As I sit working and writing this morning, I have to almost pinch myself. Writing this devotional doesn’t constitute as a great a achievement for me, but rather it marks a pinnacle moment of being able to reflect on and share God’s faithful, loving work in my life when I was so broken and, how He carried me through it! I was so broken in fact, that I often wondered if I could make it through another day.
I’m here today and writing today, not because I have arrived or that I suddenly have all the answers. I’m here today and writing today, because God provided me with hope that can withstand any storm and this hope came only by knowing truth that can only be found in His word!
During this season of life, I often experienced pain to great degrees and the fact that it couldn’t be felt or understood by those closest to me often made it worse. But God knew and saw and He provided comfort and truth that couldn’t be found elsewhere. Many are seeking and are searching today. Many are experiencing pain today and searching for a remedy. God is the answer! God is the only remedy!
This devotional is not my devotional- It’s God’s! Without Him, I’d have nothing to share.
One of my all-time favorite movies is Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner. In one part of the movie, Robin Hood attempts to cross this river, but in doing so, he invades the territory of a group of outlaws. Midway into crossing the river, he engages in a fight with “Little John”, who is really not so little, while still standing in the river. At the end of their scuffle, Little John gets knocked off his feet, falling to his back in the water. He immediately begins to panic, shouting over and over again, “I can’t swim! I can’t swim!”
His apparent awareness of not being able to swim ransacked his mind, and fear took over. Robin Hood then comes over to him, grabbing his arm to help him up, telling him to stand to his feet. It’s a pretty comical moment in the movie when you see this big, burly, tough man screaming for help in knee deep water, and all he had to do was stand, with no swimming necessary.
As I think about this scene in the movie, I couldn’t help but wonder how often do I look like Little John, flailing around unnecessarily? How often does the thought of what I know I can’t do paralyze me, and all I really need to do is just stand upon the strength of the Lord?
Although it was apparent to another that all Little John had to do was stand, he needed to be made aware of just how close the firm foundation was beneath his feet. As life moves on, we might find ourselves in the position either of standing or flapping around frantically in shallow water. In either position that we may find ourselves, it is important that we always have a hand that is extended; a hand that is continuously extended to either to be a caring pull to lift up another, or one that is extended in humility in order to be pulled back up again.
When struggles arise, when our circumstances become overwhelming, or our hearts are filled with discouragement, it is so easy become aware of our limitations and forget about the character of God and what He CAN do!
It’s important that we always have a hand that is extended to either provided a caring pull or one that is extended in humility in order to be pulled back up again.
What a great encouragement today to know that God has given us a firm foundation that is sure, and all we have to do is stand upon Him and the truth of His word! As we seek to set our minds on Him, may His word serve as the gentle reminder of the firm foundation that we have readily available, helping us to stand once again!
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3
There is no doubt that God uses the pains and scars from the past for a greater good and purpose, and as well as a means to give us new sight. I have watched God’s light give beauty to my painful memories, but I have to tread very carefully to keep the painful memories of my past in full view of His light, because without His light, they just become painful memories.
God longs to use what was once difficult, or what may be currently difficult, as a powerful opportunity to give a testimony of His work in our lives; but in our opportunities to serve and make Him known, they are not to be used for the purpose of filling those voids and mending our wounds. The voids that need to be filled and the healing that needs to take place, must be done by the ‘Task Giver’ (God), not in the task itself.
In the process of giving my all to the tasks God has called me to, I have struggled with the tasks consuming me, and becoming my ‘all in all’ by seeking my fulfillment in these tasks instead of being filled by my ‘Task Giver – God! When I seek to make God’s calling as the main source of my fulfillment, instead of God Himself, it taints the purity of the task at hand.
Our service to God also shifts when the task and its’ outcome becomes the priority instead of striving to know and honor God first, and allowing the outcomes from our labor to belong to Him!
We love to see results, but in our service to Him, they do not always look the way we think they should, if we even see them at all! When the results we can see becomes the focus, the ministry God has called us to can quickly become a burden.
Bottom line, God longs for a true and sincere heart that is in service to Him! He is looking at the motives within our hearts, He longs to be what fill us up, He longs to be our all in all, and He longs for us to leave the outcomes to Him!
When our mission starts with God, we will find ourselves fueled and ready for the tasks He has laid before us, with our voids already filled and the burden of results taken from our hands!
“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Living under the great heaviness of guilt over past sins or even current sins is a great stumbling block in the life of the believer. A couple of years ago, I was really struggling with guilt.
I began asking the Lord “How do I balance recognizing sin in my life without being overtaken by discouraging levels of guilt?” And of course, God faithfully answers prayer and began helping me see that there is a clear distinction between guilt and conviction.
✨Guilt-liability (you are responsible) or culpability (you are guilty) to punishment for wrongdoing.
✨Conviction- to expose, convict, reprove the way the Spirit of God tugs at the heart of someone and urges confession, repentance and rightful redirection.
Both of these deal with wrongdoing, but the result of each are vastly different. Guilt serves only as a heavy burden and has no grace associated with it. Guilt does not teach us or bring about change in our lives. Conviction, however, still deals with sin, but it leads us and teaches to live a life of righteousness that God desires. Conviction is redemptive! It allows us to move forward and covers us in grace.
John 3:17-18 tells us, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world (usher out guilt), but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is NOT condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
So what’s the key to living free from the heavy burden of guilt? It’s Jesus! Only Jesus can set us free!
If you are heavily burned by guilt today, I encourage you to learn about who Jesus is and what He has done to set you free!
If you are a believer struggling with guilt, I encourage you to seek God’s truth about what He has done for you through His Son Jesus! Bind these truths around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart! Live free in Him today!
