DAILY DEVO...where is your trust placed?

In today's Psalm reading about "trust", I was reminded of a situation that happened several years ago involving our son. As a young driver, just receiving his drivers license, he was in the turning lane to turn into the church parking lot. Another car was also in the turning lane, coming the opposite way. They waved him on, signaling that it was safe to turn, he trusted their judgement and turned. The only problem is, it was not clear and a car coming in the other lane hit him as he turned.

That day our son learned a valuable lesson in driving...be careful who you trust.

We all live our life like that from time to time. Looking ahead but not seeing the dangers and placing our trust in things we shouldn't that only cause us to crash.

(Psalm 33:20) "We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield."

Today is a good day for us to reflect on who or what we are placing our trust in. Having money, good health, strong relationships or perhaps a promising career are all great things but none of these can guarantee security.

Psalm 33 reminds us that our security comes from God and God alone. Everything else in this world will fade away but when we place our trust in God, even for those things we can't clearly see, He will keep us safe and sound and out of the line of oncoming traffic.

Are you trusting God?

BLESSINGS. Laurie

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 30-3, Matthew 23:37-24:28, Psalm 33:13-22.

DAILY DEVO...the parable of the 2 sons and today's Christian

In today's' scripture reading, we find a parable (a story) told by Jesus about two sons. At first glance, it may seem like Jesus is telling us a story about the difference of two sons work ethics...

(Matthew 21:28-30) "There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ (29) "'I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. (30) "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go."

Let's consider the answers the two sons offer; the first son shows a pretty blunt answer, "I will not!" This reckless response shows not only that he lives life alittle careless but he is downright disobedient. Even though he ended up going, he was still disobedient. The second son, responding "I will" but then ends up not going after all shows us that not all "yeses" mean yes.

This parable of the two sons can be likened to the kind of worker you and I are in the kingdom of God. Just because we are found busy doing this ministry or that ministry doesn't mean that we are being obedient to God. Obedience is never "busyness". Just because we do something doesn't mean our heart is in it.

Some of us are like the second son; too often we make commitments, promises and have intentions in our ministry but even though we say "yes", we know we cannot fulfill what we say we will do. Instead of our yes meaning yes, we are wishy washy and found to be not reliable.

Both sons brought dishonor and disappointment to their father. It is my prayer that my Heavenly Father finds me not only obedient to Him and His Word but that I am found to be true to my word; that my yes will mean yes and my no be no.

 "But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." -Jesus (Matthew 5:7)

BLESSINGS. Laurie

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 26-27, Matthew 21:28-46, Psalm 31:19-24

SATURDAY SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 28, Matthew 22, Psalm 32

SUNDAY SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 29, Matthew 23:1-36, Psalm 33:1-12

DAILY DEVO...do you hear their cry?

Reading thru the book of Exodus, I can't help but stop and wonder about some of the laws that were in place. We think our world is crazy today? Imagine if some of these Old Testament laws were in place, we would probably have a lot less jail over crowding!

The laws have changed since then but one thing that remains is God's Character.

His Character was (and is) that of love and caring for the less fortunate. The kings and rulers back then were concerned with the same thing many of our current leaders are concerned with: money and power. The rich and famous are favored much over the poor and downcast; but not so with God.

God cared for the least; the poor, the sick, the needy, the widow and the orphan. Of course, He loved everyone, but these were the crowds of people you could find Him among most.

He wants us to do the same. As we care for the widow and the orphan in their time of need, we reveal the heart of God. This was His heartbeat and it should be ours also ...

(Exodus 22:22-23) "Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry."

Taking advantage of the weak and vulnerable is no small offense to God. He does not overlook those who often get overlooked by the world and we should not overlook them either.

There is someone crying out today, someone whom you rub shoulders with. The question isn't "will God hear them" - because He does; the question is, "will you"?

BLESSINGS. Laurie

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 22-23, Matthew 20:20-34, Psalm 31:1-8

DAILY DEVO...trust God and don't grumble about it

How easy it is to doubt the gifts that God has for us, this doubt often arises from comparing ourselves to others.

When my children were younger, I remember very precisely making sure that each child had the same amount of gifts at Christmas. Even though I'm sure at times one or more may have felt they received less, I know that the amount of money spent was the same.

Today's scripture reading in Matthew shows us a story where laborers were hired to work at a vineyard, even though some worked longer hours they were all paid the same amount of money.

