TRY, TRY AGAIN... At least that's the way the saying goes! This message was going to be brief because I simply wanted to say when we do things in our own 'power and strength...' We set ourselves up for frustration and fear of failure... But, when we TRUST, RELINQUISH, and YIELD to HIS wondrous power and ways, we are truly en route to being 'successful' in our endeavors. Well, so much for brevity! Read on! Now, I have never liked that word phrase, 'Successful Christian Living,' because it can suggest another source of potential 'failure,' to any who struggle with such matters... I MUCH prefer, the term, SIGNIFICANT CHRISTIAN LIVING. If you have time to read through the devotionals from several years ago, please do.. Otherwise, just stop to ask yourself if you are truly TRUSTING our LORD for all your needs, and to lead you in a life which pleases and glorifies HIM. Also ask if you are RELINQUISHING all sense of what you may believe your 'rights' to be.. Our only 'rights' are to the fulfillment of the promises HE has made to any/all of us who welcome his LORDSHIP in our lives.. Finally, examine yourself to see where you may not be yielding to his desires for/through you.. For me, the recent 'flood' in my life is one of asking myself if all of my choices are truly pleasing to HIM... One final thought for now... The only way I fully understand what FAITH is, is by realizing it is fully TRUSTING in HIM and all HE is and intends for us.. Forsaking All, I Trust In HIM, is a great way to delineate FAITH for me.. (see 2nd devotional below)
FAMILY DEVOTIONAL #51 SUCCESS, or SIGNIFICANCE? 10-18-08
TODAY’S
message will actually address two words that can bother me.. I mentioned in
#44,
BACK IN THE SWIM that I don’t like ‘success’
because it implies failure is
possible. (As a Christian, I personally don’t think I can fail but, I can deprive myself
and
others of the fullness of all the Lord intends for/through me.) The other word
which concerns me is, ‘why?’. #42, NOT ‘WHY?’ BUT
‘HOW OR WHAT? spoke a lot
about
this…
THE
reason I am revisiting these words is because I am ‘facing up to the fact’ of the
presence of both of them in scripture!
In our study of THE LIFE OF MOSES this
year, John and I have just read of when
Moses was rather flustered as Pharaoh
insisted on acting irrationally. EXODUS 5:22
finds Moses returning to the Lord asking,
“O
Lord, why have you brought trouble
upon this people? Is this why you
sent me?” The
Lord never
answers the ‘Why?’ but, He does go
on to tell Moses just what He intends
to do! Check it out, if you’d like! I’ve said enough about ‘WHY?’- Now,
‘SUCCESS?’
THESE
FAMILY DEVOTIONALS are not being written
for any reason other than to help
all of you as well as myself, develop
fuller, personal walks with our Lord. As we do, He
will be glorified each time someone looks into our eyes, realizes that we didn’t act
irrationally in times we might have, or otherwise notices a quality of life
they may be
secretly craving?! I will testify to
this by letting you know that within 2 months of me
having welcomed the Lord into my life, a
Girl Scout acquaintance of mine told me she
‘wanted what Pam, Debbie, and I have!’
AT ANY
RATE- I see ‘my’ devotion to writing these, NOT as something to be able to
SUCCEED in, but as something that is definitely
SIGNIFICANT, thanks to the feed-
back which lets me know how HE is blessing
through these.
RECENTLY,
John and I were reading something said by a Christian athlete, I believe. He
really “HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD” for us when
he agreed that the use of the term,
‘Becoming
a successful Christian’
can really intimidate someone, thus deterring them
from even considering Christ’s desires for
their acceptance or fellowship. (That implied
possibility of failure might cause them to
think, ‘I don’t need another area to fall short
in!) SO- dear one, PLEASE don’t allow
yourself to fear failure as HIS, but, do let Him
use you in ways that are significant for yours and others’ encouragement in Him. As I
write this, I am listening to a very old 33
RPM album on which EVIE (whom we named our
daughter after!) is singing ALL THE GLORY
MUST BE TO THE LORD. Living life with
this desire will definitely let you succeed in pleasing the Lord, thus
being significant!
FATHER
GOD, help me live significantly for/through you each day! In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
‘FAMILY DEVOTIONAL’ #28
TRUSTING OR RUSTING?
TODAY
I opened a devotional book that I use a lot- The state-
ment I read simply said, I NOT ONLY LOVE GOD and
TRUST HIM, I
LOVE TRUSTING HIM! It made me con
sider if I do or don’t truly TRUST Him
IN everything or
not! I was once challenged deeply by
this question—
“DO you TRUST
the LORD as much as you say you LOVE
HIM?”
THIS
line of thought led me back to the passage in HEBREWS,
chapter 10, verses 19-23 that I will
refer to for the next
few weeks as I ‘digest’ it myself… After 2 verses tell us
about our SURE personal access to the
LORD- (no more
veil or barrier between HE and us due
to the blood of
JESUS!), the passage continues by
encouraging us to
DRAW NEAR TO
GOD WITH A SINCERE HEART FULL
OF ASSURANCE OF
FAITH!
THERE
is a song which states that ‘TO hear with my heart, to
sing with my
soul- To be guided by a hand I cannot hold- To
trust in a way that I
cannot see- That’s what faith must be!’
It played on my computer as I sat here!
I wish that you all
knew the light-hearted, almost whimsical
melody that it has!
I encourage you all to LET THE LORD lead
you to delight in
trusting HIM more and more each day!
Tell him your fears,
frustrations, concerns, etc… He wants
to hear them!
THIS
prayer might help-- FATHER GOD, I really DO want to
enjoy trusting
YOU! YOU are my source of TRUE LIFE!
I love you LORD- In JESUS’ name, AMEN!
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