[DISPLAY_ULTIMATE_SOCIAL_ICONS]
Today: Psalms 42:1-6; Luke 11:33-54; Deuteronomy 6, 7 & 8
Psalms 42
“My tears have been my food day and night.” Psalms 42:3
This was me over the past 48 hours. Yep, I’ve basically been crying for two days. Now I’m not proud of this but I’m being transparent here.
We are selling our house in St. Charles and our off grid property. Three months ago, God told Craig and me, more clearly than He’s ever told us anything before, that we are to sell both our house and property and move across the state to be closer to some family. We KNOW He told us this. He gave us both the exact same message at the exact same time. And we even have witnesses! He told us this message so clearly that over these past three months since then, neither of us have ever doubted this message, even though this is a very difficult thing for us to do.
We love our house and property. We’ll be living in an apartment for now and have no idea if or when we’ll ever have land or our own house again. I know, I know, first world problems… and I WILL be okay but today I am struggling with this. Yesterday I cracked and started feeling sorry for myself. It overwhelmed me and I had a full blown panic attack. Now I haven’t had one of those in over a decade. I used to have them a lot. But God has taught me how to let His PEACE control my mind and I do not have those anymore… until yesterday. My soul was “in despair,” it was “restless within me” over the thought of losing my beautiful house and garden, and my magical woods, these things I love so much that make me so happy. “I remember these things and pour out my soul within me.” (v.4)
So now I find myself in this most unusual place where I can do nothing but “wait for God.” This is actually quite an amazing place to be. We have committed to doing what we believe He is calling us to do regardless of how we feel about it. God is removing from us all the THINGS that we have hung our hopes and joy on over the past years. We have no idea what our future is going to look like. And for two OCD, overplanning, super disciplined folks like us, this is downright terrifying.
And I’m singing the blues with David this week. But in my heart I know that we are doing what God has instructed us to do. “Therefore I remember [Him]” and I know that “I will again praise Him for the help of His presence, my God.” (v.5)
Luke 11
We are surrounded by millions of things to LOOK at: phones, computers, tv, social media, video games, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok… so much of it is full of darkness, negativity, and lies. We need to be careful what we fill our eyes with. The things we choose to fill our eyes, minds, ears, and time with will determine who we are inside.
Jesus exposed the Pharisees who acted one way on the outside — light, pious and holy — but on the inside they were full of darkness, greed and pride. God sees what is on the inside of us. He knows if it is light or darkness. He is never fooled by hypocrisy.
God is our light. JESUS is our light. Our eyes become clear by LOOKING to Jesus. That is how our bodies and souls will be filled with light… by looking at the light of the world, JESUS.
Deuteronomy 6
HOW do you prosper spiritually “so that it may go well for you and that you may increase greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey” ?? (v.3)
THIS IS HOW:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. You shall also tie them as a sign to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. You shell also write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:5-9
