Too busy to read the Bible?

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. 

Psalm 51:10-12 AMP

With all the busy-ness of the Christmas season, the temptation for me today was to just get into the busy-ness without spending time with my Heavenly Father. Thankfully the Holy Spirit kept prompting me to stop, open my Bible and read - Psalm 51. Here's how it starts ....

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love, according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:1 AMP

Just reading verse one realigns our hearts and thoughts immediately with God, reminding us of His mercy and His love He has for us. All else in our lives pales into insignificance compared to His love for us.

My flesh is now saying, that's enough, get on with all the jobs now. But the Holy Spirit is saying, no keep reading My truth ....

Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.

Psalm 51:6 AMP

Wisdom, beautiful Godly wisdom, how much do we need wisdom at this time of year?? Wisdom with words, time, money, truth, grace and much more. Heavenly Father, please give us an abundance of wisdom.

I am now curious as to what else God is going to show me in this Psalm ....

Make me to hear joy and gladness and be satisfied; let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

Psalm 51:8 AMP

Yesterday we were at the hospital for Victoria's monthly port-a-cath flush. I still have difficulty, almost five years on, believing we have to walk through the door of a Unit that is labelled 'Children's cancer and hematology Day Unit'. Once inside the Unit, a joy and gladness comes forth from our three daughters that breathes life into a place of darkness. The nurses are in fits of laughter. It is as if a hurricane of joy has entered the place. Thank you God, you have helped me to hear the joy and gladness and be satisfied.

Now I am hungry for what else God wants to say to me this morning ....

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. 

Psalm 51:10-12 AMP

Oh yes, memories come flooding back of a song I sang when I became a Christian, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in me".  Thankfulness comes into my heart for a God is pursues us and doesn't give up on us.

And then, I am reminded of some very important things to keep top of mind today and over these next few weeks ......

Cast me not away from Your presence 
- Need to stick close to God
Take not your Holy Spirit from me
 - Need to listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit
Restore to me the joy 
- Need to look for the joy in everything
Uphold me with a willing spirit
 - Need to continually yield to God and His ways

Question for today, are you feeling too busy and overwhelmed with all things Christmas to not open your Bible and read it today? If like me, you thought it wouldn't matter if you missed a day, I would like to gently remind you (as the Holy Spirit did to me this morning) that God is always wanting to talk with us, encourage us, and guide us,. Let's not miss out on the opportunity to receive from Him today because of our plans.

God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, and put a fresh wind in my sails! Psalm 51:10-12 The Message

Jesus said

And Jesus said to him, I will come and restore him.
Matthew 8:7 AMP

"Jesus said ..... "

This is not something we hear quoted on the news reports, or in newspapers or on news websites. No, in those realms we often hear or read that Prime Minister X said ...., or President X said ...., or the expert in this field said.....  .

We need to go to our Bible to read what Jesus said. Today, let's remind ourselves of some of words Jesus spoke. Before we start reading, let's take a moment to pray, and ask the Holy Spirit to minister to us as we meditate on the words of Jesus.

Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! For it has been written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve. Matthew 4:10 AMP

And Jesus said to them, Come after Me and be My disciples, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 
Mark 1:17 AMP

And being moved with pity and sympathy, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, and said to him, I am willing; be made clean. Mark 1:41 AMP

He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus. Matthew 14:29 AMP

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I have pity and sympathy and am deeply moved for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and they have nothing [at all left] to eat; and I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint or become exhausted on the way. Matthew 15:32 AMP

But Jesus turned away from Peter and said to him, Get behind Me, Satan! You are in My way [an offense and a hindrance and a snare to Me]; for you are minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men. Matthew 16:23 AMP

Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also]. 
Matthew 16:24 AMP 

But Jesus came and touched them, and said, Get up, and do not be afraid. Matthew 17:7 AMP

But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God. Matthew 19:26 AMP

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and, praising God, gave thanks and asked Him to bless it to their use, and when He had broken it, He gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you: For this is My blood of the new covenant, which [ratifies the agreement and] is being poured our for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:26-28 AMP

Jesus said to her, I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me, although he may die, yet he shall live; and Whoever continues to live and believes in (has faith in, cleaves to, and relies on) Me shall never [actually] die at all. Do you believe this?
John 11:25-26 AMP

And that is only a very small selection of what Jesus had to say, and doesn't even start to take into account that we can hear directly from Him today in our own quiet time, when we take time to acknowledge Him and listen.

Question for today, what are we doing to position ourselves well so we can read and hear what Jesus is saying, to us, to-day and everyday, so we can live for His purposes?

Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power in rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirt, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be). Matthew 28:18-20 AMP

God is with us

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our High Tower and Stronghold). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! Psalm 46:11 AMP

The Lord of hosts is with us. He is with you. He is with me. We are not doing our life alone. God is with us.

Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel - which, when translated, means, God with us. Matthew 1:23 AMP

God sacrificed His Son, Jesus, so that if we choose to make Jesus our Lord and Saviour, we can be reconciled with Him.

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and now the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 AMP

Our lives are intimately intertwined with Jesus. If we humble ourselves and yield to Him, He will be our strength, helping us to face any circumstances.

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]. Philippians 4:13 AMP

Yes, God is with us. He has freely gifted us the opportunity to be with Him. It is good to remind ourselves of this truth, as we head towards celebrating Christmas and are bombarded with the commercialization of gifts, that we have already received the greatest gift of all - JESUS.

Question for today, what can you do to ensure that Jesus stays 'front and centre' for you this Christmas? Furthermore, what can we do today, to acknowledge that God is with us, and live out of that inner strength that He infuses in us?

His grace - our gift.

But He said to me, My grace (My favour and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! 2 Corinthians 12:9 AMP

If My people

If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 AMP

We don't have to look very far to see that our land is in need of healing, physically, emotionally and spiritually. There are cracks everywhere we look, the family - the fundamental building block of our society has been falling apart for years; the church - sexual abuse; the government - disunity and power-broking; business - more and more concentrated power in a few and the list goes on and on. I am not wanting to be negative, but we cannot live in ignorance. The reality is we live in a very broken world. 

How different would our society look if we, God's people, every single one of us, did exactly what 2 Chronicles 7:14 calls us to do 

1. Humbled ourselves (truly surrendered every area of our lives to God, and really made Him Lord of our lives)

2. Prayed continuously (without ceasing as Paul says)

3. Sought God all day in what think, do and say

4. Craved God with all our heart (instead of chocolate or whatever else your flesh yearns for)

5. Required the necessity of His face (above all else that the 'world' tells us we need) 

I don't know about you, but when I look at that list and consider honestly about how I live my life, I fall short in so many ways. Thankfully God knew we wouldn't be able to do this alone, and He provided us with an inbuilt, always available helper - the Holy Spirit.

But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. John 14:26 AMP

So let's be teachable. Let's listen to the Holy Spirit. Let's be obedient to His promptings. Let's be obedient to 2 Chronicles 7:14, humble ourselves and pray for this land that we are so blessed to live in. 

The Bible tells us we are the 'light of the world'.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble and good deeds and recognise and honour and praise and glorify you Father Who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 AMP

Today, let's ask the Holy Spirit what we can to do right now, in our 'world', to be a light. Let's ask Him how we can pray for our land, this blessed land. And then let's listen. And remember, we do not need to live in fear, God is on our side.

It is the Lord Who goes before you; He will [march] with you; He will not fail you or let you go or forsake you; [let there be no cowardice or flinching, but] fear not, neither become broken [in spirit - depressed, dismayed, and unnerved with alarm]. Deuteronomy 31:8 AMP

He's my God

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God -
soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He's my God.
Psalm 42:11 The Message

Fix my eyes on God.

The Amplified Bible says, 'Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him'.

Here is a practical example of how God helped me yesterday go from a 'down in the dumps' situation on the back of some family news, to 'having a smile' on my face.

1. I had to acknowledge that this was upsetting news - not deny that it hurt, really hurt on the inside.

[It is not only the prophet but also the people who cry out in their thoughts] My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is disquieted and throbs aloud within me; I cannot be silent! For I have heard the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Jeremiah 4:19 AMP

2.  Let the emotion come - I sat on our front steps, looked up to the sky, cried out to God and then cried some more.

My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, Where is your God?
Psalm 42:2-3 AMP

3. Be Still and listen - In amidst the tears, listen to God's voice, gentle reminders of what He has done, and what He will do.

Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 AMP

4. Recall - recall His promises, and what I had read earlier in the day from the devotion Jesus Calling - As you sit quietly in My Presence, let Me fill your heart and mind with thankfulness.... this remembrance builds a foundation of gratitude in you, a foundation that circumstances cannot shake.

O my God, my life is cast down upon me [and I find the burden more than I can bear]; therefore will I [earnestly] remember You from the land of Jordan [River] and the [summits of Mount] Hermon, from the little mountain Mizar. Psalm 42:6 AMP

5. Prayer support - I contacted some people, confessing that I was struggling with this news, asking them to please pray for me.