Last week, I spent several hours, almost every day, pulling up the many invasive weeds that had found their way into all of the flowers beds surrounding our house… and as strange as it sounds, it was absolutely wonderful. It was a job that I had dreaded at first, but surprisingly, come to love once I got started.
The week was filled with beautiful weather, and the sounds of my children playing happily in the backyard provided me with sounds of peace and enjoyment. For hours each day, I pulled weed after weed, and all the while, I found myself in a state of worship. Dirty gloves on my hands and dirt flinging everywhere as I pulled up each invader, seemed like an unlikely place for worship, but yet for me, this is what it provided.
With each pull, I knew I was a little closer to my desired result, and with each continued pull of weed after weed, I also found myself reflecting on the work that God has done in my life. You can go from person to person and ask them about God, who He is, and what they think of Him, and you will most likely get a different answer from each person. In our culture today, relative truth is more acceptable than absolute truth, and sadly it has many standing on a pile of sinking sand. Regardless of what each person says about God, thankfully there is an absolute truth of who He really is, and it rises above all of our varied opinions.
The truth is, God is the God of great deliverance, the God of restoration, and the God who rescues us from sin. As I pulled and removed each weed, these truths began to flood my heart and mind. Through this reflection, I became overcome with gratitude for God’s work in my life and that He doesn’t leave us as we are.
This God who rescues came to me at a time when my life was overrun with highly invasive weeds, but thankfully this God of deliverance and restoration has a presence that is much more invasive, and He graciously began to remove each invader, one by one. As I saw these weed infested flower beds, I saw a picture of my life, and I couldn’t help but find myself in a state of worship.
As I worked diligently to clean out each area, I was surprised at the weakness and strength that some of these weeds had. Big, huge, and tall growing weeds caught my attention first. I had my spade in hand, ready to dig if necessary, but to my surprise, a simple pull was usually all that was required to remove these types. It was the low growing weeds, the ones that didn’t draw as much attention, that were the ones that were so difficult to remove. These were the ones that required the use of the spade.
The strongholds in our lives vary from person to person, and we all have them. Our greatest struggles often feel the most painful as God works to remove them from our lives, and yet it’s in these places I have seen God’s greatest acts of grace and love in my life. I’m thankful that God doesn’t stop at the weeds in our lives that are easiest to remove, but instead He digs deep to remove the ones with the strongest roots and then fills those gaping holes up with more of Him.
As I continue to recognize the weeds in my life that God is continuing to show me and remove from me, I will kneel in worship to the One who has not left me as I am but is continuously making me new!
We love words like ‘triumphant’ and ‘victory’. There is a sense of accomplishment surrounding these words, and they result in a particular outcome that we are pleased with (and naturally so). As we embark on a new year, new goals will be set that we hope to accomplish in the months to come. Goals are good and they give us something to aim for, something to strive for, and sometimes we set a goal with the end result in mind without even considering the work that will be required to get us to the finish line.
Likewise in our Christian walk, we love to experience victory and we want to share testimonies of how God is working in our lives. We long for success, but we often forget what the true root of victory and success is, and that is obedience. Jerry Bridges says in his book, The Pursuit of Holiness, “We pray for victory when we know we should be acting in obedience… we do not understand the proper distinction between God’s provision and our own responsibility for holiness” Hebrews 12:14 implores us to make EVERY effort to be holy and therefore, effort means we have a responsibility, and that responsibility is obedience.
We oftentimes prefer words like ’triumph’ or ‘victory’ over a word like ‘obedience’, but at the heart of those things is obedience. If we examine the lives of God’s people throughout scripture, you can see some clear patterns. When did they experience victory? They experienced victory when they were obedient and therefore their victory was a RESULT. When did God’s people experience defeat? They experienced defeat as a RESULT of disobedience.
Friends, nothing has changed! For us to experience true victory today, we must have hearts fully devoted to God and strive for obedience. How different would this upcoming year be if we set our hearts on obedience? How different would this year be if we started working to say “no” to what separates us from God started saying “yes” in our pursuit of being holy? Let’s stop praying for victory when it’s really an act of obedience that is required. May God set our focus on the right things and the right outcome is sure to follow.
We love words like ‘triumphant’ and ‘victory’. There is a sense of accomplishment surrounding these words, and they result in a particular outcome that we are pleased with (and naturally so). As we embark on a new year, new goals will be set that we hope to accomplish in the months to come. Goals are good and they give us something to aim for, something to strive for, and sometimes we set a goal with the end result in mind without even considering the work that will be required to get us to the finish line.
Likewise in our Christian walk, we love to experience victory and we want to share testimonies of how God is working in our lives. We long for success, but we often forget what the true root of victory and success is, and that is obedience. Jerry Bridges says in his book, The Pursuit of Holiness, “We pray for victory when we know we should be acting in obedience… we do not understand the proper distinction between God’s provision and our own responsibility for holiness” Hebrews 12:14 implores us to make EVERY effort to be holy and therefore, effort means we have a responsibility, and that responsibility is obedience.
We oftentimes prefer words like ’triumph’ or ‘victory’ over a word like ‘obedience’, but at the heart of those things is obedience. If we examine the lives of God’s people throughout scripture, you can see some clear patterns. When did they experience victory? They experienced victory when they were obedient and therefore their victory was a RESULT. When did God’s people experience defeat? They experienced defeat as a RESULT of disobedience.
Friends, nothing has changed! For us to experience true victory today, we must have hearts fully devoted to God and strive for obedience. How different would this upcoming year be if we set our hearts on obedience? How different would this year be if we started working to say “no” to what separates us from God started saying “yes” in our pursuit of being holy? Let’s stop praying for victory when it’s really an act of obedience that is required. May God set our focus on the right things and the right outcome is sure to follow.
Highlighting the hope that we have in Christ! 