#TheLast100Days: Day 98

I think it is simply amazing how easy it is to relate to and draw from God's Word, no matter where you pick it up. No matter where I turn, there is something there that I can read and really see myself in. I think that, more than almost anything else, is convincing me daily of God's abundant love for me.

Today's passage really ties in closely with yesterday's, in my opinion. If you read Day 99, then you know I kind of spilled my guts with some pretty ugly truths about my life before God. It really just reinforces my thankfulness that God brought me through all of that, and it really just makes me rejoice that I am able to share what I went through as an example of how much God loves me...enough that he wanted me to become well and healthy so that my experiences might help someone else walking that dark and lonely path.

I will be praying for the future just that He will continue to sustain me and shower me with His mercy and grace, that I will be able to love Him and love His people just as fervently and honestly as He loves me. What more could I possibly need?

God's Track Record With Me

READ

2 Samuel 7:18, 20-23, 28-29

18, 20-21 King David went in, took his place before God, and prayed: "Who am I, my Master God, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this place in life? ...What can I possibly say in the face of all this? You know me, Master God, just as I am. You've done all this not because of who I am but because of who you are - out of your very heart! - but you've let me in on it.

22-23 "This is what makes you so great, Master God! There is none like you, no God but you, nothing to compare with what we've heard with our own ears. And who is like your people, like Israel, a nation unique in the earth, whom God set out to redeem for himself (and became most famous for it), performing great and fearsome acts, throwing out nations and their gods left and right as you saved your people from Egypt? ...

28-29 "And now, Master God, being the God you are, speaking sure words as you do, and having just said this wonderful thing to me, please just one more thing: Bless my family; keep your eye on them always. You've already as much as said that you would, Master God! Oh, may your blessing be on my family permanently!"

THINK

Read the passage again, slowly & deliberately. Listen for lines that resonate with you personally. Consider how God has changed you and how you are grateful for that; think about what God has brought you out of. Consider how God has been heroic in his protection and love for you. Think about what you would ask God for in regard to your future.

PRAY

Using the answers to the above questions, pray through the passage.

LIVE

Try this: taking the line from the passage that resonated most with you, put it to the tune of a song you know (or make one up) and sing that line a few times. Now just sit in the quiet and let it soak in. Sing it again and then sit in the quiet. Sing it one more time, and then sit in the quiet. How is God talking to you through that line?

"What can I possibly say in the face of all this? You know me, Master God, just as I am."

#TheLast100Days: Day 99

Today's passage is pretty powerful stuff. I read this soon after I got up today and thought to post on it immediately but decided to take the day to think about it and let it soak in some. In doing so, I realize that this passage is the perfect lead-in to giving some of my personal testimony. I won't bore my readers with all of the gory details, but there are some things I'd like to confess to my online family.

The title of this devotion is: Keep Watch Over Your Heart, and the passages we're looking at today are Proverbs 4:20-23 and 5:8-14.

Prov. 4:20-23
Dear friend, listen well to my words;
tune your ears to my voice.
Keep my message in plain view at all times.
Concentrate! Learn it by heart!
Those who discover these words live, really live;
body and soul, they're bursting with health.

Keep vigilant watch over your heart;
that's where life starts.

Prov. 5:8-14
Keep your distance from such a woman;
absolutely stay out of her neighborhood.
You don't want to squander your wonderful life,
to waste your precious life among the hardhearted.
Why should you allow strangers to take advantage of you?
Why be exploited by those who care nothing for you?
You don't want to end your life full of regrets,
nothing but sin and bones,
Saying, "Oh, why didn't I do what they told me?
Why did I reject a disciplined life?
Why didn't I listen to my mentors,
or take my teachers seriously?
My life is ruined!
I haven't one blessed thing to show for my life!"

READ

Read the passage aloud slowly, keeping in mind that "such a woman" refers to the things in your life that seduce you, meaning anything that sucks you in, lures you, misleads you, or even corrupts you.

THINK

1. Consider what has caused you to squander days of your life and leave you full of regret. It might be patterns of relating to people, patterns of spending your time, or patterns of making decisions. Then read verses 8-14 again and wait for thoughts to rise to the surface of your mind.
2. Read verses 20-23 and see what comes to you about the ways you need to avoid such patterns. Do you need to listen? Keep God's message in plain view? Keep a vigilant heart?
3. What would keeping a watch over your heart look like? Keeping watch might be different for you than for others. Avoid grabbing at the first thing that comes to mind. Wait in that.