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. James 5:16 AMP

6. Make declarations in worship - from one of my current favourite worship songs (No longer slaves) - 'I am no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God'. Earlier in the day I had played that one song continuously for an hour - God obviously knew I needed to get a deeper understanding of this truth.

Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:8 AMP

7. Rest - I can now, having acknowledged the emotions, sought God, heard God, asked for prayer support, and reminded my soul that I am child of God, and He has it in hand. 

Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and by disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
Psalm 42:11 AMP

I pray that what I have shared today is a help to anyone who is facing a situation that seems hopeless, giving some practical steps on how to fix our eyes on God. He is there in the midst, He is our hope. He has made a way for us - Jesus.

Now that we know what we have - Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God - let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a high priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all - all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help. Hebrews 4:14-16 The Message

The dawning of the morning

I anticipated the dawning of the morning and cried [in childlike prayer]; I hoped in Your word.

Psalms 119:147 AMP

Sometimes the night, both literally and seasonally, can be long. Sometimes there is nothing to do, but cry out in childlike prayer and emerse oneself in God's Word. The Message Bible puts it this way, 

I was up before sunrise,

crying for help, hoping for a word from you.

I stayed awake all night,

prayerfully pondering your promise.

Psalms 119:147-148 The Message

When we are in that night season, we need light. 

For You cause my lamp to be lighted and to shine; the Lord my God illumines my darkness.

Psalms 18:28 AMP

We need the Light to show us the way out of the darkness, to show us that there is hope. Jesus is that Light and gives us hope.

Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life. John 8:12 AMP

The morning will come, whether it is literally a new day, full of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness.

It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 AMP

Or it may be a 'morning' in terms of a new season. A long anticipated, hoped for new season. 

​TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven: .....

Ecclesiastes 3:1 AMP

Sometimes we don't understand why some seasons 'hang around' for so long. It can be a huge distraction and very detrimental to try to work out 'why'. We just need to come to a place where we can trust that ....

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11AMP

We need to keep focussed on God's end goal - us being in eternity with Him, no matter the seasons we pass through on the way. He loves us, He has a plan for us, and that plan is for us to surrender every aspect and season of our lives to Him, and eventually be with Him for eternity.

Question for today, are you waiting for the dawning of the morning in some area of your life? Today let's choose to wait in prayerful anticipation, put our hope in Jesus and His plan for eternity.

I have come as a Light into the world, so that whoever believes in Me [whoever cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] may not continue to live in darkness. John 12:46 AMP

Hope and expectation.

And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? 
Psalm 39:7a AMP

We all have times in our lives when we ask ourselves, what is going on here? How can there be a good outcome to this circumstance? Where do I put my hope and expectation at this time?

David had a great answer to that question. 

My hope and expectation are in You.
Psalm 39:7b AMP

For our family there have been many times when we have asked that question, what is going on here? Often from both a health and a financial perspective. 

From the health side of things we have had wonderful help from medical professionals, but we have had to learn to not put our hope and expectation in them alone. Diagnosis are given, and side effects are explained. We would listen and accept what we heard.

One example relates to Victoria and chemotherapy treatment. We were told she would lose all her hair. So our expectation was that Victoria would lose all her hair. Our expectation immediately aligned with the medical world.

A few week's later, a friend told me, that her friend was praying that Victoria would not lose all her hair. And guess what - Victoria didn't lose all her hair during 15 months of treatment. She lost some, but not all. Lesson - God always has the last say. We had put our expectation and hope in the wrong place, but thankfully God was gracious to have someone else standing in the gap for our daughter.

It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. Lamentations 3:22 AMP

So now, when we are told something from a medical perspective, we are getting into the habit, so not just accepting it, rather, taking it to God, and saying, "We know You have this situation under control. We know You are greater than this circumstance. We know that all things are possible with You." Our hope and expectation shifts to Him.

The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God's word]. Lamentations 3:24-25 AMP

However, it is hard to stay full-time in that place of hoping and expecting in God. There is always that little voice saying 'what if ....'. Some days it is easy to be full of faith and say to that little voice 'Go, in the name of Jesus'. Other days if it is given a second chance to speak, that little voice gets louder and is more difficult to stop. On those days I have learnt to stop, read God's Word, pray and worship until the faith and hope returns and I can declare, 

My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him. He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved. With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyeilding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God!

Psalm 62:5-7 AMP

It is a daily choice of positioning oneself with God, sitting with Him, waiting for Him, standing firm, learning to put my hope and expectation in Him alone. Thankfully His gracious is sufficient while we are learning!

Question for today, what or who is your hope and expectation in? Is it man? Is it money? Is it God?