Seeing God in the Storm

Seeing God in the Storm

Thou hast been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat.
Isaiah 25:4

Will your imagination work today?
Can you close your eyes and be very still
for just a few minutes . . .
placing yourself in the pictures God paints?
He wants to speak to you.
Lord, I am helpless.
I am in distress, so very needy;
I am in a raging storm and the magnitude
of the storm
frightens me.
And oh Lord, I am exhausted because
of the heat
the scorching sun
the endlessness
of a barren
forsaken desert.
You tell me, Lord,
that You are a defense
for the helpless
and for the needy;
that You are a
refuge and
a shade.Lord, I run to You and cling to you,
that You may be ALL of these
things in my life.
Thank You.
He will be as real to you as you allow Him to be.

Lifetime Daily Devotions, YouVersion, March 26, 2013

Each day we go through life worrying and burdened down by the hustle and bustle,

there are times when we feel like God has forsaken us and we just want to give up.

The Storms in our lives are just raging on with no end, “Where are you Lord, Cant you see that I need you?”

Things become overwhelming, can I tell you that it is at this very moment that Jesus will come through for you when you realize you can do nothing of yourself.

He has you in His hands, He has the world in His hands. Psalm 73:23, “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand” 

If you are going through a storm in your life, you can praise the pain away. This song was introduced to me this morning, I hope it blesses your heart.

Praise His Name – By Sheri Easter

“A worm with wings”

A Worm with Wings

John 8:36
I Peter 2: 9b-10; TLB

The yard is one of my “therapy clinics.” (What do you think about when you’re digging holes for the jasmine shoots or pulling up weeds?) I always wind up with dirt caked on my hands and knees, and with a respectable amount on my face and in my hair. The dirtier I get, the more fun it is! (Small wonder the boys loved to play in the dirt, and still are drawn to the messy stuff!)

I was undergoing my “yard therapy” one day, but it was being interrupted. Someone somewhere was unhappy and was being very verbal about it. Whoever it was, his grumpy whining was ruining my hour of much-needed solitude.

Investigation and confrontation were in order, so I followed the disagreeable sounds until I spotted the culprit. It was a butterfly–talking to himself! I stood there listening to him rant and rave. He was lamenting his woeful, miserable condition.

Oh, how I hate crawling along this limb, eating this horrible elm leaf. Worm food! How I would love to soar with the wind, but here I am, stuck in a tree. Look at those beautiful flowers. If only I could taste the nectar. The life of a worm is not a happy one . . . depressing and confining. But then, God made some vessels for common use, and I guess that’s me–common.

I walked over, stood very close to that disillusioned little butterfly, and said to him, “You silly thing, acting for all the world like you’re a worm–eating worm food and wishing you could take the wind to any flower your heart desired. And you believe that this is your God-given fate! Have you never realized you have wings? That all you have to do is spread them? Don’t you know who you are? You are a butterfly!”

Like the butterfly
I find
I can no longer stay behind
the self-made walls
of my own apprehensive fears,
behind the crust of my old cocoon.
Because of Him I am free
to break through the walls that once were me
and to soar into
God’s dimension
Oh, by the way, from one butterfly to another: Would you like to go
flying with me this afternoon?

Lifetime Daily Devotional, Youversion…..

Lions, Bears and Giants

Lions, Bears, and Giants

The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:37

“Hey, you guys. Don’t be afraid. I’ll fight this Philistine giant.”

But David was young. David was not even a warrior, and certainly not an experienced warrior. Saul felt it necessary to mention these things after David had so fearlessly declared that he himself would fight Goliath.

But David persisted. “When I am taking care of my fathers sheep, and a lion or a bear comes and grabs a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If it turns on me I catch it by the jaw and club it to death” (1 Samuel 17:34,35 tlb).

If David had not experienced lions and bears, he would not have been prepared for his confrontation with Goliath.

David spent many quiet, lonely hours perfecting his slingshot techniques, figuring out just what size and shape of stone went to the mark most accurately, how far away he could be from his target and still hit it dead center.

If he hadn’t spent those quiet, lonely hours practicing with his slingshot, learning all of those “insignificant” things, would he have been ready to meet the giant?

David was by himself. He didn’t have the company and the encouragement of others.

But if he had not learned to stand alone, how would he have handled the rejection from Saul and from the people in his kingdom?

David saw the heart of God and came to know the love of God as he watched over his flocks, leading them, caring for them when they were hurt, agonizing over one little lost lamb.

The day-by-day routine brought him to an ever-deeper understanding of Gods love and of Gods ways.

David met and killed the giant that ridiculed his God and terrorized his nation.

And as he watched the round stone find its mark, and felt the earth shake when Goliath fell, it was etched indelibly on David’s mind and heart that his God was able.

* * *

I see all of this, Lord. You were deliberately training David for what You knew would come. Strange. I can see this in the life of David, and yet I always struggle with the things that come into my life. Whats that old proverb about hindsight?

The “things” seem so insignificant at times, Lord, so commonplace, so useless. Are You training me? Will I ever be able to see that my encounters with the “bears and lions” were training sessions? That because of them I was more equipped to meet the “giant” that You knew would appear on my horizon?

Thats what you call a rhetorical question, isn’t it? A question that doesn’t need an answer. I know that as I jump over the one-foot hurdle, in the process I’m preparing for the two-foot hurdle. I guess I want the thrill of seeing the giant fall and feeling the ground shake beneath my tired feet. . . .

No problem, Lord. Im not planning on going AWOL. Im not going to resign from the training program. (You wouldnt let me, would You?) I know that eventually I’ll be a pole-vaulter…of Olympic class. I know that bears and lions lead to giants, and that by Your strength…giants fall.

Lifetime Daily Devotional,  Youversion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC_1GR3Re3Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player

How do you determine right from wrong?

This morning I did not want to get up from my bed. I heard the howling of the wind outside and only wrapped up tighter in my blanket.Making a mental note to bundle up later when getting dressed for work.

Then I said to myself, as much as I need to dress warm and prepare mentally for the weather, even so I need to have my talk with the Lord and commune with him. I am glad I did, the message from the youth devotion (youversion) lastnight connected so well  with devotion and memory verse this morning.

The decisions we make about right and wrong should be measured against Jesus’ character and not based on the norms of society. They should not be determined by what our friends choose or by how we feel. This morning the memory verse clearly stated,
Exodus 15:26 NKJV

…“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians.”

Thank you Lord.