to know His voice

I have lived with my roommate for only a few months, but I already know her. I know her voice, her quirks, the things she struggles with, the people she loves and respects, her tendencies and habits. Her character, her personality, her ways. I have a few other friends that I know in the same way: their character, personality, how they think, and even sometimes what they think. Some people I can read as if they were an open book to me. Others I can read like a VCR manual, I understand the words, but the way they are put together doesn't make much sense.

The same is true about my relationship with God. Over the years, I have learned to hear His voice, to recognize His touch, and to understand some basic truths of who He is.

There are so many revelations of God in His Word. The Bible boasts of His greatness, glory, honor, and character. We know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8), that God's grace is sufficient for every repentant heart, and that His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). We know that His name is above all other names (Philippians 2:9), that there is no other like Him (Jeremiah 10:6), and that His wisdom holds secrets that are hidden from before time began (I Corinthians 2:7). And for as much as we know about the LORD, our knowledge of Him is but a fraction of a grain of sand as held up to all the beaches on earth.

Though He is the mysterious master Creator who hung each star in the sky and calls them by name, He wants us to love Him, to trust Him, to know Him, and to worship Him. That thought alone sets my mind to wonder! God invites us to participate with Him in a vibrant dance of abundant life through His Son, Jesus Christ. Our amazing Heavenly Father bids each and every one of us to come to Him with questions, to be held by His love, to find peace, hope, and healing in His Son. He calls us to seek Him through prayer and to experience new revelations of Him through His Word and through the Holy Spirit.

The voice of all of creation shouts His praise! I encourage you to pause in this moment to consider Him...to respond to Him...to meditate on His glorious splendor. As you do, He will increasingly become the all-satisfying desire of your heart, while at the same time, He will stir up a hunger in your soul to know Him even more.

What Would Moses Do?

I’m doing this thing where I’m reading through the Bible in 90 days, so basically this summer I’m reading through it. I’ve been reading for a week, and now I’m in Exodus 3. God is talking to Moses from the burning bush and tells him to go back to Pharaoh. Moses being Moses “said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ And God said, ‘I will be with you.’”

Moses clearly had some insecurity. He didn’t speak that well, he had a history with that Pharaoh, and the people of Israel had no good, logical reason to follow him out of Egypt. There were multiple reasons why Moses should not have gone back to Egypt. But one HUGE reason why he should: God told him to go. God said “do this, I’m going with you.” What more could we want? We can’t expect God to live our lives for us and just sit on the couch at home, hoping that God will bring everyone we need or want to talk to right up to our front door. We have to be willing to walk the path He sets out for us, willing to accept the call.

As I sit here with a root beer and some Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate, I can only wonder, would I be as willing to obey? Or would I come up with excuses like Moses did? We read the Bible and we see these Biblical figures as great people, people of accomplishment, and some of them are. But most of them are just like us: scared and insecure. The only difference between them and us (besides the obvious physical and space/time differences) is that they obeyed. They questioned and they struggled, but they obeyed.

How have we obeyed today? Have we, all of us, answered that call? Regardless of what the call turns out to be, missionary, secretary, pastor, have we answered it with a willing servant heart? Or have we given excuses and tried to tell God that we aren’t good enough to do the job He has for us. God does not make mistakes! He’s going to call you for something you are not made for. Some of us are made to be missionaries, some of us are made to be pastors, some of us are made to be youth workers, and some of us are made to be secretaries. The call does not matter, as long we answer it!

Have you answered it? God is with you. What other promises do you need?

I'm not_______ enough.

I'm not_______ enough.
Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth
"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV)

Friend To Friend
I'm not _____________ enough. You can fill that blank in with smart, talented, gifted, spiritual, or any number of positive attributes, but the root source of each one of those lies is "I'm not good enough." It is one of the enemy's favorite weapons and he uses it to keep God's children in bondage to feelings of inferiority, insecurity, and inadequacy. The bottom line is that the enemy wants you to believe that you are "not enough." Period. But you are enough. You are enough and have been equipped and empowered to do everything that God has called you to do.

It seems the message of "I'm not good enough to earn my way to heaven on my own," has been transformed into I'm not good enough ... period. God created man and woman and said, "It is good." We are so valuable to God that He gave His only Son to restore our brokenness.

To be honest, I could have been the poster child for this lie. If feeling inadequate was an Olympic event, I would have been on the Wheaties box. It was the undercurrent of my entire existence until I finally realized who I was in Christ. Bible teacher Beth Moore said, "In the dead of the night when insecurities crawl on us like fleas, all of us have terrifying bouts of insecurity and panics of insignificance. Our human natures pitifully fall to the temptation to pull out the tape measure and gauge ourselves against people who seem more gifted and anointed by God." That was me.

