One day as I headed to the grocery store, I knew I only had a certain amount of money to spend. This particular day, I had $171 cash and knew this was my limit as I entered into the grocery store. I also knew that being a family of six, it is very rare that I get out of the grocery store for less than $200. So as I shopped, I was more intentional about buying fewer items and choosing less expensive ones. As I went along, I put several things back and exchanged items, trying and hoping to stay under my budget.

           When I placed all my items on the check-out belt, I said a quick silent prayer. “Lord, please let it be less than $171.” I must confess that this prayer was probably as much out of pride as it was out of need. I have been in the “select and put back” process before while others waited in the line behind me. So I was hoping to avoid this embarrassing scenario.

            The cashier scanned the last item, and I watched the total go over $171. Then he scanned a one dollar coupon I had picked up in the store, and the total came to $170.34. I smiled and thanked the Lord for letting me have just enough. It is in times like this that we are more dependent on God to provide for us. He doesn’t give us too much, or too little, but just what we need.  

            Even when God provided the Israelites with manna from Heaven, He said, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.” (Exodus 16:4, NIV) God instructed the Israelites to gather enough food for one day only, except for the sixth day when they were to gather enough food for two days. God wanted them to trust that He would continue to provide them with food each day. “So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.” (Exodus 16:17-18, NLT)

           Solomon prayed in the book of Proverbs, “Give me enough food to live on, neither too much nor too little. If I’m too full, I might get independent, saying, ‘God? Who needs him?’ If I’m poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:8, The Message) So if things are tight financially for you right now, maybe God is providing just enough to meet your needs for today. Thank Him and trust Him to continue to provide for you each day.

            I was singing in church one Sunday morning when a gentleman I know came in and joined his wife in the row behind me. I have encountered this man on numerous occasions at church and at our children’s school, and I have never heard him speak more than about ten words. He is very timid and quiet and often just nods and smiles instead of speaking. But as soon as he stepped into the worship service, he burst forth with the loudest, most joyous singing I have heard in a long time. I couldn’t believe my ears! I kept fighting the urge to turn around and look to make sure it was really him. It was such a blessing to hear this quiet, unassuming gentleman totally letting loose when it came to praising God.  

            The Bible, especially the book of Psalms, is full of songs of praise. Many verses encourage us to sing praises to God even when our circumstances are difficult. Paul and Silas exemplify this for us when they are imprisoned for their faith. They could have become angry, frustrated or discouraged, but they chose to keep singing praises to God even in prison:

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”  

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

            As I read this, I saw three important reminders of the power of singing praises: First, other people are watching and listening. (“The other prisoners were listening to them.”) Second, as a result of singing praises to God, especially in difficult circumstances, I may get to see Him work in a miraculous way. (“Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.”) And third, my praises may open up an opportunity for me to share Jesus with others that need to be saved. (“Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house… [The jailer] was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.”)

            You may never know who is watching and listening. Someone else may benefit from your song, just as I was blessed by this man’s song in church. And if you don’t feel like singing praises today, try reading them. Go to the Psalms and begin to praise God through those verses: “I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” (Psalm 146:2) “I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.” (Psalm 108:3)

“No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that refuge clinging;

Since Christ is Lord of Heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?”

-Robert Lowry

           While I was watching my children play at the beach, I looked down and saw something written in the sand. I turned my head so that I could make out the letters, and as I did, I read my oldest son’s name written in large letters in the sand. As I looked at these letters, I was reminded of a story in the Bible I had read just a few days earlier. A story where Jesus wrote something in the sand.

           The Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, and they informed Him that the Law of Moses said they should stone her for this act. But they asked Jesus what He thought they should do with her. This is where we’ll pick up: “They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.” (John 8:6-9)

          I have always thought this was such an interesting response from Jesus. After being asked an important, life or death question, He just bends down and starts writing something on the ground with His finger. I’m not sure anyone knows exactly what He wrote, and I don’t think He was trying to give the Pharisees a written answer to their question.

          As I pondered why Jesus would do this, I thought about how when people ask me for advice or my opinion, I often say a silent prayer asking the Lord to give me wisdom before I answer them. I just wondered if Jesus, as He bent down and wrote in the sand after the Pharisee’s question, was silently asking His Heavenly Father for wisdom in how to respond. He was always about His Father’s will and timing while here on this earth.

        While I thought some more about Jesus’ mysterious writing, two other verses came to mind. One says, “Be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” (James 1:19) Jesus was slow to speak and slow to become angry as He bent down and moved His finger along the ground, realizing that the Pharisees were trying to trap Him. Today, someone might say, “Stop and count to ten, before you respond.” Maybe Jesus was writing 1,2,3,4…

          The second verse I thought of says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath.” (Proverbs 15:1) The Pharisees had stones in their hands and were ready to kill this woman when they brought her to Jesus. After Jesus stood from writing in the sand, He simply said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then He bent down and went back to His writing. With this one gentle answer, fingers released their grips on the stones and accusers walked away.

