Posted on Sep 10, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
Yesterday, I shared about how we need to treat others as we desire to be treated. Sometimes we all fall short of treating people from God’s heart of love. It is vital that we continue to walk patiently and lovingly with everyone around us.
Today I want us to consider the whole realm of patiently waiting for circumstances to change in our life. We must stand firm in our faith that God is well able to change that which we are believing for. We cannot permit ourselves to be impatient with our Lord as His hand works on our behalf. We cannot make Him work on our timetable but we should trust in His timing and wisdom that is at work within us.
As we meditate upon patience and it’s perfect work, have you ever had times that you are impatient with yourself. You may have an area in your life that you are purposing to surrender to Him, yet you find yourself failing. It can be very tempting to put yourself down through your own words or how you see yourself. As we pursue to grow in God’s love and in His Word there will always be opportunities to focus too much on what we are NOT rather that how far He has brought us. With any work that needs done in us there needs to be a time of waiting for His loving hand to work. I guess there are all times we wished He would work a bit faster, but His wisdom encompasses more than we will ever understand. As He works, He promises that the transformation will indeed happen, but remember sometimes we can tend to be impatient in that which we have to wait for.
Be encouraged today that as you are applying yourself to do that which is right and good in His sight that His loving hand IS at work in your life. Guard yourself from focusing on your weaknesses but rather the gifts, the strengths and abilities He has blessed you with. As we keep our hearts humble and open to Him, He will be faithful to show us the areas in which we need to give attention. He promises to lead and guide us in ALL truth in every area of our lives! God bless you.
Posted on Sep 9, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
There is the old saying “Actions speak louder than words.” Words can be used to build up one’s heart yet words can tear one down, and discourage them. My heart breaks to hear of the bullying that goes on in schools, and sadly it starts at such a young age. Wrong actions many times are proceeding from one that may have a heart that is jealous, envious, or hurt from the past. Regardless of where they originate, hurtful words and actions can cut into the soul. Jesus had something important to say about this, and we have all heard these words spoken many times over…”Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.” I love the Message’s translation because it sums it up simply.
Matthew 7:12 (MSG)
“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior:
Ask yourself what you want people to do for you,
then grab the initiative and do it for them.”
I love how this says to “grab the initiative and do it for them.” It is so easy to think about how we feel we should be treated but we must also take hold of the initiative to be thinking about the feelings of others around us? With the help of God’s love, He can show us the needs of people around us. . I think the Lord desires also that we ponder our words before we speak them, and think about how our actions affect the hearer of our words. Think to yourself, “Is this how I would want to be spoken to or is this how I would want someone to act in my presence.”
Lord, we ask for Your help this day to show us the depths of our hearts. Reveal to us how to treat people around us. Help us to speak kind words, and do the works that You desire us to do. We ask that you remind us by Your Holy Spirit to grab the initiative to do unto others as we would want them to do onto us. In Jesus Name we ask this.
Posted on Sep 8, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
I love this image for it depicts a pure surrender to God. Last week I had shared with you about identifying weights in your life, and how they can keep you from running the race for Him. He came to set us free from any thing that would hinder us from serving Him. There is not one care in this life that the Lord wants us to try and carry on our own. As we make the decision to turn our cares and weights over to Him, He promises to help us with them, and sustain us in the midst of dealing with
anything that is trying to weigh your heart down.
“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee…”
I like the absoluteness of this scripture…”HE SHALL SUSTAIN THEE…” Burdens will hold you down, and burdens will keep you from moving forward into your dreams…if you are trying to deal with them in your own strength and ability. God desires that you give Him every burden in order that He may anchor you in His hope, and keep you from being shaken or moved.
Matthew 11:29-30 (NLV)
“Follow My teachings and learn from Me.I am gentle and do not have pride.
You will have rest for your souls.
For My way of carrying a load is easy and My load is not heavy.”
I just want to encourage you to daily examine yourself that you are not attempting to carry burdens, and do things in your own ability. Remember, your help is from Him, and all you have to do is ask Him to take that burden. He promised He would and He is faithful to do that which He said in His Word.
Posted on Sep 7, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
When the Lord created all that we see, He purposed it to be beautiful. He desires that we
enjoy all that He did as He formed the heavens and Earth with His fingers. I often
ponder how He did it, and it always reminds me of His greatness. I know that He
desires that we revere Him as the Creator but more importantly He desires that we
look to live in a humble state and revere His commands in every area of our life.
Think about it, He created man for His purposes, and He solely desires that
we love Him with all of our heart and do His will with every breath we take. Let
us look at a scripture in Isaiah 66.
Isaiah 66:2
For all these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands.
