is no law.” When we keep our hearts free of known sin, we bless God and receive the blessing of having an overflow of fruit from our heart.
Holy Spirit, please help us examine our heart on a regular basis so that any weeds that are in the way of Your producing good fruit in our spirit can be removed. May others see those positive fruits displayed in our life, drawing them closer to Jesus. Amen.
28…ROLLER COASTERS
Good morning! Our local SEMO District Fair starts in just a few days. I was talking to a friend about our favorite things at the fair. We laughed over our answers because we agreed that it is all about the food! You can find corn dogs, caramel apples, funnel cakes, salt water taffy, all kinds of fried foods on a stick and so much more as you walk down food alley. The smells alone will cause you to gain a few pounds. lol
One of the most popular rides is the roller coaster. That’s not a ride I do, or so I thought. In reality, I ride that ride often. It’s called living life. Sometimes we are at the top of the roller coaster where things look so good from that perspective and just about the time you’re getting comfortable on that plateau, the bottom falls out and you’re heading down into a valley. When you listen to people as they ride the roller coaster at the fair, it’s very similar to what we hear in our own life. When we are on top, there is laughing and excitement but once things start going south you hear a lot of screaming going on.
The good news is that we don’t have to ride the roller coaster of life alone. Just like most people ride the roller coaster with a buddy, the Lord will ride life out with us. He tells us in Isaiah 41:10 that He will help us. “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Whether you were on a mountaintop where everything is beautiful, and running smoothly in your life or if you’re in the valley where challenges of life have made it hard on you to move forward, there’s one thing to remember. When the Lord is by your side, even times of great distress can seem like a mountaintop experience as He makes all things new. So here’s to riding life with the best friend anyone could have...Jesus.
Jesus, thank you that we do not have to ride this life alone and that You are the One riding the rides with us. Amen.
29…CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES
Good morning! Have you ever noticed how our “plans” can be instantly changed? One minute you’re feeling good, and the next minute...they want to schedule you for chemo treatments. One minute you’re enjoying a hobby you love, and the next thing you know...you get hurt. One minute you have your finances all in order so you can start saving money...then an emergency comes up and that plan goes out the window. This list of examples could go on and on as we’ve all dealt with such unplanned disappointments. So, when these changes in your plans occur, how do you handle the disappointment? Do you lose your mind over it or do you start seeking the Lord to see what it is that He would like for you to learn from this unscheduled event?
Our plans may change but the good news is that God’s plans don’t. Nothing will change His purpose and that’s a promise we can rest on. Habakkuk 3:17-18 tells us what we should do when things don’t go as planned. “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”
Why would we rejoice in the God of our salvation when our circumstances change? Because God keeps His promises and even though I might not like the change being made to my plans, I know that God’s plans are far better than any plans I could ever come up with. Change just means something good is coming down the pike. So what disappointments are you dealing with as a result of an unexpected change? Are you going to let that change defeat you or are you going to exult in the Lord, even if praising the Lord doesn’t make sense?
Lord, as we deal with changes and disappointments in life, help us praise You as we look for the good that is on the horizon. Amen.
30…THAT STILL, SMALL VOICE
Good morning! Have you ever had a feeling you needed to do something but argued with yourself about doing it? I experienced that yesterday morning before I went to church. That still, small voice within me told me to put a box of my devotionals back in my car that I took out the week before. Because I was running late, I argued with myself about taking the time to do that and I would have missed out on a blessing if I hadn’t done what the Holy Spirit, which I referred to earlier as that still, small voice within me, prompted me to do. But I’ll get back to that in a minute.
Spiritual power and worldly power are not all the same thing. Worldly power is what we can do ourselves but spiritual power is what Jesus was talking about in Luke 24:49. Jesus told His disciples that He was “sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” The type of power that Jesus was talking about was the power given through the Holy Spirit. And then in Acts 1:8, Jesus tells us why we need the Holy Spirit. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit is our helper in life. But if we don’t train ourselves to hear that still, small voice within us and be obedient to what we are told, we aren’t going to be able to utilize that power effectively. If we discard the promptings of the Holy Spirit with little things, we definitely are not going to hear Him when He tries to help us with bigger things. Because I yielded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I was able to make a new friend at church and have available one of my devotionals that she was wanting because they were in the box that I put in my car.
Lord, help us to use the power within us effectively by yielding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
31…SANDCASTLES
Good morning! Where or who do you run to when life gets crazy? We will come back to that question in a minute. As I was watching HGTV this weekend, there was a family that was playing on the beach. The younger kids were building a sandcastle and they had a pretty big one going when all of a sudden this huge wave came crashing onto the beach. The parents picked up the kids just in time for them not to get drenched but the sandcastle that they had worked so hard on disappeared into the sea when the wave went back out.
Isn’t that just like life? If we don’t build our life on a firm foundation, the waves of stress, loss, disappointment, etc. can wipe out what we have been working on, too. A foundation of sand will not stand up to the trials of life and can leave us feeling empty and defeated. But the good news is that we can choose a different foundation on which to build our lives upon that will stand as strong as a rock when life’s waves coming crashing over us.
Psalm 18:2-3 says, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliver, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” There is no better foundation to build your life upon than the one God offers every believer. All we have to do in order to receive that foundation is to accept the gift of salvation, asking Jesus to come into your heart to be your Lord and Savior. So back to the question above, where or who do you run to when life gets crazy? Praying your answer is that you run to the Lord, the only solid foundation that will not be moved.
Jesus, help us to run to You when life gets crazy. You are the calm when life’s waves come crashing down on us and try to sweep us away just like the tide does with sandcastles on a beach. Amen.
32…TANGLED
Good
