Him!

I've noticed in reflection on my own past relationships and the relationships of those close to me, that we all have a seemingly innate desire to be in a love relationship with another person.  This reminds me of the country song 'Lookin' For Love' by Johnny Lee which says the following in the chorus:

"I was lookin' for love in all the wrong places
Lookin' for love in too many places
Searchin' her eyes, lookin' for traces
Of what I'm dreamin' of
Hoping to find a friend and a lover
I'll bless the day I discover,
You - lookin' for love."

As a woman, I have searched for love in romantic relationships to much disappointment.  It was not until recently after much self-evaluation and personal introspection that I understood that I cannot find love without Love, that is, I cannot find love without God.  If I do not know God and understand what great feats He performed and the painstaking measures He underwent in order to ensure my eternity is spent with Him, then I cannot love.  If I do not know that God Himself stepped off His throne to perform the perfect act, the only act worthy enough to clean my slate of the sin that He so hates, then I cannot love.  If I could not grasp the real life examples He provided me with to understand and know His love, then I in essence of the fact, cannot love.  It is my belief that is why there are so many teenage pregnancies, because in a society rampant with skewed views of what love truly is, the only way to get that need fulfilled is through bringing another child into the world that will love you unconditionally in spite.

That was a harsh reality for me.  To think I spent lots of time in meaningless relationships in pursuit of the ever elusive love brings many not so pleasant memories to my mind, when instead all I had to do was devote that same effort to pursuing God.  See God is a jealous God, and as a friend of mine said and I paraphrase, anything can become a god or idol, even pursuit of love--not God, but the feeling.  As I look at my life and the lives of my closest friends, and how that pursuit of love has affected all of our lives in not all positive ways, I wondered what is it that we must do in order to find that true love we seek.  The only thing that comes to mind are those same steps associated with modern dating--meet God and rather, He will meet you where you are, spend time with God--date God: find quiet time where it is just you and Him, study His word, talk to Him and listen when He speaks to you, and show/tell God you love Him by thanking Him with your life and actions, and more importantly, simply being obedient to Him and His call.

When we search for everything God is in a human, we only temporarily patch the hole in our hearts.  In fact, we sometimes make it bigger, leaving a larger void in our hearts caused by the damage of bad relationships.  Until we go to God, the true source of love, and really get to know Him, we will never feel fulfilled.  So I have decided a while back now to abort my search for love since according to Proverbs, my he should find me.  Knowing who God is, the very structure of His character and being, we cannot expect to satisfy that longing without God.  So turn to Love to learn to love, and in turn find love.

"The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love."  1 John 4:8 NASB

Daily Devotion #2

Just What Other Men Have Met

"God called you to endure suffering because Christ suffered for you. He left you an example so that you could follow in his footsteps."  1 Peter 2:21 GWT

I read my favorite poems all week and recited them to myself in the midst of the things that happened.  The title is taken from "See It Through", a poem penned by Edgar Albert Guest, and as I read it, I stopped at that line.  Just What Other Men Have Met...what does that mean to me, at this point in my life?  When I learned this poem, it reassured me that I could endure the obstacles I was facing, and that I was not the only person to go through that--in fact, there were people I could turn to and cry on.  As I know think on a broader scale--no person is exactly alike another person--even down to your look (even with twins).  God gave us the distinction of being unique creatures, but He also gave us the blessing of having His wisdom recorded for all to read.  The Bible tells in many different verses of how we are to share in Christ's sufferings so that we can aspire to be more like Him.

Difficulties in life are a sure thing--in fact I don't know anywhere in the Bible that says that life will be a cake walk.  In fact, in1 Peter 4:12-13 it says: "Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad--for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world."(NLT)  We are to not be surprised!  All of the early disciples and apostles endured the same, if not worse, ordeals--Stephen was stoned and became one of the first martyrs in Acts, and countless other acts.  Even Paul, who was named Saul at the time, participated in bringing suffering upon all Christians during the early persecutions.  I have the favor of seeing the Underground City in Cappadocia, Turkey, where many early Christians lived underground to survive.

What a blessing I just realized we have!  Even though there are others before us that went through the same difficulties we face in life--hatred, envy, and jealousy, financial strains, illness, death, and loss--we can rejoice that there is certain glory awaiting us at the end.  Like the poem says we must hold our heads high to the finish; why, you say?  Well the promise is that we will share in Christ's glory.  1 Peter 1:6 says "You are extremely happy about these things, even though you have to suffer different kinds of trouble for a little while now.  The purpose of these troubles is to test your faith as fire tests how genuine gold is. Your faith is more precious than gold, and by passing the test, it gives praise, glory, and honor to God. This will happen when Jesus Christ appears again."  The promise of Christ returning, and by believing and trusting in Him, we will see Him again, and live forever.  I don't know about you, but that is something to shout about!  God promises to get us through whatever circumstances we may face and we will see Him in the end!  So now, you must just tell yourself you can make it, or even look to the people in the Bible or in real life that have gone through and are still here pushing forward.  Remember what the ultimate reward is that awaits you!

