The good part of your story

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Heart Landscape

 Today I have enjoyed a quiet and restful day. I slept in and then read a book for a while. Puttered around the house doing some little chores, things that I was happy to do.  I have been trying to be more intentional about taking a Sabbath rest each week. Sunday is probably one of my busier days of the week and Saturday is full of family things so neither day is particularly restful. I believe that the God who created us, probably knows what he's talking about when he tells us to take a day of rest each week. I'm not legalistic about it but it is a way that I can demonstrate that I do trust the Lord. If He says a day of rest is important then I should make a day of rest important and make time for it in my week.

On my day of rest I try to do things that feed my spirit. Those things can be different from week to week. Today I have just enjoyed puttering around.  I've done little bits of this and that but all in an attitude of peace and restfulness. I grouted two projects with the help of my youngest son, Cai. One I have been working on for a friend who will be moving away soon. The other a heart landscape, I started working on about a week ago. I did not know who it might be for or if I would just list and sell it. I think that often the Holy Spirit leads me in my artistic expression. Some people can pray or prophecy on their musical instruments but I find that often I know the Holy Spirit is leading me, even praying through me as I am creating a project.

Today I understood why I was working on this particular project. I got a call today from one of my dearest friends. We've known each other since we were young girls in our early 20's. (That was about 30 years ago). Through the years we've been through a lot of stuff. We lost track of each other for quite a while and thanks to face book found each other in December of last year. Over the course of this past year we have talked on the phone and caught up on each others lives. We've prayed and encouraged each other numerous times. There are some relationships that pick right up as if no time had ever elapsed.   Today she called to tell me that she is getting married. I knew as we talked on the phone that the heart was for her. As I look at it now, I realize some of the random things that I put into it are perfect. I used torn paper from a love song I found in an old music book. She's a music teacher, singer, songwriter. I put a vintage couple from and antique card under the tree all with in a heart made of broken mosaic glass. I am always amazed how God can take terribly broken hearts and put them together in a new and wonderful way. As she has shared their stories in past phone calls I can't help but be thankful to God for his goodness.

Sometimes our lives can feel like we are living the book of Job for a very long time. The pain from the brokenness seems like it will never end. Then suddenly one day something shifts and changes and we just never know when that watershed turning point will be. We had talked not too long ago about how it was not a season to give up but to hold on to trust the Lord even though the road to healing recovery often seems very long.

I don't know where you are today but I want to remind you of the end of the book of Job. After loosing just about everything - in the end God restores and blesses Job far beyond what was lost. Don't give up before you get to the good part of your story.

Prayer:
Dear Lord,
You know the difficulties and struggles we often face. You know where we need to change and grow and exactly how much pressure it will take to move us from here to there. You did not just wind us up and leave us to wander till one day we would be with you in heaven. You are with us each and every step of the way. You began and continue the good work in each of us. Help us to rest in the knowledge that you are able to get us from here to there in our lives. It may look impossible from where we currently stand but none of us knows what we may find around the very next bend in the road. Thank you Lord that you weep with us when we struggle and you rejoice with us in the victories and you know all the in betweens. Thank you for helping us to rest along the way.

Mighty To Save

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Pray! The Lord is Mighty to Save

"Such fair and timely warning as this did God give to the Jews of the approaching captivity; but they hardened their neck, which made their destruction remediless." ~ Matthew Henry Commentary on Zephaniah chapter 1

Zephaniah is the great great grandson of king Hezekiah. According to Smith's Dictionary of Bible Names Zephaniah means "hidden by God". His great great grandpa Hezekiah's name meant "The might of Jehovah" I always find it interesting to look at the meaning of names. In a sense in the naming of a thing or a person perhaps gives a sense of a calling or a destiny of that person. The Hebrew people did not always name children lofty things some times like Jabez a kid gets named "pain". His cry to God is that he not bring people pain, that God would make him a blessing. There are instances where God changes someone's name, as in the case of Abram and Sara. They go from names meaning "father" to "father of a multitude" and Sara from "my princess" to "princess for the all race" show a big step up in God's destiny or plan for them. 

