Tag: weekly inspirtion

Thirst has no chance here

As I was writing this devotional, I had struggled with how to start, or what exactly God wanted you, the reader, to get from the scriptures He had given me.  Between talking to my 3-year-old about his fishing skills, and writing, I looked down at my McDonalds cup and on the lid, it said, “Thirst here has no chance”.  This was what I needed to see what exactly God wanted me to get from the scriptures. 

John 2:1-11, tells us about Jesus’s first miracle of his ministry.  Jesus is at the wedding feast and while he was there, he quenched two types of thirst.  The first was the human thirst.  They were out of the wine and Jesus knew that this would embarrass the bride and groom if they had no more wine to serve their guests.  The second thirst that was addressed, was the thirst of the disciples, and their desire to know Jesus more.  The disciples believed in Jesus, but up to this point they had only heard him teach and had fellowshipped with him.  The disciples were just as human as we are and I’m sure in their hearts there was some questions on what exactly the man Jesus was going to do that was different than John the Baptist.  When Jesus turned the water into wine, this miracle was more for the disciples than for anyone else.  From the scriptures we don’t ever see where it was announced that the wine had come from a miracle.  We just read that the disciples, Mary, and the servants were the only ones who knew where it had come from.  Jesus wanted to help strengthen the belief and deepen the commitment of his disciples.

Today, if you thirst for more, know, that thirst has no chance when we go to God and ask for more.  He is willing and waiting to give us more and deepen our commitment and relationship with him.  He tells us in scripture to ask for more wisdom, strength, love, faith and the list goes on and on.  Just as the top of my cup stated thirst here (at Jesus feet) has no chance, if we just will accept and seek God and the Holy Spirit!

God has plans for YOU!

As I’m approaching my last two, 8-week classes to finish my bachelor’s degree, I’m anxious and excited all combined.  Excited to have some time back to put into other things, and anxious about finding a job that I can use my degree with.  I’ve applied and looked for jobs and yet nothing happens.  I’ve been praying about it, and thinking when it is going to happen, and a few days ago I felt God tell me, its not your time, be patient.  I was once again reminded of this when I saw something that said, “Gods got a plan for you”.  It hit me hard that day I read it.  I’m like everyone else I guess, we have heard that, told other people that, yet its sometimes hard to really believe or take in.  That day though when I read it, I knew in my heart that it was true! God does have a plan for each of us.  His plan is much greater and bigger than we could ever dream about. 

There are many scriptures that tell us about Gods plan for our lives.  Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”  Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”.  These are just a few of the promises of God in the Bible that tells us that God has a plan for us. 

Will we still be anxious at times and wonder why Gods plan doesn’t look like ours? Of course! I know that I’ll fall back into the sin of worry at times, but I’ll also be able to look back at that day that God showed me in my heart that he has a plan for me!  It can be the same for you! You can know that God has a plan just for you that he’s working out, and you can take the scriptures and read them and when you do become anxious or worry you can turn back to those scriptures and have a promise to hold onto!

Palm Sunday

As Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, on what we now call Palm Sunday, the people were shouting His praises. They were calling Him their King. They laid down robes and palm leaves onto the ground for His young donkey to walk on. The Jewish people were looking for a mighty earthly king to deliver them from the Roman Empire that suppressed them. They thought Jesus was that King and they were shouting His praise.

But, that’s not the kind of king that Jesus was. Jesus showed up differently than they had imagined. Very often Jesus shows up in a different way then what we had planned and we become disappointed. We have it all planned out how Jesus should show up in our lives and when he doesn’t, its hard for us to understand. We think he needs to come in a big miracle, or flashing lights, but maybe, he’s going to show up in a small voice, a word from a friend or in a quiet moment alone with him. We must look for Jesus in the small things and in the quiet moments. As we celebrate Palm Sunday remember that Jesus doesn’t always show up like we think or want him to, but he will show up!

Matthew 21:6-11 The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt and he sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession and the people all around him were shouting.

“Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!”

The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked. And the crowds replied, “its Jesus, the prophet form Nazareth in Galilee”.

A root or vase Christian?

Recently I was given a long stem red rose. It was beautiful and healthy looking. It had one of those neat little things on the end of the stem that held water so that the rose would have water to stay looking healthy on it. By the time I returned home to be able to place the rose in a vase of water, it had used all of its available water and was starting to hang it’s head from the lack of water. I carefully removed the water valve, and place the rose into the vase full of water. Over the next few hours the rose started to bring its head up and look beautiful and healthy again. About four days later my middle son was sitting eating his breakfast and he commented, mom your rose is dying. I replied yes, it is. Of course he wanted to know why was it dying when it was still had plenty of water to pull from. I explained to him that since the rose did not have roots anymore that were pulling nutrients from the soil that it would eventually die. That’s when God spoke to me. He showed me in that rose that we can keep get those vases of water that help bring our weary heads up when we are spiritually drained but its roots in Him that will keep us alive.

We have all been guilty of going from one event to another looking for that vase of water. Sunday morning service, to Sunday morning service, revival to retreats. You know what I’m talking about and the time in between we don’t really do anything we start to droop. We neglect our bible reading, our prayer time, and we stop being intentional to share Gods love with others. We become vase Christians.

What does it look like to get those roots dug in and not just be a vase Christian? It looks like each day finding time to not only read Gods word, but to meditate on it and ask God how it applies to your life. It looks like praying and then being silent while you wait for God to speak to you. Many times we get in such a hurry to just give our burdens to God that we forget that maybe he has an answer to our burdens but we don’t hush long enough to hear it. Being a Christian with roots also means looking for ways that you can show Gods love to those around us. Something as simple as a smile to the mother of a wild toddler in the store can go a long way. God wants us to become root Christians and not just a vase Christian.

Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

I was born this way!

“I was born this way”, “its in my genes”, how many times have we heard this from someone? It could be after they were extremely angry, or while they were in the midst of worrying. We all at some point have blamed our behavior on our history. Our blood, or our genealogy. Anger, worry, addiction, laziness, feeling your better than others, or even selfishness are all characteristic that people refuse to take responsibility for in their lives. In Matthew 1:1-17 we read a list of individuals that had many of these same characteristics. Abraham was a worrier. He worried that he would never have the son God had promised him. Abraham felt that God was running behind on that promise. Abraham worried that God had forgotten him. We see in this list of names Jacob. Jacob saw his brother, his twin brother, no less in a frail and venerable state and took advantage of him. Jacob took the opportunity when his brother felt like he was about to die of hunger to make him promise his first-born status to him. Jacob was sneaky and a liar. He covered himself in the fur of goats and went to his father to get his brothers blessings before his father Issacs died. Jacob lied to his own father. Rahab, the prostitute. She was known in the city as someone that had more than her share of visitors. She was well known for being a woman of many men. King David committed idolatry with one of his friend’s wives and then arranged for his friend to be killed so that he could cover it up.

We can look at our own ancestry and find people that fall into these same categories or something similar. We all have something in our family closet we don’t want reviled, but does that determine who we are? Does our last name or our genealogy or family status get to decide who we are as an individual? The list of men and women that we just looked at seems like an overwhelming list of people that made wrong choices and had bad habits, yet, this is the family tree of the Son of God, Jesus. The perfect one had ancestors that were far from perfect. There can be a break in the cures of generations. We have the choice no matter what you may have done in the past or what awful genes your parents handed down to you can break the generational curse. It takes determination and seeking Gods will for our lives to do it, but it can be done. Its not an over night thing for us. We may have to find an accountability partner that can help keep us grounded in Gods word and prayer. It may mean asking forgiveness from our families for the anger, and short temper we have had with them, but it is worth it. Sometimes it even means finding new friends who have went through the same braking of bonds that we are going through and gaining advice from them. There are many different opportunities to break that generational curse, but the biggest one is recognizing that it can be done

Decisions, decisions

We face decisions every day of our lives. Some decisions are unconscious decisions, things like taking the same route home each day or having the same routine each evening preparing for bed. There are other decisions that we make that are conscious and can have bigger effect on our lives. These decisions can change the whole course of your life. In Joel 3:14 he says, “Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision”. I envision large mountains reaching towards the sky on all four sides. The mountains are rocky and rugged, and there is snow on the peaks of the mountains. At the base of these mountains are the green grasses of the valley. It stretches for miles and miles. Within this valley are people everywhere waiting, some may be looking up at the mountain, others may be resting on the floor of the valley but they all have one thing in common they are waiting. The are waiting there to make decisions. Decisions that will affect them, their families, and those around them for the rest of their lives.

