Insight

Day 72
There are things in your life, in your home, and in the lives of others that you cannot see or do not understand. When you see them, you may perceive them incorrectly, based on human understanding and the knowledge you have up until now.

To understand these things and to know what to do about them, you must pray in the Spirit and cry out for understanding, insight and discernment. Spend time planted at the feet of Jesus, calling out and waiting for my wisdom and my understanding of these matters. This is obedience. You will receive instruction for further steps of obedience, and being in the Spirit will cause you to be certain, firm and unwavering in your obedient actions (which are your good works).

My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.

For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him. Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe [Proverbs 2:1-11, NLT].

Make Room

Day 71
I know your heart. I know every concern of your heart. Will you lay them all before Me? If you hold onto things too tightly, I cannot have my way with them. Whenever a thing is of such concern that it causes you to worry, to spend time turning over in your mind about what you should say, what you should do, you are being anxious, like I told you not to be, and you are not letting Me take care of it.

What does it mean to let go? How will you know when to do or say something and when to refrain from doing or saying? The way to know is by absolute dependence on Me -- moment by moment. This is not natural for you. It is learned. As you learn this obedience, your life will be guided and ultimately controlled by the Supernatural -- Me!

This happens by starting each day with your full attention given to Me. Make the room, and give the time for this to happen. Then, as you go through the day, keep making room for Me and keep turning your full attention to Me.

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life [Philippians 4:6,7 - The Message].

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word [John 8:36,37].

Hope

Day 70
Proverbs 4:5 -- Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.

When you have negative attitudes in your heart, negative thoughts in your mind (gloom, depression, hate, envy, worry, confusion, timidity, doubt, frustration, an irritated spirit), you are swerving from the Word of God, and have forgotten it.

There is a word in my Scripture for every negative attitude that assaults you. When you are assaulted, find my word that will bring truth, protection, peace, joy, love, power, self-control, confidence and a sound mind.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline [2 Timothy 1:7].

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God [Ephesians 6:10, 11, 16, 17].

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar. I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me. But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. “O God my rock,” I cry, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?” Their taunts break my bones. They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?” Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! [Psalm 42:5-11].

Will You Be Tossed About?

Day 69
When I call you to walk out on the water, it won’t be during times of calm. I give you grace – power to walk over the waters of the tempest. Ask Me to give you the command, and immediately obey it. How will you keep from being tossed about? Don’t be tossed about! Take courage – I am calling you. I am teaching you, I am guiding you, and I am holding you up with the right hand of my righteousness. Keep your eyes on me. Pay very, very close attention. Do not give your attention to the waves. Whatever you give your attention to will carry you about. Do not let your attention be divided. Press in, press into Me.

Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." Peter said to him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." And he said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus [Matthew 14:24-29].

God alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea [Job 9:8].

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord [James 1:2-7].

Shaped and Filled

Day 68
How can you be one with Me in the midst of all that surrounds you, pressing in from every side, from above and below? These pressures are my tools, in my hand, to shape you into my likeness. Allow them to turn your eyes and your ears toward Me. This is life's journey. Through all that happens, press on toward the goal, fixing your eyes on Jesus. Study his life, how he acted and reacted. Then you will know him and you will know my character. As you study my word and see my attitudes and actions, you will understand my character, and my thoughts will become your thoughts. Know my ways, and you will be like Me.

Your attitudes determine how you will act (think -> say -> do). Have the mind in you which was in Christ Jesus, who made himself nothing. He emptied himself and I filled him with myself. I will fill you, and I will guard your ways, determine your steps, and make your paths straight.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either. It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training [Hebrews 12:2-7, The Message].

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped , but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father [Phillipians 2:5-11].

There is a Plan

Day 67
My presence is with you always. I am in the falling rain and in the shining sun. My creation tells about me. You can see my character through what I have created, by what I do, and by knowing my word.

Let your consciousness of Me be foremost in your mind. Knowing Me -- not just about Me -- is the key to life. By being filled with my Spirit, you can know Me from the inside out. You can know my mind. My Son made that possible when he became a human being. He walked with Me like you can walk with Me. By his resurrection, you have newness of life -- direction, purpose, wholeness and fulfillment. All the work has been completed for you. You have only to take up your cross and follow Me. When you take it up, that means you commit to putting yourself to death. The hopes, dreams, desires and plans you have for yourself and your life here without Me are what you nail to that cross. Those dreams are empty and without purpose, and you will waste all your time and energy trying to follow them.

Follow me instead. I know the plans I have made for you, and my purposes are sure. They are for you, not for Me only. Your unique design and personality, your personal strengths and weaknesses, and all your innermost needs, I have formed and fashioned with careful precision to fit flawlessly into my tapestry of creation. All you will ever see with your human eyes is only a small part of the whole design. I will show you enough so that you can trust Me for all the rest. You will see it all and enjoy it fully someday.

Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that will I do [Isaiah 46:8-11].

There's a Bigger Picture

The Ohio River

Day 66
You have seen my power. You know that all things are in my hands. I am making you ready, prepared for each day as it comes. Do not forget my words that you have seen. Do not lose sight of my power and my ability to keep all things in my control.

My presence in your life will fill you with joy that sustains you when you feel emotionally drained. It's all right when you go through trials, and you can persevere because of my strength within you. The emotional highs are to build you up, and the emotional lows are to build you up, too. All things work together in my design. Nothing will escape my sight and my full knowledge.

But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love [Psalm 31:14-16].

I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? [Jeremiah 32:27]

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need [Hebrews 4:13-16].