Devotional Christian » God is faithful

Wholesome and Clean

Patricia Day — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:42:02 +0000

Ezekiel 37:23b – I will wash away their sin and make them clean, and I will protect them from everything that makes them unclean. They will be my people, and I will be their God. (CEV)

There is a major house renovation going on close to where we live. Actually, it has been in progress for weeks and weeks – new roof, insulation, siding, windows, doors, sunroom and storage addition – a complete overhaul! I don’t know, because I have not seen inside, but I have to assume that there is a great deal of updating, repair and cleaning being addressed inside the home too: and I assume this due to the time it is taking to complete the work.

I recall when my husband and I, were looking for a home in this park, that we viewed one particular unit that was in a beautiful location, the price was amazing (it would have left a great deal of ‘spare’ cash for renovations) but the condition inside was nothing short of ‘disgusting’: how anyone could have lived in the home in the condition it was in, was beyond our comprehension.

We had agreed that we were willing to move into a house of our choice and do work while living there, but the filth and the updates needed in that particular house, were way too bad for us to even consider moving in and living there in – there was far too much to do to make it habitable.

When some people are challenged to give their lives to God and invite Jesus into their hearts, they recognize the truth that they have sinned before God. As a result, they want to clean up their lives before they issue an invitation to Jesus. They don’t yet understand that God comes into our lives to clean us up, precisely because we can’t do it for ourselves.

Isaiah 64:6a – But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. (NKJV)

The good news is that God loves us just as we are. So when we become willing to accept God into our lives, thankfully, He does not shun our dirty lives like we rejected that dirty home. He welcomes us and cleanses us. He does not leave us as we are, with our disparaging thoughts, our criticism of others, our idolatry of all things material, and all our major and minor sinful ways. This process is called “sanctification”.

Isaiah 1:16 – Wash yourselves clean! I am disgusted with your filthy deeds. Stop doing wrong. (CEV)

Just as the house we viewed had much to clean up before being habitable, so God needs to clean up our lives, thoughts, and actions, so that we become a true reflection of His Son, Jesus, in our hearts, minds, and spirits.

James 4:8 – Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can’t make up your mind. (CEV)

Prayer: Abba, make us aware of all that is in our lives, our thoughts, and our deeds, that is unworthy of Your presence within us. Wash us clean, and renew our spirits and hearts so that we are wholesome, presentable, and welcoming to all who look at us and the ways that we live. We want to be acceptable to You and winsome to them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

http://pepeprays.wordpress.com

Labor, Work and Other Blessings

Hariette Petersen — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:58:48 +0000

Labor. Employment. It’s not a curse on man to work.

It is a blessing. As Christians we know that because of Adam’s disobedience and rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden, God sent him and his wife packing from the bliss of perfection. God made that wonderful eutopia and told man to tend it and oversee the animals. He gave Adam a helpmate so he didn’t have to do it alone. The toughest thing they had to do was pick the ever-present fruit from trees of evey kind. It was a blessing to work all week and be able to rest on the seventh day. After their rebellion, their poor choices prompted God to add sweat and struggle to man’s labor. Weed-free gardens were no more. Eve would labor long and hard to give birth; and it would be painful. The curse was not the labor. The curse was losing the ease of their labor, the consequence for sin. Their disobedience even took away their immortality. Death would sting because of their sin.

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:57-59

Have you labored hard and long and had the seeds you’ve sown, wither and die the moment they sprout? Have you struggled to till your “field” and spend sunrise to sunset making your rows straight and then birds swoop in and scratch up the work you’ve done and steal away your seed? Have you eagerly watered and waited to see some result, only to see your plants spring to life be strangled by the weeds? Do you wonder where you’ve gone wrong? Don’t fret. You cannot know the seeds that have yet to come to life beneath the soil of God’s grace and keeping. You cannot know where the bird may carry your seed and if it will drop to earth and bring forth a bountiful vine with branches ladened with grapes.

Let nothing discourage you. Don’t look back on what you’ve plowed and planted, my friends. You cannot undo what the world does. You can only control what you do. You can pray. You can teach, preach and make disciples. You can love. Your labor is not for what you see harvested in your midst. “Stand firm.” Know your whole-hearted efforts are not empty baskets before the Lord. Rest in Him. Rest in what He does through your obedient ministry for which you are called. Whatever that ministry is, do it fully for the Lord.

Mother, you are not unappreciated for wiping runny noses, playing blocks, and disciplining and teaching them obedience. Homemaker, your hands are seen as you make that bread. Father, you are not forgotten in the labor some do not see as you work to provide for the children God has given you, to love your wife as Christ loved the church. Volunteers, God knows how freely you give your heart and soul to serve others in His name.

Preachers, teachers, ministers of all kinds, give thanks to God that Jesus has provided all you need to accomplish the tasks before you. What you cannot do, God can. God will. Rest in the joy of the LORD. It is your strength. Rejoice. Praise God. Be still and know that He is God. “Your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

© Hariette Petersen, SelahV Today, 2011

Staying On Track

Dionna Sanchez — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:35:50 +0000

I often ask God to help me know His voice. To help me stay on track and not sway from His direction in my life. You see, I don’t want to get lost in the world. I know I’m human and I’m not too big in my own britches to think that someday I might make a terribly wrong choice that could mess up everything I’ve worked so hard for in my life.

