August 17, 2012 ~ My Daily Bread

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

Proverbs 30:8

Thoughts~

The second part of this verse has been such a sweet comfort and a prayer of mine since our economy went sour. As my checking account began looking more like a savings account that I had when I was a teenager, I at first freaked out just a little bit.  Okay, a lot. A whole lot. And then God in His love and mercy reminded me of my favorite verse, Proverbs 3:5-6 (see below) and whispered to my heart that all I needed to do was trust Him with my entire being. He guided me gently to a place I had never been before: total dependence on Him.

And if I never share another thing with a human being, I want to share now that it is an unbelievably radical and wonderful state to be in. I do not use credit cards to meet my wants in life. I live on cash and only purchase my needs and every so often, something fun like my recent red and white polka dot bowl for $7.95. At first this radical style of living, using cash only and avoiding the temptations of certain shops, was weird . . . oh so weird. But as I slowly adjusted to it and stopped buying “stuff”, I found I could easily scale down my lifestyle and live more simply.

Most of my friends think they could not live this way; but, I have to tell you that I am content and have never been happier regarding my lifestyle. God’s provisions are totally sufficient for me and when He blesses me with extras, I know it’s from Him. And so, my prayer truly is, “please, Lord, don’t give me unneeded riches where I won’t depend on You, nor poverty where I can’t serve and glorify you, but please provide for my daily needs. And thanks, Lord, for the bowl that I loved so much.”

Action~

Ask God to show you financial and material areas that you can totally put all of your trust in Him to provide for you. What things do you need? And of those things, what are wants and what are needs? Do you know the difference?

Pray~

Thank you for our daily bread and our daily needs that are met by You, Lord. And thank you for teaching us to depend on You and not ourselves.

Trusting Him Always,Becky

August 16, 2012 ~ Is God First in Your Life?

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3

Thoughts~

The ten commandments, as I wrote about yesterday, are not suggestions. While they are Old Testament Law, they are still a foundation for our faith.

It’s not like God said “okay, I sent my Son and He gives grace to people who accept Him as their savior so you don’t have to pay any attention to the commandments anymore.” Even Jesus spoke of the commandments and reminded his followers that there is more to righteousness than just following the commandments. He told his followers that righteousness begins in the heart of the believer. He made several references to this in the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus also said "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matthew 5:17-18).

The commandment I have been pondering on for the past 24 hours is the first one. Have no other god. We’ve all heard sermons that talk about how people put their TV as a god. Or sports, exercise, their work and even family. People can put absolutely ‘anything’ before god and serve that ‘anything’, leaving the Lord as a second, third or fourth option.

What has bothered me for a long time is how new agers put the universe in the place of God. They say they will send up thoughts to the universe. I am silent when these words are spoken; I pick my battles. Well, actually, I am not silent: I always say I’m sending prayer up! But I don’t argue with unbelievers about the universe being an entity or whatever it is they think is going to happen when they send positive thoughts. If that were really to happen, I’d like to put my request in for a summer cottage on a beach in Oregon.

God created the universe! Sending thoughts to it is like giving a cake you made the credit for being so delicious. Why the universe got to be the substitute god I am not sure; I often wonder why it was selected.

I suppose that there are so many confused people who want to keep the universe as their god because there are no rules, no requests for obedience, no salvation, sin or reward for eternity. It’s an easy to follow bubble dream, tossing out requests into the wind.

As for me I will serve the Lord only and put Him in His rightful place: First place!

Actions~

What might be getting in the way of God being first in your life? If there is anything, let it go and ask God to give you the strength and desire to put Him in first place.

I have an old envelope that is tucked into my Bible. In it I have placed various scraps of paper that have the ‘gods’ that replaced the Lord during times I was not walking close to Him. They are excellent reminders to me when I come across the envelope; just checking to make sure I haven’t substituted anything at all for the Lord of my life.

Pray~

God, I pray today that everyone who reads this blog will hear the Holy Spirit speaking to them if there is anything standing in the way of You being first in their lives. Thank you for dragging me away from things I once put in Your place. Thank You for forgiving me.

Trusting in Him,

Becky