As God in Heaven proclaims what He did with the work of His hands He goes on to say, “but here is where I look…” I do not know about you but I want to know what God is looking for. After all the beauty and wonder of His creation He is still looking? I love this because it is reminding us that God’s eyes are moving to and fro watching for the one that will ALWAYS put Him and His Word first and reverently respond to what He says. He is looking for those that even when they mess up they admit they are wrong and receive His forgiveness. He is watching for the man and woman that desires to be humble and respect His Word above their own opinions and thoughts. He is watching you and your heart.
Let us be reminded today that His eyes are looking and watching for the one who will listen and hear what He is speaking. Know that He is waiting for someone that He can use for His purposes. Think about it…He made it all and in all it’s grand beauty He is still watching for those of a humble and contrite spirit. I encourage you today to think about how He desires to use you as you purpose to remain humble and reverent to His Word.
Posted on Sep 6, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
I can still remember the horrible situation that West Virginia had to face with the contamination of their water supply. A chemical seeped into the water supply and threatened to sicken hundreds of thousands of people. Officials found out about the spill when people started calling in complaints about a strong licorice-type smell in the air.
I found it interesting that this potentially harmful chemical seeping into the water had a sweet smell of licorice. Some said it smelled like cough syrup, and the smell puzzled them. I am sure they figured out how this happened but what really mattered is that it rendered over 300,000 people no drinking, no bathing, and no cooking with the water. One chemical literally zapped the pureness of their water to poisonous and harmful, and brought a huge amount of people helpless, and without pure water.
Let us look at this story, and apply it to how our hearts can become contaminated by the things that seem sweet and okay in this life. God’s Word speaks to us through Proverbs 4:23, and warns us as well to be careful and be vigilant to watch over our hearts. This scripture warns us to guard the purity of our heart and all that flows from it. Our heart is as a wellspring from where all issues flow. A wellspring is a source or supply of anything, especially when considered inexhaustible.
Proverbs 4:23 (AMP)
“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance
and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.”
Let us be careful to never leave down our guard over our hearts. There are so many “sweet smelling” temptations in this world that could taint and poison our hearts in which the life of God desires to flow purely. Oh that we will take it seriously to guard our hearts with all vigilance for this is where life begins and flows from.
Posted on Sep 5, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
Yesterday I had shared with you about recognizing any weight that may be holding you back or causing you hindrance as you run the good race set before you. I want to share the scriptures from Hebrews 12:1-2 again with you.
Hebrews 12:1-2
The Voice (VOICE)
“…let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us.
We may feel alone, but we aren’t. We are surrounded by an army of witnesses. They have run the race of faith and finished well. It is now our turn.
Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor.”
Today I want to look at verse two where Paul is zeroing in on focusing on Jesus. As we keep our eyes on the Lord and His perfect will, we will see the world around us as God sees it. May we fight the good fight and run the good race with every bit of our being! Today I want to share a story with you that I heard a few months ago. I think it fits wonderfully with our meditation in God’s Word from Hebrews.
There was a young man being interviewed on the news after a race that he ran. The runner was sharing that as he was approaching the finish line he was convinced that he was going to win and he relaxed right before the finish line. The sad thing was that he did not see the young man that was running beside him, and that young man ended up winning the race. Oh my how he must of felt so upset with himself! The young man that lost the race made an assumption but he said to the reporter, “There are more races, I am sure I will never do that again!” The gist of the story was that he shared that he knew his competitor was close but he thought he had it. Oh how assumption can really get us into trouble.
Stories like this can serve to make us think about spiritual things. How many times do we think that our battle may be over, and we relax in the fight, and that devil throws in a punch, and sets you back. Sometimes things like this can really teach us a great lesson in this life, but one thing for sure is we need to always be persevering till the end of everything we put our hands to. As Paul said in Hebrews 12:2 “Now stay focused on Jesus….” As we stay focused on Him, nothing else around us will keep us from the pursuit of victory. Let us run with endurance and persistence the long race set before us!
Posted on Sep 4, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
Hebrews 12:1-2
The Voice (VOICE)
“…let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us.
We may feel alone, but we aren’t. We are surrounded by an army of witnesses. They have run the race of faith and finished well. It is now our turn.
Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor.”
What does it take to run the race that God has set before us? This scripture in Hebrews makes it pretty plain. First, we must drop unnecessary weight or anything that is keeping us from moving forward. Do you know the “weights” in your life that have held you back? We all have things that are trying to weight us down, and we as individuals need to recognize what it is. I can remember hearing the following quote…
“50% of a problem is solved just
understanding what the problem is.”
As we acknowledge what our weight is and humble ourselves to God let us ask Him for help, He will surely help us.Remember…God understands you inside and out, and He certainly has a way to help you lose that “unnecessary weight” that you are carrying around! Lord, we ask you today to shed light within our hearts. Show us weights that we may be carrying that we are not even aware of.We ask that you guide and instruct us as to how to rid of these weights that will only hold usback. We thank you for that in Jesus Name!
