Can't Live in Crumbs of Rumors

"I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand-from my own eyes and ears! I'm sorry-forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise! I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor."  Job 42:5-6

These are the words that Job speaks after God has given him the what for. Job and his friends were busy spewing what they thought God did and did not do. They used their reason, experience, and even what others had said about God to explain what had happened to Job.

God let them talk. He let them posture and preach to each other about why and how God punishes those who have sinned. Job kept focusing on his own righteousness. God let them talk and then He stepped in. He spoke directly to Job and let him know who He was.

I love Job's response, because I know I can relate and I bet many others can too. How often have I listen to others tell me who God is, how God works, and what He does or does not do. I can honestly say that I have spend more time listening, and believing the crumbs of rumors or crusts of hearsay about God, than I have listened directly from Him. I want to see and hear God for myself. I don't want to just hear about Him. I want to hear Him. I don't just want to just see Him through others. I want to see Him.

I never thought I'd ever say that I wanted to be like Job, but maybe I want to be like him at little bit.

Forget About It

This is from December 29, 2012 and the last "old" devotion. :)

“He concludes, I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins. Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.” Hebrews 10:17-18

As 2012 is winding down we tend to remember what has happened over the last year. Some of these memories are good and some are bad. The good ones bring smiles to our faces and we want to dwell on them. Unfortunately, the bad ones tend to be the ones that stick with us though.

We dwell on these poor choices, mistakes, sins. Yet, He had told us that once we seek forgiveness, He forgives and He forgets. Isaiah 43:25 tells us so. That is a wonderful promise and we should take hold of it. We should but we have trouble forgetting.

We not only dwell on them we try to think of ways to make things right, to make ourselves pleasing to God. We offer up prayers seeking forgiveness, which He already gave. We offer up compromises and sacrifices hoping to win forgiveness and forgetfulness, once again He already forgave and He has forgotten. Not only has He forgotten, He told us that there is no reason to offer sacrifices, to try to fix it, to try to make up for it.

So, as 2012 turns into 2013 when you think back and those mistakes come to mind, don’t try to make up for them, but rather learn from them and thank Him that He has forgiven and forgotten them.

Steadfast

This is from December 21, 2012.

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12

This is a hard one. No one will ever tell you that this is easy. When we go through a trial it is hard to focus on promises like this one. Instead we feel like God has left us, abandoned us, forgotten us. We don’t seem to hear His voice. We don’t see His hand at work. All we see, hear, and feel is the trial that we are going through.

Even as I was writing this I was reminded that someone else felt the exact same way. He felt abandoned. He felt like God had left. “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46. Jesus endured the ultimate trial. He truly was separated from God when He died on the cross. Yet, He did not stay separated from God. He rose again.

As we go through our trial, we need to remember that He is with us. He wants us to remain steadfast. He wants to give us the crown of life. Why, because He loves us. Does it make the trial easier knowing this? Probably not, but it does give us hope that we can remain steadfast and He does reward those that love Him.

Whales of the Sea

This is a new devotion.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, not about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" Matthew 6: 24-34

The other day I saw on the news that there were a large number of killer whales who were trapped in this small opening in the ice off the coast of Alaska. They came into the area and the water froze around them. They had to jump up into the air through this small opening to get air. Whales are mammals so they need to breathe air by coming up. They showed whales leaping out of the water, four or five at a time. Can you imagine the fear those whales were feeling?

The people of the nearby town wanted ice breaking equipment send there to break the ice and free the whales. Alaska was sending the equipment and it was scheduled to arrive and start breaking up the ice. The news today reported that an unexpected warm current came along and warmed up the water enough to break up the ice and free the whales. The newscaster credited "Mother Nature" with saving those whales. I, however, know that God was the one who sent that unexpected warm current.

See, just like the birds of the air and the whales of the sea, God takes care of us. We feel the fear of being trapped. We don't see any way out. We keep trying to leap up and catch our breath. But we are trapped. We are hopeless. Time is running out. We even come up with a plan to get ourselves out and He steps in an sends us an unexpected solution.

It is hard not to be anxious. It is hard to trust. It is painful and scary. But if the whales of the sea are valued enough by God to set them free of an ice trap, then we can be assured that He loves us even more. How do we know? Because His Word says so.

Open My Eyes to Wisdom

This is from December 18, 2012.

“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:21

“Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.” Proverbs 3:7

The last few days I have experienced people voicing reason that seemed to defy rational thought as well as some voices defying the Word of God. Other people nod their heads and agree with them, making them feel that their words are even more right than they even thought before they said them. The thought of “they are wise in their own eyes” kept coming to me. Now, I included two verses related to this but the Word, especially Proverbs, is full of verses just like this.

