When Someone is Running

The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. Jonah 1:4 (New American Standard Bible)

There are times when God will go to great measures to come against our places of comfort, security, or escape. Jonah was in such a place and God’s intervention was evident. In some ways, he reminds me of the prodigal son from the book of Luke. While the father let him go and waited for life to become uncomfortable enough to bring him back home, God was still at work in the background to bring about that change of direction.

Maybe there is someone reading this devotional right now and you have a loved one who is living the life of a Jonah. They are running as fast and as far as they can from what God wants for them. You may be praying for their salvation or you may be praying for their return. As hard as it may be to watch what they are doing to themselves (and possibly to others in their life) be aware God can still control the situations of their life. God is still in the business of bringing about personal famines or storms to redirect their thinking, their steps, and their lives.

So what does a person do in the case of someone they know who is running? First of all, if they are an adult, let them go. Teens and children are still under our care and responsibility. But for an adult, let them go. It will be in the midst of their wandering that God will be able to begin His work. Secondly, pray for God’s intervention in their life. God may use health, He may use finances, He may use discomfort, He may use loss, or any number of other methods that bring about effective change. If someone keeps stepping in and rescuing them, the process gets interrupted and prolonged. God knows what to use to get their attention. The control they think they possess over their life will be challenged by the One who really is in control. Consequences for personal choices really are beneficial. Thirdly, use this time to reevaluate your own life. What are the areas God wishes to redirect in you? God can multi-task very well. As He shows you areas to change, cooperate with Him. And finally, wait! Things may happen quickly or it may take years. Trust that whatever God is doing it is out of a heart of love for you as well as for your loved one.

Father, many hearts this morning ache over the choices loved ones are making. May they know that Your heart aches as well. Give them wisdom to trust You to intervene for their ‘Jonah.’ Amen.

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

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.

Superabounding Grace

But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God’s unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded. Romans 5:20b (Amplified Bible)

I have within myself the capacity to sin because I possess a sin nature. We all do! I may not give in to every urge but the ability to sink to the lowest depths of depravity is present in me as it is in you. Yet as a believer I also have God’s divine influence on my heart….His grace. While sin may increase and abound, the influence of God superabounds! The comparison is encouraging because God’s help far exceeds my weaknesses. His advantages for me far outweigh my disadvantages.

I feel led to do some comparisons this morning and the results will be astounding! Keep in mind that each time I use the word “grace” I am referring to God’s divine influence, favor, and help that is present and available in me. Proportionately speaking God’s grace exceeds every ungracious thing in me. Grace exceeds my strongholds. Grace exceeds my addictions. Grace exceeds my weaknesses. Grace exceeds my mindsets. Grace exceeds my wrong choices. Grace exceeds my failures. Grace exceeds my misperceptions. Grace exceeds my depraved words, actions, and thoughts. No matter what I place on the scale of comparisons, God’s grace outweighs, out shines, out lasts, and out powers it. In other words the potential for victory is greater than the potential for defeat.

The question now becomes, will I walk in that grace and allow it to be reflected in my life? By His grace I can! Once again I am reminded that living the Christian life is not a matter of self made virtues. It is a matter of allowing God to do His work in me. It is looking to Him to give me the desire and ability to follow Him, cooperate with Him, and obey Him. I want transformation and change. I want to continually NOT be the person I was a year ago, month ago, week ago, or even day ago!

As I go through my day and come up against any temptation, test, or sinful desire, I want to realize I have MORE grace than that! There is also more grace than grief, sorrow, loss, or pain. It is like comparing an ant hill to a mountain, a pond to an ocean, or a twig to a forest. Superabounding, super abundant, super accessible is God’s grace. As the hymn so eloquently states, “Grace, grace, God’s grace! Grace will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, Grace, God’s grace! Grace is greater than ALL my sin.” Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Grace indeed!

Father, keep me aware of Your grace in me. The excessiveness of it all astounds me! Amen.

Amazing Grace ( My Chains are Gone) - Chris Tomlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyFxArMeRDI&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.

Remembering Them

Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:7 (New American Standard Bible)

Last night, I met with a friend whom I had not seen for several years. We did some catching up and sharing of present happenings with our children. Then the conversation turned to a time of review. What an experience to look back over four and a half years and list the many things God has done! I felt compelled to tell her of my journey out of legalism and the many changes that came about because of it. As I spoke, it became evident to me that God had used an individual in profound ways to start me on my journey. The impact she made on my life was huge and were it not for God crossing my path with her, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to come out of my life style of performance and fear or IF I would have come out of it.

