The Journey--October-November 2010

October 8, 2010

Matthew 2—the Wise Men

Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem to worship Jesus.  They traveled for miles and miles to a foreign country that would not necessarily respect them, and then to a humble house, an everyday scene of a mother and her son.  They had expected a palace and a royal king, and yet when what they found was not what they expected, they still worshiped and offered extravagant gifts.

Am I willing to go out of my comfort zone for Christ?  When things are not what I expected, do I still worship Him?  Do I give extravagantly of my time and resources and energy to seek and honor Him?

Father,

Open my eyes that I might see You.  Press Your star into my heart that I might know without a doubt where I am to go, how I can serve You.  Please forgive my selfishness and my focus on my own expectations and desires.  Make my desires Yours.  Fill me with You.  Show me the path of Your leading and help me to follow.  Amen. 

 

(It is at this point that God began to impress the path of foster care or adoption into my heart.  I seemed to hear it everywhere from here on out: in sermons, conversations with friends, songs on the radio, in my quiet times.  Everything seemed to speak of God's love for the fatherless and my heart began to ache for all the little ones who don't know that they have a Father in heaven who loves and cherishes them.  And yet I still felt myself hesitant and fearful, and Dave still wasn't sure this was the right path for our family...and so I continued to pray and seek the Lord on this issue.)

 

October 21, 2010

“God is wise in heart and mighty in strength….If He takes away, who can hinder Him?  Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’”  ~Job 9:4-12

Who am I to question what God is doing?  He is wise in heart and mighty in strength.  He tells the mountains, sun and stars where to be; He knows what needs to be in my life, too—with wisdom, strength and love.

 

November 5, 2010

“For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”  ~Matthew 6:8

(a personal re-wording of the Lord’s Prayer)

Father in heaven, You are holy, set apart, not like anything or anyone on this earth, but so much more, so much greater.  Establish Your kingdom in this world soon, and do it now in my heart, in my life.  Make Your priorities mine, make my focus to be You.  Work Your ways through my life so that all I do is of You and for You.  Replenish the drought of my life each day with the fullness of You.  Give me the peaceful assurance of Your promised provision, day by day.  Help me not to desire more than You’ve determined to give, to want anything outside of Your will.  Please forgive me when I do wrong, when I get so self-focused that I take my eyes off You.  Help me to always remember the fullness of Your love and to treat others with that same love—forgiving all offenses just as You’ve forgiven me.  And do not allow my heart to wander away from the knowledge of who You are, making me susceptible to the lies of satan.  Deliver my heart, my mind and my strength into the knowledge of Your goodness and love, thus sealing my whole being under the power of Your spirit.  All these things are possible for all things are Yours and were created by You, for You and through You.  You are all powerful and all my praise and honor and adoration belong to You.  Amen.

The Journey--June-September 2010

June 4, 2010

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord…” ~Jeremiah 29:11-14

Do not seek the plan, but seek God.  I have always focused on the plan.  His plans are good, it says, so what are they?  But He does not call me to seek the plan, but rather to seek Him, and to do so with all my heart.

Heavenly Father,

I confess that my desire has been and still is to know the plan.  I want to know whether another baby is in Your plan for my life.  Please change my desire from knowing Your plan for me to knowing You.  Reveal Yourself to me.  Show me who You are.  Knit my soul together with Yours that I might go where You go, feel what You feel, be who You are.  I want to seek You alone.  I want my desire to be for You alone.  Fill my heart, make me new.  Change the direction of my life from me to You.  Amen.

 

September 15, 2010

1 Samuel 1:1-18, esp vs 5-6, 8,10,15,18 (Hannah's story--read it, really!)

Lord,

You are my portion, my inheritance, my exceedingly great reward.  You are the Maker of heaven and earth.  You tell the sun when to rise and set.  You tell the rain to fall and the wind to blow.  You hold the whole universe in balance—and You have created me.  My soul was in anguish, but You have brought me comfort.  My heart was overcome by bitterness, but You have pulled out those roots and cast them aside.  In Your presence, Lord, I am filled.  In Your arms, I am at peace.  You know my desire for another child; I pray that You would open my womb.  But I also pray that as I wait, You would fill me completely.  Give me joy in the knowledge of who You are and what You can do.  You have given me Your Son—that is enough.  May my life here on earth be worthy of that gift.  Reveal Yourself to me that I might share You with others.  Open my mind and heart and flow through my pen into the hearts of those who need You and need to know You.  Give me direction, Lord, and may I use this time you’ve given me for Your glory.  I don’t want to waste this gift because I’m too focused on the desire for a different one.  Give me the words to reach the lost, the broken and the down-hearted.  May they know the love You have for them.  Love that can surpass any grief they bear.  Show me where to begin.  What is my story, Lord?  Help me make it Yours.  Amen.

 

(this was the start of my blog and the beginning of a shift in focus from what I wanted to what God might want for me)

The Journey--May 2010

May 14, 2010

Exodus 14-15

The Lord says twice in this section of Scripture that the purpose of the Red Sea crossing was so that the Egyptians would know that He is the Lord.  He took the Israelites the “long way” (13:17-18) so that He could display His power over the Egyptians.  Where is God taking me “the long way”?  What’s my perspective?  Am I focused on me and what I want and how this affects my life?  Or do I trust God and know that everything He does has purpose and may not even have anything to do with me? 

God is perfectly capable of anything, so if “nothing” seems to be happening, it’s for His purpose.  And if I’m stuck at the Red Sea, I need to stand still and hold my peace for God is about to move…

Lord,

Help me see Your perspective.  Help me not to be so self-centered that I miss Your purpose.  May my eyes be only on You and not on my circumstances.  Amen.

May 28, 2010—this is the day in which I felt in my heart that the Lord was going to ask me to do something big, only I had no idea what that was going to be…

 Joshua 3: 5, 13, 17

“And Joshua said to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you’.”

“And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.”

“Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan…”

We have to be set apart in preparation for the wonders of the Lord, His work in our life.  Otherwise we miss the point, or miss the work completely. 

Oftentimes we have to get our feet wet to experience the hand of the Lord in our lives, or to move forward in our walk with Him.  When we trust Him and get our feet wet, He will make us stand firm on dry ground in the midst of our circumstances.

 Am I willing to get my feet wet?  Where is God asking me to move forward and trust Him? 

Lord,

You haven’t even asked me to do anything and already I feel myself wavering.  And yet, I want to get my feet wet if it means experiencing You.  Prepare me now that I might be effective for You when the time comes.  And when the time comes for me to jump in, please make Your directive obvious.  Amen.