Your Daily Crossroad
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Aug '19
Called By God
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Aug '19
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. (Isaiah 6:8)
God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “…who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “…who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard— “the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”
When I read this devotion today I felt it was an important reminder for each and every one of us and it needed to be shared. I pray it blesses you today and encourages you to do as today’s devotions says and allow The Holy Spirit to bring you face to face with God. He will not force himself on anyone.
I pray you have a beautiful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Romans 14:8
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Aug '19
Who’s Setting Your Priorities?
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Aug '19
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)
Could my cell phone affect my to-do list? Could this little bit of gadgetry redirect my day, causing me to miss God’s best for me? I think so, and here’s why.
Growing up, we had a house phone. Just one.There was no call-waiting beep or answering machine. And of course, no email or texting. So if you wanted to reach me, you had to keep calling until you got through. Or maybe head to my house and actually knock on my door. Quite frustrating when “someone” spent hours talking to a friend!
Basically, the burden to communicate was on the person with the message to share.
Today the responsibility to communicate has shifted. No longer is it your burden to reach me; all you do is type-type-type a message, hit send and all the responsibility floats through cyberspace and lands firmly on me.
Multiply this by every which way people can reach me, and before I even wake up, I’m behind.
This shift has silently affected all of us. A typical day starts with checking some sort of communication device to see who might have emailed, posted or texted. Then, before we begin to handle what’s most important to us, our day begins by responding to what’s most important to others.
Without a concerted effort to stop this pull, we are drawn into the day’s rushing current like a tiny raft on a whitewater river. And rather than being proactive, our days are spent in reactive mode.
Sound familiar? If so, you’ve probably also experienced the too-long to-do list that comes with it. After we’ve given the best of our time and energy to others, there’s little left to address God’s priorities for us. Consequently we put-off, delay and procrastinate our priorities.
After years of shortchanging myself and my family, and often dishonoring God with disobedience, I realized I had things upside down! Things that mattered least replaced things that mattered most in my schedule. And work that would make the greatest impact on my life often fell to the bottom of my lists, then transferred to the next list until I either completed it with a fraction of my ability or abandoned it entirely.
Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to figure out our best work. It sounds so easy to say, “Identify your priorities, and do those first.” However, when we face multiple demands we can often feel helpless. And helplessness can lead us to escape, avoid or numb.
When those feelings start to overtake me and I don’t know what to do, rather than make a self-defeating choice, it’s time to press pause. Sometimes, the best thing to do is nothing – except seek direction and wisdom from the One who knows what our best is.
Given the chance, others will set our priorities for us. Yet God specifically has a calling for each of us that will only come from Him. To discern this, we need wisdom. Without God’s wisdom, we make decisions on facts and feelings. And the fact that I have 100 emails to answer and feel overwhelmed does not mean it’s wise to do so now.
To find wisdom, I need to silence the demands of many, to hear the commands of One.
God is faithful, and His Word promises we can receive wisdom. In fact, it’s a gift from God. Here is what James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
As my life becomes more interconnected with others, my priorities are harder to identify. There will always be new demands rising to the tops of my to-do list, giving me reasons to delay tackling my own priorities.
There is hope. When we take our tiny raft out of the raging river, and sit on the banks with our Heavenly Father, He will give us wisdom for what to do next. Sometimes it’s answering an email, but it might be something else He has planned for today.
Heavenly Father, You are the source of all wisdom, including my priorities and what my day should look like. Help me seek Your wisdom for my priorities rather than finding them in my inbox or social media accounts. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
When I read this devotion it depicted such an image in my mind of how life can certainly be like a raging river but if we would seek His wisdom for our priorities and choose to sit on the banks with our Heavenly Father, what an impact that would make in our daily lives. We have so many distractions in life it can feel like wave after wave after wave crashing into you but I can guarantee that if you call out to the master He will calm the raging river in your life and allow you the opportunity to make it to the banks to sit with Him. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore (Psalm 121:8). I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye (Psalm 32:8). What a mighty good Father. Now ask yourself, who’s setting your priorities?
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Revelation 3:19-20
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Aug '19
Expectations in Relationships
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Aug '19
I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. (Psalm 142:4-5)
In every interaction you have is someone weighted?
What do I mean by this? Do you put expectations on others to act a certain way or say things in a certain manner? Then, when they don’t do what you expected, do you get upset? Do you misinterpret others’ words? Or do you put words into people’s mouths that they didn’t say? Welcome to the broken club my friend.
I can’t believe how broken I still am when I put expectations on interactions! I’m cruising along doing fine, and one misinterpreted interaction brings me back to that lost and abandoned child. Pain comes rushing back, and sorrow sets in.
However, I have learned a few things over the years; one being, most people are selfish. Yes, it’s true. People care about themselves and their own problems. It’s our human nature; so if you’re putting expectations on people, you will be failed. King David experienced this throughout his life and cried out to God in the Psalms.
If you are putting expectations on a person to fill you; you will fail my friend and still find yourself alone and lost. There is only one who will never fail you. There is only one who will never abandon you. You can trust Jesus to listen. You can trust Jesus to hold you when you are broken-hearted. He alone is your refuge!
Father, we acknowledge we are broken and ask for You to fill us with Your presence. Fill us with Your joy! Let us not look to others to fill our void, but only to Jesus, our refuge and portion, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
He alone is your refuge! Wow! I needed that reminder this evening. No matter the day you’ve had, not matter the interactions, rest assured tonight when you lay your head on your pillow, that He alone is your refuge.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Ephesians 2:10
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Aug '19
Success in God’s Eyes
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Aug '19
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23)
If someone were to ask you to define “success,” what would you say? No doubt, there would be about as many different answers as the number of people asked. One thing, however, is sure…our culture is obsessed with success.
We are obsessed not only with our own personal success, but we may be even more obsessed with providing our children with the tools they need to become successful. We all do our best, but a lot of times, there’s confusion about what constitutes real success.
There’s a nebulous understanding that success means that our child will one day get a good education, have a good job, a good family and be a good citizen. But that is a very short-sighted view. It’s not very successful if our children grow up to have worldly success for fifty years and then spend eternity in hell. That’s a temporary success, but an eternal failure. So, what’s God’s definition?
In God’s eyes, success means discovering His will for your life and using that purpose for His glory, rather than our own. We must see that big picture when setting our own goals, and especially when guiding our children down the road of life. When a child grows to understand that, then the child has a far greater chance of experiencing real, lasting success. Why? Because they will have found success in God’s eyes as well.
When I read this devotion it blessed me. What a reminder of the true meaning of success in God’s eyes. I pray this encourages you today.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is 2 Thessalonians 3:3