If you lack wisdom, if you want to know what God wants you to do, ask Him and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. (NLT)
TO PONDER:
And that scripture goes on to say … But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect Him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
Have you ever been in a situation where you wondered why the door had been closed on something that you thought was the ‘real deal’, a longtime dream? I know I have, and of course being human, I thought I knew better. When I completed a TESOL course, my dream was to go to Japan and teach, but God had other plans. Being human, I forgot to ask God what He wanted me to do. It didn’t matter what I did to get to Japan, the doors kept banging shut – you’re too old was just one of the reasons (me old!!!) – looking back I now think how stubborn I was.
However, when one door closes, another opens …… even though I dug my heels in and said NO I don’t want go anywhere but to Japan, God in His wisdom opened another door. It took a little bit of asking, listening and seeking Him in a deeper way, believing and getting to KNOW He was really in charge, and that I needed to let go and let God. After a week of prayer, and seeking His guidance, I said OK I believe you have a place for me and I will go with an open heart and mind, and I will be your vessel in whatever country you send me too. That country, He chose for me, was Vietnam and I knew once I let go and let God take the reins, that it was the right place. The peace that enveloped me was beyond my understanding, and I knew that things would just fall into place. I spent 5 of the happiest, blessed years in that wonderful country. That journey to get to this point was a tremendous learning period where I’ve learnt to ask God before taking the first step.
Think about a situation during your lifetime where you’ve tried to go against God’s will, where you thought your plans were better than his. How have you faired?
PRAYER: Father God, thank you that you have plans for my life, good plans to give me hope and a future. Help me remember that it is not my will but yours God. I pray for those going through a similar situation, that they learn to lean on and trust in you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Noeline Brock (Danny's mum), LifeWay Online
Blessed (happy) are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver.
TO PONDER:
How often have you heard about churches closing their doors? There was a little church, where, during and after the pandemic they found that their normal regulars were dropping off like flies. For a while, there was only the Pastor, and seven other believers. What was happening? Was God saying it is time to finish up? Was this to be a time of closure and fresh beginnings? Should attitudes need to change so that they could embark on a new journey with open hearts and open minds? Have you ever heard that still small voice?
Do you remember that saying, that when one door closes, another will open? It was decided that this church would “close” their doors – not for good, but just for one month and they would spend that time in prayer and seeking God, and His wisdom. The stalwarts would turn up on Sunday, spend time in prayer and discussion, searching the Bible for His guidance and wisdom; listening for that still small voice. It proved to be a time of ‘letting go and letting God’ and finally facing the “growing pains” that would come from this decision. I believe it was an amazing, challenging time. It was also a time filled with great blessings, and the gaining and understanding of wisdom. Blessed (happy) are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding
Those people sought God’s wisdom, believed, and re-opened their doors to a new God filled adventure. The whole church had a drastic turn around, doubting spirits were filled with a new energy, life was borne back into that ‘dying’ church and the lives of those who were seeking for that Godly wisdom. Prayers were answered. They had come to a point in their journey where they knew they needed to seek Gods wisdom.
Throughout the Bible people have suffered, doors have been shut on their journey – Job, David, Moses, Peter … but they all came through while seeking Gods wisdom. They went through periods of growing pains! As hard and as painful as they seemed at the time … they never lost their faith in God. I encourage you as you go through the times of indecision and “hiccups” and those horrid “growing pains,” learn from it and seek His wisdom, believing He has gone before you, and He has won the battle.
Life’s greatest happiness is knowing and doing God’s will, and having insight to determine how we should respond to a situation that we are faced with in this ongoing rollercoaster of life. Remember, both wisdom and understanding produces happiness.
PRAYER: Heavenly father, I am sorry for the times I have not sought your wisdom and at times even doubted the door that you had opened. I pray Lord, that your Holy Spirit lives on in me, and prompts me to keep my mind and heart open to absorb more of your teachings. Amen
Today's devotion written by Noeline Brock (Danny's mum) LifeWay Online
For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
TO PONDER
With every new “adventure” in life, there are always changes, and these changes – whether large or small – usually come with growing pains. I was into my early 50’s at a stage when my world seemed to be falling apart. God opened the door for me to be able to do a special course where I could teach (which had been a dream of mine since early childhood), not just here in Australia, but overseas. The beginning of more growing pains. A strange country, strange food (pig embryos for one), different rules to learn, a different language, not knowing a soul, finding my way around, learning to travel on the back of a motor bike – side saddle sometimes when I wore a dress for teaching, and earning the respect of those I was working with and teaching, and finding my place in a very different society. But, God made a promise and he has never let me down yet. “ ….. then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess”. He opened doors, which at the time seemed impossible. With God in our lives, we can overcome the most difficult “growing pains”, if we love the Lord our God, learn to walk in obedience and to keep his commands, decrees and laws.