        Jesus is so wise, even when we don’t understand His ways.  I don’t think what Jesus wrote in the sand was the lesson that day. But by His slow, gentle response, grace prevailed once again:

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared.” (John 8:10-11)

            There have been a few times in my life when I was certain I was being led by the Holy Spirit in a specific direction, when all of a sudden I found myself seemingly at a dead end.  During these times, I had really sought God through prayer and reading the Bible and then followed where I believed He was leading me. But the road either suddenly ended or did not take me where I was sure I was going. It’s been times like these when I have questioned whether I have “heard” Him or been led by His Spirit at all.

            When I begin to doubt His Spirit’s leading (or my ability to hear Him), I always go back to John 10. Jesus tells us, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—“ (John 10:14) He reminds us, “When he [the good shepherd] has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (John 10:4) And again, He says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27) These verses always encourage me that if I am seeking God, through prayer and reading His Word, then I will hear Him speak to my heart, and He will lead me by His Spirit. Anne Graham Lotz describes, “For some, hearing Him speak is like a quiet knowing. For others, it’s more electric—as though the verses had bells, whistles, and flashing neon lights. Regardless of how His voice ‘sounds’ to you, the impact will be like fuel that keeps the fire burning in your heart.” (I Saw the Lord, p. 195)

             I have learned though that just because I hear Him speak through His Word and I follow Him, that doesn’t always mean I am going to end up where I think I should. Even Jesus was led by the Sprit to a place I would have never expected.

            When Jesus lived on this earth, He was “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1, NKJV) Really? The Holy Spirit intentionally led Jesus into temptation? The same Jesus that taught us to pray, “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one?” (Matthew 6:13) Certainly there has to be an eternal purpose for this strange leading.

            Hebrews 2:18 says, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” And Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” As usual, God had us in mind when He was leading His Son. Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are, so that He could sympathize with us and help us!

            Through His life, as a man, Jesus also had to learn to trust and obey His Father. “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:7-9) Jesus had to trust His Father that through His obedience in going to the cross and suffering for our sins, He would become the source of our salvation.

            We can see that purpose for Jesus, but it is so difficult in our own lives sometimes to see any good that could possibly come out of intense suffering. Like Jesus though, we must learn to trust and obey our Heavenly Father.

            So sometimes, when we are led by God’s Spirit, it might not be our destination that is what’s important. It may be that we are supposed to learn some lessons along the journey, like trust and obedience. So the next time it seems like you have come to a dead end, you’ve ended up in the wilderness, or you’re going through intense suffering, remember Jesus has been there too. He understands, and He can help you. Then ask God what it is you’re suppose to be learning, put your faith in Him, and trust that His plans have a purpose.

“A man’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?” (Proverbs 20:24)

            At the conclusion of our Church’s Vacation Bible School, we had a family celebration service on Sunday morning focusing on what the children had learned during the week. The preschool children had learned a new song with hand motions, so they all went up on stage to sing for us.

            As they began to sing and move their arms with the words, there were a few of them that lost their focus. They had caught sight of the big screen behind them that was zoomed in on them on the stage. They were so mesmerized with looking at themselves, that they froze and completely missed out on their performance.

            As I watched this, I thought about how easy it is for us to focus on ourselves and forget what our purpose is. We can get so distracted with our needs, our problems, and our agenda that we forget our focus should be on Jesus. Even Jesus’ disciples lost perspective at times by focusing on themselves. We see this happen to John in a passage of scripture that is particularly funny to me.

            Peter and John had just been told by Mary Magdalene that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb; the tomb was empty! So the men took off running to see the tomb for themselves. As you read these verses, keep in mind that the “other disciple” is John, and he is writing this:

“Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.” (John 20:4-8)

            John is writing about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the empty tomb! Yet he finds it necessary to let us know 3 times in 5 verses that he outran Peter to the tomb. (I can hear my children saying, “I got there first!”) I’m not sure if he wanted us to know he was a faster runner than Peter or if he just wanted credit for being the first disciple to get to the tomb. Whichever it was, he got a little sidetracked from the main thing by focusing on himself.

            John wasn’t the only disciple that got distracted by focusing on himself. In another passage of scripture we read: “[The disciples] came to Capernaum. When [Jesus] was in the house, he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the road?’ But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.” (Mark 9:33-34) The disciples were walking with Jesus, the only perfect man to live on this earth. But they chose to distance themselves from Him just enough so that they could discuss which of them was the greatest.

