Day 17     Making A U-Turn With God

Jeremiah 31:21 (The Message)

 ^21-22"Set up signposts to mark your trip home.
   Get a good map.
Study the road conditions.
   The road out is the road back.

We’ve never gone too far away from God to come back.  The road does not disappear from behind us.  It’s always there waiting for us. We can turn around and come back into the Father’s loving arms.

There is always a “road back” in God and He is very willing to turn you around as you yield to Him.

Jeremiah 31:28b (The Message)

“so now I am sticking with them as they start over, building and planting.”

Isn’t that good news??  He promises to stick with us as we start over.  When we mess up, we can get a “do over.”  The world does not offer that.  All that is offered is guilt and condemnation.  God wipes the slate clean as if it never happened and takes us on from there.

Remember those little slates that we had when we were kids—the ones with the clear plastic sheet over it and your “wrote” on it will a plastic stylist??  You would write something on the plastic and then pull the plastic up and it would disappear.  That’s a “do over.”  That’s what God does when we come back to Him.  He wipes the slate clean of all of our sins so we can have a fresh start.

Today’s assignment:

1.       Read Luke 15: 11-32 and spend some time thanking God for His love.

Realize that just as the father in this story did not hold his son’s attitude and his wrong choices against him (his sins), neither does the Father God hold our sins against us.  As we ask forgiveness, He is quick to forgive.  (I John 1:9)

2.       If you have gotten out there too far, ask God for the road back.  Ask Him how to get back there from where you are.

3.       Read Jeremiah 31: 34 in The Message Bible. (http://www.biblegateway.com/) and thank God for His love!!

Prayer:

Father, You are so wonderful….so forgiving…..so willing to help me.  I am so grateful for that.  I know that today my slate is clean and that I have a fresh start.  And the best part of that is that You promise to stick with me.  Thank You, my loving Father.  Amen.

Day 16     A Hard Head And A Soft Heart

Isaiah 50:7 (New International Version)

 ⁷ Because the Sovereign LORD helps me,
       I will not be disgraced.
       Therefore have I set my face like flint,
       and I know I will not be put to shame.

When we leave on a journey, we should know where we are going.  Maybe you are saying right now, “I don’t know where I am going!  That’s the problem!”  One thing that you do know is that you cannot stay where you are.   So you can say, “I am on my way.”  As you thank God that you are on your way, He will fill in the details.  Just “set your face” to your future.  As you write down your questions, He will answer them.  Here are some examples:

“Where am I going, Lord.”

“Whose going with me?”

“What do I take with me and what do I leave behind?”

“What do I have to do to prepare?”

I call this having my questions on the “drawing board” of heaven.  They are all out there for God to answer.

Yesterday we talked about getting the “static” off the line.  Another thing that hinders the voice of God is a hardened heart.  Sometimes the experiences we have had in the past, causes us to have a guard up around our heart until our hearts become tough…hardened, if you will.

Ezekiel 11:19 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁹And I will give them one heart [a new heart] and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony [unnaturally hardened] heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God],

We want our hearts sensitive to the touch of God.  If our hearts hurt, we don’t want anyone touching it, but if we allow God to heal us of our past, then when we feel the touch, we know it is God’s loving and gentle touch.

God is gentle and He nudges us into the direction He wants us to go.  He also promises never to leave our side as we go on life’s journey.

Hebrews 13:5 (Amplified Bible)

for He [God]Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not,[I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]

Today’s assignment:

1.       Write your specific questions on the “drawing board of Heaven.”  Be specific.

2.      Ask God to show you if you are still carrying hurt from the past.  (Past meaning yesterday and also meaning 25 years ago.)  Realize it is a stumbling block to you and relinquish it to God quickly.

3.      Ask God to keep your heart soft and pliable in His hands.

4.      Read the following scriptures and write what they mean to you.

Ezekiel 36: 26-28                 Jeremiah 24: 7

Prayer:

Father, I set my face to follow Your plan for my life.  It is my purpose now to find it and walk in it.  In hardening my heart to my past circumstances, I have hardened my heart to You.  Forgive me, Lord.  Take out my hard heart and massage it until it is soft and ready for your touch.  Thank You for never leaving me now that we have started this journey to all that You have planned for me.  I am so glad I can meet with You each and every day and know that I am not alone.   Amen.

Day 15   God Gives Me Specific Directions   

Isaiah 30:21 (New International Version)

²¹ Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Need direction??  Don’t we all—about one thing or another—about big things and even about little things.

When we find ourselves in an adverse situation, God knows the way out.  When I read this scripture, I think about how specific God can be.  He’s saying, “I know the way; walk with Me.”

