Daily Nuggets

Daily readings and helps for living

TRUST 

Day 1:     Trust in the Lord with all your heart...”  Proverbs 3:5   
“Do not worry.....nor have an anxious mind...” 
Luke 12:22,29                                              

Readings: Proverbs 3:1-8        Luke 12:4-34

 There is only one answer to worry and anxiety and that is to trust in the Lord. Simple! But not so simple! We are complex beings and somehow it is easier for us to turn over all the impossible ramifications of any given situation, than to simply turn it over to our Father! But, if Jesus told us not to be anxious, then it must be possible. Also He is talking here in Luke about basic living, understanding that it is a core human problem. Adam and Eve in the garden had everything – lush abundance! But, having fallen, they were out digging – striving and labouring for every mouthful of food! Jesus turns this right around! Hallelujah! Over the next few days, we will look at an acrostic of the word TRUST.  We need to know HOW to put our trust in the Lord. Today, “consider the lilies”! Look around and quietly meditate on the beauty and wonder of His creation.
         “O lord, My God, when I in awesome wonder,
          Consider all the works Thy hand has made
           ............
          Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,
          How great Thou art!”


 Day 2    “...let your requests be made known...”  Philippians 4:6
  “Now this is the confidence we have in Him.....He hears us.”   1 John 5:14

Readings: Philippians 4    1 John 5:13-15  (nb: this is the first letter of John near the end of the Bible – not the Gospel)

T
alk – that is the first aspect of trust. Adam and Eve used to walk and talk with God in the garden. And the first thing to do with a worry or concern is to  talk to God about it. I know this sounds the most obvious and simple thing, but it is often what we most forget to do! So as problems or worries creep on you, just talk to God. Tell Him. Outline to Him what is on your mind. Write Him a note about it, if you want!  He wants to hear you. Don’t tell Him what the answers are – only the cares as they come into your heart, and ask for His help, His solutions, His strength, His provision. But, before asking, just tell Him all about it. Like a child! He is waiting to listen. And the sharing of your heart with Him will always open you to His streams of peace.


 Day 3   “Commit your way to the Lord – roll and repose each care of your road on Him; trust, lean on, rely on and be confident also in Him,
and He will bring it to pass..”      Proverbs 37:5 (Amp)
 Readings: Psalm 37      Matthew 11:28-30

R
oll – just roll your load over onto the Lord! He has very broad shoulders, and His outstretched arms on the cross are His invitation to come and lay down our burdens, troubles, worries and problems, however big or small.  Jesus says, “Come to Me, ALL you who labour and are heavy-laden.."  ALL means you and me – all of us, everyone.  Think today of the one burden or multiple weights that are heavy on you – maybe write them down. Then consciously, one by one, bring them to Jesus. And, if you find yourself picking them up again, repeat the process!


 Day 4   “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise...
So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”                                            Eph5:15,17

Readings:  Eph 5:1-21        1 Thess 5:16-24

U
nderstand the will of the Lord, the Word. How can we trust the Lord if we are not learning His ways and understanding His love for us through His Word? Also , if we are walking outside of His will for us, it is extremely difficult to put our trust in Him, though it does not stop Him loving us and continually drawing us back to Him. So take time to find out what His Word is saying to you – try reading the above passages prayerfully, and let God speak to you about one area of your life, where you can be walking closer to Him, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you put that into practice.

 Day 5  “For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation”   Romans 10:10

Readings:   Romans 10:8-17   1 John 1

S
peak out His promises, His word, His love, the good news of the gospel!  God wants His word in our hearts. He wants us to understand and apply the Word so that it is effective in our lives.  As you speak out specific words that the Holy Spirit gives you, first for yourself, you will discover the power of the Word of God to transform your life as faith grows within you.  Study these passages of scripture. Write down what God wants our mouths to be declaring. And start today.  Ask God to give you a specific promise for your situation, write it out, and stick it in a prominent place, such as your mirror, or over the washing-up bowl! Speak it out loud several times a day. See how this will help you to keep trusting the Lord as you roll your burdens onto HIM.