            It is a little comforting to know that we are in good company with Jesus’ disciples when we get too focused on ourselves. Sometimes we don’t even realize we are doing it. Because it isn’t always self-pride and self-promotion. Sometimes it can come in the form of self-pity or self-defeat. But whenever we become self-centered, we lose sight of following Jesus and loving others around us. So whether we struggle with self-righteousness or self-contempt, both can easily distract us from our purpose. Instead of looking at ourselves, let’s look to Jesus.

“Let 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.” (Hebrews 12:2)

            Three weeks ago, we celebrated my twelve year old son’s birthday with several of his friends at our house. They were having a great time playing badmitten, basketball and ping pong until…

            My husband and I challenged the boys to play us two on two in basketball. After we won about five games, I think they began to realize that these old people weren’t too bad after all. On the sixth game, I was guarding one of my son’s friends when he swung his head around quickly and forcefully landing it right in the middle of my nose. My husband and I both heard it crack and one look in the mirror told me it was broken.

            Fortunately, this happened at the end of the party so parents were already coming to pick up their children. My husband took me to the ER as I buried my nose and face in an ice pack. I was so worried about what my nose would look like, having surgery to fix it, or it just being crooked forever. As we entered the ER, I kept my nose covered with the ice embarrassed for anyone else to see it.

            Thankfully, we hadn’t waited long when the receptionist called me back to the triage area. As the hospital staff took my vital signs, they asked me what happened, and I told them. The man that was a physician’s assistant said they would take me back to get some x-rays even though we already knew my nose was broken since it was “visually deformed.” Let me just say, those are two words that no woman wants said about anything on her face. So as I sat and waited to be taken to x-ray, those words just kept playing over and over in my mind. And I wondered if my “visually deformed” was fixable.

            After I went to x-ray and was on the way back to my room, I passed someone on the other side of the hall. The best way I can describe the way he looked is frightening. He was very pale and had white, disheveled hair. The bottom lids of his eyes were red as if he had not slept in a long time, and on his right arm was an artificial limb with a metal hook on the end of it. And I noticed that he was wearing scrubs. At first glance, I was taken aback by his appearance, and then my next thought was, “Surely he doesn’t work here. He will scare the patients.” But as soon as I had thought this, the Lord brought to my mind, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7) Then all of a sudden, my nose didn’t seem so important anymore.

            This experience brought me to the Bible and what it says about beauty in the eyes of God. It says, “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands…” (I Peter 3:1-5)

            There are three things I found in this passage that I call “inner beauty tips.” First, the passage of scripture begins and ends instructing wives to be submissive to their husbands. I have to admit that when I think of beauty (physical or spiritual), “being submissive” is not what comes to my mind. But the Bible says that this is one of the ways the holy women of the past made themselves beautiful.

            Second, these verses say that beauty comes from a gentle and quiet spirit. Physical beauty is going to fade, but the Bible says that a gentle and quiet spirit has unfading beauty and is “of great worth in God’s sight.” We tend to put our worth in our works or our good deeds for God. But it is a gentle and quiet spirit that has great worth in His sight.

            Third, the holy women of the past made themselves beautiful when they “put their hope in God.” We are instructed to submit to our husbands, but we cannot put our hope in them. They are human and will let us down. We cannot put our hope in physical beauty, because eventually it will fade. And we cannot put our hope in our good deeds because they will never be good enough.

            Our hope in God is the only hope that will never disappoint. “Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” (Isaiah 49:23) “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:5)

            So it is possible to have unfading beauty. It just looks a lot different than what the world tells us.

            When I was new to Facebook, I received a message from a good friend of mine that had a video attached to it. The message said, “Is that really you in this video? Wow! That’s interesting.” So my curiosity was peaked, and I tried to download the video to see what was on it. (Some of you already know where this is going.) Well, I didn’t download a video; I downloaded a computer virus. And the really frustrating part was that when I downloaded it, the “video” was then sent out to my friends on Facebook as a message from me. So the virus just got passed on and on…to and from friends, people you knew and trusted.

            As computer viruses do, it didn’t affect just my Facebook account. It affected every part of my computer. It literally shut down the whole thing. And I got messages from friends saying the same thing happened to them.

            Our sin is a lot like a computer virus, and it entered the world in a similar way. In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked Eve a question that peaked her curiosity, prompted her to act, and then unfortunately passed sin on. His question started like this: “Did God really say…?”

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, you must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’   

‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:1-6)

          When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, it didn’t just affect them and the Garden of Eden. It affected all of creation and humanity. I have heard people say that it isn’t fair that we inherited this sinful nature, but a virus (computer or otherwise) is not fair. Its nature is to infect and destroy. That sounds like another verse in the Bible: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10) So no, sin isn’t fair, just like a virus or a thief isn’t “fair.” It is just the nature of the beast. (literally)

          The Good News though is that there is a remedy for this virus! It is called God’s grace and forgiveness through His son, Jesus Christ: “Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses e and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:16-19)

          So even though we are infected and tempted by sin, we don’t have to be controlled or destroyed by it, because we have a Savior. His remedy for us is grace…grace that is greater than all our sin.

