O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Psalm 95: 1-6 Whenever we come into the Lord's presence, we are to come with thanksgiving. Our Lord is to be praised! He is the creator of heaven and earth. In this Psalm, we are called to worship our Lord publicly and with others, we are to do it vocally and we are to do it joyfully! How often do you thank our God for what He has created? What He has done in your life? How often do you thank our God publicly? Vocally? Joyfully? I found myself meditating over these verses and realized that I do not thank or praise my God publicly, vocally or joyfully often enough. I have every reason to do so, but why is it that I do not? In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." "For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"...that is so amazing to me. God's will is for us to rejoice and give thanks in everything. As we approach Thanksgiving, allow yourself to reflect on what things you ought to vocally, publicly and joyfully thank your Lord and Savior for this year. No matter how big or small you may think it is, God cares deeply for you and wants to hear from you daily! Heavenly Father, I ask that you be with us this coming Thanksgiving season. Cause us to be public about our thankfulness, cause us to be vocal about our thankfulness and cause us to be joyful about our thankfulness regardless of what's going on in our lives. Knowing that it's Your will for us to rejoice always and pray without ceasing is so comforting to me. Wrap your loving arms around those who are hurting or troubled. May Your loving presence be known in their lives and to those around them. Amen
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Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Acts 9:1-4 Here at Deliberate Women, we are no strangers to discussing the life of Saul (later renamed Paul). His is an amazing story of conversion and a 180 degree change in beliefs and way of life.
Paul was raised as a very prominent Jew and was as devout as could be. He was highly educated and a pillar in his community. He was passionate in his work to rid the world of these blasphemers known then as "the Way." He sought them out, watched them be murdered, and was very, very good at his job. Look at verses 3-4. As he was traveling on his way to capture yet more Jesus followers, he was encountered by a "light from heaven" and literally knocked off his horse because it was so bright as it "flashes around him." As if that isn't enough, he then heard a voice calling his name. He discovered it was Jesus asking him why he was persecuting Jesus. It's easy to read the Bible sometimes and lose the emotion and the feelings in the words that comprise the verses. If we take a moment to close our eyes and envision the scene, sometimes we can pick up on deeper things. Can you imagine what might have been on Saul's mind as he was traveling? Can you smell the smells and hear the sounds that surrounded him? I imagine he was very focused on the business at hand, perhaps even rehearsing how the events ahead of him might unfold. Verses 1-9 say he was nearing or at the outskirts of Damascus, so he was closing in on his prey. I wonder if his spine straightened and his jaw clenched as he anticipated victory and the accolades that would later follow. In that moment, when he could almost taste victory, an in credibly bright light shown around him and knocked him to the ground. The Bible says that he was dazed. The Greek for the word "light" in that verse is "phos." Phos means "radiant" or "unquenchable light." The example given in Strong's Greek (biblehub.com): [A] heavenly light, such as surrounds angels when they appear on earth: hence, ἄγγελοςφωτός, 2 Corinthians 11:14, and illumines the place where they appear, Acts 12:7; a light of this kind shone around Paul when he was converted to Christ, Acts 22:6, And then he heard Jesus speak. Saul was rendered blind. He spent three days at the house where Jesus told him to go. His life was changed forever from that moment. Everything he believed about who he was and about who God is changed in the literal blink of an eye. And the beautiful irony is that while no light entered Saul's eyes, God poured light into his heart to reveal God's Truth. It wasn't until he saw the Truth with his heart that he saw it also with his eyes. Ask yourself...has God shined a light on anything in your life? Has He illuminated any areas that need to be addressed? Has He highlighted things that you believe, think or do that need to change? Have you addressed them? Father, please reach us with your love, Lord. Please knock us off our feet and make us hear you. Guide our hearts to Your Truth. Illuminate in us any areas that are dark. Open our eyes to who we are and who You really are...and guide our feet to serve You. Thank You, Lord for pursuing us with a passionate, unending love. In Jesus' name, amen. Devotional written by Mandy. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV “But he LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE a king should look!” These are the words I {Melissa} imagine racing through Samuel’s mind – even if just for a second – when the Lord tells him that Jesse’s son, Eliab, is not the choice to take Saul’s place on the throne. I understand the appearance trap all too well because it’s so easy for me to fall into it – to make a judgement about the worth or purpose of something or someone based solely on looks. I’m not only guilty of making assumptions about people based on their appearances, but, even more, I am guilty of assuming that people make assumptions about me based only on what they see. So much so that I often worry about what people think about me and will go to great lengths to depict just the right image in order to earn someone’s approval. “People look at the outward appearance …” In fact, in just the past few minutes I have already caught myself overly concerned that the clothes my kids are wearing to church (that they have already worn three days in a row) reflects my inability as a parent, that the ever-so-faint trail of dog hair on the kitchen floor that the Swiffer missed yesterday suggests that I am not good at caretaking (and let’s not even discuss hospitality), and that even though I may look “together” on the outside, I don’t really have anything together. I find myself equating my self worth with my outward appearance, rather than drawing my self worth from what God believes about me and whether my actions are glorifying him. “… but the Lord looks at the heart …” God chose David because He could see that his heart was pure. David may not have looked the part to any one else, but God could see past what everyone else could see – that David was a man after God’s own heart. So, then, does appearance matter? Yes. But it matters only when I am consumed with the appearance of my heart. It matters when in my quest for the “perfect appearance,” I am only focused on how I can reflect my love for the Lord above all else. So this week, I’m challenging myself, and I’m inviting you to join me. Each time I find myself wondering, “How does this make me look?” (and trust me, there will be many of these times!), I’m daring myself to examine my heart more closely. What’s my motive? Will my words or actions bring glory to God? Could someone from the outside looking in make the conclusion that I am a woman after God’s own heart, simply based on my appearance? Because that's what I want more than anything. Heavenly Father, more than anything, I long to be a woman after Your own heart. Will you reveal to me what You see in my appearance and help me become consumed with the appearance of my own heart? Help me to see past what the world sees and guide me toward the paths that will ultimately bring glory to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen. This week is the start of a new format for Deliberate Women. We will have a short devotional on Monday and a blog post exploring the same topic more in depth on Friday. We hope that you enjoy the new format and that we can continue to encourage you to grow in your walk with the Lord. Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven." Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Proverbs 31:20 "She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy." Throughout the past few weeks, God has slammed me [Ginny] in the face with a challenge that I cannot ignore. These verses are among many that I wrote in my devotional journal to chronical a journey that I can feel is only just beginning and has ignited a fire in my heart. Serving and giving have always been important to my husband and me. We love to give to others and demonstrate the love of Christ, and I thought we were doing the right thing, and we were...to a point. Then I two books, one being Rhinestone Jesus by Kristen Welch. Both challenged me to think about my priorities and living sacrificially. While I don't feel called to live in a third world country at this point, I do think that we have been living more comfortably than we should and that changes are ahead. On Friday, I will be exploring this topic more, but this week, I challenge you to read the above verses, memorize the one that strikes you most. Memorize all of them if you desire. Then take time to think through these questions: 1) How is your light shining in your home, your community, and in the world? Is God calling you to do something right now that scares you? 2) Are you prioritizing your treasures on earth above the treasure of human lives and souls? 3) Are you reaching out your hands to the poor and needy? Are there needs that God has put before you that you are ignoring? If so, why? I ask these questions because they are the same questions I have had to ask myself these past few weeks. Answering them has changed everything and has changed my heart in a way I never knew it needed to be changed. It has changed my perspective. I encourage you to join me on this journey. How would you answer these questions? Feel free to share your answers in the comments below, and let us explore our thoughts together. Dear Heavenly Father, We adore you. You are the perfect picture of love and sacrifice, and we thank you for all that you have done for us. God, may you make it clear the areas in our life where we have become complacent. Raise us up in holy passion to be your hands and feet to the world around us. And when we do so, we pray that you will be glorified and that the world will see you through us. Amen. Joyfully, Ginny |
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