Stepping Away

I want to let each of you know that I will be stepping away from writing devotionals this next week. I am trusting God to refresh my spirit in Himself. To redirect my focus back on to Him. I covet your prayers as I take this week and allow God to teach me, love me, speak to me, and hold me.

In His hands,
Pam Shattuck

Be Still and Know That He Is God - Steven Curtis Chapman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZZBZrpSd-w&feature=related

That Which He Promises

The LORD will give strength to His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace. Psalm 29:11 (New American Standard Bible)

I came to Scripture this morning in need of assurances and promises. God knew that! Even when I cannot put into words what I am feeling, He knows. Even when I cannot trace the starting points of internal pain, turmoil, or sadness, He knows. He knows me so intimately that His answers are available even before I know what questions to ask.

In the quietness of these early hours, He promises me strength in the midst of my own weaknesses and failures. How desperately I need that reminder. So often my failures and mistakes stare me in the face and God wants me to know they can serve as reminders that His strength is there. Strength to get me on my feet again. Strength to resist temptation. Strength to face the conditions of my heart. Strength to come before Him with boldness and honesty. Strength to admit the truth to Him and to know it will not change His view of me or His love for me. Strength to turn my gaze off others and on to Him. Strength to rise after a fall. Strength to look at today with hope, passion, and anticipation. Strength to reject the perceptions of yesterday.

He promises to bless me with peace. His peace. The peace that Jesus said was unlike anything I would derive from this world or from people in this world. Peace in the midst of strife. Peace in the midst of uncertainty. Peace in the midst of turmoil. Peace in the midst of unmet needs, unrealized dreams, and unfulfilled desires. Peace in the midst of struggles and faltering steps.

Taking in His words this morning and embracing His promises to me help me to receive what He has pledged. His offer is always present if I would but reach out and accept what He graciously extends to me. How sad when I live as if neither His strength or His peace are upon me! When I take the mentality that I am on my own I forfeit the ability to live out of His strength and peace.

Today is a day whereby I need to bask in the light and warmth of what He is saying to me…what He is promising me. As I do, the effects will be felt. The results will be noticeable. The necessary shifts in me will begin.

Father, I choose once again to walk in the light of Your Word and Your presence. You have not left me or forsaken me. You have not thrown up Your hands in exasperation or disgust. You have not set me aside in disappointment. I take my first steps into a new day with my hand in Yours, knowing that all is well. Amen.

Your Are My Hiding Place - Maranatha Singers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zej__yFPeK0&feature=PlayList&p=C0C5F92CF1DA2486&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Who Are We Running To?

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Galatians 1:15-17 (New American Standard Bible)

At one time, I would have read Paul’s words and limited them to Paul’s story only. Set apart from my mother’s womb and called through His grace? They were words that I couldn’t seem to fit into the realms of my belief system. It would require a confidence that I was not invisible, unknown, and unwanted by the Creator of the universe. How far from the truth that all is and how I praise God it is no longer the case! I no longer have trouble slipping my name into such precious passages of Scripture.

Yet one phrase has caught my attention this morning and already I am pondering the full ramifications of it. When Paul had his encounter with God and started his walk as a Christian, he “did not immediately consult” others….not even those who were apostles before him. Knowing myself and how easily I have and still do run to others, I am asking myself why Paul didn’t. The answers God is whispering to me are astounding me and reshaping my thinking.

Paul had lived the life of a Pharisee. He could all too well remember how he had allowed others to dictate doctrine, faith, standards, and conduct to him. His former life was one lived more in connection with people than with God. Their opinions and advice were held on equal footing with God’s Word (being the Old Testament only at that time). Along with that there would have been a sense of safety derived from being under the care of others. He knew little of discerning God’s voice and direction for himself. Continuing to live in such a mode would be disastrous and not enough to equip and prepare him for what lay ahead. Allowing others to give him the foundational building materials for his walk with God would for sure set him on shaky ground. At some point early on, Paul made the conscious decision to allow God to be His primary Instructor and Guide. It is not that Paul could never again confide in others and listen to their wisdom, but he knew his beginning steps and many subsequent steps had to be with God alone.

