Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>From Confusion To Christ

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Now behold, I have two daughters
who have not had relations with man;
please let me bring them out to you,
and do to them whatever you like;
only do nothing to these men,
inasmuch as they have come
under the shelter of my roof.
Genesis 19:8
When I was around twenty-four, I purchased a new Bible because I was going to read through the Bible from beginning to end. When I read this verse I became angry. I was appalled that this was in the Bible. I was appalled that a man could offer his two virgin daughters to a mob to be abused. I was angry with God for this to even be recorded in His Word, and when I came to Judges 19:22–26 and read of the abuse of a man’s concubine, I put my Bible down and could read no further for days. I was hurt and confused. I didn’t understand. I had experienced rape, and the attitudes, the hearts of these men, made me nauseous.
After a while, God moved me to pick my Bible back up and continue my journey. I know now that it was the sweet whispers of the Holy Spirit drawing me with His “bonds of love” (Hosea 11:4). It was as if Jesus was standing at the door of my heart, knocking, and when I opened His Word to seek understanding from Him about what I had read, it was as if I also opened the door to my heart.
By the time I read to 1 Chronicles, I realized I was lost. I knew about God, but I did not know God. I realized that my heart had never been changed. I had never surrendered my life to Christ. He was no more my Lord than He was the Lord of the men who heartlessly abused these women. I needed Christ just as much as these men who made me nauseous needed Him.
These men were living out the effects of a diseased heart, a depraved mind, and a dead spirit. The sad thing is that all around the world there are men and women still subjected to this type of behavior. Nations without Christ place little importance on life and on innocence. Nations that suppress the truth in unrighteousness are filled with all kinds of darkness.
There is no end to the depravity of our minds without Christ. There is no limit to the evil deeds that we can commit when we turn our backs on God. We can point our fingers at others, but we must first point our fingers at ourselves.
We must stop comparing ourselves to others and compare ourselves to the standard of God’s righteousness. When we do, we see how greatly we need Him. We also see how desperately He is calling out to us, wooing us, beckoning us to him. We also can see how desperately the world needs him.
All around the globe, women are still experiencing the treatment we read about in Genesis 19:8. I wish fewer women would rally around the pro-choice agenda and more would rally around the global treatment of women, of young girls, as human beings. For “in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).
What I have also learned through the Scriptures is that God does not enslave. God does not keep ignorant. God encourages freedom. He encourages intelligence. He created us in His image, and His desire is that we walk in Him—in His light, in His wisdom, and in His knowledge. Those who claim that believers in God are ignorant, weak, and foolish need to re-examine their history. Without the light of God, this world is a very dark place.
Oh Father,
What a privilege it is to be able to go in and share the love of Christ with women who have never known the value and worth that they hold in Your eyes; to be able to share with them that they are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Even if the world around them does not change, if they knew the truth, the reality of the depths of Your love, if they knew their true worth, oh Father, they could rejoice, no matter their outward circumstance. Oh Father, I lift these women up to You. I know not their names, not their countries, not their exact circumstances, but you do. Oh Father, may your Holy Spirit sweetly whisper in their ears and may You draw them with your bonds of love.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.

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Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries, Uncategorized

>Remaining Teachable

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>I just checked my Chuck Swindoll daily devotion and it’s one that I must share in its entirety not just randomly quoted.
So here it is:

Esther sustained a continually teachable spirit. “Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make them known . . . Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care” (Esther 2:10, 20).
Even becoming a finalist in this frenzied competition, or later, becoming queen, didn’t cause Esther to flaunt her independence and strut her stuff. Not this lady! This lovely, dignified, wise woman was still willing to listen and learn.
She remains a sterling example for women today. Some of you are wonderfully gifted teachers. You have the ability to stand before a group and to open the Scriptures or some other area of expertise and hold an audience in rapt attention with your insight and creativity. Others of you have distinguished yourself in public service. You have played prestigious roles and offices in the community. You may be well-traveled and rather confidently move in exclusive circles with powerful men and women whom you know on a first-name basis. There is nothing wrong with any of that. But let me ask, has that changed your teachability? Do you now see yourself as the consummate authority? Or has it simply made you aware of how vast your ignorance really is? I hope it is the latter.
Someone has said, “Education is going from an unconscious to conscious awareness of one’s ignorance.” I agree. No one has a corner on wisdom. All the name-dropping in the world doesn’t heighten the significance of your character. If anything, it reduces it. Our acute need is to cultivate a willingness to learn and to remain teachable. Learning from your children. Learning from your friends. Learning even from our enemies. How beautiful it is to find a servant-hearted, teachable spirit among those who occupy high-profile positions of authority.
Are you, like Esther, still willing to listen and learn?

