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By Wisdom Hunters
I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:9-10) Leave everything in God’s hands and eventually you’ll see God’s hand in everything. I have seen this truth work itself out over the years in my marriage, parenting teenagers (four all at once!), career transitions, health challenges, relational issues and financial struggles. As my grandmother told me as a young man, “Son, I’m good at leaving things in God’s hands, but I struggle not to take it back into my hands.” I’ve never regretted giving anything to the Lord, but I have regretted taking it back. I’m learning to trust the hands of the One whose handiwork declares His glory! (Psalm 19:1-3) Isaiah poetically and beautifully describes us as servants of the Lord chosen and accepted by Him. No need to fear or be dismayed, because the presence of God is pronounced and personal. He strengthens and helps His children by His Spirit (Ephesians 3:16). and upholds those He loves by His totally trustworthy right hand (Psalm 73:23). Jesus died and committed His spirit to His Father so He might fulfill the promises of God- salvation for all who believe and the sufficiency of His grace to name two. Faith unfolds by leaving everything in God’s hands and by beholding His hands in all things. “My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken! “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word” (Isaiah 66:2, NLT). What do you hold—even loosely—that you need to place in the hands of your heavenly Father? A child, a hurt or an opportunity that is slipping away? Place your fear in the hands of the One whose hand calmed the sea, and He will calm your heart. Leave your hurt in the hands of the One whose hand gave sight to the blind, and He will heal your wounded heart. Put your financial desires in the hands of the One Who owns everything, and He will give you peace and security. Put your personal view in the hands of the One whose perspective is perfect and He will give you clarity. The joy of leaving everything in the Lord’s hands is seeing the Lord’s hand in everything. An answer of “no” today, becomes God’s better answer of “yes” tomorrow. Just as an effective relay racer places the aluminum baton in the hand of their teammate—make a clean exchange with Christ. Hand off all to Jesus—whose hand is on your life—and faithfully run the race of life with the One who gave His life for you. By faith, leave everything and everyone in the Lord’s hands and begin to look for His hand at work through everything and everyone. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. Passages to read/memorize/meditate: Psalm 19:1-3 Psalm 89:13 Psalm 121:5 Isaiah 64:5 Luke 1:66 Acts 7:50 1 Peter 5:6 Questions to Reflect on:
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By Yodit Kifle Smith
For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things (Psalm 107:9) As I get ready to celebrate another year of life tomorrow, I can’t help but reflect on the faithfulness of God throughout this past year even when I wasn’t always faithful. It’s humbling to know that as God’s children, we are kept by Him. Even when our thoughts and emotions lead us astray into our own understanding, God’s grace draws us back to a place of repentance, lavishing us with His mercy anew. However, the question I continue to ask myself each year I reflect is this: What continues to satisfy my soul? There is so much that vies for my soul. Dishing out promises of satisfaction, only to leave me realizing that it’s God, verily God who can satisfy. I know this truth with my mind and I read and sing about it, yet, I see how my heart is prone to want my soul satisfied through things that aren’t meant to: affirmation from those I know, accomplishments, possessions I own, or even social media. All of these only leaving me more unfulfilled and discontent. Can you imagine trying to hold water with a pot filled with holes at the bottom? It’s foolish right? This is the image that Scripture gives in Jeremiah 2:13, when showing how God’s people forsook Him, the LIVING FOUNTAIN, because they were digging for themselves broken cisterns, unable to carry any water. They were seeking to be satisfied by other things that could not even compare to the Living Water. While I am not saying I have forsaken God, I am saying that my life should be in constant reflection, asking the Lord to show me the areas where I have not been fully satisfied in Him and Him alone. I need His help to see the foolishness of it. To repent. And to help me drink from HIS Living fountain. As I read Psalm 63, I see three dispositions of David’s desperate plea for his soul to be satisfied by God alone that I have been encouraged by and seek to make my plea: My Soul thirst for You (Psalm 63:1) Our soul was created to thirst. And some of the things that we seek aren’t bad in and of themselves, but they aren’t mean to provide ultimate fulfillment. My prayer is that my heart’s disposition will always thirst for God. His Word and His ways. He’s the only One who can fulfill what He created. My Soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food (Psalm 63:5) Our soul was created to be satisfied. However, as mentioned, it can be easily disillusioned to be satisfied with things that doesn’t fulfill the soul the way it’s created to be. My prayer is that my hearts disposition will truly believe that my soul will always find deep fulfilling satisfaction when I seek God. He will satisfy me. He will be my all in all. The promises of this world are false. They don't deliver and nor will they ever. Jesus told the woman at the well that all those who drink from the living water that He gives will never thirst again (John 4:13-15). My Soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63:8) Our soul is prone to wander. Because of sin, it's prone to forget even when we’ve tasted God’s fulfillment in our lives. So, we must desperately cling to Him. We must recognize that our clinging to Him reveals our heart’s desire for Him. And the incredible truth about God’s love is that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38) because He is the one upholding us. How comforting and assuring is that? So, while we are clinging to Him, it’s really His right hand that upholds us and helps us cling. We are secure in Him. Sisters, I pray our souls will be found deeply content in the One who created it. As John Piper said, “God is most glorified when our souls are most satisfied in Him.