I was thinking about the fact that we could easily remember the one brother’s name but not the second one’s name, I thanked God that He said He would never forget us. We never have to worry about God forgetting our names because as believers, we are unforgettable in His eyes. God knows everything about us. Luke 12:7 says that “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are numbered...” And in case you need a better example, Jesus said in Isaiah 49:16, “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands...” Wow, it’s not written in ink where it could be washed off. It is inscribed, never to be removed.
When I think about that fact, it just blows my mind. I am important enough to the Lord that He has me inscribed on the palm of His hands. And as a believer, the same is true for you. We don’t have to be the fun one, or the smart one, or anything else for the Lord to remember us. We just have to ask Him to be our Lord and Savior. Once we’ve accepted His gift of salvation, we are forever His son or daughter. We are forever inscribed in the palm of His hand, NEVER to be forgotten. And for that piece of good news, I’m eternally grateful.
Jesus, thank you that You will never forget our name because once we accept You as our Lord and Savior, our name is forever inscribed on the palm of Your hand. Amen.
7…WORDS ARE POWERFUL
Good morning! Have you experienced a conversation with someone who spewed unkind words? Those kind of conversations, if you can call them that, sure can take the wind out of your sails. I was thinking about this as I overheard one of those conversations recently. I felt so bad for that person who was on the receiving end of that ugliness.
Do you know that one day you will have to give an account to God for every word you have spoken? In Matthew 12:36, Jesus says, “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account for it in the day of judgment.” In this verse the word careless means useless. And when you think about it, there are so many “useless” words spoken each day. You know, words that tear down instead of words that will build someone up. Words that purposely cut you like a two-edged sword. Words that are meant to stop someone in their tracks. Haven’t we all been guilty of speaking “useless” words?
There are many scriptures dealing with the words we choose to speak. Our tongue is a powerful weapon when used to be hurtful, but it can also be a great blessing to others. Obviously, God wants us to use our tongues for the latter…to be a blessing to others. I love the verse in Proverbs that tells us what our positive words can do. Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Do you know someone who has been beat down by the words of others? If so, come along side of them with sweet and gracious words. Your words might just be the healing they need.
Holy Spirit, please guide the words that come out of our mouths. Help us remember the saying we were taught growing up. “If you can’t say something nice about somebody, don’t say anything at all.” Amen.
8…GROWTH
Good morning! There are so many things throughout God’s creation that can be used as an analogy to describe our Christian walk. I was thinking about that as I was looking at the three rosebushes I planted in front of my house last year. It’s amazing how much they’ve grown in just a year’s time. For weeks now I’ve noticed that almost daily new buds appear on the bushes. And now after a year of growth, those buds are beginning to open, revealing the beauty of God’s creation…the perfect rose.
We also have to grow in our spiritual life before we can bloom into the child God desires us to be. During this growing process, just like with the rosebushes, we will need to be pruned to remove the sin that gets in the way of us maturing in our faith. As long as we allow sin in our life, our growth will be stunted, thus the need for pruning. It can be painful but the pruning is absolutely necessary for our continued growth. Proverbs 3:12 says it this way, “For whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.” And Hebrews 12:6 reinforces that statement. “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines.”
I have found over the years that it is wiser to act immediately when the Holy Spirit shows me an area of my life I need to work on. If I don’t heed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and deal with my sin, I know the Lord will get my attention about it in another way, and that way is usually painful. But once the necessary pruning has been finished, just like with the rose, we become the unique creation that we were meant to be. This change doesn’t happen overnight but when it does we can then live a life that glorifies God in all we do. So here’s to doing our part and allowing what is necessary to prune and mature us in our walk with the Lord.
Lord, thank you for loving us enough to prune us when necessary and help us always bloom for You. Amen.
9…IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING
Good morning! This morning I camped out in the Psalms. Psalm 27:13–14 says, “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.” We have been promised trouble in our life so we shouldn’t be surprised when it comes knocking at our door. Trouble is something that the psalmist David understands and in these verses David shared that he would have greatly despaired if he didn’t have the promises of God to stand on during those times of trouble.
Even the strongest of believers can get troubled over the people and events that surround them. They can desperately want things to be different than they are and can become overwhelmed by it all. But what keeps them from sinking in a pit of despair are the promises of God. Just like David, we get our strength from the hope that we “would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Having the belief that God will cause things to change and work for good while we are still living here on earth gives us the hope we need to carry on. And while waiting for that to happen, David gives us some instructions on what to do while we are waiting. “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.”
Do you know someone who is struggling with waiting to see God work in the land of the living? If so, stand with them and let them know that they are loved and not forgotten. One of the greatest pains we can experience in life comes with feeling that we’re not loved. But whether we feel it or not, we are loved immeasurably by God and that’s how we should love others. My prayer is that we would pass on God’s love to someone who needs that reminder today.
Lord, thank you that we can see You move in our lives in the land of the living. Amen.
10…OUR STORY, HIS GLORY
Good morning! If we consider our life to be a novel, throughout the course of our life we will have many new chapters in our story. These new chapters could start because we get married, or divorced. It could be that we moved, made a career change or graduated. It could be that an illness sidelined us or it might be due to the loss of a loved one. The start of these new chapters can be intimidating and scary but if you think about it, we’ve been doing new starts all our life as every day is a new page in our story. So then why does the fear factor come into play when we start new chapters? I think it’s because of the unknown. We like things nice and orderly in life and we would like to know how things are going to turn out. Will I like where I’ve moved to? Will the new career and I get along? Can I make it through these cancer treatments? Can I survive without my loved one? The answer to all these questions is “yes” if you allow Jesus to be the author of your story.
In Matthew 6:25, Jesus tells us to not worry about our life. He already knows what we need and is more than capable of providing for us. In verse 34, His instructions for us continue as He says, “...do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself...” It takes faith to live day by day, allowing God to lead and orchestrate the events in our life. Since God