Yeh, so I read, “let me ask, has that changed your teachability? Do you now see yourself as the consummate authority? Or has it simply made you aware of how vast your ignorance really is?”, and I had to stop and think…
Yeh I am at the point that I have come to realize that I am vastly ignorant, that is why I am constantly digging in God’s Word and researching and seeking and asking, because I have learned that as soon as I think I’ve got something all figured out, God throws me for a loop. He’ll send me a curve ball flying by so quick that it knocks me on my rear end in a split second. If I ever begin to get too big for my britches He reminds me right fast that I still have a lot of growing to do and a lot of learning to do.

This is one of the scariest things about teaching. I have to teach on the knowledge that I have at that point. I teach according to the measure of faith and grace given me one day at a time, and I have to trust that God will take my efforts and use them for the building up of those I teach and I pray that they never look at me as the final authority on any interpretation of the Scripture, for the only final authority is God. There is a big difference between my opinion on a matter and the correct interpretation of Scripture.

 But know this first of all,
that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 
for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will,
but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 
2 Peter 1:20-21
As I am growing in grace, I have learned that I can learn from any person, in any situation, at any time, when I am willing to submit to God and seek Him in all things.
Every moment is an opportunity to learn and grow in Him, even those moments of enemy attacks, sometimes especially in those moments of enemy attacks. I can learn how to discern an evil spirit, a false teacher, a fake friend, or a wrong way. I can learn how to forgive, how to give grace, how to extend mercy, and how to trust in God to repay.
When I remain teachable, I remain humble, when I remain humble, I remain under the mighty hand of God, and that’s where I want to be, under Him.
I am a disciple of Christ, a learner of the Lord, a professional student of the Prince of Peace. My heart and my mind must remain open to Him and His potters hands. 
Therefore humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you at the proper time.
1 Peter 5:6
You see I have learned that I only know in part. I know more than I did yesterday, but not as much as I’ll know tomorrow… Lord willing. Then in eternity, and not until eternity, I will fully know! Wow, every question answered!
You know there really is absolutely nothing more annoying than someone who will not listen and refuses to learn anything new or different than what they already know. They are stubborn, hard-headed, hard-hearted, and make you won’t to smack them across the back of the head. That is not who I want to be before God or anyone else.
Sometimes I don’t like the way God chooses to teach me. Sometimes He allows me to be embarrassed. Sometimes He allows me to be angered. Sometimes He allows me to be hurt. Sometimes He allows me to be surprised. Sometimes He allows me to be shocked.
But He whispers “See what I have been trying to tell you… I couldn’t get you to listen before, but now I have your attention… listen and learn… and know that I love you…”
Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries, Uncategorized

>Praying For Our Children’s Marriage and Purity

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>It’s been a while since I stepped back in time with you to share from my journals, so I believe for at least the next few days I will be doing that… God has stirred the journals up within me and brought it to my remembrance so I think I just might ought to obey.

Today we are stepping back in time to December 30, 2002. At this point I had been on fire for my God for a whole year!
This journal entry is only one of many written prayers over my children and nieces and nephews and one of countless spoken prayers over them.