What growing pains are you facing or have you faced in the past? How has/did God help you overcome them?
PRAYER: Lord God, I thank you that you are always there, that your promises are always kept, and for the many doors you have opened on my ‘adventure’ with you. Help me to find contentment, happiness, and acceptance in you, and to recognise your wonderful blessing even in the experience of ‘growing pains’. Amen
Today's devotion written by Noeline Brock (Danny's mum), LifeWay Online
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
TO PONDER
When my wife and I were studying to be teachers, Elise had a job at a fast food chain and was given the role of shift manager. She often recalls the difficulty of that job, not because of the work she had to do, but because of the work all the young 15 year olds didn't do.
These young people had a job which paid them reasonably well. The company had taken them on without any experience or specific skills and had trained and inducted them to perform a task, and many would just decide not to show up at the very last minute.
Funny thing is, they then had the gall to complain when their more reliable co-workers got all the shifts on the following roster.
Sometimes I think we look at some heroes of the faith and complain in a similar way. "How come that person seems to always hear from God when they pray?" or "Why does Joe Bloggs get to help with visiting?" there's probably a whole bunch of others. The point is, why wouldn't God use someone who has a proven track record? Why are we surprised when people who dedicate themselves to reading God's word and praying to him, hear him speak to them more clearly? Why do we expect God to rely on us when we have not yet learned to rely on him? It's worth thinking about.
PRAYER:Heavenly Father, please help me to live a life worthy of the calling you have given me, that call to be your child. Help me to live in a way that recommends you to others as they see the difference that you make in my life. Please help me to trust you and rely on you more each day. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
TO PONDER
Anyone who has met me will probably be able to tell you that I enjoy my food. Now that I am in my 40's it tends to show around my belly a bit more than it used to and it's a bit more difficult to hide the fact that I have probably over indulged in the art of barbecue a little too often. But whether it's a perfectly grilled bbq steak, a tiny meal on a giant plate at a fancy restaurant, or even just one of your home-cooked favourites, there is something about a good plate of food.
I remember a scene from the movie, The Matrix. For those who are unfamiliar with it, it's a movie set in a dystopian future where robots have taken over the Earth and a small human resistance lives deep beneath the surface of the earth. These human resistance fighters mostly survive on a synthetic porridge, which contains a mix of all the vitamins minerals, energy and protein a human needs to survive. However, one of the characters is enticed to work with the robots simply by the promise of being granted the sensation of eating a juicy medium rare porterhouse steak. The vitamin slurry provided what was needed for life but the desire for 'real' food was ultimately this character's undoing. (those who have seen the movie will understand the air quotes on the word real).
Faith in Jesus is like baby formula, milk, or vitamin porridge. It give us exactly what we need for eternal life. We can not get it for ourselves, it has to be provided for us and it meets out immediate need of acceptance and forgiveness. Yet real life is what happens when we really sink our teeth into God's word. When we not only talk about it and try to understand it, but also put it to the test by trying to do it. As we constantly use and live the new life we have in Christ, the more we find ourselves hungering for it and like Charle's Dickens', Oliver Twist, we keep going back to the source and asking for more.
The good news is, when it comes to life in Christ, there's always more.
PRAYER: Jesus, Help me not to settle for the comfort of where I am in my spiritual maturity right now. Please help me to grow a hunger for more of your word and more of your life so that I might be filled and others might see you more clearly in me. Amen
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Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
TO PONDER
I have always loved this branches and vine verse, but perhaps not for the reason you think.
I have an uncle who owns and operates a vineyard in the Barossa Valley. From time to time, I have been visiting with his family when the vineyard is busy and have been able to help out on occasion. I helped him plant some of the vines over 20 years ago, different grape varieties in different patches, where the conditions were better suited to one kind of trap or another. I have been there during pruning season when excess brach has been trimmed to encourage maximum fruit production. The only thing I haven't ever been there for is harvest, but I have been there in the weeks and sometimes only days before picking has begun and I have seen the branches heavily laden with fruit. They get that way because of the work and effort of my uncle, the grape farmer (or more technically, vigneron).
Often I think we spend a lot of time striving to produce fruit in our own power. I strive to do the right thing, to have all the answers and tick all the boxes. However, it's the farmer who puts in all the work. The vine, and its branches, produce grapes by virtue of the fact that they are grape vines, all they have to do is be themselves, to be what they were created to be. In fact, generally speaking, the less stressed out the vines are, the better fruit they will produce (that's not always strictly true for wine grapes).
