“First a leaf . . then the heads of wheat . . finally the grain ripens.” Mark 4:28 NLT

“Harvest comes in God’s time – after you work diligently, obey fully, and trust God’s process.”

My thoughts today are to “trust the process.”

Who likes to wait for what they want? But aren’t we usually better when we do? Waiting seems to encourage appreciation for what you gain, while promoting wiser use and better care of what you have. There is a better sense of the necessity of effort, importance of time, and reality of cost. The quicker and easier you receive something, the less intrinsic value you attribute to it.

To most of us, now is more satisfying than later. That’s why charge accounts, and then credit cards, replaced “layaway accounts” for merchants and customers. Just today, the Associated Press reported “Walmart stores are bringing back what customers have been asking for: layaway.” You may not remember or know what such a thing as a “layaway account” was. If you could not pay cash, the store would “lay the item away” while you made small payments as you were able , interest-free, and pick up your merchandise when it’s paid in full. Only when you had fully paid for the item, you took it home. That process of affordable sacrifice created anticipation and appreciation. With credit cards, a store completes a sale more quickly and the customer goes home with purchase in hand, ready for immediate enjoyment without the pain of payment. Instant gratification, you want now; cost, you happily defer till later. Too much too quickly is at too great a cost.

Most of us are not content with process. We want what we want when we want it, and we want too much now, regardless of the real cost known or unknown to us. People buy houses they cannot afford, cars too expensive, and expenditures too extravagant while living on borrowed time and burdensome debt. Our nation, like too many other countries, is being slowly destroyed by a system of debt we cannot afford. Debt destroys our marriages homes, and lives. Our nation’s debt is a reflection of its citizens’ financial addictions, as much as its politicians’ misbehavior.

At Creation, God decreed, “Let there be . . and there was! . . then God saw everything He had made, and indeed ti was very good.” See Genesis 1. Flowers were created in full bloom; fruit was abundant on mature trees; nature’s wildlife was full grown. Since Creation, God works by process, purposeful and measured. Process always has beneficial and relational elements. Solomon observed, “God has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 NKJV. Paul echoed God’s principle of process this way, “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 NIV. See also 1 John 3:1-2. You have to learn to trust His process. “As the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways . . As for God, His way is perfect.” Read Isaiah 55:8-9/Psalm 18:30 NKJV.

Jesus described the perfect ways of the Kingdom of God by nature’s process. “A farmer planted seeds in a field . . as the days went by, the seeds sprouted and grew . . because the earth produces crops. First a leaf pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. When the grain is ready, the farmer harvests it.” Mark 4:26-29 NLT. Note Jesus description of Kingdom process: desire followed by effort, effort resting in anticipation, anticipation producing trust, trust seeing development, development increasing evidence, evidence of growth, growth bringing harvest! Where do you see yourself in God’s process today? Harvest will come in God’s time – after you work diligently, obey fully, and trust the process. Impatience and unbelief interrupts God’s process with delays.

My prayer for you today is that you live in step with God’s purposes and processes.

Devotionals 1 John 3:1-2, creation, credit cards, debt, harvest, Isaiah 55:8-9, Mark 4:26-29, Philippians 1:6, process, Psalm 18:30, trust the process

“A river went out of Eden to water the garden.” Genesis 2:10

“Your life is God’s garden; He will provide exactly what you need to be everything He intends.”

My thoughts today are about “unfailing provision.”

From Creation, you can learn a principle of God’s nature and ways: whatever God creates, He also provides for sufficiently. Your life is God’s garden, and He will provide exactly what’s needed for you to be and do everything He intends. There is always perfect order in all God does, and His order consistently expresses His provision and loving care. At the beginning of time, God made a Garden in Eden and provided a river to supply its life and growth.

Before He commanded vegetation, plants, and fruit trees to cover the earth, and the fish and birds to fill the eases and skies, He provided a separation of the dry land from the seas. Before He created the animals that roamed the land, He provided the plants of the field to sustain them. And before He created man, He provided everything that man and woman would need: perfect surroundings, ample food, meaningful occupation, and loving companionship. God has not changed. Here are some things that I know about God.

(1) When He gives you a gift or talent, He will provide a time and way to share it meaningfully to bless others.

(2)When He places a dream in your heart, He will provide an opportunity to pursue that dream and find some measure of fulfillment, not frustration. “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.” Psalm 37:4 NLT.

(3) When He allows a need to surface in your life, He has already made provision for your supply and satisfaction. “Your Father knows what you need before you ask.” Matthew 6:8 NIV.

(4) When He gives a command to obey, He will provide you the means and ability to do so. ”For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13 NKJV.

“God will provide all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus . . As your days, so shall your strength be.” Philippians 4:19/ Deuteronomy 33:25 NKJV. God’s provision is according to His riches, and your days! Always more, never less. The divine proportion is always ample. Look for the river that waters the Garden of His making!

My prayer for you today is that you will be confident of unfailing provision and grace.

Devotionals creation, Deuteronomy 33:25, Garden of Eden, Genesis, God's Garden, Philippians 4:19

“Prove all things; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21 KJV.

“Everything that is good or will be good, may not seem good to you at the time.”

My thoughts today are about “seeing the good.”

Maybe everyone’s mother said, “Eat your vegetables; they’re good for you.” All I knew was that they didn’t look good, and I didn’t think they would taste good either, and I had no interest in trying them. But Mom knew best (and was the boss!); she knew, and had convinced Dad, the nutrition and vitamins that I needed, and that my tastes would eventually mature and change.

Ever wonder who decides what’s good and what’s not? It would seem to me that only the one who knows why something is good can pronounce it as such. God looked at His creation and pronounced, “It is very good.” Genesis 1. God should know!

Eventually you learn that everything that is good, or will be good, may not seem good at the time. Usually, good is a subjective and arbitrary interpretation of how you feel about something at the moment, rather than an accurate evaluation of potential or intrinsic value. People rush to judgment, with little time or regard, accepting as fact what they judge true right now.

If you know the story of Joseph, you know how amazing is the grace and forgiveness he showed his brothers and the even greater faith in God he demonstrated when he said, “God intended it for good.” How they treated Joseph was not good by any definition, and what subsequently happened to him because of their behavior could not be described as good.

Joseph did not feel good about being abandoned in a pit, and sold as a slave far from home. He did not feel good about a woman’s accusations and lies, nor see any good about being wrongly thrown into prison. The day came when he saw the providential hand of God all along the way - not causing the very bad things that happened to him – but faithfully orchestrating the good that did result. Not good at the time, but best in God’s time! Then Joseph could confidently say, “You planned evil against me, but God intended it for good.” Genesis 50:20.

Much later, the Apostle Paul would write, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 NIV. Really, there are difficult times when trusting that truth is quite a leap of faith. Remember; God does not promise everything begins as a good thing or concludes in the way you regard good, nor that the promise is true for every individual who wishes it to be – it is only irrevocably true for those “who love God, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Read the verse that follows. The good to which God promises to work is: according to His purpose for your life. And what is that? “To be conformed to the likeness of His Son!” Romans 8:29 NIV. That’s what life is all about; that is very good.

My prayer for you today is that you understand all that is good is always best.

Devotionals 1 Thessalonians 5:21, accuasations, conformed, creation, God, good for you, Joseph, leap of faith, prison, Romans 8:28-29 NIV, vegetables

“Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things.” Isaiah 40:26 NKJV

“The Bible is clear, not ambiguous nor apologetic as to its claim.”

My thoughts today are about “a sense of wonder.”

You live in a pretty amazing world, far too amazing to be an accident that happened without reason or origin. People can argue all they want about origins, but believing that this astounding masterpiece of creation came about without a Creator requires far more trust in fallible man’s explanations than I am able to muster.

The Bible is clear, unambiguous and unapologetic as to its claim. “The heavens are Yours, and the earth is Yours; everything in all the world is Yours – You created it all . . the Lord merely spoke and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. He gave the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs . . let everyone stand in awe of Him. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at His command.” Psalm 89:11/33:6-9 NLT. Is that hard to understand or explain? Of course, it is, but not more difficult to believe than that all of this that you see and at which you marvel, came from some cosmic explosion and a gradual, though unexplainable evolving of species.

Which is more foolish? To accept the existence and unequaled power of God to create this world of majestic beauty, order and wonder? “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Hebrews 11:3 NIV. Or to believe that all the wonder of creation is possible without a Creator; to assume this unparalleled design and order was without any forethought or plan? Either takes faith to believe, and it would appear to me that the latter demands blind faith.

Don’t be intimidated by those whose apparently certain explanations seem so rational and academic; their rationality also leaves no place for God anywhere in life. He is not only dismissed from creation, but also relegated as irrelevant, if at all existing. Consider this: if the Bible is in error as to its claim of creation, how can you believe any of its claims about eternity? If there is no Creator, then there is no Savior, and man is alone in an amazing universe without God. If you choose creation without its creator, you are left with one but not the other. I choose the Creator and His creation; therefore, I have the One with the other.

The Psalmist reasoned, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have set in place; what is man that You are mindful of him . . that You care for Him?” Psalm 8:3-4 NIV. “The world is not lacking in wonders, but in a sense of wonder.” (G. K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, prolific English writer and orthodox Christian.) Don’t lose your sense of wonder.

Look around you; there is beauty and majesty to be considered and its Creator to be enjoyed. Stand on a clear and expansive, star-filled night with nothing but the sights and sounds of nature surrounding you. In all you see, do not miss knowing the One from whose hand it has all been given. “Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things.” See Isaiah 40:26 NKJV.

My prayer for you today is that you are not blinded by what you cannot explain.

Devotionals amazing, Bible, creation, Creator, Hebrews 11:3, Savior, sense of wonder, unambiguous, unapologetic, universe

“Happy is the man who gains understanding.” Proverbs 3:13 NKJV

“Experience is a great teacher, a path to understanding for those who learn its lessons.”

My thoughts today are about “valuable life-lessons.”

You are not born with knowledge and understanding. You came into the world with a blank slate – as a book of blank pages waiting to be written upon as you learn and grow. That book will become the story of your life, the sum of knowledge that you daily accumulate through your ability to listen and learn.

There is truth written on your heart by your Creator, but life and the shared knowledge and understanding from others will help you to discover and appreciate it. The Apostle Paul wrote of “the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness . .” Romans 2:15 NKJV. You must learn to look within and listen for His voice of truth residing in the depth of your heart, pure and undeceived. Isaiah wrote, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” Isaiah 30:21 NIV.

There is a world that God made, with wonders unexplainable except for a Creator. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Read Psalm 19:1-6 NIV.

The problem is not a lack of knowledge and understanding available; that is ample. God has given the Bible, His record of truth and wisdom to be food for your mind and soul and direction for life. “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.” See Psalm 119:97-106 NIV. You have also been given the promise of the Holy Spirit who will reside within those who receive and welcome Him. “When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13 NIV.

All of the above are to prepare you for gaining understanding and wisdom from valuable life-lessons. That’s where you translate what you have seen and heard into what you will believe with certainty and conviction. Life dispenses knowledge to those who desire it, to those who will hear and receive it. The most valuable life-lesson is to learn to keep God at the center.

From life you gain experience, some pleasant and others not so much. Experience can be costly. There often is a price to be paid, but one well worth paying. From every experience you can learn something useful, but that does not happen automatically. There is an oft-repeated quote, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates, Greek philosopher 469-399 BC. You cannot avoid mistakes, but you can reduce their frequency, grow from them, and avoid making the same ones again.

Experience is a great teacher, a path to understanding if you will choose to learn its lessons. People have experiences everyday; not everyone considers and evaluates their lessons to learn from them. Be one person who learns, and lives more wisely. It is sad to see people who spend their lifetimes making the same mistakes, with ever greater costs to themselves and others. Don’t let that be true of you.

My prayer for you today is that you always view life through the matrix of God’s truth.

Devotionals Bible, creation, experience, Holy Spirit, learning, life-lessons, matrix, Socrates, sum of knowledge, valuable, voice of truth