God knows what He can do through your life if you’re willing to open yourself up to Him. He’ll remove obstacles such as pride, fear, and greed that hinder your spiritual growth. Then He’ll build in qualities such as humility, forgiveness, and faith.
Excerpted from Unlimiting God by Richard Blackaby
Daily Reflection: Are you satisfied with your present state of service to God? Or are you open to growtheven when its painful?
“Instead of applauding Martha, Jesus gently rebukes her, telling her Mary has chosen ‘what is better.’ Or, as another translation puts it, ‘Mary has chosen the better part’ (NRSV).
‘The better part?’ Martha must have echoed incredulously.
‘The better part!’ I say to God in the midst of my own whirl of activity. ‘You mean there’s more? I have to do more?’
No, no, comes the answer to my tired heart. Jesus’ words in Luke 10 are incredibly freeing to those of us on the performance treadmill of life.
It isn’t ‘more’ he requires of us.
In fact, it may be less.”
Excerpted from Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver
Daily Reflection: Do you strive to do more for God or simply be by His side?
“The first day of December every year, my mother posts four folded sheets of lined notebook paper on the refrigerator door, with our names written on top. MOM. DAD. SUSAN. ELEANOR. We’re supposed to list the things we really really want for Christmas so the gift giving will be correct and efficient. I always found that odd. In my view, the point of choosing presents is to get to know the other person so well that you don’t have to be told what she really really wants for Christmas. You just know it. If somebody gives you something you don’t like, like a puce sweater or a Nehru jacket with gold trim well, that just tells you something, doesn’t it?”
Excerpted from My Mother’s Wish by Jerry Camery-Hoggatt
Daily Reflection: Do you know those around you well enough that you [ … ]
As David prayed in Psalm 139:13, 16,
You created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Bottom line? Your life is also a spiritual phenomenon. You are one of God’s crowning achievements. You are the full expression of His creative geniusand no troubled marriage or disastrous employment record or sin-dogged season on your part can possibly change this fact.
God was at His very best when He made you.
Excerpted from How God Makes Men by Patrick Morley
Daily Reflection: When times are tough, how can you remind yourself of Gods love for you as His unique child?
Certain dates evoke emotion in each of us. A personal favorite is the fourth Thursday of November, a day of gratefulness. Family members come from all over the Midwest to indulge in the gluttony. They bring dozens of dishes, including pies, cakes, casseroles, and turkey. We laugh and play games until the inevitable comatose nap at 2:30
God gave us gifts and opportunities to produce so we can leverage our productivity in celebration and gratefulness to Him.
By Gods grace and power, I want to make a profit. I want to save. I want to give to others as He has given to me. I want to invest in others like He invested in me. When we begin to understand these things, our embittered hearts begin to soften.
Excerpted from Godonomics by Chad Hovind
Daily Reflection: This Thanksgiving, [ … ]
“If you want to grow your faith, grow your gratitude. To grow your gratitude, take time to count your blessings.
When you take time to stop and look around you—to look at the people who invest in you and those from the past who helped build your character and your life—you remember things that you can never take credit for. They were given to you, like Grandma’s prayers that accompanied you on your salvation journey, like the providence of God that led you to meet your spouse, like the miracle birth of your child, circumstances that allowed you to go to college, the friend of a friend who paved the path for your first job. Once you start counting blessings—many of them ones you have never before acknowledged—you will be overwhelmed. Once you start the list, you’ll find it’s [ … ]
“Psalm 139:1316:
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marveloushow well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed
It’s one thing to believe that God loves you as one among many. It’s another thing altogether to trust that God knows what you’re going through, that He cares, and that He has the power and desire to watch over you personally.”
Excerpted from Man [ … ]
“Father, I confess that I often fail to recognize the truth that every good gift comes from Your hand. I pray Your Holy Spirit would give me a fresh awareness and a thankful heart for the very life You freely give me each day and for the gift of eternal life You so freely offer. Help me to see Your hand in the smallest details of my world and teach me to celebrate life each and every day. Thank You for Your faithfulness to me and for Your unfailing love that sustains every step I take. I want to live a life that truly celebrates You! In Jesus’s name, amen.”
Excerpted from Knowing God by Name by Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith, and Mary Southerland
Daily Reflection: How can you show your thankfulness for Gods gifts this week?
What are you running from, Miss Campbell? Gordon knew he had no business posing such a question. Not when he was on the run himself.
Then stop running. Gordon looked down at the toes of his boots. Could he do so? Stop fleeing from his past and simply face it? Confess who he was and what he’d done?
Be strong and of a good courage. A gentler voice this time, stirring deep inside him.
Gordon could ignore his conscience, but he could not disregard the Almighty. He lifted his head. You’ll help me, Lord? Show me what to do, tell me what to say? Gordon was not afraid of words; they were his livelihood. But an apology for so great an error would not be easily spoken.
***
It’s hard to say, “I was wrong” or “I’m sorry.” Yet [ … ]
My life was full of good intentionsthose things we write down in journals and share with friends or family, the important ideas that make us feel good about ourselves, the things we know we’re “supposed” to do as followers of Christ. But for too many of us, our good intentions never become good actions. Without action, good intentions don’t move us forward, draw us closer to God, or make a difference in the world. Good intentions are cans of paint that could have become amazing works of artbut never did.
Excerpted from Ten Days Without by Daniel Ryan Day
Daily Reflection: What are some of the fears or distractions that are keeping you from doing those good intentions you find yourself talking about?
