That Which Evokes Praise

And Mary said: “ My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. Luke 1:46-49 (New King James Version)

These were the first words out of Mary’s mouth when she learned she was to give birth to the Son of God….Jesus. Her spirit and her mouth were exploding with praise and adoration for God which came out of the realization that He had intersected her world in a powerful way.

As a believer, I know that Mary’s words can be my words as well, for truly on a daily basis, God regards my lowly state and He does great things for me. Praise is forthcoming when I identify His loving acts on my behalf. Thanksgiving is expressed as I acknowledge the ways He has patiently worked to develop in me the qualities that are imperative if I am to bear the image of His Son. Rejoicing is my response when I review the ways He has intersected my world for His honor and glory.

Nothing thrills me more than to finally “get” a concept in such a way as to bring about a needed change in my life. That thrill drives me to worship because I know my Creator God is at work in me. Recently, the concept I have finally understood is that I can ask for God’s help. To some, that would seem more simple than profound, but to me it is huge! It comes after years of thinking I must muster up change on my own, whether in word, deed, or thought. In the area of thoughts, I walked in more defeat than victory. My problem many times was that I WANTED to dwell on the negative aspects of life. I was good at harboring feelings of hurt, unforgiveness, and self condemnation….until I learned I could ask God to help me WANT to think on the right things. You see, once I am in the mode of wanting to do something, I will do it. I just had to learn that God is more than willing (delighted even) to give me the “want to”. He knows that outside of His help I am helpless to help myself. Therefore, when I see victory over previous areas of defeat, I have no trouble knowing Who gets the credit. This gives me hope for every area of my life. It allows me to see that nothing, absolutely nothing, is out of the realm of God’s redemption and restoration.

What a joy to start each day with the fresh awareness that God holds rule and reign over my life, and is always ready and willing to come to my aid.

Father, I use to not know how to ask for Your help, but that is no longer the case. I freely acknowledge that with me it is impossible but in Christ I can do all things! Amen.

Who Am I? - Point of Grace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDZwfMBerxo

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16

The Power and Purpose of a Rebuke

Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. Mark 16:14 (New International Version)

That which the Lord strongly disapproves of is the very thing He will express in a rebuke. It happened to His disciples on numerous occasions and always pinpointed heart issues and actions that needed to be exposed, admitted, and changed. He still does the same today. His rebuke is conveyed through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Growth and change come when I receive the rebuke, acknowledge the truth of my own heart, and by His grace do an about face in cooperation with Him. Denial and hardness of heart are the recipes for disaster in the Christian life.

I know what it is like to be in bondage to an attitude or action and I know what it is like to taste freedom in an area by hearing and heeding God’s rebukes. It requires operating in the truth rather than making excuses, accepting the status quo, laying claim to do as I want, and experiencing enough discomfort to take the necessary steps for action.

Rebukes do not feel good and for that reason they often make me cower and run for cover. Having something unacceptable exposed in me was and still is a difficult pill to swallow. My nature is such that I want others to see me at my best. I want to exhibit strength and maturity as a believer. Under it all though, God is bringing to the surface the imperfections of my heart. The wrong motives, the moments of self-pity, the desire for attention, the hunger for sympathy, and the perceived need to be under the nurturing care of people. He is letting me know those are the things that keep me from experiencing the abundant life He offers.

As I have come to see that truth, I have begun to hunger for it. That which use to taste so sweet has now soured in my mouth and I want the change God desires for me. Out of love and graciousness, He is honoring that desire and giving me the steps to take in order to see my own transformation. For me, the first steps have been to admit the truth to myself and to one other individual. Those are the necessary doors I must go through in order to leave the places that have become comfortable and confining for me and to enter the open spaces of freedom. It will take time and will entail uncomfortable moments but in the end it will be worth it.

Father, keep exposing that which keeps me from walking in freedom and joy. I trust Your heart and Your words. Amen.

Change My Heart Oh God by Eddie Espinosa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEtsHWFE6-w

I welcome your questions and comments to any devotional thoughts. I am honored and delighted to share my journey with you and privileged to hear of yours.

Taken the Wrong Way

Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on. 1 Samuel 18:8,9 (New American Standard Bible)

A hero’s welcome for David ignited a spirit of suspicion, jealousy, and hatred in King Saul that eventually led him to a strong desire to see David dead. He never saw the truth of his own heart and therefore never dealt with the very thing that became his ruin. Ruled by his own sense of insecurity, loneliness, and self centeredness, Saul spent his life playing the comparison game. When women greeted David with songs of acclamation for his victories in war, they meant it as a celebration but Saul took it as a personal insult to himself.