Integrity and honesty are important to me. My values and morals are something I take seriously. I love my God and I love His commands. Yet the world has a very strong pull. And all it takes is one little concession on my part that will lead to a bigger concession and a bigger one. I have to be intentional and vigilant about the choices and decisions in my life.

In Isaiah 30, verse 21, it says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’

That is my heart’s plea and desire. That God will be ever-present in my heart and life so that I will hear His voice when He speaks to me and tells me which path to walk on. And if I don’t? If I should get on the wrong path? Then with everything in me, my prayer would be that God would direct me back to the right path.

You see, I pray for myself AHEAD OF TIME. I ask God to help me and to hold on to me. For He is faithful and I know that a prayer I say today, He will remember a year from now when I’m struggling or feeling rebellious.

I pray that my ears will hear my God when He speaks. That my heart will feel Him and that my mind will know Him. And may my lips only speak from a soul that is consumed with His love.

~ Dionna Sanchez (http://beautyinthestorm.blogspot.com)

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The Weight and Wait of Love

Hariette Petersen — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:23:13 +0000

Ever feel weighted down by the heartache of others? Marriage problems. Betrayals. Various trials and persecutions. False accusations. You counsel, advise and share the discernment the Lord has given you. You struggle to right a wrong; you wear your knees out praying for wisdom. Your mind spins with words to say and logic to impart to help. Yet, your heart is heavier than when you began praying.

I have learned the hard way that the more I try to help God, the more stuff starts piling on. In other words, I cannot do what God wants to do. When I try, He shows me the futility of trying to do things in my own power. He lets me exhaust myself and my ideas.

We can really only make decisions for ourselves. Others must make their own. After sharing all we know to share, and praying as He leads, we really do need to say, “Thy will be done, Lord,” and mean what we say.

Do you have loved ones going through trying circumstances? Divorce. Job loss. Financial struggles. Do you talk till you run out of words to share and find all your conversations running in circles? You wonder, did I say the wrong thing? did I forget to say something right? Do you pray and get impatient that God does not intervene as you think He should?

What keeps us from trusting God? Independence. The I-can-do-it-myself syndrome.

We can’t trust God when we’re depending upon ourselves. Some situations in life are far beyond our ability to fix. A problem we see that needs our intervention, may be God’s cocoon of struggle to strengthen. Seriously. Can we love our loved ones more than God does? We must think we do or we’d be willing and able to accept God’s timetable. We’d relax and stop trying to fix what He will take care of. Unless it is a direct leading from Him, our job is simply to be available to undergird, to be a leaning post, an intercessor of prayer, or an encourager to look to Him Who knows the perfect answer and to point others to Him. It’s up to others to deal with their decisions, their choices, and their consequences. To have peace in our lives we must let go and let God work in everyone’s life as He sees fit. When we let go of the weight of love, the Lord blesses us with the peace and grace of His.

“My times are in Thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.” Psalm 31:15 ESV

PRAYER: Lord, forgive us when we try to get ahead of You. Help us understand when to act and when to pray. Help us help others learn to wait on You and Your timetable.

© Hariette Petersen, SelahV Today, 2011

But, Lord, I Need You

Hariette Petersen — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:16:50 +0000

“Is there no healing balm in Gilead? Is there no physician in the house? Why can’t something be done to heal my dear people?” Jeremiah 8:22

Sometimes I join with the Lord’s inquiry above. I wonder why I hurt so bad. I wonder what can be done with so much devastation, strife and heartache in the world. Then I read this and wonder even more: Why would the Lord ask such a question? Surely He has all the answers, doesn’t He?

Exactly.

It is rhetorical in nature, to probe the hearts of the self-sufficient people of Israel. They think they can help themselves without God’s intervention. There is no balm or ointment or soothing lotions and potions to heal their sinful desparation. Only the Lord can heal like that. Only the Lord can pour forth His incomprehensible peace and fill a void when a mother loses a son, a husband, his wife, a five-year-old, his baby sister–or a nation loses an entire village. Only God can restore His wandering people when they walk away from Him and follow after their own desires and lusts. God wants them to remember Who is their great physician. Some folks say God does not care, that He sits on high and lets our world go by with barely a yawn. The people of Israel didn’t think that when they said:

“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted Thee and Thou didst deliver them.” Psalm 22:3-4 KJV

The people of Israel, in all their sinful ways, recognized God in their midst when they praised Him for all He is and all He’d done for their forefathers. How much closer is the God who dwells inside the hearts of people trusting Christ Who has made our bodies the temple of His Holy Spirit?

Amid the broken, fallen, adulterous nation of Israel, God sat enthoned when they remembered all God had been to them. As they praised Him for His sustaining grace, His mercy, forgiveness and deliverance, He was in the midst of them and He alone was able to heal their brokenness and sin. Only Hemthe Most High God…Only He has the Balm of Gilead to soothe the troubled heart and meet their needs.

