UPLIFTING DEVOTIONS

Sitting at the Feet of JESUS (part B)

Lord, YOUR SPIRIT keeps reminding me of the words of this hymn.  As I have been pondering them, it has made me wonder if others can notice when I have been sitting at the feet of JESUS?

MY child, when you spend time with ME, and continually get to know ME better, others cannot help but notice it.  Have you ever seen coal or wood burning in a fire?  What happens when one of those embers pops out of the fire and lands away from it?  I don't need to tell you what happens.  You know that as long as it is in the fire, it is hot and glowing, but once it leaves the fire it gets cold and goes out.  That is the same with the Christian life.  While you are enjoying that close relationship with ME, you will be warmed and glow because you cannot help it, but if you drift away, you will become cold in heart.  Oh, you won't lose your salvation, but there will be something missing in your life.
Have you seen unhappy Christians?  Of course you have!  Do you know if they were spending "real quality time" with ME, and not just going though the motions, they "couldn't" be unhappy! Why--because they would understand that everything they have, and all the blessings that they enjoy both here on earth, and in heaven, comes from MY hand.  How could you be unhappy knowing that?  MY children should always have a smile on their face. They ought to be a happy people when they think of all that I have blessed them with.  What could possibly make them so unhappy, when I as their heavenly FATHER have only given them MY very best?
Now--have you seen other Christians that are passing through deep, deep waters, and yet they have a joy and peace about them.  Why is that?  It is because they know ME in a real way and are trusting the ONE who has allowed these things to happen.  Do they understand "Why?"  Absolutely not,  but they are choosing joy that comes from knowing ME, and not from their circumstances.
They aren't playing at being a Christian!  They want to be real and to show others what JESUS would do no matter what the situation.  It is their number one priority to honour Me and to BE obedient to ME in everything they do.

So MY child, smile and be happy!  After all, would you want to get to know someone, if they were always grumpy and unhappy? Remember, others see ME through you!  Do others see JESUS when they look at you?

My prayer:  O LORD, help others to see JESUS when they look at me.  Let me choose this day to be happy, and to choose that joy that can only be found in knowing YOU. 

 

 

How many things have you started and not finished?

...So Moses finished the work.  Exodus 40:33

Heavenly FATHER, I confess that so many things that I have started over the years, have never got finshed and O LORD, it seems to be getting worse each year!  I really need YOUR help in this area of my life.

MY dear child, I know everything you have started and never completed.  I even know the things that you cannot remember having started!  Your problem is you do not stay focused!  You just keep going from thing to thing, never completing anything.

Have you ever thought what would have happened, if JESUS had got sidetracked and hadn’t finished the work He came to do?  What if HE had not died on the cross for your sins?  Where would you be today?  If HE had not cried that victorious cry from the cross, “It is finished,” then you would have thought there was something you needed to do, to get to heaven.  However, there is nothing to do, for JESUS finished the work!

It is so awesome to be able to say, “It is finished!”  In creation, after each thing was finished, it was good.  At the end of the sixth day, when the work was finished, the Bible says, "GOD rested on the seventh day."  Wouldn’t you like to finish something and then be able to rest, having that peace of mind in knowing it was done? 

So today, make a list of all the things you need to do and then prioritize them. It might seem overwhelming, but start at the beginning, stay focused, and work at the first thing on your list till it is completed.  Then move on to the next.  If it is clutter you are trying to get rid of, ask yourself, "Do I need it or have I used it in the past 6 months?"  If not, then either throw it out, or pass it on to someone who can use it.  Just don't keep moving it from one place to the next.  This is going to take you a while but you know that this "stuff" did not come overnight!  Continue to work at it, till each job is finished.  Even if you can work at it 15-30 minutes a day, it will surprise you how many things you can complete.

Now I want you to stop and imagine the feeling that will come over you, when you can say, “With the LORD’S help, I finished that job."  Then you will have peace and satisfaction, knowing that you finally completed that project!

My prayer:
O FATHER, help me to stay focused and to finish one thing at a time, before moving on to the next!   This will help me to not only complete the jobs, but to get rid of the clutter, not only here, but in my mind!

How Great THOU Art!

As I was driving back and forth to the hospital to visit my husband who had a knee replacement, a hymn kept coming to mind.  It was cloudy outside, and as I was driving, the sun suddenly burst forth through the clouds, and I was reminded of GOD, my Creator, and the words of that beautiful hymn, "How Great THOU Art!"
It is the second verse though that means so much to me, and renders me speechless, when I think of the debt of love I owe to my SAVIOUR for all that HE has done for me!  I wonder, what does that verse mean to you?  Is HE your SAVIOUR?

How Great THOU Art!  Written by Carl Boberg

O LORD my GOD, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds THY hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
THY power throughout the universe displayed!

Then sings my soul, my SAVIOUR GOD, to THEE;
How great THOU art, how great THOU art!
Then sings my soul, my SAVIOUR GOD to THEE;
How great THOU art, how great THOU art!

And when I think that GOD, HIS SON not sparing,
Sent HIM to die, I scarce can take it in--
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

My Prayer:
FATHER, words fail, but I just want to return and say, "Thanks for giving your only SON to die for my sins!"  LORD, please help me never to forget the cost of my redemption and may others even today, come to know YOU as their LORD and SAVIOUR too!