The Birthing of Contentment

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5 (King James Version)

Wanting what I don’t have does much to diminish my peace, joy, and satisfaction. Coveting can go far beyond just a desire for more money or possessions. For me, it can also enter into the area of personalities and relationships. In the midst of all my “wants” I must confront myself with this question: “Do I really believe God is presently giving me everything I need and is best for me?”

There was a time when personalities were an area of covetousness for me. Convinced mine was inferior I longed for the kind others had. My attempts at behavior modification and chameleon tendencies eventually proved futile. Comparing myself to others is a sure way to foster discontent. My whole perspective changed when I began to appreciate and celebrate the personality God chose to instill in me. Allowing God to conform me into the image of Christ will not do away with my personality, it will beautify and enhance it! I will always be an extrovert who enjoys conversations, friendships, and laughter. That is the way I am wired. It is no longer a bone of contention for me because I now receive it as God’s design and desire for me.

God and I are still working on the area of relationships. I struggle the most with dissatisfaction and discontentment when I can’t be in relationship with the ones I want to be or when I want more out of the relationships I do have. Because communication is so easy and instant with cell phones and emails, it feeds a part of me that craves continual connection with people. When I don’t see or hear from someone as often as I would like, my security and satisfaction with that relationship comes under attack. I easily self condemn and question the soundness of the relationship. I am learning both are a tool of the enemy. It is imperative that I see God’s hand in the friendships I have or don’t have. His ultimate desire is for me to have a close relationship with Himself. My deepest friendships should enhance that.

When others are not involved or available I must see that as an invitation to draw closer to Him and fully take in the preciousness of His promise to never leave or forsake me. As I learn to abide in His presence I find a birthing of contentment and a lessening of the aches from the disappointments of life.

Father, continue to touch the places of discontent in me. Your faithful presence is my true life line. Amen.

Let My Words Be Few - Phillips, Craig & Dean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12z4dvc2kjo&feature=related

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

Squelching or Quenching the Thirst

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 42:1,2 (New King James Version)

Julie Ackerman Link said in her booklet Loving God With All My Heart, “The thing that frustrates me the most is a reliable indicator of my highest desire, and my highest desire indicates what I worship.” Desires are the very things that drive us to do the things we do and to chase after the things we chase after. I so often want to just squelch, ignore, or deaden the desires that remain unfulfilled in me. But God is nudging me to bring the desires to Him and allow Him to meet them.

When He becomes my desire and the One I look to for the satisfying of my desires then my life takes on a whole new dimension. I begin to feel more at home in my skin because I am finally turning to the right source and living life as God intended. Freedom and growth come as I once again realize I was created with desires that were given in order to draw me to God. But Satan loves to dangle counterfeits in front of me and convince me the desires can be met in them rather than in God. He will even take the things God meant as gifts and use them as possible means for satisfaction.

For instance, it is all too easy for me to look to relationships to make me feel loved, affirmed, accepted, and complete. But the need for those things run deeper than any person can possibly reach. It is like trying to quench my thirst with a thimble full of water…it is just not going to be enough. So in an effort to not feel the disappointment from my counterfeit sources, I condemn myself for wanting to be loved, affirmed, accepted, and complete, and try to deaden the desires. To live my life in a state of numbness becomes my answer.

But God says there is a better way to live my life! Look to Him for the fulfillment of those desires. Bring the longings and cravings to Him. He is the only One who is fully available and able to do for me what no person can do. Will He ever use people in my life? Absolutely. But never as the primary source. NEVER!

Why did the Psalmist proclaim God as the One He most desired? Because he knew there was no other way to quench his thirst. He longed to drink freely and completely from the only Fountain of Living Water!

Father, You alone can quench the thirst that persists in me. May I learn to drink my fill of You. Be the core desire of my inner person! Amen.

All Who Are Thirsty - Robin Mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrnvSf2dX18&feature=related

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

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!

Reviewing the Gifts

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17 (New King James Version)

While God has certainly showered many good and perfect gifts on my life, July houses three of them I am reflecting on this morning.

Today is my nation’s 232nd birthday! Outside of a brief visit to Canada, I have spent my entire life here in America and I love my country. I hear complaints about the government, gas prices, unemployment rates, weather, questionable lifestyles, and education system, but we are still a blessed nation! We still possess the freedoms our forefathers wisely established at the founding of our country. Natural beauty still abounds within each of our fifty states and the four seasons are displayed in many of those states. Opportunities still exist and all the stories of heroic deeds people do have not been written or told yet. Churches, Bibles, Christian music, Christian material, and faith are still abundant within our borders. Charity and missions are still displayed to other nations. For these and much more I am deeply thankful.