Father,
I just lift Shelby and Ashleigh and Emoni and Alex up to You Lord.
I just ask that You be preparing them all a spouse Lord.
A spouse who walks in Your ways and lives by Your commands.
I ask that You prepare Shelby, Ashleigh, Emoni, and Alex for these spouses.
I pray that they will have the strength and heart and fear and love for You Lord that they will wait for the spouses You have prepared for them.
I pray for Shelby, Emoni, and Alex’s salvation.
I pray that Ashleigh will keep her eyes fixed on You!
I pray that they will all seek Your face and seek to know You intimately!
I pray Your hand of protection over them!
Keep them safe and surrounded by godly people who truly love You and them!
I pray that they will serve You with their lives and that they will be mighty witnesses for Your kingdom!
In Jesus name,
Amen
(Yes, I pray in exclamation points. I don’t know why. I just always have since I began writing down my prayers )
It is never too soon to begin praying for our children’s marriages. At the time of this journal entry my Shelby was only a year and a half and my Ashleigh was eleven. My niece Emoni was five and my nephew Alex was two and a half. My list of marital and purity prayers has grown tremendously since this day in 2003. My Bekah has been added and many more nieces and nephews and cousins and children (and yes even my college and young singles) who are mine in the Lord, because once I have met you and taught you I claim you as my prayer priority especially in the area of marriage and purity. It is the area that I struggled with and failed at greatly and the scars are many, so these scars that I carry remind me often to intercede on behalf of others in this area. 
Our children and loved ones may stumble in this area, but it doesn’t mean we stop praying. Grace and forgiveness and a new beginning is always available in Christ. He will help them bear His indignation while He restores them and stands them up on their feet again. I know this is true because He did it with me and there is no partiality with God.
 For the LORD your God is the God of gods
and the Lord of lords,
the great, the mighty, and the awesome God
who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
Deuteronomy 10:17
For there is no partiality with God
Romans 2:11
Scripture just can’t get more clearer than that 🙂
As parents we must not just pray for our children, but we must set clear standards and boundaries to protect our children’s sexual purity and future marriages. No we cannot stick them in a closet when they reach puberty and guard it with our semi-automatic and keep them there until we handpick their spouse and then take them from the closet bound and gagged and blindfolded until we get to the church to remove the gag right at the time for them to say “I do” at the altar, although we can dream…
But we can protect them and their innocence and guard their eyes and hearts. It is our job as parents to set the boundaries. I cringe when I hear of parents picking up their twelve year olds and dropping them off at the movies with a girlfriend/boyfriend. This is absolutely the worst time to leave your child in the dark alone with their hormones and a person of the opposite sex that puts butterflies in their stomach.
 We have a little sister,
And she has no breasts;
What shall we do for our sister
On the day when she is spoken for?
“If she is a wall,
We will build on her a battlement of silver;
But if she is a door,
We will barricade her with planks of cedar.”
Song of Solomon 8:8-9
We also cannot leave our children unaware. If they hear the whole truth from us, then we can squash the lies that come with curiosity and learning about the birds and bees from peers. If you are wondering how to approach the topic of sex with your children, just simply begin a family study in the book of Genesis. 
When I began this study with my Shelby we didn’t make it past the second chapter before the birds and bees were addressed.
 For this reason
a man shall leave his father and his mother,
and be joined to his wife;
and they shall become one flesh.
Genesis 2:24

My Shelby read Genesis 2:24 and said “Momma, I understand the one part, but what’s the flesh?”
Bam!
Open door…

Having baby nephews around that my little one had seen have diaper changes and given baths made it very easy and simple to explain how God made the boy and girl parts to come together as one flesh. There was no graphic detail needed, no fancy explanations, just the simple facts settled her curiosity and my honesty and openness let her know that she was free to come to me with any question she had about this issue or really any issue.

As we share the truth and set up boundaries and teach our children what God says about this beautiful thing called sex that was meant for the confines of marriage, if or when, our children fall prey to the lies of the enemy and the world, they will know it. They will have truth for the Holy Spirit to pull out and convict their hearts so that they might turn from the lie and take back hold of the truth.