When I have my meeting with God and I run across something in His Word that seems like it is too good to be true, I become like a child and say: “You shouldn’t have said that unless You wanted me to believe it, because I do!!”

I have a sneaking suspicion that God likes that!!  He inspired it to be written so that all these years later, I could read it when I needed it.  God’s truth traverses all time and lands on my heart just when I need it!

God is calling us to develop our ability to dialog with Him.  He listens when we speak to Him and He wants us to expect that He would answer back.  That’s the way a conversation works.

One day, I had a thought and I formed it into words.  It was about a need that I had.  I heard the Spirit of God within me say,  “Okay, ask me for that.”  Amazing!!

One of the things that I have found that makes that voice louder and clearer, is if I don’t have any “static” on the line. 

“Static” can be several things.  Here are a few:

·         Trying to figure out the solution

·         Wanting it done my way

·         Being resentful to those who seem to be at fault for my delay (maybe even God).

Those are three big road blocks.  I find that my heart is more receptive to God when I come into my meeting with God saying—

·         “This is too big for me.  I need your help.”

·         “I know Your ways are so much better than mine.  I just want Your way.”

·         “I forgive anyone who I even think might be at fault here.  (If you have resentment toward God, you can say…)  I even forgive You God.  I know it’s not You who is holding out on me.”

There now—you have done a major clearing of the “phone lines” between you and God.  He wants so much to help us live our lives here on earth.  We don’t have to gut it out and hope for the best.  We can hear His voice and live in the best!!

Today’s Assignment:

1.       As you come to your “appointment” with God, ask Him to show you how to get rid of your static on the line.

2.      Express to Him how much you want to hear that “word” behind you saying, “this is the way.”

3.      Before reading these scriptures, ask God to personally show you what He is saying to you. 

            Proverbs 16:3

Hebrews 10: 23

I Corinthians 2: 9-16

4.      After you read the scripture, write down what you think He is saying to you.

Note:  You might wonder why I am asking you to write things down.  It’s because He is teaching us and it helps to document what we are learning.  It may not be real fun at the time but the results will be so worth it!

           

Prayer:

Father, show me the things in my soul that block Your precious voice to me.  I admit that I am not capable of figuring it all, but I know You are.  You can make it easy for me to understand.  Help me to follow Your instructions so I can be get to where You want me to be.  Thank You for Your faithfulness to me.  Amen.

           

Days 13 and 14

·         Go to your “designated place,”  at your “designated time” and review the last five “meetings” you have had with God.   These two days have been set aside so that you can get caught up if you got behind and also just spend a little more quality time in the scriptures.  Your Bible is the “roadmap” that will get you to your “there.”  You are now well on your way!!

·         Look over any questions that you may have written last week.  Did you get any answers as the week progressed?  If you did—rejoice!!  If you didn’t, ask again…and then watch and listen for the answers.  They will surely come!

·         If you wrote down your dreams (what you would like to see happen), go over them now.  If you didn’t write them down, do it now.  It doesn’t have to be long and detailed.  You may only write two words.  Here are some examples:

Migraines gone                    Finances increase

Children obedient               Marriage enriched

Of course, you can be more detailed if you like.

·         You are developing an intimate relationship with God in doing this.  You are speaking to Him and He is speaking to you.  Can you imagine what it would be like if you spoke to your husband or wife, your child, or a close friend and they did not speak back?  God who is the creator of relationships would surely not fail to operate in them.  He wants to speak to you!

Prayer:

Father, thank You for meeting with me today.  Help me to trust You-- that You really do want to have an intimate relationship with me.  That seems amazing to me, but if You do, I am here.  I will continue to meet with You and listen for Your voice.  Thank You, Father, for teaching me Your ways and for breaking up any misconceptions that I have had about You.  Amen.

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Note:  Maybe you are thinking, “I don’t feel like I am a part of this.  It’s like I am outside looking in.”  I want you to know that Jesus’ arms are wide open to you.  They were opened at the cross because of His overwhelming love for you.  (John 3:16)   Right now He is calling you unto Himself.  He knows that you are not perfect.  You don’t have to be to come to Him.  That’s why He went to the cross in the first place---for your sins.  Yes, for the sins of the whole world, but personally for your sins.  You can come into His outstretched arms and find rest for your soul.  You can put your head upon His chest and hear the beating of His heart of love for you.

We’ve all sinned and He died for all of us.  Some of us come to Him and some do not.  This is your time to come!!  You are not reading this by accident.  God is calling you to come right now!

Take a few minutes and meet Him at these verses below.  Let Him speak to you through them.

