Your Daily Crossroad
Just Ask
My sister called the other day complaining about her boss at work. She began telling me about the problems she was having on her job and how they were beginning to disrupt her home life. How many of us can relate to this? After listening to her stories, I realized that the root of the problem stemmed from a breakdown in communication between my sister and her boss. As the picture came into focus, I realized that my sister had issues (wants, needs, desires) that needed addressing. However, she was not telling all of this to her boss. In other words, she somehow expected her boss to know and understand what she needed. I told her that maybe she should tell her boss what her issues were and ask for help. Sounds easy enough, but for some reason we just do not know how to ask for the things we want or how to discuss the problems we are having in certain situations.
What about our prayer lives? Do we ask the Lord for the desires of our hearts? Do we honestly tell the Lord our problems, even when they involve Him? Today’s verses clearly instruct us on how to pray. We are to have faith and not doubt. We must come to the Lord in prayer and truly believe in our hearts that He hears us and will answer us. The faith to move mountains is amazing faith and is available to all of us, if we believe. Try not to get hung up on how to pray, what to pray and praying God’s will. Just go to the Lord and ask, believe, and receive. Even though God already knows our hearts’ desires, we need to ask Him for them because it increases our faith and blesses us in the process. Remember this: the Lord will answer as He sees best. That is why faith is so important in our prayers. We must trust in God’s final answer, regardless of what we think. If our prayers are continuing without ceasing, alongside His Word, and from our honest hearts, then His answers will be received in our hearts of faith.
When I read this devotion it made me smile. I’ve recalled countless times I’ve used those two words with my kiddos, just ask, how much more does our Heavenly Father want us to just ask. He desires for us to be real with Him to have a relationship with Him and to truly trust in His final answer once we have asked. Just as I want my kids to trust me when I give an answer, we too must trust Him no matter the answer. The Lord will answer as He sees fit. God is always faithful to answer. Sometimes His answer is a much desired “yes”. Sometimes His answer is a merciful “no”. Sometimes His answer is a faith building “not yet”. And sometimes…sometimes, when an answer cannot be found, His answer is simply “Trust Me”. Just Ask . . .
Have a beautiful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Matthew 21
Awake out of Sleep
We are living in perilous times as Christians. Our freedoms are being threatened in more ways than any of us can fully grasp. The enemy is roaming about, seeking whom he may devour, and we are definitely his targets. But, his schemes are not always so blatant and clearly discerned. The greatest threat to us from the enemy is allowing ourselves to become complacent and operating on auto-pilot. We lose our passions to witness, our urgency for the lost to be saved, and even our first love, as Jesus talks about in Revelation chapter 3. But, it is not too late to wake up.
Today, our salvation is nearer than we first believed. Today is a day closer to the return of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Today could be the last day for us here on earth. Do we live with such a sense of urgency? Or, do we act as they did in the days of Noah? Noah preached for over 100 years as he built the ark. He warned the people of the day that was coming, a day of total destruction. But, the people did not listen and they carried on with their lives, even up until the rain started to fall and the door of the ark was shut. At what point did they wake up? It was too late. Let us not wait until it is too late. Let us look to the Lord today and ask Him to stir us like never before and to give us a sense of urgency and passion.
Let’s pray this prayer together: Heavenly Father, I confess that I have allowed complacency into my life as a Christian. I have allowed life’s comforts a place of priority, even over helping others. I know that I need to be awakened and stirred to see things through Your eyes and to have Your heart in these last days. Please fill me with Your Spirit this day and jolt my heart with a new awareness of the reality of these days I am living in. Please, Lord, make the rest of my days here on earth count for the kingdom of God. In Jesus name, Amen.
What truth! When I read this I couldn’t help but think of the parable of the Ten Virgins, Matthew 25:1-13. As today’s devotion says, the greatest threat to us from the enemy is allowing ourselves to become complacent and operating on auto-pilot. Let’s remember this quote, by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Let’s do more for God than we did yesterday for our salvation truly is nearer than we first believed. Awake out of sleep.
Have a beautiful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Matthew 20:17-34
Little by Little
In Chapter 23, God grants the Israelites various promises, including utterly overthrowing and completely cutting off their enemies. The Lord further states that He will bless their bread and water and take their sicknesses away. With the Lord on their side, the Israelites cannot lose. But in verse 30, the Lord says that He will fulfill His promises by driving out their enemies little by little. Why? Why doesn’t God just wipe their enemies out like He did the Egyptians as they entered the Red Sea? What benefit is there to do it little by little?
