I love how patient and yet thorough our God is. When we commit to Him He begins a work which will never stop until we walk through death’s door. The work has so much to do with helping us get beyond our own selves in order to enable us to become more and more like His Son Jesus.

The love I started to write about yesterday is just one example. Today, Joyce Meyers wrote about the Israelites who were sent back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. They encountered problem after problem as you read the small book of Ezra. At one point they even had to stop completely. If we encounter problems like this today we often think we are doing so because we are out of alignment with God’s plan (or I do). Joyce brings out the point that Jesus Christ came with one purpose in mind. Did He encounter problems completing God’s plan? We all know the answer to this! The confidence Jesus had to always move forward was directly connected to His relationship with His Father. I loved reading this and bringing this back to life today. Problems need to be brought by us to God, but then we need to let God speak to us about them. Only He can let us know if we are out of alignment or if we are simply having problems because the world doesn’t understand yet. God’s Voice is often faint, yet it is there when we quiet our own voice in order to hear Him. I’ll keep working on this.

It is inauguration day. Let us together lift our new president and our country to the throne of God our Father. Our president is new, our country is fragile, but, God is not any of these for He is eternal, mighty and Lord of all. Let us never forget this.

Yesterday I wrote about God teaching me/us about living the life of the new creation He made us to be once we accept His Son Jesus into our heart. I have written several times about my prayer warrior introducing me to the 3-R’s (recognize, reject and replace) and the 3-S’s (self-love, self-appreciation and self-confidence). I tremendously struggled to believe I was a new creation until I could finally replace this abused person with the righteous person Jesus Christ made me to be through His sacrifice. Finally believing all of this to be real for me I could begin to love myself. I thought I had arrived until today’s devotional time.

In today’s devotional time God began to address with me the immensity of His Love for us and how limited my capacity of love has presently been. Yes, I have begun to believe I can love and be loved, but thus far the capacity of this “love tank” is man size. God is opening my eyes to my need to see love through His capacity. It is this capacity (which is limitless), He wants me to have for my own understanding. God doesn’t give us love, He gives us Himself which is LOVE. Within this love we live life. My capacity to grasp this is only beginning but today my eyes are starting to open to this very real truth about God our Father.

Celebrate Recovery has each of its participants choose a sponsor when they are working through their inventory so the sponsor can complete the scripture, James 5:16, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” This has recently happened with me sponsoring a young man in his 20’s. I’ve know this man since he started kindergarten in the school where I was principal. An unexpected discovery for him in working through this process was the amount of abuse he’d had but didn’t want to face. He’d tried all of his short life to call it something else. Last night he called in tears realizing some important people in his life didn’t necessarily have his best interest in mind. Their actions and decisions were showing they had themselves in mind.

One of the things I’m learning about being the new creation God makes us to be when we accept Christ into our lives is our need to go back to those haunting places and stay there until we see Christ in them. This took almost three years of PTSD therapy for me, but the end result now is my freedom to be the person God created me to be without the shackles I carried for over 60 years. Even today, God shows me areas that show up where I need to pause and find Christ. If I don’t, I quickly must stop, go back and allow Christ to shed Light which He always does. The Light of Jesus does penetrate the darkness of man’s ways and certainly the evil of Satan’s ways.

It is painful and very difficult to face these giants in our lives, but living on the other side of them is something one can never know until he does this. The young man I mentioned is grieving right now the false reality he has carried. However, once he is able to let this go, he will walk with tremendous freedom. God is amazingly GOOD, PATIENT and FAITHFUL!

It may sound silly, but I am so glad I get to be back with the schools today in person. I’m sure there is work that can be done virtually just as effectively as when it is done in the traditional setting. But, teaching is so much more than providing information for students to know. The relationship one has with them inspires learning, the mode of instruction can give clarity when one can see that misunderstanding is in the way of learning, and so much more. On-line, it is so difficult for all of this to take place for the many students who are not motivated sitting behind a computer screen. So, I’m glad to be back.

