Beyond Ourselves
When Waves of Hopelessness Pound Your Heart
You need hope. I need hope. Our loved ones need hope. Where do we find it? Do we practice “self-talk” and tell ourselves we are “happy and fine” when we aren’t? Or do we kneel, look up in praise, and cry out to the One who has gone before us to heaven and intercedes for us? Hebrews 6:19 describes our relationship with Jesus in this way,
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered…”
Our hope in Jesus is an anchor for our soul. Personalize that truth. My hope in Jesus is an anchor for my soul. Think about that. It’s amazing! We don’t have to emotionally drift into an ocean of despair. Yes, waves of hopelessness may at times pound our hearts and seem like they will overwhelm us. But when you feel that way, sweet friend, place your hope in your loving Savior. You are not going to drift beyond His sight or hold. He’s got you. Our hope in Christ is an anchor for our soul.
Jesus, sweet Savior, thank You for being the anchor of my soul. Thank You that I will never drift from your grasp.
Let’s Be Amazed
Throughout the Bible, the word “amazed” is used to describe people’s reactions to God. Mark 1:22 records that people “were amazed at His (Jesus) teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” The New Testament word “amazed” means astonished, thrown into wonderment. Jesus’ teachings astonished people. Matthew 12:23 records that when Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute so that he could see and talk, “All the crowds were amazed and were saying, ‘This man cannot be the Son of David, can He?'” When Jesus rose from the dead, they were “thrown into wonderment.” Oh, that we be amazed, astonished, and thrown into wonderment at our Lord. Keep your eyes open, friend, for how Jesus is working in your life and in the lives of others. You may find that you’re amazed.
Lord Jesus, we praise You, our AMAZING Lord.
*Amazing” is 1 of 365 ways God is described. Learn the other ways He is described by signing up to get this daily devotional. HERE.
It’s Not Too Late
Do you wish you could do something positive to help? Help what? Anything! Help mend a relationship. Help tone down the anger among people. Help people turn their eyes to the Lord. All of those are big Christian actions and all of them are needed. How might you do them? Follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. How? When does He prompt? In our hearts. In our minds. But best as I can tell, we have to have alone time with Him to develop our relationship, to learn His voice, to know His ways. Our heart has to be in the right place – one of worship. We have to want Him more than we want our “own time” or sin or habits or laziness. He says, “If you seek me..” (Deuteronomy 4:29; Proverbs 8:17; Jeremiah 29:13; Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9; Acts 17:24-28) If we haven’t been so close to God that we know His voice and experience His prompts, it’s not too late to get close to Him, to learn His voice and be used by Him. Christ called Paul in the midst of his trip to arrest Jews who had started following Christ. The Lord spoke to Abraham when he was 99 years old. Genesis 17:1-2 says, “
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God ALMIGHTY; Walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.’”
Ninety-nine and God ALMIGHTY says, I’m the “most powerful God who holds sway over all things. Walk blameless before Me.” It’s never too late to open our ears, minds, and hearts to God ALMIGHTY. It’s never too late to say, “Hold sway over my heart.” It’s never too late to be used for God’s purposes. Will we seek Him? Will we ask Him to hold sway over our hearts? Will we learn His voice and obey His prompts? Make the move today toward a closer, more intimate walk with God.
ALMIGHTY God, forgive us for busying ourselves with things of the world that are meaningless in view of eternity and people’s souls. Forgive us for closing our hearts rather than opening them to Your powerful sway. We ask now, “Hold sway over my heart so I walk blamelessly before You.”
*Excerpt from Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion- a timely read for 2022.