 Day 6   “...in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”       1 Thessalonians 5:18

Readings: Psalm 92     1 Chronicles 16:4-36
T hank God for His mercies, which are new every morning.  A thankful heart is the gateway to trusting for His answers in our lives, and His presence breaking through for us. The verse above does not say for  everything, but in everything. Some of our situations may be terrible, and we may have tragedy in our lives – no, you don’t have to thank the Lord for  those things – no, no! But as we look to Him and thank Him that He is good, the way is opened for Him to come as the mighty God, as the Counsellor and Comforter, as the Wonderful Prince of Peace. Our hearts will flower into trust in Him to bring His answers, His victory, His redeeming love, His healing power into each and every situation.
Start thanking Him today.
Use the above scriptures to read aloud.
Sing. Play an instrument.
WORSHIP HIM!



Day 7   “Casting all your cares upon Him for He cares for you”  1 Peter 5:7

Readings: 1 Peter 5:6-11     Psalm 62

“Does He really care about ME?” That is the question that, even sub-consciously, is going to stop us from putting our whole trust in Jesus. When we doubt His love and care for us personally, it is hard to know that he will be concerned about our smallest problems. We end up trying to take care of them ourselves, rowing our own boats. Then the storm comes raging upon us, or maybe just the daily grind wears us out. We may feel He is asleep in the boat – but He IS IN your boat. Don’t forget that, and, as you call on Him, He will never never fail you.  Start today enacting out your trust.... 
            
T
alk to Jesus at any time and wherever you are.
                

R
oll your burdens on Him
                       

U
nderstand His word and His will, by reading your Bible.
                            

S
peak out His promises, as you find them in His Word.
                                

T
hank Him for all His goodness and love
                  



Devotionals for tired mums!

Day 1:   Deut 33:28 and Hos 14:5.
"His heavens also shall drop dew..."
"I will be like dew..."
Readings: Deut 33:26-29 and Hosea 14 (whole chapter).

Dew comes first thing in the morning, and God also comes early before you awake - He is there waiting for you as you wake. His refreshing dew is there for your tiredness. His understanding love is waiting to speak into your heart and into all your hopes and desires and disappointments and frustrations and worries. He is there, still and quiet, waiting to drop that still dew of His presence into the depths of your being. Dew is there when you haven't got time to get a big drink from the Word. Just let the drops distil on your tongue. Be stilled, be refreshed,  be encouraged and renewed with the gentle Holy Spirit dew upon you today!


Day 2Deut 33:24
            Let him dip his foot in oil...
Readings:  Deut 33:24,25 and Isaiah 52:1-12

Your feet are to be those beautiful feet bringing the peace of the Lord. But make sure they are dipped in oil today, slippery with His fragrant ointment.  Good news, peace, glad tidings and salvation are to be the message you carry everywhere your beautiful feet take you. Dipped in the precious oil of the Holy Spirit, you will carry the fragrance of Him every step you take. As you walk into the kitchen, you tramp in that anointing oil ; as your footsteps rush to a crying child, the oil of peace comes with you. Think about that! Sit quietly for a moment and let the Holy Spirit come and gently place your feet in His oil of blessing and anointing for today.  AND “as your days, so shall your strength be”!  He will give the measure of strength and anointing you need for whatever the day will bring!

 Day 3:  Hosea 14:4  and Jer 3:22
                “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely...”
            “..I will heal your backslidings...”
Readings:  Jer3:22, 23 and Hosea 14 again!

Backsliding does not necessarily mean we are deserters. I think it can speak of those times we so often feel distant or condemned in ourselves, or just haven’t got the strength to call out or move in the faith which pleases Him. We are trying to climb, but keep slipping back. It is a consciousness that we are not experiencing the sweetness of fellowship we want with Him, and we cannot feel His presence. “Return” He says to His people. This implies to turn from our present focus, and focus on Jesus.  His promise is LOVE and healing. Turn to Him today for those pressing needs, or those hurting places. Let His love wash, bathe, and tenderly heal.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
 Look full in His wonderful face,
 And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
 In the light of His glory and grace!”


 Day 4:   Hosea 13:5 and Deut 32:10
            I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought...”
“He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.”
Readings:  Hosea 13:4,5 and Deut 32:1-14

Do you know the drier and thirstier we are, the more likely it is that we will experience the Lord coming to us with His springs of thirst-quenching water! He comes out to find us in those barren hard places.  It is in those times of greatest desperation, that, as we cry to Him, He is there with His gentle, protecting, kind arms to enfold us and help us.  Read verse 10 of Deut 32 again, and put your name in or the first person where it says “him” – read that out loud! Now put it in the present tense and then the future!