There are times when God uses the weaknesses of others in Scripture to pinpoint and highlight areas of concern in my own life. I wish I could read this account of Saul and not have any idea where he was coming from but that just isn’t the case. I relate all too well with not only his thoughts and feelings but with his actions as well. Although I would never seek the life of an individual, I have entertained the worst of thoughts toward them. I have played out scenarios in my mind and embraced them as truth. The effects of doing so have brought about painful consequences.

This morning, God and I are delving into the undercurrent of taking things personal. It happens every time I attach a negative reason, motive, or agenda to another person’s actions or lack of actions. I presume to know what they are thinking and respond to that perception. What makes it so difficult is that what I am thinking is actually feasible….the enemy makes sure I know that. Once I have an idea embedded in my mind everything else seems to go out the window and I am on my way to the bedrock of my flesh.

God and I are looking over the list of offenses and disappointments that I have been harboring just in the last week. The discomfort of how that is effecting me is what is causing me to cry out to Him for answers. He has shown me the problem and now I look to Him to show me the solution. It will necessitate a heart change and a transformed way of thinking and those come only through His work in me and my cooperation with Him. I have been on this journey long enough to know that when God reveals an area of weakness to me it is to show me what He intends to work on rather than to condemn me. I rest in that thought.

Father, at times I do well in fighting the battles. At other times I drop all resistance and live in defeat. You have better plans for me and I look to you for the necessary change needed. Amen.

Praise You With the Dance - Casting Crowns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RjNcOqwpRk&feature=related

I welcome your questions and comments to any devotional thoughts. I am honored and delighted to share my journey with you and privileged to hear of yours.

Hearing the Word

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, this is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21 (New King James Version)

Several years ago I began writing and sending out email devotionals. From the first moment that I jotted down a paragraph of thoughts in a notebook to what I am writing this morning I have experienced God’s guidance and voice. He has let me know when changes needed to be made and when items needed to be added. He has changed my view and reasoning for why the devotionals are even shared. I have come to trust His heart as well as His leading.

From time to time, I have been asked by individuals whether or not I would consider getting a devotional book published. The desire has been there but so has the hesitancy. My greatest fear has been with the publishing world itself. I have the impression that publishers only consider the works of those who have a “name” as well as an established ministry. Because I have no public platform the impossibility of it all has kept me frozen in my tracks.

Once again, I have heard His word to me and I now know what it is He wants me to do. He wants me to venture into a world I know little of and take steps of faith I have never taken before. It requires leaving my comfort zone of what I have done so far, and simply taking this one step of obedience. All He is telling me to do is contact publishers with a book proposal. That’s it! Does it mean a book will be published? I don’t know. That is up to God. What it does mean is that I must do what He is leading me to do and I must leave the results with Him. It doesn’t matter if all I get back are rejection letters. That may or may not happen. What matters is that my faith in Him is developed and my spiritual muscles are strengthened.

As with any area of life, God is often after something that needs to be changed or developed in us. Discouragement and confusion set in when we misunderstand what He is saying and where He is leading. This is not about a book. This is about my relationship with Him. He wants me to see Him as one who can be trusted and safely followed. He wants to show me how much of an adventure a walk of faith can be. I don’t have to know the future or the end of the story. I just need to know Him.

Father, I don’t know what You have in mind for me but I know what it is You want me to do. You have spoken. I have heard. I will obey. By Your grace, amen.

God Will Make a Way - Don Moen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hOjYR8UZT8&NR=1

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16

There Is No Mark

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (New King James Version)

It has taken me years to see it but I finally see it and admit it. I am a perfectionist. Not the kind that keeps my socks in order or alphabetizes my canned goods. I am a perfectionist when it comes to living up to the standards and expectations I have of myself and what I believe God has for me. The rub comes when I fail. There is a part of me that struggles to let go of past sins, failures, and mistakes. Recently I was told by a friend that although I have confessed an area to God and He has forgiven me, I have not forgiven myself and therefore continue to live under condemnation, shame, and regret. Forgiving myself simply means to accept God’s forgiveness and live out of that gracious act. She was right and God has been helping me to see how to do that.

