Omnipresent

When you look into the heavens, it is good to remember God.  But God also resides in all the creations of this Earth.  Wherever you look, you are seeing a part of God.  Tread gently.  Speak with reverence.  God is everywhere.

Psalm 139:7-12 ... Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.   If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;  Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.   If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.   Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.❤

Hallelujah! He is the LORD!

May the Lord who is all and in all, be for us, today, even as we breathe, read, speak and sleep; our hope, our wisdom, our joy, our delight; may we live so as to forgive in Christ as God has forgiven us, those who hurt and maim our lives; those who bleed us dry and cause us to weep for their lives; may we gain courage and forbearance to care for even these, as we would care for the poor and sick among us. May we lean on Him today in trouble and give thanks for all He gives us; blessings such as we cannot contain, pour like oil from His palms, day after day, His mercies are new and we are filled with life in His Name, even as the sun breaks the mountains and the seas bow down in praise, so shall our soul give thanks to God for all that He does for us!

May the Lord shine His Face upon the world and make us glad! The Lord give to the children of all humankind, His mercy and may His grace fall like rain, may it be a layering of virgin snow upon our souls and give our hearts, compassion to rise, gentleness to give, tenderness to lay down and encouragement to speak and so we see that in the end, at the setting of the sun, we shall say to one another, this is the day the Lord had made, we are glad for it and lay down our heads to rest, knowing that, even in this, the Lord watches over us and shall guard us against all our foes and the enemy, Satan, shall not prevail against us, for the Lord is a Warrior, under His Wings we find comfort, and healing. Amen.

[Glory to God Online ~ Daily Devotional]

Lamentations 3:22-23 ... It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Psalm 118:24 ...  This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 121:8 ... The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Isaiah 54:17 ...  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

Numbers 6:24-27 ... The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:   The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:  The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.  And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.❤

The Investigation

David ends his well known Psalm 139 with the phrase, “lead me in the way everlasting.” For most Christians this is a prayer they would claim for themselves. Christians desire to follow God’s direction and leading. Rightfully so. God’s way is the right way, so listening and discerning His movement is vital for fulfilling His desire for your life.

But what gets lost when we throw out this desire as our end goal is the difficult process it takes to get there. Just previous to the “lead me” statement David says, “See if there is any offensive way in me.” As if to give the idea that God must search us before we can fulfill His plan. And this squares well with the previous verse:

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”

 I’m all for listening to God and allowing Him to direct my path, but the whole “search me” piece is a bit invasive for me to get excited about.

In order to allow God to truly lead you in the way everlasting you must first go through an intense investigation of your heart and soul. With an army of God’s soldiers burrowing deep within, the process will be tedious and grievous. I find it easier to follow a God who pats me on the back rather than a God who wants to invade the depths of my being.

In my studying of the opening chapters of Genesis a theme of suffering and glory is coming through. Genesis 2 is a picture of glory. God and man thriving in the garden of Eden. Genesis 3 is a picture of suffering. Sin. Curses. It’s ugly. Often we want the glory experienced in Genesis 2 without dealing with the suffering of Genesis 3.

Daniel Montogomery and Mike Cosper speak to this in their book Faithmapping:

“Crossless Christianity wants the glory without the suffering. It wants access to God (Genesis 2) without acknowledging the ravaging effects of sin in our hearts and in our world (Genesis 3). Jesus calls his followers to deny themselves and take up a cross; a share in the kingdom means a share in suffering (pg. 52).”

The same theme is at play in our lives. We want to follow in the way everlasting, but we’d rather not deal with the difficulty of allowing God to search us and know us.

[Tyler Braun]

Man Of Depravity

Against The Odds

Why would God lead Gideon into battle with an army of only 300 men against an army of 135,000 Midianites? Gideon placed his trust in the Lord even against overwhelming odds. When you feel that the odds are against your favor and the Lord is leading you into battle, remember Gideon. He went on to victory because he dutifully followed the Lord. When you feel the odds are stacked against you, could God be using you to demonstrate His strength?

[Daily Bible Devotions]

Judges 7:7 ...  And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

Psalm 140:7 ... O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.