Many women are living in silent defeat, comparing themselves to other women who are living in secret defeat. I'm not a good mother. I'm not a good wife. I'm not a good Christian. I'm not a good witness. I'm not a good housekeeper. I'm not a good decorator. I'm not a good cook. I'm not a good .... Women are caught in a cycle of the "I'm not good enoughs." One by one, the petals fall from the beautiful flower God created us to be. Like ticker tape, our fragmented pieces of confidence litter the streets like the Macy's parade passing by.

Unfortunately, I wasted many precious years held captive by the enemy's lies before I held up my chained hands to God and said, "I'm ready for you to set me free."

Consider this:

Jacob was a liar.

Moses was a stutterer.

Gideon was a coward.

David was an adulterer.

Rahab was a prostitute.

Esther was an orphan.

Balaam's donkey was ...well, a donkey.

Yet God used each one of them to impact His kingdom.

God doesn't call us because we are particularly gifted or talented. He uses us because we are obedient and dependent on Him. He doesn't call the qualified -- He qualifies the called.

The truth is, if you have experienced new birth in Christ, when God looks at you, He sees Jesus. And friend, Jesus is good enough.

Let's Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You today. Because of Jesus Christ and His work of redemption in me, I am deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing and totally accepted by You. Because of Jesus Christ in me, I am equipped and empowered to do all that You have called me to do. Now, LORD, help me act like it.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

Now It's Your Turn
Go back to that first sentence in today's devotion. What would you put in that blank?

Is that the truth?

What do you think God would say to you about what you have written in that blank?

Climbing Out of the Pit, Part 2

Climbing Out of the Pit, Part 2
Mary Southerland

Today's Truth
"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1 (NIV)

Friend To Friend
At some point in life, we all will find ourselves in some kind of pit, the darkness settling around us like a paralyzing blanket of hopelessness. That deep, dark pit may have many names, but easily becomes a prison from which escape seems impossible. The journey out of that pit is a process of steps uniquely planned by your Father. He is the Guide for this journey.

Step One: Wait for God.

Step Two: Cry out for help.
Many times, those who are imprisoned by darkness and depression look for help in the wrong places. Let me share with you some of the right places to find help.

Turn to God
In Psalm 40:1 "cry" literally means "to summon." What an amazing thought! The God of the universe, the One who created the world and flung the stars into space, waits and listens for the voice of His children. When they cry out, He comes to them just like a mother runs to her sick child, calling through the darkness of night. God comes to us in many ways.

· Reading His Word Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

I lived in the book of Psalms during the two darkest years of my depression. I could no longer study but I could meditate. A friend had given me an instrumental tape of hymns. Every day, I would plug in that tape, take the phone off of the hook and read psalm after psalm for hours. They were like water to a thirsty heart, an oasis to a weary child, wandering in the dry and barren desert. I found myself in the words that I read and took great comfort in the fact that God was totally aware of everything that I was feeling.

· Talking with Him Peter 3:12 "For the Lord is watching his children, listening to their prayers."

The darkness called forth the most childlike prayer of my life. Day after day, night after night, I poured out the questions I had always been afraid to ask, my deepest fears and greatest pain. It was the most honest and powerful prayer of my life. I began to fall in love with the One who created me in my mother's womb and set me apart for Himself. When you spend time with Him, you will love Him and learn to know the sound of His voice above all others.

Turn to doctors and counselors
Proverbs 15: 22 "Plans go wrong with too few counselors; many counselors bring success."

Many people say that depression is only a spiritual problem and that there are only spiritual solutions. I disagree.

There was a terrible storm. The little girl was so frightened that she cried out in fear. Her daddy came running, gathered her up in his arms and held her tightly. He quietly explained that she had nothing to fear because God would take care of her. The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, "I know God will take care of me and love me, but right now, Daddy, I want someone with skin on!"

We often need "someone with skin on" to help us out of our depression. One of those persons may be a physician. I encourage anyone experiencing depression to get a physical as soon as possible. Depression is often a physical problem and may respond to medication. After a physical and several blood tests, my doctor discovered that I had a chemical imbalance which encouraged depression and said that it had probably been present from birth. I just thought that everyone saw life like I saw it - like a poorly developed photograph - black around the edges and closing in. It seemed as if I had lived my whole life trying to escape one dark shadow after another. The doctor prescribed medication that would correct the imbalance, but it would not eliminate the depression. It simply enabled me to have the strength and energy to deal with the issues that had led me to the pit.

