“How Great Is Our Lord’s Wisdom!”

wisdom nothing too hard for Him
 
by Dona Hake
 
 
 
Today I want you to think about a time when you were faced with a circumstance or a problem that needed solved, and you just did not know which way to turn or what to say.   We have all been faced with such things.     Many times our minds serve to pull us down as the loud voices of past experience begin to speak.    Sometimes the helpless feeling you feel of not knowing what to do can make one feel so insecure.   Let us remember that our Lord has the right answer and direction for any question or situation that we face.    It is called His divine wisdom, and He wants to speak it into any situation of our lives.   Oh how great is His wisdom!
 
 
Oh the beauty of our Lord’s wisdom that He has for us! It causes us to use knowledge rightly and direct every path that we walk on or pursue. It keeps us from moving forward when it is time to stand still yet it prompts us to step out when the time is right. God’s wisdom is amazing.
 
 
 
Proverbs 3:19 (TLB)
“The Lord’s wisdom founded the earth;

his understanding established all the universe and space.”

 
 
 
 

Isn’t it awesome to ponder that the God in heaven desires to give you wisdom when you need it? If He was able to establish all that we see on this beautiful earth, surely He can make our feet firm and our direction sure! Why would we go anywhere else but to God for the wisdom we must have in our time of need? Surely the wisdom you need is there for you as you ask Him for it.

 
 
 
Jeremiah 32:17 NIV
“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens

and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm.

Nothing is too hard for you.”



“What Does Fear Mean To You??”

Gods perfect love casts out all fear
by Dona Hake
I saw this the other evening on the photography group that I belong to, and it totally inspired me for today’s devotional!    Yesterday I had shared that there is NO THING that can separate us from our Lord.    We all well know though that fear can rob our hearts and weaken our faith in an instant.   Let us look at two meanings of fear!
Fear has two meanings and the choice is ours!

Forget
Everything
And
Run

 

 

OR


Face
Everything
And
Rise
The first meaning can happen all so easily if we fail to keep our minds renewed to what the Word of God says about every area of our lives.    We must determine to daily renew our minds and grow in our faith not being mere hearers of the Word.    God’s Word speaks about what God has not given us, and that is a spirit of fear…

2 Timothy 1:7 Amplified Version

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]”

1 John 4:18 AMP version
There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love].

As we serve the Lord and wait upon Him, He has promised to cause us to rise up and mount with wings as eagles.   When the storms of life come, we can rise above any storm and soar to new heights!   May we be those that face everything in faith and rise up in victory!!!!


“No Thing Can Separate Us!”

Nothing can separate us
 
 
by Dona Hake
 
 
NOTHING can separate us. Can we say it also this way… NO THING will separate us!!!!!He is NEVER distant, and He will NEVER leave or forsake us. We just need to believe this at all times. Whether things are going great or it seems like everything is going wrong…NOTHING, NO THING  can separate us from Him, and His love when we know Him,  and love Him.    The more we grow in understanding
the character of our Lord, we truly understand that there is NO THING  that can take Him away from you.   He promised He would never leave or forsake us, and He indeed never changes!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Romans 8:39 ERV
“….nothing in the whole created world—
will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown
us in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
 
 
 
 
 
 

Our lives are full of things. We purpose to set time aside to eat, sleep, work and play. Let us be ever so diligent to carve out moments during the day and dedicate them to sit in His presence and acknowledge Him. Talk with Him about how you feel and what you fear. Ask Him about everything that concerns you. He is bound to you by His love! Do not go by feelings and do not go by what you see. He is ALWAYS with you and nothing can separate you from Him. Praise Him because of His inseparable love for you!!

 
 
 
 
 
Father, we ask you this day that You would deepen in even a greater way how much you love us!  Oh yes, we know it to be true, but we ask that we would continue to grow in the revelation of it.   We thank you that Your perfect love casts out all fear.   May we be reminded of Your promise that
You will never leave or forsake us!  In Jesus Name!