This was not were I was intending to go with this devotional. I believe that our words mean something or they should. God spoke "words" and created the world. He gave Adam who he created in His image, the job of naming the animals. My own name, Margot means pearl. Seems lovely enough as names go,  but pearls are made from coating layer by layer, that aggravating bit of sand or grit that gets into the oyster. God has done that with me a lot. He has helped me to take the painful and annoying things in my life and over time as I have looked to him to help me, to make them something of value and beauty. I sometimes wonder with the many trials I have been through if God did not somehow change my name to mean "maker of pearls." I believe God had a hand in my parents choosing that particular name for me. It describes me - or perhaps it has been spoken over me so much that I have become it. Names are certainly something to ponder. 

So what I had originally intended to write about from Zephaniah was some of the things that so greatly displeased the Lord in the people of Judah that Zephaniah was having to sound a warning of coming destruction. Before you start pointing out the sins of those around you take some time to examine your own heart, you might find some areas that need some attention. Ask the Lord to help you see your own blindspots in the list that follows. 

The worship of Baal, (1:4) Is there anything you are giving more importance than your relationship with the Lord? 

Priests who bow down to worship the stars, (1:5) Are you looking to the stars or horoscopes to make your decisions? Maybe using that magic 8 ball or a flip of a coin to try and determine what to do rather than go to God? Are you looking to other answers to your problems and turning to God as a last resort? 

Those who try to serve God and swear by false gods at the same time. (1:5)
Are you half heartedly following the Lord with one foot in the kingdom and one in the world. Do you put on a nice "holy" mask on Sunday and live for yourself the rest of the week?

Those who turn back from following the Lord. (1:6) Have you lost your first love, your passion for seeking the Lord. Has your Bible grown dusty and your prayer life become like stale bread? Have you gone back to old habits and behaviors that the Lord had set you free from?

Those who neither seek the Lord or inquire of Him (1:6) Do you put more trust in your insurance, your job, your connections than you do in God. Are you going through the motions in worship and your heart is not truly in it? 

The princes and kings son's and all those dressed in foreign clothes. (1:8 the clothes one needs to be wearing are the robes of righteousness.) Has your life become about collecting more and more toys and things to keep you entertained? Have you abandoned a God life for the good life? 

The superstitious (1:9) Is the only time you bless someone when they sneeze?

Those who fill God house with other gods, violence and deceit. (1:9). What is your motivation for going to church? Is it to worship God or has it become a way to connect with clients? Is it a social club or made up of living stones in a spiritual house? Are you there because you feel guilty and are trying to make sure your spiritual fire insurance is up to date? Are you there simply to be entertained? Is it simply a duty, something you've always done? Are you doing violence to others through your gossip and deceit? 

The complacent and indifferent who think God will do nothing either good or bad. (1:12) Again have you lost your first love? It is easy to become complacent in good times and in times of difficulty to think things will never change. Have you lost hope that God will act? Have you given up and allowed yourself to be lulled to sleep. Have you become a zombie, your body is present but your mind is out to lunch? 

"Such fair and timely warning as this did God give to the Jews of the approaching captivity; but they hardened their neck, which made their destruction remediless." ~ Matthew Henry Commentary on Zephaniah chapter 1

How about you? Will you allow the Lord to change you and mold you to his plans and purposes or will you stubbornly continue to go your own way? 
I do want you to see that there is hope for all of us as imperfect as we each are.

In chapter 2:3 It says "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands, Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord's anger."

In chapter 3:9 it says "Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder."

Chapter 3:11 On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city all who rejoice in their pride. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill. 12 But I will leave within you the meek and humble who trust in the name of the Lord. 

Chapter 3:17 The Lord your God is with you he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

I am embedding a video by Hillsongs United of the song Mighty to Save. I urge you to take the time to examine your own heart with the help of the Lord. 


Prayer:
I pray you will find the courage to examine your own heart, to change, to repent and become more and more like Jesus with each passing day. Truly He is mighty to save. None of us deserves the grace and the pardon we have received. I pray you will not get stuck in complacency or indifference but you will in thankfulness make your life bring God glory. So Lord, shine your light first in each of our hearts, help us to see the things that need to change. Then Lord shine your light on our lives so others can see. Let us each become living bibles and living stones. Purify our lips, that we may call on the name of the Lord and serve you shoulder to shoulder.

Heavenly Authority

A Devotional by Mark Kenney

The word “authority” appears 91 times in the bible.  There is absolutely no question we are called again and again in scripture to submit to authority.  The question must be raised however of who or what authority looks like so we know two things clearly. The first thing we will know is who and what to submit to. The second thing we will know is who and what we are not supposed to submit to.

The biggest single mistake we make in this area is assuming that just because a person is in charge of something that they have Heaven’s authority to be doing that thing.  The bible clearly draws a line between a person’s position or title and their Heaven given authority.

In Matthew 7, Jesus has no earthly title. He is not in charge of anything or anyone. No one of earthly authority has given him any authority mantle yet the scripture says in verses 28 & 29, “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”  Even the people of that time had trouble seeing the difference between someone who truly had Heavenly Authority and someone who simply claimed that they did.

People miss stories like when David was the King and yet Nathan being a Prophet didn’t roll over and submit to him.  In fact, Nathan came and brought a prophetic word of correction to him. Nathan was indeed a man of Heavenly Authority and while Nathan respected the office of the King, He held the honor of God’s throne above that of David’s.
In Matthew 21, the modern people in charge counted on everyone believing they were the ones put in place by God with God’s Authority.  This is one reason why they publicly challenged Jesus’ authority flat out by asking in whose authority Jesus was operating in and who gave it to Him. They didn’t truly want to know of course, they were just trying to raise doubts about the validity of Jesus authority in the minds of the crowds. Jesus knowing their hearts refused to directly answer but instead gave them a riddle of His own and basically outsmarted them and left them standing there looking like fools.  Point is that even though they were in charge, Jesus did not honor them as  leaders with Heavenly Authority because they did not have such.
In Matthew 28 Jesus declares “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”. This is critical to see as it puts Jesus in the driver’s seat meaning that He and only He dells out the authority of Heaven to others. After all, He’s the only one that has any to give at that point and you can only give what you have.

Luke 7 is where Jesus heals the Centurion’s servant.  In it we see a couple very powerful things.  One, we see one of the only times a person makes Jesus marvel. How would you like to be a person that it can be said about that you made Jesus marvel over you?  Well, this guy did just that.  It was because the Centurion came to Jesus with a proper understanding of the Kingdom of God being the Government of God and accordingly He knew Jesus didn’t even have to be there in person, Jesus could just give the instruction and Jesus authority would empower the word and bring the healing and that is exactly what happened.

In Luke 10 authority is given to empower people to do certain things. In Luke 19 authority is given as a reward of being faithful.

Romans 13 is where many get messed up. Here are verses 1, 2, and 3.
1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
Notice that it does NOT say there is no one in charge that is not put there by God. It says there is no AUTHORITY except from God. Big difference.  Hitler ruled Nazi Germany and slaughtered countless millions but he certainly did not have the authority of God, even though he was clearly in charge.  Jim Jones, David Koresh and many like them have been in charge of their given organizations, but they had no true Heavenly Authority. If a person rents a police uniform for a costume party, they may look just like a police officer in every way, but in reality they have no real authority.  At the same time, if a leader in the church has the title of Pastor or Elder or whatever, that in no way automatically gives them Heaven’s authority. It just gives them influence in the natural and nothing more. In fact, in the later chapters of Revelation, we see that the dragon gives out earthy “authority” (or the ability to b ein charge of things) to the beast. This is not Heavenly Authority from God spoken of in Romans 13.  The authority of Heaven is handed out by Jesus Himself since He is the one who has it all in the first place.
When a person has authority, they have the right to represent and act on behalf of.  For married couples, Paul uses authority as an example in 1st Corinthians. “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does“ Its important to see too that authority will one day be done away with. Heaven is not ran by authority as God is God and doesn’t need us to represent Him in Heaven as He is there in the fullness of His Glory all the time. It is only within the sin stained walls of earth that we are in need of Heaven’s authority.  (1st Corinthians 15)

