We're taking a trip chronologically through the Bible this year.
No one has to walk in darkness any longer.
No one has to live in the land of deep darkness.
Because a light has dawned.
And his name is Jesus.
Wonderful counselor.
Mighty God.
Everlasting Father.
Prince of Peace.
Savior.
A child was born. God gave us his son.
And there is no end to the greatness of his kingdom.
He reigns with justice and righteousness – now and forever.
God said it.
So it’s the truth.
Thank you, Abba Father.
Each day we are walking with God.
And he is taking us somewhere. We don’t know where….we’re following.
He has a plan for every believer.
A purpose.
There’s a reason – many reasons – why we are still here on this earth.
We have an assignment to fulfill.
And, so…..we walk each day with God.
Listening.
Learning.
Obeying.
We’re following him until our mission on earth is fulfilled.
Then we will walk into eternity next to our loving Father…..
forever.
We love you, Abba Father.
We get in trouble every time we make excuses for our behavior.
Everytime we try to rationalize away our sin.
Sometimes we do or say something wrong and then we try to make it ok by blaming someone else or telling ourselves everyone does the same thing so it’s not so bad.
“They started it.”
“I’m not as bad as ……………” (fill in the blank).
Isaiah speaks to this sin of rationalization in his 5th chapter:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness.”
Rationalizing does not help us be better people. The first step of turning away from sin is to see it for what it is.
Recognize the truth.
Be able to identify the truth and admit when we have not done the right thing.
No excuses.
No blame pointed at others.
When we are able to consistently call light ‘light’ and darkness ‘darkness’, we are letting the truth of God transform us.
This is the road of faith that God has called each of us to walk here on earth. And God never leaves us on this road alone. He walks beside us – guiding us and loving us.
Thank you, Abba Father.
Such a great word – flourish!
It means to develop in a healthy way as a result of a particularly favorable environment.
This is a great goal for us – to flourish.
So what’s our next step?
How about finding a particularly favorable environment to put ourselves in? A healthy environment where we are supported and surrounded by people who also want to flourish.
I don’t know of any place better to find an environment like this than participating in a Bible-based, healthy church family.
“Who is wise?” God asks us in Hosea 14. “Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”
Are we walking or stumbling?
In the same passage, God promises to help us flourish. He promises to help us blossom.
The Creator of the Universe always keeps his promises.
It’s clear which particularly favorable environment we need to be participating in so we can flourish.
That’s our next step.
Thank you, Abba Father.
It’s whats on the inside that counts.
We can make ourselves look good and nice and religious on the outside.
But that doesn’t count unless we are letting God mold us and change us on the inside.
When we submit our hearts and minds to God, he will transform them. Eventually, his redeeming power working in our lives will start to show on the outside. What people see will be different.
Because we’re becoming more like Him on the inside.
This is why, in Joel 2, the Prophet Joel told the lukewarm people of Judah to ‘rend your heart and not your garments.’
They needed to genuinely give their hearts back to God – not just make a big show of tearing their clothes and weeping loudly in the temple.
God called them to rend their hearts – break open their hearts – and let him back in.
Then the transformation can happen.
God asks us to do the same today. He wants us to open up our hearts to him and let his light shine in our lives. To mold us. To change us.
And we can choose to do this.
Today.
What are you going to choose?
We love you, Abba Father.
Sometimes we can be very blind.
Blind to other perspectives that don’t match ours.
Blind to the truth because we don’t want to believe it….or we don’t agree with it.
Blind because we’re so focused on ourselves that we don’t see what’s really happening around us.
In 2 Kings 6, Elisha prayed that several different people’s eyes would be opened.
The first person he prayed for was his servant. They were surrounded by their enemies and hugely outnumbered. But when the servant’s eyes were opened, he could see that the hills around him were filled with horses and chariots of fire. God’s heavenly army. And God’s army won the battle for them that day.
This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.
Because we can be so very blind if our eyes aren’t opened.
