Eagle
taken from the summit of
Champlain Mountain
Acadia National Park
July 4, 2004
Look at this eagle in the sky.......doesn't he look confident?
He does to me....eagles always remind me of confidence. They just soar, trusting their Maker that all will go well.....I have never seen an eagle on the ground.....in fact, this eagle was the first one I've ever seen.....other than in pictures or at a local environmental nature center where there was one once, healing from an injury.
They soar with confidence........
don't you just wish you could be so confident all the time?
Well, we can, in Christ.
This morning, before leaving for the classroom, I was plodding through my morning devotions. I say plodding because I am at the beginning of Zechariah and...well...it's just not speaking to me right now....my goal was to get through all the minor prophets by summer's end.
Of course, I didn't reach that goal~~ sigh~~
I gave up on that book and decided to turn to the portion of my Bible where there are topical studies to complete. I chose forgiveness. It happens to be something I wrote about on Sunday (see post below this one) and it happens (there are no coincidences with God, you know!) that this topic is also the next chapter in a study book I am doing with a friend.
So...the study had me in 2 Chronicles 7: 12-18 and of course v. 14 is one of the more "famous" ones that we Americans like to quote when thinking about our nation and the wickedness or lack of spiritual/moral ethics.
Dianna Booher, the author of the devotional (from my Women of Faith Devotional Bible) says "...in this passage, God clearly outlines the plan for eradicating the nation of the growing wrong. Humble yourself and get rid of the pride. Pray. Stop sinning. No beating around the bush here with political correctness, a positive spin, and a salute to self-esteem. 'You do your part, God says, and I'll do Mine.'"
I started meditating on the entire portion of Scripture...here is what the Lord showed me:
In order to have that confidence in Christ......we need Committment and Communication.
Gee...that kinda sounds like marriage, huh??
For those of you who have read my Marriage Monday posts, I often write on the "3-C's" (committment, communication and Christ). (depending on the topic that e-mom has us doing!!)
Well, our relationship with Christ is like a marriage...or at least it is supposed to be, right? We are the bride, etc. etc.
Now, lately I haven't had a whole lot of confidence in things. I do have confidence in my Redeemer. However, I have felt fear and worry about a few things that I probably need to daily surrender to the Lord. Things like trusted "secrets" that I've shared....will the person betray me and tell someone? Things like the recent bout of attempted child abductions in our area...will my daughters be snatched away from me? Will the swine flu hit my children? What if my oldest daughter gets mugged at school; what if my youngest daughter breaks a leg before the show, what if my husband gets in a plane crash on his next trip? and on and on our worries go........Now, I am not normally a "worry-er". But lately, these particular things have been in the forefront of my mind. They are not consuming me but they are making me a bit anxious. And God tells us NOT to be anxious for anything!!! This is a direct command!! So, if we are anxious, we are sinning!
What do we do instead?
We pray. We ask forgiveness for our lack of confidence in Him.
By praying, we are communicating. Make sure to listen! It is so easy for us to offer up our prayers and go on our merry way. We need to actually take time to listen to the Father speak to our hearts. I encourage you to keep a journal. I recently bought a friend a journal so she can start to use this as a discipline tool...the discipline of listening during prayer.....I started journaling because one of my friends encouraged me.....and because I took a prayer journaling course at my former church....so...now I encourage my closest friends to try it. It really does make a huge difference in our thought life.
After communication, stay committed to Christ. Keep surrendering to Him, the things that cause you anxiety, sadness, or fear. Surrender them daily....even hourly if you need to!
God's promises are true. He WILL heal our land..our children and grandchildren!
Even when circumstances such as loss and hardship occur, God is good...His mercy endures forever. We will make it. This morning I decided to just, once again, give my children over to the Lord...they belong to Him anyways, right?? I give him my fears about friends. Worries about my husband. He is in control. If he permits some things in our lives that don't exactly match up with what we want or think we need, He has a reason.....we may not know it until we see Him face to face. but....we might learn something by staying committed and communicating with Him.....I have more confidence this afternoon than I did this morning. And with that, comes that peace that passes all understanding.