In Summery, it becomes very important to see the difference between someone simply being in charge of something and being anointed with Authority from Heaven. You are only called by God to submit to those who do not violate clear scripture, not just anyone who happens to be in charge.  If Jesus does not return until after the great tribulation, we as believers will be forced to chose between death and the mark of the beast. This will be enforced by people in charge, but with no heavenly authority. I could keep giving many other examples, but the point is, a leader is not a leader just because they call themselves one. GOD has to call them one before they have true Heaven given authority.

All the best,
Mark

Unsaturated Space

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio 

The possibilities of a fresh blank canvas!

My friend Karen is moving from Arizona to Spokane this summer. They found and bought a beautiful house and are now in the process of turning it into their new home. So they have been thinking about what furniture and things they will want to move and what colors for the walls and drapes. Lots of exciting decisions to be make. This move is happening in stages with each visit. The next visit in November will be with the first truck load of things they will bring with them. I can't tell you how delighted that we will be living in the same city again. The following is a quote Karen sent along with a note today detailing the progress being made on the new house. It made me think about my own clutter not only in my home but in my heart. 

Karen writes "Found a neat paragraph in a book I'm reading called "Shelter for the Spirit" by Victoria Moran.  She's talking about clearing out of our homes all the clutter that doesn't serve a purpose, or doesn't make us happy.  She says, "When you exercise discernment about everything, accepted or purchased, that stays in your house, you will find yourself in the presence of something rare and wonderful: unsaturated space.  This emptiness opens the door to those things that will enrich your life in new ways.  What you want and need now is far more likely to make its way to you when you make a place for it.  By eliminating the unnecessary, you create the void.  Nature does her best to fill it.  You decide with what and how much."

Karen goes on to say "There is a verse from the Psalms that I've always loved. 

It's Psalm 101:2-3:  "I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is base." That's my guiding principle for this new house!  It's making it much easier to decide what to pack to take and what to donate, sell, or throw away!"

I have been working in my own small home to eliminate things we no longer need. I did get rid of quite a lot of stuff at the end of the summer. I'm sure I could still find more things that don't serve a purpose or make me happy. Are there any things that might be considered base? Take a look at Psalm 101 in the Message and see if it helps you determine if there are base things that you are setting before your eyes. I am pointing no fingers and I am not condemning anyone else in this. This is one of those examine your own heart and see if there are things that have an un Godly hold on you that perhaps you need to get rid of. 

A David Psalm

101 ^1-8 My theme song is God’s love and justice,
    and I’m singing it right to you, God.
I’m finding my way down the road of right living,
    but how long before you show up?
I’m doing the very best I can,
    and I’m doing it at home, where it counts.
I refuse to take a second look
    at corrupting people and degrading things.
I reject made-in-Canaan gods,
    stay clear of contamination.
The crooked in heart keep their distance;
    I refuse to shake hands with those who plan evil.
I put a gag on the gossip
    who bad-mouths his neighbor;
I can’t stand
    arrogance.
But I have my eye on salt-of-the-earth people—
    they’re the ones I want working with me;
Men and women on the straight and narrow—
    these are the ones I want at my side.
But no one who traffics in lies
    gets a job with me; I have no patience with liars.
I’ve rounded up all the wicked like cattle
    and herded them right out of the country.
I purged God’s city

    of all who make a business of evil.

Matthew Henry Commentary says this of David " A good purpose concerning his conversation—concerning his conversation in general (how he would behave himself in every thing; he would live by rule, and not at large, not walk at all adventures; he would, though a king, by a solemn covenant bind himself to his good behavior), and concerning his conversation in his family particularly, not only how he would walk when he appeared in public, when he sat in the throne, but how he would walk within his house, where he was more out of the eye of the world, but where he still saw himself under the eye of God. It is not enough to put on our religion when we go abroad and appear before men; but we must govern ourselves by it in our families. 