Dear Father, Thank you for the truth you give us in your word. Please open our eyes so we can see and understand it. Please open our hearts so we can live out your truth in our everyday lives. Please open our minds so you can write your truth in our thoughts – replacing any lies that we may have believed in the past.
Please open our eyes to your perfect will, Abba Father, so we can do our part in growing your kingdom here on earth. In the awesome name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
We need to be in a quiet place to hear a whisper.
There can’t be a lot of noise around us. We have to be able to focus on what’s being said when someone is whispering otherwise we’ll miss the whole thing.
We have to tune out all of the other things going on in order to hear what the whisperer is telling us.
This is the best way to hear God.
And this is what God revealed to Elijah in 1 Kings 19. God told Elijah that he would not find him in the powerful wind or in the earthquake or the fire. After the fire would come a gentle whisper – straight from God.
And straight to us when we quiet our surroundings and minimize distractions. We want to be able to hear his whispers as he guides us through our days.
It takes focus.
It takes time.
And it takes making some space in our lives and in our minds…..
to hear his whispers.
Thank you, Abba Father.
Our car doesn’t start.
The electricity goes out.
Our debit card suddenly doesn’t work at the grocery store.
The majority of the things we really count on in our lives will let us down at one time or another.
A job we thought we would have for a long time ends.
People who we trusted disappoint us.
There is only one thing that we can always count on – our Father God will never let us down.
He is trustworthy, faithful and perfect.
He can’t mess up.
We might think he made a mistake when he does something we don’t understand.
But it’s impossible for him to do anything wrong.
We can always count on him.
We read in 1 Kings the account of the widow who made a loaf of bread with her last handful of flour and gave that bread to Elijah.
Then she discovered that she had enough flour and oil to make another loaf for herself and her son.
And she continued to have enough to make bread through the long drought that was going on where she lived.
God provided for her and he will provide for us.
It may seem like there is not going to be enough but God’s supplies never run dry.
His love and grace and provision for us never run out.
He is watching over us today…right now.
We can count on it.
Thank you, Abba Father.
Have you noticed how hard it is to start a new good habit but how easy it is to start a new bad one?
We have this inherent desire to do our own thing. Go our own way. Do what we want to do – even when it’s not good for us.
It’s called rebellion.
It’s called sin.
In 2 Chronicles, Azariah tells King Asa, “The Lord is with you when you are with him.”
The same is true for us. When our relationship with God is good, he is able to be close to us. He is able to wrap his arms around us to hold us and love us. When we are right beside him, he can give us peace.
When we are far from God, it means that we have wandered. God doesn’t go anywhere. By focusing on our plans and doing what we want to do, we can end up very far from God.
So how can we stop wandering?
What can we do to stop getting lost in our own desires?
What would our lives look like if we pursued God as diligently as he pursues us?
What would happen if we loved him as much as he loves us?
The reality is that it’s not possible for us to love him as much as he loves us. His love is perfect – the perfect amount at the perfect time in a perfect way.
This all makes him a very good Father who is worth pursuing. It’s worth every effort we can make to stay close to him.
Every day.
For as long as we remain on this earth.
Thank you, Abba Father.
Every one of us influences the people around us – the people who touch our lives.
The question is – are we influencing others positively or negatively?
Are we helping those around us to be better people? To have more integrity? To treat others with respect? To forgive? To love?
We not only influence others, the people around us also influence us. So who are we surrounding ourselves with? What kind of people do we allow into our lives to influence us?
In 1 Kings 11 we read the unfortunate story about how King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was turned away from being faithful to the One True God by his foreign wives. He let these women with false beliefs influence him and this made God very angry.
Solomon had it all and he lost his standing with God because of who he listened to – who he surrounded himself with.
Right now is a great time for us to take a look at who we are letting influence us and what kind of influence we are having on others.
Is there anything that needs to change?
Please open our eyes, Abba Father.
Come with me on a Journey through the Bible 