Take Comfort Knowing Jesus Is Alive in Heaven & Sees You
Have you ever been startled to see someone you didn’t expect? There have been a number of times that my husband has startled me and I assure you, I jumped. Considering how we may have been startled by someone we didn’t expect, can you imagine how startling it was for the disciple John to unexpectedly see the ascended Lord Jesus in heaven? John was on the island of Patmos when he was suddenly taken into Christ’s presence. What was his response? He fell at Jesus’s feet like a dead man. Revelation 1:18 records what Jesus said to John,
I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,…”
John had seen Christ crucified and buried. He had seen the resurrected Christ. He had seen Jesus ascend in the clouds into heaven. But to Jesus alive in heaven and to hear Jesus explaining that He is alive forevermore had to be more startling than we can imagine. If your today looks unbearable and you dread tomorrow, don’t. A day of glorious eternal LIFE awaits you in the presence of Jesus. In the meantime and while we are still on earth, find comfort knowing that Jesus is alive in heaven. Find comfort knowing that He knew where John was and He knows where you are. Find comfort knowing that Jesus is mindful of you, just like He was John. Believe.
LORD JESUS CHRIST, we praise You, who died for us, are alive forevermore, and are mindful of where we are.
Finger Pointing, Rock Slinging Reversal
Peace between people. Is it a dream? Is it a far-fetched wish? Is it an impossibility? It seems to be. Why? Because although we aren’t perfect, we expect others be perfect. Now, think about something with me. What if that’s how Jesus related to us? What if the Father, Son, and Spirit demanded our perfection 24/7? What if when we didn’t live up to their expectations, we were out the door, banned forever, with no path of reconciliation? I hope and pray that each of us can in at the least the tiniest of ways have a deep appreciation that God treats us differently than some people treat one another. In fact, not only does our Lord not hold our sins over our heads, it’s important to Him that we live free of condemnation. Remember when the Jews were itching to stone a woman caught in adultery? They had the rocks in their hands. Their self-righteous arms were wound for throw. But when Jesus confronted them, when He invited the one who was sin free to use his rock to pellet her, the self-righteous slunk away. What did the Lord of Lords then do? If you said, pellet her with rocks because she was guilty and deserving of punishment, you’re right and you’re wrong. You’re correct in saying she was deserving of death according to the Law. You are incorrect, however about Jesus’s response. He told her He didn’t condemn her and for her to go and sin no more. Jesus wants the same for us. He is our Advocate, as 1 John 2:1 explains,
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
There it is. The Bible is our guide on how not to sin and hopefully, we’re asking Jesus to help us walk in His steps. When we have mis-steps, which we will, what a blessing that we have the full assurance Jesus is our Advocate just as He was for the adulterous woman. Only when we arrive in heaven will we fully appreciate the magnitude of Jesus winning our court case by taking our guilt on Himself.
Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Advocate. Help us be mindful of Your Word. Help us walk according to it.
Your character trait of God to record in Prayers of My Heart and for which to praise Him: Advocate.
Why FOR Never Works
Do you get frustrated when you “blow it” in regard to your Christian walk? I do. Almost every day, I’m mindful of something I should have done or could have done that would have brought honor to Christ. The reminder in 2 Corinthians 3:5 helps me in those times. It says, “
Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.
The word “adequacy” in this verse means sufficiency, ability, or competency. Here we find a key to our desire to live “for” Christ. We can’t live “for” Him in our own strength. Rather, we need to let Christ live His life IN and through us. His adequacy is the key. Our ability to be and our ability to do that to which God calls us comes from God in us. Instead of trying to live the Christian life in our own strength, we can pray, ”Fill me with YOUR Spirit so I walk by Your adequacy.” That is our hope-filled prayer.
Thank You, LORD, that Christ is in us and He is adequate.
*This is one of God’s 365 attributes for which we can praise and trust Him. Second Corinthians 3:5 is a good verse to memorize. If you have Prayers of My Heart, record it in the “Meditations, Notes, and Prayers” section. Then record your prayer for Christ to fill you with His Spirit.
If Back Room Power Plays Are Getting You Down
Recently there seems to be an increase in back room power plays among people. It is disturbing regardless of what person, political party, or entity you support. I suppose that’s why I find such joy meditating on Jesus. He is the only one who is pure and He is the ultimate one to whom we can look. In addition, it also helps to remember that He is above all. Yes, Ephesians 1:20-21 clearly states that Jesus is seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Aren’t those beautiful words on which to meditate? Jesus is above every rule and authority and power and dominion. ABOVE all. Above ALL. Do we get it? Christ is ABOVE ALL, not only in this age but also in the age to come. Hallelujah! And, this is especially good news. He is our friend. He urges us to tell Him our needs. He offers to help when we call on Him. What a wonderful Savior!