Day 5:   Deut 32:11 and Isaiah 40:31
“As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led them...”
“...they shall mount up with wings like eagles...”
Readings: Deut 32:9-12 and Isaiah 40:18-31

The Lord alone leads you! The Lord alone lifts you and carries you, soaring over the mountains, obstacles and struggles of life. As I read Is 40 in conjunction with Deut 32:11, I see those wings on which we will rise up, as the mighty wings of Father, holding and bearing us up, up, up. It is not by our strength or might, but by the thermals of His Spirit lifting us, riding on those feathers of His power and love!  “He gives power to the weak”!  He doesn’t strengthen our wings, but takes us on His. Rise up with Father in His wonderful love today! Snuggle into His feathers of His total care for you.


Day 6:   Isaiah 40:11 and Psalm 23:1
“He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.”
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
Readings:  Isaiah 40:1-11 and Psalm 23

Feed, gather, carry, gently lead and provide for every need – that is how God cares. And especially in this scripture, very expressly, He says how those mums with their little ones are His treasures. So often we can’t do it all, we miss it with our kids, or we are just too too tired to cope one second longer. He comes tenderly alongside, whispering words of love, and leads us beside still waters. Circumstances may shout impossibility, situations may seem unbearable, BUT He comes! He gathers our little ones and gently, with His wise and loving counsel, shows us the way.


Day 7:   Phil 4:4
            “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice!”
Reading: Phil 4

The recipe for turning our worries into joy is in verse 6!
When in a fix, Philippians 4:6 !”  is one of my husband's favourite sayings!
When we bring our anxieties and cares to Jesus, praying and asking for His help, and thanking Him for all His wonderful covenant love, then His peace will flood us, and we can truly sing with joy! So rejoice today that He is faithful! Rejoice for His love!  Rejoice all-ways – sing, dance, hug your kids and also quietly soak in His gentleness.


A Study in Hearing God's Voice

Day 1 Recognising God’s Voice

John 10:4   “When He has brought His own sheep outside, He walks on before them and the sheep follow Him, because they know His voice.”

John 10:27   “The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice, and I know them and they follow Me.”

Jesus promises us that His sheep recognise His voice. This is a wonderful promise, but often we are deaf to His voice and cannot honestly say we do know it and find difficulty differentiating between that and all the other voices coming at us from the world. I think it is amazing that Jesus chooses a sheep to illustrate my relationship with Him – sheep do not learn to obey in the same way as a dog or a horse – they only follow! A wilful sheep who goes its own way is the one who gets into trouble and it is a question of distance from the Shepherd that brings about the inability to hear His voice calling and speaking. The nearer we are, the more quietly He can speak and the more likely we are to hear the smallest whisper. So as we start this study, let us come to Jesus, ask Him to draw us close, to forgive the things we have done wrong and to cleanse us. Look up 1 John 1: 5-9. Also James 4:7,8.
As you come to Him, He will draw very close to you! He KNOWS you, He LOVES you!


Day 2   God’s Whisper

1 Kings 19:9-14  “…a delicate whispering voice…”

We are used to the words “still small voice”, but in the margin of the New King James Bible, it describes this as “a delicate whispering voice”!  Think of a gentle summer breeze stirring the leaves on the trees – such a quiet sound, that only those who are still and listening will hear – but what a joy to hear that murmuring breeze, or, similarly waters gurgling in a small brook. Outside noise or even a busy occupied mind will block out the sweetness of those sounds. In this passage, Elijah is blasted with a mighty wind and earthquake which breaks the rocks up before his eyes – imagine it – a scary scene, followed by a fire, the mountain slopes aloud with clamour and terrifying din. Perhaps this is God’s voice? No, God knows that this would decimate Elijah in his place of hiding. Elijah is frightened of those who seek to kill him – see verse 10. Whatever your circumstances today – maybe it is fear, maybe other storms, financial or relationship difficulties are threatening you – the Lord God, your Father, would say to you, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD”. Yes, we may have to stand right in view of the disaster and clamour, the things that would seek to kill our peace and joy in the Lord – but it is there before the Lord we will hear His whisper deep into our souls.