Oswald Chamber’s devotional: My Utmost for the Highest, said something today which I needed to be reminded and it tied to yesterday’s message. Obedience to God’s leadership is a must for us Christians if our relationship is to grow. Along with this, Oswald clarifies that God’s Holy Spirit within us cannot do His Work if our will is not surrendered to God’s leadership. We may want to serve God, but we want to define how that is done far too often. God, on the other hand, has a determined plan for our service to Him. It is through The Holy Spirit that we know this as He speaks to us. He is silent however until we surrender our will. This is the genuine meaning of sanctification–surrender of our will each and every day and each and every moment within the day. When we are fully surrendered, God then speaks to His Spirit within us as they know each other well and we get to be part of it. Wow, what a privilege!

This morning God gave me a big surprise. As I was to begin my devotions I was prompted to first take a look at the COVID status for the two counties where I do consulting. The one where I spend the most time has moved out of red which restricted me from being physically present. This means that tomorrow I can return in person. When I was writing this blog yesterday, part of what I was addressing was about having to do the work virtual rather than in person. Once I addressed my “will”, God changed the status so I actually can now be present. I just had to stop and give thanks. It is so humbling to watch how God works and to get to be part of it.

So much came out of today’s devotional time continuing down the path of total surrender to God–sanctification. In II Chronicles 30-32 Hezekiah’s years of leadership are described. He is said to be one of the very few leaders of Judah sold out to God in the same manner as King David. However, as his greatness grew and was rewarded he became proud. He became very sick and almost died, but during this time he repented of his pride and recommitted himself to God’s Ways.

In Celebrate Recovery we have accountability partners/sponsors. These people are to hold us accountable to our commitments. One of these commitments is our faithful walk with God each and every day. If we give in to our pride it pulls us away from God’s leading and our actions quickly tell without us knowing it. However, a good accountability partner can see this and his role is to then confront us. I’m sure we all have our moments, but as we grow in our commitment to Jesus Christ, the quicker we respond in turning it around just as King Hezekiah did.

Have you ever wondered what sanctification was actually like? When I was in my youth it was talked about a good deal in church services and especially in revival services. My devotional today brought the message out clearly. Is my will fully surrendered to the will of Christ Jesus? Do I still decide what for Jesus I will do or am I willing to say yes to all that Christ Jesus asks?

The Chronicle books of the Bible tell of the kings of Israel and Judah. You find that the kings who are sold out to God’s leadership are rewarded for this–winning battles, becoming prosperous, country follows well and so on. It is easy to read through the two Chronicle books and acknowledge the “good” kings and shake your head at the “bad” ones. It is not so easy to look at oneself and see where I submit fully to the leading of Jesus Christ in my life–being sanctified.

Yesterday was a different kind of day. Several things came up in the morning unexpectedly. In each case I needed to spend time to support them. I found myself not wanting to do the work needed in the way it was needing to be done. This morning I have been confronted with the question–Am I willing to do the work only if I can do so my way? I know the answer is, no. However, I fight the internal battle of my will. The work needs to be done regardless in order for it to move forward.

It is spiritually healthy to step back and take a look at all of this. Whether the work is spiritual or secular, I want to do it in response to Jesus Christ’s leadership. My attitude is not to get in the way if it is only about “will”. In each case my will wants to stop the work because it is uncomfortable doing it in the fashion needed. So, I commit to Jesus this morning to do what I need to do trusting Him for the outcome.

Today’s devotional message hit me right in my heart. It tied well into the scripture reading also as I continue through II Chronicles. In the scripture reading, chapter 25, Amaziah assembled the men of Judah for war. He paid Israel 100 talents of silver for 100,000 of their mighty men to join them. A man of God came to Amaziah saying God was not in the decision to pay Israel to join them and send them home. The king asked about the 100 talents he’d already paid them? The man of God’s response was, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.”

The devotional message today talked of God’s “currency”. This currency is God’s promises through His Word. The author of the devotional writes that when we bring one of God’s scripture promises to Him it is like bringing Him a check to cash that He wrote himself to us. He goes onto say that God loves cashing His Own checks. It means we are relying on Him.

