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.
“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.
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