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."  James 1:2-4 NLT

see also: 1 Peter 4:1, Acts 14:22, 2 Timothy 2:12, Philippians 3:10, 1 John 2:6, 2 Corinthians 1:5, and Romans 8:15

Daily Devotion

Love 'em Anyway

For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."  Romans 13:9 NASB

I realized a harsh truth about myself this week.  The word family has relatively no meaning to me.  It does not excite me or invoke warm fuzzies for me.  And that really hurt my heart.  I do not distinguish my family from a person off the street and it is because of how a vast majority of my hurts and heartaches mostly stemmed from things caused by them.  I pray that God delivers me from my hurt and pain and how I view my family.  I wish that I had that exciting feeling associated with them, but I do not.  Instead, I have adopted an extended, surrogate family comprised of friends and loved ones that God has blessed me with.  But still the hole in my heart cries out for me to reconcile with them...what do I do then?

And God kept speaking to me this week, as thing after thing occurred to make me remember how I did not have the love I should have for my family.  Even if they hurt me or use me, I should love them anyway.  Even if they do not call me or I do not call them, I should love them anyway.  Even if the only time I hear from them is when they need something, I should love them anyway.  Even if they are the very ones to inflict hurt and strife into my life, I should love them anyway.  I should love them as I love myself.  But I asked God why and how and what?  Why should I love people that do not love me?  How can I should them love when I refuse to allow myself to share the same breathing room as them?  What should I do to overcome the way I feel?  And then several times this week, I saw devotions and was drawn to scriptures referencing Christ's act on the cross.  Do we really know what happened when Jesus died for us on the cross--do we understand the punishment that was revoked, the condemnation that no longer exists, and eternal peace in which we share?

Walking in love is not an easy process.  You must be willing to overlook the wrongs of others, especially your family.  Sometimes the enemy tries to attack us most in life through injustices and injuries caused by those that are closest to us.  I now realize that God has been pulling on my heart strings all week long about forgiveness, in some way or form.  You may be saved by having accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior--but are you forgiven?  Have you forgiven others as God instructs us to do time and time again?  Are you living up to par with the scripture above--loving God, and loving your neighbors (and family) as yourself?  For us to truly understand the monumental gift Christ gave us when He died on the cross, we have to be willing to set aside even the most painful things.  In essence, like He did, we must love 'em anyway. 

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"  Matthew 5:44 KJV

Daily Devotion

If It Wasn't For God...Where Would You Be?

 
"He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area."  Job 1:3 NLT

"So the LORD blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys."  Job 42:12 NLT

Good evening everybody!! I'm sure many of you may have just watched that UCONN-Butler game...not me! LOL, I woke up from my pollen-induced nap about two hours ago and did some reading.  Anyway, I wrote this title on February 15th.  And its funny to me how sometimes God has me to wait before I write things, but this seems no more perfect for today than the day I wrote the title down.  I was talking with one of my best friends yesterday and her brother, and we all were reflecting on where our lives have gone in the last three years. 

Life sure has not been too kind with some of the cards I have been dealt, but God!!  I looked back over my life so far and looked at the things I have endured.  It has not been pretty but by God's grace and favor, I have survived.  Lets do a brief recap: May 2008 I was fortune to graduate from college and graduate school at the same time in spite of having been stricken by kidney disease in February of 2006.  I graduated Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude, might I add--but God!!  On my 23rd birthday, I was afflicted with some issues stemming from my medicines, and pretty much for the rest of 2008 it was downhill health-wise, resulting in my kidney function falling enough that I was officially diagnosed with end-stage renal disease--at 23!! But God, because I still went to work everyday in spite of having no energy at all.  January 2009 I had my kidney transplant--avoiding dialysis and death because my kidney function had fallen so low that had anything happened to me, I could have possibly died without dialysis.  I was favored by God to have a miraculous surgery and recovery, healing quickly with little or no issues.  Now, that's not to say that the devil was not busy...I had to have my thyroid checked and I am still dealing with things related to that now.  But God!!!  September 2009 I lost one of my closest friends when my cousin died unexpectedly.  I had a difficult relationship and December 31, 2009 left my family with the pain that my dad was told that he had 2 months left to live.  2010 was the year from hell in every area of my life and I thought I would never come back from the pain of losing my dad.  My cousin that passed in 2009--well, her fiance' ended up dying tragically in August--2 weeks before the anniversary of her death.  But God!!  God saw fit to allow all of these things in my life...and I am sure He allowed trying circumstances in your life as well.

When I look at the two scriptures above, I am reminded that God restored Job.  God gave him more than he had before.  He restored Job's health, his family, and his wealth.  God promises many times throughout the Word to restore us and give us back what we lost.  We cannot get the people we lose to death back, per se, but He can heal our hearts that we remember the best about them. We may lose our wealth temporarily, but God is a great God, because He promises to give us back what we lose.  He promises to heal us as well.  I think about where I would be without God, without His hand on my life, and the first thing that comes to mind is that I would not be here.  I would have given up and died--unfulfilled. I can only cry out in bliss because God saw fit to save me and still keeps His hand on my life.  He blessed Isaac continually in a land where he was not wanted...in the midst of opposition.  He blessed the latter half of Job's life more than the beginning...don't you see the pattern???  But God!! 

"When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him."  Genesis 26:12 NLT