July 2 marked Tim and my 25th wedding anniversary! I come from a family where divorce runs rampant so I know it is by the grace and gift of God that our marriage has lasted and will continue to last. Joy, difficulties, changes, challenges, moves, children, laughter, tears, harmony, discord, questions, and love have all marked our path as husband and wife. Through it all God has continued to impact and influence our lives through circumstances, people, situations, and each other. He has kept His hand and His eye on us and will continue to do so.

July 13 will be my 35th spiritual birthday! For the first fourteen years of my life there was no Christian influence whatsoever. I knew only two truths from Scripture (God created the world and Adam and Eve were the first people He created). I didn’t know the Bible or what Jesus had done for me. Yet, God allowed me to attend a VBS and understand enough to trust Christ. He has nurtured the growth in me all these years, but the last four years have seen the most change and growth. I marvel at His gracious ways! He took me from legalism to freedom. From distorted views of Himself to amazement over His heart. From rarely reading His Word to now writing daily devotionals from its treasure cove! Indeed, July is a precious month for me!

Father, I am filled with adoration for You and appreciation for the gifts You have lavished on me. To be a recipient of Your love and favor is beyond words. Thank you! Amen.

God Bless the USA - Lee Greenwood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNqUORIFV4I

Why Am I Still Thirsty?

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:13,14 (New American Standard Bible)

This verse has often thrown me. It use to make me wonder what was wrong with me. I had trusted Christ as my Savior and yet I still thirsted…for many things. I was thirsty for friendships, thirsty for love, thirsty for affirmation, thirsty for a meaningful life, thirsty for acknowledgement….the list is endless. I thought this verse meant eternally satisfied and I knew I wasn’t! I thought it meant I would know the answers to all my questions and dilemmas but I didn’t. Over the years it became a verse that taunted me more than comforted me. It became illusive rather than embraceable. I often wondered how it applied to me. How could Jesus’ words to the woman of Samaria be whispered to my heart as well?

God began to slowly open my eyes. He made a single phrase stand out to me. WHOEVER DRINKS!!!! Yes, when I trusted Christ as my Savior some 30+ years ago He made available to me internally an artesian well for my refreshment. But just like my water supply at home, if I don’t drink from it I will get thirsty! Whereas if I drink water throughout the day thirst will not be an issue. I will walk satisfied. Once He showed me the necessity for continually drinking from His internal supply, my next question was “how?” How do I drink from this living water within me?

I am learning that my drinks come every time I open Scripture and take in truth, every time I trust Him, every time I cry out to Him in prayer, every time I ask for a filling of His Spirit, every time I look to Him to meet my needs instead of looking to people, every time I sense His presence, every time I let music minister to me, every time I digest truths from Christian books. It boils down to my interaction with my Heavenly Father.

Now, thirst is an issue when too much time lapses between my moments of drinking at the well. May I not allow that to happen!

Father, I have been to the other wells. I thought I was quenching my thirst but I was only getting more thirsty. Today I drink my fill of You. Saturate me! Amen.

Failed Attempts at Satisfaction

As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud, therefore they forgot Me. Hosea 13:6 (New American Standard Bible)

Satisfaction is derived when our needs and desires are fulfilled and we are gratified. And yet there is a danger when we have managed to reach that point through external means. Even when the very thing that is satisfying us came because of the graciousness of God. For it is at that point that we can very easily forget how much we need God. Troubles, depravation, rejection, and heartache make us profoundly aware of our need for God. Over abundance, comfort, and ease cause us to forget.

I find that the longer I am on this journey with God the more prone I am to pray, “Father, if it will cause me to forget You, turn from You, or live independent of You, don’t allow anything or anyone to satisfy me.” Sometimes the very thing I am looking to satisfy me is really an attempt to anesthetize myself from facing my own emptiness, pain, and sorrow. Those were things I wanted to avoid at all costs because I did not realize the simple truth that they were meant to bring me to the One who could actually heal, restore, and transform me.

God knows the one thing we are looking to for satisfaction. Be it material things, relationships, social status, individual accomplishments, education, etc… He loves us too much to allow it to become our “savior.” For a time it might work but eventually we find it is just a bandage on the gaping wounds of our soul.

For me it was relationships. I did not know all that I was looking for other individuals to do for me but I was on a search. Certain people could put me on a “high” and internal problems no longer seemed to exist. Little did I know their availability kept me from entering a deep, personal relationship with my heavenly Father. I was living with the illusion that everything was okay! God knew it was necessary to reveal the truth to me. He had to help me see the problem was not that I had problems. The problem was with whom I was turning to alleviate the pain, fill the void, and escape the truth. Out of love He has removed sources in order for me to finally turn to Him. I now admit life hurts but I am finding that God heals.