Exodus 23:29 says “I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.” In other words, a place of instant abundance and blessings would be harmful for the Israelites. Blessings are not true blessings unless they come when we are able to handle them. Think of areas in your life that you would love to see the Lord work in you today. Maybe you need deliverance from sin that seems to have trapped you or maybe it is your finances. The list can go on and on. God wants to deliver you and bless you, but He will only give you what you can handle. God knows what is best for us. Even the blessings can become curses if we do not have the wisdom, maturity and honesty to handle them.
The Lord’s timing is never too late nor too slow. He is patient and kind, assessing the whole situation, so that when He fulfills His promises in you, you will be able to receive them in peace. We want the quick fix or the instant gratification. We want the immediate and the miraculous. However, God’s ways are not our ways and He desires to give us a future life in His promises. Little by little, complete victory will be yours by having faith and patience day by day.
This devotion blessed me in so many ways, one part that jumped out at me was when it said “blessings are not true blessings unless they come when we are able to handle them”. So many times we are guilty of forcing things to happen and then saying it was God’s blessing when in reality it wasn’t part of His plan for your life and eventually we realize that wasn’t the best choice to have been made or forced. It’s so important we wait patiently on Him, His plan for our lives is far better and far more productive than anything we could ever imagine. What’s also so incredible about God is even when we force our plan He is able to come along and steer us back in the direction He had planned if we are willing to let go and let God. Little by little makes a huge impact. He has a perfect plan for your life, trust Him! The Lords timing is never too late nor too slow, Amen, what truth! Not my will, but thine, be done. What an example to follow after, that should be our heart’s cry every single day.
Have a beautiful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Matthew 20:1-16
Patience
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (James 5:7)
I always cringe just a little (if not a lot) when I see the words “be patient.” Not long ago we spoke at an event that had an interesting theme. The theme for this event embraced the honey “bee” and even the decorations had some kind of bee on it. There were stuffed animal-type bees, candy bees, and even flower corsages that a bee would love to buzz around. You get my drift. When we sat down at a table, there was a bee placed in front of each glass. The bee had a saying on it. Mine said “be kind.” The one next to me said “be patient.” I was so glad I got the “be kind” bee. Then, out of the blue, we were asked to move over one place and there it was–“be patient” staring back at me. I knew I was in trouble.
Since then I have had to wait on many things. Traffic seems extremely slow, far more than normal. This morning, we got stuck in a parking lot that was being paved and literally could not get out of it. We were running late for a meeting. And then, I went to the eye doctor. At five minutes past the hour, I heard him coming. Yea, he is right on schedule! Then, an emergency phone call came from nowhere. I waited 45 minutes. I sat in a semi-dark room and had a talk with God. He told me to be kind to everyone in that office and to keep waiting patiently. As I left, the doctor shook my hand, gave me a discount on the office visit, the receptionist gave me some free stuff, and another girl expressed to me that it had been a very long day for them. She sincerely thanked me for being “patient.” I smiled, they smiled and I am pretty sure God smiled too.
When you get that little message and know in your spirit that you are being tested on something, like patience, stop and pray. The Lord had to remind me of the fruit that He wanted to bear through me – not about me, but about Him. Be alert to those things that God wants to do through you today. Stop and pray and let the Lord be your guide. You never know how it will turn out to bless someone else.
Today’s devotion blessed me. Patience is something I also struggle with, I want things done quickly and productively but many times God has spoken to my heart to slow down. I have learned through many testings not to stress about how it’s not turning out how I intended and on almost every occasion where I have shown patience and forgiveness, God has taken what I thought wasn’t the plan and revealed His plan to me. He has taken many situations and turned them for my good and when I realized I can’t control every situation but I can control how I react to those situations, I see God’s hand move in my favor because of my patience but in those moments when I allow my hot button to be pushed and I react accordingly God instantly convicts my heart and I feel horrible, we must remember, we can’t take back what we say or how we react to any given situation so when we feel frustration, anger or hate nudging at us we must do as today’s devotion says, stop and pray. Yes, it’s truly that simple.
Have a beautiful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Matthew 18:21-35