Stay committed and communicate with your Father.
And you can have confidence in Him........
He does to me....eagles always remind me of confidence. They just soar, trusting their Maker that all will go well.....I have never seen an eagle on the ground.....in fact, this eagle was the first one I've ever seen.....other than in pictures or at a local environmental nature center where there was one once, healing from an injury.
They soar with confidence........
don't you just wish you could be so confident all the time?
Well, we can, in Christ.
This morning, before leaving for the classroom, I was plodding through my morning devotions. I say plodding because I am at the beginning of Zechariah and...well...it's just not speaking to me right now....my goal was to get through all the minor prophets by summer's end.
Of course, I didn't reach that goal~~ sigh~~
I gave up on that book and decided to turn to the portion of my Bible where there are topical studies to complete. I chose forgiveness. It happens to be something I wrote about on Sunday (see post below this one) and it happens (there are no coincidences with God, you know!) that this topic is also the next chapter in a study book I am doing with a friend.
So...the study had me in 2 Chronicles 7: 12-18 and of course v. 14 is one of the more "famous" ones that we Americans like to quote when thinking about our nation and the wickedness or lack of spiritual/moral ethics.
Dianna Booher, the author of the devotional (from my Women of Faith Devotional Bible) says "...in this passage, God clearly outlines the plan for eradicating the nation of the growing wrong. Humble yourself and get rid of the pride. Pray. Stop sinning. No beating around the bush here with political correctness, a positive spin, and a salute to self-esteem. 'You do your part, God says, and I'll do Mine.'"
I started meditating on the entire portion of Scripture...here is what the Lord showed me:
In order to have that confidence in Christ......we need Committment and Communication.
Gee...that kinda sounds like marriage, huh??
For those of you who have read my Marriage Monday posts, I often write on the "3-C's" (committment, communication and Christ). (depending on the topic that e-mom has us doing!!)
Well, our relationship with Christ is like a marriage...or at least it is supposed to be, right? We are the bride, etc. etc.
Now, lately I haven't had a whole lot of confidence in things. I do have confidence in my Redeemer. However, I have felt fear and worry about a few things that I probably need to daily surrender to the Lord. Things like trusted "secrets" that I've shared....will the person betray me and tell someone? Things like the recent bout of attempted child abductions in our area...will my daughters be snatched away from me? Will the swine flu hit my children? What if my oldest daughter gets mugged at school; what if my youngest daughter breaks a leg before the show, what if my husband gets in a plane crash on his next trip? and on and on our worries go........Now, I am not normally a "worry-er". But lately, these particular things have been in the forefront of my mind. They are not consuming me but they are making me a bit anxious. And God tells us NOT to be anxious for anything!!! This is a direct command!! So, if we are anxious, we are sinning!
What do we do instead?
We pray. We ask forgiveness for our lack of confidence in Him.
By praying, we are communicating. Make sure to listen! It is so easy for us to offer up our prayers and go on our merry way. We need to actually take time to listen to the Father speak to our hearts. I encourage you to keep a journal. I recently bought a friend a journal so she can start to use this as a discipline tool...the discipline of listening during prayer.....I started journaling because one of my friends encouraged me.....and because I took a prayer journaling course at my former church....so...now I encourage my closest friends to try it. It really does make a huge difference in our thought life.
After communication, stay committed to Christ. Keep surrendering to Him, the things that cause you anxiety, sadness, or fear. Surrender them daily....even hourly if you need to!
God's promises are true. He WILL heal our land..our children and grandchildren!
Even when circumstances such as loss and hardship occur, God is good...His mercy endures forever. We will make it. This morning I decided to just, once again, give my children over to the Lord...they belong to Him anyways, right?? I give him my fears about friends. Worries about my husband. He is in control. If he permits some things in our lives that don't exactly match up with what we want or think we need, He has a reason.....we may not know it until we see Him face to face. but....we might learn something by staying committed and communicating with Him.....I have more confidence this afternoon than I did this morning. And with that, comes that peace that passes all understanding.
Stay committed and communicate with your Father.
And you can have confidence in Him........
"Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40: 31
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