Weekly Devotional - "God In My Thinking" - 9/24/12

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

 

GOD IN MY THINKING

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Tim Hughes' song, “Everything”, is a beautiful prayer put to music that asks God to be in our living, breathing, waking, sleeping, resting, working, thinking, and more. The chorus repeats the heart’s cry, “Be my everything! Be my everything! Be my everything! Be my everything!”

Imagine a mind cleared of every distraction, worry, and preoccupation and the only thing filling it is Jesus: thoughts of Jesus, love for Jesus, worship for Jesus. What if God occupied every square inch of our thought life?  

Within his book, The Art of Prayer, Khariton says that a mind emptied of everything but God would keep the enemy far away! He writes, “When thieves approach a house in order to creep up to it and steal, and hear someone inside talking, they do not dare to climb in; in the same way, when our enemies try to steal into the soul and take possession of it they creep all round but fear to enter when they hear that . . . prayer welling out.”

Our minds are the gatekeepers to all we say and think and the women that we become. Prayer posts guards at the gates of our mind to defend and keep us from evil. When we pray about everything, God’s peace protects and guards our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:6-7)!  

Prayer shifts our mindset from our problems to God’s promises, purpose, and power. It moves our mind’s chatter from self-talk to God talk.

Are you anxious because you can’t figure out what to do next with your children, mortgage, or your life? Pray, trust God, and listen to Him. He will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Are you exhausted, doing all you can do to keep one foot moving in front of the over? Pray and go to God. He will give you rest (Matthew 1:28-30).

Are you lonely, feeling misunderstood and isolated? Pray and remember God’s promise. He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

Are prayers constantly welling from your heart and mind (1 Thessalonians 5:17)? When talking and listening to God continually fills every nook and cranny of our thoughts, the lies of the world, our sinful nature, and the enemy are squeezed out of our mind. There’s not room for both in the house.

Think on it: Do you typically spend more time talking to yourself or to God?   

Prayer is the very highest energy of which the mind is capable.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Weekly Devo - "Whatever is True" - 9/17/12

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

 

WHATEVER IS TRUE

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:17

We live in a time where the Bible has never been more accessible. It’s available online, in apps, Christian bookstores, thrift stores, and even rummage sales. Sadly, having easy access to Scripture doesn’t mean it’s being read.

In a recent survey of more than 2,900 Protestant churchgoers, LifeWay Research discovered that while 90 percent of those polled “desire to please and honor Jesus in all I do,” only 19 percent personally read the Bible every day. Based on these stats, eighty percent of Christians are living today dependent on the past. They’re relying on past Bible reading, past sermons, past Bible studies, rather than daily and actively arming themselves for the fight with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

That’s a dangerous percentage when we live in a world that barrages us with deceitful messages, false ideas, subtle and out-and-out blatant lies about who God is and what He wants us to do.

One of my greatest joys is mentoring young women whose knowledge of God and Scripture is as diverse as their personalities and life experiences. During one Bible study, a gal confessed that she wanted to pluck someone’s eyes out. Her friend said, “She deserves it! Plus the Bible says, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’” She looked at me for confirmation.

“Let’s look it up,” I said. And in reading their Bibles they discovered that although she remembered the line “eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” from her childhood, the context of these words within Jesus’ command to love your enemies, eclipsed her (Matthew 5:38-44).

Within the familiar children’s song we sing, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” That knowledge of Jesus’ love, of who He is, of how He wants us to think and what He wants us to think about is found in the Bible. Knowing Jesus’ love should not be based on our feelings, hearsay, or even lovely devotionals that inspire our hearts. We know His love by reading the Bible, the greatest love story ever told: His story of redemption. We read Scripture because faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

If we’re going to think on whatever is true (Philippians 4:8), we must read the word of truth (John 17:17). Everyday.

Think on it: Does God speak to you everyday in Scripture? If not, do not go to bed tonight until you’ve read His Word.  

A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.

