Tag Archives: devotional

God came near

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I’ve been telling a friend of mine who has some choices to make that God promised he would give us wisdom when we ask, it says so in the Bible, his Word. (James 1:5) So I’ve been praying that way for her and He is answering, bit by bit, and helping her decide.

Throughout the morning some concerns started piling up in my heart and I knew I needed some quiet time, so during my lunch hour I practiced what I’ve read in the Word about praying and laying all my anxieties before God and thanking Him for as much as my little brain can think of.  (Philippians 4:6-7)  I talked with Jesus as I would any friend and opened up my hands, letting go and remembering that everything is under control but not mine, God’s.  I drove back to work feeling lighter and at peace.

God’s Word is truth, I’ve proven it in my life over and over.  It’s living and active, has the power to convince us to change, to surrender, to try, to wait, to believe, to love.

The Bible says that God’s living Word is Jesus and Jesus is our Emmanuel: God with us.

I guess I missed a day in my “Jesus Calling” devotional because I realized today I was reading December 12th when it’s really the 13th.  It was good, though, because what I read was just what I needed today.  “If you could only see how close I am to you and how constantly I work on your behalf, you’d never again doubt that I’m wonderfully caring for you.”

Why do I doubt it?  Why do I forget that God is as close as my breath, and even closer still than that?  I needed a reminder that God came near and that He chose to do so.  My piddly existence is worth something to Him, a mystery I may never understand!

He is near.  He is living and active.  He is Emmanuel, God with me, near me, by my side and on my side.

He came near and stays near, always awake, always faithful, always present.  He doesn’t turn away or leave or abandon.

Be near, O God.  My Savior, Emmanuel!

 

On being dirty and knowing it

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As part of my morning routine, I’m reading a devotional book in which there is an excerpt from one of C.S. Lewis’ books for each day.  They’re short and they’re all from books he wrote about faith…very interesting.  Sometimes they’re pretty deep for 6 in the morning, but most of the time they open my eyes to new ways of understanding this Christian journey I’m on.

Today’s was about how we view ourselves as good, bad or otherwise.  A person who has begun to be cleansed/changed by God begins to see more and more how bad they really are/were.  But a person who hasn’t begun that process has no frame of reference for good or bad and thinks they’re pretty good.  It’s a little confusing but I thought of this illustration:  there have been times when I’ve cleaned a spot on the carpet where someone spilled something or one of the animals didn’t quite make it outside and afterward the spot I cleaned is noticeably brighter and cleaner than the rest of the surrounding carpet.  It’s only then that I realize how dirty the whole carpet must be!  Yikes.

spotlightOr think of yourself wearing black clothes in a moderately dark room.  You could be covered in lint and “fuzzies” but none really show because of your dim surroundings.  Walk into a bright spotlight, like the ones they use in a play, and suddenly every little speck, hair or particle is visible to everyone.  Flaws and smudges you didn’t even realize were there are suddenly glaringly obvious.

As we grow closer to and more like Jesus, allowing God to prune away more and more of our old sinful selves, we realize what sad shape we were in and would still be in if it weren’t for his love and grace!   The more he washes us the more we realize we need to be washed.  Does that make sense? Continue reading →