Today’s thoughts come as no surprise to me because God has spent the past several days helping me to see that there are times I need to seek His face, His Word and His voice alone. It is a shift whereby I must derive my sense of safety and direction from Him. If I know what He wants me to do in any given situation then there is no need to run it past others. If I know I have heard His voice on an issue then there is no need to seek a second opinion. There will be times when the counsel of others is appropriate and necessary, but God is wanting me to see that for me it must become the exception rather than the rule.

Father, there are many reasons I have run to others before, after, or instead of talking to You. Help me to check my motives behind my seeking them out from this point on. Help me to gain confidence in my seeking of You. Amen.

Sing for Joy - Don Moen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBVeBmwVPN0&feature=PlayList&p=A0420A7CA644FA0C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=32

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

The Basis for What We Share

For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:11, 12 (New American Standard Bible)

The Gospel message of salvation through Christ alone is unique because as Paul stated, it does not originate with man and is a direct revelation of Jesus Christ. Many today do not want to see the truths of Scripture as God-breathed, God-ordained, God-given, or God-inspired. They feel it is one of many messages and that all messages are on equal footing. Nothing could be further from the truth. What Paul presented as the only way to Heaven was not his opinion alone nor was it simply passing on what he heard from others. It was revealed to him by Jesus Christ Himself. Because of that, he could speak with confidence and boldness.

When it comes to sharing our faith we must come back to this basic truth as well. It is not what we think that matters. It is what God thinks. It is what God says in His Word. It is what God has laid down in clear, undeniable ways. While others may think it is simply our opinion or the opinion of our church or the way we have been taught, we do not have to own those thoughts as our own. People either don’t realize or have forgotten that Jesus is the One who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6) He is not one of many ways to Heaven, He is the only way to Heaven. He left no room for variation. No one else can claim equal footing with Him or be put on the same level with Him. Jesus alone lived a sinless life, died as a sacrifice for each of us, and victoriously rose again the third day.

I spoke with a man at my place of work earlier this week and he told me about a book he had been reading. It suggested that numerous men had been born on December 25th and actually had 12 disciples. His conclusion was that all were the same. What a wonderful opportunity I had to share with him the truth about Jesus. Jesus did not have His beginning at Bethlehem. He is eternal and the Creator of this world. That can be said of no other person. What my friend had to realize was that truth has to be based on God’s Word and everything we read or hear needs to be filtered through the pages of Scripture.

As believers, this is what we need to realize. We hold the true message in our hands and are God’s means for getting that message out to others. We are sent by the authority of God with a message given by God Himself. It is a message that has been preserved down through the ages and we need to pass it on to others as the truth that it is. Paul was not swayed from knowing the truth and we need not be either.

Father, I stand on what You say is truth. Help me to freely and boldly share with others that which is revealed in Your Word. Amen.

In Christ Alone - Brian Littrell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7m5MU5qx7U&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Precious thoughts

The other day I bought the book DEAR JESUS. It was written by Sarah Young who also wrote JESUS CALLING. I want to share with you the first entry I read at random while in the store and this sold me on the book! I long to fully embrace the words and live out of them. Enjoy! Love, Pam

***I want you to be all Mine. I am weaning you from other dependencies. Your security rests in Me alone: not in other people, not in circumstances.

***Dear Jesus,

I am grateful for the security You provide in my life. The world has become such a frightening, insecure place! If You were not my Savior, I don't know how I would cope with all the uncertainty. However, I am not yet weaned from other dependencies: I want to depend on You plus other people and favorable circumstances.