Last night part of my prayer time included asking God that if I fall into that category that He would reveal it to me. I prayed that my eyes would be open to the Truth. That I would focus on Him and His Word and not my own foolish ideas or thoughts.

We all have times when we are the foolish ones. If we didn’t then we would be perfect and already attained being completely like Christ. We are still very much a work in progress.

The best part is that He has told us how to avoid being fools. We need to fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This fear is not about being terrified of God. It is about reverence for the Lord. If we have reverence for Him then we will look to Him, listen to Him, and honor Him by obeying Him. If we do that we can turn from evil as well.

This is, honestly, easier said than done. We spend a whole lot of time with our own thoughts and we listen to them. We have to allow the Holy Spirit free reign to convict us of our thoughts and words that are wise in our own eyes. The good news is that He will and we can people who speak the Wisdom of the Lord.

How to Get Life, Abundant Life

This is from December 8, 2012. Almost done adding past devotions. :)

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

Satan comes into our lives for one reason and one reason only. He comes to destroy our relationship with God. Sometimes He tries to destroy it even before we have come to have a relationship with Him. Sometimes that doesn't work and we are saved by Christ and then he tries to separate us from Him.

He will use any and all tricks in the book to either steal our relationship with God. Or kill our relationship with God. Or destroy our relationship with God. He will use fear, anxiety, loss, torture, shame, abuse, and on and on.

When he does we have a choice. We can let fear bind us up or we can come to Jesus. We can let anxiety make us question everything and do nothing or we can come to Jesus. We can let loss eat away at us and cause bitterness or we can come to Jesus. We can let torture turn us into those who seek revenge or we can come to Jesus. We can let shame make us hide ourselves or we can come to Jesus. We can let abuse make us believe we deserve it or we can come to Jesus.

We often have no choice over what happens to us, but we have a choice to stop the thief from taking from us the one thing that we desperately need. We can choose to come to Jesus and let Him have all of it. See He already took all of it upon Himself anyway. He took it at the cross. See He’s seen that and done that and defeated that already. When we bring it all, and I mean it all to Jesus, we have that life and have it abundantly that He talks about in John 10:10.

I have always wondered “how do I really get that?” I think He’s told me. I have to give Him every stolen, dead, and destroyed thing that Satan has messed with and He will take it. If He takes, and He will, then what am I left with? Life and it is abundant!

For Dear Life

This is from December 6, 2012.

"If you'll hold on to Me for dear life," says God. "I'll get you out of any trouble. I'll give you the best of care if you'll only get to know and trust Me. Call Me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; I'll rescue you, then throw you a party. I'll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!" Psalm 91:14-16

When I am feeling stressed, out-of-sorts, and sad the last thing I want to do is open up the Word. I don't want to read verses about praising God when I'm feeling like anything but praising Him. I certainly don't want to read verses that tell me what I should be doing. I want to wallow in my feelings.

But this verse gives me a great reason to turn to Him. No, not just turn to Him, but hold onto Him for dear life! He will get me out of any trouble. Now, it may not be quick and it may not be the way that I expect, but He will. He promised, and one thing God can't do is go back on His promises.

He also promises to give me the best care, not just good care, but the best care. All I have to do is trust Him. Yeah, I know, all I have to do is trust, like it's so easy to do. It's not, but it is possible, and if I do then I am sure of the best care possible.

There is so much in these verses. I could go on and on about it, but I guess my favorite part is He will throw me a party. Maybe there won't be balloons and streamers, but it will be a party that only the King of Kings can throw.

So when feeling like you can't hold on any longer, hold on to Him.

How's Your Fruit

This is from December 4, 2012. The funny thing is this idea has been going through my mind today. God knows exactly what is needed and when!

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch can not bare fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” John 15:4

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the phrase “ye shall know them by their fruit…” Matthew 7:16. Jesus is talking about false teachers, but it applies to me too. I want others to see good fruit in my life. If they see good fruit in me then they will see Jesus. I think that is one of the most important things a Christian can do, be an example of Christ to others.

So how do I know if others are seeing that good fruit? John 15:4 tells us how. We must abide in Him. Abide has multiple meanings, and some of them are really good. I think the best fit is a mix of some I found on Dictionary.com “to remain, continue, stay, dwell, reside, to continue in a particular relationship”.

I especially like the last part. If I want to see good fruit in my life, if I want others to see it I need to continue in my relationship with God. I need to spend time with Him. I need to abide in Him.