Posted on Sep 3, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
Have you ever gone to grab a flashlight that did not work, and you thought it’s batteries were fine. You needed the light, you were in the darkness, and you were left to search for another flashlight, candles, etc… Aren’t you glad that when you need spiritual light that you can always depend upon God to give it to you! His light is always there upon asking. It never changes, nor does it grow dim!I thank God today that no matter what I face in this life, God’s light will never let me down. He is faithful and therefore every spoken Word in the scriptures will continue to shine before me to lead, and light my path.
There will be times in which we know we are trusting Him yet our way may seem unclear. Human nature desires a place called a “comfort zone”. We like to feel like we know what is ahead in order that we can plan for it. This is just not reality. Let us always be reminded that sometimes the “not seeing” is very much a part of the trusting. It is indeed part of releasing our faith as we believe without seeing. I want to share a quote with you that fits perfectly with our devotional today, and then a scripture from the book of Ephesians.
“We don’t need to see the way
when we stay close to the One who does.”
~~~~~♥~~~~~
Ephesians 1:16-18 (AMP)
“[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,
By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones)”
I hope this has encouraged your heart in the knowing that if you serve the living God, you serve a God that is able to flood the eyes of your heart with His glorious light. We need to be ever so diligent to hold His Word close to our hearts and meditate upon it with all diligence for it is the Light for every path we walk!
Posted on Sep 2, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
Have you ever had a conversation with someone, and in the midst of it you feel as if they may not be totally paying attention and listening. This can be quite discouraging especially if you are sharing your heart or you are upset. Today let us meditate upon the fact that we serve a loving God that always listens, and hears our prayer as we go to Him with humble hearts.
I would like to share from Psalm 116. The psalmist begins the chapter by exclaiming, “I love the Lord, for He heard my voice…” He proceeded to say that he knew God’s ear was toward him, and then he said, “I will call on Him as long as I live!”
You see this psalmist understood that danger and death was staring him in the face, and he had no where to turn. I am sure that what the writer went through was terrifying yet he stopped and reminded himself of who and what his God is all about. This is what Psalm 116:7-9 says…
“Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.
For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.”
I believe this chapter in Psalms can serve to remind us that in trying circumstances we absolutely must call on the Lord for our help, and we must purpose to remind ourselves of His love and care over us. Lord, we thank You that Your ear is always open to listen to our heart’s cry no matter how big or small it may seem. We thank You for your faithfulness and lovingkindness toward us!
Posted on Sep 1, 2015 in Devotions |
by Dona Hake
Do we really believe what we believe? Sometimes the circumstances of life will tempt us to look away from our faith and be tempted to doubt, therefore we are set up to be double minded. When one is double minded their faith will not work. Let us look at a wonderful scripture in James that will encourage our hearts in the importance of being anchored in our faith!
James 1:6-8 (The Voice)
“The key is that your request be anchored by your single-minded
commitment to God. Those who depend only on their own judgment are like
those lost on the seas, carried away by any wave or picked up by any wind.
Those adrift on their own wisdom shouldn’t assume the Lord will rescue
them or bring them anything. The splinter of divided loyalty shatters your
compass and leaves you dizzy and confused.”
When we are single minded toward God we will react in faith in any given situation. If we are not single-minded it is because we are more than likely depending on our own wisdom, and we need to get knowledge of what God’s Word has to say about our situation. Another way one falls to being double minded is pride. If one fails to totally submit themselves to the Word of God they will always be tempted to rely on their knowledge or experience. God sees us to be in a dangerous place when we are not living by faith in Him, but rather trusting in our knowledge of how something should come about.
I really love how this translation brings an even greater insight in the very last sentence of this portion of scripture in James 1:8… “The splinter of divided loyalty shatters your compass and leaves you dizzy
and confused.”
The danger of not being single minded can cause severe consequences. Just as a compass keeps you on track, being single-minded with all that God has for you will also keep you wise, discerning and very sensitive to the voice of the Lord in the midst of trouble. Your spiritual “compass” will keep you right on target and you will remain strong, steady, and focused in the midst of a storm. This “compass” is vital because if you are in a problem, the last thing you need is to feel spiritually dizzy, confused, and not knowing which direction to turn.
When we are weak spiritually and our emotions are a wreck from the trial we are walking through we may find ourselves more susceptible to confusion and wrong thinking. Much of the time this is where the voice of doubt originates from. When we are not established in truth before the storm comes, we will be in trouble when we are in the midst of a trial. I am going to leave you with a poem that I absolutely love because of it’s powerful message.
Doubt sees the obstacle, faith sees the way;
Doubt sees the darkest night, faith sees the day;
Doubt dreads to take a step, faith soars on high;
Doubt questions, “Who believes?”
FAITH answers “I”
(Anonymous)
Keep your spiritual ears tuned to the Spirit of God and keep your faith strong in Him. Give no place to the voice of doubt. Allow it no room in your thoughts. I pray that this devotional has been a blessing to you today!
