Promise for Today - Wait for It

Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there! 

Psalm 77:19 (NLT)

The Bible says God actively works through your circumstances. But you cannot judge your situation apart from God’s wisdom. In other words, you must leave it up to God to interpret your circumstances. Only God is capable of understanding all the facts, and only he sees the significance of every detail. That’s why it is so important that you use his Word to test what you’re going through.

If you feel overwhelmed or confused about a decision, it might be because you’re so caught up in your own limited way of thinking that it blocks out God’s voice. The Bible says, “God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33 NIV). He is not the author of confusion. So if you’re feeling confused, guess what? It’s not God’s voice speaking in your life.

There will be times you come up against enormous financial, spiritual, or physical barriers. That’s when you need to confess, “God, there are mountains on either side and an impassable barrier in front of me.” And then you wait for God to respond and assure you that he’s got you exactly where he wants you to be. He will make a pathway where there seems to be no way. Psalm 77:19 says, “Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there!” 

When you don’t know what to do, God will guide you. He didn’t design you to go through life on your own ingenuity and power. You don’t have to just hope you can figure things out. God wants to lead you on the right path, and he will do that when you surrender to him and his guidance.

Talk It Over

When you’re frustrated because God doesn’t seem to be answering your prayer for guidance, what do you think he wants you to do? What have you learned through those kinds of experiences in the past?

How has God used your pain to show you his purpose for your life?

Why do you think God sometimes lets you get to the point where there seems to be no way out of a difficult circumstance?

 - by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,
            Your Word tells us in Isaiah 40:31 that those who wait for You will renew their strength. Renew our strength as we wait for You, trusting You for patience, courage and peace as promised in Romans 8 and Psalm 27. Lord, You are good to those who wait for You. We ask for Your promised peace, that confusion and anxiety will not rule our thoughts; for endurance, that we will keep going without losing heart; for Your wisdom. You said we only have to ask and You will give it to us so that we will know what steps to take and what to release. Increase our measure of faith that our trust in You will grow and deepen. That Your joy in us would be our strength. Help us to not become caught up in the cares of situations that seek to erase our ability to worship You. Father, we ask all these in Jesus' Name. Amen

You Decide

And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Matthew 11:2-6 NKJV

John knew Jesus was the Messiah. Scripture tells us The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’” (Matthew 3:3). He knew. But how many of us would have also wanted reassurance if we had spent our life in ministry for the Christ and wound up wasting away in prison?

I don't see this as a rebuke to John like some say. I'm more inclined to believe John may have had doubts about himself and might have needed the validation of his life spent in ministry for the right One. Whatever the reason, Jesus knew John knew. That's why He laid out the Truth for him. “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them." 

Now, based on what you know about Jesus, you decide. 

Prayer:

Father,
          There is no question. Jesus is the Messiah, the only pure and holy Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords, our Savior and our God. And we are so grateful! Let us never forget. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Through the Bible in a Year
Reading for January 15th
Genesis 31:17-32:12 

Matthew 10:24-11:6

Psalm 13:1-6

Proverbs 3:16-18

Which Way (by request)

There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 16:25 NKJV

God loves us SO much that He will use ANYTHING to get His point across to us! If you try to tell me that He won't use certain things, I'd have to say you've come around too late - I've seen it too many times. Case in point? What I'm about to write...

A few years back, a friend and I were talking about distractions and "oh, shiny!" when she decided to share the lesson God taught her while watching - are you ready for this? - Finding Nemo. Yeah... seriously.

I don't remember the exact detail of the scene, but it was the one where Dory - who is supposed to be leading - loses her focus because one of the other characters tells her to "look over there" so she does and winds up completely distracted and doesn't follow the instructions that were given about catching the EAC. Instead of going through the tough spot - which is also the best shot - she winds up going over it (the path of least resistance) and ends up bouncing top to top, flying high and having a grand old time. However, what seems like so much dancing on air and the easiest way is actually a jelly fish pool. Then one little slip and she's thrust into the deadly tentacles being stung on every side.

More often than not, that is exactly what satan tries with our lives. We're going along, doing our best to follow the Lord, and lead those around us to Him, when someone says, "Oh, look!" and we allow ourselves to get distracted.

A new job may have more money, but also comes with travel and/or more time away from the family - and the next thing you know, we're off course. We follow whatever caught our eye and wind up flying high and having a grand old time - not having to fight the day-to-day challenges. However, what we're bouncing on is not our Sure Foundation. Oh, we may have a good time for a little while, but that one little slip and we're thrust into the deadly tentacles of sin... being stung on every side... facing the death of our soul... and what about those who are following us?

Which way? You choose. Choose wisely... There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

Prayer:

Father,
           Please help us to wire the connection to our helmet of salvation with the proper Word of God filters that will effectively filter out distractions and anything that is not of You. Help us to listen AND obey Your words. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen