When we have a fresh encounter with God and He reveals His presence to us, we are likely to be overwhelmed with awe and a sense of our unworthiness. This should cause us to be humbled, and we should desire to repent and return to obedience and fellowship with our Lord.
Imagine the life-changing decisions made by those who actually saw Christ's healing love touches? Sweet Jesus even said, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Those who believe without seeing are blessed." (John 20:29 HCSB)
The prophet Habakkuk recorded a third prayer to God. This prayer was in the form of a song written for the choir director to be song with stringed instruments. Habakkuk responded to what God foretold of the judgment of Israel by the invading Babylonians. Even though God declared that He would defend His people with His mighty arm, Habakkuk "trembled within" as he waited quietly for the Lord’s deliverance.
This is when Paul says…
Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone (Romans 12:18 NLT).
Then, in verses 19-21, he proceeds to say don’t pay the person back with evil or revenge. Instead, Paul wisely says to calm the person down who is persecuting you by sharing food and drink with them. Paul explains that the best way to conquer evil is by doing good.
While I wait, I am to live a pure and blameless lifestyle based on the correct teaching of God’s wisdom in the letters Paul wrote (verse 15).
What will ignorant and unstable people do? At the end, they are going to distort or twist the teaching in God’s word to mean something very different than what God intended (verse 16).
This hope the Lord gives is encouraging! The truth is His covenant of peace will not be shaken and His love will not be removed, no matter how much turmoil is happening around me.
I have an old self, a former way of life, that is corrupted by deceitful desires that seem to cling to me like that old shriveled up leaf clinging to the tree. It takes super-natural help from the Holy Spirit to push off the old self… to make it let go.
The Lord is merciful and gives me my basic needs when I ask.
But how often do I ask for the salvation for another or the gift of the Holy Spirit?
I don’t ask enough.
I found that convicting.
Ah, providence—God’s providence is everywhere in the story of Joseph: “God both possesses and exercises absolute power over the works of his hands.”* As Kelly Minter writes: “Is it possible that what appears to be nothing but a tangle of other people’s agendas will somehow be the very ball of yarn God will use to weave one of the most redemptive masterpieces in human history?”**
Yes, when the time is right God is always faithful to His promises. Joseph’s perspective, and ours, is limited to what we can see. God has the big picture. Only in hindsight do we see as He sees.
I call such moments “aha” moments—when biblical truths begin to connect with one another revealing the overarching plan of God from creation to His return. Such moments arrive as a gentle wave of delight as I embrace such glorious truths.
Each Sunday I check my calendar for the coming week and count the mornings I do not need to set my alarm. Waking up to the natural light of day rather than waking to an alarm ranks near the top of my list of small pleasures.
The darkness that arrives at night hides the beauty of the surrounding landscape, the power of the hawk’s flight, the intricacies of a spider’s web, and the delicate green moss growing on the North side of the Oak tree. When I turn out the lights inside my home, darkness also hides my favorite birthday photo—six smiling grandgirls embracing me. All this beauty remains hidden until the morning light again reveals its presence.
Jesus spoke of “ears trained to hear” when speaking to the crowds of John the Baptist—the one the prophets had predicted would come to prepare the way for the Messiah. Those who had trained their hearts to hear spiritual truth accepted what Jesus said. Others failed to understand. Their ears could not hear.
Rather than silver and gold, I pray that my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will seek a godly reputation for their lives. I also pray that memories of my life might render similar joyful tales that my mother’s life left behind!
It is easy to fall into the rhythm of thinking I have control over my future. When things go
in a different direction,I need to realize that God may have something better in store.
Penelope J. Stokes said it this way, “It is not success that demonstrates the power of
God, but perseverance.”
Help us Father when face trials to stay the course. Having a heart of perseverance
knowing You are right there with us through it all.
