“There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42 (NLT) The heart of this ministry is to inspire a love for God’s Word and encourage the discipline of daily Bible reading and SOAP journaling. 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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Come back to Me | Chelsea Horne
S~ If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: if you remove wickedness from your tent and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you. Job 22:23-25 (NIV)
O~ I didn’t to journal on this verse at first. I wanted to journal on “Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?” (Job 22:5). I felt that I deserved the rebuke that I would get from God. But, instead, God told me that He wasn’t looking at my sin, He was looking at me! Sure, He acknowledged my sin, but that’s not what He saw. He saw His Son, in me! He removed my shame and replaced it with His Love, Grace, and Hope.
A~ I need to remember that God is unlike anyone that I have ever known. I can have hope for my future, healing from my past, and peace in my present because of Jesus! I don’t have to be afraid to come to God because even though He does see my sin, He sees His Son in my as well.
P~ Father, Thank You for teaching me to see past my sin. To see myself as You do, and for reminding me that I only need to turn back to You, and You welcome me Home again. With open arms! I love You, Lord! Thank You so very much for Loving me!
In Jesus’ Name I pray,
Amen
Joy From Torment | Kelley Deases
S~ Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV)
O~ As often as I can, I like to take sermon notes right in my Bible. This way, the next time (or ten times) I turn to that passage, I can see previous teachings from various pastors at various churches I’ve attended since I got this Bible in 1997. When I turned to this page today, I saw my notes from just a year ago when my church’s lead pastor did a series called “The Good Life.” His message’s theme was: “How we respond to adversity will determine the depth of our faith.” When hardship comes, which it always does, we ask for relief, when we should ask for wisdom (i.e. seeing things from God’s perspective).
A~ This past weekend, the Deases family had a unique opportunity to “consider it pure joy.” My husband came to me Saturday afternoon and explained how the night before (and on one previous occasion the week prior) he experienced a tightness in his chest and a shortness of breath that was alarming to him. Just describing it seemed to make the sensation come on again. To shorten the story a bit, over the next seven or eight hours at an urgent care clinic and then an ER, it was determined John is the picture of health and there was no discernible physical cause for any chest constriction or breathing impediment. Yet mentally, his condition was dire in a way neither of us have ever experienced. So great was his fear and anxiety that he was suffocating (and for no apparent reason) that he was in anguish. It actually seemed to make it worse not to be able to pinpoint the reason why this was happening, so great was his trepidation it would come on again and maybe even more severe. We reached out to family and friends, imploring them to pray for John’s health and for answers. John called his sister, whose youngest son remembered a conversation he had had with John on his last visit to Dallas months earlier about a medication John was taking. One which we failed to mention to any doctor at the ER. We were then able to piece together that John had received an injection of this drug within 24 hours of each shortness of breath episode, and a side effect is anxiety, depression and panic attacks. We feel God sustained us through the many prayers lifted up on our behalf and that He lead us to the answer we needed.
But the testimony does not end there. John relayed experiencing such torment (his word) in his mind that he actually had thoughts of taking his own life. But as these began to subside, and through the prayers of our “cloud of witnesses” he had the notion that the momentary torment was like a glimpse of Hell. As this drug is leaving his system and he is returning to a mind and heart devoted to the Lord, he has a new urgency and weighty message for those who face that torment forever if they continue to reject Christ.
As scary as these hours and days were, God is bringing us to a new level of maturity and completeness, that we will not be lacking anything.
P~ Father, Thank You for the trials. They remind us we are alive. They remind us to appreciate the day-to-day small blessings which don’t always seem like blessings until we are threatened with losing them. We want to be mature and complete; help us to find joy in the process.
Unwavering Faith | Joni Tyner
S~ Be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6 (NLT)
O~ This scripture is addressing a believer that has a divided heart.
A/P~ Dear Lord, please guide my steps, actions and words each day so that I accurately reflect my heart. I ask the You strengthen my faith to always default to You in big and little situations. I desire to be a person of integrity and consistency and that my actions might draw other people to You.
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