So there may be some clutter in your home but if you take an honest look you may find some clean up needs to be done in your heart. Are you the same person at the job as you are at church? Are you the same person at church as you are at home? Is your life sincere or are you wearing masks and pretending to be something you are not or worse not being all that you are called to be for Gods glory. 

If I apply that same clutter busting principle to my life as well as to my house are there relationships that drag you down rather than encourage you? Are there behaviors such as fear and doubt that are keeping you from doing things you would really like to do. Are you busy pointing out the flaws and failures of everyone around you when you need to pull a log out of your own eye first. 

Prayer

Perhaps you will make the following passage from Psalm 139:23 your prayer today. 

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ 

See if there is any offensive way in me,

    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Help us to create unsaturated space in our homes and in our hearts that you will fill for your purposes and glory. 

From Nobodies to Somebodies

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

A project I'm working on

^{Romans 9: 20-33} Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn’t talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, “Why did you shape me like this?” Isn’t it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn’t that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people. Hosea put it well:

I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies;
    I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved.
In the place where they yelled out, “You’re nobody!”
    they’re calling you “God’s living children.”

Isaiah maintained this same emphasis:

If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered
    and the sum labeled “chosen of God,”
They’d be numbers still, not names;
    salvation comes by personal selection.
God doesn’t count us; he calls us by name.
    Arithmetic is not his focus.

I seem to be stuck still, on what I should be when I grow up. I'm not sure why it seems to be a big deal to me at this point. I talk to my husband and he seems to think I'm already being what I need to be a wife and a mother. Part of me seems to always question if that is enough. Perhaps that is performance orientation kicking in or a feeling that my worth is some how tied to what I do. I'm sure I'm not alone in these feelings. 

I suspect that my husband is closer to the Lords perspective than I want to give him credit for. Arithmetic, productivity or dollars in the bank is not his focus. His love for me is not based on what I do or even what I might become it is because I am his. Not sure why that is so hard for me to wrap my head around. 

Before I was saved and gave my life to the Lord, I struggled to wrap my mind around the idea that one could be saved by grace. It was not something that we could earn it simply needed to be accepted. It was just too easy. No hoops to jump through. For God to love us un conditionally not based upon our performance is often hard for me to swallow. That God does not love me any less on mornings that I feel like I am slogging my way through quick sand than he does when I wake up with a song in my heart and springs in my feet.  This morning has been more of the former. I think because it is cold I did not get up when I first wolk up but laid there and lulled myself back to sleep only to later wake up groggy and hardly able to function. 

Does God love me less when I don't spring out of bed to spend time with him. I know he loves it when I do and it certainly helps my day to go better because I've set my mind on him rather than all the cares of this world. I believe he understands that we've entered into a new season both on the yearly calendar and in my spiritual walk. It will take me a little bit to get used to the changes and to make adjustments to make things work better. It seems to be often easer to extend grace and patience to everyone else than it is for me to extend that same grace to myself. 

I love this part of the verse "I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved.

In the place where they yelled out, “You’re nobody!”

    they’re calling you “God’s living children.”

There is a part of me that wants to be special, which is funny in a way because I already am special in the Lords eyes. So I think we must constantly fight the voices in our heads that say we are ordinary, sometimes it is the voices of people that we care about and want to impress or please. Sometimes it is simply our own self loathing that looks in the mirror and say all manner of demeaning things. Sometimes it is the oppression of the enemy. I have to decide what voice to believe - will I believe those voices that call me nobody! or will I believe the voice of the one who created me and knows me intimately who calls me somebody, and a child of the living God.

Most of the time things are much easier than I want to make them. I guess I just need to get to the place of accepting that God is ok with the things that I am at this point in my life. I am a mom, I am a wife, I write this blog, I paint, I make mosaics, I work at the church, I care about people. I make mistakes and fall short but most of all I am His and that alone is more than enough. 