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Prayer’s Precious Power

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Far be it from You to do such a thing,
to slay the righteous with the wicked,
so that the righteous and the wicked
are treated alike.
Far be it from You!
Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?
Genesis 18:25
God’s visit with Abraham was not all about good news. The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah was great and their sin exceedingly grave (Genesis 18:20). The Lord was about to bring his judgment down on these cities.
The amazing thing in this story is that Abraham’s relationship with God was so close that God shared what He was about to do with him. God doesn’t do things in secret; He has nothing to hide. Isaiah 48:16 declares, “Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret.” His judgments always come with a warning, an opportunity to repent, and to be saved.
When God shares the judgment that is coming to these cities, Abraham cries out for mercy for the righteous ones in the cities. Abraham intercedes on their behalf. It is still God’s people’s responsibility to intercede on behalf of others. We know the judgment that is to come, and we are to intercede and pray for the lost, the blinded, the deceived, the saved, and the persecuted.
Abraham’s heart goes to his nephew Lot and his family, who are living in Sodom. God, in His grace, allows Abraham to bring Him down to staying His judgment if there can at least be found ten righteous within the city. We know from the reading of this chapter that ten were not found and God’s judgment fell, but we also know that God honored the prayers of Abraham and his nephew Lot was spared.
Does God hear our prayers? Psalm 32:6 declares, “Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found.” Psalm 34:15 declares, “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.” Yes, God hears our prayers; He hears the prayers of His children. The real question is: are you his child?
Oh, precious one, judgment is coming. God’s judgment will fall upon this world, just as it fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. If you are His child through faith in Christ, then remember these words:
But you, beloved, building yourselves up
on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Spirit,
keep yourselves in the love of God,
waiting anxiously for the mercy
of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
And have mercy on some, who are doubting;
save others, snatching them out of the fire.
Jude 1:20–23
Abraham was building himself up on his most holy faith as he walked each day with God, growing in Him. He prayed in the Spirit and kept himself in the love of God. He waited anxiously for the mercy of his Lord. In his praying, Abraham had mercy on Lot and on his family, who doubted. Abraham interceded on their behalf, and by this intercession they were snatched out of the fire.
God honors the prayers of his people, and even when Lot hesitated and had to be literally dragged out of the city, God did not allow His judgment to fall until he was safely out of the city. Lot was living in this place by his own choosing, but even in this, God honored the prayers of Abraham and delivered Lot and gave his entire family the opportunity to be saved.
Oh, precious one, don’t ever stop praying for your loved ones. God hears the prayers of His righteous ones, those who have been credited righteous through their faith in His Son. Keep building yourself up on your most holy faith. Keep yourself in the love of God, and pray.
Oh Father,
The prayers of Your people are important to You, so important that one purpose of the cross was to give Your children direct access to Your throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). You are so amazing! Your love and concern for Your people humbles me. I praise You, my God, and I give You thanks, for Your mercies endure forever. May I never forget how precious my prayers are to You and how important they are in the lives of others. May I never take lightly the privilege of prayer or the power of my intercession.
My Jesus, it is in Your name that I pray,
Amen.
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Is Anything Too Difficult

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Is anything too difficult for the Lord?
Genesis 18:14
The Lord appears to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day. He comes accompanied with two angels. Abraham looks to see three men standing before him, and he calls for Sarah to prepare a meal for their guest.
Abraham takes the prepared meal to his guests, the Lord and His two angels. The men ask Abraham where his wife, Sarah, is, and Abraham replies that she is in the tent. The men then remind Abraham in the hearing of Sarah (she is listening at the tent door, eavesdropping as we might say) about the promise of a son. They tell him that at this time next year, Sarah will have a son.
When Sarah hears these words, she laughs to herself. She laughs in disbelief. She knows her womb is dead, and she knows Abraham’s ability is also dead. Sarah was weak in faith, but her husband was not.
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;
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 4:19–21
Abraham knew that the Lord was Elohim, Creator God.
The Lord asks Abraham in the hearing of Sarah, “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?”
The Lord doesn’t wait for an answer. He didn’t need one because the answer was obvious. Nothing is too difficult for God. He is in the business of creating life out of nothing and raising the dead. The point, I believe, of God waiting until their bodies’ abilities to conceive on their own had passed was to make sure that they understood beyond the shadow of any doubt that this son they would bear was the promised son. This son would be conceived through the power and might of their Lord God. This son, the promised seed, would be conceived in faith.

Oh Father,
What peace there is in knowing that nothing is too difficult for You. You brought both Abraham’s and Sarah’s bodies back from the dead to spring forth life, just as You did in me. I was dead in my sins, and You saw me and chose me and brought me from death to life. Now I am alive, and I too have in me the promised Son. Oh Father, when trials come and when promises seem delayed in their fulfillment, help me to remember that Abraham and Sarah waited over twenty-five years for Isaac and help me to remember that You are not slow about Your promises (2 Peter 3:9). You are always right on time.
My Jesus, it is in Your name that I pray,
Amen.
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>What’s In A Name

