ONE STEP

A dear friend of mine sent me a devotional in the mail the other day.  It was just what I needed to hear.  It was about our journey.  Much like that of a scavenger hunt we are all looking for clue after clue to follow.  When we reach one of our destinations we receive another clue and we are on our way. 

John 16:12-15  I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. 

This journey of life, the scavenger hunt, enables us to develop an ongoing relationship with Him.  We learn how to listen to the Holy Spirit so that we are led closer and closer to the treasure.  Most of the steps are a mystery and are unknown, but the reason for that is so that we can rely on the Holy Spirit to give us direction.  We listen for the voice to follow so that we will grow one step at a time.  These stepping-stones allow us to form a closer relationship with Him. 

Trust God to take the one step that lies before you.  Ask Him to lead you with one foot in front of the other.  Don’t worry about step 2, 3, 4 or 5, only focus on the 1.  Through this you will deepen your relationship with Him and bear fruit. 

Lord, we don’t need to know everything right now.  We want to grow in the love for you, grow in confidence and follow your voice.  Lead us one step at a time. 

PRICKLY POD

Last night I asked my husband to give me what his analogy would be between a seed and a human.  Well, when you ask an agriculture person a question like that the conversation lasts a long time.  Even though long I received a wealth of information.  We discussed how seeds germinate and then we discussed everything from the seed, root, sprout, branch, flower, and fruit where we start all over again with the seed.  He mentioned the sweet gum tree and how no one wants that plant in their yard because of the prickly seedpods.  I on the other hand had a different outlook on these prickly pods that sometimes find your feet.  Just maybe these prickles were for a reason, maybe for protection. 

This may have been the extent of our conversation of the sweet gum, however it didn’t stop there.  When you research the sweet gum tree you find that there is much importance in that prickly pod of seeds.  Inside you will find fertile seeds and infertile seeds.  Guess what the infertile seeds do?  They have a high concentration of the ingredient needed to make Tamiflu.  Back years ago these prickly pods were an herbal treatment used by the Indians for the flu. 

Through pain many people have become prickly and hard.  Every situation that we encounter thickens our skins.  The more we endure the thicker our skin becomes.  Before we know it we are that sweet gum pod, hard on the outside.  Our eyes don’t tear and our skin so tough we feel nothing.  We have protected ourselves with a prickly exterior not wanting to be hurt anymore.  But much like the much-needed ingredient in the sweet gum pod there is an ingredient to remove our shell. 

Jesus gave us all the power to have grace.  Go to God receive Him, surrender to Him and have new life.  We can be set free from the prickly exterior because of Him.  Psalm 118:5 in my distress I prayed to the Lord and the Lord answered me and set me free.  Don’t let distress give you a prickly exterior.  Pray to the Lord.  He always listens and will answer.  It may not be what we think the answer will be, but it is the best answer.  God’s unchanging love gives us security to be soft and have feelings again. 

Much like the important ingredient in the sweet gum plant, there is a softer person within the hard shell waiting to bloom.  The softer side may be hidden but it is there.    Maybe it is you or maybe it is a friend.  Go to the Lord or lead others to Him. We all have seeds of joy and greatness within us.  Go to Him and He will help you find them. 

SATISFACTION

I prayed this morning for the Lord to lead me to something I could write about.  I have several bibles that I enjoy reading.  This morning after my prayer I picked up my Joyce Meyer bible and said to myself, “Ok Lord lead me to something.”  I opened to the first page in Ecclesiastes where it gave a description of the book. 

The book of Ecclesiastes was written by a wise man King Solomon.  What lessons we can learn here.  After reading some of the pages the song by the Rolling Stones, “I can’t get no SATISFACTION” kept running through my head. 

This was a king was a busy man.  He had done everything that he could on earth.  He tried doing everything, but even after doing and doing he was still unfulfilled and bitter.  He was searching for joy in all the wrong places. 

Are you like King Solomon?  Are you exhausted, disappointed and frustrated?  Have you tried many things only to end up being unsatisfied?

It is time for you to evaluate how you are spending your time and what you are doing with you life.  You must let God lead you.  His will is more important than earthly pleasures.  If we don’t follow His lead then we will end up like Solomon frustrated and exhausted.

This brings me back to one of our recent Bible studies “The Best Yes.”  With everything you do you must ask yourself, “Is this the best yes for me?”  You must realize that you can’t do everything.  Go to God and figure out what your best yes is, what God is leading you to do.  Evaluate how you are spending your time and what you are doing with your life.  If you have peace while doing something, then keep doing it, if you don’t have peace if it brings anxiety than let it go!

Make an adjustment today so that you will have satisfaction.  Follow the Lords lead and fulfill His call on your life.  Begin spending you time with God.  Listen to Him and follow Him.  With Him you will get your satisfaction!

The Everyday Life Bible, Joyce Meyer, Book of Ecclesiastes, page 1014, 1017

OPPORTUNITIES

Sunday at the Arkansas Baptist College commencement ceremony the guest speaker discussed opportunity.  Opportunity in the Webster dictionary is that of having a chance.  It is a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.  Opportunity can come in many forms.  It can be in something good or it may even be in something bad.  If it is in the bad form we tend to run from it.  These two words are very important, “Don’t Run!”

When opportunity presents itself in a way that doesn’t look appealing don’t run.  One closed door may be that of an open door that needed to happen.  We may be afraid, upset or unsure.  We may question.  We may not understand why, but the most important piece to understand is that opportunities come in many forms.

God uses a closed door to strengthen our faith.  When a door closes this is when we are required to depend on Him.  We must ask Him for guidance and confirmation.  During our time when we are waiting for a door to open we must pray for the preparation you need to continue.  The patience to wait for the difficulty to pass.  Because it is now that you are building muscles of faith.  You are being molded and shaped by God.  The greater locked your closed door is, the greater you must rely on Him. 

I found in an article the points to a closed door: (Closed Doors Are A Blessing, lovesark.net)

·      God opens and closes doors

·      Closed doors signals change and new direction

·      Closed doors are an incentive to pray more

·      Closed doors prevents trust in man

·      Closed doors make you await gods time

·      God closes prepare you for the task ahead

·      What God opens no one can shut

·      Closed doors are a blessing

We have to depend on Him and only Him to open the door of opportunity.  Don’t Run - He will help you.  He will open the door that needs to be opened for you.   

FAITH

“A mistake doesn’t define you,” this is what my husband will say when someone veers off path.  So true this is.  Most people when they make a decision that is wrong or misguided they wish they wouldn’t have.  They would love to go back and correct the error before it became a full-blown mess.  However just as Joyce Meyer has said many times, “She turned her mess into a message,” and that she did.  She had years she questioned why, but then realized that the answers are many times held from us. 

A friend of mine sent me this poem this morning.

God’s purpose and plan

Is sometimes concealed,

But someday His purpose

Will be revealed.

Someday God’s wisdom

Will make it very plain

Why problems were permitted

And how he uses pain

Things thought illogical

Disease, tragedy, fear-

Will someday make sense

When God makes all things clear.

We’ll see the Lord’s purpose

From the Lords point of view,

And we’ll know the answers

 In ways we never knew

Until we’re home with God

Some answers must wait.

Until his plan unfolds

We are called to live by faith.

When faced with mistakes, messes and issues we must have faith.  Faith, that strong belief, having complete trust in Him who knows the path that we must follow.  The one who knows our pains and struggles.  The one that will bring us light at the end of the tunnel if and only if we trust and follow his guidance. 

Press on forward and turn your mess into a message.  Don’t let one mistake define you. You don’t need to know all the answers, just follow Him and have faith.