This morning as I read today’s verse, this individual once again came to mind. She led me, taught me God’s word, was an example to me, and left me with a pattern of faith to imitate. Her spiritual influence and fingerprints are evident in my life to this day. Although she is no longer a part of my journey I rejoice in the season of time God allowed her to be! I can say with joy that I am NOT the same person I was when she first entered my life. I am not even the same person I was when she was led to release me to walk without her. Truly, God’s ways have been higher than my own!

I think back over my Christian life of 35 years and I can recall numerous individuals who led me, spoke God’s word to me, and lived lives that were worth imitating. They were each used of God to instilled valuable things into my life. They came along side me, walked with me for a while, and left profound marks on my life. What I am today has a direct correlation to who they were for me in the past. With any one of them I would have chosen to remain. Without God’s insistence I would have been content to continue under their teaching and influence. But then I realize if that had been the case, there would have been many relationships I would have missed out on and many things I would have not learned. The result would have been a stunting of my growth.

Just as God called the children of Israel out of Egypt, God has had many “calling out of” moments in my life. I am learning to treasure that aspect because of the good that comes from it. While there are times I look back and long for those places of delight, I know He still has much in store for me and so I journey on.

Father, thank you for the individuals You hand picked to be in my life. They have been treasured gifts to me. Amen.

Painting Pictures of Egypt - Sara Groves
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZcIA4Cnj6j4

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.

In the Classroom of Life

Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8 (New American Standard Bible)

My daughter came to me this morning out of frustration over an area in her life. Things are rubbing her the wrong way with some people in her life and I understand the look and heart of discouragement and confusion that presently mark her path. I listened to her vent and just as my “mama bear” instincts wanted to step in and protect, the Lord brought a question to mind that has produced a red flag on those instincts. It is simply this, “What is it God is trying to teach her at this moment and in this circumstance?” While it is easy for each of us to focus on the circumstances and people in our life, God wants to do a work in us. He wants to teach us the way in which we should walk.

When it comes to my daughter, I can see a number of areas that God might be targeting in her. As an adult she is going to find more and more that many of the lessons will be learned in the difficult and uncomfortable areas of life. It may be patience. It may be gratitude. It may be contentment. It may be a fresh realization that our life is not our own. It may be endurance. It may be faithfulness. Fortunately for me, I do not have to be the one to figure it out for my daughter. That is our Father’s responsibility. As I pray for her and entrust her situation to Him, He will be faithful to reveal to her what it is He is trying to teach her. The rejoicing will come as she allows Him to do that.

It is the same with each of us. The unfair, uncomfortable, and uneasy parts of life are the tools God is using to teach us what we need to learn. They are the classroom whereby God is instilling in us the qualities and characteristics that are meant to be ours as we are daily being conformed to the image of His Son. They are the sandpaper He is using to take off the rough edges in us and part of His workmanship in us.

I know better than to think that God is showing me this truth only for the sake of my daughter. He intends that I see this truth for myself as well. As I go through today, I will be asking myself (many times) “What is God trying to teach me?” As I do that, life will become less about the hard parts of life and more about the lessons He has designed for my walk with Him.

Father, help me to be more aware of what You are doing and what I am to be learning as You do it. My daughter belongs to You and I rejoice in what You will teach her and me! Amen.

Make Me A Servant - Maranatha Singers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rznoe3zKxM&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.

A Refuge for Me

But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a strong fortress for the people of Israel. Joel 3:16b (New Living Translation)

For much of my Christian life I did not know how to allow God to be my refuge and fortress. My shelter and place of protection from storms, dangers, and falsehood. I took my questions as well as my heartaches to people and looked to them to comfort, nurture, and protect me. In the beginning of a Christian life this is normal and even necessary. But God knows that if a transition is not made, whereby eyes and hearts are directed toward Him, the growth and spiritual well being of that individual will be stunted.

The transition happens naturally for some individuals. Somewhere along the line they see their need to shift their focus and their walk with God becomes an intimate one. For others, God must take some drastic measures to begin the process. I personally was not ready or willing to begin solely looking to Him until significant people were removed. Henry Blackaby says that “sometimes God has to remove others from our lives, so He can continue His purposes for our lives.” Does He know it will hurt? Yes! Does He know we will struggle to understand? Absolutely! Does He know we will wonder if we are going to survive the necessary severing? Definitely! But He also knows the result and He knows ahead of time which direction our heart will take.

For me, the losses drove me to Him and now the current difficulties do as well. Last night was a case in point. I had emailed a friend requesting prayer for some specific areas in my life then I went to bed and found it difficult to fall asleep. My mind was consumed with questions and my eyes were filled with tears…once again. But it was at that time that God began to teach me some truth and help me to see things I had been unaware of. As soon as I took in the truth, the tears ceased and my heart became settled. He was my place of repair and rest at that moment and I slept soundly. No one, absolutely no one, on earth can do that for me like God can!

