Your Daily Crossroad
20
Jul '21
The Power of Thankfulness
20
Jul '21
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29)
Never underestimate the power of thankfulness!
When we choose to approach each day with a thankful heart towards God, it helps us have a better attitude and kills the root of ungratefulness.
All our possessions and all that we are ultimately belong to Him. Each day we wake up to is also another gift from Him, never to be taken for granted!
Some people sleep-walk through their life in a haze of self-sufficiency and misery. They claim that happiness can only come from Self, yet they never seem to be satisfied.
The secret to being thankful is by viewing the world through God’s perspective.
As His beloved, we have full access to a deep relationship with Him, which also allows us to share His mindset.
All of creation is a reflection of His glory, creativity and love. It is vibrantly alive and a breathing masterpiece of His presence.
Today, instead of seeing things the way the world does – look through His lens of truth, wisdom and love! Doing this makes having a thankful heart much easier and positions your heart to offer up pure worship to His name!
What a powerful devotion. I want to end it the way it began, “Never underestimate the power of thankfulness!” Enough said, Hallelujah!
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
15
Jul '21
Even in the Silence
15
Jul '21
Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard . . . (1 Samuel 1:13)
God is neither impressed nor moved by our vocabulary or oratory skills.
But, as always, God is concerned with the heart.
God would say to Hannah’s son, Samuel, “…the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” God speaks the language of the heart.
Have you ever spoke to God without speaking? Where only the groaning of your inner person can be heard? Extraordinarily, we serve a God whose understanding of his creatures extends even to wordless prayers (Rom. 8:23, 26-27).
That God comprehends our wordless prayers is both hopeful and comforting. We serve a God who not only searches and knows our heart, but He hears us when we are too overwhelmed for language. God speaks the language of our hearts.
There are times when I’m in too much pain and anguish to speak words.
There are times that fear and anxiety are so suffocating that I can’t breathe, much more speak.
There are times when I am so exposed that I am ashamed to call upon the name of the Lord, nor could I present Him a verbal prayer.
Praise be to God that in these moments of pain, and weakness, and fear, we serve a God who hears us when we’re too overwhelmed for language.
God heard the inner groaning of Hannah. So likewise, God hears and understands our inner thoughts, groanings, and prayers. In Christ, by the groanings of the Holy Spirit, all of our prayers are honored. Even the ones we don’t understand ourselves.
Even in the silence, God hears you.
Your prayer today, “…”
“Even in the silence, God hears you.” When I read this devotion those seven words stood out to me, incredibly powerful. When you choose to go to God in prayer, He hears you, even in the silence. Make the choice today, fall at His feet and even if it’s time spent with Him in silence or in tears, He hears you, He sees you. Choose Him!
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
13
Jul '21
A Conversation
13
Jul '21
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:6)
No man is greater than his prayer life. It is as one saint said, “the people who are not praying are straying…”
Anyone can be “religious.” So often, that is what Sunday becomes, a shop window where we put forward the best version of ourselves. Church becomes a place where we are more “religious” than “real.”
Yet, in the prayer closet, no one can show off.
There is no one to impress.
There is no one to fool except yourself.
Thus our Lord’s admonition today, “when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Jesus knows that the Father wants real. Jesus knows that the secret to praying is praying in secret. It’s like Drake White said;
“What you love, what you hate.
I’ll take the real, leave the fake.
I want the sinner and the saint.”
God wants us to be “real,” and that begins with prayer. Prayer is not performance. Prayer is not a time to drum up theological phrases. Instead, prayer is petition, simple and simply profound.
A conversation between you and God that begins with you and God. You have needs. You have wants. You have sins that need forgiveness, and you have people that you need to forgive.
Everything that you need and want begins in the prayer closest. That’s the reward— God hears real prayers. God will meet your needs. He will grant you your request. God will answer your prayers (Matt. 7:11).
But those prayers must be real. We do not pray for show. We do not pray to display our piety. We pray to meet God where we are so that He might make us more like Him. So every day, we pray in secret so that God may know us and that we may know Him.
Your prayer today, “God, give me the courage to be alone with you. See me for who I am, not who I pretend to be. You know my needs, God. Help me.”
I recently read this devotion, I felt it was full of such truth and needed to be shared. Prayer is the key to finding peace, joy, love and fulfillment.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
08
Jul '21
Be Still and Rest in His Presence
08
Jul '21
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10)
As the Lord prepares you for this day ahead, take time to be still and rest in His presence.
The more you persistently practice this at the beginning of each day, the more the Lord is able to gradually build trust bonds between you and Him within your soul.
Much of our anxiety comes from excessive planning and obsessing over the future.
This tendency is so common in the ‘hustle and bustle’ culture of our world today.
Sadly, this habit only hinders our sensitivity to the Lord.
Whenever we feel the urge to anxiously jump into the future, we must resist it immediately and return to the present where His presence is waiting for us.
The more you become accustomed to resisting anxious planning, the more you will be able to receive from the Lord in the present.
He designed us to cooperate and partner with Him in the now.
It is His job to be the one who orchestrates our future path, not ours.
As you take time to be still before Him today, surrender your anxiety to Him.
Know that He longs to take away all your anxiety, as it has no place in His Kingdom.
Jesus already paid the price for your freedom, so that anxiety and stress is His to deal with, not you. When you place it in His hands, He will then cast it off into the sea of forgetfulness, never to be seen again!