My problem was in understanding exactly what happens when God forgives me. When I admit my sin and agree with Him about that sin, He lets go of the offense. He no longer regards it, discusses it, keeps it, or holds on to it. He abandons it! Those in themselves are powerful statements for me to digest. But God wants me to know the full picture. His forgiveness also entails a cleansing!

For too long I have felt that although I was forgiven there remained a black mark or stain on my record and life. That “mark” is what hung as a banner of condemnation and guilt over me. Always present. Always taunting. What I failed to see is there is no mark, stain, or spot. God removed it completely when He forgave me, just as a person would cleanse a physical stain on clothing or carpet. Just as Jesus cleansed the lepers. God’s cleansing frees me from the defilement of sin and clears my record of faults. In His eyes, I am untarnished and untainted by my past actions.

What does this say to me? My sins are not a life sentence. Each and every time I confess things to God I am given a complete and thorough pardon. A fresh start and a clean slate! For a perfectionist like myself, this is a huge freedom truth to embrace. It clears the way for me to live by God’s love, grace, and mercy rather than by a sense of guilt and shame. I have blown it many times but God declares me clean and I want to allow that to be my life defining declaration from now on!


Father, I no longer see the stains. In that I rejoice and dance! Amen.

What Sin? By Morgan Cryar
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qaMIeOKQVDs&feature=related

I welcome your questions and comments to any devotional thoughts. I am honored and delighted to share my journey with you and privileged to hear of yours.

What Was Missed

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again. Mark 10:33,34 (New King James Version)

Jesus spoke very plainly on a number of occasions of His impending death and resurrection. Today’s passage is just one of many times that He was very clear on the truth of what lay ahead for Him. Therefore, I often read with amazement that His disciples missed what He was saying. When He was eventually crucified they did not anticipate the resurrection…it never entered their mind. Instead of looking for His rising again, they lived with sadness, confusion, and fear. Although that was not the end of their story, it is a chapter within their story that I often experience.

Truth that can be crystal clear to others can sometimes elude me. By the time I see it and really get it, others may be amazed at my missing such an elemental truth. One of the first of those truths for me was the fact that God’s love was not dependent on what I was doing. I was a Christian for over 30 years before I began to understand that the Christian life is about relationship with God NOT performance for God. The change that came with that truth was phenomenal!

Recently the light came on for me regarding another truth I had somehow missed and it is this…..my emotional well being must be attached to God rather than people. In the 35 years of being a Christian, I have not known that truth or lived my life out of it. Anyone who has known me or read my devotionals for any length of time can attest to the constant battle I have fought to find the balance between looking to God and looking to people. I saw only two options: look to people to meet my emotional needs or ask God to kill any desire in me to even be in relationship with people. How God must have ached to see me miss His offer of help and healing, which includes people, with Him as the Source.

I am not meant to walk solo through life without the counsel, input, and advice of godly friends. I am not meant to close off my heart to every one but God. The body of Christ is His body….His representation. What He wants me to see is while I look to Him and depend upon Him, He will minister to me in ways that include people. Once again, His ways are higher than my own and I am in awe.

Father, I have lived with a famine mentality when all the while You have been calling me to feast on You and all that You provide. I love You! Amen.

He Believes in You - Point of Grace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIKsimvJlPI

I welcome your questions and comments to any devotional thoughts. I am honored and delighted to share my journey with you and privileged to hear of yours.

Necessary Amputation

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you…. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you …. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you. Mark 9:43-47 (New King James Version)

I am facing the necessity of amputation this morning. Not of my hand, foot, or eye, but rather of disparaging thoughts. I have no doubt it is better for me! So much of my journey entails turmoil, despair, and sadness because of thoughts that I dwell upon and allow to lead me down paths that are not intended for me. They may be innocent in and of themselves but by the time I am finished with them they are poisonous and destructive to my spiritual, emotional, and intellectual well being.

I am a visual person and many times God has to give me a picture of something before I can fully understand it. That is exactly what He has done in the area of diseased thinking. I am picturing wrong thoughts as small tumors that attach themselves to my brain…much like moss on rocks or shelf mushrooms on trees. If I allow them to stay, they grow and pull me into a downward spiral. That happens when I make the choice to dwell on them, play out scenarios with them, and eventually allow them to master me which in turn affects my actions, attitudes, and demeanor.

