Your Daily Crossroad
God’s Wall of Fire
For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. (Zechariah 2:5)
Today’s verse describes “a wall of fire”, amazing, powerful and yet protective, not destructive. God’s wall of fire encloses around us to keep us in His presence. God’s wall of fire burns with the power of His glory in our midst. What a sight (or thought) to behold! Fire is used in the Bible to describe God’s presence, a consuming fire of holiness. For us, we are to revere God’s presence for His holiness and perfection, but to also take comfort in knowing that He is that fire of protection around us.
When I walk the beach or gaze upon a mountainside, I am reminded of God’s indescribable creative power. He is truly an awesome God. His hand of protection is always upon us. His love is evident in everything around us. Take time today and reflect on the beauty of God’s glory. Ask the Lord to show you things you have never seen before, maybe you will get a glimpse of His wall of fire and His glory in your midst. Spend time intimately with the Lord and you will find that you pay less attention to things that truly do not matter to your life. May He fill you with His love, joy and peace.
What truth! I pray that today you will choose to spend time intimately with The Lord, even if that means sitting quietly in a park, on your drive into work, in your back yard or as your walking around through your day, pause for a moment and ask The Lord to give you a glimpse of things you may have never seen before. Let’s take the time today and do as it says in this devotion, reflect on the beauty of God’s glory. He is truly an awesome God and His hand of protection is always upon us. Amen!
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Psalms 29, Acts 23:1-15
What Is There to Fear?
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
My dog Buddy is a consistent source of insight and amusement in my life. For you animal lovers, you know what I am talking about. God’s creatures are simply unique and amazing in wonderful ways. My dog is all of those things to me and I am amazed at how the Lord teaches me certain messages through Buddy. For example, my husband and I had taken Buddy out to some property where deer and coyote roam freely. Buddy was quick to take off, running through weeds so high that all I could see is the white tip of his tail. He crawled through a barbed-wire fence, jumped over a creek, and dragged himself through thickets and brush that left him covered with briars. He was in heaven, loving every minute of his excursion, and without a care of any danger seemed to enter his mind. Later that evening when we got home, I heard Buddy whimpering outside near the back door. I thought he was hurt or that something was wrong with him. What was wrong? There was a twig lying on the concrete and he was afraid to step over it.
One minute my dog was walking through the jungle with no fear; the next, he was whimpering over a twig. Why? Because his fear was based on something unknown and unfamiliar to him, though we know that a twig is far more harmless than plowing through rattlesnake weeds out in the country. How often do we allow fear of something harmless to stop us in our tracks and keep us from going forward? How often does the Lord look at us and think we look ridiculous (as I did of Buddy)? We so often let the fear of the unknown keep us from having all that God has for us.
Do you have fears in your life that stop you in your tracks? Are you consistently afraid of the unknown? Sometimes we are far more comfortable in dangerous places just because we are familiar with them. Let’s be willing to be uncomfortable sometimes and let the Lord truly lead us. The Lord tells us to trust Him and to step out in faith. The Lord promises to protect us, regardless of where we go with Him. Just as I was watching Buddy closely, just in case that twig jumped up at him–the Lord is always watching out for us too.
I don’t know about you but I needed this today. God is so good. Who knew He would use a dog to speak to my heart, my fears. How simple and yet so powerful, Trust Him! I myself have been guilty of being more comfortable in dangerous places because I am familiar with what could happen and I think I can control what could happen and yet when my fears are big or small I must rest in Him, I must trust Him completely. I will not allow the enemy to stop me in my tracks. In those moments when fear grips our heart, my prayer is that our spirit will instantly know who our strength is, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. So when you have a moment of fear, stop and ask yourself, what is there to fear?
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Psalms 26, Acts 22
The Valley
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalm 23)
Psalm 23 is an awesome promise from the Lord, so personal to each of us. God is our Good Shepherd and He knows all about us. He knows that by restoring us back to Him, we will be willing to be led down His path of righteousness. At times, those paths will lead us through valleys of the shadow of death. Most of us hate those paths. Even though the Lord is holding us by the hand, oh, how we resist! It is hard to acknowledge that the God of love is truly leading us through the dark, scary valley. We may even want to blame such terrible circumstances on everything and everyone else instead of submitting to God ourselves. In time, however, we will see that it was only by going through the valley of the shadow of death that the Lord could help us break hurtful habits and behaviors, so that we can receive His peace and rejoice in His love.
Ask the Lord today to reveal any areas of your heart that need restoration. Do you feel dull or numb in certain areas of your life?
Tell the Lord about those places in your heart where you sense frustration and barrenness.
Ask Him to restore them back to Him. Restoration is not always just about life’s obvious issues; it can be very much about life’s less recognized ones.
Take your time to really read through Psalm 23 (again) and listen to the Lord’s impressions on your heart. The Word of God is the most powerful Word you will read or hear today.
When I read this I couldn’t help but think about how good God is! He is perfectly perfect. My prayer is that we will take time today to see the good He has placed in our lives, despite the dark, scary valleys. I loved when it said, In time, however, we will see that it was only by going through the valley of the shadow of death that the Lord could help us break hurtful habits and behaviors, so that we can receive His peace and rejoice in His love. Let’s take this to heart, take ahold of His hand and trust Him to lead us.
God, I trust you with all of my heart. Wherever you want me to go, I will go. Even if it’s not where I planned. Lead me and I will follow. Amen.
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Psalm 23, Acts 21:18-40
My Mouth and Meditation
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
It is interesting to note that the words of our mouths and meditation of our hearts are watched by the Lord. The Psalmist asks the Lord to let them be acceptable in His sight, not in His ears. So what is God looking for in our mouth and meditation?
Recently this verse kept coming to my mind to pray. But just because I prayed it didn’t mean that I noticed anything different or changed in any way. Then, all of a sudden, to my complete surprise I was confronted about something I said. Immediately, the conviction became so severe that my heart started burning within me. I knew that God heard my prayer and what He was seeing in my mouth and meditation were not acceptable. He took my prayer seriously and now was addressing deep-seated issues.
When God convicts us, it is amazing how naked we feel. We naturally want to conceal our motives, justify our words and cover up our actions. Those are all “sight” feelings, like God is seeing our sin. But our only hope at that time is to repent. The more we fight to maintain our sinful state, the more time we lose in receiving His good counsel and wisdom to change. God sees the fruit of our ways. Those ways are manifested through the words of our mouth and meditations of our heart. The fruit is what God sees more than what He hears. But the Psalmist completes His prayer by addressing two very important characteristics of God: my Strength and my Redeemer. God is able to strengthen you to change and redeem your old ways into a new person with ripe healthy abundant fruit. Today, will you ask the Lord with me to allow your words and meditations to be acceptable in His sight?
…for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.. – Matthew 12:34
When I read this I thought, what a wonderful challenge. Let’s take time today to pause and ask The Lord to allow our words and meditations to be acceptable in His sight. Are you bearing the fruit you speak of and ask God for or are you trying to conceal your motives, justify your words and cover up your actions? God sees the true fruit of our ways. Let’s be honest with ourselves today and with God. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. (Proverbs 19:21)
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Psalms 18, Acts 20:17-38