A Devotional by Margot Cioccio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtfxpmrBKDA&feature=share&list=PLAE37DF69613BB3F3
ש Sin and Shin - Psalm 119 from The Voice
161 Princes persecute me without reason,
but my heart remains true and is awed by Your words.
162 I celebrate because of Your promise,
like someone who discovers great treasure.
163 I despise and abhor lies,
but I love Your law.
164 Seven times every day I praise You
because of Your right rulings.
165 Those who love Your law have an abundance of peace,
and nothing along their paths can cause them to stumble.
166 I wait for Your salvation, O Eternal One,
and I live out Your commands.
167 My soul is faithful to Your decrees,
and my love for them is extraordinary.
168 I live according to Your precepts and decrees
because everything I do is right before Your eyes.
Princes persecute me without reason,
but my heart remains true and is awed by Your words.
Who are the leaders in your life? We all have people that we answer to be it family relationships, work relationships, social and spiritual relationships.
Are you feeling persecuted or undervalued, miss understood or under attack?
You can't change who your parents are but could you change how you relate to one another?
Bosses: Is it possible that your values and goals no longer match up. Is it time to consider a change in jobs or positions or maybe in your attitude. What leadership relationship is out of sync at this time? Is the persecution truly with out reason or are there things that you could improve. I notice that many people that I meet in the homeless community have very little in the way of relationship skills. They also don't have good models and mentors. They need people who will do more than donate food and clothes they need people who will donate time to walk with them through the process of growing in healthy relationship skill. I am awed by the Word because in it we can find God's right way of doing relationships. Change is a process and it is uncomfortable. It helps to have people who will encourage and hold you accountable to the changes you want to make.
I celebrate because of Your promise, like someone who discovers great treasure.
I despise and abhor lies, but I love Your law.
Do you celebrate the promises of God or do you question if God will really come through for you.
Do you stand believing that God will make things right in His perfect timing?
I turned in my keys at the church today as this was officially my last day in the office admin position. I still don't know what is next but I do know that God will show me in His perfect time.
He has good things planned for me. I can stand on His promises. I can celebrate the ending of one thing and know that before long He will show me whats next. In the mean time I can rest in Him and be secure in His love for me. I can trust that His favor does and will rest upon my life. That His Holy Spirit is actively leading and guiding me. That I am His sheep and I expect to know and hear His voice. So turning in my keys felt a little weird but any time you move out of your comfort zone and the land of familiar it feels weird. I have gone through enough changes to know it will not feel weird for long. I will start to get the hang of the new thing and I am confident that the Lord is walking with me every step of the way. You know why - because I invited Him to be with me. He is my first, not my last resort.
Seven times every day I praise You because of Your right rulings.
Those who love Your law have an abundance of peace, and nothing along their paths can cause them to stumble. I sat down this morning and tried to write this post - and it felt flat so I went on with my day. I trusted that God would give inspiration that would likely come out of my day. I was waiting for my oldest son, who was at a school dance and rather than spend my time driving back and forth I sat in the parking lot and read a book. One of the questions that it posed was: If an outsider were to measure your prayer life, how many minutes our hours a day would they find you solely absorbed in the activity? You were to rate your self on a scale of 1(low) to 10 (high). Prayer has become a way of life. I get up in the morning before my family to enjoy the quiet time with the Lord, I pray when I'm driving, I pray in the bathroom, I pray in the middle of the night when I wake up. I have made a conscious effort to look for ways to practice the presence of God. I believe prayer makes a difference. I have a sense of wonder to see how the Lord move in response to my prayers. I try to do the same thing with His word, I read it, I study it, I post it on stickies, I sing it, I make a point to remember it and stand upon it as the truth. I have to say that I do have an abundance of peace and I trust that nothing on my path can cause me to stumble. His word is a light unto my feet.
I wait for Your salvation, O Eternal One, and I live out Your commands.
My soul is faithful to Your decrees, and my love for them is extraordinary. I live according to Your precepts and decrees because everything I do is right before Your eyes. I was thinking about why David was called a man after God's own heart. He was as imperfect as the rest of us. So why would God say that about him. I think it is partly because he was quick to turn to God but I think there is more. I think that David was able to see what was not and move towards making it something that others could experience. He was able to stand before a giant and see him defeated. He was able to bring the arc back. He was able to institute worship that was musical on a high high level, with hundreds serving as singers and musicians. He wanted to build the temple - he could see it in his mind. God told him no, that he had too much blood on his hand and it would be his son who would build it. David went on to gather all the many supplies and sought the favor of other rulers to acquire various supplies. He could look at problems and see possibilities. He could see a thing that was not yet as if it already existed. I think those qualities were what made this man different and exceptional and a man after God's heart. I want to be like that a person of extraordinary vision who sees what is not yet and who by faith takes steps to make it something that others can also experience and be inspired by and be drawn closer to God. Maybe I've finally landed on a personal mission statement.
Well tomorrow is the final day of this Psalm. I hope you enjoyed it. I know at times I felt like the kid in the back of the car on a long driving trip who kept asking "are we there yet? I will be taking the month of June off from posting. I do have a post scheduled for Monday that has links to posts you probably missed. I've written over 500 posts at this point. I'm pretty confident that there is plenty in the cupbords here at A Devotional Mosaic, and that no one will starve if I take a break. You might have to use the links in Monday's post or you might try searching key words in the new Search This Blog box. Theres also Blog Archive on the left side of the main blog site page. I also just added a contact form. Its a little more private than posting a comment that everyone can see.
I'd love to hear from you anytime about ideas or thought you have about various posts. Plus... I do e-coaching and phone coaching. If you have something you are ready to work on I would love to assist you as a coach to achieve your goals.
~ Margot
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