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No longer shall your name be called Abram,
but your name shall be Abraham;
for I will make you the father
of a multitude of nations.
Genesis 17:5
In Revelation 2:17, God tells us that he who overcomes will be given a white stone and a new name written on the stone; a new name that is not connected to the sins of my youth or the wrong choices I have made. I can’t wait to get that name.
Abram, because of God’s call on him, is now Abraham. Abraham means, “father of a multitude.” Abram was a man with no son, no descendants, until he met God, and now he becomes father of not only one nation, but a multitude of nations.
God will establish His covenant with Abraham, and it will be an everlasting covenant. The sign of this covenant will be circumcision. Every male at the age of eight days old, or any servant brought into the house, or any foreigner that lives among Abraham and his descendants was to be circumcised. God then tells Abraham that He is also changing Sarai’s name to Sarah, which means “princess,” and that from her will come kings of people.
At this point Abraham has Ishmael, but it is not through Hagar and Ishmael that God will establish His covenant. Abraham will have many descendants, but there will only be one seed, and that seed will be passed to and through Isaac.
Abraham then falls on his face and laughs, amazed that God is going to bless him and Sarah with a child. God will establish His covenant through Isaac, the son that Sarah will bear to Abraham. The Abrahamic Covenant was based on a promise, and it would be carried through the child of a promise.
When God finished talking with Abraham, he had all the males in his household circumcised. That very same day, Abraham was obedient to God. He did not put it off until a more convenient time; there was no delayed obedience with Abraham.
Abraham was a man who grew in his faith as he walked with God. He had experienced the consequences of less-than-complete obedience, and he learned from his mistakes. Can you look back on your walk with Christ and see growth? Have you grown stronger in your faith?
Oh Father,
Everything about You has to do with new life. You are the Author and Creator of life. In You all things have their existence. How amazing You are! Father, how I long for the day I get my new name. Oh Father, that I would be one who overcomes. Through You,  Abraham and Sarah overcame their age to conceive and bear a son. Through You, they overcame fears and disbelief to be obedient and to walk by faith. My Jesus, through and in You, I too have the power to overcome my fears and disbelief to be obedient and to walk by faith. I pray that I grow in my faith. I pray that every trial, every test, every failure, and even every victory, all work together that I may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2–4). Oh Father, that I would become a follower of Christ that demonstrates immediate obedience to Your Word.
My Jesus, it is in your name I pray,
Amen.
Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries, Uncategorized

>Always Watching

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“Is it a fast like this which I choose,
a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?
“Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
“Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
“Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
“Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
(Isaiah 58:5-9)

We can’t hide ourselves from our own flesh and expect to draw near to God. We have to come before Him in honesty and truth, trusting in His forgiveness and everlasting lovingkindness…
He already knows it all anyway.
For us to hide is showing that we really do not believe that He is omnipresent and omniscient thus we are denying who He is and trying to convince ourselves that we can pull one over on God.

Hmmmm yeh, like that’s gonna happen!
We become just like the child with chocolate all over their face that says, “No, Mommy I not get cake!”
Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD,
and whose deeds are done in a dark place,
and they say, ‘Who sees us?’
or ‘Who knows us?’
Isaiah 29:15
In Genesis 16:13 we are introduced to a name of God. The name is El Roi, and it means God sees (you can read a little bit more of my thoughts on this particular name of God at my through the Bible blog ).
Our God sees. He is a God who sees. He doesn’t miss a thing. We cannot hide from Him.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
Psalm 139:7-12
There just in no darkness dark enough to hide from God in. Jonah tried to run and hide in the belly of ship and then God stuck him in the belly of a fish and sent him to the darkest depths of the sea and let him know that, yep, He could still see him. There is no where to flee from His presence. He is always watching us.
For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD,
And He watches all his paths.
Proverbs 5:21
The thought of someone always watching us can creep us out. I have this weird thing that before I use the bathroom I check behind the shower curtain. I don’t know why. I just do. I have a disturbing feeling that I am going to use the bathroom and then find out someone was in there with me and I didn’t know it. So if there is a shower curtain or closet door in the bathroom at your house and I come and visit and I have to go, yes I am pulling it back and opening the door, but don’t worry I will never tell anyone about the soap scum in the tub and all the naked barbie dolls and molded squeaky toys or multiple wadded up washrags. Nor will I reveal the mismatched sloppily folded towels full of holes or the why in the worlds is that in the bathroom stuff (PS I am just describing my own bathroom, lol). I promise I won’t. I just want to potty in peace and I can’t until I take a peek before I pee.
Knowing that God is always watching us should bring us comfort. It truly does me. In many ways. It keeps me from making choices that I might have made if I thought I could have hid it and it also helps me from reacting wrongly in a situation because I can calm myself by knowing that God saw what happened and He will deal with it.
There really is no reason for us not to be completely open and honest with God. Every time I think of the verse in Isaiah 58 about not hiding ourselves from our own flesh I think of a Chris Rock stand up I watched once long ago (no I was not always a Christian). In the stand up, he was sharing about getting caught cheating on his wife and his wife comes to him and keeps saying “I know you did it, just admit it!” So when I think of trying to hide my sin from God I hear Chris Rock speaking for his wife “I know you did it, just admit it!”
And there is no creature hidden from His sight,
but all things are open
and laid bare
to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Hebrews 4:13
He knows you did it, just admit it!
Yes God is always watching you, but not in a psycho stalker kind of way, but in the I’ll never leave you or forsake you kind of way 🙂
 …for He Himself has said,
“I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU,
NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,”
Hebrews 13:5
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Face-down Devotion