When we follow this story through, we see that the Lord God gives Elijah various instructions, calling him and giving specific guidance, and, while he is on his way to obey, God gives him Elisha! From then on, Elisha is a faithful friend, servant and encourager – one who truly never leaves him. Right till the very last minute of Elijah’s walk on this earth, Elisha is with him. You can read the story in 2 Kings 2. As we listen and learn to obey, and even while taking the first hesitant steps of loving obedience, He will provide for us friends and encouragers – and the best comfort and encourager of all will ALWAYS walk with us – the Holy Spirit.

Read John 14:16-27   Listen to the Father’s whisper to you personally in you heart, as                                               you read and meditate on these words.




Day 3  God speaks like thunder

John 12:27-29   “Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both                                    glorified it (God's name), and will glorify it again.
    The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered…”

God the Father is talking to His Son. The people standing nearby think it may be thundering!  And Jesus tells them the thundering voice, audible to men and women, was for their sakes. It was not for His own benefit. Jesus Himself was so tuned in to His Father, that He didn’t need thundering voices! Now look what this thundering voice signifies in verse 31 – Jesus speaks of the prince of this world being banished. And then in verse 32 He prophesies His death on the Cross to draw all people to Himself. When God comes in glory, there may well be thunderous words. What expectations they bring for us who believe – the casting out of Satan and all his ploys and schemes of evil in lives of men and women; and the lifting up of Christ our Saviour, Healer and Redeemer! Do not be afraid of noise! Let God speak loudly when he wishes – let Him speak loudly through you as you pray and declare His word over your situation and life, over your family, church, town and nation and over the world which he has died to redeem.
Use a psalm to declare the wonderful works of the Lord. If you have a suitable place, then shout out loud! Psalm 47 is an example of declaring the authority and power of the Lord over the nations. 
Psalm 47:6-8  
“Sing praise to God, sing praises: Sing praises to our King, sing praises.
 For God is the King of all the earth: Sing ye praises with understanding.
God reigns over the nations: God sits upon his holy throne.”


Day 4 God speaks like Thunder 2

Rev 14:2.  “ And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps …”

What a contrast – torrents like the Niagara Falls! Great thunder! And harps! All God’s voice in Heaven, in His majesty on His throne! Read on in the chapter and see the different groups of people outlined here. I am sure the gentle harp-like tones are for those pure and cleansed saints. At the end of the chapter it speaks of God’s wrath poured out and of the final judgement. But before that He is calling all peoples of the earth to fear God and give glory to Him, and to worship Him. God thunders when He is declaring His mighty judgement, which is love and mercy to “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” Rev 14:9-12, and powerful anger against sin and disobedience. When God’s voice is like thunder in your ears, it is serious stuff. It is to do with His glory and His eternal purpose for man. It will be unusual to hear Him as thunder in our personal devotional time with Him, but corporately, there may be times when God speaks to His people with a very loud voice. Do not be afraid! He is a good God and loves you. But He does want us to take seriously the message we have for the world of His great redemption plan, and of His everlasting wrath against evil and disobedience.

Meanwhile, the saints stand passionately patient, keeping God's commands, staying faithful to Jesus”  Rev 14:12 (The Message). Meditate on these words and ask the Lord to bring you to this place, even when His voice is thundering. You are washed and clean through the precious blood of Jesus!


 A Story …….. The four year old daughter of my friend, Lynn, came into her mother’s room at 4 am one morning, waking her mother urgently. Lynn switched on her bedside light and sleepily looking at her little girl, saw she was dressed in her daytime clothes. “Why are you dressed, “she asked. Vicky looked at her solemnly and said “God told me to get ready. He said ‘Get ready! Get ready!’ So I thought that meant I had to get dressed, Mummy.” Vicky’s mum managed to persuade her to come back to bed, and told her they would talk more in the morning. She went back to bed fully dressed! Next day, Vicky climbed into bed with her mum and dad and said to her mother “Mummy, why didn’t you tell me that God’s voice sounds like thunder?”!
This was a very real incident and my friend took it seriously – the Lord had woken her little girl with an urgent message to get ready. Does that remind you of Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:44,Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

Find out how we are meant to dress ourselves in readiness by reading the following scriptures:
1 Thess 5:4-10  …..the breastplate of FAITH and LOVE…..the helmet of the HOPE of                             salvation
1 Pet 1:13-16 ….. your hope fixed completely on the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ,                          obedient children, holy in our behaviour
2 Pet 3:10-18 …..diligent to be found by Him in PEACE, spotless and blameless. Living in                        holy conduct and godliness.