Charles Spurgeon

Weekly Devotion - "A Willing Mind" - 9/10/11

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

A WILLING MIND

And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

1 Chronicles 28:9

It’s one thing to be good at something, to have the ability, power, or giftedness to make something happen. It’s quite another to be willing to use it.

Pharaoh had the power to let the Israelites go, but he wasn’t willing (Exodus 10:27). Bezalel, Oholiab, and other skilled men and women had the ability and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship that were needed for the construction of the Tabernacle, and were willing to come and do the work (Exodus 36:2).

King David understood the importance of willingness. He instructed his son Solomon to serve God with a willing mind, and it was his personal prayer: Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (Psalm 51:12).

God speaks to us through His creation, His Word, His Spirit, and others. He prompts thoughts during Bible reading, morning runs, afternoon commutes, and coffee with friends. When He nudges us to write a note, or whispers that we’ve been neglecting time in the Word, or presses a person or situation firmly in our spirit, how do we respond? Are we willing or reluctant? Do we obey or retort with excuses and delay tactics?

If you’re currently mulling over something you know God is prompting you to do, think on this: The LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts (1 Chronicles 28:9). We may fool others and even ourselves with our reluctance, but we’ll never deceive God. He sees and understands all of our thoughts, words, and ways.

Nehemiah thought about the broken walls of Jerusalem, and after fasting and prayer was willing to take the lead to rebuild it. Isaiah saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and heard His question, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And he readily and willingly responded, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:1,8). When the Holy Spirit repeatedly warned Paul that prison and hardship were part of his future, he didn’t stall or turn around. Instead he willingly followed where God led and said, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace (Acts 20:23-24)

Think on it: How willing are you to complete the task the Lord Jesus has given to you?

The faith that saves is the total response of the whole self to the will of God.  It is the response of the mind in belief, the heart in trust, the will in conduct.  It is to accept the fact that God goes all out for us, and then to be willing to go all out for God.

John Redhead

Weekly Devotional - "Whatever You Think Best" - 9/4/12

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

 

WHATEVER YOU THINK BEST

“Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

Genesis 16:6

The first time Sarai did what she thought best, she told her husband Abram to sleep with her maidservant Hagar so they could build a family through her (Genesis 16:2). Although Abram knew and believed God’s promise that he would have a son, and in God’s time would be blessed with offspring as uncountable as the stars in the sky, he agreed to do what Sarai said (Genesis 15:4-6, 16:1-2).

When you do what you think seems best, instead of obeying God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go (Isaiah 48:17), trouble is sure to follow. As soon as Hagar realized she was pregnant, she began to despise Sarai. Sarai in turn, points her blaming finger at Abram, and Abram treats the messy affair like a hot potato (Genesis 16:4-5).

“Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best” (Genesis 16:6a). History repeats itself. Instead of pursuing God and His wisdom, Sarai again does what she thinks best and mistreats Hagar who then flees (Genesis 16:6b).

It’s the natural inclination of our heart to do what we think is best instead of seeking and surrendering to God’s best plan for our lives. There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God (Romans 3:10-11).

The world consults horoscopes, friends, blogs, and their gut feeling to determine what to do when. If it feels good, it must be right. If it doesn’t, they take the opposite fork in the road.

There’s one sure way to know what steps God wants us to take next, and that’s to ask Him! Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your way truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long (Psalm 25:4-5).

Many who seek God say, “I wish He would just write the answer on the wall, or send an email or a text, telling me what I’m supposed to take next.” The good news is that when we seek God’s best, for the sake of His name He will lead and guide us (Psalm 31:3), not occasionally or randomly, but the LORD will guide you always (Isaiah 58:11, emphasis added). God uses His Spirit (John 16:13), His Word, (Psalm 119:105), and His wisdom (James 1:5) to reveal what He knows is best for you and me.

Think on it: What decisions are weighing heavy in your mind right now? Think about what you’re thinking about and follow His will, instead of your way today.

Since God expects you and me to live in obedience to His will, He will not hide it from us. But He does expect us to prayerfully seek it.

Anne Graham Lotz