God has used today’s passage to implore me to cut them off and out! I can do that by meditating on Scripture (such as Philippians 4:8), depending on His Spirit to infuse me with truth, keeping my thoughts on what brings life instead of death, remembering past counsel I have received from friends and books, voicing my praise and thanksgiving to God, filling my life with music that is full of spirit and truth, continually seeking communion and communication with God, and refusing to allow the wrong thoughts to be introduced, entertained, or sustained.

I have a choice in the matter and God is more than willing to help me make the right choice. His desire for me is to live in spacious freedom rather than the confines of emotional dungeons. He wants to release me from all that binds me to earthly weaknesses. He longs to lead me into living out of my spirit rather than my flesh. One step at a time He is showing me how to do that!

Father, You have once again stoked the fires of my teachable spirit. I accept Your invitation and Your help to be made whole. It will take time but it will be accomplished. Amen.

He Sends His Love - Point of Grace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SatL1vr_Cvs

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16

It Should Make a Difference

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Colossians 1:9 (New American Standard Bible)

Paul’s pattern for prayer leaves me in awe. Read any of his epistles and you will find the same theme regarding his prayers for fellow believers. Many of them were young in their faith and facing difficulties of persecution, false teachings, and living in a society that did anything but encourage a deep walk with God. While he could not be with them in person, he continually lifted them up to the One who was with them on a permanent basis. God held their spiritual lives in His hands and was faithfully helping them to take steps forward on their journey. Paul was not only passionate about sharing the gospel but was deeply concerned about the spiritual growth that would follow each salvation decision. Each convert and each congregation held a special place in his heart and he expressed his love and concern in his prayers and in his letters to them.

My Bible note gives an interesting interpretation of the knowledge for which Paul prayed. It says, Biblical knowledge is not merely the possession of facts. Rather, knowledge and wisdom in the Bible are practical, having to do with godly living. In other words, my actual intake of Biblical knowledge is proportional to how I am applying it to my life. If it is not making a difference in the way I think, speak, and act it is merely mental ascent. So how will I know if God’s Word is having an effect on me? Paul proceeds with quite the litmus test.

His desire (and God’s desire) is that each believer lives a life that is pleasing to God, full of fruit from their good works, continually increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened by the very power of God, persistent and patient in their walk, and joyfully thankful to the God who has saved them. Does it mean we reach perfection in this life? No. But it does demonstrate a need for progress. How well are we doing at allowing God to instill these qualities in us? God’s Word is meant to be read and then bred in us. May genuine change be evidenced to ourselves as well as the people in our lives.

Father, taking in Your truths is the easy part. Living out what I take in is the daily challenge. I look to You for the strength and ability to run my race well. May I not block Your work in me. Amen.

Thy Word - Amy Grant http://youtube.com/watch?v=RNkwbEwA-DY

I welcome your questions and comments to any devotional thoughts. I am honored and delighted to share my journey with you and privileged to hear of yours.

His Promises and Passion

Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. Jeremiah 31:4 (New King James Version)

For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. Jeremiah 31:25 (New King James Version)

Built, rebuilt, satiated, and replenished! What a mighty God we serve! Who but God could make such promises and see them through to completion? In the midst of struggles, failures, doubts, and fears, His Words stand as spectacular lights to illumine our paths. These were the verses I drank in yesterday and they have become His promises to me. God knows how to target our hearts with needed arrows of truth and I take comfort and joy in that.

For me, the idea of being built and rebuilt speaks of a process and progress. There are no easy roads to spiritual maturity. No quick fixes to deliverance and freedom. No miracle grow formula to rush what may take years to develop. That is not the way God operates. He is a skilled craftsman and takes His time. I look forward to each dance of joy He gives me!

When I saw the words satiated and replenished I smiled. To me, those words refer to complete satisfaction and supplying what is lacking. Filling those empty places and supplying those ever present needs. He makes up for all the times of stumbling and falling behind I do. His loving patience astounds me over and over again.

I have said it before and I will say it again. I don’t always do, say, or think the right things. I spiral and live in pits more often than I care to admit. I lose my focus and get off track on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. I have read my own devotions and at times wondered who writes them because the words sometimes seem so far removed from where I am at. But even with all of that, I am covered by the grace of God. I am strengthened by His Spirit that lives in me. I am adorned with His garments of praise. And I long for more! More knowledge of Him. More steps of obedience. More victory over darkness. More opportunities to get it right. More times where my eyes sparkle with His life. And those desires have been increased with the precious verses that sit atop this page.

