Good Morning Seeking, Praying, Listening, Receiving, Processing, Repenting, Forgiven, Trusting, Joyful, Lighthouses! Start there talking to God about this truthful about you salutation. If it's not you yet, it can be if you pursue these healthy things from God. We all need someone to process with as well. So seek God for who and courage to do so. If you struggle with how to pray or with how poor of a pray-er you think you are, check at the Harvest Prayer blog below. Check out our other devos as you spend time with God and reach out to a trusted friend to process. God really loves you and wants to hang with you, share His heart with you and is preparing you for some great things today. Rejoice as you dwell in His presence. Watch for Him working around you all day and plan to join Him. Shalom!
Bread Distribution today from 10-12 and Dinner Huddle 6-7:30 for all ages! Come and see and experience love and fellowship! Bring a friend too!
UR: Guiding Light
You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. - Matthew 5:14 (NRSVUE)
Traveling on a ship at night gave me a new appreciation for the power of light. The lights on the ship shone brightly, but the open sea was dark and scary. I could not see anything, but I imagined the vast body of water. It made me feel helpless.
But then in the early morning, as we neared the port, we could see the light from a lighthouse on a hill. Through the darkness, the light in the distance guided our ship toward the port. That beacon made my heart leap with joy and gave me a sense of comfort.
Like a lighthouse in the dark, Christians can show God’s light to weary souls through our actions. Kindness allows people to experience the goodness of the love and life of our Savior Jesus Christ. When people are lost in the open sea of life’s struggles, the light of Christ shines bright. Many are weary, longing for rest and comfort. We can be a beacon for them, guiding them to find comfort in God.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Dear Jesus, help us to keep our lights shining amid the challenges we face so that we may help others find their way. Amen.ODB:
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A woman rescued Rudy from the animal shelter days before he was to be euthanized, and the dog became her companion. For ten years, Rudy slept calmly beside Linda’s bed, but then he abruptly began to jump next to her and lick her face. Linda scolded him, but every night, Rudy repeated the behavior. “Soon he was jumping on my lap to lick my face every time I sat down,” Linda said.
As she was planning to take Rudy to obedience school, she began to consider how insistent Rudy was and how he always licked her in the same spot on her jaw. Sheepishly, Linda went to a doctor who found a microscopic tumor (bone cancer). The doctor told Linda that if she’d waited longer, it probably would’ve killed her. Linda had trusted Rudy’s instincts, and she was happy she did.
The Scriptures tell us repeatedly that trusting God leads to life and joy. “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,” the psalmist says (40:4). Some translations make the point even starker: “Happy are those who make the Lord their trust” (v. 4 nrsv). Happy in the psalms communicates abundance—an erupting, effervescent joy.
When we trust God, the ultimate result is deep, genuine happiness. This trust may not come easily, and the results may not be everything we envision. But if we trust God, we’ll be so happy we did.
By Winn Collier
REFLECT & PRAY
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What makes it difficult for you to trust God? How does it alter things if you begin to really believe that trusting Him leads you to happiness?
Dear God, I want the kind of happiness that only You can bring. But it’s hard for me to trust. Will You help me?
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
We’re given no background on Psalm 40 aside from the notation in the superscription. Within the psalm itself, however, we see two dominant themes—suffering and rescue. The psalm opens with praise for God’s rescue in the past (vv. 1-3). That praise then sets the stage for David’s expectation of further rescue in the future from his present troubles (vv. 11-16). In between, the singer invites his audience to likewise root their trust in God and His mercy (vv. 4-10). The conclusion (v. 17) gives us a picture of David’s desperation and his confidence in God’s care as he affirms, “But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.” These themes, particularly the theme of God’s expected rescue, are common in David’s psalms and offer us great encouragement in our own dark seasons.
Bill Crowder |
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C.S.
TWFYT:
Harvest Prayer:
March 20 - Just You and God
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While I am a proponent of a morning “quiet time” (a set time each day to read Scripture and pray), I encourage struggling and beginning pray-ers to find what works for them. Don’t force yourself into a pattern that might not fit who you are. Do you walk each day? Pray while you walk. Do you have a commute each day? Pray while you drive. You do not have to sit in the same chair in your living room for prayer to be effective.
But my mind will wander if I pray when I walk or drive, you might be thinking. So what?! When you walk with a friend and are deep in conversation, plenty of things might interrupt your conversation—another person coming toward you, a squirrel darting across your path, a siren in the distance. You pick your conversation up again. The same can happen if you’re praying. In a real sense, Jesus is walking with you. If something interrupts your conversation, simply start talking again.
Prayer is not as difficult as we often make it out to be. Just talk about what’s on your mind—and listen. No special words, no props needed. Just you and God.
Lord, keep me from the need to be “perfect” when I pray or from feeling inadequate if something interrupts my time with You. Help me to persevere in Your presence, and to not make prayer harder than it is! Show me how to find spare moments in my day to reach out to You – moments that might otherwise be wasted time. Whisper into my ear whenever there is an opportunity for us to talk with one another and let me be willing and able to walk with You whenever and wherever I find myself.
--Adapted from The Power of Personal Prayer (Learning to Pray with Faith and Purpose) by Jonathan Graf. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise the Lord, who is your strength, your rock, your fortress and your deliverer (Ps. 18:1-2).
- Give thanks that “the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Cor. 1:25).
- Confess your desire to rely upon your own strength.
- Commit yourself to doing everything through him who gives you strength (Phil. 4:13).
- Ask God to cause you to serve him with the strength that he provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 4:11).
- The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). Ask the Lord to apply this power to individuals whom you know are without it.
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