Constant

Saturday, ‎July ‎29, ‎2023 Good morning, Lord Verse of the Day: Philippians 4: 5Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus Memory verse: Philippians 4:8 ►Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Today's reading: PSALM 49-50 ROMANS 1 Constant When my dog, Mavis, was younger she was learning everyday. Anytime my wife or I would get up to go to the kitchen or the bathroom, she would get up and follow. Now that she is older, she only occassionally moves when she feels a need to. This sounds like a good lead into our encouragement to follow the Lord with such attention and may be for another day but it occurs to me--how often are we torn away from a central purpose by the most simple of movements around us? The scripture is very clear. Jesus said, "Go to all nations and teach them all I have commanded you...".(Matthew 28:19) The Bible says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;(Matthew 6:33) But what happens? Sin gets in the way. Obstruction in the road-hardships and trials hit us. Our attention-our energy-our focus is on the dark stuff. We carry guilt from sin. We work to move stuff out of the way instead of trusting God with it. We wake up miles down the wrong road led there by our unwavering trust in our own strength and intellect. It is too late to retrace our steps. Time has moved on. We have missed what we have missed so what can we do? We can almost see the road we did not take-you know, the one God leads us on-yea, that road. But it is now cross country way off to the right. Stop-you will never fight your way back on your own strength. This, however, is not hopeless. First, look back at the spot where the mistake was made. What was it. Identify it. Confess it. Poof-God says it is gone and He will not talk about it again. But wait-it appears your feet are on God's path again. How did that happen? Well, whether we humans understand or practice it or not, God is reconciliation. It happens to believers after we sin and repent. God forgives and walks ahead with His purpose before us like nothing ever happened. He has an unchanged purpose for us in mind and He continues to lead us in His 'paths of righteousness' regardless of the shame we might have been in or the damage we have done. Yes, the world does it differently and God may have to 're-tool' us when we fail, but His purpose is still the same. He will use all we have been through for our good because we are His 'called out ones' and we are being conformed into the image of Jesus so there can be a bunch of us. How do I know that? Romans 8:28, We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. These are the people God chose, because that was his plan. 29 God knew them before he made the world. And he decided that they would be like his Son. Then Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. Everyday we must stop and take a sounding and find our bearings. Where are we? Are we worried about things we cannot control? God wants us to follow His lead so we are trusting Him for His control. Mavis, our dog, is still learning to come-to move when she is called-to wait... Psalm 27:14 ►New International Version Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. ...because He loves us... Father in Heaven, Forgive me for being so easily side-tracked and then pulled off into sin. Teach me to pay strick attention to Your leading. Forgiving and reconciling God of infinite grace! In the name of Jesus, Amen