Day 364: Direction: We Can't Do It Alone

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Today's devo is going to be quite short and straight to the point. We are talking about direction as we head into the new year. Today we are talking about taking God's direction because wherever we are going and whatever we are doing we cannot do it alone. We have to lean on God and trust Him because He will take us places we didn't know we would go, but places that we didn't know we had to go. God will lead us on a path that we must follow Him to get through successfully. Through life we cannot succeed or do anything without Christ. We cannot walk by ourselves and think that we are going to get anywhere. We cannot abandon the way of the Lord and think that we are going to get somewhere our own way. That is not how it works, the more we lean on God and the more we trust Him and put our faith into Him, the more He reveals His plans to us.

Sometimes people think that in order to fully live our lives and do what we want to do and live how we want to live that we must abandon the way of Christ, because for some reason we think our way is better than His. I want to let you know that we are not in control of anything, we are not in control of our own destiny, God is, and trust me it  is better in His hands than ours. I know we all want to be independent and we want to do things our way or not at all, but trust me God's way is better. We can try to live our life on our own and try to walk this path on our own but it will not work. The main message I want you to take from this is that we need guidance from God and direction from our Heavenly Father because we cannot do this alone. We cannot live this life on our own. We thrive because of Christ, we live because God blew His breath into our bodies not because our mother's age birth to us. We are living because God says that we can live, and we are thriving because He wants us to thrive. If we cannot even breathe without God how are we going to walk through life without Him. We need Him even for the smallest things in life, we cannot take a step without Him. The mistake we make is thinking that we can. 

All this to say, seek guidance and direction from the Lord, He knows what He is doing. Give Him a chance and trust Him with everything, He won't let you down. I can promise you that. 

Reflection

1. Have you tried to walk through life on your own?

2. What do you need God's direction for?

3. Do you believe that God's plan is greater and bigger than yours could ever be?

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray about what we discussed today. Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Ask God for guidance and clarity as you continue to follow Him. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 365!

Day 363: Direction: The Next Step

Psalm 25:4-5

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalm 31:3

Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

With New Years quickly approaching, and this year currently ending, this the time that people decide to make changes int heir lives. Everything from New Years Resolutions to deciding where to move or stay, many of us are entering a new chapter in our lives and closing the previous chapter. There's nothing more refreshing than starting New Year, to start with new goals, or continue those goals that you set for yourself this year. Many times we look at the New Year as another chance a new opportunity, to maybe get something right that we didn't before, to get rid of toxic habits or just vow ourselves to be better people. Whatever it may be we must seek God for direction. We are taking another step in our lives and we need to seek God so that He can guide us where we need to go.

Life is about progression, we move forward as time continues to move forward. As we walk as we continue to move forward we must make sure that we are following Christ in every way possible. The further we go the narrower the road might get or the harder it make be to make the decision to take the step that God has been preparing us to take. I feel like God prepares us for what He is about to do in our lives. He is taking us step by step to where He wants us to be. If you know that God is preparing you for something and you know that He leading you and guiding you to a certain place, please do not be afraid to step with Him. Do not be afraid to walk with Him. I don't know what your next step is but God does and that's good enough. For some of us taking the next step in our lives can be scary and intimidating, but what if God has been preparing you all year for this? What if we take a chance and believe that the dreams we have aren't just figments of our imaginations but they are tangible and God is taking us to meet them? What I'm saying is, take the next step of your life with Christ, don't try to do it without Him. Take the next step not just to follow your dreams but to grow closer to our Lord and Savior. To be more than we were before. To have a chance to grow in our faith and therefore grow in every other area of our lives. Take a step with Christ so that everything will fall into place, we are not going into this next year worried about the same things that worried us this year. So that we can start a new chapter in our lives with more faith in God, and a deeper understanding of who He is. But most importantly take a step with Christ because we love Him, because we don't want to walk through this life or any other life without Him. The next step includes growing closer to God, and whatever He has planned for you. Trust Him, and trust that where He is taking you is exactly where you are meant to be, because it is. 

All this to say, take a step with Christ, even if you don't know where your foot is going to land. Put the fear aside and push towards the destiny that God has set before you?

Reflection

1. What is your next step?

2. What is stopping you from taking that step?

3. If there is anything stopping you from taking a step with Christ, put it aside and know that God is taking you where you are meant to be. 

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayers. Take the time to talk to God about direction and ask Him for guidance as to where you are going and where He wants you to be. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 364!

Day 362:See It Clearly

Matthew 7:1-5

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Matthew 15:14

Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Many of us know this verse, it's the staple verse for not judging people. We go to this verse because it tells us that we might be just as bad as the people we are trying to judge. We have to take care of ourselves before we can ever think about taking care of anyone else. While that is the direction we are going in today, I want to look at it from a different perspective. On order for us to lead people on a path of righteousness or lead people anywhere, we must see that path clearly. We must be able to see the path clearly for ourselves but also for the people following us. For the people who are looking at us to help them, we must know what that path looks like. I'm not saying that we must be perfect, I'm saying that before we can lead anyone else we must know the path for ourself. it is a dangerous thing to lead  people blindly. It's a dangerous thing to pretend that we are leading people towards Christ when in fact we are walking towards Christ ourselves. 

