Posted on 12/31/2019 7:29:35 PM PST by JustAmy
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Cloudy here, but in the mid 40’s! :-)
Was in the 40s the last few days. Windy and 20s was “refreshing” today.
: )
Bible in a Year:
The Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is trueit is not a lie.
As the worlds fastest blind runner, David Brown of the U.S. Paralympic Team credits his wins to God, his mothers early advice (no sitting around), and his running guideveteran sprinter Jerome Avery. Tethered to Brown by a string tied to their fingers, Avery guides Browns winning races with words and touches.
Its all about listening to his cues, says Brown, who says he could swing out wide on 200-meter races where the track curves. Day in and day out, were going over race strategies, Brown says, communicating with each othernot only verbal cues, but physical cues.
In our own lifes race, were blessed with a Divine Guide. Our Helper, the Holy Spirit, leads our steps when we follow Him. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray, wrote John (1 John 2:26). But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you dont need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know (v. 27 nlt).
John stressed this wisdom to the believers of his day who faced antichrists who denied the Father and that Jesus is the Messiah (v. 22). We face such deniers today as well. But the Holy Spirit, our Guide, leads us in following Jesus. We can trust His guidance to touch us with truth, keeping us on track.
How attuned are you to the Holy Spirits guidance? How can you listen better when He guides, warns, and directs?
Dear God, attune our hearts to Your Holy Spirits guidance so well run to Your truth and not to lies.
Read about the filling of the Spirit at discoveryseries.org/q0301.
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Love it!
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Thank you.
Cute birds! Thanks Meg!
Bible in a Year:
My heart is poured out on the ground . . . because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.
Her father blamed his illness on witchcraft. It was AIDS. When he died, his daughter, ten-year-old Mercy, grew even closer to her mother. But her mother was sick too, and three years later she died. From then on, Mercys sister raised the five siblings. Thats when Mercy began to keep a journal of her deep pain.
The prophet Jeremiah kept a record of his pain too. In the grim book of Lamentations, he wrote of atrocities done to Judah by the Babylonian army. Jeremiahs heart was especially grieved for the youngest victims. My heart is poured out on the ground, he cried, because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city (2:11). The people of Judah had a history of ignoring God, but their children were paying the price too. Their lives ebb away in their mothers arms, wrote Jeremiah (v. 12).
We might have expected Jeremiah to reject God in the face of such suffering. Instead, he urged the survivors, Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children (v. 19).
Its good, as Mercy and Jeremiah did, to pour out our hearts to God. Lament is a crucial part of being human. Even when God permits such pain, He grieves with us. Made as we are in His image, He must lament too!
How do you handle the painful situations in your life? How might it help you to write it down and share your journal with a friend?
Dear God, Im hurting because of ____________________. You see my grief. Please show Your strength in my life today.
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Thank you.
Beautiful, LUV!...I saw your lovely snow picture on the Canteen...We had a snow dusting about 11pm last night...It melted before 10 am today!
I was shocked when I woke up Wednesday morning to about 8” of the white stuff. It’s melting now, but the piles in the corners are going to take a while. The good part, is that it’ll be great for the yard as it slowly melts.
Bible in a Year:
Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
I dropped my forehead to my hand with a sigh, I dont know how Im going to get it all done. My friends voice crackled through the phone: You have to give yourself some credit. Youre doing a lot. He then listed the things I was trying to domaintain a healthy lifestyle, work, do well in graduate school, write, and attend a Bible study. I wanted to do all these things for God, but instead I was more focused on what I was doing than how I was doing itor that perhaps I was trying to do too much.
Paul reminded the church in Colossae that they were to live in a way that glorified God. Ultimately, what they specifically did on a day-to-day basis was not as important as how they did it. They were to do their work with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12), to be forgiving, and above all to love (vv. 1314) and to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus (v. 17). Their work wasnt to be separated from Christlike living.
What we do matters, but how we do it, why, and who we do it for matters more. Each day we can choose to work in a stressed-out way or in a way that honors God and seeks out the meaning Jesus adds to our work. When we pursue the latter, we find satisfaction.
In what ways do you do things out of need or obligation rather than for Gods glory? How do you think meaning is found in Christ rather than accomplishments?
Jesus, forgive me for the times I stress over what Im trying to accomplish. Help me to instead seek to accomplish things for Your glory.
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You two got snow? Wow, unusual for Tx
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