Psalm 24:8 ... Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. ❤

Image: The Fellowship Room

Empowered

God has defeated Satan through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through this overwhelming victory, God has also empowered you to overcome any temptation to sin and has provided sufficient resources for you to respond biblically to any problem of life. By relying on God’s power and being obedient to His Word, you can be an overcomer in any situation.

1 John 5:4-5 ... For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Isaiah 54:17 ... No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:57 ... But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ❤

Are You Son-Ripened?

You may be a brand-new Christian, or perhaps you’ve known Jesus for years. Regardless, it should be obvious to others that you belong to Jesus. He said that when people look at you, they should see evidence of God at work.

What kind of evidence? Jesus called it “fruit.”

When you put others first instead of yourself, that’s fruit.

When you get rid of an ungodly habit and seek to live a pure life, that’s fruit.

When you refuse to gossip but choose instead to build up others, that’s fruit.

When you control your temper, even when others are losing theirs, that’s fruit.

When you forgive someone who hurt you, that’s fruit.

The types of fruit are endless.

God doesn’t expect you to produce all this fruit on your own. In fact, Jesus said you’re not capable (apart from him) of living a life that glorifies God. Rather, he wants to live through you, as a way to show others that he is alive and powerful.

In fact, the only way to keep Christ from producing fruit in your life is to resist what he’s trying to do in you. If, on the other hand, you cooperate with all Christ is doing in you, you’ll see amazing things taking place in your life.

Think back to when you first became a Christian. Are you the same person you were then, or have you allowed God to produce fruit in your life as a testimony to his greatness?

[LifeWay Devotionals]

John 15:8 ... Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Galatians 5:22-23 ... But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Ephesians 5:8-10 ... For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)  Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. ❤

Building a Home

If we want to be like the wise woman in Proverbs 14 we'll build our "homes" according to God's blueprint.

✞ The foundation of our lives will be the gospel of Jesus Christ, the only foundation guaranteed to last for eternity!

✞ Put up thick walls of prayer to surround our lives with protection.

✞ Study God's Word. That will provide a roof over our heads when the storms of life beat down on us.

✞ Furnish our "homes" with godly characteristics such as love, joy, self-control, peace, and patience.

✞ Regular home inspections and spring cleanings are also important --- Are the attics of our minds cluttered? Are our roofs leaking? Could our chimneys use cleaning so that we can safely let off steam from the pressures of life? Do we need to shake off the mat at the front door and welcome friends into our hearts more often?

✞ Constructing and maintaining our "homes" require a lot of hard work but the effort will be worth it when time reveals that we've built lives that are beautiful in God's eyes and exhibit quality construction.

[The One Year Women of the Bible by Dianne Neal Matthews]

Matthew 7:24-25 ... Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.


1 Corinthians 3:11 ... For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.❤

Open Up The Door

Jesus is wisdom. To find Him is to find life. To hate Him is to love death. The one who listens to Him is blessed. What could be wiser than to listen to your Creator? He is the One who knows your every need and every choice you should make for your eternal good.

Every day we have a choice. We can run into our day as if we knew what we are doing, or we can seek wisdom. To seek wisdom is to wait upon the LORD, to watch at His door, waiting there. It takes time to still our soul, and He does not come out to speak with us until we do. You could think of the cover of your Bible as the doorway. Open up the door and let wisdom speak to you.

[Through The Bible Daily Devotions]

Image: John Crandall

Proverbs 8:34-36 ... Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death. ❤

Humility

Humility is good in God’s sight. It always has been. Nowhere does humility show itself more clearly than in our ability to repent of our sins. Let humility be your guide, and see the mercy of God.

[Walk With God Devotionals]

Matthew 5:3 … Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Proverbs 3:34 … Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

1 Peter 5:6 … Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: ♥

For You

We wonder how man can be so cold, so heartless. Jesus would soon say they did not know what they were doing. If Jesus can overlook such abuse, knowing that man is ignorant, how much more should we overlook words and actions that offend us? He did nothing to deserve the abuse. But oh how many times we have. He has been so gracious to forgive our ignorance. Let us forgive others for theirs. Take a moment to thank Him again for enduring this abuse for you.

[Through the Bible Daily Devotions]

Matthew 27:28-31 … And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. ♥