Beloved, I am pleased by your candid admission. That gives Me an entrance into your life, so I can work with you on this matter. I'm not asking you to become a hermit or otherwise isolate yourself from other people. On the contrary, I want My children to help and love one another. One of the main ways I bless people is through the loving acts of others. However, you need to remember that every good and perfect gift is ultimately from Me, even if it comes to you through human hands.

The main danger of misplaced dependence is that it can border on idolatry. If you let you basic well-being depend on another person's behavior, you elevate that one to a position that only I should occupy. This is not only displeasing to Me; it's destructive. Because people are imperfect and unpredictable., your life may come to resemble a roller-coaster ride; subject to the whims and moods of another person. Even worse, your intimacy with Me will be hindered by your preoccupation with someone else. I deserve first place in your heart!

***I want you to rejoice in Me at all times, in all kinds of circumstances You may ask freely for whatever you desire, bringing Me your petitions with thanksgiving . Regardless of how I answer your requests, this prayer transaction comes with a promise; My Peace will guard your heart and your mind, keeping you close to Me.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights...James 1:17

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Revelation 2:4

Rejoice in the Lord always...in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

The Power of Your Love - Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga6Qtxzd6vk

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Who Has Our Attention?

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10 (New American Standard Bible)

The one we seek favor from and the one we strive to please will be the one we serve. Our attention will be on them and our actions will be geared toward them. They will have our allegiance as well as our following. Paul knew that as a bearer of the Gospel, he could not afford to seek the favor and pleasure of people because it would get in the way of what he was called to say and do. His message had to stay untainted as well as his motivation, mindset, and ministry. Some would have tried to silence him or at the least mold his message into what they wanted. Paul was not interested in embracing their agendas. He had one Master to serve. One to whom he would be a bond-servant. That was Christ!

For some, this verse would not be a problem to live out. Their sites are set on Christ and their dependency is built upon Him. They rely upon Him, lean on Him, and stay close to Him on a consistent basis. They are able to interact with others, minister to others, and be with others without it robbing them of their loyalty to God. There is never a swaying of their attention. I admire them and envy their strength.

For me, one of my greatest weaknesses has to do with seeking the favor, approval, attention, and pleasure of others. Why? Because I can so often attempt to derive my significance from them. With everything in me, I want to look to God for that but find myself drawn toward the need for others to instill it in me. For others to love me. For others to give me my value, worth, and identity. My needs are legitimate but where I am turning to get those needs met is not. My prayer to God on a regular basis is to help me shift my needs on to Him. To turn my attention and my desires toward Him.

God has graciously helped me make progress in this area but He and I both know that there is much more progress to be made. As He continues to probe the deepest caverns of my mind and soul, He is helping me to understand the basis for my looking to people and the growing dependency I can have on them. He desires my freedom even more than I do. His intent is that He becomes my focal point with undivided allegiance and attention. People will always be a part of my life (that is one way God chooses to work) but I want to come to the place where I am His bond-servant in every sense of the word. Living my life totally committed and totally connected to Him spiritually, physically, and emotionally.

Father, touch my life and redeem my story. Thank you that Your grace and Your hand run deeper than the most ingrained tendencies in me. Amen.

Above All Else
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGLGA78vpwA&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Kept From Turning Away

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. Galatians 1:6-7 (New King James Version)

The truth of the Gospel is clear. Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection are the basis for salvation. There is no other way to Heaven. No other way to receive forgiveness of sin and become a child of God. Becoming a Christian is through faith alone, by grace alone, and in Christ alone. It was the foundational truth of Paul’s ministry and that which changed his life and the direction of his life profoundly. It is a doctrine that cannot be altered, added to, or substituted. Any distortion of that truth is presented with purposeful intent on the part of those who would seek to do nothing but lead others astray and God will hold them responsible.

