Listen, open your ears, harness your desire to speak, and don’t get worked up into a rage so easily, my brothers and sisters. (The Voice Translation)

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (The NIV Translation)

Somewhere along the way I’ve lost my listening skills.  I’ve decided it’s more important to be heard and in doing so I’ve closed-up my ears.  In the process I’ve become pretty self-centered.

I really miss listening.  Today I will listen.  I will open my ears and harness my desire to speak.

How about you?

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Therefore, if anyone is united with the Anointed One, the person is a new creation.  The old life is gone- and see- a new life has begun!

I’m currently studying Numbers right now and God has delivered Israel from Egypt, they’ve been in the desert for about 2 years and they have just sent spies into the Promised Land.

The report they get back from the spies scares them and they long to go back to Egypt and their slavery because they think life was better then.  Caleb and Joshua however trust in God and his promises.  As much as I’d like to think I do the same (trust in God’s promises) I all too quickly look back at my former life much like Israel.

Today God’s reminding me that the old life, that old me, is gone and that I’m a new creation with a new life.  Why then do I so easily lose sight of this fact and go back to trusting what I can see?

I quickly lose sight of my new life.

I have a few ideas why but for now I feel as though God’s given me this verse to meditate of for the summer.  Yep the summer.  It’s been a while but in the past during different seasons of my life the Lord will give me a verse usually tied to what He’s teaching me… so this is it.  Good bye old life.

How about you?  Do you know you are a new creation and that the old is gone?  Are you like me (and Israel) when the road gets rocky you want to turn around?  Take comfort in the fact that this new life and journey has begun for those who are united with Christ and he will see you through (Philippians 1:6).

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All this will flow from the kind and compassionate mercy of our God.  A new day is dawning:  the Sunrise from the heavens will break through in our darkness…

We all go through different seasons in life.  The past month, well really several months have been challenging for me but I’m always amazed at how God meets us were we are, where I am.

As I look Zacharias here, he and his wife have endured a long season of infertility long enough that Elizabeth is past her childbearing years.  The passage doesn’t tell us what their attitudes are about this but we see Zacharias still serving the Lord and praying and he encounters Gabriel the Angel of the Lord and finds out that he will be a father and not only will his son be a great joy to them but he will prepare Israel to here to follow Jesus.

The above is Zacharias’s response to the birth of his son John (vs. 68-79- definitely worth reading).  It reminds me today of how good our God is and though the night might be dark (and in Zacharias’s case long) a new day is truly dawning and has dawned.  Our job is to simply keep trusting in and seeking God and following that Sunrise from the heavens.

I don’t know where you are at with God or what season you might be in, but take comfort in the fact that though the way may seem dark the Sunrise from the heavens will and has broken through.

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God is our shelter and our strength.  When troubles seem near, God is nearer, and He’s ready to help.  So why run and hide?

This week I’m reminded of how quickly I run and hide at the first sign of trouble.  Not very courageous right?

I’m reminded of how quickly I trust in fear and how quickly I seek shelter and strength in things other than God.  I see trouble near by but completely miss that God is even nearer.  Not only is he nearer but He’s ready to help.

So today I’m not running and I’m not hiding.  I seeking Him not only as my shelter but my strength and I’m choosing to trust in Him instead of the trouble that’s in front of me.

I choose to believe in God and not fear.

How about you?  Are you running?  Maybe today you’ll find your shelter and strength in God.

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(Scribe):  and to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves are more important than any burnt offering or sacrifices we could ever give.

Seems so simple.

Life’s been busy lately but tonight I simply thankful for these two simple commands:  love God and love others.

I think I tend to overcomplicated my faith but this reminds me to keep pursuing God and loving those around me.

How about you?  Are you like me and do you overcomplicated your faith?  Maybe you need this little reminder to simply love and pursue God and to love our neighbors.

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He reached down and drew me from the deep, dark hole where I was stranded, mired in muck and clay.

With a gentle hand, He pulled me out to set me down safely on a warm rock; He held me until I was steady enough to continue on the journey again.

