I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord , mercy shall surround him. Psalms 32:8-10 NKJV
Dear Lord Jesus, Thank You for these words. Lord, I do not want to be like an animal which must be forced to do something. Instead, I want to be Your child, who lives beside You, looking for You to meet every need. Lord Jesus, only through You can we find joy, peace, contentment, and love. Only in Your truth is there freedom and wisdom. All the things of this world will pass away, and I want to look forward to life in eternity with You each day I live here. Lord, as I sojourn in this place, please teach me. Let my life bring You glory and honor. Lord, help me to keep my eyes open to Your Word and my mind fixed upon Your truths and please give me discernment that I might walk with You in all things. Lord, if there is any pride in me, deal with it. Show me my sin that I might confess it quickly and turn away. Thank You, Jesus for all Your blessings. May Your name be spread throughout the whole Earth! Amen.
Matthew 6:34 NKJV — “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Ephesians 5:15-17 NKJV — See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
These truths took me many years to learn.
Worry was as common in my day as eating meals.
My mind seemed to constantly jump ahead, into next week or next month, or even next year, trying to make sure I would be prepared for all that might come.
I remember reading this verse in Matthew and trying to figure out how to apply it.
How do I redeem the time if I’m not looking ahead to tomorrow?
How do I know God’s will?
How should I prepare for…?
Proverbs 3:5 NKJV — Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
I had “I” sight problems.
My focus was on myself, my expectation was to do all that was required myself.
It was only through learning to let go of my abilities and cling to the Lord that I learned to be free from worry.
Jesus taught me how to redeem the time: give it to Him.
Although there are seasons I forget this lesson and return to the old way of trying to “do it myself”, which never works.
The Lord is so gracious and calls me back to this place of trust and surrender.
Now, I can see how much I wasted in those days of living in the future, those days filled with worry.
Because now that I trust God for each day, I can see so many blessings.
I can honestly live for today.
Because today is all I have.
Why waste it worrying about tomorrow?
As long as I am living unto the Lord Jesus, obedient to His Word, diligent in His will, there’s nothing to worry about.
I can do the task at hand with joy, because He has given it to me and I’m living for today.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for Your patience with me. I know it has taken me so many years to learn how to trust You and not to worry. Lord, I know that sometimes I slide backwards, into old habits and old ways. Lord, please guard my heart from that and let me be aware of the temptation to return to the things which Rob me of Your joy. Lord Jesus, You alone are able to see what my day will hold and I want to hear from You for today. Lord, please speak clearly to my heart that I might rest in Your ways. Lord, please give me strength, wisdom and understanding for the tasks at hand. For I know my Redeemer lives and I want to live for You in today. Thank You. Amen.
In January, I couldn’t possibly imagine what lay ahead for our family or our nation.
As October winds to a close, I can not imagine what these last two months of 2020 will be like either.
Even without the constant change due to the virus, our family has encountered constant change.
It’s been a year of adjustment.
A year of learning for all of us.
The year has held incredible pain.
This year has brought us unmeasurable joy.
It has truly been a roller coaster, where my knuckles have been white.
Gripping my own hands in prayer.
Prayer for our family.
Prayer for our friends.
Prayer for the church.
Prayer for our nation.
Prayer for our leaders.
Prayer for our world.
Many prayers for those who have yet to know Him.
Prayer for myself.
This year has been a whole new way to learn surrender.
Never before have I learned in this way, this lesson.
And I’m still learning it.
Learning to let go of expectation.
Learning to live for today.
Learning to relinquish my ideas of what I want to do, what I can do.
Learning to endure.
Learning to draw closer to God in all things.
Learning to allow praise and thanksgiving to permeate my perspective.
Learning to love His Word even more.
Learning to trust.
And it’s just the beginning.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Thank You for Your patience with me. Thank You for teaching me so much through sorrow and through joy. Lord, thank You for providing for our family in unexpected ways. Lord, thank You for friends and fellow believers who have blessed and encouraged me. Thank You for Your Word. The treasures within are astounding. Thank You for Your love. It is amazing! How great and mighty and worthy You are of all praise, all honor, all glory! I praise Your holy name, Jesus. Thank You. Amen.
For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord , As the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:14 NKJV
The Bible records Naomi giving Ruth counsel in the book of Ruth 3:1-6.
I Kings 19:19-21 Records Elisha becoming Elijah’s servant, a job of training which led to Elisha stepping into Elijah’s prophetic position after Elijah is taken to heaven.
Even Moses was given counsel by his father-in-law:
“Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.” Exodus 18:19-22 NKJV
He was telling Moses to mentor or train others and therefore spread the responsibility of judging the people.
