Pondering on Isaiah 55: 6 - 7

There is the urgency in me that I have to spent more in Him. Just as I thought that I am living in His way but realizing that it is till in my way. Until I realized that then again,  I am still in bondage of my sin.

I was praying this morning asking God why I am still in bondage of my old sin.With all the lessons learned from the past and lessons learned from devotions still I am in bondage. Full of frustrations, I resort again to His Word and there I opened up Isaiah 55: 6 - 7:

6 

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;

    call upon him while he is near;

7 

let the wicked forsake his way,

    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

What struck me most is the phrase " while he is near". Why? Are you leaving me, Lord? Is it because I am not fully obeying You, You will  then leave me? 

And as I ponder on, I came to realize that my sin is distancing me from Him. It slowly engulfing in my inner being that it gradually making me distant from the Lord. In my thoughts, I know He is just near but in totality He is nowhere to be found. I was just being confident that whatever I do, He is just near me....beside me. Little did I know, that He is already far behind me as I am trekking on a different direction - not His direction, realizing that He never really left me. 

But because of His abundant grace,love and compassion, He enlightened me by tapping me on my shoulder, saying:

"Hey, you are going in to the wrong direction."

It further confirmed with this verse, Ezekiel 33: 10 - 11:

“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

Prayer:

O, God, You are to be glorified and honored always.

How great is Your love!

How abundant is Your grace!

Woe to me for being so selfish that I forgot all about You.

I forgot that all is about You, not about me, myself and I.

Lord, please be with me as I walk on the journey in this world.

Where deception and lies are rampant. 

Whichever I turn, there is so much lies.

Send your angels and guide me from any form of distractions.

Thank you, Lord for Your abundant grace and loving compassion.

In Jesus' name, I pray....Amen

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Passing Through Deep Waters

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. - Isaiah 43:2

A lot of folks--maybe you're included--can accept the fact that God is a God of concern, but they wonder how much of the time He's in control. They can accept, "If it's good, it must be of God!" but they also reason, "If times are tough, I must have missed God somewhere!"

In chapter 43 Isaiah recorded words that still bring a great deal of comfort. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you."

God says, "I will be with you," and those five words should make all the difference in the world. And if that's not enough, they're followed by two other statements. God says, "You are honored, and I love you" (Isaiah 43:4). Wow! That's good news! We could only face all the battles of life victoriously with the certainty that He is with us.

-From Just for Today

My Strength is Perfected in Weakness

And then he told me, "My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

Where is God in relation to your greatest flaws? Some folks thing that God just ignores our failings since He's busy running the world, but that isn't what the Bible says. He knows our flaws and our weaknesses. So how does He view them? While the Bible contends that we are responsible for our failures, the best news of all is that God says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness."

The word weakness can refer to a physical or moral weakness. You know what yours is; God does too.

God never forces Himself on you. As you pray, "Lord, help me overcome my weakness," He goes to work. His effort begins and your weakness ends with your invitation to let Him meet your need.

-from Just for Today

Getting to Know God

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator if the ends of the earth." - Isaiah 40:28

Many individuals know something about God but do not know Him personally. They understand that there is some kind of a connection between creation and the Almighty Creator. But they wonder, "Can I really know God?"

You can, but you've got to look for the answers in the right place. You see, reading a book on cooking will never help you be a good chef. Reading a book on royalty isn't the same as a face-to-face audience with Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.

That's why you need to go to the only real source which answers the question, "How can I know God?" It is the Bile. This book says you can know God personally through His Son Jesus Christ. The Cross became a bridge for us to know God and to become His children.

You are no accident. You are one of a kind among the billions of people who live on planet Earth, and it is God's desire to bring you into a relationship with Himself. Don't settle for anything less than knowing God.

- from Just for Today

Our Love for God

You know how Jesus said that we are to love God with all of our heart, and how this is of such importance? (Mark 12:30)

Well, I believe that as we spend time with our Father, we are richly rewarded. I think that as we get to know Him and let Him into our lives more and more, that we grow to love Him more and more, for there is nothing about Him that we can not love. He is perfect and He bends over backwards to help us out and to show He cares when we ask and I think that as we get to know Him it would be impossible not to love Him with all of our hearts.

It's a shame that in our fallen states it is hard for us to love at times, and sometimes almost impossible, but with God all things are possible and I think the love for our Father will change everything! God Bless!

Inspirational by Lance Eh as posted in Jesus Devotionals.org

Is There God?

Have you ever wondered, "Is there truly a God?". And then you look up at the sun, or the stars, or a beautiful light, and you realize that out there somewhere, something or someone had to create all this. It seems like there is too much beauty for it all to be chance. And then there are those moments that make you think. Moments of true beauty. Moments that are so Divine that they take your breath away and leave you wondering. A little child, a warm hug, a gentle laugh. Something that happens throughout the busy day that makes you stop and think, there must be more.

These are the moments that make us think. Sometimes they may be few and far between. Some may be closer than others. But these are the moments that define reality. That make us really think, God must be watching now, and He must want me to see this. He must be there, and He must care enough to go out of His way to do this for me. Maybe He has never stopped caring, even if I forgot about Him, He never forgot about me. Maybe He has been there all along, and in those split moments we see a little glimpse of what is really going on. A little glimpse of who He is, what He is truly like. These are the moments that make up life and eternity. God bless!

Inspirational by Lance Eh posted at Jesus Devotionals.org