Prayer: 

Lord help each of us to over come our feelings of inadequacy. Help us to silences the voices that belittle and demean us. Help us to look in that mirror and boldly say "I am His" and to let that be enough to silence the negativity. 

Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  

I was thinking about a scene from one of my all time favorite movies, the Princess Bride. 
I am embedding the clip just in case you have not had the pleasure of reading the book or watching the movie. 

I was thinking about those decisions in life when one must chose to go one direction or another. How can you decide what to choose? I can at times find myself sometimes looking at decisions much like Vizzini the Sicilian. Me with all my dizzying intellect can start to think that the world revolves around me. 

There are always choices that we must make along life's journey, so how do we decide. For a long time I would look at decisions and choose what looked to be the more difficult path. I've come to realize there is really no way to tell when standing at a fork in the road which path is the better one. I ask myself questions like. Which of these paths will draw me closer to the Lord. In which choice will I have to lean on the Lord rather than on my self sufficiency? Which path do I feel God's peace as I think about it. Some times one does not seem to be better than the other. Apples and Oranges are both good and with my choice I have to decide which one I want and I need to move forward and make the best of it and enjoy what that choice affords me.

This topic reminds me of the story of Abraham and Lot in Genesis 13. They had been traveling together for a while and God had blessed them to the point that their herds and servants had begun to fuss over the available resources. Can you wrap your mind around being blessed so much that you would need to part company. Abraham and Lot stood together on the hill side over looking the lands that they each could choose. Here's the actual passage. Genesis 13: ⁵ Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. ⁷ And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. ⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” ¹⁰ Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: ¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.

Abraham is gracious fellow and allows Lot his nephew to choose first. Lot choose the more fertile land that looks to be the better and easier choice. As you read on in the story he eventually ends up living in Sodom and Gomorrah, among a people that became so wicked that God finally wipes them off the map. Lot was looking for the "good life" rather than the "God life." Yet he lived a good enough life that God sent angels to rescue him and his family before destroying Sodom. Seems only one good man could be found and that man was Lot. In the end Lot could only convince is wife and daughters to flee the city as the angel instructed. They were told to not even look back but Lot's wife can help herself and is turned into a pillar. I can't help but wonder how the story might have played out if Abraham had taken that direction rather than Lot. What if rather than separating they managed to figure out how to continue to live together?  

My thought today was about how we need to keep in mind that God's purpose is to conform us to his image and he will do that no matter what decisions we make along the way. It did not matter what cup Vizzini choose - in the end both had the poison in them. Wesley is only able to live because he has spent months building up a tolerance or an immunity to the poison. God is the only one with an immunity to sin. We are always affected by our sin and the sins of others. God knows all the fears and failures that we see as we face the choice before us. He knows and understands and he desires to lead us and guide us along the way but our pride in our dizzying intellect can often blind us to the truth that we can only manage the cup before us and the poison of sin that it contains with the help of Jesus. 

In the end, God will use what ever choice we make, be it good or bad, to conform us to His image. I believe He is blessed when we choose to look to him for direction, when we choose to trust him and take steps of faith. When we chose to be thankful rather than griping all the time. I'm not saying that there are no stupid choices, there are choices that can have painful consequences. A person who has set their heart to follow God and do things His way, must prayerfully make each decision. Just don't get stuck there at the crossroads, at some point you will have to make your best decision and take that step of faith into the unknown that lies before you. It is much easier to steer a moving ship then one that is dry docked if doubt and fear. 

Prayer: Lord you know the decisions that are before each of us today. You alone know what lies around the bend in the road. Help us to take that step of faith to follow you and to trust you. Help us to be moving and not stuck so that you can gently move us along the path you desire for us. 

A Hearts Desire

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Make A Wish!

This has turned into a better really late than never kind of posts. Please forgive my tardiness today.