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 6:11 

            A couple of weeks ago, my husband was explaining to our children what it means for their “reputation to precede them,” and he was challenging them to have a good reputation with teachers, coaches and other parents. He told them how quickly they can become defined by others as a result of their attitudes and actions, whether good or bad.

            I thought back on this conversation as I read about one of my favorite people in the Bible, Stephen. In Acts, we read repeatedly about the type of reputation that Stephen had.

            In Acts 6, Jesus’ twelve disciples were enlisting seven men to help them take care of the widows. The disciples said that these helpers should be men, “who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.” (verse 3) Verse 5 says, “This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” Then in verse 8, it says, “Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.” And again in Acts 7:55, “Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Stephen is consistently defined as a man who was full of faith, wisdom and the Spirit of God.

            When people mention your name what words do they use to define you:

Friendly or unkind? Generous or greedy?

Serving or self-centered? Full of grace or unforgiving?

Joyful or bitter? Proud or humble?

Hardworking or lazy? Genuine or deceptive?

Do they describe you as one who is full of faith, wisdom and God’s Spirit?         

            I pray that I might have a reputation like Stephen’s. And remember, the goal in having a good reputation is not to impress people but to reflect the character of Jesus. 

Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. (Proverbs 22:1, NLT)

            My husband and I decided to join in on one of the latest exercise crazes, the P90X extreme home fitness program. The exercise videos target different muscle groups each day, and involves a lot of repetitive lifting of hand held weights. Instead of weights, however, you can use resistant bands when doing these exercises.

            These bands resist any movement away from their original source, so they pull back on the muscles as you try to move away. It is the repetitive working against this force that tones the muscles you are using.

            I read Hosea 11:4, I immediately thought about these resistance bands. It says, “I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.”

            God’s love is like these bands. It resists any movement away from Him and gently pulls us back to Him when we begin to move away. His love is a perfect, unconditional and irresistible love. Nothing can separate us from it: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)

            I often wonder, does my love reflect His? I know that most of the time it does not. But if I abide in His love, my love should begin to look more and more like His. Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) As His love draws us closer to Him, our love should also gently pull others, not closer to us, but closer to our Savior. “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (I John 4:10, NLT) Share this real love with someone today.

            Don’t resist God’s bands of love; let them draw you closer to Him. Then by living and responding in His love, draw others closer to Him as well.

            Getting creative with dinnertime can be challenging, especially during baseball season. During this season, a lot of our dinners end up being either a drive thru or a crock pot meal. So in an effort to limit the drive thru, I looked up some new recipes for my crock pot.

            After finding one that I thought all of my children would like, I bought the ingredients and went to work. I started cutting up and throwing all the ingredients in the crock pot, not really in any particular order: rice, chicken, butter, onion…etc. I assumed that was all I needed to do, just put everything in the crock pot and then let it cook for 5 or 6 hours. So after I put all the ingredients in, I decided to read the directions.

            I found out that the melted butter was supposed to go in first before everything else and coat the rice. The diced chicken was supposed to have already been cooked before putting it in the crock pot. And the green onion wasn’t even supposed to go in the crock pot. It was only for on top of the dish once it was finished cooking. So I tried to fish out most of the green onion, and then convinced myself that everything else would be ok.

            Well, it wasn’t ok. Nobody in my family liked the meal, and then I was frustrated with them for not eating it. I was upset that I had wasted my time, money and food.

            If I am honest though, had I read the directions, it might have been ok. I had all the right ingredients, but I was mistaken in what I thought I was supposed to do with them.

            Sometimes we can do this in our spiritual lives as well. We know all the main ingredients: Jesus loves me, He died for my sins, and if I ask Him for forgiveness and accept Him as my Savior, I am saved and will go to Heaven. These are the main ingredients of our faith, and they are essential for our Salvation. However, if we understand and believe these things, sometimes we might assume this is all we need to know. So we take these main ingredients and just try to live our lives the way we think we are supposed to. We don’t stop and take time to read the directions (God’s Word) for more specific instructions on how to live.

            David says in Psalm 119, “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.” (verse 35) And again he says, “Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.” (verse 133) God can’t direct us according to His Word if we don’t read it. He doesn’t want us just assuming how to live a life that pleases Him and brings us joy. He says, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17) We need to read His Word daily and follow His instructions, so He can lead us in the life that is best for us.

            Don’t rush through your day without reading His directions, or it may turn out like my dinner.

 ”Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”    (Psalm 25:4-5)