Then there is that tiny part of the verse that I really love, “…and I in you”. He is a constant relationship with me. He dwells in. He is remains with me no matter where I go and what I go through. I love that!

A God at Hand

This is from December 2, 2012.

“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away?” Jeremiah 23:23

This was my Bible verse today on my Bible app. I found it to be a perfect verse.

I am guilty of believing that He is a God far away. There are more times that I think He isn’t near, that He doesn’t see or hear, than there are times that I believe He is close by. There are times that I cry and weep thinking He has forgotten me. There are times when I am angry with Him and I yell at Him. Yup, I yell at God. I think I am a pretty calm person, rational most of the time, but I can become an emotional mess when my heart is hurting and I feel He is far away.

There are many promises in His Word, many verses that tell us what He does and who He is. This one says exactly what I need to hear in those crazed, tantrum moments. He is a God at hand. He is a God who sees what is happening because He is with me. He is a God who hears because He is right there. This makes me smile. This gives me hope. He is a God at hand!

On Second Thought

This is from November 28, 2012.

"Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love." Ephesians 4:2

Yesterday I was at Wal-Mart and rolled my cart up to the check out. I noticed that the cashier and the customer in front of me didn’t say much. Letting it slide I started putting my groceries on the belt. I didn’t have much and I was thinking about how much I just wanted to get home. The other customer left and it was my turn. I was still putting items on the belt and I heard the cashier start to ring my stuff up.

“What no ‘hello’?” I thought! I mean this is the South where cashiers talk to customers like they are old friends. I was tempted to be annoyed that this Wal-Mart cashier’s silence. Then I looked at her. She looked exhausted. She was an older woman and she leaned on the counter as if her feet were killing her.

I decided to put on my best smile and try to be as cheerful and pleasant as I could be. I felt she needed a kind customer much more than I needed a cashier who said “hello”. There still wasn’t much conversation, this Northern still finds it hard to start conversations with total strangers, but I smiled and spoke kindly to her at the end of the interaction.

I needed a reminder to be patient with others and to not focus on their faults, but rather to be gentle and loving towards them.

Be Careful of Weeds

This is from November 24, 2012.

“One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones, and then passed the vineyard of a lout; They were overgrown with weeds, thick with thistles, all the fences broken down. I took a long look and pondered what I saw; the fields preached me a sermon and I listened: “A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, with poverty as your permanent houseguest!” Proverbs 24:30-34

Today I was working in the yard. I planted some tulips and pulling some weeds. I pulled a weed and found it was thorny and a vine. I was glad for my gloves, even though a few thorns got me through them. Then I realized there were lots of them and many were intertwined with some of the plants. I had to get out clippers for the more mature ones that were thick and too hard to just pull out. As I continued to work I realized that they were every where. What should be a nice flowering shrub was almost completely over taken by this weed. I had to pull, tug, cut, and untwine this nasty weed.

Then I felt God speaking to me. He showed me that I am like the shrub. I let harmless little weeds get around my base and then let them grow up with my branches. Before I know it they are wrapping themselves around me. Then I notice the pain of their thorns digging into my branches and their leaves growing up and covering mine. I start to change and instead of looking like a pretty flowering shrub I become a mass of vines.

Then I need the Master Gardener to come and remove the vines. He pulls, tugs, cuts, and untwines. Oh, it hurts! I get my branches pulled out of their place. I see the clippers coming so close to me that I think I'm going to get cut. But then I start to realize that my branches don't hurt anymore. There are no thorns digging into me and no vine intertwined with me. I am free.

How did those thorny vines get wrapped around me in the first place? I let them! Yup, I let those seemingly harmless things into my life. I thought how can it hurt me, it's just a little thing. I can look back over my life and see some of those vines. Thankfully, God has removed them. But I need to ask Him to examine my heart and reveal the vines that are there now. Then I need to let him pull, tug, cut, and untwine those things from my life. Most importantly I need to ask Him to open my eyes to see them little "harmless" weeds for what they are and not allow them to become a part of me. Thankfully, He is the Master Gardener and is always ready to weed to keep His creation beautiful.

He Knows What I Need

This is from November 20, 2012.

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him.” Nahum 1:7

Today I received an email from a friend that I haven’t seen or talked to in quite a few months. She said she was praying for me. I really needed just to get a brief email from her today.

A few minutes ago a friend, who I also haven’t seen in a few months, posted on my Facebook page and simply said that she missed me. I really needed that today as well.

Sometimes it is hard to put into words the day of trouble you are going through. Sometimes it isn’t obvious to anyone else because it isn’t an external trouble, it’s a heart trouble. Sometimes you can’t even put into words for yourself what your day of trouble is.

