Waiting for God’s Answer

Written by Chris Bradley

Take today’s next step: We need more authors for men’s devos. What has God taught you lately?

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40: 31)

One of the hardest things that Christians have to do is to wait on the Lord. Our patience runs thin and this often gets us into trouble making us do irrational things ahead of God’s direction.

But God’s time is different from ours. Although it’s hard to keep in focus, just be reminded that God has many plans for you. It is important to learn to stay still and wait for Him. He has promised to provide everything you need in due time.

On certain occasions, He might say, “No”. But just because He closes a door on something you’ve been praying about for a long time, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t care. He always has your best interest in mind and will give you something much better than you imagined.

Journey into Wholeness

by Idelette McVicker

“Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.”  Psalm 54:2

Once, after walking the streets of the most destitute area in our city, I asked a friend who lives there as a missionary about taking a person through the process of coming into freedom. As a couple, my missionary friends have spent their lives working with people who want to grow whole in Christ.

Knowing my own healing journey, I could hardly imagine the time and commitment required for someone who has suffered deep trauma and beyond.

He said that once, while in prayer, his wife felt God saying that the hours and hours they put in for someone to be set free is so they would appreciate when Freedom comes in an instant.

I look forward to the day when we can all be healed and well in an instant. In the meantime, I look forward to appreciating the miracle as we put in the work and the love.

Thank you, Jesus, for taking us through the process of life. We long for your healing and your renewal of all your people, however you choose to pour it out on us. May your Kingdom come. We love you, Amen.

You can comment on this devotional online at:

http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/03/18/im_journey-into-wholeness/

 

New Beginnings

Written by Carol Van Atta

Amazingly, it’s that time. A New Year is approaching right on schedule — again. This is the time of year so many of us start making resolutions to change a certain area, or multiple areas in our lives. Maybe we have some extra pounds to shed. Possibly, we are committed to changing a specific, harmful behavior. Our infamous New Year’s resolutions range from simple desires to seemingly full-proof-plans for extensive life change. What we all have in common is the hope that something will change, and life will be different (and better) in the year ahead.

Do you have a resolution this year? Or are you like so many people who have done away with their hopes for lasting, life change? Every year, people ring in the New Year with goals to live life differently on some level.

KNOWING WHO I AM IN CHRIST

I am complete in Him Who is the Head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10).

I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).

I am free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).

I am far from oppression, and fear does not come near me (Isaiah 54:14).

I am born of God, and the evil one does not touch me (1 John 5:18).

I am holy and without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:16).

I have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5).

I have the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

I have the Greater One living in me; greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

The Fatherhood of God

"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." (Acts 17:28)

"The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man" was a religious cliché promoted for many years, especially by religious liberals in the period between the two world wars. However, continuing hostilities between and inside most nations now make the idea of universal brotherhood in this present world almost farcical.

The fact is, however, that God truly is the Father of all men, in the sense that He created them all. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" (Malachi 2:10). That was the rhetorical question posed to Israel in the last book of the Old Testament. In the New Testament the apostle Paul confirmed the same great truth to the pagan Gentiles. "|God| hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth," and "we are the offspring of God" (Acts 17:26, 29).