Words in Red are excerpts from my journal as I have been taking the words of Jesus and letting them speak directly to my own heart.
John 6:35: “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never go hungry; and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
I once heard someone say that we’re all as full of God as we want to be. Jesus, You are the Bread of Life – the food my soul craves – and I can partake of your nourishing, life-giving Presence any time I want. You are the pure water that refreshes my parched soul that dries out so quickly in the pressure and activity of this life.
Lord, You have made a way for all to enter into Your rest – that rest which is elusive to us any other way but through You. Every other attempt to nourish and hydrate our souls is a cheap substitute that doesn’t bring true life.
And all I need to do to access this soul-satisfying refreshment is to come and believe.
Lord this is hard to do sometimes. All too often, my regrets and failures haunt my thoughts while the frantic situations of my life swirl like tornado debris in my mind. Instead of coming to you to find freedom and breakthrough for my soul, too often I either wallow in hopeless muck or stand like a deer in headlights in the face of my challenges.
Lord, I ask that You would remind me today that I can have all the peace, power and real life that I want. Help me to come in faith believing and rejoicing in the fact that You always welcome me with open arms. In your presence, Your life saturates and purifies my passions, heals my brokenness, enlightens my thought patterns, aligns my judgments and assertions, and soothes my longings. In Your presence, I am made new!
Now you:
- Do you find yourself running around like the proverbial chicken with your head cut off, too busy to spend time with God, too harried to hear his voice, and too frantic to sit quietly at his feet?
- Are you spread too thin with not enough time for everything that is on your plate?
In the gospel of Luke, Chapter 10 there is a great story about two sisters, Mary and Martha. Luke tells us that Martha opened her home to Jesus and his disciples as they were traveling in the area. Now keep this in mind: Jesus traveled with not only the 12 disciples, but he was also usually accompanied by a large crowd. So opening one’s home to Jesus meant feeding a cast of thousands (well, maybe not literal thousands, but it was certainly more than a quiet dinner party!)
The story goes on to tell us that Martha is running around fretting about the details, probably cooking, organizing, hostessing, making sure that Jesus and everyone around him had something to drink, while she juggles various culinary challenges. All of a sudden, she notices something very disturbing – her sister, Mary, who should have been hustling in the kitchen right beside her, is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to Him teach. The nerve of that girl! Martha is royally ticked off so she marches out to Jesus and gives him a piece of her mind. She barks out, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine giving Jesus a snap-down! Martha and her siblings must have been very close friends of Jesus for her to feel comfortable enough to speak to him in such a tone. But I think that his response must have really caught her off guard. He didn’t put Martha in her place for her tone; but He did correct her for her lack of comprehension of what was truly important.
Jesus said, “41 Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[f]Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Oh boy…that word pierces my heart on so many levels! Does it convict you, too? Out of all of the things you will do today, according to Jesus, there is only one that is needed. And that is spending time listening to Him.
How many times do you race around distracted by and fretting about a bagillion (yup, it’s a made-up word!) details , never leaving any time to fellowship with the Lord? How many hours in the past week have you spent occupied in your daily work and the concerns of your life versus spending time in the presence of the Lord, be it in prayer, worship, or reading His word? We can have as much of God’s presence as we make room for and unfortunately, I think most of us make far too little room in our day.
Last year, I got the idea to put a reminder in my phone that simply says, “Read the Word”. I downloaded the YouVersion Bible app on my phone so I could easily log in and read a scripture no matter where I was. It’s made a huge difference in my mindset throughout the day as I have an afternoon “re-alignment” of my heart and mind at 2:00 PM!
Here’s the link for the YouVersion Bible app. I hope you take advantage of the reading plans, the daily scripture, the ability to highlight and save your favorites and the easy access to the Bible!
Dear Lord, help us to remember today that one thing is needful – and that is to be near You. You have so much to say to us and to impart to us. Your good thoughts about us outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore. Therefore, let us tune in to your voice so that we can go out into our world empowered and affirmed. Lord, your presence is too wonderful for words. Let us take advantage of the fact that we have an open door to You any time, anywhere. Help us to come and believe that You are a rewarder of those who diligently seek You.
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