January 11th Reading
Welcome to my Daily Devo friends! I am glad you visited today...
I am loving the accountability of being in the word daily. God is teaching me so much these past weeks I can hardly keep up! I feel a WAVE coming my way and I am preparing and getting ready. I want to walk on water with Jesus in 2011!
The past year God had been repositioning and stretching me in incredible ways. I know God is preparing me for higher grounds.
All kinds of waves come into our lives. A blog friend of mine put it this way "Waves can flow from a tide of blessings or come out of a storm" Happy or hard, they can overwhelm us if we end up treading water in our own strength.
Matthew 8:23-27 presents a story of Jesus and the disciples getting into a boat and then suddenly a GREAT wave or eruption covers the boat. The disciples panic with great fear crying out "Lord, save us we are perishing!"
Jesus then asks, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Jesus then brought about a GREAT CALM and stilled the wind and the waves.
Strong waves are produced by God to rock our boats so that we discover His presence in our lives!
God loves when we call out His name...when our boats are rocking! I am learning friends to call out His name sooner before I get sea sick trying to find MY answers and solutions to every problem. I was very good at being strong , resourceful and cunning. But my boat never settled and that wave kept me covered in shame, fear and anxiety. The whole time Jesus was sleeping in my boat DREAMING about my future and waiting for me to CALL OUT HIS NAME "Lord, SAVE ME!"
Matthew 8: 24 tells us that the boat was covered with the wave but Jesus was asleep. He was peaceful and undisturbed.
God is always Dreaming for us and ready to calm our storms when we lean on His strength and presence.
When Jesus DREAMS He understands the Wave in our life.
The wave is tossing around the DREAMS of God.
D irection
R ealization
E xamination
A lignment
M otivation
All dreams are outside our comfort zone and will rock our boat. Its much more dangerous to dream than most people dare to believe. But its a great chase! To do this you must face danger and fear. Only with Gods presence can this be handled.
Saying you believe in yourself will not guarantee your success, but saying you don't believe in God will guarantee your failure. I love that perspective!
I truly believe that a wave that covers our boat opens our eyes to receive the perspective above.
If a wave has come over your boat then Thank God for Dreaming during your storm.
He has a plan for you friend.... Direction, something for you to Realize, a Godly Explanation, new Alignments for us and Motivation to get us through the storm. However you need to fellowship with Him during the storm and trust Him in the storm. If you did not get a chance to read yesterdays blog I recommend that blog to help you understand how to fellowship with Him in the storm.
Remember with every great wave comes a higher ground. Allow God to move you to higher places this year!
Do not let the wave of discomfort, disappointment and displacement keep you from reaching the top. God will take you to a place of rest, comfort and beauty. But remember only if you CALL on his name. That was key in today's reading.
I am calling on His name today for certain areas in my life. How about you friend?
Don't wait till the Wave comes over your boat to call on His name because sometimes the waves we experience are not waves of blessings but waves of punishment. Remember Jonah and the Whale in the bible? Yes, that is a true story of a man that walked away from God.
God allowed waves of punishment to purify him and bring Jonah back to God.
Have a great day friends, I am getting ready for a little snow storm coming our way tonight! Love those Snowy evenings by the fire!
Sweet Blessings