Paul’s amazement is an appropriate response to what he has seen take place in the lives of fellow believers. He sees their turning away as desertion. Desertion of the very One who died for their sin and rose again. The very One who called them into His grace, into His family, and into His arms. The One who promised to never leave them or forsake them. It was a puzzlement to Paul for he knew what it was to be forgiven and to live in and by the grace of Christ. To step away from that into another realm of thinking and behavior was beyond words. They were exchanging the truth for a lie. What a tragic choice!

I am asking myself the question, “How does a person make such a decision?” I remember reading an article by a woman who had at one time been a member of Jim Jones’ church, The People‘s Temple. When asked how she could fall into such erroneous teaching she said any of us can be deceived and misled if we get away from what the Bible says. When we stop reading it for ourselves we are vulnerable to false teaching and distorted truth. Her words have stuck with me and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I need to stay in God’s Word for myself. It is not enough to attend church and hear the sermons and teachings of others. It is not enough to read numerous devotional books. It is not enough to attend women’s conferences and take in what others are saying. It is not enough to build a personal library full of great Christian material. All of those things are a blessing and advantageous but the bottom line is that there must be a searching of the Scriptures in the private moments each day. It is imperative that I regularly read God’s Word and see the truth for myself, holding to what it says without compromise. The Bible is infallible and must be my plum line for truth. All teaching must align with it…not the other way around.

Father, Your Word is the truth I hold in my hands and in my heart. Keep me focused on You and what You say to me each day. Amen.

Ancient Words - Michael W. Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vmTkXNpwzs&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Our Starting Point

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Galatians 1:3-5 (New King James Version)

Paul’s desire and prayer for the believers at Galatia was that they would have grace, peace, and deliverance. He knew that those things could so easily be sought in wrong places and from wrong sources, so he wastes no time in pointing them to their true Fountainhead….God. God had to not only be their Point of Origin for creation and salvation, but for grace, peace, and deliverance as well. So what is meant by each? Webster’s dictionary has helped to broaden my definitions.

Grace entails unmerited divine assistance, approval, favor, mercy, and privilege. Who doesn’t desire that for daily living? Peace has the idea of tranquility, harmony, and freedom from disquieting, oppressive thoughts or emotions. Last but not least, deliverance is being set free. The wonderful, encouraging part is that along with this being Paul’s longing, it is God’s will for each believer. It is His will for us.

I revel in that truth this morning! My very need for liberation from domineering thoughts is what lead me to a study in Galatians and I joy in the fact that right off the bat God is laying a foundation of truth with which I need to embrace and connect. What I seek can only be found in Him. As one who has often looked elsewhere, the words of Jeremiah 2:13 come to mind, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” What a travesty to any who name the name of Jesus as their Savior and Lord! The ramifications of making others my basis for approval, freedom, and change are huge. It leads to dissatisfaction, emptiness, and a life void of the very things I am seeking. People are meant to be a lot of things to me and for me, but foundations and suppliers of internal needs is not one of them.

At one time, that truth frightened and saddened me, because it revealed the falsehood and frailty of my thinking. Where I was looking and who I was looking to was never going to bring the results I desired. Now instead of affecting me negatively, that truth is becoming my key to freedom. God is urging me to take His words, through the Apostle Paul, to heart. Personalize them as inscriptions on my heart and mind. Own them as my compass, rudder, and anchor to live by. It is all part of renewing my mind and deriving the benefit of transformation that will come from it.

Father, what I seek is found in You alone. Keep my eyes focused on You as my River of Life. Amen.

Satisfied - Ronnie Freeman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjephQBPw9Q&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Pursuing Freedom

Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia. Galatians 1:1,2 (New King James Version)

The Apostle Paul did not view his life and calling through what others thought of him or said about him. He did not attempt to align his thinking with theirs. As he began his letter to the Galatian believers, he set forth his credentials based solely on Who purposed his life. His identity, his security, his calling, his personhood were all based on Jesus Christ and God the Father. No other opinion was needed. Not his and certainly not the opinions of others. He stated this not only for his own sake but for the recipients of his letter as well. He knew the importance of knowing who he was in Christ and he knew that was something his readers needed to know as well. We are now the readers of his words and the knowledge of who we are in Christ and what He has called us to be is essential as well.