As people of God we are called to make disciples to lead people to Christ in any way we can. There is common road we are walking on and that path leads us to Christ. Many people are looking at us as an example of a Christ follower whether we know it or not, and many people are taking the steps we take to get closer to Christ. With that being said, the life we live matters. The way we walk, the way we talk, how we treat people, how we love is like a domino effect we show people the way to Christ. Now if we have the make up of a Christian but we are walking away from Christ, someone who is just coming to their faith or taking an example from our walk with Christ, they will be lead astray. What I'm saying here is to take care of ourselves before we try to take care of anyone else. We must make sure that we are right in our walk before we try to lead anyone else. As rewarding as it is to lead people to Christ, it is more important for us to make sure that we have a solid foundation in Christ before we can lead anyone else. We must make sure that our eyes are clear before we can look into anyone else's. I love the analogy of taking something out of the eye, because if we have something blocking our vision or getting in the way of what we can see, we will not be able to see anything clearly enough in someone else to diagnose it. 

All this to say, we must make sure that we are living a life that is pleasing to God. It is less about trying to live a life that others will want to follow and more about leading a life that God has called us to live. It's not our job to play God, but it i our job to serve and obey Him. When we are living the way God has told us to live, trust me, everything will fall into place. 

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to reflect on what we discussed today, examine yourself and ask God to examine your heart. Take the time to pray and talk to God about whatever is on your heart. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for 363!

For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our si

Day 232: The Sheep and the Shepherd

John 10:26-27

But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Here, Jesus had just been told by the Pharisees, “If you are the Messiah tell us.”  To which Jesus responded, “I did tell you, you just don’t believe me… Then He goes on to say, you are not my sheep, my sheep listen to my voice and I know them. We cannot follow Jesus if we do not listen to His voice. We cannot be a part of His flock if we don’t listen to Him. We can be sheep, but we choose our shepherd. We choose to follow Christ or not, and those of us who listen to His voice, are His sheep. If we aren’t listening to Christ and following Him we are not one of His sheep.

Before I go any further into today’s devo I want to first explore the relationship of the sheep and the Shepherd. There are so many mind blowing parallels as to how our relationship with God is synonymous to the relationship between the sheep and the Shepherd.

While researching I came across a blog post that put it all in perspective and dug deep into the meaning of these relationships and why it is so relevant for us as followers of Christ. There were a few things that stood out to me that I’d like to make note of.

“Guidance for the sheep. The Eastern shepherd never drives his sheep as does the Western shepherd. He always leads them, often going before them. “And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them” (John 10:4). This does not mean that the shepherd is always in front of his sheep. Although he may be usually in that position when traveling, he often walks by their side, and sometimes follows behind, especially if the flock is headed for the fold in the evening. From the rear he can gather any stragglers, and protect such from a sly attack from a wild animal.”

The shepherd is a leader and protector of the sheep. He goes before them showing them the way, but He is always right there beside them. He is making sure that nothing can harm them. He’s protecting them as they go, and gathering the ones that seem to be straying away from the herd or wandering off. Sound familiar? This is how Jesus is to us, always by our side, He has gone before us and shown us the way and He is constantly leading us through life. Jesus isn’t going to let us get too far away from the flock because He’s right there to make sure that we get right back on track, and if we do get lost, he will come looking for us to bring us back.

“It is very important that sheep should not be allowed to stray away from the flock, because when by themselves they are utterly helpless.“

We cannot navigate through this world alone, we need Jesus. We desperately need Him. Without Him we are like lost sheep, we are wandering through this world with no direction, guidance, or hope, we’re lost. All of this is found in Christ, so apart from Him we are helpless, as the quote says.

I think another important message to learn here is that in order for us to follow Christ and listen to His word we must trust Him. The flock trusts the shepherd with their life, everything they are depends on the shepherd, they have learned to trust their shepherd and listen to His voice. They will not follow the wrong voice either. I believe that as followers of Christ, if we do not trust Him, we are wasting our time. When we don’t trust someone we hesitate to listen to them, we question everything they do, we will not give them a chance to be a part of our life. We cannot have a solid relationship without trust.

Another thing to note is that it is very important who we choose to follow here on earth. I’m talking about churches and pastors, especially when we are new Christians and we are looking for guidance. Ask God for discernment, because it is a dangerous thing to be led by someone who puts up a facade that they are leading you to Christ but leading the entire church astray. Be careful who you listen to and who you let influence you. At the end of the day you follow Jesus, and if someone is trying to lead you away from Him, they are not for you, no matter who they are or what they seem to represent.  

Reflection

1. Would you consider yourself a part of Christ’s flock?
2. Have you ever been led astray by your own doing?
3. Has anyone ever tried to lead you away from Christ?
4. Check your surroundings, and the people you call your leaders, are they leading you in the right direction?
5. If you are a leader, are you leading God’s people toward Him?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Ask God to give you the spirit of discernment and talk to Him about whatever is on your heart today.

If you have been led astray for whatever reason, now is the time to come back. Now is the time to rededicate or resubmit your life to Christ. Surrender to Him, ask Him to make you new. Know that He is standing there waiting with open arms, you’re not too far gone for Him to reach. You’re not a lost cause, Jesus loves you and He wants you near.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 233!