Psalm 37:3-5(NIV)

Trust in the Lord and do good

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:

This is the verse of the day today at Bible Gateway. I have to admit I was in a bit of a mood this morning. So I started thinking about all the things I've desired but have not gotten. What about this promise Lord it looks all warm fuzzy and like the Geni in the bottle type of verse we all want to stand upon. Not to mention that you find it on wall decor and magnets all the time.  In thirty some years of walking with the Lord I have come to realize that His blessings sometimes come in difficult packages. There are things that I have wanted that have clearly not been God's will for me. I can stand before God holding up this verse and say yeah... what about this and what about that? If you are honest you will have some of those kind of things too. 

I think it takes our fleshly desires a long time to conform to God's desires.  Things I've wanted that I have had to work much harder to change and grow to develop than I ever expected. There have been things that I have sincerely wanted but God has said no. Sometimes the process of him changing my heart to conform with his has been long and painful. I suppose that is where trust has to come in. I'm not sure I am always really all that in touch with my hearts desires. I have to choose to trust him when I don't get the things that I think I want. I need to trust him and do good. I need to go even further and change my focus from the thing I think I want to delighting in the Lord not some day when I get my way but right now in the middle of my moodiness. 

What exactly is the desire of your heart? Is it what we wish for when we blow out our birthday candles? Or might it be a deeper longing of the heart?

Solomon upon becoming King has an opportunity to ask God for the desire of his heart. God is pleased because he does not ask for wealth, or power, but instead asks for wisdom to lead God's people. Since that was his hearts desire, God gives him that and all the other stuff he didn't ask for. Here's the story in 1Kings 3:

⁵ At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

⁶ Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

⁷ “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equalamong kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” ¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.

I can't say that God has not given me my deepest hearts desire. I came to him broken and desperate and he has allowed me to live my life very close to his altar. So my hearts desire is very close to this verses found in Psalm 84:2-4

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, 
where she may have her young— a place near your altar,

Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

I think the thing I want you to grab a hold of today is that even if things are not going well in your life or how you imagined they should be - God is still worthy of your praise.We have to trust Him when we don't understand the journey that he has us on. He knows us far better than we know our selves. He knows what things and people will bring out the best in us. He knows what situations and circumstances will cause us to stretch and grow and ultimately look to Him more fully. I like to read on in Psalm 84:5-7
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength,till each appears before God in Zion.

That part about the Valley of Baka - I translate it the Valley of tears. It is the place where Hagar and her son found themselves out of water in the desert. She sat there crying thinking she would have to watch her son die. But God sent an angel to open her eyes to a near by well that she had not noticed previously. 

We can be so troubled that we are completely blind to the solution that is right in front of our nose. What if when you were passing through the Valley of tears and trials that you decided to make it a place of springs or refreshing. In your pain you cry out to God for relief and help and like Hagar he shows you the well of his presence that has been there for you all the time.  In verse seven it say that those kind of folks will go from strength to strength. 

So anyway back to the refrigerator magnet verse that I started with. There are some conditional words that kind of jump out at me and might be standing between you and your hearts desire. They are 
Trust in the Lord....
Delight in the Lord....
Commit your way to the Lord.... 
It seems to me if you are not in a trusting relationship with the Lord you may find your self teetering on the edges of double mindedness. That person gets nothing. 

As for delighting in the Lord - that does not sound to me like a poor me pity party kind of posture. You might need to change from feeling sorry for yourself to being thankful for what the Lord has done and what he is doing. Committing your way to the Lord. I don't think that means telling God "Oh yeah, were going my way  - would you please bless it and make it all work out for your glory." I think it is more about committing to do things Gods way even when it is hard, even when it does not make sense to you. 

So I have to look at that list of things that God has not done for me. It gets tossed right back at me as I remember all the things I would of or should of or could of done for the Lord.  I stand before him humbled because he has given me far more than I deserve. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, Help us to get past our griping and complaining and on to a life that is thankful for all that you have done and all that you are yet to do for each of us. Lord you want to give us our hearts desire but so often we are clueless about what we really truly desire and what we truly need help us to become people who want your will and follow your heart.