“Pressing In, Doing His Will”

As WE press on
 
by Dona Hake
 
His mercies are new every morning ,
His grace is sufficient,
His joy is our strength,
His love keeps our hearts,
His patience promises us a heart of longsuffering,
Our youth is renewed as the eagles as we wait upon Him,
He promises to never leave us,
and in His presence is abounding joy.
From the windows of Heaven comes an abundance
so big that we cannot even begin to contain it.
Any sin, no matter how big or small is forgiven
when we take it to Him with a repentant heart.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Is there anything too hard for our God? He is great and greatly we should praise Him each and everyday! Do you feel at times that your life, and it’s problems are too hard for God? Maybe you feel there are times that you are such a mess that maybe He sits and scratches His head wondering what to do with you. Again, the answer is NO He does not! When problems and issues get out of hand in our lives we can certainly feel overwhelmed by them, but let us return to what will build and encourage our faith and our hearts. No matter how difficult your life seems God is able, and He IS the mighty and living God!     Paul spoke with confidence in Philippians.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Philippians 1:6 (JUB)

“…being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun

a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

 
 
 
 
 

God is not a God that starts things and leaves them unfinished. He is NOT a procrastinator, He is the one with diligent and mighty hands that are well able to continue the great work He began in you. All we have to do is keep our hearts and eyes on Him, and trust Him with all of our being.   Today, let us be confident that He is at work in us, and He can do above and beyond all you dare ask or think!

(Ephesians 3:20)


“Submit To the Living God”

our strength our stronghold
 
by Dona Hake
 
 
 
 
Several months ago I can recall hearing an interview, and this gentleman’s response to a question were so profound.    I wrote it all  down for I knew I would use it in a devotional someday. The news reporter was discussing with this man about a despicable act that someone had done, and it seemed hard to believe someone would do such a thing.   The reporter asked this man, “How does someone come to a place to commit such a terrible act?”   This gentleman’s response was, “If you yield yourself to evil, it will take you places you do not want to go.”    He began to share about two words that connected to his statement, and they were REVERSE AND REVENGE.    He said if you go into reverse over something that has happened to you, you could end up in revenge.  Powerful words aren’t they?
 
 
 
 
Apart from the work of grace in our lives, any one of us could be capable to doing the unthinkable.   The Word of God speaks to us of the importance that we never allow bitterness and hatred  in our hearts for it will surely grow and fester.   Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ went to the cross and shed His blood that we could be forgiven, and we too need to be forgiving of anything that happens to us, or any offense that comes toward us.
 
 
 
 
Ephesians 4:31   (Amplified Version)
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence].
 
 
 
 
James 4:7 (Amplified Version)
So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil
[stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.
 
 
 
 
As we submit ourselves to the authority of God, we must hold fast to knowing that He  will be our stronghold, and strength in times of trouble.    His love is deeper than anything we will ever face, and His love always is victorious.   In this life we will all experience things that may hurt our souls but we must be resolute in forgiving those that offend or hurt us.   We must never permit ourselves to keep looking back and position ourselves to step into a reverse mode.    We must stand firm against the devil when he comes to tempt us to think evil thoughts toward anyone.   As Ephesians 4:31 states, we must put away bitterness, anger resentment, strife, faultfinding…just to name a few.    May we be quick to run away and resist the devil and run to the living God who promises to make us stand strong in our time of temptation.
 


“Our Need For Depth In the Spirit”

rooted deep in him
 
by Dona Hake
 
To reach a great height a person needs to have great depth.
Anonymous
 

May we stay aware that the roots of our heart must continue to grow deep in Him. This is a continual process of feeding on the Word of God, and maintaining our strength through Him and all the good things that He has provided us. This does not happen just by going to church once a week, it is a lifestyle of living and drawing upon His grace, His wisdom, and the guidance we receive from His Word. We have a vital part in the process of our growth in Him. Yes, we live by grace but we must do our part of staying spiritually strong and staying obedient to Him. If it is your heart’s desire to be used greatly by Him then the roots of your heart must go deeper and deeper. If this is your heart’s desire, God is ready to take you there as you apply your heart to His commands!

 

 

Jeremiah 17:7-9

Amplified Bible (AMP)

“[Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies

on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is.

 
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads

out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when

heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious

and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.”