We are all sinners:

Romans 3: 10, 23,    Romans 5:8,     Romans 6:23

We can ask God to forgive us:

Romans 10:13,    Acts 3: 19

We can put out trust in Jesus and become His child.

John 1:12

We can confess that Jesus is our Lord:

Romans 10: 9-10

As you ask forgiveness of your sins and express your desire to live for Him, you will enter the family of God and never feel on the outside again!!

It’s time to pray.  Let me help you.

Prayer:

Father, I understand that Jesus Christ went to the cross and shed His blood for me.  I also understand by the scriptures that I am a sinner.  Jesus, forgive me for all my sins.

 (Let them come to mind.  Then see yourself giving them to Him.  As soon as they are in His hands, they disappear forever!!  Amazing!!)

 Be my Lord and my Savior.  I commit my whole life into Your capable hands. 

Father, help me to hear Your instruction and direction  and help me to live for You all the days of my life.  Thank You.  Amen.

Day 12     My Soul Is Anchored In God

Hebrews 6:19 (New International Version)

¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Our souls are made up of the choices we make (our will), the thoughts we entertain (our mind), and how we feel (our emotions).

Let’s first look at our feelings and our thoughts.  I don’t know which comes first.  Do we feel a certain way and that creates our thoughts or do we think a certain way and that creates our feelings?  I don’t think it’s necessary to answer that question!!  It’s probably a crazy mixture of both!

Okay, we have thoughts and feelings spinning around inside of us and what does it produce—choices!!  If the feelings and thoughts are wrong, we will make wrong choices.  There you have it—the recipe for disaster.  Been there!  Done that!!  And I don’t’ want to do it again!!  All it did was produce sleepless nights and tired out days.

The Word of God is the “anchor” that keeps our feelings, our thoughts and yes, our choices stabilized so that we do not get out in the dangerous waters of confusion and defeat. 

When we meet with God in His Word, some scriptures just seem to “speak” to us.  That is the work of the Holy Spirit.  He is attempting to get information to us from God Himself.   (Isn’t that an awesome thought?)

The Word of God provides us with hope for our situation.  We can go to God in any situation and ask Him for a scripture.  God will be faithful to get it to us if we  seriously want it.  And oh how sweet it is!!

Peace will flood your soul and it really doesn’t matter what you are going through because you have now got the “Word” on it.  God is amazingly faithful.  I am overwhelmed by His faithfulness. 

He’s there in the bad times and He is there in the good times.  He’s there to encourage, to enlighten, and to love.  What an awesome God!!

Today’s assignment:

1.       As you meet with God today, thank Him for His love and His faithfulness to meet with you.  You don’t have to feel like He is there because His promise to you is:

James 4:8 (New King James Version)

⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

He is there, waiting for you!

2.      Read and think about these scriptures and how it applies to your life:

Note:  Use www.biblegateway.com in case you do not have the version suggested.  I chose the version that expressed the richest meaning.

Psalms 91:1     Amplified Bible

Hebrews 13: 5b     Amplified Bible

I John 5:7    Amplified Bible

Prayer: 

Oh, Father, how You care for me.  Thank You so much that I am not in this alone.  Thank You for keeping me “stable and fixed” when my soul wants to run out of control.  Father, today I submit my whole self to You.  Orchestrate my day according to Your wonderful plan for me.  Amen.

Day 11     The Triumphant Procession

Mark 11:4-10 (New International Version)

 ⁴They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" ⁶They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. ⁷When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
   "Hosanna!
   "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
 ¹⁰"Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
   "Hosanna in the highest!"

We can hardly describe Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as “triumphant.”  He was on the way to the cross and He knew it.  He had prepared His disciples (even though they didn’t fully understand) and He had prepared Himself for what was ahead.

Hebrews 12:2 (New International Version)

²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus had joy because He knew the cross was not the end.  He was on the way somewhere.  Please let me stop here and note that we can in no way relate to the suffering that He went through for us.  No trial that we have ever had would ever compare, but the one thing we do have in common is that because of Him, we come out triumphant when it is all said and done. 

If we keep that in the forefront of our minds, we too can maintain joy.  We don’t have to physically die because Jesus died for you.  What we have to do is die to our flesh nature which includes fear, anger, resentment, and things of that sort.   God will help us do that by revealing those things to us and helping us let go so we can maintain our equilibrium throughout trials.

If we submit ourselves to Him in our trial, we will come out on the other side triumphant!!