God’s voice thunders out, even to a small child, when He is speaking about the urgency of His coming, of vital important issues of how we live in preparation for the coming of the King!
LISTEN to HIM!


Day 5  God Laughs

Ps 2:4   "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh …"
 Ps 37:13  "The wicked plots against the just, … The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming."
 Ps 59:8-10  "But You, O LORD, shall laugh at them; you shall have all the nations in derision. I will wait for You, O You his Strength; for God is my defense; My God of mercy shall come to meet me; God shall let me see my desire on my enemies."

Yes, often we communicate by laughing. We can laugh with joy or good humour, or we can laugh at another person’s expense, or we can even laugh off potential problems and difficulties. Here in these verses we see how God laughs at His enemies! When you are battling with what may seem insuperable problems in your Christian life – just listen out for God’s laugh! Look how Psalm 2 starts – “WHY…?” here is a picture of the nations in uproar, described many centuries ago, but just as real today. Here is the world “devising vain things!" How true, how true! They are ultimately against the Lord and His anointed, and for us now, that means us as Christians, with the precious anointing of the Holy Spirit. Do not be surprised when worldly people are against you. Don’t fight back. Wait on God and to be sure you will hear His mighty laugh.  WHO has the last word? HE DOES! Look at this: “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain…” verse 6. God sees the end of the story from the beginning and He has the ultimate victory and we are on HIS side! Wow!  Look at verse 8 – what a promise. Let us today ask God to release us from complaining and grumbling about our present situation and enter into His Kingdom of anointing, promise and victory, claiming the nations as our inheritance.  Worship the Lord, do homage to His Son, Jesus … in HIS presence is fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11. Laugh with Him. It is not presumption. You know you cannot overcome on your own, but HE has done it - defeating all His enemies on the Cross and through the resurrection  of His Son, Jesus, the Anointed One.

Read the psalms indicated above. And ask the Lord to fill you with His joy.


“How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” Ps 2:12

 Day 6  God Shouts

John 11:43  “And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.”
John 7:37    “And in the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”

Lazarus has been in the tomb for 4 days. He is as dead as can be, and, as the crowd point out, he is very stinky! Jesus shouts out very loudly, not, I suppose, to make Lazarus hear, but to proclaim to the doors of hell that they haven’t won this time!! He faces death with a great shout of triumph, and Lazarus walks out of his grave, and needs help to get un-bandaged from his grave-cloths.
God's shout is a shout of victory!
Victory over death and satan!
We can shout too! Rejoicing in God's victory in our lives. His victory though the cross of Jesus!

Psa 118:13-16 (The Message)
I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall, when GOD grabbed and held me.
GOD's my strength, he's also my song, and now he's my salvation.
Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs in the camp of the saved? "The hand of GOD has turned the tide!
The hand of GOD is raised in victory! The hand of GOD has turned the tide!"

Jesus' shout is to call those who are thirsty to drink.  Read the whole passage in John 7:37-39.


Day 7  Hearing God's Voice

Prov 4:20-22 (NKJ)
My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.

Message version:
Dear friend, listen well to my words; 
   tune your ears to my voice.
Keep my message in plain view at all times. 
   Concentrate! Learn it by heart!
Those who discover these words live, really live; 
   body and soul, they're bursting with health. 

"Listen well!" That is the whole message of God's Word to us. If we will learn to listen well to His word into our hearts, then we will have life and health in all its fullness! It is really important to realise that God's words into our hearts, whether read directly from the Bible or spoken softly by His Holy Spirit, are always words of life. They are always in His character of love, mercy and grace. They always speak salvation and healing and peace and joy into our lives and the lives of our family and friends. If you are hearing words of condemnation or failure into your heart, it is not from the Lord. Remember the woman caught in adultery who was brought to Jesus for "punishment"? Remember how He managed to send all her accusers away shame-faced, and told her, "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more"!