No matter what our need/s are, God wants us to bring them to Him rather than trying to address them on our own without turning to Him. Joshua 23:14 says, “You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” Relying on God’s promises and bringing them to Him to cash them in is such a good reminder for me. To serve God well, I want to come to Him first before I take any step on my own.

My scripture reading this morning gave me insights that I’ve been seeking for several days now. I’ve written about keeping my eyes off of man and onto God. Today I was reminded of a step of praise I should have never forgotten. That is the praise of singing to God. In II Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat was brought to battle by the Moabites, Ammonites and the Meunites. These armies joined forces to come against Judah. King Jehoshaphat had the people join him in fasting and he prayed. He was then told by a prophet the following: “The Lord says this to you. ‘Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s’.”

Being reminded that a battle we think we face is not ours, but God’s, is a tremendous lift of spirit. Jehoshaphat’s response to the prophet’s message was appointing singers to sing to the Lord and praise Him as they went out before the army singing, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!” The army of Judah didn’t have to even raise a weapon for the attacking army turned to fight one another completely destroying themselves.

I love to sing and I especially love to sing praise songs to Jesus. What a great reminder today’s scripture is for me. I sure don’t know the outcome of our country’s present state, but I do know I will praise God in song all during this time!

This morning I was having a difficult time starting my journaling with a meaningful praise. I had been in a couple of settings yesterday where the topic of our nation’s political plight was being discussed. It had a lot of consternation expressed for which I wasn’t ready to respond so I mostly listened. I find it very hard to believe the state of our nation is as ugly as the far left and the far right describe. Internally I want to wait this out so we can get back to a better calm.

As I was journaling and attempting to praise God, I found myself unable to find anything praiseworthy about this present plight. But, God then reminded me that I could never praise Him by looking at man and what man can do. I must look to Him and Believe what He can do. I instantly was able to express my praise once I got my eyes off of man and his ways and began to look at God and His Ways.

As I was reading my devotional its message hit right on the head what I needed to read. “We must be able to ‘mount up with wings like eagles'” (Isaiah 40:31). Yes, we cannot begin to see God’s View when we look to man only. Along with this however is what the devotional went on to read, “The power of the saint lies in the coming down and in the living that is done in the valley. Paul says, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'” (Philippians 4:13).

Right now I know that God is wanting me to keep my mind and heart focused on Him. Along with this I know He is wanting me to help others do the same as we are “living in the valley”. I don’t want to disregard this present state for I know that is not a Godly action. Instead, while we are in this, I want to believe and trust my God for what He has in store, for He is Almighty. God uses all things to His honor and glory as we turn to Him. He is not surprised by any of this.

Today I was startled (once again) by the consistent alignment of message the devotionals I use and the scripture I read had with my journaling. I keep a post-it note on my journaling page with the word PRAISE written on it. This is to remind me to start my day praising God. I specifically want to work on praising God for what I don’t know or see–things to come. I then thank Him for things I do see and know where His handiwork is evident. In my journaling I had written down some things for which I couldn’t see an outcome of hope. Some of them related to needs represented on my prayer list I keep. Well, God in His Faithfulness simply did what He is known for–shedding LIGHT.

My two devotional messages were as though they were written by the same person with the same topic. It centered around keeping our eyes lifted up to Jesus for God sees everyone of us thorugh Jesus Christ. He also sees every need thorugh the blood of Jesus which He shed for our sins. Then I began to read in II Chronicles about the warring which was taking place after Israel split into two nations: Judah and Israel. Judah was much smaller with only two of the 12 tribes of Israel. However, the size of the country and the number of the people didn’t matter. What mattered was the dedication of the country to God. Judah’s leader recognized their inability to fight against the enemy and he gave this inability to God. God honored this obedience and the enemy was defeated by God’s taking control of the battle.

There is no need of man for which God doesn’t know. He waits for us to recognize our inability to handle it on our own and reject the idea we are losers as His children. He wants us to replace our inability with HIS STRENGTH by looking only to Him with our battle. The Light He sheds will show us the steps to take when we look up. Today I took the needs on my prayer list to God looking up to Him and I praised God for what only HE can do with each of them.