Good Morning Seeking, Listening, Praying Friends of God! Keep knocking. Keep listening and discerning. Keep working on your relationship with God and each other. Pray about a close group of friends that you can partner with to seek, pray, discern, pray some more, listen some more and process with. God is speaking. Are you hearing Him clearly? Are you discerning well or do you need to have some others help you to process. We all need each other in this journey towards Christlikeness. God has some partners just for you and He will speak, lead and guide you as individuals and together better as you continue to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness. Turn off the noise. Refocus. Be still and know, process and go in the strength and blessings of the Lord to live and love like Jesus. Amen! Check out the Upper Room about discussing and discerning and planning around the table. We do this with Family Ministries and our Adult huddles. May God grow this kind of praying and processing. Amen!
God awoke me at 3 am. I tried to resist but by 3:30 realized I needed to get up and spend some extra time in prayer and study. It is now 4 hours later and I think I have discerned how He wants to piece this blog together. (I don't think I could share all I am hearing and processing--it's just too much and would overwhelm you.) BUT He did really grab my heart today and the way He is putting our devotionals together verify and bring clarity to what He wants me to share with you. The rest will be for my continued prayerful consideration. So let me start with the first things He highlighted to me from a study that we don't all have and that is the constant call to die to self, take up cross and follow Jesus. Read and meditate on Mark 8:31-36. What does it mean to follow Jesus to you? How do we do that well? What does He expect? Well it starts with dying to self and crucifying some things. Today for me that meant arising early and spending extra time in prayer and meditation. It meant crucifying my desire to sleep in and my plans to be out the door early this morning being about my agenda. But let me tell you how worth it it is. I am still abiding in this extra close presence of the Lord right now and hearing His voice as I type this. (It's now 5 hours since I got up--God will redeem!) And I expect He will go before me with favor today, redeem this extra time, bring His plans alive and use me well. Do you really want to be a follower of Jesus? What does He say to do? Read it below and talk to Him about that. Process it with some friends too. Jesus asks in V. 37, "Is anything worth more than your soul?" Really think about that. What have you placed above your soul and your relationship with Jesus? In what things are you leaning on your own understanding? Where are you giving God advise, or correcting, like Peter? What does it mean to you that Jesus said if you want to follow Him you need to deny self, die to self, give up your own way? I am praying that I and all of you want to and really work at becoming a true follower of Jesus. My word for this year keeps coming to my mind: earnestness. Help me Lord! Help us to earnestly pursue you, die to self, crucify the things that hinder your working and ways, put on Your yoke and follow Jesus well. Lead us and move us to some accountability, processing partners too. Thanks! Amen! Come! Have all of me!
The rest of our devos thread through what God has been revealing to me this morning. What's He saying to you as you engage with them? Charles Stanley besieges us to choose His Spirit. He talks about crucifying self will and ways and control. You really are not God despite what the world keeps telling you. Choose to walk by His Spirit today. The Word for You Today reminds us to take every thought and action captive before God. I pray this over myself all the time and am chipping away at progressing towards doing that quicker and more often. It's a journey worth the effort as we allow God to change us and our ways and free us to be fully His. Then we wrap up with Our Daily Bread's reminder that people are watching us? Are they seeing Jesus in a good way and being drawn? They ask two important questions at the end that we need to answer. Ask these two questions first: Who is this man Jesus? How has He affected my life? Then process the other questions with some friends: "How does your life reflect God's ways to others? What do you need to change to represent Him better?" Selah (That means take a dramatic pause and allow the previous to penetrate)
That is what God has been talking to me about all morning. I have a lot of work to do yet! Thank God I'm forgiven and being helped to achieve His best for me. Thank God for some close accountability partners. Thank God for grace, which is sufficient and new mercies everyday! We are called to be the aroma of God. To some that's a stench. Don't focus on them. But some will be drawn by that sweet aroma of Jesus living and loving through us. Those are the ones God is preparing for you and you for them. Focus there as you focus on God. Follow earnestly and well, just as you are. He has great plans opening up for you today. Rejoice! I am very interested to hear what God is saying to you and Sarah and I are available to help you get started process. The best is to find some close friends to do that with. I have and continue to thank God for all of you and pray for His Kingdom to come and will to be done in, through and around each of you and us together! Yes Come! Thanks Lord! Your will. Your way. Amen
UR: Chocolate Chip Brownies
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
Often when I was young, my mom would make her famous chocolate chip brownies, and sometimes we would sit together after school to chat as we ate them.
During high school,
a friend of mine became pregnant at 16. Some of my friends’ mothers were shocked, and I can still recall their words of disapproval. But over a pan of chocolate chip brownies my mom and I talked about ways to help. Mom suggested that we host a baby shower for this expectant mother and invited some friends to our home to plan it. The shower was lovely, and my friend and her mom were teary-eyed and appreciative. I learned, through my mom and her brownies, the importance of adapting to life situations through prayer and not letting discouragement get in the way of finding joy.
As a parent, I have continued the tradition of making chocolate chip brownies, and I enjoy the conversations that crop up at our house as the brownies are served. Reliving memories of discussions from my childhood are treasures that I am blessed to share with those who now gather at our family table.
Today's Prayer
Heavenly Father, help us to show your love to others. We pledge to love them for the sake of the Christ we follow. Amen.Mark 8:31-38...Father, open this Word to us. Holy Spirit come and speak. Amen! What's God saying to you? Maybe write it down, pray about it, and discuss with some friends?
31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.
33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?
37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
CS:
TWFYT
ODB:
Visible Traces of Jesus
They could find no corruption in [Daniel], because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Daniel 6:4
READ Daniel 6:1-10
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Scientists from a California university ran experimental molecular swab tests to identify the traits and lifestyle habits of individual cell phone users. They discovered, among other things, the soaps, lotions, shampoos, and make-up that cell phone users used; the type of foods, drinks, and medications they consumed; and the type of clothing they wore. The study allowed the researchers to create a profile of each person’s lifestyle.
The administrators in Babylon, figuratively “swabbed” the prophet Daniel’s life to try and find any negative traits or lifestyle habits. But he’d served the empire faithfully for nearly seventy years—known to be “trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent” (Daniel 6:4). In fact, the prophet was promoted by King Darius as one of “three administrators over” his many governors (vv. 1-2). Perhaps out of jealousy, the other officials were looking for traces of corruption in Daniel so they might be able to get rid of him. He kept his integrity intact, however, and continued to serve and pray to God “as he had done before” (v. 10). In the end, the prophet prospered in his role (v. 28).
Our lives leave visible traces that point to who we are and whom we represent. Although we struggle and aren’t perfect, when people around us “swab” our lives, may they find visible traces of integrity and devotion to Jesus as He guides us.
By Marvin Williams
REFLECT & PRAY
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How does your life reflect God’s ways to others? What do you need to change to represent Him better?
Heavenly Father, please help me represent You well in what I say and do.
For further study, read Taking Sin Seriously.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
It’s stunning to think that Daniel’s character was so upstanding that the only way his enemies could attack him was through his faith. They knew that he’d never compromise his relationship with God or the priority of prayer. The apostle Paul, likewise, made prayer a high priority, often telling those to whom he wrote that he was praying for them: “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:16). And most all, Jesus Himself consistently communicated by prayer with His Father (Luke 5:16).
Bill Crowder |
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