He's Calling You

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him!” The disciples called the blind man and told him, “Cheer up! Get up! He’s calling you” (Mark 10:49)!

Greetings,

Bartimaeus was a blind man who had been calling out to Jesus for mercy.  Christ answered by telling His disciples to call Bartimaeus over.  They encouraged Bartimaeus by saying, “Cheer up!” Other versions of this verse have the disciples saying, "Take courage," "Take heart," "Be of good comfort," "Have confidence," and "Be of good cheer!" Why? Because the Miracle Worker had stopped for him and was calling him over; something amazing was about to take place!

When Bartimaeus and Christ finally meet face to face, Bartimaeus has his eyesight restored. And every single time we call on Christ, He stops, He listens, and invites us over too.  So today, cheer up, take courage, and have confidence. The Miracle Worker is calling you, and something amazing always takes place when we are in His presence.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we are grateful that we can meet face to face with You.  We are comforted because You love us and are listening to us. You are the Miracle Worker, and we invite Your power into our lives. Restore us! Revive us! Renew us! Redeem us! In Your name, we pray, AMEN~

Day and Night Can Not Dwell Together~

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

Greetings!

So many of you DEVO readers not only shared what you are shaking off this year, but also wanted to know what I am letting go of. 

Many of you are determined to rid yourselves of fear and the right to always be right.  Many of you long to keep your mouths shut rather than say something mean, rude, or negative.  Many of you are throwing away the anger that is damaging your relationships.  Many of you are determined to turn that frown upside down and just embrace life.  Most of you really want to forgive yourselves for past mistakes and errors in judgment and deeply desire the ability to stop beating yourselves up.  I personally am determined, through the power of Jesus, to stop complaining!  Precious Jorge assured me that he rarely hears me complain, but I know the truth.  I do it a lot to myself, and it ain’t pretty. But, let me just say that all these things we want to send packing are worthy to be tossed out, and things I think we have all experienced at one time or another

But why forget? Where's the harm?  

There's an old Indian proverb that says, "Day and night can not dwell together."

In other words, it is impossible to be the best, most peaceful, happy, hopeful, joyous, loving people we can be while simultaneously holding onto toxic ways of thinking and being.  I can not spend the entire day thinking about how angry I am at somebody who offended me and expect to be in a good mood at night.  And if I spend the day complaining about certain aspects of my job that I find challenging, it drains me of energy for the rest of the evening.  I know, because I have done it.  God is well aware of our tendency to stubbornly hold onto junk, which is why He wants to replace it with "a new thing."

The past is the past, but this "new thing" is written in the present tense because God is constantly at work refreshing, renewing, redeeming, and restoring our lives.  He's a "now" God. "Now it springs up."

This means that at this very moment God has something in His arsenal of blessings to send your way so you can transition from living in the mess of the past to the glory of the future -- one that is wrought with the immeasurable goodness of heaven.  

First, we must be willing to forget the former things; next, we must see what it is God is trying to do.  If it is springing up all around us, then let us boldly as God to give us eyes to see. 

Psalm 119:24 "Open my eyes so I can see what You show me of Your miracle-wonders."

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Give us eyes to see what we have been missing out on.  Sometimes we get so hung up on hanging onto junk that we miss the new and beautiful ways You want to restore, refresh, redeem, and renew our lives.  In other words, You want to make it up to us.  All the hurt, pain, disappointment, failure etc...We take You up on Your offer and are determined to hang onto the new blessings headed our way.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~