Such a beautiful and uplifting day today!! I'm really loving the sunshine and warm breeze, not too cold and not too hot! And just think even the prettiest spring day can't compare with Heaven! :) Our God is amazing!
Today has been another God day! He is showing me so much and I'm SOOO excited! It's just so awesome to pray for God to show you something in His word and to speak to you, and then have your prayer answered! I'm loving this two way conversation with our Lord and Savior! I used to think it was all one way and I seriously questioned if God really cared about my prayers and my thoughts... OH and He does!! Let me share with you my devotional time :)
As I said in my last entry God has really been showing me how much I struggle with focusing solely on Him. Last week He revealed in me my fault of falling back on entertainment or busyness in life for happiness instead of looking to Him and His word. This week He's digging even deeper and sort showing me what my biggest problem is. The first thing that I read today was Psalm 39. It just reminded me a lot about focusing on God and realizing that He is more important than anything else.
We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth for someone else to spend. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you. Psalm 39:6,7
This verse has a lot to do with what God was showing me last week. Once again I just sort of decided to read this passage and God is ONCE AGAIN saying, "What's more important than me? I am your hope."
So awesome!
I then changed direction a bit in what I was reading and sought out some verses that a very kind lady had written down for me to read when my mom was battling cancer. The first verse I read was 1 John 4:18:
Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgement, and this shows that His love has not been perfected in us.
This verse spoke straight to my heart because I am a HUGE worry wart, and I have many fears. But this verse is saying that with God there is Nothing we need to fear. The only thing we need to fear is the final judgment. But you see, I know that I am saved and that God loves me and that I am doing my best to follow Him and allow Him to work within me. So since I don't need to fear the final judgement because I know that I am saved, I HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR!! And yet I struggle so much with that. I don't fear death but I do fear pain, I do fear persecution, I do fear losing someone I love. And yet God says you don't need to fear anything because nothing can separate My love from you! (Romans 8:39) And in the end God's love/God Himself is ALL that matters. So you see God is saying, "Abbey, if you fully focus on Me and love Me then you will realize you have nothing to fear! Nothing."
The Lord is my light and my salvation- so why should I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
God is the Most important Person. I shouldn't be worried about things on this earth Including things that I fear. Because if in the end God is all that matters... then shouldn't He be all that matters now?
Unfortunately I can't get over my fears alone. I can't look at a man with a gun and just feel fine and confident... Fortunately I don't have to :) God is there for me! He will help me with my fears and my timidness. If I keep my focus on God then when times do get "scary" I'll know for certain that He is on my side and that no matter what happens the ending will always be the same, me going home to my LOVING and WONDERFUL Saviour :)
One last verse that caught my attention today was Matthew 10: 37
If you love your Father or Mother more than you love Me, you are not worthy of being mine.
This struck me because I'm afraid I have been loving my family here on earth more than God himself! UGH! And that goes along with the fear thing because I am so afraid to lose someone I love. I'm not as afraid now since I've lost my mom and I realize that I'll see her again and that it's not the end, but it's still a very real fear. But this just makes me think that I'm holding on so tightly to the people in my life and not clinging to my God who is eternal. See God is just weeding out all the bad stuff in my life and I am LOVING it!!!! God is more important than my family, so hard to say yet so true. Isn't it curious how it's so hard to love our amazing God more than the people in our lives? God never fails us, but people do, and yet it's people that can often be our distractions from God. I'm so thankful that God is willing to help me with all this! How merciful He is! :)
One last thing, today's excerpt from "Jesus Calling." Yet another devotional that fit perfectly into what God was teaching me today... and just to clarify I read this Last and had no idea what it was about.
God wants you be all His. He is weaning you from other dependencies. Your security rests in God alone- not in other people, not in circumstances. Depending only on God may feel like walking on a tightrope, but there is a safety net underneath; the everlasting arms. So don't be afraid of falling. Instead, look ahead to God. God is always before you, beckoning you on- one step at a time. Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, can separate you from God's loving presence.
And so my God lives on and teaches me :)
Much love,
Abbey
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