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Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him
and said to him,
“I am God Almighty,
walk before Me and be blameless.”
Genesis 17:1
“El Shaddai” is one of my favorite names for God. So much about God is revealed to us in the first seventeen chapters of His Word. We discover that He is our Creator, our giver of life. We learn that our sin grieves His heart. We are shown that He keeps His promises. We are taught that He is the Most High God. We have seen that He is El Roi, a God who sees. We have also learned that He is our shield and our reward. Now we learn that He is God Almighty and that we can walk before Him and be blameless. Walking before God blameless seems like an impossible feat, but Jesus assures us in Luke 18:27 that “the things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”
In Genesis 17:3 we read that “Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him.” I believe this is a key verse as to how we are able to walk before God blameless. God came to Abram and announced Himself. Abram responded by falling on his face before Him, and then God talked with him. I wonder if it is even possible to really talk with God if we do not spend time on our face before Him—humbled in his presence.
We need to be bowed before our El Elyon, ready to submit in complete obedience to whatever He tells us to do. The great men and women of faith in Scripture and in history spent time on their faces.
I know that I do not spend enough time on my face before him. I think our position in prayer may matter more than we want to realize and admit. We want to say we are on our face in our hearts; we are bowed before Him spiritually, but are we really?
When we look at all that we know about our Creator, when we let these truths sink in, how can we not fall on our faces and worship Him? When we look at who He is, compared to who we know ourselves to be, why would we even consider that we could look Him in the face? Even the seraphim who stand before the throne of our Lord cover their faces with their wings (Isaiah 6:2).
I want God to talk with me. I want to be in His presence. I want to walk before my El Shaddai and be blameless. Acts 10:34 declares that “God is not one to show partiality,” so if Abram could walk before Him and be blameless, then so can we. The question we must ask ourselves is do we truly desire to walk blameless before our God? Do we truly desire for God to talk with us? If we do, then we must first humble ourselves before Him.
Abram demonstrated the humility of his heart by falling on his face when he was in God’s presence. This simple act shows so much. It shows that we are acknowledging the holiness of our God. It shows that we are submitting to His authority in our life. It shows that our hearts’ desire is to be obedient to the One we call “Master” and “Lord.”
Oh, precious one, our God knows our hearts. We can’t pretend humility before our Creator. In Philippians 2:8 we read that Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Abram demonstrated the humility of his heart before God. Jesus demonstrated the humility of His heart before the world. So maybe we too need to demonstrate the humility of our hearts by humbling ourselves physically. We need to fall on our faces before Him. He is, after all, deserving of our wholehearted, face-down devotion.
Oh Father,
This is my desire: to honor You, my God and my King. Oh Father, forgive me for the many excuses I have made for not being on my face before You. I long to know You as Abram knew You. I desire for You to talk with me. I do not want to come to You and just lay out my list of requests and complaints and say amen. I wish to hear Your voice. I desire to know Your ways and to be in Your presence and rest in Your Word. I need You not as just my God, not as just my Savior, not as just my Lord, but as my Friend.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.

