These are a few of our SOAP notes from today’s reading. We encourage you to read and journal on your own first, then join us in conversation about what God revealed to YOU today. Click HERE to go directly to the daily reading if you wish.
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Hearing You | Kim Chipman
S~ The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. 1 Samuel 3:1 (NIV)
O~ My study Bible points out the attitudes during the time of Judges. No one was really listening to or obeying God. “Listening and responding is vital in a relationship with God. Although God does not always use the sound of a human voice, He always speaks clearly through His Word. To receive His messages, we must be ready to listen and act upon what He tells us. Like Samuel, be ready to say “Here I am” when God calls you to action.”
Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
A~ I needed to hear this today. There can be a famine of hearing the words of the Lord in my heart if I am not pursuing You through Your Word. And by pursuing You I mean reading Your Word, soaping it out, then choosing to think on it and act on it in my life. Not just learn a few things for some quick inspiration. Truly allow Your Word to transform my heart by changing how I think.
P~ Thank You for Your Word. Help me to discipline my life and my thoughts so that I am transformed into Your image. I love You!
Christ in Me: A Call to Shout | Tara Wiley
S~ When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. I Samuel 4:5 (NIV)
O~ Israel was desperate for the presence of the Lord. (Unfortunately, they went about the wrong way of seeking Him, but that’s a different line of thought). When the ark, the place where God’s glory dwelled, entered the camp, they viscerally responded with Super Bowl-enthusiasm.
A~ The glory of the Spirit of the Living God dwells within me (I Cor 3:12, 2 Cor 3:7-18). How can I fully wrap my brain around this astonishing fact? That ark, the symbol of God’s presence and glory, was so holy, any misuse of it led to massive demise. That’s how holy and powerful He is. That same holy, glorious God dwells IN ME. Fool that I am, to make Him so small. How narrow-sighted of me to fill my mind with defeatist thinking, when the glory of God is in me! I should rise with the shout of one recognizing that the ultimate winning team is with me at all times. I should crawl into bed with gratitude for His presence, so undeserved but given with grace. When the struggle comes, I should walk into it fearless, because the Victor lies within me, equipping me and empowering me. I should seize this day with such an internal shout that everyone around me recognizes the presence and power of the Living God in me.
“’Christ in me.’
Who dares to grasp the truth? – in Him alone
The law shall be fulfilled, and only he
Who passes from the vision of the Christ
– A righteousness for him, apart from him –
To share the fullness of the risen life –
The revelation of the Christ within,
Shall please God perfectly. O if the soul
Be truly emptied – yielded up to Him,
And He in all His fullness dwell within –
A Power to serve – a Zeal to watch and pray –
A Faith to claim the promises – a Love
To sympathize and win – a Patience learnt
In sorrows of His mahood, and a Crown
Won by a Cross – if such a Life be ours
As He has laid within the reach of all,
No pathway is too rough for us to tread –
No height beyond our reach – no task too hard
To be performed – no law of His too high
To be fulfilled in us. Lo! As we die
We also rise in Him and He in us!”
by E. H. Divall, A Believer’s Songs, 86
P~ Lord, I get so narrow-minded! I see just what’s in front of me and fret, and I fear what is just beyond my sight, when all I really need to see is You in me, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)! This morning, a terrible dream set me into a terrible mindset, and it took hours to reset myself in You. Thank You for the ways You have carried me back to this recognition: going through my daily affirmations of faith, spending time with Your people and in Your creation, filing my mind with worship, and now, digging a little deeper into this mystery of Christ in me, of Your glory in me. I can release my unmet expectations and my fears and my failures into Your hands and just focus on You – and in that place, find victory. Thank You, Jesus! Let me never forget the GIFT that is Your constant presence, Your glory in me.
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