Today’s Assignment:

1.       Enjoy your time with God as you meet Him at these scriptures:

Deuteronomy 31:6,8

Hebrews 13: 5    The Amplified Bible

II Corinthians 2: 14

Psalms 34: 19

2.       Allow God to do a “spiritual sonogram” of your heart to see if there is any carnality still residing there.  As He reveals things, ask Him to help you get rid of them.

3.      Jesus was “in it to win it!!”  He wanted to conquer the cross and come through victorious for you and I.  Think about your trial and declare, “I am in it to win it and with the Lord’s help, I will!  I will be triumphant so I can help others come through their trials”.

Prayer:

Thank You, Father, that You promise to walk with me through the trials that I face today.  Help me to understand the situation and know how to rise above them and come through them victorious.  Father, I want my life to be a testimony of Your greatness to deliver me.

Day 10    He Freely Gives us All Things

Romans 8:32 (New King James Version)

³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Sometimes we think that God is holding out on us, but this scripture says that “freely gives us all things.”   That’s almost sounds too good to be true!!  We cannot wrap our minds around that promise.  If our lives our totally submitted to Him, He knows we are going to give Him all the glory for His graciousness to us. 

It’s not about hoarding up possessions for ourselves  because we have grown beyond that kind of self-serving mentality.  It’s about having everything we need in order to be a testimony of His goodness.

Romans 8:32 (The Message)

 ^31-39So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us?

(Note:  The Message Bible is not an official word-by-word translation, but an interpretation of the Word of God.  Because of that it is not 100% accurate.  However, in reading it along side of your Bible, you will have a deeper understanding of how real God is.  I highly recommend using it along side of your NIV, NAS, KJV or whatever translation you normally read from.)

God is much more generous than we can ever imagine.  Here’s a scripture that will boggle your mind:

Ephesians 3:20 (Amplified Bible)

²⁰Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]--

The Amplified Bible is a little word-y, but I don’t know about you but I like all those words…..”superabundantly”…..”infinitely beyond”….”hopes”…..”dreams”….  I like those words!!  And why??  Because He loves us!!  Amazing!

Today’s Assignment:

1.       Spend some time thanking Him for being good to you.  Those things that have gone wrong in your life are not His doing.  He wants only good!

2.      Read and meditate on these scriptures.  Again, write questions if you have them.  He truly wants to answer them for you.

James 1: 17

John 10: 10  The Amplified Bible

Isaiah 65: 24

Philippians 4: 19

3.      God wants to be real to you as you want Him to be!!  Keep that on the forefront of your thinking.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for being a good Father—one that wants only good for me.  Your are a generous God and I have a feeling that you are going to expand my thinking into the realm of Your goodness in these next weeks and months.  Thank You, Father.  Amen.

Day 9      Discipline Leads to Destiny

Matthew 7:14 (The Message)

 ^13-14"Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.

When you read the title today you might have thought, “Oh no!  One more thing I have to do!”  “One more discipline I have to work into my life!”

Actually the “total attention” that God’s is talking about is just meeting with Him each day.  How easy is that??  Yes, it may mean you have to rearrange some things to make this meeting a priority, but when you find out how worthwhile it is, you will say, “Thank You God for meeting with me.  Thank You for Your direction and Your correction so I can stay on track."

God uses this meeting time with you to simplify things in your life.  He’s all about helping you get rid of the “clutter” in your life.  He also wants to rearrange things so there is a better flow.   (Can you tell that I watch those “house/decorating” shows on t.v????)

God wants things to go well with you.  He not only wants to de-clutter and rearrange but He wants to beautify, so that your life will be a testimony of His peace and His joy.  In a world where that is in short supply, God will use you to shine for Him.

Today’s Assignment:

1.       As you begin your meeting with God today, ask Him to remove anything that He wants to remove and to rearrange whatever needs rearranging in your life so that things flow better.

2.      Ask God to open your eyes so that you can see with new vision the future He has planned for you.  (Ephesians 1: 18-19)

3.      Ask Him for instructions in how to walk out of the old and into the new. He knows the way you should take.  He knows that you can get there from where you are!  (Isaiah 42: 16 TMB)

4.      Meditate on these scriptures.  If you have questions for God, write them in your journal.

Psalms 25:5    

Isaiah 42: 9 -10

Isaiah 43: 18-19

II Corinthians 5:17-21 TMB

Jeremiah 31: 28b

Prayer:

Father, I give you permission to de-clutter my life of any activities that are not right for me at this particular time.  Father, also go over some of my relationships with me.  Show me who to love from a distance and those who are to be up close.

Father, I lay before You all the familiar patterns of thinking and behavior that I have operated in and I ask You to rearrange things so that everything that I do, will be done effortlessly and in Your ability and not mine.

Thank You for setting me on a new course!! Amen.