The book of Galatians is about freedom in Christ. Freedom from the law and all other forms of bondage. While I may not be one who attempts to earn salvation through the keeping of the law, I know what it is to live with attempts to live the Christian life in my own strengths and weaknesses. I may not be a slave to religious hierarchies, but I know what it is to live enslaved to my own thoughts and perceptions.

This morning, as I once again faced my tendencies to be controlled by a spirit of suspicion and distrust toward others, I asked God to help me see why this is still an area of bondage to me and how I can find true freedom from it. It was no mistake that He lead me to the book of Galatians. It is a book about freedom, deliverance, and liberty in Christ. What Paul wrote to the Galatians is meant for me as well and any who would venture through this book with me. I have often said that addiction is addiction therefore freedom is freedom. Hence, bondage is bondage and liberty is liberty. What will lead a person away from living out of the law will also lead a person away from living in captivity to their own way of thinking.

This is a shift for me. Usually the devotionals are written as a way of sharing the daily things God is teaching me and what He is walking me through. This week I have found it difficult to have anything to say along those lines. It was like the well had gone dry. I didn’t understand why until this morning. The lack of writing has been God’s way of showing me it is time for a change. It is time to walk through a book of the Bible and be open to what He shows me in its chapters. I want to find the keys that will eventually unlock the chains of my mind, enabling me to live, stand, and walk in the liberty Christ offers.

Father, I stand before You as one who desires freedom….especially when it comes to my way of thinking and viewing the people in my life. I thank You that freedom has been Your desire for me all along. You have a road map for me to follow and Your Spirit is my guide. Teach me. Change me. Renew me. Amen.

In Christ Alone - Brian Littrell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypxv0QPEuLw&feature=PlayList&p=E11FE260DF29EBA5&index=0

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

Not Seen But Still Here

And Elisha saw it and he cried, My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 2 Kings 2:12 (Amplified Bible)

Several years ago, I wrote a devotional from the phrase, “And he saw him no more.” I listed individuals from the Bible who at one time lived under the eye and care of significant people in their life such as Joshua with Moses, Elisha with Elijah, David with Jonathan, Timothy with Paul, and so on. I noted when the time had come for each to be removed from their life and for them to continue on in the things they had learned from them. I pondered the things that might have gone through their mind when transition had taken place. The things I wrote were beneficial for me at a time when I was going through such a transition.

This morning I am aware of something I had missed at the time. In each of the examples I gave, the loss of the individual was through death. They were no longer here in the flesh. How the stories would have changed had they been. As a matter of fact, in Bible times, it was not unusual to never see or be in contact with another individual even if alive due to the lack of technology we have available to us. Cell phones, the internet, and transportation make staying connected more plausible today. I have numerous people from my past whom I may never see again in this life, but that does not mean we aren’t able to still communicate in one way or another. That is not the case with those who have died and are unreachable for me. Future communication awaits our reunion in Heaven.

So where does this leave me in relationship to individuals who at one time held significant places in my life but there is now no relationship? They still walk the earth. They still live and breathe. They are still here. If I desire to be in relationship with them, those truths can bring an ache. But if I acknowledge the fact that God has separate plans for us I can then direct my attention toward the plan He has for me. This I am doing with an awareness that the connection once held is gone. But I am also purposefully opening myself up to an area I at one time thought was over and done with. Does it mean the re-establishment of an ended relationship? Absolutely not. It simply means I am ready to allow my life to once again include some influence of a past influential person. It is an option my Bible ancestors never had and one I am taking. Is it the right thing to do at this time in my life? I hope so. Time will tell.

Father, if this is not of You, show me clearly, otherwise I embrace it afresh! Amen.

For Good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzrGFQysfYU

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