Father, You once again intersected my world with Yourself. I am in awe of You and amazed at what You do! Amen.

Days of Elijah - Robin Mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HDJ3xyvjMU

There are now over 800 previous devotionals housed on my blog site. Read them according to date, theme or book of the Bible. Copy them for a personal notebook. Share them with others. Enjoy!

Fueled With Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (New International Version)

I received an email from a friend who admits to struggling with staying hopeful that her situation will improve. She sees small rays of light and many moments of uncertainty. Another friend lives with physical pain and a debilitating disease. In the midst of more pain than wholeness she too fights to hold on to hope. For some it is finances, job security, difficult marriages, wayward children, strained or severed relationships, or any number of scenarios that lie outside our ability to bring about the change we long for.

I am involved in a study entitled Created to be God’s Friend. At times, the lessons can be profound as God uses them to shine the light of truth on my internal world. This past week as I was answering questions, one answer exposed my own feeling of hopelessness. I was forced to admit my doubts about forthcoming change in me. Because I still battle on a daily basis certain mindsets and attitudes, I succumbed to the idea that complete freedom and wholeness would not be realized in this life time. I know now that it is a dangerous thing to wave the white flag of surrender over any area of my life that stands within the arena of God’s transforming touch. God, who never changes, does not view me as unchangeable, and He wants me to trust Him enough to bring about those changes.

With the truths of Scripture, the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and timely counsel of a wise friend, my hope has been re-ignited. I am not a basket case or a statue of immobility when it comes to God’s work in my life. My situations of the heart are not outside the realm of His potter’s wheel. How the enemy must detest truth that he knows will set me free.

To any who are facing what feels like hopeless scenarios, I give to you the words of today’s verse and ask you to allow God to speak them over your life. In the midst of pain, turmoil, or disappointment, it is God’s intent that you walk with hope, peace, and joy. Those are not empty words! They are banners of victory waved over us even though we can’t see the end of our stories. The God of hope wants to lavish us with the hope that only He can give. As I allow Him to do that I notice what I am hoping for is changing and with that change I am being changed.

Father, my view of You and what You are like is changing for the good. I live in the hope You provide and I dance with delight! Amen.

The Voice of Hope - Lara Martin
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qbk1TGe5k0Q

I welcome your questions and comments to any devotional thoughts. I am honored and delighted to share my journey with you and privileged to hear of yours.

When It Is Part of God's Plan

So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. Genesis 21:14 (New King James Version)

I have been trying to take in the truths of Genesis 21 throughout last night and into this morning. It is a story that hits home with me and forces me to rethink some conclusions. It is personal because I have experienced a similar scenario in my own life.

Abraham was commanded by God to send Hagar and Ishmael away. Ishmael was his first born son whom he loved deeply and had dreams for. Sending him away entailed a death of those dreams but not of his love. It involved seeing God’s separate plans for him and Ishmael. It displayed a trust that God knew what He was doing and would carry out His plan for both their lives. It demonstrated a harsh reality for me as I read it. God’s plan called for a separation and severance. I cannot imagine the sense of loss, confusion, and feelings of rejection that must have entered the life of Ishmael at that time. I don’t know if he ever saw God’s hand in it or how he ever viewed his father from that point on. But Scripture does tell me that God was with him in the wilderness and made of him a great nation. The loss of his relationship with his father did not mean the loss of God’s plan for his life. It meant the fulfillment of that plan.

I know what it is like to be in relationship with a spiritually significant person. I know what it is like to build hopes and dreams on how that relationship will continue. But I also know the sense of loss, confusion, and feelings of rejection when separation and severance is called for. It feels worse than death and leaves one stripped raw with emotional pain. Yet it is imperative that I see for myself what I see in the story of Ishmael. God has a plan for me and will see that plan through to fulfillment.

For me, that plan entails keeping my eyes on Him and allowing Him to do His work in and through me. He knows that I still desire the relationship He brought to an end. He knows I still battle negative thoughts and feelings. But none of that stops Him from keeping His hand on my life and directing me down the path of His choosing. I am slowly learning to trust Him to finish what He started. I anticipate the day when I experience beauty for ashes and joy for the sadness. Today, the anticipation grows just a little more.

Father, I see my story in Your Word and I long for the completion of that story. Amen.

Beauty For Ashes - Crystal Lewis & Ron Kenoly
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2CZ6IsGjEug

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16