Verses To Live By
Devotionals by Marian
Power Walking and Waiting
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
There’s a lady at the park that gives new meaning to the concept of, “power walking.” She swings her arms and puts her whole self into each step. She seems to walk circles around me. For every lap I do, it seems like she manages to go around three times faster!
Now that’s the kind of energy I need!
God promises an endless supply if we will but wait. Isn’t that counterintuitive? You mean..just do nothing and expect things to change?
And yet in God’s advanced arithmetic courses, He seems to abide by an entirely different set of addition rules. His formula goes something like this:
waiting + nothing else = more strength
If you sit back and think about it, the Lord isn’t asking anything hard from me. He simple wants me to do nothing at all. He wants me to let go. He wants me to let Him work things out as He sees best. He wants me to trust.
I, on the other hand, just love to control things. I love to be in charge. I want to make things happen. I know how to manipulate things and get results and I will try my best to do that. And when I do, I get tired. I need a break. I can’t keep on walking anymore.
How wonderful it will be when I finally learn to let the Lord take over. Then I’ll finally have some of that boundless energy I crave.
Father God: Your Word gives me guidance for daily living. Teach me to obey and trust You when I’d rather depend of myself. Give me Your strength every step of the way.
Learning How To Walk
Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.–Psalm 86:11
On February 1st, I decided to start a walking program. I made a commitment to walk every day for 30 minutes. After about three weeks, I found that I enjoyed it so much that half an hour was not enough. Before long, I decided to increase it to 3 miles a day…before work! And then, I decided to double that and go for another hour after school. I was now up to 6 miles a day–way beyond my first goal!
I learned so many lessons along the way. One of the first was that when I started out, I didn’t know if I’d be able to stick to my daily schedule. I just didn’t know if I could really do it. I had great intentions but I had no way of knowing for sure if it would last. Would I lose my motivation? Would I quit when it got tough? Would I skip days whenever it was convenient?
This taught me that even though I had started on the right path, I’d have to keep on recommitting every single day in order to follow through on my new walking routine. There were so many days that I just wanted to give up. I found that I wanted to say, “I’ve had enough.” It would have been so easy to slip into my, “old,” way of doing things. But I had made a commitment. I was going to stick to it no matter what!
And this parallels precisely with what God asks of me daily. He wants me to recommit my life and every single corner of it to him anew with the cracking of each new dawn. He wants me trust him with that unknown day–and not feel comfortable resorting to a past that’s predictable and boring. Learning to walk with God is not natural–it will take every fiber of my being because my flesh likes it when things are easy and “safe.” But there’s no change or revival or hunger for more of God in that old place. I need to travel a new path. I need to experience His goodness and love in a fresh way. I need Him to teach me how to walk today–and the day after that–and the one after that one, too.
Father God: It’s a great experience getting to learn from You. May my heart be ready to trust You even when I feel weak, inadequate and unsure. I know that You will lead me into Your ways. Give me a heart that listens to Your truth and is completely devoted to respecting Your holy name in all I say and do.
Say it Loud and Strong
Grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.–Acts 4:29
God’s word changes lives and transforms people. As you read through it, every page is full of the wisdom of God, which is the opposite of man’s advice. The world will try to convince you that somehow based on trying harder, you can somehow help yourself.
The Bible, however, directs us to our heavenly Father as our source–the only One we need to rely on. It’s not about ourselves. Instead, it’s the exact opposite. We need to die to self and completely depend on God.
When that happens, we will begin to grow in new ways. We will begin to experience a deeper walk with God. Being timid and lacking zeal will be replaced with a fresh, new boldness. The power of the Holy Spirit will enable you to proclaim this amazing news without apologies.
When you begin to allow the Lord to guide you, great things happen!
You will see change in your own life and then you can’t help but share that with others. And so that’s why it’s called the good news! It’s good news because it changed you. It’s even better news because it can also change others.
The Gospel is something that you want to spread to everyone you know in every way you can. We need to share it with our friends, neighbors, coworkers, acquaintances–even strangers! We need to pray and ask that the Holy Spirit will lead us to people who are searching for the truth. When we are intentional about witnessing, God opens doors so we can step out in boldness.