I read this today (today being November 17th 2011) and wanted to add it this post…

Humble Submission
 by Charles R. Swindoll

Perhaps Job lay under the stars until he was wet from the dew. Finally, he spoke. And when he did, what a remarkable response! Verse 20 comprises nine words in the Hebrew text. These words describe what Job did before the text goes on to tell us what Job said. Five of the nine words are verbs. When you read your Bible, always pay close attention to the verbs, because they move you through the action of a narrative, helping you vicariously to enter the event.

First, Job peeled himself off the ground. He “arose.” The next verb tells us something strange. He “tore his robe.” The word translated “robe” is a term describing a garment that fits over the body loosely, like an outer gown that reaches below the knees. This is not the undertunic; it’s the outer robe that kept him warm at night. Job reached to his neck and, not finding a seam, he seized a worn part of the fabric and ripped it. In the ripping of the robe he is announcing his horrible grief. It was the action of a man in anguish. It’s used several times in the Old Testament to portray utter grief.

And then we read the third verb. He “shaved his head.” The hair is always pictured in the Scriptures as the glory of an individual, an expression of his worth. The shaving of the head, therefore, is symbolic of the loss of personal glory. And to carry his grief to its lowest depth, his fourth action is to fall to the ground. But, let’s understand, this was not a collapse of grief, but for another purpose entirely. It’s this that portrays the heroism of Job’s endurance. He doesn’t wallow and wail, he worships. The Hebrew verb means “to fall prostrate in utter submission and worship.” I dare say most of us have never worshiped like that! I mean with your face on the ground, lying down, full-length. This was considered in ancient days the sincerest expression of obedience and submission to the Creator-God.

Before moving on, I’d like to suggest you try this sometime. Palms down, facedown, knees and toes touching the ground, body fully extended, as you pour out your heart in worship. It’s the position Job deliberately took. Complete and humble submission.

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Uncategorized

>Beach Bliss

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>I have not blogged in a few days because we have been at the beach.
I love the beach.
I sit out there and watch the waves and listen to them break up on the shore and feel the beach breeze on my face and I just melt into it with a deep breath in and slow exhale out. The beauty of His creation and the splendor of His majesty. I sat out with my girls on the swing one morning and we read from the book of Job…

 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
When I made a cloud its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,
And I placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?
Job 38:8-11 

Sitting out there this week I selfishly told God that I would be completely okay if He chose to call our family to ministry at the beach. However, deep down I know that the beach would not have the same effect if it was the norm of my life instead of the time of momentary escape.

Not that I don’t love my life, but sometimes it’s just nice to downsize and simplify and lay all the “stuff” of life aside and just focus on worshipping my God and enjoying the family that He has given me. It’s so easy to let the things of ministry and family become a burden of responsibility instead of an outworking of inward love and devotion.

It’s so very easy to allow the distractions of life make me feel as if they are sucking the opportunity of worshipping my God right out of me. I can feel the “Ugh!” rising up in my throat now as my mind already jumps to the list of commitments that come with tomorrow… and even some that I really probably should go ahead and take care of tonight… but I must get all this out of my mind and heart into a page or the stirring will not stop and I will never get to sleep. (This blog has become my journal instead of my journal becoming the blog… not sure yet if that’s a God thing, a good thing, or a good-grief thing.)

There really is nothing I had rather do than write and teach about my God. The “Ugh!” rises up for all things that interrupt that. I know it should not be that way, because I am to do all things as unto the Lord… all things includes cooking supper for my family (no matter the battle scars I add to my body from it), it includes washing the dishes, the laundry, the floors, the bathrooms, it includes being a taxi, a doctor, a counselor, a friend, a vet, and the bestes dog hair sweeper upper in the county.

Sometimes we just have to step back and remember the why and trust in the Who and know that our God is with us and that He understands our life distractions and we all just simply were not called into a full-time paid ministry position.

Although in all honesty I have at times asked God why He didn’t make me a man so that I could have held that position (and it’s not the “position” but just the “permission” to go into a room and shut the door and say I am studying, I’ll come out when I am done, I get up at 5:30-6am and hope to get a couple of undistracted hours in before the house wakes up)…. or even let us switch denominations so that I could justify me holding such a position, then I could afford a maid to do all this other stuff that I see as distractions… then I would be jealous of the maid, because my family would see her as the one who is meeting their needs and not me… oh well.

