“If It Looks Like a Duck…”
Father, its been a rough weekend and most certainly I should have spent my mornings with You and didn’t. Other things squeezed into my days, and not all of them were beneficial to the course You have set before me. I’ve sought Your forgiveness and ask that You would help me to put it behind me and move forward with You. Once again, I would plead that You would enable me to hear Your warnings and then to heed them Only in You will I be victorious.
1 Timothy 2:9-15 (<<click here)
Lord, this passage is a little thorny and from what I’ve read has several possible interpretations. Overall, I think Paul is saying that we need to be careful in how we as Your followers show ourselves to the world.
It is easy to be enticed to be outward, physically, acceptable to those around us. Now overall this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It becomes an issue when our appearance, the way we dress or appear physically puts more attention on us and turns others from You – when it becomes more about us and less about You. We are the better when we emulate You and encourage others to do the same.
Also, there is a lot of spiritual junk around us and we must be very careful to what we latch onto, fill ourselves with and promote. It’s very easy to go with the general consensus. The old adage, “If it looks like a duck and acts like a duck…” mmm…its not necessarily a duck. It may look “spiritual” and sound “spiritual” but it can still not be the truth, no matter who is proclaiming it.
Lord, help me to proclaim You in all I do with my life. May it be true to You.
September 6th, Sun, 6:42 am
I Am Your Child
I enter this time of reflection and quietness this morning, Father, eagerly anticipating what You will share with me. I am humbled by the fact that You desire to be with me. So many times I feel unworthy, on occasion I feel like a child who has had way too much fun in the mud puddles only to realize its time to go home and, boy, am I going to be in trouble… No real harm done, nothing really hurt or damaged but what a mess! But Father, I am Your child – You love me more than my little brain could ever begin to comprehend. You get me out of my dirty things, and get me into a nice hot bath and when all is said and done, You lift me up into Your lap, hold me close, cover me with kisses for I am truly loved… Thank You, Father; I love You, too…
Lord, this is more than enough for today! You love me, I am loved by my Creator and Savior. Nothing else is needed! And because I am loved so unconditionally may I love others in the same way – tall order, for sure, but I can do no less. Help me Lord to love as only You possibly can! So be it – Amen!
September 3rd, Thurs, 6:38 am
Reign It In!
Father, I’ve struggled the last couple of days and this morning I call out to You. I need Your strength and determination to keep me set apart for You. I admit I am weak. I am fallible. I have not “crashed and burned” but even playing with fire can lead to catastrophe. I am dependent upon You Father. Only in You can my striving for holiness be fulfilled. Praise Your Holy Name because of Your faithfulness, love and patience!
1 Timothy 2:8 (<<click here)
Lord, if we are to have a growing relationship, prayer has to have a very prominent place. If I don’t listen to You, if I don’t speak with You, I am directionless. Trying to make progress on my spiritual journey without prayer, is like going on vacation out of state and not using a map or taking advantage of the benefits of a GPS or even stopping to ask for directions! I’d never see the things I wanted to see unless I stumbled over them by plain, dumb luck.
Lord, I need You. I am dependent upon You. Only You can put all the pieces together to form the masterpiece that You have in mind. But I have to listen and pay attention.
As Paul reminds me in this morning’s passage, I have to be careful not to obstruct my times of prayer as well. I am called to pray but I must be “free from anger and controversy.” My mind is already too easily distracted but add anger and controversy into the mix and absolutely no headway is made. Unfortunately when something ticks me off, prayer most often is the last thing on my mind. Lord, first of all, please help me to curtail my anger. But when I do get angry help me to see Your face – to feel Your presence so that I can quickly rein it in. I would ask for You to guide me – not my anger. Amen.
September 2nd, Wed, 7:02 am
My Choice
Thank You for answered prayers yesterday, Father. We were fretting and we should’ve done more trusting. I would ask that Your hand would be upon me this day. Guide and direct my thoughts and actions, and may they all be pleasing in Your sight. Give me the strength and stamina to accomplish the tasks at hand. Amen.
1 Timothy 2:5-7 (<<click here)
“For there is only one God and Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity – the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life [as a ransom – NIV, NASB] to purchase freedom for everyone.” v5-6a
My, oh my… what a point of contention, not for me but for so many others. Lord, before You even created the world, You knew this was the way it would be. And at the core of this contention is sin – pride – “Nobody is going to tell me what to believe!” Humanity just has to go against the grain.
I’m sure many would accuse me of narrow-mindedness, and God has given every single one of us the free will to decide for ourselves what we will believe. We can even believe that there is no God – it’s our choice. But I choose to believe that Christ Jesus is the only “God and Mediator who can reconcile” me and God. Lord Jesus, You gave Your life “to purchase” my freedom from the sin in which I had become mired. You ransomed me. No one else could do that! I am surely incapable of doing it myself. Life has proven that, I am not strong enough. I am too prone to failure.
So for me, Lord, You alone are the bridge that crosses the great chasm between myself and God. Whether there is a God, or is a chasm is not worth the argument humanity believes, for in the end we all will stand before our Creator to give account of what we did with Christ. We all exert our free will now but at that time that will be our only option.
And before we start crying “foul!” we must realize that this “ransom” is a gift – no one makes anyone take it. Every one of us has the choice to accept it…or reject it. But the ramifications of our choice will have eternal consequences.
Lord, thank You for this indescribable gift! May my life reflect that gratitude and may I be diligent in sharing Your gift with others.
September 1, Tues, 6:58 am
Don’t Complain – Pray!
Father, You are worthy of all my praise! Each and every day You fill my life with blessing after blessing and I don’t thank You nearly enough. Every breath I take, every beat of my heart, every sight I behold, every sound I hear, every single thing! – is from Your generous hand! I deserve none of it and have earned none of it but You give and give. Thank You, Father, for Your wonderful gift of life and for the utterly unfathomable gift of salvation enabling me to be blessed with Your presence and love for all eternity!
1 Timothy 2:2-4 (<<click here)
Lord, the passage points out one of my many failings- praying for “all who are in authority.” Now right up front, I totally understand that You love everyone – no exclusions. There is absolutely no one so separated from You that Your love cannot reach. I accept those truths. I embrace them.
My failing is not the inability to love them (which can be a challenge) but my failing is that I don’t pray for them nearly enough – in fact I rarely do! It is so much easier to complain about them and to share my dislike for them; those are the things on which I focus.
I would ask Lord, that You would burden my heart to pray for those in authority – those in my community, our schools, my family, at work, our civil servants, our government officials (on every level from township to the oval office), our military. Even those who are from other countries and not my own, we all need You in our lives “for You want everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” Help me to pray as such!
August 30th, Sun, 6:53 am