My Journey 8/14 - 8/15/2010

God's insight to me:

Three good devotionals with three good messages inside.

John Grant's writing brought back some of my memories of when my walk with Christ was more of 40+ years of stumbling. See, I didn't know back then that God had a plan for me. And truthfully now as I think back I wouldn't of been successful either for He was not my main priority. But God was patient and did not give up on me. When I think back of the many, many times I would drive 14+ miles not understanding what I was doing due to so much alcohol in my system. But God, through His love and grace protected me and all the innocent lives I could of harmed and changed. Now the fruits of God's love and faithfulness in me is unfolding through His wonderful plan in my life. Praise God!

Charles Spurgeon's devotional is a good one to follow John Grants. Because of my obedience to God's calling on my life I have and cherish my fellowship with the Father. It is because of my love for His Son, Jesus, that this fellowship is possible. As it is written in John 14:6-7, Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him. I am amazed that when I am presenting a song in the Seeds for Christ series I hear the Father speaking and fellowships with me. I can only pray that you also have this fellowship with Him. If not ask Him, with a sincere heart, that you may.

Katherine Kehler's devotional made me think how God has blessed me with the ability to bring His message of love and grace to His many wounded. As I share with the many residents that have viewed the God's Love Outreach Ministry programs, I am not a singer but God has blessed me with this ability. See, the driven force behind my life now, is a divine force. As the song is coming forth through me it is because of my love for Him that His message can be told. I love to tell the story of Jesus and His love.

From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott

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8/14

God has a Plan
by John Grant

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11

Have you ever known someone who has had a near death experience and survived? Perhaps it was a serious disease or perhaps a narrow escape from death. Most people who have such an experience comment that they guess the Lord wasn’t finished with them yet and had something else in store for them to do.

I recalled such an experience at an early age, when recently I read about the tragic loss of life from a flash flood on the Caddo River in Caddo Gap, Arkansas. Dozens of campers were victims of a nighttime flash flood when the river rose at the rate of eight feet per hour. Many saved their lives by scaling up the steep embankments and unfortunately many did not survive.

It made me recall a time when I was a teenager and with five others drove to Colorado to camp there for a week and then camp the following week in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Shortly after arriving in Colorado one of our group became seriously ill and required medical treatment, causing us to spend the entire two weeks in Colorado. It was much to my disappointment, as I wanted so much to see Yellowstone, where we had campground reservations for months in advance.

It wasn’t until we were on the way back home when we found out about the big earthquake, so strong that it reversed the flow of a river and obliterated the campground where we had reservations. Dozens of campers perished and certainly we would have been among them but for the illness that kept us in Colorado.

I was not a practicing Christian at the time, but I remember wondering what kind of adult life I had ahead of me and what I would have missed if I had been camping at Yellowstone. It was a sobering thought that had a deep and early impression on my life.

Sometimes God saves our life in ways we never know about. Sometimes we do. I have a friend who was flying from Chicago to Detroit and got to the gate just as the plane pulled back. He was angry that he was going to miss a meeting he felt he could not miss. But, when he found out that the plane went down over Lake Michigan killing all aboard, suddenly his attitude changes from anger to thanks. He thought that the meeting wasn’t so important after all.

The truth is that every day we live and survive is through God’s mercy and grace. He saves our life daily so we can serve and praise Him tomorrow. Truly, our days are numbered and when we will begin eternity, we know not. But one thing we do know is that each day is a gift, to be lived for His glory and mission each day. Live today as if it were your last and then be thankful when you wake up tomorrow.


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8/15

Silent Fellowship with the Father
Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2008.

“At that time Jesus answered.” Matthew 11:25 (KJV)

This is a very particular, and peculiar, way to start a verse: “At that time Jesus answered.” If you will look at the context you will notice that no one asked Him a question. He wasn’t in conversation with any human being. Yet it is written, “Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father.” When a man answers, he answers the person who has been speaking to him. Who, then, had spoken to Christ? His Father. Yet there is no record of it; and this should teach us that Jesus had constant fellowship with His Father, and that God spoke into His heart so often, so continually, that it was not a circumstance of enough importance to be recorded.

It was the habit and life of Jesus to talk with God. Even as Jesus was -in this world- so are we. So let’s learn the lesson this simple statement teaches us about Him. May we likewise have silent fellowship with the Father, so that often we may answer Him, and though the world will not know whom we’re speaking to, we will be responding to that secret voice unheard of any other ear. Our own ear, opened by the Spirit of God, recognizes His voice with joy. God has spoken to us, let us speak to God, either to set our seal that God is true and faithful to His promise, or to confess the sin of which the Spirit of God has convinced us, or to acknowledge the mercy which God’s providence has given, or to express humble acceptance of the great truths which God the Holy Spirit has opened to our understanding.

What a privilege it is to have intimate communion with the Father! It is a secret hidden from the world, a joy with which even our nearest friends cannot share. If we want to hear the whispers of God’s love, our ear must be purged and fitted to listen to His voice. Today, may our hearts be in such a state that when God speaks to us, we, like Jesus, are be prepared at once to answer Him.

Question: Are you often in “intimate communion” with God? Would you like to be?

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8/15

I want to know Him!
by Katherine Kehler

“I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him.” Philippians 3:10

Lately, I have been thinking about Jerry McGrath. He was a marvelous singer who performed at many conferences. He had been in the secular entertainment industry when he was struck down with leukemia and was no longer able to sing. Then he yielded his life to the Lord, God touched and healed him. From then on, he used his amazing voice to serve God.

During every performance he told the story of his miraculous healing and then would sing:

“Lord, I want to know You. Deep within my soul, I want to know You more.”

When he finished the song, there was not a dry eye in the audience.

Jerry had experienced the power of Christ’s resurrection, but he had also experienced suffering. I wonder, sometimes, why we so often pray and sing for the Lord’s power, but abhor the suffering? We need both to make us be like Jesus. Sadly, we have bought into the philosophy that life should be soft and easy. Christ’s life certainly wasn’t.

Father, You know what cowards we are. We want the soft and easy road. Help us to get real, Lord. Enable us not to be surprised when troubles come our way. After all, Jesus did say that in this world we would have troubles. How quickly we forget, Lord! We need You to remind us. Amen.