Father, thank you for not allowing true satisfaction to come from any other source besides Yourself. I praise You that the attempts failed. That in turn has led me straight to You. Amen.

Becoming Willing

For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing. Isaiah 30:15 (New American Standard Bible)

God knows us thoroughly and will go to any length to bring us to the place He most desires for us to be. Yet, it is easy to misunderstand where He is leading and what He is doing. Many times, He must walk us through numerous issues and places to finally get us to the “starting” point of His desire.

Several years ago when I began this journey I had my own idea of what God was doing. I thought it was all about learning the truth about God and learning the truth about myself, realizing my freedoms in Christ, tearing down the denominational walls as well as the versions of the Bible walls, seeing His Word come alive and practical, eventually writing devotionals, and sharing with others the things God was teaching me. Did those things happen? Absolutely! Were they exciting to experience? Yes! Did they happen over night? Not at all! Have they reshaped and drastically changed the way I live my Christian life? Definitely! At the same time, they were simply the preliminary parts of God’s longing for me. God’s purpose ran much deeper than merely the dynamics of my internal and external life.

I am just now beginning to see that God wants to bring me to the place of living in repentance, rest, quietness, and trust with Him. To seek Him for confidence and comfort. The learn to embrace my emotions in His presence instead of seeking to deny them, anesthetize them, or ignore them. To not allow aloneness to cause me to feel separated from Him. To prefer to spend time with Him more than with anyone else.

I am picturing myself in a large mansion. Many of the rooms are filled with people, things, opportunities, or treasures. One room is where God alone waits for me. As I review my life I see how often I have bi-passed that room for all the others. Those have been my “you were not willing” moments. It is now that I have finally reached for the door knob, stepped inside, and come face to face with the One who will help me to walk intimately with Himself. He is assuring me I am safe, known, and loved. Others have been in this room with Him and their lives attest to the fact that it made all the difference in the world. I long to receive what they received and have that be my central focal point.

Father, You are calling me to a deeper place with Yourself. No human guides will be used at this time. It is just You and me. Amidst the uncertainties and insecurities are hope and anticipation. I come and I bow. Amen.

The One Who Can Fill You

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. Psalm 42:1 (New International Version)

Years ago I heard the saying that we are each born with a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill. I equated it with salvation and moved on. Decades later, God is bringing that truth to life for me and I am astounded at the implications! We were each born with needs, longings, and desires. I picture them coming out of a huge cavern in my soul. A hollow place if you will. God created us with the needs, and wants us to know that He alone can meet those needs. For some, that concept is easily seen and easily digested. For others, the realization is slow in coming and the receiving of it is even slower.

I have spent the past few hours chewing on some things God was bringing to mind. It has been one “aha” moment after another. Like a massive jigsaw puzzle, the pieces have been sliding into place and I am now looking at the entire picture. The pieces have come from various sources but God alone has masterfully put them all together and I am over whelmed by the view!

This morning’s picture has to do with significance. That awareness and belief that our life matters and we are a valuable part of God’s creation. Some look for it in achievement, fame, riches, or success. I looked for it in people. While there were times individuals could make me “feel” significant they were never meant to be what gave me my significance. God alone is the source for that! When I would look to a person to fill my need for value and worth, it was like pouring water into a huge hole. The dirt saturated the water and the hole was still there. Remove the person and what little they were able to give you is removed as well. That is the way it is with any source.

As I faced my cavern, I finally saw that the only One who could fill it and continue to fill it is God. He alone is permanent and He alone is able. With a sense of sheer joy and delight I asked Him to fill the hole! Fill the place in me that has only grown deeper over the years with relationship upon relationship. Fill the place in me that has never been filled. The longing and desire is finally directed toward the only One who can satisfy. As the deer pants for the water, as the eagle yearns for the sky, as the prisoner longs for freedom, I reach for God and He is so very accessible. He has drawn me with cords of loving kindness and wooed me with tender words.

Father, the healing continues and I stand in awe of how You are accomplishing it. What I believed to be impossible is now happening and I praise You! Amen.

Fount of the Caller

Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi. Judges 15:19 NIV

We often have no trouble knowing when we are physically thirsty. Our throat gets dry, our voice may sound hoarse, and our energy begins to wane. Samson knew the exhaustion that followed a battle whereby he killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. His thirst was so great he felt he was going to die. One cry to God and a spring of refreshing water was miraculously provided. Oh the change that came about when he took a drink of that water! He drank deeply and the results were astounding. Not only was his thirst quenched but his strength returned and he was revived.