If you are going through a dark place right now…a time of crushing loss, I pray you see the glory of His goodness–the righteousness in His deeds. May you find your voice and praise Him for all He is, has been, and will be for you. I pray your mind receives His all-sufficient grace, and your heart–His balm of peace. And may He receive all the glory due His holy name amid your pain and heartache. selahV

When God Leads You to a Dead End

Emily Riley — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:31:54 +0000

Do you ever feel like your life is leading to a dead end? No purpose or aim? Wandering aimlessly in a way that just doesn’t seem to make sense? Well, if that’s you … you’re not alone.

The children of Israel experienced the same thing right after they were freed from slavery in Egypt. They left their past, headed towards a new life, thinking the only option was to head into battle with the Philistines. But God had other plans. He was looking out for them and did not want His children to fear. So, instead of leading them into battle, God directed His children right into a dead end. Literally. He led them right up to the edge of the Red Sea where they were stuck with the entire Egyptian army hot at their heels.

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle. Exodus 13:17-18

You might ask why would God do something like this. Why did He bring His children to a point where they said “we would be better off in slavery than here, simply waiting for our death”? If you read on in the story, it explains that the reason for this is so they would see the deliverance of the Lord. (Exodus 14:10-14)

The purpose of the dead end was so they could not trust their own planning or ability… they had to trust the Lord. And when they did, they also saw His power in amazing and mighty ways that they had never imagined possible.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him. Exodus 14:29-31

When the direction of our life looks like its leading to a dead end, let us look to our Deliverer. Let us find hope and comfort in our God and let us like the Israelites say with confidence: “Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? You stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them. In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” Exodus 15:11-13

When Fear Comes Knocking, Have Faith in God

Emily Riley — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:29:38 +0000

Fear and worry are not mere emotions; they are expressions of what we hold dear. They reveal the loyalties of our hearts. If we know Christ and have affirmed our allegiance to him, worry is a sign that we are trying to have it both ways. We certainly don’t want to renounce our allegiance to Jesus, but we want to protect what we feel is our own. We are not so sure that the Lord can be trusted with some of these things, so we look for help elsewhere. And if there is no obvious alternate source of help, we worry.
from Running Scared by Ed Welch

Because God is faithful, we have no need to fear. But often, circumstances speak so loudly. They tell us that fear is natural… that it’s a normal response to have. Fear tells us that circumstances are bigger than God’s power, or even at times that God doesn’t care. It can be so pervasive. It creeps in so subtly. So, what do we do at times in our life when fear comes knocking? Or when we’ve seen it take hold in our lives?

Knowing and understanding God is crucial in our battle against fear.

We need to take gospel truths and filter our every fear through it. It is important to look back and remember how God was faithful in the past. Remember who you once were apart from the work of Christ in your life. God, in his great love, provided His Son so that you do not have to live your life captive to sin, even the sin of fear and worry. His overwhelming peace can speak louder to your heart than all your concerns and fears.

Here are a few gospel truths about God that help me when I struggle with fear:

He is a God of great love:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. (Eph 2:4-5)

He is my Father:

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. (1 John 3:1)

He is near to me:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Ps. 46:1)

He has promised to complete what He began:

He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6)

He is my Rock:

Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.” (Is. 44:8)

God is my Father. He is near in my troubles. He will complete the work in me. He is faithful, and I can rest on Him.

Look back and remember all the times God has been faithful in your past. Through every trial you’ve faced, He never left you. He will never stop being faithful. Fight the urge to think of and project yourself ahead to a godless future.

God delights in His children coming humbly to Him. He promises that every time you are afraid He will give you fresh grace and fresh strength… powerful grace. Grace that is greater than all our fears!

[copyrighted, 2009, Emily Schankweiler]

God Will Keep You from Stumbling

John Starke — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:14:59 +0000

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.” Jude 24

Jude’s epistle calls his readers to persevere in belief. His great effort is contending against false teachers who had crept in and were defiling “the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). As Jude tells us, God’s judgment is sure against false teachers and those who lead others astray (see verses 4-16). Yet, what is astonishing is that Jude’s call for Christian faithfulness is so straightforward.

Basically, Jude’s word to Christians is to keep in the love of God by (1) building yourself up in faith, (2) praying in the Spirit, and (3) waiting for Christ’s return (see verses 20-21). Building yourself up in faith is not necessarily believing in God more, but rather, in every aspect of life we are to act in light of God’s saving promises. The Gospel should affect the choices we make and how we respond to others. Jude’s phrase praying in the Spirit instructs us that Christian prayer is Spirit-led and not led by our own agenda. If left to ourselves, we would pray in line with our sinful desires and passions – as James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Waiting for Christ’s return sums up Jude’s picture of the Christian life. We are not to be anxious, but rather wait on the Lord who has set upon us a sure and unfailing hope of life eternal through his cross.

If all this true, then Jude’s doxology is appropriate. All the glory, forever and forever, is to the Lord who keeps us from stumbling through his power and presents us blameless through the finished work of the Gospel and gives us great joy because in his presence there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).