Real Life - A Weekly Blog Devotional

From the Word:
Click and read Genesis 16

Key Verse:
Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”
-Genesis 16:13 (NLT)

(Note: Taking matters into our own hands is a topic I’ll have to tackle in another devotion. Bad Idea! Ha ha)

What stuck with me after the reading was how hard life was for Hagar. She must have felt so alone, and of so little value. She was property, to be given to an old man for sex without her consent. How insignificant she must have felt!

This is an overused analogy, but it always amazes me when I’m in an airplane and look down at the ground. People become smaller and smaller and more and more insignificant the higher the airplane goes. Looking out that airplane window, I can relate to the feelings of the agnostic. Why would God care about me, someone so small in the sea of humanity?

In today’s reading, Hagar says, “You are the God who sees me!” Isn’t that an amazing thing to consider? The God who is big enough to create the universe, and small enough that His fingerprints are seen in the tiniest of cells, saw Hagar, an insignificant servant girl with a rough life. He also sees you and me.

What a comfort to be KNOWN and SEEN. I join Hagar at being amazed by this truth.

Personal Application:
Do a study on the names of God. You can do a Google search or check out one of the many book on that subject. His names give insight into His character. Worship Him for who He is! Thank Him that in the midst of your everyday life, in the midst of the joys and sorrows, you are seen by the One who loves you. Trust him today and rest in knowing that you are not alone.

More of God’s Word

1. You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day. -Psalm 139:15-16 (The Message)

2. Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? -Psalm 113:5-6 (NIV)

3. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. - Matthew 10:30 (NIV)

I’m sorry that there hasn’t been a new post in awhile. We had some technical difficulties that I think are ironed out now. Thanks for your patience and for those of you who are faithful to read these devotions.

Today’s devotion was inspired by my own personal Bible study. I’m following a plan for reading the Bible in a year in chronological order. I love it. It is so interesting to read the Word in the order the events were happening in history. I highly recommend it. Here’s a link to the same plan that you can customize for yourself.

From the Word:
Click and read Genesis 16

Key Verse:
Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”
-Genesis 16:13 (NLT)

During my reading recently, I read about Hagar. God promised Abraham he would be the father of countless descendants. While waiting for the fulfillment of that promise, his wife, Sarah, decided to take matters into her own hands and offered her husband her servant, Hagar, to provide his heir.

(Note: Taking matters into our own hands is a topic I’ll have to tackle in another devotion. Bad Idea! Ha ha)

What stuck with me after the reading was how hard life was for Hagar. She must have felt so alone, and of so little value. She was property, to be given to an old man for sex without her consent. How insignificant she must have felt!

This is an overused analogy, but it always amazes me when I’m in an airplane and look down at the ground. People become smaller and smaller and more and more insignificant the higher the airplane goes. Looking out that airplane window, I can relate to the feelings of the agnostic. Why would God care about me, someone so small in the sea of humanity?

But the Word tells us that God is intimately aware of us. He knows our name. He cares about our circumstances. We are known! We are seen! He knows even the number of hairs on our heads.

In today’s reading, Hagar says, “You are the God who sees me!” Isn’t that an amazing thing to consider? The God who is big enough to create the universe, and small enough that His fingerprints are seen in the tiniest of cells, saw Hagar, an insignificant servant girl with a rough life. He also sees you and me.

What a comfort to be KNOWN and SEEN. I join Hagar at being amazed by this truth.

Personal Application:
Do a study on the names of God. You can do a Google search or check out one of the many book on that subject. His names give insight into His character. Worship Him for who He is! Thank Him that in the midst of your everyday life, in the midst of the joys and sorrows, you are seen by the One who loves you. Trust him today and rest in knowing that you are not alone.

More of God’s Word

1. You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day. -Psalm 139:15-16 (The Message)

2. Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? -Psalm 113:5-6 (NIV)

3. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. - Matthew 10:30 (NIV)

Love,

From the Word:

Click and Read Matthew 7:24-29

Key Verse:

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. -Matthew 7:25

My good friend and I were on the phone talking about some of the national news upsetting us lately. Shook up, she said, “I have to stop reading the news. It is too scary.”

I told her, “I know what you mean. Sometimes, I feel like the America I have always loved and trusted in is eroding before my eyes, and I can’t do anything to stop it.”

Until recently, I was unaware of how much trust I’ve placed in our country, or how much security I’ve felt simply from being an American. In this current climate of uncertainty and change, I’ve felt like I’m standing on shifting sand, that my foundation has been shook. It’s not a pleasant feeling.

During one of these episodes of fear, I suddenly remembered an old hymn from my childhood. I could only remember a few phrases, so I looked up the lyrics on the Internet. What a sermon that old song has preached to me these past few weeks. I can’t get it out of my mind. I sing it in the shower. I sing it in the car. I sing it to my baby. (He doesn’t mind how off key I am)

Every time bad news, politics, or current events trigger that insecurity anew, I sing again, “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand!”