PRAY

Begin by confessing your regrets about time and energy you've squandered. Don't rush through this. Allow enough time to fully describe these things and let them go. Then ask God to help you listen to him and keep a watchful heart.

LIVE

Underline or highlight the phrase in verses 20-23 that stand out to you. As you move through your day, allow this to remind you to listen and keep an alert heart.


***********************

Reading over these passages makes me very mindful of the ways in which I squandered my time, energy, money, and integrity over the years. For the last 15 years of my life, I've not kept a vigilant heart, nor did I think too much about God or His place in my life.

I used drugs, alcohol, and bad relationships to fill the emptiness I felt in my soul. I lost homes, cars, jobs, and friends. I lost the respect and trust of my family. I lost my daughter. At times I wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep and never wake up again.

I am certain that it is only by God's grace and mercy - and the unceasing prayers of my sister and my mother - that I am able today to stand on my feet and call God my Father and Jesus my friend.

I am not perfect. I do not watch only Christian movies or listen to only Christian music. I cuss like a sailor sometimes when I'm upset. I get angry and I question God and I don't always treat people the way I know I should. However, the difference between me then and me now is that when I hear the whispers in my ear that I'm not good enough, or that I should just get high because it'll make me feel better, or that I'm never going to be anything in this life, all I have to do is pray to my Father to sustain me and I know that He will. And no matter how bad things may seem, I never have to fear being alone again.

And neither do you. God loves you and He wants nothing more than for you to love Him back. The rest of it will fall into place, trust me.

{Twitter/Facebook family...if you stop by to read this, will you take a second and leave a comment to let me know you came by? Just a "hi" will suffice. Thanks!}

#TheLast100Days: Day 100

Today begins the last 100 days of 2009. Some of us in my Twitter family have decided to spend these last days of the year getting closer to God and digging into the Word. There are no rules or regulations, except that you must read everyday and hopefully you will feel led to post/tweet/Facebook about what you've read and learned. We all want to share in each other's progress, so friend everyone on the list!

Who is already in?

@MsLoveLiLi
@DanniWrites
@DavidLPatrick
@KeilaBee1
@AngelaDowns (ME)
@MackleenStories
@CatieJay
@ImInTransit
@Brownvintage
@NicomaVO
@shesasanga
@seximissj
@virtuousgem
@Rahnae
@TheaPatrick
@raitking
@mizznelly
@waltward3
@everywrdmatters
@purpleice1981
@kaywhydee
@flawedchristian
@bradpost
@tamarajenel
@sosteen1

That said, let's get into today's Word! I decided to use SOLO (The Message//Remix: SOLO) to pull my daily readings from, because I really like the lectio divina concept of Read, Pray, Think, and Live that it teaches. I opened the book to a random page and the title of my first devotion was: Digging In With God. Pretty appropriate, no?

The passage for this devotion is Hosea 10:11-12 (expanded Hosea 10:1-15) which says:

Ephraim was a trained Heifer
that loved to thresh.
Passing by and seeing her strong, sleek neck,
I wanted to harness Ephraim,
Put Ephraim to work in the fields--
Judah plowing, Jacob harrowing;
Sow righteousness,
reap love.
It's time to till the ready earth,
it's time to dig in with God,
Until he arrives
with righteousness ripe for harvest.

READ
Read the passage a couple of times, slowly.

THINK
Understand this to be God's dream for the northern tribes of Israel. Instead of doing these things, though, they rebelled.

Think of a time when God used you to love someone or do something special for someone. In doing so, you were a well-trained heifer!

1. What does this passage tell you about what a well-trained heifer does?
2. Why is it a joy for a well-trained heifer to "dig in with God?"

Read the passage one more time. What words are attractive to your ears? "Sow righteousness, reap love" is the most beautiful part of this passage to me. Can't get enough of it!

PRAY
Thank God for the times he has used you to do kingdom work -- offering mercy, doing justice, or acting in faithfulness. Ask God to show you ways he wants to use you that you might not have noticed.

LIVE
Sit in the joy and satisfaction of digging in with God. If you have not experienced being used by God, imagine what that might feel like.