"When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner." (Matthew 20:11)

Here we see that while the workers worked long and hard for their wages and earned enough to provide for their families, they grumbled and compared their pay with others.

How often do we act just like these workers in the parable in Matthew? We compare what we have with others. Like a small child on Christmas morning, we find ourselves feeling like we've been treated unfairly.

Instead of giving thanks for the blessings of God, we compare our gifts to those around us. May we learn a lesson today from the laborers in this parable and receive what we have been given with open hands and a grateful heart.

BLESSINGS. Laurie

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 20-21, Matthew 20:1-19, Psalm 30

DAILY DEVO...what stands in your way?

Is there anything in your life that you would refuse to give up for Christ?

It's easy to say we would surrender everything until we actually get put to the test. It is then that we would find ourselves putting our money where our mouth is.

In today's scripture reading in the book of Matthew, we see where the heart issue of one young man is put to the test...

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)

I wonder what it would take to sell everything we owned and give it away and just trust God? Apparently, the young man in this story had too much to give up and just couldn't do it...

"the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." (Matthew 19:22)

It would be easy to assume that a man could have wealth and still serve God, but the point Jesus is making here is that when we completely surrender to Him, worldly possessions and all, God's blessings will outweigh any earthly treasures.

God knows all too well that our possessions and goods that we hold so near to our hearts would easily take  root where only He belongs.

I encourage you today to search your own heart and see if there is anything you could "sell" that may be standing in your way of completely surrendering to God.

BLESSINGS. Laurie

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 17-19, Matthew 19:16-30, Psalm 29

DAILY DEVO...walk with integrity

King David was far from being perfect (but nether am I), but yet God called him "a man after His own heart", (1 Samuel 13:14).

In today's Psalm reading I can see why God said that. David set his heart in such a way that he wanted to live in a way that would be pleasing to God. David's statements that he has walked and will continue to walk in integrity caused me to stop and think about my own life and those around me that I am allowing to influence me. What does integrity look like in us?

I suppose you could say that "integrity" isn't something many people talk about these days, probably because in society there is such a lack of it. But for a Christian, integrity should be one of the main ingredients of their walk.

Integrity is being the same in light as you are in darkness. It means not swaying or changing because of people or circumstances. It requires for us to stand upon our word; not being wishy washy but knowing what you believe and standing upon it.

(Psalm 26:1) "Vindicate me, LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD and have not faltered."

As I read further in today's Psalm, I see some of the choices that David made in order to walk in integrity. He knew he was a sinner saved by Grace but yet he asked God to test him, (v. 3). What boldness, what a confidence that David had about his own integrity.

It doesn't come from an arrogant spirit, instead, this confidence wells up from knowing that the blood of the lamb had David covered.

Likewise, we are covered by that same blood but what does our walk with the Lord look like? Can we confidently say that integrity is one of our main goals?

May we walk in such a way with the Lord that we too can say, "I have not faltered".

BLESSINGS. Laurie

*they say it takes 30 days to form a habit. If you are reading thru the Bible with me each day, the habit has been formed. Stay with me, it only takes a few minutes each day, isn't God worth that?

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 12, Matthew 18:1-20, Psalm 26

SATURDAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 13-14, Matthew 18:21-35, Psalm 27

SUNDAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 15-16, Matthew 19:1-15, Psalm 28

DAILY DEVO...redirect your pain to see Gods purpose

The long process of getting the Israelites out of Egypt had to of been painful. God continued to harden Pharaoh's heart, time after time, which not only made things difficult for him but it also brought much hardship to the Israelite people.

It would have been easy back then to question why God would put His people through all this. But looking back, we can clearly see that God's purpose was to free His people on His terms and in His time.

Often times, I think we focus on our pain and struggle instead of seeing God's purpose...

(Matthew 10:1-2) "Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of Mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD.”

Later, in the book of John, the disciples ask whose sin caused a man to be born blind. Jesus said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned” (John 9:3). Jesus then redirected His disciples thinking from what the cause of the man’s disability was to considering what the purpose was for it. He told them, “This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

God wants to use our suffering for His glory and He wants to redirect our thinking; take our eyes off of our pain and focus more on His purpose. Like the Israelites, God is working everything out for you according to His time and His purpose.

BLESSINGS. Laurie

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE READING: Exodus 10-11, Matthew 17:10-27, Psalm 25