In Awe

"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.” Deuteronomy 13:4 NAS

When we think of fear often we picture a state of panic and uncertainty but this is not the fear Moses speaks of here in Deuteronomy. He speaks of standing in awe of the Almighty God. He speaks of being revere before the Almighty God knowing that God alone is to be worshipped. He speaks of being revere knowing that Almighty God is the one and only true God. In knowing these truths of God, how could one NOT desire to keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him and cling (hold fast) to Him?

Jesus tells us that we are to abide in Him (cling to Him) so that we might bear much fruit. (John 15)

Almighty God today we choose to fear you, follow your commandants, listen to your voice and obey. We thank You that You have provided the True Vine for us. As He clings to You so we cling to Jesus. We pray that we may bear much fruit bringing glory to our Almighty God.
Fear=revere, stand in awe of
Cling=hold fast to

Lj 02262013

Nevertheless

Having delivered the words I felt God had given me for the group, my head now resting on my pillow, images dancing in my mind – there it was! God’s reminder to me, simply these words “let down the net.”
Let me back up for a moment and explain.  My words spoken were to encourage us to pray detailed prayer from our heart.  Giving an example of how I personally have seen God answer prayers to the detail in which they were prayed.  To see the results of the particular answered prayer I spoke of, I first had to believe the words God had spoken to me.  Not only believe the words but deliver them as He asked.  Having done as asked then I could (and did) enter my prayer closet asking God to bring His word to past, asking in a manner that only God could answer.

As the words “let down the net” danced through my mind, it was as if Jesus was saying that like Peter, I had let down the net and He had given the catch.  Years ago, the answered prayer, came after not understanding why God would ask me to deliver such words to a lady I truly knew very little about.  Still as Peter said “nevertheless at your word, I will let down the net.”

What is God asking you to do today?  Perhaps He is asking you to be a witness of His amazing saving grace…  Perhaps He is asking you to show compassion to someone… Or maybe He is saying to you, just as He told Peter; “let down your net, trust in Me and see the catch (results)”

"When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink."  Luke 5:4-8 NKJV

LJ 02192013

The Path

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do. Avoid all perverse talk; stay far from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe. Don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil."  Proverbs 4:20-27 (NLT)

What lies before you?  Are your eyes fixed on the goal or on yesterday's failures?  Have you marked out (set) a straight path for your journey?  Life doesn't always come at us as we would like.  There are always little stones or even pebbles that can cause us to stumble but still we must travel forward in our journey.

As I type this, thoughts from years past flood my senses.  The trip was all planned!  How I was looking forward to travelling with a friend.  We would make our journey to Cleveland, TN.  There we would attend classes to become Commission Chaplains through the Church of God.  Who would have ever guessed that same day a pebble would change all those plans?  One hurried wrong step, one small accident can change the timing and perhaps even a location in your journey but it does not have to change the destination of your dream.  One small pebble, one wrong hurried step brought me a broken hip and lots of down time to think about the path I had chosen.  

Today, I still haven't reached my final destination.  Why you ask?  My final destination is to become all God has created me to be.  There are milestones God has allowed me to reach but the climb isn't over yet.  So I have fixed my eyes on what lies ahead, (the big picture) spending eternity with the love of my life, Jesus Christ.  As my eyes stay fixed on the destination, He sees me through each step  of this earthly journey be they hurried or slow.

Oh by the way, I did accomplish the dream I mentioned.  He has allowed me to accomplish not only that one but many others He had planned for me.

This and another encouraging devotions can be read at Spiritual Sundays 
Playdates With God
The Weekend Brew