Being Still in His Presence
i want to share with you today’s devotional from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. with scripture references: Psalm 46:10; Numbers 6:25-26
Take time to be still in My Presence. The more hassled you feel, the more you need this sacred space of communion with Me.
Imagine the pain I feel when My children tie themselves up in anxious knots, ignoring My gift of Peace. Receive it gratefully; hide it in your heart. My Peace is an inner treasure, growing within you as you trust in Me. Therefore, circumstances cannot touch it. Be still, enjoying Peace in My Presence.
It is so important to take time and be still in Gods Presence, but it is also sometimes not something that is easy to do. It is sometimes hard to do so because a lot of people live with a busy on the go mentality which as you can see has nothing to do with being still in His Presence. Its hard for me at times because there are so many distractions in the day. Like T.V., the Internet, people. Also the fact that my family and I are in the process of moving downtown and the fact that i will hopefully be going to Hong Kong in January for YWAM. even tho the Hong Kong piece is three months away, it still is a thing on my mind. With all that going on there is bound to be a lot of stress involved. So there has to be a real good discipline on our part to breathe slowly and just soak up Gods Peace.
Numbers 6:25-26 says “the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” I think what God is saying and showing to Moses and us is what a blessing it is to have His face turned towards us and how when he does and we ache for him his grace is strong. when the Lord turns his face towards us we will be given Peace because of who He is and what his Presence brings. But this is also a priestly Blessing that the Lord told Moses to pray over the Israelites, which has the context make more sense.
Psalm 46:10 says “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” I love this verse because it is a simple statement to the blind eye, but within it shows great power of an endless magnitude. it also is showing that if you are to be still and not let life nudge you away from God. you will feel the power and passion that God has in this world. That he is worthy of all of our praise. That he does have a hand on things of this world though they are fallen.
So take time each day; doesn’t matter the time, and be still and drown in his Peace and presence. you will be amazed what He will do in your heart whether it is noticeable right away or not. if you let him in your heart He will make an amazing and great impact on your heart and thoughts and life. He is love
On the look out for the underdog
One look at a high school or a middle school and we see cliques. there’s the Jocks, the preps, the nerds, the goths and the outcasts. but that really is big and commercial way of looking at High School and middle school. you see i feel that in some cases(not all) there are the jocks who most have been pushed by there parents to do sports..and sports have become the identity. they feel like there worth something. there are the preps. who in some cases will do anything to stay popular. whether its drinking at a party when everything in there mind is saying its not worth it, it wont make you cooler. but then the other part that a lot of the time screams louder than the other is saying: “come on, you need to loosen up like your friends say, your friends will make fun of you if you don’t, your worthless if you don’t do the things your “friends” do.” see this kind of reminds me of that one commercial were a kid is at a tattoo shop and is getting all these tattoos of names people have called him. and see a lot of times the bad names are burned into there heart. i know from experience. some people dont realize how much those sharp words begin to shape how that person thinks of him/herself. its painful false burden of identity. one of the big steps and probably the hardest steps to having it so that those words dont have a firm grip on your heart and self-image is forgiveness. i love this verse that goes along with forgiveness: ‘When you stand to pray, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your sins also.’ Mark 11:25 another thing is to give up those words to God and let him cleanse those harsh words. theres also i transformation that you have to allow God to be the one who defines you. I mean hes the one who made you and knew your name before you were created in the womb. once you let him it..his light will pierce the heavy darkness that has numbed your heart and made your world small. and break them off and transform into who you really are. a light unto this world. since i experiance bullying during high school. i have had a new passion that has recently been lit for the underdog. the one who doesnt think much of themselves. the one who walks with a heavy heart. the youth. i have that passion to show them how much God delights in who they are. and that they are loved, they dont have to have that fake smile saying everything is ok like so much of us do. i want them to be able to cry out to God at the top of there lungs when there in pain. and to cry out with joy in how amazing God is. not afraid of what others think but know who they belong to. so i will cry with them when there in pain, i will dance with them when they are filled with joy, much like God does. not to say im anywhere near to the perfection of God. but to say that i want to live like God is in me like he fills my thoughts and breaks off the burdens. God is more than amazing. much love to all you guys. thanks to those who have and are helping with my journey with God.