May the Lord prepare you and me and lead us to those divine moments in our day where we boldly step out and speak up for Christ. Sharing the plan of salvation through Jesus is the most important thing on our to-do list everyday! Let’s make it a priority!
Gracious Father: Give us Your eyes and heart to declare that You are Lord. Prepare hard hearts to be open to receive your love and word. Teach us how to be sensitive to your leading as You speak to us throughout the day. Let us speak out Your words with all our confidence placed in the power of Jesus’ name. Amen
Keeping My Eyes On The Prize
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.–Hebrews 12:2
It seems the most dramatic part of any race is the rush towards the finish line. All eyes are strained to see who will finish first. The air is filled with this breathless anticipation as time seems to stand motionless in the final seconds to the countdown.
The Lord Jesus Christ had His eyes on one goal: He knew that beyond the agony of the cross and the shame He had to bear, He would be victorious and reign in heaven. He laid everything aside just to secure my salvation. When it was finished and paid in full, He sat down at the right hand of God’s throne as the only mediator between God and man.
I can completely trust this Savior. He condescended to life and death on this earth 2000 years ago for my sake. He promises He will walk with me every step of the way.
Gracious God, I’m grateful for your sacrifice on the cross for my sins. Teach me to put my faith in you no matter what the road looks like. In Jesus’ name I pray this, Amen.
–Marian
Stand Secure
Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.–Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.–Psalm 55:22
This verse is so powerful because it is the answer to positive thinking and the “let it go” Disney philosophy of our day. The psalmist says that I don’t have to think optimistically about something or try to find solutions to all problems or even just to forget about it. The wisest choice I can make is to instead place my burden–that means all my worries, cares, concerns, problems–in the hands of the Lord. He promises that He will carry that load. He assures me that He will see me through any trial.
He then goes on to say that not only will He sustain me and be with me through that trial, but that the Lord will also not allow that trial to shake me in any way. It doesn’t matter the kind of storm I face when my life is built upon the rock of my salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. His loving arms are eternal and never changing and His promises are true. I can always count on the Lord.
This is also a reminder that I need to make sure I’m investing my time, talent, and resources in things that are lasting. If I build my house on sand, then I will not be able to withstand the difficult days because it will all wash away in a moment. The righteous build on things of lasting importance that will have value in eternity.
A prayer for today:
Gracious Father in Heaven: I put my hope in You and leave my burdens in Your strong and capable hands. I can trust You to see me through and hold me up. I can stand firm in Your mercy and grace regardless of the surrounding storm clouds. Teach me to sow seeds that have eternal value and not on things that are temporary and vain. Give me Your strength and courage to make choices that will affect eternity. For I ask these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.
–Marian
Praise the Lord
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together!–Psalm 34:3
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together!–Psalm 34:1-3
The book of Psalms is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It is full of praise to God and how that is so important in the life of a Christian.
The opening verses of Psalm 34 remind me to make praise a priority. No matter the time of day, I should be praising God. It should be a natural response to anything that’s going on in my life.
Whenever I sing songs of praise and worship, I’ve discovered that it changes my thinking and mindset. It gets me to focus on God and how He knows everything and has a perfect plan.
In a culture obsessed with self, more gadgets and endless social media, I can choose to boast in the eternal God and His greatness. I can find an inner joy and peace in Christ that far surpasses the surface happiness that is promoted in secular music and movies.
While individual praise is critical for walking with Christ daily, it is also very important to do this with other believers on a regular basis. The best time is during congregational singing every Sunday in church. Singing with others before the sermon starts prepares my heart to hear the message. It allows us all to affirm aloud what I know in my heart: that God is good, kind and loving and that He deserves my highest praise.
A Prayer For Today:
Dear Father in Heaven, I worship You and bless You for who You are. My heart is overwhelmed by your goodness, love, kindness, and blessings and how I don’t deserve them. Thank you so much for my salvation through Jesus. May I never forget how you sacrificed everything on the cruel cross for my sins. Help me to live each day in such a way that glorifies You in all that I say and do. In Jesus’ name I ask these things – Amen.
–Marian