Throughout each day I develop a spiritual thirst. I am familiar with the symptoms. Things start to bother me, my attitude begins to plunge, I react negatively to people and circumstances, I battle emotions and feelings, and internally I just don’t feel well. I use to not know what to do at that point. I simply waded through and waited for something to come along that would perk me up. I did not know the solution lay in crying out to God for a drink! I was in need of my own spring…my own En Hakkore (the fount of the caller).

In Jeremiah 2:13 God told Israel they had forsaken Him, the spring of living water, and dug broken cisterns that could not hold water. I, too, have dug my fair share of broken cisterns. So desperate to have my internal thirst quenched I looked to people, activities, and distractions. What little satisfaction I could derive was usually temporary at best. In doing that I was avoiding the only One who could give me a life changing drink. No longer!

I now turn to Him at the first sign of thirst. With each drink from His spring I too regain my strength and experience a life-giving revival. The drink may be as simple as saying, “God, I am lonely but You are my companion, Meet me here.” Or “God, I am frustrated make me aware of the peace You have already given to me.” Whenever I look to God to quench my thirst and meet my needs I am never disappointed. Thirst is inevitable but it does not have to turn into dehydration. I now know who to run to for every thirst quenching drop of water.

Father, You are my Spring of living water. Throughout today may I drink my fill of You and experience renewed strength and satisfying hydration! Amen.

Overflowing Satisfaction

For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 107:9 (KJV)

If I were to put this verse into my own words it might sound something like this…. He fills to satisfaction, completeness, and abundance, the soul that has a veracious appetite, and fills to overflowing and replenishment, the famished soul with bountiful favour and the best things. This is the picture God wants us to have when He says He ‘will meet all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’ And when He says, ‘Come unto Me….and I will give.” It shows me the extravagance and lavishness of God’s generosity!

In this world, our souls yearn, crave, and ache for those things we want to be, do, experience, and possess. We either give up hope of ever having the longings fulfilled or we pursue them with a passion. Watch what a person invests their time, energy, and interests in and you will begin to see what it is they are longing for.

There are times when I think the only way to deal with the longings and hunger of my soul is to deny their existence or look for superficial ways to pacify them. I do not want to feel the ache that seems to be a continual part of my internal world. But God is letting me know the longings and hunger are there in order to draw me to Him. He wants me to take in the words of Psalm 145:16 that say He opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. He wants me to see His willingness and readiness to indulge and pamper my soul.

My response? I can either continue to chase after the things and people that I think will fill my emptiness or I can begin to approach God’s open hands and heart. I can either be allured by relationships, accomplishments, or experiences, or I can be captivated by His invitation for an intimate connection whereby I bring my deepest desires and needs to Him and become a recipient of His filling. What a contrast! How could I ever think those choices stand as equals? Who but God could make such an extravagant offer and be able to actually do it?

Father, use the ache in me like a magnet to draw me to Yourself. Let me finally know what it is like to live satisfied and filled to overflowing. Teach me to come to You and receive from You all that You so graciously offer! Amen.

The More and Better Life

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 KJV

Jesus never spoke promises half heartedly. His words can be taken at face value and owned. Jesus promised that He would give us life more abundantly. Do we have any idea what a more abundant life looks like? The MESSAGE defines it as a “more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” The Amplified Bible says it means “to the full, till it overflows.” According to Strong’s Concordance, the original Greek definition of abundantly is “superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); excessive, exceeding abundantly above, more abundantly, very highly, beyond measure, superfluous.” If we limit this to just the physical, material possessions of our life, many of us would assume the abundant life was not what Jesus intended for us.

Jesus Himself did not pattern a life of affluence, popularity, comfort, or ease. He knew tears, betrayal, cruelty, and homelessness. He felt the sting of rejection, misunderstanding, disbelief, and scorn. From a crude manger for a birth place to the cross of Calvary, He did not live a life that most people would consider abundant! But maybe that is because they have a wrong concept of an abundant life.

It has been said that we cannot give away what we don’t first possess for ourselves. Jesus is offering to give us life more abundantly because that is the kind of life He possessed here on earth and still possesses today. What were the marks of His abundant life? A walk of obedience and connection to His Heavenly Father. It was not found in what He had but in who He knew. Not in what He did but in who He was. Now He did many miraculous things but none of them defined Him. They simply showcased His identity.

What does all of this mean to me this morning? The quality of my life is based on my connection to God and demonstrated in my obedience to Him. My words and actions flow out of my relationship with my heavenly Father. Each day I have an opportunity to showcase my identity which is found in Christ. I am His precious, cherished, much loved child! Therefore I am given a life that truly is more and better than I ever dreamed of!

Father, today I open my hands to receive the more and better life You offer. May it flow out of me in marvelous ways! Amen.