Feb 28 - Praise Continually

Today's devotion talks about examples of some who go through life encouraging us to be of good cheer. It talks of some who have 'earthly want and suffering and saintly trust and peace." These people are referred to as "human sunflowers"...instantly, I had a vision of sunflowers popping up in my head...those pictured above are a few of my Sunflowers!

Feb 25 - March On

“I will give you every place where you set you foot, as I promised.” Then He set the boundaries of the Land of Promise – all theirs on one condition: they must march across its length and breadth, measuring it off with their OWN feet. Yet, they never marched across more than a third of it and as a consequence never possessed more than a third of the land.

WOW! I absolutely love the way this has been said. How many times are we satisfied with ONE THIRD – I want to claim the WHOLE of the promise – not just a part of it. One of the things I am learning in my suffering is that there is so much MORE to God. I want more of Him and I don’t want to be satisfied with the one third any longer. I want to walk across the wholeness of the promises of my God. He has so much in store for us – and I want to live IT! I think some people refer to this as living victoriously. Count me in on this one.

The JOY that God has given me when I thought all joy was lost is amazing and is enough for me to know that God wants to show and share so much more with me. And it is enough for me to do whatever is necessary to claim the promises. If He wants me to march across the barren waste land – then so be it – and I will do it in JOY. I love how he puts responsibility back on us. I absolutely love that this is something we get to do WITH God.

Feb 21 - Patience

Psalm 46:10 says "Be still and know that I am God..."

Phrases that come to mind about patience are 'Never pray for patience,' and 'Lord, give me patience but please hurry.' We joke about how we do not want to wait. We say things like, 'Oh, I could never do that, I don't have the patience.' But, what we are really doing is excusing our sin. Immediate gratification has become an idol unto us. We are greedy for it. It has made it near impossible to just be still...to just be. For instance, we rarely walk and bike, we drive cars in the fast lane and through the fast food drive thru. We are no longer tethered to our wall by our telephones...we now carry them with us wherever we go. We don't miss a call with call waiting. Even those old, stationary, bulky, box shaped computers are portable. We have text messages, instant messages, myspace, blogs, chats and e-mail. We have express check-in and 10 items or less express checkout and let's not forget next day delivery and '30 minutes or it's free.' We aren't ashamed to say, "I don't have the patience for this." We feel entitled to fume when we have to wait in line. We have forgotten that patience IS a fruit of the Spirit...the Spirit that dwells within us.


I am reminded of these song lyrics by Alabama:
I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why
Don't know why I have to drive so fast
My car has nothing to prove
It's not new
But it'll do zero to sixty in five point two
I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why
Can't be late, I leave in plenty of time
Shakin' hands with the clockI can't stop
I'm on a roll and I'm ready to rock
I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why
Oh, I hear a voiceThat says I'm running behind
Better pick up my pace
It's a race and there ain't no room for someone in second place
I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why


The next time you wait in line, I encourage you to look around at the people. Say a prayer for someone you see. Think about the day...where your loved ones are...pray for them. Pray for our country and its direction. Remember that God chooses our leadership...He places men in power and beg Him to have mercy on who that person is. Pray for the men and women fighting for our freedom...as you stand in line waiting for your fluffy coffee drink or more toilet paper, someone is giving their life or limb for your freedom to do so. Pray for the children in your church, pray for the marriages in your church...the sanctity of marriage and family is attacked in our culture and no one is exempt. And as you get caught up in praying, you may just find that someone behind you impatiently will say, 'Excuse me, it's your turn!' ...you'll apologize. Dare to say, 'Sorry, I was praying.'

Feb 20 - Possibilities

It is importnat to note regarding today's devotion that 1) preceding the
passage in Mt. 17:20 'nothing shall be impossible unto you' are the words 'if
you have faith.' Faith is a requirement for possibilities. It is
also important to note here that 2) Jesus is speaking to his disciples
concerning the use of spiritual gifts (in this case the casting out of a
demon). He is not saying if you name that 'Lexus' as your own and have
faith, you can claim it. The 'name it and claim it' thinking of some
Christians misses this mark. That kind of thinking is being 'of the world'
instead of 'in the world.' When you read the Divine Possibilities as
listed here by H.C.G. Moule, you see that what is in sight far exceeds a 'Lexus'
or any other material gain. It is the treasures of the Spirit that are
possible for us to possess.

My pastor puts it this way,

"Moving a mountain is a hyperbole, and "nothing will be impossible for you" should not be though of as Christians becoming super-heroes or gods themselves. There are damaging effects of those who interpret these
types of sayings in the Bible (John 14:14 "If you ask anything in My name, I
will do it" being another example) as if this means God will respond to our
every whim or every prayer with a glowing affirmative.

All of these promises are in the context of a mission of redemption.
The 'moving of the mountain' and the 'nothing will be impossible' are in the
context of overcoming death and the evil one in the world. The kingdom
of God will prevail and the Christian's labor in the Lord are not in vain (I
Cor 15:58).

The gentle admonition from the lips of Jesus is quickly followed by
words of encouragment regarding the end result of faith which begins as a
flicker and then produces a great refining flame. Mt. 17:21"

That said, I love the Divine Possibilities listed in today's
devotion. My favorite was "It is possible to see the will of God in
everything, and to receive it, not with sighing, but with
singing."

Feb 19 - Being Pruned

"No branch can bear fruit by itself...neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in (Jesus Christ)." John 15:4

Isn't it true that when trials come, they come in numbers? My E-Bug loses her husband while her dad fights cancer, and now her son has a broken leg. My MIL lost her husband, found out she had cancer and then buried her own mother after she finished her own chemo and radiation. Watching and praying for both of these women, I can attest to this: their faith shone through the sequence of trials and they have encouraged those watching them. Either one would surely confirm that the pruning they have endured (or are enduring) is producing much fruit in their lives even in the midst of the suffering.

John 15:6 says that not remaining in Christ is like being a branch picked up and thrown into a fire to be burned. Branches used for fires are dry as a bone! We never want to be dry and withered branches. We must remain in Christ!

February 9th He Answered Her not a Word

As I read today's selection, I want to concentrate on the first and last paragraphs, which speak of the Master's silence. We are not to interpret God's seeming silence or distance as a lack of love toward us. It may be just the oppposite. It may be the Lord trusting us or not having to baby us all the time.
The last sentence says, "...praise Him, for every time He withdraws His gifts that you may better know and love the Giver." I think this is so true. There are so many aspects of sanctification that seem to be the opposite of how we typically think things work, but because God is omniscient, He can handle situations quite differently than we would. Praise be to Him for this!

Feb 3 - Immediately

Just wanted to point out that in Mark 1 -- the word 'immediately' occurs 5 times and 'at once' occurs twice. In reading chapter one...I get the sence of urgency and forward momentum...

I love the phrase in Streams, "Yesterday thou wert soaring far in the firmament, and singing in the radiance of the morn; today they wings are folded and thy song silent." I am often debilitated after great accomplishment. I spend a day or two in bed regenerating after a period of ministry. These quiet days of folded wings are prescious though often there are tears of exasperation. This is when I fall on God's lap and as a child loses restraint, I tell Him how "I can't do anymore." He soothes and comforts and consoles... Then, when I am calmed, He gently pushes me out into the world again, to do more. 'I am not finished with you,' He says. 'You CAN do more.' When I was a little girl, I had a t-shirt that said, 'Be patient with me...God's not finished with me yet.'