Yes the craziness of my thought flow…

I love what I read this week in The Pursuit of God by AW Tozer:

Distractions may hinder, but once the heart is committed to Him, after each excursion away from Him, the attention will return again and rest upon Him like a wandering bird coming back to its window.
I would emphasize this one committal, this one great volitional act which establishes the heart’s intention to gaze forever upon Jesus. God takes this intention for our choice and makes what allowances He must for the thousand distractions which beset us in this evil world. He knows that we have set the direction of our hearts toward Jesus…

And Jesus knowing their thoughts… Matthew 9:4
But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart,… Luke 9:47
I would have to say that one of the most freeing realizations ever is the fact that now that I am in Christ and I desire to honor Him and live a life worthy of His calling I find peace instead of fear when I think of Him knowing my thoughts and my heart. There was a day when I sought to hide what was in my heart, when I wanted it covered up and hidden from God. I wanted God to look at all the good things I had done and judge me by them… but now I cry out to Him to judge me by my heart because I know my works will never cut it.
There are too many distractions for whole works devotions… but never to many distractions for whole hearted devotion…
So even though I very much enjoyed my momentary escape of beach bliss. The chair sits empty once again at the shore while I get back to the things of my life. There are bills to pay, lessons to plan, weddings to attend, birthday presents to purchase, laundry to wash, rooms to clean, budgets to balance, classes to teach, meals to cook, kids to cuddle, husband to love, dog to yell at, and above all a mighty and awesome and understanding God to worship and serve with all my heart who sees me for me and loves me unconditionally.

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Tattle Telling

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Then she called the name of the Lord
who spoke to her,
“You are a God who sees.”
Genesis 16:13
When we read Genesis 16 we see that Hagar, now pregnant with Abram’s child, appears to have decided that she no longer has to take orders from Sarai. Sarai goes to Abram and blames him for the actions of Hagar. I can see Abram throwing his hands up in the air and telling Sarai to do whatever she feels she needs to do.
Sarai attempts to discipline Hagar, and Hagar rebels from Sarai’s authority and flees from Sarai’s presence. Hagar ends up by a spring in the wilderness, and then the angel of the Lord appears to her.
I love how God approaches her. He addresses her as “Hagar, Sarai’s maid,” (Genesis 16:8) reminding her that she was under the authority of Sarai.
Then He asks, “Where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Genesis 16:8).
God knew where she had come from and where she was going, but He gave her the opportunity to talk to Him about it. God is the one who opened the door of communication. This has been His way from the beginning. In the garden, it was God who came to Adam and Eve and initiated the reconciliation.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” We go to see psychiatrists and counselors because we need someone to tell our hurts, to share our disappoints, someone to listen as we pour out our heart. Let us not forget that God is our “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6).
I went through a Beth Moore study, A Heart Like His (a wonderful study, by the way), and she spoke of us being able to go to God to “tell on” others. Do you remember when you were a child and you felt you had been treated unfairly by a sibling, a cousin, a friend? Where did you go, and what did you do? You most likely did as I did and went and found your momma and daddy and “told on” somebody.
It is okay for us to tattle to God. He doesn’t mind. As you can see with His approach to Hagar, He welcomes it; He seeks it. We come to Him like children. Yet after the telling, we, like mature adults, are to obey our Father.
Sometimes we realize we had a huge part in the situation, and we have to do our part to make it right, just as Hagar did. Hagar answered the angel of the Lord, and then he told her to go back and submit to Sarai’s authority. He then gave her prophecy concerning the child in her womb.
Hagar also introduces us to another name for our Creator, El Roi, which means God sees. Our God is a God who sees all. We cannot run from Him. We cannot hide. We can, however, trust that He sees all. He sees when we have been treated unjustly. He sees when we treat others unjust. He sees when we have been disobedient, and He sees when we have been hurt; nothing is hidden from His eyes.
Oh Father,
Even if no one else sees, You see. You see when we have been hurt or wronged. Nothing happens on the earth that Your eyes do not behold. How comforting that is to me! My God, I love You, and I am so thankful for Your omnipresence in my life. You are always with me.
You also know when I have overreacted and when I must apologize. Your Holy Spirit moves within me and leads me where I need to go and instructs me in what I need to do. You give me the strength to be strong, and you give me the strength to be humble.
Help me, Father, to be a woman of high esteem and integrity, a woman who does right even though no one sees, and a woman who is quick to right her wrongs.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.

The writing and teachings of Nicole Love Halbrooks Vaughn