 
 

This tree that Jeremiah speaks of is the man who has totally trusted on the Lord God above. This tree thrives on the waters it is planted by. Notice the scripture does say that the heat WILL come and so WILL the drought.  In our lives we too will face times where the heat is on yet we can know that because our roots of faith are strong, we need not fear nor grow weary. In the year of drought we can be free from care for we will NOT stop yielding fruit. Praise the living God that has promised to sustain us!

Proverbs 12:3

“…but the roots of the righteous can’t be disturbed.”



“The Reward of the Lord…”

 
 
his words
 
by Dona Hake
 
 
 
 
Psalm 19: 10 – 13.
 
“The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord our firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, then much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them Your servant is warned; and keeping them there is great reward. But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins.”
 
 
 
 

Let us look closely today at verse 11  in this Psalm. The psalmist proclaims that God’s Word helps warn us, and because it helps warn us there is great reward.    I think a very good analogy to share with this would be when there are severe storm or hurricane warnings.    Many times our meteorologists can foresee extreme danger many days in advance.    Many times there will be warning to evacuate an area, and some ignore the warning, and sadly lose their lives.      It is always so sad to me to think of one losing their life simply because they thought they knew better than one that understood the severity of such a thing.      So today we are looking at how our Lord has blessed us with the Word, and it is able to keep our souls from error and danger.   When the Holy Spirit warns us of impending danger, or He keeps us from a dreadful mistake…I count that as a great reward don’t you?

 
 
 
 
 

I thank God for the many times as I have read His Word, and it has set my thinking straight, and caused me to see things as He sees them. In verse 12 the Psalmist says “…but who can discern his own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.” Many times we can be doing something wrong, and we do not even realize that it is wrong, we may NOT pick up on the fact that what we are doing could cause a great problem for ourselves or those around us. I thank God that His Word can bring discernment to our hearts, and keep us on the right track for Him. He goes on to say  “Keep your servant from willful sins, may they not rule over me.”     May we be reminded and admonished how dangerous it is to do something willfully that we know is wrong.   Such a thing  can hurt us,  and lead us down the wrong path. The psalmist proclaims here that a willful sin  can harm our souls, and could eventually rule us. This writer ends  by saying if his sins do not rule over him then he would be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

 
 
 
 
 
We thank You today Lord that Your Word is sweet, and it brings strength and  nourishment  to our souls.    We praise You for those times it has brought admonishment to us, and caused our eyes to see as You are seeing.     Help us Lord to see any faults that are deep within us that we may
be covering up as a result of our own pride.  We ask that You expose them to us that we can humbly
repent, and receive Your help to deal with them quickly.   In Jesus Name, Amen!
 
 


“Let the Lord Work In You!”

beauty of the lord upon us

Psalm 8:3-9 (Amplified)

“When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have established,

What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?

Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,

All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,

The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!”
 
 
 
 
I love this portion of scriptures as it proclaims the greatness of our God!  We marvel at God’s magnificent creation, yet He promises to do great things in and through us as we serve Him in our life.  As we look to Him to do a good work in our life, all He desires is the dedication of our hearts, and to seek to be humble before Him, and He promises to do  great things in us.
 
 
 
Acts 17:28 (CEV)
“…and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are.”

He enables us to live this life by His power. He helps us to be the person He desires us to be. Today I want to encourage your heart to just let Him do things through you today. I found one of the definitions for the word ~let~ to be interesting in light of the scripture I am going to share with you.

Let: to grant the occupancy or use of

Now let us read this scripture from the Psalms..
“…And ~let~ the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands—yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it.” Psalm 90:17 Amplified Version

May we LET or grant the occupancy of our total being to the Lord today, may we give Him total use of us of however He wishes to use us. May we LET His beauty, delightfulness, and favor rest upon our lives that people would see Him and not us. I believe that as we do this that all that we put our hand to will indeed prosper and He we be able to confirm and establish the work of our hands.