God is like the diligent vigneron, who attends to the needs of the vine and its branches, providing just the right amount of water exactly when it is needed. Giving a prune and cutting away unnecessary or unhelpful growth wherever it's needed. Maturity is about trusting the Farmer in his work, knowing that he is working on you to produce exactly the kind of fruit he wants. Don't spent too much effort trying to create the fruit you see in others in your own life. Let God produce the fruit that he needs you to produce in the way that only you can.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that you know exactly what help and support I need and exactly when I need it. Thanks you that even when I feel like I'm not growing or producing much fruit, that you are still at work in me bringing about your plans for me and growing me deeper in your Son Jesus. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
TO PONDER
If this verse sounds familiar, it's because it is. We only looked at it a couple of weeks ago. Yet there is something else for us to consider here when it comes to maturity.
Jesus often used agricultural images to help people grasp spiritual concepts and they are very helpful. Think of a plant, for it to grow it needs to be rooted in soil. That's a good start but it it only the beginning. it needs to be nurtured and built up; it needs fertiliser and water so that the roots can absorb the nutrients and strengthen the plant, it needs protection from the elements, and pests that might eat its new growth until it has sufficient strength to fend for itself. Finally it needs sunlight to provide energy for all of those other things to occur.
Likewise, we begin by being taught the faith, usually by another person. Perhaps a pastor, or a teacher or youth leader, but for many of us it's just a friend or relative. Then we need to grow and be strengthened in the Word and usually also in community. Preferably, a healthy and productive community that encourages and supports us in using our God give abilities and gifts to communicate the gospel to others. And of course we always need the Spirit of Christ, the Son of God, at work in us to empower all those things to occur.
Then, just like a healthy and thriving plant, we too will be overflowing with joy and good fruit.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I know that at times, growth can be hard to see. I know that growth takes time and effort. I know that sometimes I don't allow myself the time or make the effort to be where you can help me grow most easily. Help me to engage with the process of my own spiritual growth and maturity. Give me a love for your word and for your people, so that we can love and encourage one another as we live our lives in you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
TO PONDER
There are times when I wish I could just stop being and adult. There are days, when I just wish I could abandon all my adult responsibilities and just selfishly indulge just in the things that I love doing; fishing, barbecuing, somedays even just to do some more sleeping would be welcome! However, we all know that doesn't work, even when we take holidays, there are simply tasks that have to get done.
So I persist, I keep striving, I get up every morning because I have hope. Hope that today will be different. Hope that today I might help someone meet Jesus. Hope that today, just as every day before, no matter how bad that day might have been, Jesus will get me through it and see me safely to tomorrow.
I have noticed in my previous career as a teacher, that this is often a marker of maturity. Most children, up until a certain age (and an increasing number of adults too for that matter) have a tendency to just avoid or give nut on tasks that they find difficult or not enjoyable. "I can't do this, it's too hard" was not an uncommon thing to hear in the primary school classroom. I learned that a good way to correct that thinking was to simply remind students that what they were experiencing was certainly a challenge, but rather than allowing them to say "I can't do it", I'd remind them instead that, 'You just can't do it yet'. One little three letter word makes all the difference.
What you don't feel strong enough for today, you might just find you have the strength for tomorrow. The problem you can't solve today, might just have the solution present itself to you if you keep chasing it. Press on with whatever task God has called you to and equipped you for. You may not see how to do it yet, but God is growing and preparing you every time you get up and have a go.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Sometimes it just seems like there is too much to do, or the mountain of tasks ahead is just overwhelmingly huge. Yet you told your disciples that if they had faith as small as a mustard seed, they could tell the mountains to throw themselves into the sea and it would happen. Lord help me to trust and have faith that you will see me through all the tings I have to do today and every other day also. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me
TO PONDER
When we are children, many of us can't wait to grow up. It seems so exciting. Going to bed whenever you want, no one telling you to eat your veggies, being able to drive and go wherever you want. It all seems so exciting.
When we are adults, many of us wish we could be children again. We look back and realise that when we were children we ;t have to worry about what was for dinner, food just miraculously appeared on the table. We didn't have to pay for fuel, insurance and registration to be able to go wherever we wanted, we just asked mum or dad to take us.
Growing up is a difficult task, as we grow in skill and maturity, our society gives us greater freedom and access to opportunities, but also expects us to take on greater responsibility. Sure you can now drive a car, but you are responsible for the safety of your passengers and other road users.
As children of God, we can sit back and expect God to do everything for us. And he certainly has done a lot, dying on a cross to take upon himself the punishment for our sin is a pretty big deal. however he loves us too much to leave us as children. Like a responsible loving parent, he leaves us things to do so that we can grow and experience more of the life that he has given us in Christ. He doesn't expect us to earn our own salvation, he took care of that completely because he loves us and knew that task was beyond us. but he does want us to leave the ways of spiritual childhood behind us and follow him into a greater experience of his life as he leads us into spiritual maturity and adult hood.
Are there spiritually childish ways that God wants you to put behind you today?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father thank you for calling me and making me your child. Please help me to grow as your child so that I might not always be a spiritual infant, but that I might grow in faith and trust in you and experience even more of the fulness of life you offer through your son Jesus. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle