I am thoroughly enjoying several devotionals by Sarah Young. Here is a reading from one of them called Dear Jesus: Seeking His Light In Your Life:

 

An ongoing problem is like a tutor who is always by your side. The learning possibilities are limited only by your willingness to be teachable.

Dear Jesus,

I confess that I don’t like this tutor at all! What I really want is to break free and run away from my problems. Haven’t I spent enough time with this teacher? Surely there must be other ways I could learn.

Beloved, I don’t expect you to like your tutor. No one enjoys having problems. However, I do require you to accept your tutor’s presence with you as long as I choose. The bottom line is whether you trust Me to use the difficulty for good in your life. Beware of feeling entitled to an easy life. I actually promised the opposite when I said, “In this world you will have trouble.” If you want to learn all that I have prepared for you, you must accept My teaching methods. Remember that I am the Potter and you are the clay. You need to be flexible-malleable in My skillful hands.

Try to see your problems as a disguised blessing, gradually transforming you into My likeness. When you accept My ways with you trustingly-without rebelling or running away-you find freedom through My Spirit. Even more wondrously, I empower you to reflect Me to others with ever-increasing Glory!

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33

Yet, o Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18

From the book:

Dear Jesus: Seeking His Light In Your Life
Sarah Young Copyright 2007 by Sarah Young

Check out her books here: Sarah Young

 

From the devotional: Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young

May 27

Seek my face at the beginning of your day. This practice enables you to “put Me on” and “wear Me” throughout the day. Most people put on clothes soon after arising from bed. Similarly, the sooner you “put Me on” by communicating with Me, the better prepared you are for whatever comes your way.

To “wear Me” is essentially to have My mind: to think My thoughts. Ask the Holy Spirit to control your thinking; be transformed by this renewal within you. Thus you are well equipped to face whatever people and situations I bring your way. Clothing your mind in Me is your best preparation for each day. This discipline brings Joy and Peace to you and those around you.

Psalm 27:8; Romans 13:14; Colossians 3:12

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Psalm 27:8
When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

Romans 13:14
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Colossians 3:12-17
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

WHOEVER BRINGS BLESSING WILL BE ENRICHED, AND ONE WHO WATERS WILL HIMSELF BE WATERED.
Proverbs 11:25

We are taught here the great lesson that to get, we must give; to accumulate, we must scatter; to make ourselves happy, we must make others happy; and in order to become spiritually vigorous, we must seek the spiritual good of others. In watering others, we are ourselves watered. How? Our efforts to be useful bring out our powers for usefulness. We have latent talents and unused gifts that become apparent by exercise. Our strength for work is even hidden from ourselves until we take our stand and fight the Lord’s battles or climb the mountains of difficulty.

We do not know what tender sympathies we possess until we try to dry the widow’s tears and soothe the orphan’s grief. We often find in attempting to teach others that we gain instruction for ourselves. What gracious lessons some of us have learned in visiting the sick! We went to teach the Scriptures, and we came away blushing that our knowledge of them was so poor. In our conversation with humble saints, we are taught the way of God more perfectly for ourselves and get a deeper insight into divine truth. So watering others makes us humble. We discover how much grace there is where we had not looked for it, and how much the humble saint may outstrip us in knowledge. Our own comfort is also increased by working for others. We endeavor to cheer them, and the consolation gladdens our own heart. Consider the two men in the snow-one massaged the other’s limbs to keep him from dying, and in doing so kept his own blood circulating and saved his own life. Remember the poor widow who supplied the prophet’s needs from her own meager resources, and from that day she never experienced need again. Give, and it will be given to you-good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.

(Reading from Morning & Evening  by Charles H. Spurgeon – Morning August 21)

 

 A friend e-mailed this devotion to me.  I thought I would share it… 

Worship On The Go
by John Fischer

God doesn’t desire more of our time sometimes; he desires more of our attention all the time.

Ever feel frustrated because you hear messages about getting closer to God and you definitely desire this for yourself, but you are inundated with so much to do already that this only makes you feel guilty because you are too busy for God? I think we all feel this at one time or another.

Some of you may need to carve some time out of your busy schedule for more specific time to be with God, but that isn’t necessarily the only answer to this question. Look at the following Scriptures:

“I have set the Lord always before me.” Psalm 16:8 NIV
“My eyes are ever on the Lord.” Psalm 25:15 NIV
“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” Psalm 34:1 NIV

Reading these words makes you wonder if these are the words of a monk who had nothing else to do but devote himself to God. Actually, they are the words of David, king of Israel, a great ruler and warrior. How did he manage to run a nation and keep his eyes on the Lord at all times? The only conclusion is that he did this while he did everything else. It’s a continual awareness of God that we are talking about here, not necessarily more time devoted to spiritual pursuits.

I once saw a sign that read: “Your god is what you pay attention to.” You see, I believe you can pay attention to God while you are doing everything else. It’s all about doing everything for God and seeing God in everything we do. It’s about bringing God into the boardroom, the exercise room, the living room, and the bedroom. Now of course He’s already in all these places but we’re talking about being aware of His being there at all times. That’s what it means to set the Lord always before us.

Worship is a frame of mind that always has God in the picture. We don’t need church, or Bible study, or devotions to remind us about the Lord if we’re already aware of Him all the time. These opportunities then become more precious to us because we can devote all our attention to that which we have been aware of all along.

Beth Moore-Praying God’s Word Day by Day

June 7

~I not only love God and trust him, I love trusting him. It is a constant reminder of a perpetual miracle in my life.~

Lord, just as Your apostles pled and ultimately received, I ask you also to increase my faith! (Luke 17:5)

Father, I want You to be able to look at my life as You did Stephen’s and be able to say that I am full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and that many people were brought to the Lord through my witness (Acts 11:24).

Just as You did through Paul and Barnabus to the early disciples, strengthen this disciple and encourage me to remain true to faith, for Your Word says, “We must go through hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22)

Thank You, God, for purifying my heart by faith (Acts 15:9).

Photo Note: Taken from the airplane on our way to Europe.