Christian counseling is another valuable weapon in the battle against depression. God gave counselors their gifts to use for Him in ministry. He must have known that we would need them and the gift of healing they bring when balancing the psychological world with the healing power of a living God. Somewhere in your world, God has stationed servants who are equipped and ready to help you.

Turn to your support team
Isaiah 42:3 "He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the dimly burning flame. He will encourage the fainthearted, those tempted to despair."

A support team is essential for anyone in the pit of depression. My team carried me when I couldn't take another step and loved me when I was unlovable, encouraging me when I felt like giving up. I would still be in the darkness today if it weren't for my family, my church and my friends. God worked through them in my life.

When I married into the Southerland family, I did not know that tent camping was part of the deal. I might have reconsidered (just kidding). I decided that I could learn to camp and maybe even enjoy it! My first trip to Lake Greason in the foothills of the Ozarks was quite an experience. It did not take me long to learn the routine. Every day, Dan's mom would prepare a huge breakfast. Afterwards, the kids did dishes while mom headed for her tent, where she changed into her swim suit, put on her sun glasses, grabbed a towel and made a bee line for the lake. On the shore, she would grab an inner tube, position her towel in just the right spot, turn around and sit down in the tube. Then she would float blissfully for hours. There was a slight problem with this plan. Lake Greason had a current that would carry mom down the lake, around the bend and into the path of ski boats. Several times a day, someone would have to swim after her, pulling her back to the safety of the shore, where she would profusely thank them and go right back to floating. Finally, one of the kids came up with a great idea. Get a rope! They grabbed a ski rope, tied one end to mom's inner tube and the other end to a wooden stake driven securely into the ground. She could then float until the rope ran out and someone "reeled her in".

This is exactly what the people on my support team did for me. They rescued me repeatedly. They could see the dangers I was too weak to see. They loaned me their energy when mine was gone. They became a life line that kept me from drifting toward the brink of disaster. Has it affected their opinion of me? Absolutely! It has shown them that I am just like them - not a Superwoman -- and has given them permission to face their own weaknesses. It has modeled authenticity and transparency for them and encouraged them to be real. I know that some of you are thinking that there is absolutely no one who will sign up to be a member of your support team. If you will cry out to God and honestly seek help, He will bring your helpers.

Let's Pray
Father, I need Your help! I turn to You first. My heart cries out to You, asking for Your hand of deliverance and restoration to touch my life. Please lead me to those You have equipped and chosen to help me during this dark time. I don't see them, Lord, but I trust You to bring them. Thank You for what You are already doing in the midst of this pit!

In Jesus' Name,
Amen.

Now It's Your Turn

· Read one psalm every day.

· Pray, crying out for help from His hand, waiting on God and listening for His voice.

· Where do you usually go for help?

· What do the words "cry out to God" mean to you?

· What do you have to surrender, in order to cry out to Him?

Swollen Imaginations

by Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth
"(We are) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV)

Friend To Friend
Ada had an uneventful dental visit at my husband's office -- just a routine filling. He was surprised when she called him at home later that evening, complaining of a swollen cheek and excruciating pain.

"Dr. Jaynes," she groaned. "I can barely hold my head up. My face is swollen, I can't open my mouth, and the pain is severe."

"Ada, I'm so sorry you're having trouble," Steve replied. "I can't imagine what the problem could be. I'll call you in some pain medicine and you come in first thing in the morning."

The following day, I was working as Steve's assistant, and was amazed at Ada's appearance when she arrived at the office. Her eyes were half closed, she could barely walk, and her right cheek did appear quite swollen. Ada sat down in the chair as if every movement took great effort. She could barely open her mouth to let Steve see what the problem might be. Finally, she did manage to open slightly. Steve gently lifted her lip and a huge grim spread across his face. He reached in with an instrument and removed a cotton roll from the area between her cheek and tooth... that I had forgotten to remove the previous day.

Ada's eyes popped open as she miraculously bolted upright in the chair. "What did you do?" she exclaimed, all signs of weakness gone. Ada was miraculously healed!

Steve grinned and held up the small piece of cotton. "This is what was causing you so much 'pain.'"

Ada was terribly embarrassed.

Steve and I replayed the scenes from the previous day. Before placing the filling, he put a small cotton roll between Ada's cheek and tooth to keep the area dry. I was assisting him that day and forgot to remove the cotton roll when he had finished. When the anesthesia wore off, Ada felt her cheek and thought it was swollen. As the night wore on, her imagination ran rampant until she had worked herself into such a state, she could barely move with imaginary pain. She had made herself sick. Never once did she open her mouth and look inside. If she had, she would have seen a little white piece of cotton.