Romans 8:1,2:  "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."

Jesus will lead us away from our sin. He will give us the power to overcome sin and temptation, but He does not cause us to flounder in guilt and self-accusation! So listen well. Ask Him to whisper His words of assurance and love into your heart today! Read 1 Peter 1:1-9, and write down what God has done for you! And "may grace and peace be yours in fullest measure" today!



Day 8 Choosing the good way ….

Luke 10: 38-42
"As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.  But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus Himself tells us that there is only one thing worth being concerned about and that is to spend time listening to HIM! How on earth do we interpret this direction from Jesus, when our lives are busy from the moment we awake to the time when we can at last sink wearily into our beds? How do we manage to sit at His feet when little ones are around us all day with demands, quarrels to be sorted, "I am thirsty, Mummy", "I am hungry Mummy", "Can I have a biscuit Mummy" all day long? I believe that it is a quiet heart, rather than rest from activity. The key here is to not allow everything that takes up our time during the day to be "distractions" away from the Lord's presence. Martha was "distracted". It means keeping ourselves in the love of Christ. It means knowing we live under the shadow of the Almighty! (Ps 91:1) And so do our children! I know that it is possible to listen and hear God's voice when we are washing the dishes or hanging out the laundry, or reading a story to our little ones! And also there is a time to cease from all activity and give Jesus quality time. If we will do that, then He will still our hearts in the midst of frenetic days (and maybe nights too!) and sometimes just 10 seconds worth of His loving voice will change the whole day! More about that tomorrow!
Read Jude 20,21, and ask God to show you ways from these 2 verses to keep close to Him and hear His voice.

A Poem written by a busy mum over 100 years ago!!

"I'd take the time, dear Lord, to pray,
But see what work there is today -
The washing, baking, clothes to mend, 
And all the family to tend."
And so goes by another day 
Without a moment spent to pray.

Things go awry, the starch boils o'er,
My temper's high - I mop the floor - 
The rush to do my work aright
Does not seem worth the fight by night.
Perhaps I could accomplish more 
If grace and strength were gained before!

Forgive me, Lord, the Martha view,
When I so need the time with You.
I'm sure a quarter hour or so
Would help to rout my own soul's foe.
I cannot be from care set free
Without some fellowship with Thee.   by Francis Longing.



Day 9   God speaks in a Dream

Often, in the Bible, God speaks to His servants in dreams. For example, read Matthew 1:18-21 and Mt 2:11-14. And still today, we can expect to hear God in our dreams. Sometimes, it will be a dream which needs interpreting. Share with your spouse, if you feel a dream is significant, but you do not understand it. I know my husband has a gift for shedding light on my dreams. But, at other times, the dream is so clear, and God is speaking without imagery. This happened for me some years ago, and this is the dream:

I was standing with a group of people. One young man was looking at me and asking, "How can I make my 'Quiet Time' more interesting – and not a boring duty?"

And I immediately answered in the dream,

 "There are 3 things to do to make your time with the Lord exciting, vibrant and refreshing and meaningful." And then I spoke out the 3 things which seemed to me to come from the heart of the Lord.
1)    ASK God to speak personally to me
2)    RECEIVE His Word and His love and WAIT.
3)    PRAISE Him.

I told the man that both in his prayer and his reading of the Word to do the above. It means TIME. It means stopping and waiting and listening. BUT when we truly expect to meet with God and hear Him, we will. If God is present, then how can ever the time be boring? Of course, our praise enthrones Him and unites us to Him as He made us for His praise and for His glory.


I put the dream into practice that very first day when I woke up. At the time we were struggling with many difficulties, and I personally felt depressed – and, as I waited to hear the Lord, He said, "You are an overcomer!" I felt like Gideon must have done when he was told he was a "mighty man of valour" (Judges 6). I was not even remotely in the place of an overcomer! The Lord then showed me John 16:33 in the Amplified Bible:

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]"

God truly changes our outlook, our attitude and our lives when we listen to Him.

Read Proverbs 3:1,2; Proverbs 4:10-13, 20-23. What promises do we see here for those who hear and listen to God's words?




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