The decision they are waiting to make could be to confess their sins and live for Christ, or to continue their own way. The decision could be to step out in faith on what God has called us to do or to reconcile relationships with people we have become estranged to. Our decision could be giving our marriage one more try, turning from an addiction that has controlled our lives for so very long, or to strive to be a better parent. Whatever your decision, if we step out and choose Gods way Joel tells of the great blessing we will have! Those same mountains that seem so tall and luminous while were in the valley will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, water will fill our empty streambeds, fountains will burst forth and water the valleys! Our ministries will over flow so that they drip on all who are around us, our marriages will be restored and made strong, our God given dreams will be fulfilled, and our friendships will flourish. We will be so filled with the spirit that we will splash Gods love on anyone we meet. He has promised that if we choose to follow him he WILL bless us! But, if we choose not to we will be like Egypt and Edom, a wasteland, a wilderness, attacked and killed. I choose to become blessed not cursed! I chose to make the conscious decision to follow Christ each day until it becomes an unconscious habit. What do you choose today? Joel 3:14-19

Rest

Rest is one of the hardest things for me to do. Even if my body is not in motion, my mind is constantly moving. I find it hard to sit and enjoy a time of rest because, I’m always thinking of the next thing. During vacation, I’m thinking about planning the next one. Raise your hand if you understand what I’m talking about. Now some of you are more like my husband I’m sure, who’s mind can turn off and you’re able to enjoy the moment of rest, there are times I wish I could do this, (just to be honest).

We see in scripture that God calls us to rest. Matthew 11:28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly”(msg). He understood that some of us just wear ourselves down and are always trying to be a step ahead of a situation to the point we are tired. Jesus says to STOP, and spend time with Him, and He will give us the rest we are desiring. What’s interesting is the next part of the verse. He says hey, here’s an idea, why don’t you partner with me in all your busyness, and walk beside Me, and let Me carry part of that load. So, when it comes time to rest, you are not so weary. When we partner with Jesus and lean into Him, He will give us a refreshing rest that we never could imagine. It will free us, to do things we never thought we would have the energy to do. But, we must choose to become joint with Him and let Him choose what load to give us and we not try to pick up what He hasn’t called us to carry.

I love this translation how it says that He won’t’ lay anything on us that’s heavy or ill fitting! Wow. If we truly long for rest in our lives, we won’t say “yes” to just anything. We will seek His guidance in what He wants us to do. We so often say yes because we feel that there is no one else who will, or can do a task, and yet, it doesn’t really fit us. We then find ourselves tired and worn out because we have chosen our own burden. This week lets evaluate our lives, and what our burden is, and ask God to show us what things He has given us and which ones we have put on ourselves. Then we must choose to accept the rest that we all need and that He wants for us!

Leaning Is a choice

The young man leans into the young girl to plant a kiss on her cheek. The angry wife leans into her husband to let him know just how she feels. A child leans into their parent to find comfort. We lean into a heavy object to watch it move. Leaning is a conscious act of movement that a person must do. When we lean into to something we not only choose to do so, but we expect a response in return.

Just like the young man when he leans towards the young girl, she responds by unconsciously leaning back towards him. It’s a natural instinct to respond this way. When the child that is suffering because of hurt leans into their parent, the parent leans down, and comforts the child. Just like our heavenly Father will. Jesus’ wants and desires us to lean into Him. He wants our first reaction when we have anger, hurt, love and so many more emotions, to lean into His arms that are always stretched out for us. Just like our natural instinct is to lean in response to those who lean into us, so is Jesus’ He will respond by leaning down and holding us in the place that we are at. We don’t have to feel we can only bring certain things to Jesus, He wants us to bring it all to Him.

It’s so easy when things happen in our lives to turn to our friends and family, and find comfort, or encouragement from them, but we must first learn to lean into or best friend, Jesus. This past week I’ve learned that its not easy, or natural, for me to automatically go to My Savior each time. The song that keeps coming to mind by John Stallings says, “learning to lean, learning to lean, I’m learning to lean on Jesus. Finding more power than I ever dreamed. I’m learning to lean on Jesus”.

That’s the awesome thing with Jesus, as we practice daily leaning on Him, He gives us the strength each day to get through things we never thought possible, touch lives for Him that no one else could have ever touched. It’s through that practice of leaning on Jesus that we can see mountains moved, and souls saved! Just like when we lean into a heavy object we expect movement, we can also expect movement from Jesus when we lean into Him. This week, when things seem to flood into your life, stop, and cry out to Jesus and lean into Him through prayer and reading our Bible and I Promise that he will lean back into you and you will see movement in the situation. Just like the parent that gets down on their knees to comfort the child, that will be Jesus. He will lean into our lives amongst all the mess, and heartache, and joy, and He will comfort, clean us up, and rejoice with us. Our only job is to LEAN.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 40:1 I put all my hope in the Lord. He leaned down to me; He listened to my cry for help (CSB).