“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." -Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT) My wife is a strong individual. Thank you Lord! During my addiction to alcohol, the results of my lies about it and commitment to my own selfish desires, she finally arrived at the point where she wanted to quit on our marriage. Constantly being let down and living in her pain, she didn’t know what else to do. But her love for our marriage ignited the Holy Spirit in her to fight for God’s Will in her life. She believed in better. She knew within her the ‘joy’ God promised her. She submitted and gave it all to Him to take care of. When she did this she believed that everything after her submission would bear the fruits of her endurance through the storm. Her faith was so strong that she endured another long year and a half in dealing with me and my selfish issues and addiction. A year and a half! Most of us would give up on prayer after three days; a month tops. But because my wife’s roots were planted in the Word of God; receiving nourishment even through the winds and storms; she never broke. The bending may have been painful, but her strength in endurance kept her from breaking. This is what God taught me through Yolanda about faith. Without this kind of faith and love, the bible says in Jeremiah 17:6 we would be like, “…stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future.” ~ NLT Let us always keep our faith nourished by God’s unchanging Word, like the tree is nourished by the water of the river it was planted beside. Like the tree, we will not give way to our surroundings but be made strong by what we will always receive; to the tree the water gives life; to us God’s Word reveals His promises of life and His love. In Jesus Christ precious name, we pray God’s strength and wisdom on you as you continue your journey. Until next time, live in peace! -Billy Like this Devotional? Sign up below for our weekly devotional and as a THANK YOU, we will send you our FREE eBook 14 Days of Powerful Prayers for your Marriage. CLICK HERE to sign up!
0 Comments
“But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." -2 Peter 3:8-9 (NLT) “I want it now.” That is how we live today. I remember when warming up food was basically re-cooking it on the stove or in the oven. If you wanted yesterday’s leftovers, you put them in a pan, heated the oven up and waited until the oven warmed your food up. Today, we get to put a plate in the microwave for 30 seconds and ‘BAM’, our food is ready. Or how about watching a movie? The old VHS tapes would take forever, it would seem, to fast forward or even rewind to the part of the movie you wanted to watch. Now with the DVD, we can go right to the scene. It is no wonder we want things in our lives to go that very same way. It shows in our prayers. We pray to God and want God to deliver right away. If we don’t see results in a day or so, we give up on God’s deliverance because we think He is not there for us, or not listening. We allow some of the desires of the flesh, found in Galatians 5:19-21, to guide our judgment and actions when our impatience sets in as a result of our prayers not being answered in the time frame we expect. Let’s take a look at that ‘time frame’. You know the feeling of time when you are with someone you enjoy very much. It seems like you can’t get enough time with them. A thousand minutes seem like one. But when you are going through those trials, enduring struggle stress and sorrow, that one minute can seem like a thousand. This is what God feels with us. He loves us so much that He creates gifts of blessings and salvation wrapped just for us. But when he tries to give us these gifts, we don’t receive them. The results of our impatience to wait on the Lord cloud our belief that He will make a way out of no way. These results cloud our trust in Him knowing what is best for us better than we know ourselves. These results cause us to forget that He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son for our salvation. Thank God for His patience with us. Instead of God taking His gift back, and never offering it again, He waits on us, (…how about that…), and allows us to find repentance in our actions. He doesn’t want us to fail. He doesn’t want us to be rejected and he doesn’t want us to fall short of His gift to us. Why? Because He made a gift JUST for you. It is your blessing and He loves you enough to wait on you to believe in Him, trust in Him, and depend on Him. Thank you God for your patience, mercy and grace! Don’t allow Him to wait on you any longer. As Peter says in the book of Acts, repent and turn to God! Receive the gift He has for you. In Jesus Christ precious name, we pray God’s strength and wisdom on you as you continue your journey. Until next time, live in peace! -Billy Like this Devotional? Sign up below for our weekly devotional and as a THANK YOU, we will send you our FREE eBook 14 Days of Powerful Prayers for your Marriage. CLICK HERE to sign up! |
Authors Billy & YolandaThis is the place where we share our heart through God's Word in faith that will inspire and empower you to live in peace. Archives
October 2024
Categories |