Mentorship is valuable.
It means taking time to pour into another that which the Lord has taught.
To be purposeful about passing on those things which have been gleaned from the Word of God.
To look for opportunity to sow seeds of faith, trust, and wisdom into another.
To mentor means to live outside one’s own needs and to allow the Lord to love through you to others in a personal long term friendship.
It’s a chance to teach, and an opportunity to receive the joy of watching another grow in Christ Jesus.
And it’s meant to be passed on.
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. II Timothy 2:2 NKJV
The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9 NKJV
Times and seasons differ, but mentorship is a gift, whether you are the one mentoring or the one being mentored, or both.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for the examples You give of this kind of friendship. Lord, thank You for giving us those who can teach and train is as well as those You would have us teach and train. Please help us to be wise, purposeful about those who look up to us, whether at work or home or in our community. Please help us to be people of integrity who reach out to love, nurture, and instruct those around them. Lord Jesus, thank You for being our example in all things. Help us to love others as You do. Amen.
“Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice?
She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, Beside the way, where the paths meet.
She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entrance of the doors:” Proverbs 8:1-3 NKJV
The scripture is full of verses about wisdom and how it comes directly from God alone.
Proverbs 8 puts a personality to wisdom, and we are allowed to gain insight from these words. It begins with wisdom calling from the path, the gateway, and the door.
Each place is a choice.
On the hill where paths meet, the person must choose to take one or the other.
The same is true with the gate and the door, either enter or turn away.
With each of these moments of choice we see Wisdom calling out to those making these decisions.
“All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
They are all plain to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge.
Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold;” Proverbs 8:8-10 NKJV
Wisdom is waiting for those who are making daily decisions to stop and listen before choosing, to look for the truth of what would be best, what would be right and we see what is gained by listening to Wisdom: righteousness, understanding, knowledge, and instruction.
And is it any wonder that if we turn to listen to God’s wisdom we gain those things for it is with wisdom He created.
“When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him,
Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men.” Proverbs 8:29-31 NKJV
Wisdom rejoiced at His inhabited world and delighted in the sons of men.
Wow.
Wisdom has always been an option if we will simply ask God.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5 NKJV
Wisdom is given when sought.
It is up to the individual.
Will you seek God’s wisdom?
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for Your Word and for the promise to provide all we need, including wisdom. Lord, help us not to be stiff-necked, but to instead seek You and Your wisdom for our lives each day. You alone have the understanding of how this world is put together and how to handle the different issues we face. Lord, thank You for knowing ahead of time what we would need and providing it for us in Your Word. Lord, let us be those who seek after wisdom as those who seek treasure, never giving up. Thank You, Lord. Amen.
Deut. 4:10 “especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’” NKJV
Deut. 5:1 “And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.” NKJV
Deut. 17:19 “And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes,” NKJV
There are many more scriptures which talk about how God wants us to learn His Word and to learn to fear Him.
In this age of high-speed internet and educational resources at one’s finger tips, it might seem less a priority to spend time studying God’s Word.
However, the times and seasons and changes never affect the importance or our need to study the scriptures, nor are we less in need of learning to fear God.
He alone is the author of it all, from tiny atom to the biggest hypergiant, from the smallest bacteria which helps us digest food to the wind currents, from the Sun which gives the Earth so much energy to the Moon which causes the tides and cleans the ocean, from…you get the picture.
Therefore, as important as it is to learn about the world around us and the people in it, shouldn’t we put an even higher priority to learning the One who created it all?
And where do we learn the fear of the LORD?
Deut. 31:12 “Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law,” NKJV
God’s own Word is the source of learning.
As we learn His Word, we learn about Him and we learn to fear Him, to respect Him, and to love Him.
His Word is what brings us into a right understanding of Himself and His love for us.
We can find true perspective and worth in the pages of God’s Word.
We can find the answers to life, relationships, and our future.
The Word of God is full and overflowing with wisdom for every age, every person.
When one learns from God’s Word and is taught through the scriptures what joy, peace, and comfort it brings!
Psalm 119:7 “I will praise You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments.” NKJV
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for Your Word and for the things we can learn from it. Thank You for telling us so many times to learn from Your Word, to study and to teach it to our children, that we might learn to fear You. Lord, it is such a privilege to gain understanding and wisdom through the scriptures. Lord, sometimes it is difficult to fully grasp the things You are telling us through Your Word, so we humbly ask for insight and discernment when we read Your Word. Lord, please keep us from misunderstanding the scriptures. Please keep us from being led astray in anyway, but let us read and understand You and Your truths. Thank You, so much Lord for all these things. Amen.
patientlyhopeful 