The last few days have been dark. I’ve felt stranded in darkness and muck. It’s easy to lose hope when one is stuck in a hole. You lose sight of where you were going before you landed in the hole. Your hole surrounds you.

It’s also easy to miss God’s hand while in a dark hole- note it’s a gentle hand and that may be why we sometimes miss it. And it’s His hand that not only reaches into darkness to gently save us but then safely place us on a warm rock.

But that’s not all, He waits for us and holds us until we find out feet and then and only then we continue on our way.

I don’t know why but when I find myself in a dark place I don’t see God’s hand, but it’s there, waiting for me for us to take hold.

Once we find His rock and once we are steady we are called to continue on our journey.

I guess I’m prone to getting stuck because once I get out of the hole I would prefer to stay on the nice warm rock. I forget about the path I was on and that’s where I’ve been the past few days/weeks.

But I’m up, I’m set and I’ve found my footing. It’s time to press on. I’m scared but I know I’m called and as much as I want to trust in the things I can see and feel God is calling me to trust in Him and not my own understanding.

How about you? Have you lost sight? Are you stuck? What is God asking of you?

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He sat down with the twelve to teach them.

Jesus:  Whoever wants to be first must be last, and whoever wants to be the greatest must be the servant of all.

How quick am I to exalt myself.  How quick am I to look after my own interest.  I lose sight that it’s not about being first or the greatest but it’s about serving others.

It’s easy to miss the first part of this verse though, where Jesus sits down with the twelve to teach them.  I am reminded that is my first step in becoming a servant: sitting with Jesus.  The weeks are busy and I’ve been tired but I know I won’t find the person I want to be unless I first take time to learn from Jesus.

Transformation is much easier when I stop trying and let God do the work.

Are you like me?  Are you tired of trying to put others before you or trying to be a servant?  Maybe you are like me and you missed the important first part of the verse.  This week I’m taking 15 minutes each day to sit and learn from Jesus.  What is God asking of you?

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Really, what profit is there for you to gain the whole world and lose yourself in the process?

Sometimes you need (and by you I mean I need) a little bit of grounding in life.  Through the trials of these last few or really several months I have found that grounding in Jesus.

He reminds me that things are not always what they seem to be and reminds me to not get caught up in the busyness or drama around me.  He’s taught me that relationships matter and loving people matter and with just a little bit of faith mountains will in fact move.

I’ve been able to take a step back and find true living.

How about you?  Are you like me?  Do you find yourself lost on the process?  Maybe like me, it’s time you found yourself at the foot of the cross.

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Support me in keeping with Your promise, O God, so that I may live; do not let my hope turn to shame.

Tonight I simply turn to God and seek His support in keeping His promise so that my hope will not turn to shame.

It’s tempting to give up in the midst of this trial but how can I when God has brought me this far?  How can I possibly doubt Him.  I confess I doubt myself but I don’t doubt Him and what He has planned.

I don’t know what God has promised you or what you might be facing but my prayer is that when things get hard you turn to Him and His promise and let Him be your strength.

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Jesus:  It’s all right.  Don’t be afraid; just believe.

It’s been a long week.  Nothing too crazy just long.  To be honest I’ve been a bit weary.  I opened the bible today really just needing to hear God and to know He’s not forgotten me or His promises.

It’s amazing what God does when we come to Him.

I stumble upon this verse and heard that still small voice reminding me to simply believe.  My trouble is I want to trust in what I can see now and what I can plan out and that’s not what God’s asking of me.  He’s asking me to believe in Him and what He can do.

Look at Jairus in this story.  Coming to Jesus in faith believing He can heal his daughter only to get news that his daughter had died while they were on their way to his house.

And then Jesus speaks these words to him:  “It’s all right.  Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

That is all God is asking of Jairus and it’s all He’s asking of me today.

Today I’m reminded again that all things are possible with our God and just because the odds are stacked against us or the way seems impossible all things are truly possible when we believe.

Today God’s asking me to put my faith in Him and not myself and not my fears.

What’s God asking of you today?

If we would just believe maybe like Jairus we too will see life spring forth from death.

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