Tag: womens devotion

New life after fire

Fire is a horrible awful thing that can be scary and devastating at the time.  We hear about homes, and land being destroyed by fires, and it breaks our hearts to see memories and beautiful full-grown trees being wiped out.  When we hear about it our thoughts are that it just doesn’t seem right that it would happen.  But as time passes things you can see that in the places where the fire has been, there is new green that shows through, and new homes are built, and things look fresh and clean and whole again.  In 1 Peter 1:6-7 CSB “ You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials, so that the proven character of your faith – more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire- may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”. 

We each will face trials and times that just seem like we can’t bare them anymore. Sometimes the heart ache may come from close friends or family members, or from our work.  By understanding that if we have committed everything over to God and we are obeying everything He has given us, we can know that this trial is just a time in our lives that is purifying us and what will grow after this fire, will be fresh new and give new life to  us. 

Just like after a forest fire the ground is full of nutrients and new growth can grow, that’s how our lives can be if we press into the trials that we face and we seek God during those hard times.  He can bring new life from the struggle.  Even though the process of the fire is hard, and may devastate us for a time, God can bring healing and new vibrant ideas, and life from it!

Be encouraged friend, if you are facing a trial or a hard place, because through it all you CAN come through it with victory and become stronger.

Just walk

Over the past few weeks my husband and I, have been trying to make some big decisions in our lives. I’ve prayed and prayed to have direction from God to know what way to go. I have found myself to be so worried that we will make the wrong decision that we just don’t make any decision at all. Last week I was praying and begging God to give us some answers and I felt like God told me that we must just walk. We can’t just stop all together, and just wait for him to show us something. He wants us to continue walking and he will close doors. We as Christians must knock on the door and its his job to open it or leave it closed. The peace that came from knowing that He loves us enough that if we are truly seeking his will that he wont open a door or let us take a path that would be contrary to his will.

In Isaiah 66 we read that the Lord says he will bless those who have humble hearts. In Isaiah 65:24 says “I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!” I find great comfort knowing that if we are walking in his will and seeking his heart that he will not let us go in the wrong direction.

So, this week if your facing decisions and seeking God for direction, know that we must keep walking and that our job is to knock on the door and its his job to open or keep it closed. We must not fight the urge to just sit and wait, but we must keep pressing on. Continue doing what he has called you to do until he gives you your next assignment!

Paid in FULL!

Have you ever had a loan that when you had finally got it paid off, it was like you really didn’t know what to do? You were so excited to not have to give that money to the person you had borrowed it from! It was like a load had been lifted off of you and your family. Or, have you ever driven through the fast food restaurant and the employee at the window said that your bill had been paid by someone else, and you owed nothing? It’s one of the most amazing feelings ever, knowing that you no longer owe on your debt.

Something that excites me more than anything is knowing that I no longer have to pay for the debt of my sin. I know that my sin debt was paid in full and I no longer have to work to pay it off. I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to pay for the bad things I’ve done. I can know live free knowing that my debt has been paid, and I can work and live freely because of the debt that Jesus paid for me on the cross. It is Easter week and much happened this week that we celebrate, the entering of Jesus into Jerusalem, the Last supper that Jesus and his disciples had. The prayer in the garden where Jesus prayed that if there was any other way to pay my debt to let it please happen, but there wasn’t. Jesus had to go to the cross, and pay the price, that I and you could never have paid. We could work all our lives yet, we would still never be able to pay the debt off. The freedom that coming to Christ brings far out weights the freedom we feel when we pay a money debt off.

So often after we pay off a debt, such as a car or small loan, we decide to turn around and put ourselves back into that bondage of another debt. Sometimes we as Christians also do this. We know that Jesus paid our debt yet we work, and work, and work, at trying to do everything ourselves. We try to carry all our own burdens and not take them to the cross, and lay them down so that Jesus can do what He is good at, paying debt!

This week as we celebrate Jesus death and resurrection, mediate on your life, are you trying to pay the debt that has already been paid? Or, are you living a FREE life that Jesus wants and longs for you to live? Romans 5:8