Last week I shared part 1 of this series, Jesus, a donkey, and His Father, by Kelly @ The Simple Preacher. Kelly reminded us of the importance of keeping our priorities straight like Jesus. This week I’m sharing part 2 by Deandra @ Imago Dei. I was enlightened as she shared from the donkey’s perspective. I never knew there was so much to a donkey! Enjoy! 🤗
Happy Tuesday everyone! My prayer is that you all are doing well today and that ABBA has been speaking to your heart in some way, shape or form. Last…
Psalm 136:1 NIV, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.”
Life is better when we have hearts that are thankful. Even on our most difficult days, we can be thankful knowing that God is there with us, since He promised He’d never leave us alone.
It’s normal at times to feel frustrated or weary. However we can still look to Him with thanksgiving because He understands our feelings. He will give us peace of mind, and strengthen us in our weakness. We can pray and ask God to help us to remain thankful, so that we can see our circumstances from His perspective.
When we hope in Him, He will often let us know in simple and unexpected ways that He is with us. There is no burden we have that the Master can’t carry for us. Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).
Even with the busyness of life we just have to take time to stop and be still before the Lord. When we take time out to quietly sit still in His presence, it reminds us that He is the One who can handle all of our worries. Just being still, gives us the opportunity to exhale and enter into the peace that the Holy Spirit desires to give to us.
Psalm 46:10(NIV), “…Be still, and know that I am God…”
When stress tries to consume us, we just need to be still. Our God is able to carry every burden we have. He will strengthen us and keep us safely in His care. There is no trial that is too great for Him. As we sit quietly before God, we experience the comfort of His presence. We can sense that His love is surrounding us, and living inside of us through the Holy Spirit. As we are still before the Lord, He will bring healing to our minds and hearts.
Don’t be afraid to be still. It is in taking time to be still, that we come to know and understand that He is God.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NIV)
J E S U S. He is the Source that gives us life. When we are connected to Him, we bear fruit. Fruit that will last. Fruit that will make a true difference. While Jesus was here on Earth, He set a great example for us by showing us how He stayed connected to the Father.
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35, NIV)
Jesus realized that regular communication with the Father through prayer, was the way to stay focused and empowered. It’s no different for us. We need to have our special quiet times where we can spend time alone with God in prayer. However, we also can say short prayers throughout our day. Our Father is always available to us, no matter where we are. He tells us to pray continuously (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Prayer has many benefits but here are some that I have experienced:
Prayer…
1. Keeps us aware of God’s presence.
2. Keeps us sensitive to the leading of The Holy Spirit.
3. Keeps us focused on what matters most.
4. Builds our trust and faith in God.
5. Gives us peace.
6. Helps us to walk in love.
7. Brings healing to our lives where needed.
Because of Christ we have direct 24/7 access to our Heavenly Father through prayer.
What are some of the ways you have seen prayer work in your life?
Have you ever gone through those times where you wondered what God is up to? Those times where you wished you had more information about how God is working in your life. He does reveal things to us, but only in His timing. Of course waiting on His timing is the hard part, because our human nature wants to know the how’s, when’s, where’s, and why’s.
Plus we live in a world that tries to convince us, that we need to know every single thing, about every single thing. If that were the case, we wouldn’t need God. I know I definitely would do a lousy job at being the god of my life. What about you? I already tried that before. It seemed easy at the time. I just simply ignored God’s commands and did exactly what I wanted. Believe me when I say, that has never turned out good. Sins consequences can be devastating, but I’m so thankful for His forgiveness and mercy!
I have been through many different seasons of life, some felt more relaxed, while during other seasons I felt more anxious. Right now, I am actually in a season where I am praying and asking God for direction in certain areas. I’m trying not to worry. Can you relate? Perhaps you too need God to move in a particular area of your life.
When we need answers the Bible tells us to pray and not be anxious (Philippians 4:6). There are times when I go to God in prayer and I feel very anxious, stressed, confused and even fearful about whatever I’m going through. I have to ask God to remove the anxiousness, stress, confusion and fear from my heart. He’s faithful to do that, but when I feel those negative feelings trying to return, I have to keep giving it to Him in prayer. I have to ask Him to help me to understand in my heart, that He will work all things together for my good (Romans 8:28). The more we see His faithful track record, the better we become at being faithful in our ability to trust Him.