As a follower of Christ, my security does not come from the success or failure of the U.S. Yes, I love my country. Yes, I’m proud to be an American. But, my foundation is the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ. He will never fail. He will never forsake me. My foundation hasn’t been shook at all. He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.

Personal Application:

Have you placed your faith and trust in anything other than Jesus Christ?
All other foundations are weak and will fail you.
Renew your commitment to trust in nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.
As you look at current events, remember to whom you belong and in whom you trust. He will NEVER fail you!

More of God’s Word:

1. When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation. -Psalm 10:25 (NLT)

2. But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth. -Psalm 11:4 (NLT)

3. When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm. - Psalm 75:3 (NIV)

Are there fears and worries facing you this week? I pray these songs will encourage you as they did me this week:

Here are the lyrics I’ve sung in the shower this week:

“My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”
by Edward Mote, 1797-1874

1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

3. His oath, His covenant, and blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

God Bless You!

From the Word:
Click and read Joshua 4:1-9

Key Verse:
In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:6-7

I discovered hidden treasure in my closet this weekend.

The “treasure chest” is an old stationary box. On the lid is a 3×5 card with the words “Thy Will Be Done” handwritten on it, and inside are scraps of paper notes. It is my “God Box,” something I made after reading a devotion years ago. The devotion recommended making a box to place your worries into, giving you a physical representation of letting go, of leaving the worry in God’s hands, and trusting Him to take care of all of your needs.

This weekend, when I took the lid off, I realized the notes inside were written over six years ago, and I hadn’t read them since I put them into the box. Standing in my closet, I read every piece of paper. Some were one or two words, while others were full page letters pouring out my concern and anxiety to the Lord. All of them were legitimate needs and worries of the past, bringing back memories of lost sleep. But the me of today stood there realizing that every single need in that box had been met. There wasn’t one worry written down that was a current worry today.

Finding the box truly was a treasure arriving at the perfect time. I’ve been dealing with anxiety lately, and it was so good to be reminded of God’s faithfulness to me. My discovery allowed me to see my anxiety through a proper perspective. Left in His very faithful hands, God will work out the issues of today just as He has so faithfully worked out the issues of yesterday.

Personal Application:

Consider making your own God Box. It can be something as simple as a shoe box. Whenever you find yourself fretting over an issue, write it down, leave it in your box and walk away knowing you have left it in God’s capable hands. Don’t take worries back out of the box. You have my permission to read them six year later, though, so you can see how well you’ve been taken care of! : )

Throughout the Bible God asks us to remember His goodness to us. After God parted the Jordan River for the Israelites, Joshua instructed men to take stones from the middle of the river and to construct a memorial for future generations to see and know of God’s faithfulness to Israel. Are there ways you can make memorials that point to God’s goodness in your life?

More of God’s Word:

1. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the LORD helped us.” - 1 Samuel 7:12 (NIV)

2. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? - Matthew 6:26 (NIV)

3. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. - 2 Timothy 2:13 (NLT)

I will be taking the next two weeks off to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. The next devotion will be posted Monday, January 5th. Feel free to browse through past posts. There is a list of topics on the sidebar that you can use to search the past posts. Enjoy reading any you may have missed. I hope you will be blessed by them. Have a very merry Christmas!

Love,

“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”  - Jeremiah 32:17 (NIV)

Fret, fret, fret.
Worry, worry, worry.

This week can be measured not in days, but in time spent worrying.  I can’t count how many times I’ve said the words, “It’s impossible.”

My “impossible” this week had to do with more hurdles in what has felt like a never-ending adoption process we began two years ago.  I have to figure out a way over this new hurdle before an immigration deadline expires in two weeks, and in my eyes it is impossible.

As I’ve prayed over the problem, God has been gracious to gently remind me who is in control.  He reminded me of my last two blog posts where I wrote these things:

-He is trustWORTHY
-Don’t be afraid to pray the prayer that never fails, “Thy will be done”
-Remember where our help comes from

Then He asked me to let go and rest in Him.

It was midnight last night when I finally surrendered and applied these truths to this situation.  I didn’t know how this hurdle was going to be overcome (I still don’t) but worry was replaced with the “peace beyond understanding” that comes from trust.  I was ready to go to sleep anxiety-free, but I wanted to check on one of my favorite blogs before I went to bed.  As the blog loaded on my computer screen, tears popped into my eyes.  I couldn’t believe what she had written for her latest blog post.  This is all it said:

“I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”
-J. Hudson Taylor of China Inland Missions

Personal Application:

What about you?  Do you have your own “impossible” to overcome this week?  Run to the throne with your impossible and lay it at His feet.  Be persistent in your prayers over this issue.  Find a prayer partner to pray with you about it and to hold you accountable as you let go of worry.

More of God’s Word:

1.  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  - Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

2.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  -1 Peter 5:7

3.  For nothing is impossible with God. - Luke 1:37

Love,