THAT THEY MAY SEE AND KNOW

Photo provided by Sadie Marea

When the poor and needy seek water, and there 

is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, 

I the LORD will hear them, I the God 

of Israel will not forsake them.  I will 

open rivers in high places, and fountains in 

the midst of the valleys: I will make the 

wilderness a pool of water, and the dry 

land springs of water. I will plant in the 

wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and 

the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in 

the desert the fir tree, and the pine, 

and the box tree together:  That they may 

see, and know, and consider, and understand 

together, that the hand of the LORD hath 

done this, and the Holy One of Israel 

hath created it.  Produce your cause, saith 

the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, 

saith the King of Jacob.  Let them bring 

them forth, and shew us what shall happen: 

let them shew the former things, what they 

be, that we may consider them, and 

know the latter end of them; or declare us 

things for to come.

Isaiah 41:17:22

ARE WE EMBRACING THE LIGHT

Photo by Lucie Dawson on unsplash

A devotion by Steve Long.

Have you ever tried to pick a paint color? You go to the store where paint is sold and pick up a swatch of a color that looks great! When you get it home, perhaps it doesn’t look so great.

What is the difference? Usually, the difference has to do with light. All color is a reflection of light. All the other light frequencies will be absorbed except the color which is reflected. That’s the color you see whether red, yellow, blue, purple or taupe.

The strength and quality of the light will have a bearing upon the appearance of the color you choose.

It is the light which makes manifest.

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3:21)

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)

But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. (Ephesians 5:13)

The light, as spoken of in these bible passages, represents truth. Truth is not only something you possess or something you know, it is something you do. If we come to the truth (light) our true color will be exposed. Evildoers don’t want that so they run from the light of God and his word. Truth doers receive the revelation which the light brings. If evil is present, truth doers want to know it so they can repent of it.

When Jesus returns, he will shine the bright light of his righteousness upon all of the Christian’s deeds. He will throw out all of the trash[i] (thank you Jesus) and reward the good deeds of the true believer.

It is possible for Christians to allow God’s Spirit to shine his word upon us now in order to make our deeds apparent before God so that we might be brought to repentance – before we stand before the Lord.

Hundreds of years ago, I guess most containers were made of clay pottery. Some pots were of excellent consistency without flaw. Of course the potter would get a much better price for those kinds of vessels.

For a vessel with a crack, I heard that some potters or sellers would attempt to fill the crack with wax. They could usually do a sufficient job of concealing the cracks this way.

The buyers soon got wise to this and learned that if they held such a vessel up to the sun, the line of wax would be exposed. After spotting the wax in the jar or pot, a buyer might refuse it for its lack of integrity.

Integrity is what God is asking for in us. He asks us to be real, genuine – living in simplicity. (See 1 Corinthians 1.12). If it is what it is – and it is, then it also ain't what it ain't. Let's not try to be what we ain't and let's not say it ain't if it is. If we have flaws, we should admit them, particularly to God who knows all things. [ii]

The Lord God asks that we function without pretense or false intentions; that we conduct ourselves with pure motives in our service to him. For, “all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light.”

[i] 1 Corinthians 3.13-15
[iI] 1 John 3.20

WE HAVE WAITED FOR THEE

Photo provided by Sadie Marea

Recently I have been put into several situations that 

made me frustrated. These are situations where 

I am not really feeling I am given a choice 

to chose what I want to do but to do what 

is bring delegated.

As I was driving one morning praying,

the Lord showed me that many times he is 

building character in me through certain 

situations whereas I am thinking, this is

just chapping me and frustrating me

beyond measure.  

The fire we feel from the circumstances

most of the time hinder our view; leaving 

us feeling panic stricken, frustrated, angry

and isolated, thus causing us more heartache.   

When we chose to wait on the Lord, 

evaluate the situation from another 

perspective, many times we find out 

it's just our view of the situation instead

of the actual facts.  

It's easy to get our head stuck in the sand 

like the ostrich and so very difficult for 

us to wait on the Lord and evaluate 

situations from a different angle, be 

patient and let him work out his 

perfect will. 

The Lord answers many times in 

different ways.  He may chose to allow 

us to endure the journey to learn valuable 

character traits and then sometimes he 

may chose to be gracious and answer 

our prayers immediately. 

Recently I had a friend who had prayed 

for over a year about a situation and 

waited patiently for God's guidance find 

out that the Lord had opened a new job 

opportunity to her. She will be working 

at a clinic with a doctor who is a believer

and prays with each patient prior to

performing surgery.  What an awesome

place for a bible believing woman 

to be placed to serve beside. 

Her sweetness, patience and enduring 

difficult times has now lead her into 

the graciousness that God has provided

for her life and the abundant joy of 

waiting, watching and praying for 

God's will instead of her own.  

Had she quit her previous job and 

found another one she may have missed 

out on finding the perfect job that 

the Lord was weaving so graciously 

for her. 

O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited 

for thee: be thou their arm every morning, 

our salvation also in the time of trouble.

Isaiah 33:2

RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND

Amy Chambers

That ye put off concerning the former 

conversation the old man, which 

is corrupt according to the deceitful 

lusts;  And be renewed in the 

spirit of your mind; And that ye 

put on the new man, which after 

God is created in righteousness 

and true holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

THE LORD IS CLOTHED IN STRENGTH

Photographer - Rennie Brandow 

 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; 

the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith 

he hath girded himself: the world also is 

stablished, that it cannot be moved.  Thy 

throne is established of old: thou art 

from everlasting.

Psalm 93:1--2

THIS IS OUR GOD

Photo provided by Tammy Dore 

And it shall be said in that day, Lo, 

this is our God; we have waited for him, 

and he will save us: this is the LORD; 

we have waited for him, we will be 

glad and rejoice in his salvation.

Isaiah 25:9

THOU HAST DONE WONDERFUL THINGS

Photo provided by Marcia Oliveira

O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, 

I will praise thy name; for thou hast done 

wonderful things; thy counsels of old are 

faithfulness and truth.

Isaiah 25:1