Daily Devotional - 9/30/15

Prayer Focus - Wants



Day 5
Pray for:
One thing you want to understand about God
One characteristic you want to develop that will help you to be more loving towards others
One dream you have for your life
One issue in your character that you would like to see changed
One regret that you would like to move past


Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear Your ever present voice and grant me the strength to obey.



Psalms 90


"Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.  Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.  You turn men back to dust, saying, 'Return to dust, O sons of men.'  For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.  You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning - though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.

We finish our years with a moan.  The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us: establish the work of our hands for us - yes, establish the work of our hands."  ( vs. 1 - 6, 9b - 10, 12, 14, 17  )


We have come from God, and we will return to face Him.  The unseen is unfathomable, but sometimes I can slightly catch an understanding.  What if I had never been born, didn't exist at all.  What if I had never had the chance to experience life here on earth or anywhere for that matter.  That thought has always made me slightly nauseous because I love life.  I am so grateful that I exist, even on the worst days. 

Life is so strange.  We are here, and then we are gone.  Where do we go?  What is important?  So many unknowns.  But we can know a few things.  We are here now.  There is something beyond us, and we will die someday.  Seventy or eighty years if we have the strength.  Isn't that the truth?  Living can be hard.  Living can be confusing.  But we know, we can see, that there is something special in us that is keeping us alive and when someone dies, that spark that made them who they are is gone and now there is just an outer shell.  They are no longer here. 

So if we are here and then gone, and if God remains, what is really important?  If I am going to fly away back to God, I had better be ready for that.  We need to face this reality, that this time here is really just the pause before the real life begins.  If what comes after earth lasts for eternity, time without end, then that is so much more important than what I have on my to do list today.  I do need to number my days correctly.  I can not believe that I am almost 50 now.  It seems that I was just a child.  Time has gone by so fast and it will never come back to me.  Each moment is gone forever.  What will I make of my remaining days?  Realistically, my life is already half over, unless I can somehow manage to stay alive until I am 100.  I must remember this and focus.  I no longer have time to waste, if I ever did.

I want to be satisfied by God and God alone.  I want to awake and be content with His love.  I want to really live while I have the chance and no longer be afraid.  Fear is so binding; so limiting.  Only God can do this.  It is not within me.  I turn to God and pray that His favor will rest upon me.  I pray that His favor will rest upon you.  I want to make a difference in this world, that it mattered that I was here and that I left things better than I found them.  Yes Lord, establish the work of our hands and help us to walk with You and no longer be afraid.



Prayer for the Day



Dear Lord,


We are here.  We know that this is not all there is.  The unknown is frightening, but You say that perfect love drives out fear.  Your love is perfect.  Please drive out our fear.  Help us to see life as You see it and to have the proper priorities.  Help us to truly live.  The time is short.  We want to make it count.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT


1. Do I ever think about how short life is?  Do I think about eternity?  Why or why not?  How can thinking about these concepts help me?

2. Do I think about what I would like to accomplish with my life?  Are my goals in line with God's?  How do I know? 

3. Does my relationship with God motivate me?  Am I in love with God?  Does His love satisfy me or am I looking for something else to make me happy?

4. Am I joyful?  Why or why not?  How could I cultivate more joy?  How could changing my priorities affect my joy level?

5. Do I feel like God's favor is on me?  Why or why not?  What work do I see God blessing in my life?  Is it different from what I would like to see God blessing?  Is what I consider my work the same as what God would consider my work?  Why do I think this?

Daily Devotional - 8/24/15 (10/24/09)

Prayer Focus - Enemies


Day 3
Pray for:
One person who was mean to you when you were a child
One person who has given you a lot of trouble recently
One person from your family (immediate or extended) that has given you trouble at some point in time

Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs
Your ability to offer complete forgiveness from your heart
Your ability to let go of the hurts and move on whether they will ever apologize or not


Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.



Psalms 54

This post was originally written in 2009.  I have left it much as it was.  My daughter is now a healthy 11 year old and her asthma rarely bothers her.  In 2009, my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer which had spread to his liver.  He had two surgeries and two rounds of chemotherapy.  He was cancer free for four years and then had a reoccurrence in 2014.  This was followed by another surgery and more chemotherapy [see Daily Devotional - 8/22/10 (9/22/09) if you are interested in learning more about his cancer].  Thankfully, he has been cancer free for a year now.  My schedule is still very hectic and long, yet God always provides what I need to take care of all of my responsibilities.  If you are interested in reading the background information which prompted me to start these devotionals in 2009, please see ("Background Information" - published 8/31/09.)



"Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me....I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes." ( vs. 4, 6-7)


God is my help. I have to repeat this to myself daily, hourly, and moment by moment. God is my help. He is the one who sustains me. I can not do this on my own.  There is so much to be done daily.  If I look at my life, I am overwhelmed; if I look at God, I can make it through.  God does supply my daily needs.  However, I must learn to separate the urgent from the important. I must learn to prioritize. I can not do everything and so I must do the most important.  Sometimes I do not even know what that is.  Therefore, I must learn to rely more and more on the Lord who sustains me.

