Good Morning Loved, Trusting, Followers of Our Faithful God--Doers of His Word! we discussed choosing joy, even in trials and troubles and how standing firm in faith in doing so leads to endurance of our faith. We also heard James calling us to be more than just hearers of God's Word but also doers of it. We thought about our church and how many, if nit all, of us are able to trust God and choose joy and how we serve and choose to live out God's Word and stand firm on it in this cruel and evil world. Thanks for being part of this great fellowship of believers! Thanks for doing what you can with what you've been given! We bless God, each other and others! We allow His love to fill us to overflowing and to direct our steps! We are developing endurance and persevering faith! We are family too and need each other to continue to grow in these things and to go live and love more and more like Jesus. We are becoming God's dynamic movement and Good News Delivery Co. Amen!
Check out these devotions as you spend some time being still and knowing that He is God, He is for us, and he is with us always. He hears and answers our prayers and wants to hang out with us all day. How cool! Dwell in His love and keep choosing to trust, obey, follow and be doers of all God has for you and us! Yes rejoice and worship knowing these things and receive His peace beyond understanding always. Hold His hand as you walk joyously with Him ! He loves you!
The deadliest forest fire disaster in US history was the Peshtigo Fire in Northeast Wisconsin. It occurred on the same night as the better-known Chicago Fire (, 1871) but claimed several hundred more lives. Peshtigo, a fast-growing city of wooden buildings and part of the lumber industry, was consumed within an hour by the inferno fanned by gusting winds.
Besides scorched china and a brick kiln, among the few items the fire left behind was a small, open Bible. Flames had singed its cover and extreme heat had petrified its pages, yet it remained intact. It can be viewed in a museum in the city .
The little Bible’s preservation calls to mind an assurance God gave His people in another trying time: “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8). Though “firestorms” of invasion and exile threatened, God affirmed that He would be faithful to His promises and would never forsake those who turned to Him—come what may.
The Bible in Peshtigo, still partially legible, was opened to Psalms 106 and 107. Both psalms contain these words in their first verses: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Even in the greatest trials of our lives, His words and love never falter. And we will thank Him forever because of it.
By James Banks
REFLECT & PRAY
What's your favorite promise from God? What can you do to keep His promises in mind ?
Loving God, I praise You for Your faithfulness! Please help me to trust in You even in difficult seasons.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The exile—God’s people being taken from their country first by Assyria and then Babylon—came as a result of His judgment for His people’s failures. However, the tremendous suffering it caused raised serious questions about God’s faithfulness. Had He forsaken His people? Or was God not able to do anything about what had happened to them? In Isaiah 40, God offers a resounding no to both of those questions. He hadn’t abandoned His people. His promise to be faithful to them could be trusted, for “the word of our God endures forever” (v. 8). They’d return from exile, and God’s presence and glory would be with them (vv. 3-5), and He would care for them (vv. 10-11). His voice and power would bring restoration, and no other power would be able to resist Him (vv. 10, 15-17). The reality that God’s promises and love never change provides encouragement for us as we face trials in this world.
Monica La Rose
UR: Trust the Driver
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. - Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)
I’ve always loved the English language, but I never considered that passion to be a viable career. I told myself that I needed to finish a degree and find a corporate job after graduation to feel like a responsible adult. I studied business administration out of desperation. Now I can see how God had been preparing me all along. In my university days, I served as a translator for a Chinese friend, and now I work as an English teacher. It has been 10 years since I started working as an English teacher, and I’m able to provide for myself and help my family. The work of God continuously astounds me.
Sometimes our lack of imagination and our desire for control limit what we think we can do and achieve. When we try to become the driver of our lives, we forget that it is God who leads the way.
God can guide us down roads we have never seen or imagined. While we see only what’s right in front of us, God sees the entire journey. Let us surrender our lives to God’s guidance.
's Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for your patience and love for us. May we share your love with the people around us. Amen.
TWFYT
Sarah Young
Connection Blogs:
- Draw Me Close
It is impossible to do what the Lord desires unless we take time to listen to Him. We can only do this by being still and ceasing our busy activity-filled lives. Sometimes all God wants to speak to us are words of love and affirmation. Many times He may require nothing of you but to sit and enjoy His company. However, it is a very clear command from God that we are to listen to His Son: "Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: ‘This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!’" (Mark 9:7). It is implied that listening involves obeying. Truly hearing God is to be obedient to what He says: "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22).
Jesus expressed confidence that those who will be still before Him will live lives that are filled with divine "doing" that is birthed out of divine "being": "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:27-28). Your children and/or grandchildren are watching how you live your life. Are they learning the lifestyle of Martha…or Mary? "…Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42).
Lord Jesus, I have so much in common with Martha, which is not such a bad thing! Yet, I do long to learn a lesson from her sister, who spent her time sitting at Your feet, simply learning and adoring! Out of the overflow of her devotion, she lived her life. Help me to be still, and to keep my eyes fixed upon Your blessed face so that I will not miss You in the midst of my busy life! Draw me close, Jesus, so that those who follow after me will learn to know that You are God!
As one who professes to “believe in the Holy Spirit,” praise God for his indwelling of all believers.
Give thanks for his intimacy and power.
Confess any tendency to rely on your own strength rather than God’s.
Commit to becoming more sensitive to God’s ongoing presence.
Ask God to increase your consciousness of continual companionship with him.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will fill each of your family and friends, bringing a deep sense of his presence. Ask him to fill your household with his power.
Prayer Pointer
“Prayers not felt by us are seldom heard by God.” —Philip Henry
Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayerleader.com. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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