That is the power of our imagination and faulty thinking. We can talk ourselves into believing a lie to the point that it affects our actions and our emotions and even our health. However, with close examination, we can recognize the lie and stand on the truth.

Finally, Paul writes to "take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ." Just like the policeman who pursues and captures a criminal on the loose, we can capture those runaway thoughts and lock them away for good. Oh, Satan will try to post bail and set them free again. But we have the power and the authority to lock them up and throw away the key.

Let's Pray
Dear LORD, Help me recognize when I've let my thoughts run away like a wild stallion. Help me rein in worry and regret with the truth of Your Word. Thank You for the Holy Spirit who gives me the power to take every thought captive. Help me to cooperate with him.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen.

Now It's Your Turn
I hope today's devotion made you laugh. To tell you the truth, sometimes we just need to laugh at ourselves. Yes, taking every thought captive is serious business, but laughing at the way we can work ourselves up over nothing is sometimes ... well, just plain funny.

Has there ever been a time when you've just had to laugh at yourself over unnecessary worry or fretting? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

He Calls you by Name

Today's Truth
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine" (Isaiah 43:1 NASB).

Friend to Friend
Over the years, several people in my life never seem to remember my name. A few of my more popular aliases are Sarah James, Susan James, Shannon James, and Jane Jaynes. Then there are the people who just can't remember me altogether and don't even try to fish a name from their memory pool. To tell you the truth, I'm not very good with names either.

However, names are very important to God. In the Bible, a person's name revealed a unique quality of their character. Moses meant "drawn out of water." Ruth meant "woman friend." Naomi meant "pleasant," and she changed it to "Mara" which meant "bitter." Her two sons' names meant "Puny" and Piney." Evidently, these two fellows weren't exactly strapping young he-men, and both died at an early age. If a person had an encounter with the living God, many times He changed their name to fit the experiences He had planned for their futures. Abram was changed to Abraham. Sarai was changed to Sarah. Saul was changed to Paul.

Yes, names are very important. That's why when someone very dear to me forgot mine, it broke my heart.

My father accepted Jesus as his Savior when I was 21 years old. The transformation I saw in him was nothing short of miraculous. One of the benefits that I received was that he learned how to love me. In my father's later years, we had a very tender and dear relationship. But it was short lived.

A few years after dad committed his life to Christ, I noticed him becoming very forgetful. At first, it was small idiosyncrasies: forgetting an order at work, misplacing his shoes or keys, not remembering what day it was, drawing a blank on a close friend's name. Then it progressed to more serious absent-minded behavior: forgetting where he parked in a parking deck (and even which parking deck), coming home to take my mother to the market forgetting he had already taken her an hour before, and becoming confused when taking measurements for cabinets which he had been doing for over forty years. In 1987, our greatest fears were confirmed. Dad had Alzheimer's disease. He was fifty-six-years-old.

My dad had been a tough cookie as a young man. From the time he was fifty-six to sixty-six, I watched a competent, quick witted entrepreneur reduced to a man who could not remember how to speak, button his shirt or move a spoon from his plate to his mouth. But what pained me the most was the day he forgot my name.

I still remember holding his face in my hands and saying, "Daddy, it's me. Do you know who I am?" But I was only met by a childish grin and eyes that seemed to look straight through me.

Names. They are important. In Isaiah 43:1, God says, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine" (NASB). In Isaiah 49:1, the prophet announces, "Before I was born, the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name" (NIV).

As God's child, He has called you by name and the Bible promises He will never forget it. Your name is engraved on the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49:16).

On a Friday morning in May of 1996, the Lord graciously came and took my earthly father to his new home in glory. He's probably up there right now measuring for cabinets and working on all those mansions we've read so much about. His memory has been restored and I look forward to the day when my earthly father and my heavenly Father welcome me with open arms and say, "Welcome, Sharon, my daughter, my child."

Let's Pray
Dear Father, sometimes when I think of you calling my name, I am moved to tears. You know my name! You have it engraved in the palm of your hand. Thank you Lord that you will never forget me. In Jesus' precious name, Amen

Now It's Your Turn
As we have seen, names are important. The most important name in the universe is God's name. Do you ever say His name flippantly or without reverence? ("Oh my God," for example.)

How do you think God feels about His name being used as an explicative? (Exodus 20:7) Make a commitment today to speak God's name in reverence and holiness.

What does it mean to you that God knows you by name?

Write a prayer of thanksgiving to God expressing the joy of knowing that your name is engraved on the palm of His hand.