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. Passages to read/memorize/meditate: Jeremiah 2:13 Psalm 63 (read all of chapter) Psalm 107:9 John 4:13-15 Questions to Reflect on:
By Meron Asnake (Within Devotional Writer)
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect in your weakness," so the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9) It is not the first time that I spent days staring at blank screens, taking hours contemplating my words, and discarding them before my fingers hit the keyboard. For so long, I did not have the courage to manifest the words that are held prisoners in my head. It is my prayer to be authentic in my writing; however, I am apprehensive about sharing my real story. In working toward this week’s devotional, I struggled in communicating my thoughts. I feared rejection and disapproval of others. I focused on my inadequacy and criticized my writing skills. So, I continued to pray, but I did not get my response; or, I should say I did not get the response I wanted. Like Saul in 1 Samuel 14: 24-46, I wanted to make a rash vow, cast lots and take control. I wanted things in my timing, revelations in my convenience, and obedience in my comfort. And that beloved is what I call, grown folks temper tantrums; I was in my feelins'. I experience these moments more often than I like to admit. It is my way of manipulating God to react and rush Him to my rescue; use His word against Him and thwart it for my own selfish desires. I say “affirming” verse like He is my deliverer, my fortress, and refuge; I shall cry out to him; Did He not say that His words will not return to Him void? It shall be given onto me, right? Right! Very quickly, my prayers turned into tantrums and became sinful. But with His grace and mercy, the Holy Spirit reminds me of Luke 4:12 And Jesus answered the devil “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” I felt exposed realizing that my worldly tricks do not work on the omniscient God. Hence, He answered my prayer in this raw moment and pressed on my heart to share my cringe worthy above tantrums. Moreover, He reminded me of my life verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. But he said to me, “ My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in your weakness, so the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. He is teaching me to rely on Him, to lift my eyes away from the inadequacies, ultimately off my pride (Exodus 4: 10-12), and onto Him. In doing so, I am encouraged and challenged NOT to glorify my sins and shortcomings, but to repent and turn away from my transgressions and rely on God in all my weaknesses. Therefore, I can put back the glory and honor where it always belonged. Recognize that we do not have to do what He has called us to do, we GET to. It is an honor and privilege to be used by God. We get to live our life in the light of the Gospel. reconciled with the Father through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He gifted us new identities in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 11-21). So beloved, I want to encourage and challenge you to look at the state of your life, and surrender your weaknesses to God, repent of your sins, and share your testimonies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. Passages to read/memorize/meditate: 1 Samuel 4:24-26 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Exodus 4:1-12 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 Questions to Reflect on:
By Yodit Kifle Smith
“Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things from your law.” (Psalm 119:18) The Psalmist in Psalm 119:18 prayed, “Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things from your law.” This should be the consistent prayer of the Believer’s heart. It’s a prayer that confesses that without God’s doing, we would not and could not see Him. We would not see the depth of our sin to rightly see the height, width, depth and length of His love and mercy towards us (Ephesians 3:18). What’s ironic and profound about the posture of that prayer is that it’s now needed because there was a time when our eyes weren’t supposed to be open. It all started in the Garden of Eden in Genesis. God, in His infinite and eternal goodness, created mankind to fully enjoy all that He created. And in complete unity with God, Adam and Eve enjoyed relationship with God. He provided all that they would need for fulfillment which included the blessing of eating from the hundreds (if not thousands) of trees in the Garden EXCEPT for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). He tells them that if they eat of that tree than they “should surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) A death that would separate them from His presence. We know how the story goes. The crafty serpent (Satan) makes them question God’s goodness by deceiving them to see His commandment as a way to hinder them from life and not as way of loving them to life. And as soon as they eat the fruit from the tree, Scripture says, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7) Their eyes were open but tragically, it wasn’t open to God’s goodness. Rather, it was now open to how sin would wreak destruction and death. It was open to what God’s love wanted to protect us from: separation from Him. And from that moment, opened eyes became closed hearts. Hearts that would choose rebellion over obedience. Satan uses the same tactic he used back in the Garden, today. He wants to blind us from “seeing the light of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) so that we would focus on what “looks” like life. Adam and Even thought that knowing good and evil would be life. They believed the lie that wisdom would be better than God. Just like them, we easily settle for what we think would give meaning to our life when all along, life is found in Him. (John 11:25-26) Satan also wants us to question God’s goodness. How easy is it for us to utter, God, I thought you loved me,” when we are caught in a hard a place or when we are questioning why things are happening the way they are? Adam and Eve thought God was withholding His goodness by commanding them to not eat ONE of the thousands of trees He put before them. Little did they know the depth of His love in giving that commandment. And Satan seeks to make us think that because sin sometimes feels good for the moment, it must be void of consequences. God was very clear about the consequences of eating from the tree, yet they still ate it. Why? Because they really believed that what looked good for food, delightful to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise, (Genesis 3:6) would always be good. But we know what happened because we are still feeling the effects of the consequences. (Genesis 3:14-20) But sisters, praise be to our loving God that through the finished work of Jesus Christ, He now opens our eyes to what will give us not just life but abundant life. Not the illusion of what can give us life, but true, eternal life (John 17:3). He opens our eyes to His eternal goodness so that we would choose Him over the misunderstanding of our circumstances. He opens our eyes to the consequences of sin so that we would be empowered to choose righteousness. It’s always been Him. May we keep pleading each day that He would open our eyes and keep our eyes open because our “adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. Passages to read/memorize/meditate: Genesis (chapters 2-3) Psalm 119:18 John 11:25-16 John 17:3 Ephesians 3:18 1 Peter 5:8 Questions to Reflect on:
By Hannah Solomon Mesfin (WITHIN Devotional Writer)
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21) There are many and I mean MANY topics I would always choose to talk about before I got into the subject of submission. And for quite a long time, I always believed myself to be a person who is humble and after the needs of others; yet I despised the word submission for what I believed it stood for, until I got to learn what God’s truths are about submission and lowering oneself. Today, I believe many of us have confused the word submission with a negative connotation. It leaves a bad taste in our mouth when we say it and quite frankly, we rather skip that part of the “Christian life.” In summary, we believe submission is just another word for bondage. Submission is designed for everyone. In Ephesians 5, the author Paul goes into a list of how we should be imitators of Christ, walking in love and unselfishly seeking the best for others. He continues in how we should be pure and holy in our character, and how we once lived in darkness but are now light in the Lord. Then, towards the end of his instructions to wrap it all together, he ends it by saying “be in submission to one another out of reverence for God.” We submit to one another, not because we are in bondage to that person, but because we lower ourselves as Christ Himself became flesh and lowered Himself to give us freedom and everlasting life. We then begin to open up ourselves to what God has in store for us. We are called to imitate His character and His desire for creating a kingdom that serves one another and not self-serving. That command was not just for “people in those days.” It applies to us now. And when we walk in this command, we are expanding His kingdom and showing a character that is beyond what our flesh can produce. “Submission is ultimately strength under control.” The key word in that is strength, not weakness. We associate showing obedience/submission to our ultimately showing weakness. Instead God is teaching us self-control---how to manage our need to be in control. I once read an article that said, “Submission must first be an attitude of the heart, then it becomes an act of will.” Submission to one another begins with a changed heart, a changed attitude, ultimately a changed person. And Christ changes us. He makes us new. We can’t love purely and serve one another freely if we are always trying to outdo, outrun, or outperform our neighbor. Instead we must “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Phil. 2:3-4) That is when we begin to out-serve one another in love and when we can fully learn what it looks like to imitate Christ—which is our ULTIMATE goal! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. Passages to read/memorize/meditate: Ephesians 5:1-21 Philippians 2:3-4 Mark 10:35-45Questions to Reflect on:
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