Your Daily Crossroad

God Is Never in a Hurry

Posted on Sep 3, 2019 in Devotions | Tags: James 1:4, No hurry

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:4)

Be patient with God and with yourself. One of life’s frustrations is that God’s timetable is rarely the same as ours. We are often in a hurry when God isn’t. You may feel frustrated with the seemingly slow progress you’re making in life.

Remember that God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time. He will use your entire lifetime to prepare you for your role in eternity.

The Bible is filled with examples of how God uses a long process to develop character, especially in leaders. He took 80 years to prepare Moses, including 40 in the wilderness. For 14,600 days Moses kept waiting and wondering, “Is it time yet?” But God kept saying, “Not yet.”

Great souls are grown through struggles and storms and seasons of suffering. Be patient with the process. James advised, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing”(James 1:4).

Don’t get discouraged. When Habakkuk became depressed because he didn’t think God was acting quickly enough, God had this to say: “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry”(Habakkuk 2:3).

Remember how far you’ve come, not just how far you have to go. You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be. Years ago people wore a popular button with the letters PBPGINFWMY. It stood for “Please be patient. God is not finished with me yet.” God isn’t finished with you, either, so keep on moving forward. Even the snail reached the ark by persevering!

When I read this devotion it blessed me. I am not always where I want to be, but I’m also not where I used to be. Amen! I pray you are uplifted and encouraged today. He is always right on time. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, be patient and remember, delays are not defeats.

Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!

Today’s Reading is Isaiah 48:17

Aug '19

Life is Beautiful and Brief

Posted on Aug 30, 2019 in Devotions | Tags: Beautiful, Brief, Psalm 90

Aug '19

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

Beneath my fun-loving exterior is a very analytical person. I love my life, I love spontaneity and I also happen to love trying to figure things out!

But like all good things taken to the extreme, my analyzing can turn obsessive and my focus fixed on that which cannot be explained anyway. It’s like the quote I ran across recently from prolific author Philip Yancey: “Faith is believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.”

How true is that! Even so, I am always trying to make sense of a given situation going forward. Always.

But in light of today’s verse, how sad is that that I am consumed with trying to know what I think I need to know when I think I need to know it. Surely I’m missing out on opportunities to serve the Lord and the rest that is only found in him.

In a recent siutation when I was trying to “make sense” of what was going on, I also listened to a great sermon from a pastor and the best take-away nugget was this: “When you need to know, you’ll know.”

How simple! And yet how hard.

Here I am trying to find wisdom in what I can see and what I can figure out, when my life could be freed up by this reminder that God is sovereign and has all things under his control—no matter the circumstance.

Whatever I am trying to figure out today may not matter tomorrow. So why am I not looking to God first and seeking his direction in what matters most in this very moment?

“Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom,” the psalmist requests of God. And how do we gain a heart of wisdom?

By knowing the mind of Christ. By acknowledging our frailty and our humanity. And by remembering that God is God and we are not.

In Psalm 90 we read this:

Thou turnest man to destruction/dust … For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

And toward the end of the passage, it says:

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

The psalmist reminds us that God determines our life span, and he has his own timing and plans for each of our lives. Will we serve him and seek to fear and obey him before we once again turn to dust? Or will we fix our minds on ourselves, on our current circumstances and on trying to live our lives without regard to God’s perfect purposes?

At the end of the day, even if our lives never make sense (even in reverse!), we are called to bend the knee and praise the one who has “brought forth the earth and the world.”

Because of God’s “unfailing love,” life indeed is beautiful. And though it may be brief and sometimes confusing, because of his son our eternity is secure … causing us to “rejoice and be glad all our days.”

Knowing that your life is beautiful and brief, have you made yourself available to God for him to work in and through you as you walk by faith? List one reason that causes you to “be glad” today, because of the new life the Father has prepared in advance for you (Eph. 2:1-10).

When I read this devotion it blessed me beyond measure. I needed this word today and I pray it feeds your spirit man and encourages you to rejoice, be glad and find the beauty in today because life is beautiful and brief. Amen!

Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!

Today’s Reading is Matthew 7:1-2

Aug '19

Break Out of the Mold

Posted on Aug 29, 2019 in Devotions | Tags: 2 Timothy 3:5, Break the mold

Aug '19

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:5)

They say “I want to live my life my way” or “Look at everything I’ll have to give up” or “why do I want to live for Jesus?” or “God didn’t come through for me when I needed Him.” Some feel that God is unfair or unjust. You have even heard people say they hated God. All of these things are enough to break your heart. They pierce down to the very core of your soul because you know those words are untrue.

Why would anyone not want to live for Jesus? Of the many reasons, “Empty religion” ranks at the top. Religion talks a good game, but has no power. The Pharisees looked great on the outside, but Jesus revealed that they were whited sepulchres. But walking with Jesus is not religion. So often though, we make it that way. The reason is because we go about to perform religious things instead of walking and talking with Jesus daily. These things are taught by the world. The Lord Himself does not teach us these things.

Paul declared to Timothy that there would be a generation in the last days would have a form of godliness. This is nothing more than an empty religious form that has no substance or reality. The first step to breaking out of this is to just be honest with God with our faults and failures. Paul continues by saying that they would deny the power thereof.This is exactly what empty religion does. It places the part, but has no power from God. If you’re walking with Jesus in truth, then the power of God will always be present to empower you to walk in victory over sin. This requires faith in Jesus to do for you what you can’t do.

Breakout. We must break out of the religious mold. How do we do this? This is done by casting off the religious nonsense of the world and serving God in truth with our hearts. Romans 12 teaches us be ye not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed. The word conform suggests an outside pressure closing around an object to be molded. This is the way the world changes people. The word transform suggests a change that comes from the inside out. This is how Jesus changes us. How do we know whether we are being conformed or transformed? It may be simpler than you think. Do we walk like Jesus or do we walk like Pharisees?

When I read this devotion I couldn’t help but think this may step on some people’s toes but it’s something that needs to be said and thought about but not stop there, change needs to then happen. Today, ask yourself, do I walk like Jesus or do I walk like the Pharisees. My prayer is that we are transformed from the inside out. Less of me and more of You Lord!

Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!

Today’s Reading is Psalms 91:2

Aug '19

Internal Strife

Posted on Aug 28, 2019 in Devotions | Tags: Pride, Proverbs 16:18

Aug '19

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

David, king of ancient Israel, found himself in the midst of a confused national situation. His kingdom was torn by internal strife. Slave hated master; master hated slave. People blamed the government, and government blamed the people. David looked about him and saw that every man thought himself perfect. Each individual placed blame upon other individuals. David knew that if sinful pride continued to increase, his nation would collapse spiritually. He knew that economic depression, moral disintegration, or military defeat inevitably follow spiritual decline. So David turned to God, and it was revealed to him by the Spirit of God that the spiritual tide of his nation could rise no higher than the spiritual level of his own heart. So he fell on his knees in utter humility and prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23,24).

Lord, deliver me from the sin of pride, and fill me with continuing humility as I go about the tasks before me this day. Amen.

When I read this devotion I was reminded of how pride needs to die in us for anything of heaven to live in us. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble (James 4:6). Let go of pride starting today.

Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!

Today’s Reading is John 6:29

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God Is Never in a Hurry

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Break Out of the Mold

Internal Strife