Even then, God is good and He knows you. He knows that you take refuge in Him. He knows that you need an email, a Facebook post, a card, a call, a hug.

He knows you, take comfort in that and take your refuge in Him.

Soul Uplifter

This is from November 16, 2012.

“When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you…” Psalms 42:6a

We all have moments when our souls are in the dumps. There are the moments when the pain seems unbearable. There are the moments when the world seems to be out to get us. There are moments when it feels like everything good has been stripped away and we are left raw. There are moments of injustice that we can’t understand. There are moments of death; death of dreams; death of relationships; physical death. There seem to be many moments that cause our souls to be in the dumps.

In those moments, David, wrote that he rehearses everything he knows of God. That seems like the most foreign idea to our hurting souls. The last thing our pain wants to do is focus on the goodness of God, the character of God, the love of God. Yet that is exactly what David did and exactly what we need to do.

So the next time that your souls is in the dumps trying remembering all that He is and see what it does for your soul.

Be Still and Know

This is from November 10, 2012

“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

I have to admit this is one verse that I need to be reminded of more than almost any other one.

There are some many areas in ours lives where our minds start whirling out of control with anxious thoughts, what-ifs, plans, and fears. I have heard that women’s brains work sort of like a web. Everything is connected. That means if we start thinking about one area of our lives it makes us think about another area and then another area and so on. That means that we can quickly go from just fine to stressed thoughts. I know this verse is for everyone, male and female, but I think it is one that women need to hold onto a little bit more.

A couple of days ago I was on a spiritual high and by the next day I felt like I crashed. Nothing happened to me, but I felt worn out and emotional. I felt like I had nothing to give. Not a great feeling! My mind started to focus on the unknown and that led to thinking about things I couldn’t control and that that led to feeling useless. All of this happened in just one day.

Then I saw this verse and I knew exactly what I needed to do. I need to be still and know that He is God. My spiritual high was because of Him. The unknown is in His hands. The things I can’t control are in His hands. All of me is in His hands. He uses me as I need to be used.

Therefore, I can be still and know that He is God.

A Time for Everything

This is from November 7, 2012.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

What better place to see that these verses are true than your news feed on Facebook. Some posts I have seen recently have been from those who are weeping over the loss of a loved one. Other posts have been ones of thanksgiving over a new opportunity. Some posts are ones where people finally speak something that needs to be sad, and some are ones that show that the poster is seeking something from God.

This week I saw a post from a friend who was mourning the death of a teenage neighbor who had lost her battle with disease. It was obvious that she was dealing with the hurt of loss. Honestly, I never know exactly what to do when I see posts about loss. It feels like whatever words I can type as a comment are not enough. I certainly don’t want to comment with anything trite.

Then I start to feel badly about wanting to post something good. I don’t want to focus on my good news or Scripture that shows joy or thankfulness when my friend is hurting. But I need to remember that we all go through different seasons at different times. It is important that we remember this and consider the other person and what season they are in. It is also important to realize that it is okay for you to be in a season of dancing while another is in a season of weeping. Don’t ignore your season. Don’t think that you can’t be in your season while others are in a different season. God knows what season we are in and He has us in at just the right moment for us.

Holy Spirit Words

This is from November 5, 2012.

"Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit." Mark 13:11

Today I headed for the track outside of school to start walking. Usually when I go out to walk I am with my walking peeps, but today I was the first one out there. I started walking and praying about what I should write about. I prayed for just the right words. I don’t want to just write something just for the sake of writing. I know that I probably won’t write something everyday, so when nothing came to mind I figured today was a pass. Then I got home and started reading Facebook and the verse above jumped out at me. How’s that for God answering prays!

Sometimes when we are facing an unfamiliar or uncomfortable situation we plan out what we are going to say. We rehearse what we will say, sometimes having way more bravado then we really have. We even practice what the other person will say.

It doesn’t even have to be a bad situation that we plan for. Sometimes we will speak to others and are nervous about it. We plan for those situations. We think it is okay since these are good situations. We think it is okay since there is nothing wrong with being prepared, right? But sometimes there is something wrong with it.

God doesn’t want us to do that. He doesn’t want us to rehearse or prepare for the difficult conversations or even the positive ones. He wants to give us just the right words at just the right time. The Holy Spirit wants us to exercise our faith in Him and let Him give us the right words at the right time. We need to be obedient to Him and stop trying to think and plan it out, and just trust that His words are the right ones.

Today, He reminded me that these devotions aren’t about my thoughts or ideas or words, there about His!