You know how sometimes you KNOW the right thing to do, but you let circumstances of life get in the way? Yup, we all do it, and I have been guilty recently. But I made a vow to get back on track and am so glad that I have!
I usually start everyday with quiet time reading God's word and praying, but since the first of the year I have been sporadic about it. Many things have played into my lack of follow through like wanting to hang in bed longer (winter does that to me), or being angry with God about the situation my family is in right now, and even just plain laziness. But Sunday I noticed that the new Daily Devotional was out at church and grabbed one. I said in my heart, "I am going to do everyday of this one". Yesterday, circumstances lined up perfectly that I didn't have the temptation to stay in bed as much as I have recently and I started right on track.
So this morning, after helping to get Nathaniel and Audrey off to school, I sat down outside in the light rain and did today's reading too. One of my favorite things to do is read the short devotional in the church book, then read the full chapter from my Bible that it pertains to. I am one of those people who have a BUNCH of different Bibles, and I like how each of them speaks to a different area of my life. Today I grabbed my Devotional Bible compiled by Max Lucado for reading and after doing the reading I KNOW that God directed me to that one :)
I was reading in Genesis 24 & 25 and this was part of the Observation Point and some of the Inspiration in the devotional that went along with that reading:
OBSERVATION in God's will we find successful living. God's way may be harder that the world's way-but he rewards obedience!
INSPIRATION if you want God's will, give Him your TOTAL self-a living sacrifice-and that means your body and your thoughts, your mind, which He can renew from within, if you let Him....
The guidance of God's Word is primary, basic. It's interesting to note that many of us say we are interested in God's will, but we balk at checking our plans and habits against the plain teaching of the Bible. How can you say you are seeking God's will, if you don't know what the Bible says? This is like going to someone for advice, but not letting him talk. You actually want him to agree with everything you say....
I found these things very insightful and they gave me plenty to think and meditate on today as I walk through my day. First, God's way is MUCH harder than the world's way. As a mom of special needs child, I know this so well. But even as a woman trying to recover from many hurts of the world I am seeing this too. God's way, the way of grace and forgiveness, is SO HARD, but He walks it with us. The second part that spoke to me was the part about asking advice and not listening. It was like a little nudge from God to keep on keeping. You see I have taken to talking to a dear friend of mine about what is going on in my life. He is very insightful and full of observations, but sometimes it is just REALLY hard to hear what he is saying. Thankfully we have a good enough relationship, he is patient with me and I know that he is speaking out of concern or care, that we can process these hard parts and keep going. But it has been hard for me to hear many of the things he says, and even harder to figure out how to make things right in my life again. But this was like a message right from God that this is a good thing and a good process we are going through. Because if he just agreed with me on everything then I wouldn't be growing or healing!
The other thing that has struck me a lot recently is about rain. I love rain, I always have. I feel like it cleanses the earth, and even my heart, it clears away the dust, grim and build up that we allow to accumulate and makes room for new growth. As I sat and felt the gentle rain on me this morning I thought once again what a great demonstration rain is of what God wants to continually do in our lives EVERY DAY! God wants to wash away those things that we allow to pile up and clutter our hearts, our minds and our lives. He wants to rinse them out and make room for His will, His ways and His purpose in our lives. And if we let Him do that we are better for it, just like the earth is better with the rain, everything is greener, the plants grow better and the whole system just works together better! So with this in mind, I say "Rain down on me Lord! Wash away those things that needs outed in my life, and pour down on my YOUR will!"
How is your walk this fine day?
I usually start everyday with quiet time reading God's word and praying, but since the first of the year I have been sporadic about it. Many things have played into my lack of follow through like wanting to hang in bed longer (winter does that to me), or being angry with God about the situation my family is in right now, and even just plain laziness. But Sunday I noticed that the new Daily Devotional was out at church and grabbed one. I said in my heart, "I am going to do everyday of this one". Yesterday, circumstances lined up perfectly that I didn't have the temptation to stay in bed as much as I have recently and I started right on track.
So this morning, after helping to get Nathaniel and Audrey off to school, I sat down outside in the light rain and did today's reading too. One of my favorite things to do is read the short devotional in the church book, then read the full chapter from my Bible that it pertains to. I am one of those people who have a BUNCH of different Bibles, and I like how each of them speaks to a different area of my life. Today I grabbed my Devotional Bible compiled by Max Lucado for reading and after doing the reading I KNOW that God directed me to that one :)
I was reading in Genesis 24 & 25 and this was part of the Observation Point and some of the Inspiration in the devotional that went along with that reading:
OBSERVATION in God's will we find successful living. God's way may be harder that the world's way-but he rewards obedience!
INSPIRATION if you want God's will, give Him your TOTAL self-a living sacrifice-and that means your body and your thoughts, your mind, which He can renew from within, if you let Him....
The guidance of God's Word is primary, basic. It's interesting to note that many of us say we are interested in God's will, but we balk at checking our plans and habits against the plain teaching of the Bible. How can you say you are seeking God's will, if you don't know what the Bible says? This is like going to someone for advice, but not letting him talk. You actually want him to agree with everything you say....
I found these things very insightful and they gave me plenty to think and meditate on today as I walk through my day. First, God's way is MUCH harder than the world's way. As a mom of special needs child, I know this so well. But even as a woman trying to recover from many hurts of the world I am seeing this too. God's way, the way of grace and forgiveness, is SO HARD, but He walks it with us. The second part that spoke to me was the part about asking advice and not listening. It was like a little nudge from God to keep on keeping. You see I have taken to talking to a dear friend of mine about what is going on in my life. He is very insightful and full of observations, but sometimes it is just REALLY hard to hear what he is saying. Thankfully we have a good enough relationship, he is patient with me and I know that he is speaking out of concern or care, that we can process these hard parts and keep going. But it has been hard for me to hear many of the things he says, and even harder to figure out how to make things right in my life again. But this was like a message right from God that this is a good thing and a good process we are going through. Because if he just agreed with me on everything then I wouldn't be growing or healing!
The other thing that has struck me a lot recently is about rain. I love rain, I always have. I feel like it cleanses the earth, and even my heart, it clears away the dust, grim and build up that we allow to accumulate and makes room for new growth. As I sat and felt the gentle rain on me this morning I thought once again what a great demonstration rain is of what God wants to continually do in our lives EVERY DAY! God wants to wash away those things that we allow to pile up and clutter our hearts, our minds and our lives. He wants to rinse them out and make room for His will, His ways and His purpose in our lives. And if we let Him do that we are better for it, just like the earth is better with the rain, everything is greener, the plants grow better and the whole system just works together better! So with this in mind, I say "Rain down on me Lord! Wash away those things that needs outed in my life, and pour down on my YOUR will!"
How is your walk this fine day?
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