Lord Jesus, You who are far ABOVE ALL rule and authority and power and dominions, we love and worship You. Thank You for the reminder.
Psst: If you’ve just started daily journaling God’s attributes on which you can meditate and rejoice, write “Above All” or, “Far Above All” for today.
Do You Need a “Yet” in Your Life
Have you ever given yourself a good hard look and thought, “I can’t do it”? Maybe you did some soul searching after hearing a sermon on forgiveness. After contemplating if you could forgive a person, you thought, “I can’t.” Or maybe you’ve had surgery and were told to get up and walk down the hall. Laying in bed you considered how weak you felt. The idea of swinging your legs over the bed seemed impossible and to touch your feet to the hospital floor and take steps insurmountable. Maybe you’ve been nauseated. You haven’t slept. You’re weak. You contemplate your twin’s cries to be lifted from their crib and you don’t think you have the strength to take care of them all day. The above situations are ones you’ve perhaps experienced, and somewhere deep down inside you ended up realizing that hard as it was, you were able to do the hard work before you. But there was another person who contemplated his situation and unlike the ones we ended up being able to do, he truly wasn’t able. Yet God was telling him a result that was expected. We find the situation being recounted in Romans 4:17-21. God told Abraham he would be the father of many nations and that he would father a child with his wife, Sarah. But listen to his odds for doing that. “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;” Stop right there. Can’t you just see it? Abraham is looking at his body. He’s staring at it. Contemplating it. “Isn’t going to happen,” he must be thinking. But even if a miracle happened with his body, he turns and looks at his wrinkled wife and contemplates that she wasn’t able to get pregnant in her fertile years. Not going to happen.
“Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform, Romans 4:20-21.”
Amazing! Whoop it up with me will you? Do you need a “yet”? A “yet with respect to the promises of God” in your life? God is here for us. Refresh your knowledge of how His promises are relevant by studying 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude.
In Times of Trouble
In your lifetime, how many people have you seen take positions of leadership and then be unseated? People and countries are often shaken by these changes. While some people are hopeful, others are fearful. Of the many assurances the Bible gives us, one is that our Heavenly Father has an eternal reign. He is seated on a throne and there is no person or principality who can unseat him. Psalm 9:7 assures us,
the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment.
Forever. Established. Those are comforting words. But what about his throne of judgment? The psalmist explains in verses 8-9.
And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble;
Good news. In addition to the comfort of knowing our Heavenly Father will remain long after our world’s rulers have come and gone, we have the comfort of knowing that He will judge the world righteously and be a stronghold for the oppressed. He is our stronghold, too, in our times of trouble. We can go to him. We can talk things over. What do you need to talk to him about today?
Heavenly Father, we praise You that You have established Your throne and no one can unseat You. Thank you for being a God of equity. Thank you that we can come to you when we’re having trouble.
When Fear Overtakes You
Have you ever seen the look in a child’s eyes when they were startled or afraid because they couldn’t see where their parent was? On the other hand, have you seen a child who is afraid look for and find their father and run to him? Have you heard a child cry for their parent? If so, consider Romans 8:15 that says believers have “
received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘ABBA FATHER.
Abba Father can be translated Daddy. So what does Romans 8:15 imply? It tells us that our relationship with God is tender and close. God has chosen to come close to us. He has chosen to embrace us. He has chosen to get into human skin so we can see and smell Him. We can watch and learn from Him. We can run to Him as children ran to Jesus and He embraced and blessed them. He protected and defended them. Our Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ deeply care for us. In a world that sometimes seems to have gone mad, it’s reassuring to know that we have a Heavenly Father. Although we may be startled or afraid at times due to the events in our life, nation, or world we can look to our Father and assured that He’s watching out for and over us.
Heavenly Father, ABBA FATHER, thank You for adopting us into Your family. When we fear, turn our eyes to You. Help us walk confidently through our day assured that You’ve got us.