Can you imagine the majesty of our God? It’s really mind blowing! He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He was and is and is to come (Revelation 1:8). This is the God that we are entrusting ourselves to, when we have given our lives to Jesus Christ. We won’t always understand how He is working, but the truth is, we don’t necessarily need to understand everything (Proverbs 3:5). He knows exactly how much we need to know. That’s where we find our rest, in knowing that He will always do what’s best for us.
As we wait, we need to just keep doing the things we already know He wants us to do. We need to rejoice, be thankful, and stay prayerful, because this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Also stay watchful. Constantly watch for God’s direction, because He does hear the cries of His children and He answers (Psalm 34:6).
I just want to encourage you if you’re in a season of waiting on God for answers. Just keep pouring your heart out to Him because He will bring you peace. Another thing I really love is when I get that wonderful feeling of anticipation inside that assures me He’s up to something good. Remember, although you can’t see the good just yet, it’s sure to come. Why? Because we serve a Risen Savior! Keep moving forward in Christ!
It’s easy to become anxious because there is so much going on to be anxious about. Even on days where we may feel we have it all together, an unexpected news update showing the latest tragedy can ignite fear within our hearts. When things happen that are beyond our control, it can cause us to feel worried and insecure.
God tells us not to worry…
Matthew 6:34(NIV), “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I know it’s easy to feel comfortable when things are going smoothly and according to our plans. When we have an “abundant supply”, we feel more in control. Rather it’s an abundance of clothes, food, money, friends, “likes” on social media (Lol), good health, or whatever it is that seems to bring us comfort and a sense of control. It’s good when we have these things, however it’s not good when we allow them to replace God’s security in our lives. The things we have can be here today and gone tomorrow. Life can change so quickly.
God wants us to look to Him for our every need…
Matthew 6:28-32(NIV), “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”
I just want to remind you that you are rare and valuable in God’s eyes. Your value is not rooted in how many possessions you have or how many achievements you have made. You’re valuable because you are created in the image of God and He loves you. You are unique because there is only one you.
God wants us to find our true value in Him…
Matthew 6:26(NIV), “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
There is No Need to Worry because God has promised to take care of you.
Psalm 37:5-7 (NIV), “5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”
Verse 5 reiterates the importance of committing to and trusting in the Lord. One thing I will say about commitment and trust is that they both take time. Neither one of them are easy to do, especially depending on the circumstances we are in. However it all starts with a decision. Just like our faith in Christ started with a simple decision to accept Him as our Lord and Savior, so does learning to commit to Him and trust Him. Growth in our relationship with Christ will happen in stages and be a lifelong process. As long as we have hearts that are willingly saying “yes”, then the Holy Spirit will empower us to live for Jesus.
Have you ever felt as if you needed to be vindicated? Vindication is not only needing to be cleared of some type of blame or suspicion, but it is also when someone or something is finally proven right. As Christians we often do suffer just for trying to do what is right. Mostly because we live in a world that tends to call wrong right and right wrong. So when we aim to do what’s right by God’s standard, someone will often come along and try to tell us that we’re doing wrong. They may also try to convince us that our godly ways are ludicrous. Verse 6 comes to the rescue by assuring us that our righteous reward will shine like the dawning of a new day and our vindication will shine like the noonday sun. The Lord will expose the darkness of evil by shining His Light on it. He will bring us the needed vindication when he clears us of blame and proves us right.
Just like with commitment and trust, we must also rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to teach us to be still, wait patiently for the Lord and not fret/worry. It really all goes back to trust. Do we trust God to show up for us? If we don’t trust God, chances are we will struggle to be still and wait for Him. After all, who waits for someone that’s not coming? We will feel pressure to take matters into our own hands if we think God is going to stand us up. However, there is nothing sweeter than when God shows up on our behalf and fights our battles. I have had plenty of times where I worried about stuff only to find out God had already taken care of it. My worrying was completely in vain. Yeah, there are situations we can fix, but some situations are way beyond us. Only the power of the Holy Spirit can cut through the foolish and wicked schemes of ungodly people who are trying to work against us. We just need to make a decision to sit back and watch Him work. Will you make a decision to commit to Jesus and trust Him just one day at a time?
Drawing Closer to Christ 