My Strength

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to Him.

Psalm 28:7

 

As I reflect on a devotional I read this morning, and on one particular prayer I have written in my journal over the past several months, I realize that God has spoken to me and let me know clearly and succinctly that he has answered my prayer. He has, in fact, answered it all along; I just haven’t listened or obeyed. He reminded me of what having faith and trust in Him is really all about.

Christians talk and sometimes joke about “God’s timing.” We seem surprised when our prayers are answered at “just the right time.” Yet we fail to understand that God has been working all along to set things in place; we just haven’t stopped long enough and looked around to see it. We have to be paying attention to hear God’s voice, to see His work. We must pray continually and reach out to Him in order for us to notice that He is working constantly in our lives.

Moses, Esther, Hannah, Samuel, David, Nehemiah, Daniel; Simeon, Anna, Peter, Paul, and of course Jesus: all examples of people who never stopped praying. Not just once a day, but throughout the day, and throughout their lives.

My prayer has been for the energy to work on the task He has given me in this season of my life. I am often tired, and sleep overtakes me during the day. In my journal today, “Jesus Calling,” by Sarah Young¹, I read the following: “Instead of assessing your energy level, and wondering about what’s on the road ahead, concentrate on staying in touch with Me. My Power flows freely into you through our open communication.”

I will continue to pray each morning, but as I feel tired during the day, I will stop, and talk to God, and ask Him to provide me with His strength, ask the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom, and ask Jesus to intercede so that I may continue in His work.  Perhaps I’ll even just ask Him to take a walk with me, or sit with me and watch the birds in the yard. Who knows?

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

¹Thomas Nelson Publisher, ©2004, p. 32

Merry Christmas

Oh God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you.

My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1-2

Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

John 11:40

Dear Heavenly Father,

You are my God. You are mighty and wise and your thoughts and ways are above mine. You cherish us and all of creation in ways that are outside our own ability to love and cherish. You forgive and embrace in ways that are so much more expansive than we can ever imagine. Your heart encompasses emotions that are rich and deep and leagues beyond our capacity to feel or measure.

I see your glory in dawn’s vermillion clouds and night skies brilliant with lightning. I hear it in the cooing of mourning doves and the twilight call of coyotes. I smell it in the fresh, fall rain and newly stacked hay on roadside pastures. I taste it in an orange picked straight from the tree and the kiss on a baby’s just-bathed belly.

Yet, at this time of year, I remember your glory and your heart in your Son, who you gave to us as a living sacrifice, to purge us of our sins, to offer us a chance at repentance, new life, a new heart, a new relationship with you.

You offered up your Son, who was born for us, who lived for us, taught us, was tortured for us, who died for us and who rose again for us, that we might continue his legacy and, in love, spread the gospel to everyone and build your Kingdom.

Heavenly Father, help us to love you first and greatest. Help us to be examples of Christianly love in our walk. Help us to remember we carry the Holy Spirit inside us and help us to honor him – and you, and our Lord Jesus – at all times. Help us to surrender our hearts fully to all that Jesus taught so that we build your Kingdom by embodying the fruit of the Spirit in all we think, in all we say and in all we do.

Help us to become the people you intended us to be.

Loving God

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5, Mark 12:30)

War in the Middle East. People killing each other over land that God created. Citizens angered over an election. Individuals taking out anger and resentment on their neighbors. Others staying in the grip of the enemy, choosing to stay there, blaming others because their own circumstances are not to their liking. 

As Christians, Jews and Muslims approach this season, we all need to get back to our religious roots of peace and faith, and look to our common ancestor, Abraham. 

All three religions have a common creed: to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength; to obey Him in all we think, in all we say and all we do; and to honor and love Him first in all things.

Abraham was chosen by God because he was a fallible, but faithful, human who was obedient to God. He made mistakes, but he was repentant and sought God’s forgiveness. He loved God, and obeyed God’s commands even when he didn’t know what the future would bring.

• When we hate, do we love God?
• When we are unforgiving, are we loving God?
• When we are ungenerous with our attitude, our words and our actions, are we loving God? 

And worse, are we showing God’s love to others? Are we searching our own hearts and allowing God to do His gracious work in us? Are we building His Kingdom?

The apostle Paul, who was a former Jewish teacher of Mosaic law, tells us that we ought to be living sacrifices to God because He has shown us such great mercy. 

In simple terms, it’s called pay it forward. This season, as Christians, Jews and Muslims, if we can show just a small percent – a tithe, if you will – of God’s mercy, love and forgiveness to others, we might just make a huge difference in the world.

Spiritual Adultery, plain and simple

They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. Romans 1:25

Romney or Obama. Obama or Romney.

Whose philosophy do you worship? Which man do you idolize? Have you become a spiritual adulterer during this election year? Is your email, Facebook or blog consumed with hate for the “other” candidate? Do you smirk or post cynical remarks, causing discomfort in the heart of your friends who may disagree? 

When is the last time you read – and embodied - Galatians 5:22-23?

But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Is your attitude or the words that come from your mouth or keyboard serving as a stumbling block to the Holy Spirit? Are you even willing to look there?

 “Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.” Isaiah 8:12

When you argue and seek to lift your opinion over others, you glorify yourselves, not your Creator. You create division, not peace. James (the brother of Jesus), Peter and John, the three pillars of the early church community exhorted us all to follow the example of Jesus and speak to each other in peace and love.

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

During these heated times, let’s not open the door to the enemy and give him a foothold. Let’s remember what our Lord told us.

 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.  And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’  

“The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31

My Guide

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you, God, and bless you for being a force and presence in my life. You are a miracle to me, Lord. You are my Portion, my Glorious Inheritance and the Only One I desire or will ever need. You smile upon me in so many ways, Lord, and I am so very thankful. I can feel You placing in my heart day by day a love for You that surpasses all others, Lord. You are my Hope, my Faith, my Love, my Heart. You are my Friend, my Father, my Husband. You are my Family. I adore You, and I put no one before You.

You take my worries and turn them into lessons and blessings. You take my sins and convict me and forgive me. You take my heart and enlarge it. You give me peace and love and joy and patience and promises and faithfulness beyond measure. You provide food and shelter and plans and wealth in the form of a fullness of heart that cannot be explained or fully understood. You commit to a treasure in Heaven even beyond what You provide on Earth. I am in awe of the extent of Your generosity.

Lord, when I am still and quiet enough to hear Your voice, Your encouragement and wisdom reassure me. Your gentle hand reaches down to guide me, and Your face seeks mine as I seek yours.

Your warmth and loving advice is always available, just as it was for Tamar and for Rahab and later, for Priscilla. Lord, I confess and repent that I have not always taken Your advice, and know that You forgive me and see my heart.

I thank You for continuing to love me through my foolishness, for continuing to help me place one foot in front of the other back to Your path from my own, helping me every day to hear Your voice over the din of deceivers, and holding my hand while You lift me around or over the stumbling blocks, increasing exponentially my trust in You.

All I ask, Father God, is that You continue to place in my heart a growing love for You like no other, a desire to embody the fruit of the Spirit in thought, word and action, and a yearning to glorify You in everything I do and say.

Thank you for directing my path today, Lord, and allowing me to serve You.

Your loving daughter, 

Susan