I carry into today that experience and rejoice anew that He has finally brought me to the point whereby He is the One I run to and cling. He is the One to whom I ask the difficult questions. Will He still use people in my life? Very much so because that is one of His purposes for the body of Christ. But He is the One who now has my attention and neither one of us would want it any other way.

Father, I stand in awe of what You have accomplished that I never could do on my own. I praise You and need You! Amen.

YOU ARE MY HIDING PLACE - Maranatha Singers
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Zej__yFPeK0&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.

A Cheerful Giver

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:7,8 (New International Version)

At one time, if you had quoted the first half of this passage to me, my mind would have instantly thought of tithing. How easy it is to limit Scripture to one small picture when God intends for it to be a mural of beauty. His Word is not only alive and powerful it has many dimensions and layers. Our joy comes when we begin to see the bigger picture of what God is saying.

Recently, an act of kindness shown to me led to God bringing this phrase to mind, “God loves a cheerful giver.” Then He graciously broadened the image to, “God loves ALL cheerful giving.” That which is done out of joyous, promptness rather than duty or a have to mentality. Instantly, my mind began to formulate the many things that can be given to others beyond material things. The giving includes giving others an encouraging word, the benefit of the doubt, a second chance, a listening ear, the right of way, priority, a kind gesture, a smile, a helping hand, friendship, a shoulder to cry on, prayer support, forgiveness, time, attention, and even a hug. It could also entail giving them entrance into your life or allowing them the freedom to walk away. The list is endless and God will help you to come up with fresh ideas all day long. Once the full scope hits, the passion and desire will arise in you to carry out the very thing that God loves……..ministry to others.

The second half of this passage tells us the “how to” of our giving. He promises to give us more than enough of what we need to abound in every good work. It is all about His influence upon us that strengthens and kindles within us the desire to give to others what God lays on our heart to give. His grace is what affords us the joy, pleasure, and delight to bestow acts of loving kindness on others. God’s favor through us to others! God supplies it and He loves it when we take what He supplies and lavish it on others.

In God’s eyes, no act or moment of giving is insignificant or invisible. After all, in the midst of pompous giving Jesus noticed and mentioned the woman who gave two small coins. Do it and He will see it! Say it and He will hear it! It will never be wasted or go unnoticed by Him. How He delights in seeing His Word and His wishes become a part of our daily life!

Father, You are the ultimate Giver! Jesus’ life is my example as well. My I be an imitator of Him and a giver for You. Amen.

HOW BEAUTIFUL -Twila Paris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJfSp_rceFs&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. http://pathways2freedom.blogspot.com/

My Healer

He went on turning away, in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him. Isaiah 57:17,18 (New American Standard Bible)

So often we read the word “heal” in the Bible and we instantly think of physical healing. Throughout the Old and New Testaments there are certainly many references to that. While we may not see such extensive and abundant amounts of healing today, God is still healing people. While I have never experienced a physical healing from a disease, illness, or deformity, I have had the privilege and experience of the kind of healing today’s verse is referring to. A healing of my heart and spiritual sickness.

Isaiah 6:10 speaks of an insensitive heart, dull ears, dim eyes, and a heart that lacks understanding. Jeremiah 3:22 speaks of God healing unfaithfulness. These are conditions of the heart. I remember decade long times in my Christian life when I could not hear God’s voice, could not see His heart in Scripture, was not sensitive to His leading in my life, and was not faithful to daily come to Him in prayer. I was in desperate need of His healing touch but did not know how to go about receiving it.

I did not realize this kind of healing automatically happens as I seek an intimate, personal relationship with Him. He is aware of my need and my propensity to stray from Him. He has had His eye on me from the moment of my conception and has longed to reveal Himself to me as my Healer.

My personal healing took place the day I embraced the truth that God’s love is not dependent on what I do. That was the catalyst for what has now been an incredible four and a half year journey. It has completely changed my approach to prayer and Scripture. I never knew prayer was meant to be a two way conversation, whereby I do some of the talking and God does some of the talking. His whispers at times move me to tears.

I never knew reading the Bible could be so alive either. Every morning before I open my Bible I ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me. I ask Him to cause one verse to really stand out to me. The journal thoughts have been the fruit of those prayers. There are days I cannot write fast enough as He brings the thoughts to mind. And all of this started the day I said, “Father, show me Your heart in Scripture.” He is moved by such requests.

Father, You are so loving, gracious, and generous. Continue to show me where I need Your healing touch. Amen.

A Heart Like Yours by Cece Winans
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qa_IcFyxmF8

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. http://pathways2freedom.blogspot.com/