“Looking To Him To Maintain a Humble Heart”

as I look to you
 
 
by Dona Hake
 
 
 
 
Yesterday I shared with you that our words and meditations of our hearts need to be totally acceptable in the eyes of the Lord.  Sometimes the eyes of our heart and mind are thinking about things that are nothing more than distractions or things we have no business thinking about.  As I work with smaller children I often observe how they mind way too much what another child has.    They tend to overthink some things, and it most always gets them into trouble.   My daddy used to say…”Mind your own plate!”   It would happen when I would think my sister might be getting a bit more a my favorite than I was getting!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Have you ever found yourself thinking about something that was not your business thinking about, and the Holy Spirit gently tugged your heart? Sometimes we are simply minding others business or their affairs, and we do not even realize how much it is consuming our minds. The older I get the more I realize how important, and liberating it is to just pray if I see something that troubles my heart. If the Lord desires to make it my business, He will kindly speak to me by His Holy Spirit. He always instructs us in the way that we are supposed to walk, not the way we think we should walk. Many times we may be trying to walk  in a place that we have no business. An excellent scripture I would like to share with you on this matter comes from the Psalms.  Here are two different translations…
 
 
 
 
 
Psalm 131:1 (ESV)
“O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.”
 
 
 

Psalm 131:1 (GW)

“O Lord, my heart is not conceited.
My eyes do not look down on others.
I am not involved in things too big or too difficult for me.”
 
 
 
 
 
I believe as we understand this scripture that it will cause us to guard our heart against the pride of thinking we have all the answers. It will also remind us to be thinking about only that which we are supposed to be thinking. Let us not look down on others when we see faults and weaknesses. May we rather try to help them with a kind word of wisdom and our prayers. If the Lord sees that you are to be put in the path to help an individual, believe me, He is well able to arrange that! Next time you may feel that someone else’s business is preoccupying your mind too much , just maybe your loving Heavenly Father is gently but firmly tapping the “plate” of your life saying, “Mind your own plate!”
 
 
 
 
 
Lord we thank you that as we keep our eyes on that which is Your will we will do and say that which is acceptable to You.    We ask that You would work by Your Holy Spirit to keep our hearts humble in Your sight all the days of our life!


“Are Our Words and Meditations Acceptable To Him?

Lord I pray
 
Psalm 19:14 (AMP)

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my

[firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.”

 
 
 
The psalmist was praying, and his desire was that his words and meditations that were in his heart would be acceptable to the Lord.   Let us look at what the word acceptable as it is defined by the dictionary.
 
 
 
 

capable or worthy of being accepted,

pleasing to the receiver; satisfactory; agreeable; welcome

 
 
 
 
Lord, we ask you today, are our words worthy of you accepting and are they pleasing to Your ears?   Are they satisfactory and agreeable to Your will?   These are some questions that should cross our minds often.  I believe that these questions would keep us out of much trouble that could easily be avoided. Many times we are quick to think things or form opinions based on our first impression. Maybe you are thinking things and speaking things based on what you have seen in the past.   Many times our words get us into trouble because we fail to first seek Him as to how we are to respond.  Think about it….if our prayer be, “Are my words and meditations acceptable to You Lord?” and the Lord responds to you, “No, they are not!”   Just think, how much time and problems we could avoid.
 
 
 
 
 
It is only God that knows you all too well. He understands how you tend to think and react. He knows every hurt and pain that is still in the healing process within you. He is well able to help you hold your tongue and alter your thought process. It is He that can help us to be rock solid in every area of our life because He is the Rock! Look to Him as often as you need to be your Helper today that you may think thoughts and speak words that are pleasing, and acceptable  to Him.
 
 
 
 
Lord, we desire that our words are blessing to you and edifying to those around us.   Help us to be mindful of what is acceptable to You whether it be in word, thought or deed. 



6 Responses to “Devotional”

  1. Lisa Viands says:

    This is a good way of teaching the kids to forgive each other(Matt. 5:7). I like the power of this gentle scripture and lesson… Thanks!!

  2. Selena Neely says:

    Ralph &I are really enjoying your devotional together.

  3. Selena Neely says:

    Oh, what a wonderful reminder! I want to break the magnifing glass of worry and trust God for each step I take.

  4. Dona Hake says:

    It is interesting Selena how the more we worry the bigger and more magnified things get in our minds. Oh how important it is to trust our God for the smallest of things! Thank you for sharing!