I am learning to look at the worst that could happen and then look at it through God's eyes.  Heaven knows, I am getting quite a bit of practice.  For example, if my daughter should get sick with H1N1, which happens to be something on my mind right now, what would be the worst that could happen? Having asthma, she could get very sick. She could even die. I have had to think of this before. I have thought of this every time I have had to take her to the hospital because she can't breathe.  So if the worst would happen to my child, I have to realize, she would be in heaven. She would be happy and at peace forever. Since she is only five, she would be with God and would be spared all the heart ache that we face living on earth. I would be heartbroken but at least I would know that she was safe and no longer had to suffer. I would not have to worry about whether or not she would grow up to know God. She would be there waiting for me.  Sometimes remembering this helps me to face the uncertainty of each day.  I can make it through the worst, day by day, holding on to God's hand and striving to look at life through an eternal perspective.  And so it is with each problem I face.  I try to keep this focus.  I look at the worst that could happen and then I take that to God, for I do know that He is good.  He has kept me safe this far.

So I will sacrifice a freewill offering to God in gratitude for sustaining me. I will freely come and bring Him whatever I have to offer. Sometimes it is not much but I will bring it.  Like the poor widow that only dropped a few coins in the offering, I will give what I can, what I have ( Luke 21:1-4 ).  God will not have to force me to follow, or to come, or to sacrifice. I am so grateful that I am even allowed to participate in this life.   I would have nothing without God and I look forward to seeing how He will deliver me from all of my present troubles.  He has amazed me up until now with how He has gotten me out of my past troubles. I am certain that I will look in triumph on my foes someday. And what a great day that will be!



Prayer for the Day



Dear Lord,


We look forward to the day that we will be able to look with triumph on our foes. You have delivered us so far and You will continue to deliver us. You are good, always good and we praise You. You are our help. You do sustain us. You get us up and put us to bed. You keep our hearts beating and our lungs pulling in oxygen. You are great and You deserve all the freewill offerings I can bring. Help us to not be like horses or mules that have to be pulled along. Help us to come willingly and eagerly to serve You. Forgive us in our failures to please You. We need You and praise You for Your mercy. Continue to walk with us and carry us when we are weak. We worship You.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT


1. How often do I think about God actually being with me in each present moment? Do I turn to Him for help in the moment or do I forget He is there?

2. Am I allowing God to prioritize my day and my time? Do I let Him get involved with the mundane areas of my life like house work or do I feel that God is only interested in the "big issues"?

3. What am I worrying about?  What is the worst thing that could happen in that situation?  How can I see this from an eternal perspective?  Does this help me?  Why or why not?

4. How can I bring a freewill offering to God? Is my service and worship a joy or burden to me? What can I change to improve my attitude of joy when I am serving or worshiping God?

5. What are the foes in my life? What am I doing to conquer them? How will I feel when I am delivered and can look at them in triumph?

Daily Devotional - 2/19/11 (10/19/09)

Prayer Focus - Friends



Day 5


Pray for:
One friend that you feel close to
One friend that has become distant and you would like to be closer to
One friend from long ago
One new friend
One friend that has hurt you


Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs


Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.




Psalms 49



"Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me - those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him - the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough - that he should live on forever and not see decay.

For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.

But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. But God will redeem my life from the grave; He will surely take me to himself.

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. Though while he lived he counted himself blessed- and men praise you when you prosper - he will join the generations of his fathers, who will never see the light of life.

A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish." ( vs 1-3, 5-20)



I have struggled for six months to find something to add as commentary for this Psalm, yet nothing comes.  I believe it really says it all. 

We will all die, and someday, we will face God whether we believe in Him or not.  I truly believe this and so what happens here is only important on the spiritual realm.  Where are we at really with God?  In this new year, let us renew our vows and commitments and if this is new or foreign to us, let us seek it out.

We truly are mists, here today and gone tomorrow.  Let's make it count.



Prayer for the Day




Dear Lord,



We praise You for creating us.  Life is so beautiful, despite its ups and downs.  We know and believe that You exist and that You reward those who earnestly seek You.  We want to seek You.  We want to recommit to serve You and we want to be pleasing to You in all we say and do.  You are truly all that matters.  Turn our eyes away from the worthless things of this world and all that glitters and charms us.  Grant us an undivided heart that we might serve You wholeheartedly.  We know that You are able.



In Jesus' Name,
Amen




QFT



1. Am I afraid of anything that is going on in the world today? How can I turn it over to God and trust in Him to take care of it?

2. What is my attitude towards money? Is it trying to take first place in my life? How can I have a correct attitude about wealth?

3. Do I get overawed by the wealthy and the "successful" in the world's eyes? Who are my heroes and what does that say about myself?

4. What is my life focus? What am I striving for, and what am I putting my energy into on a daily basis? Is it moving people towards Christ?

5.  Where am I with God really?  Have I lost my first love?  Am I wholehearted in my devotion?  Am I focused on the spiritual?