“But This One Thing I Do”
by Dona Hake
One thing that is for sure and that is we can all learn from our past whether it be good or bad. Really, we can all say we have had good and bad yesterdays. What happened yesterday can serve your heart with wisdom from your experiences. In this life we will all have days in which we wish would of gone a bit better but this is not where we are going to permit our hearts and minds to dwell. We serve a God that says His mercies are new every morning, and we can wake up each day knowing that those
mercies are waiting for us.
Many things that may have happened in our past may be painful, and the memories hurt when we think upon them. If we do not reach into our future with faith and fresh goals, we could be vulnerable to our past keeping us from going forward. Let us not permit our past to keep us stagnant and ineffective for the Kingdom of God.
Philippians 3:13 Easy-to-Read Version
“Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is
one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach
the goal before me.”
one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach
the goal before me.”
I think the words of Paul recorded here in Philippians should encourage, and teach our hearts and minds some valuable wisdom. Everyone of us can truthfully say, “I know I still have a long way to go…” You see, no matter how successful you are or have been, God is still not done with you. If you feel you have had too many failures, and you fear to step out again, know this….God is still not finished with the work He has uniquely assigned to your life!
Today I encourage you to look into your future with fresh hope that God will guide and direct your every step. We must stay in His Word and in His presence. It is there that we will know what He wants us to do. It is there that we will know what direction our life is to be going.
Proverbs 3:6 Easy-to-Read Version
” With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you
go the right way.”
Psalm 32:8 The Voice
“I will teach you and tell you the way to go and how to get there;
I will give you good counsel, and I will watch over you.”
The Lord desires that we be resolute and determined to stay focused as we look to fulfill the perfect plan that He has for our lives. Remember…God is working to complete a good work in you for His glory!
“God’s Inexhaustible Love”
by Dona Hake
Lamentations 3:22-25 The Voice
“How enduring is God’s loyal love;
the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion.
Here they are, every morning, new!
Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day.
Have courage, for the Eternal is all that I will need.
My soul boasts, “Hope in God; just wait.”
It is good. The Eternal One is good to those who expect Him,
to those who seek Him wholeheartedly.”
“How enduring is God’s loyal love;
the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion.
Here they are, every morning, new!
Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day.
Have courage, for the Eternal is all that I will need.
My soul boasts, “Hope in God; just wait.”
It is good. The Eternal One is good to those who expect Him,
to those who seek Him wholeheartedly.”
I love this scripture especially when the writer says, “Here they are, every morning, new! Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day. Have courage…” Such an awesome meditation to start our day with. Our God is the God of compassion and that compassion never fails. Let us remind ourselves of this fact whether our day is good or not going so well.
Sometimes our days may go wonderfully, yet we well know that some days just seem to be harder, but we understand that it in this world there will be trials. Thank God for those blessed days for we all need times where we can just lay down in the green pastures, and enjoy the rest He brings to our souls. But there may be those days that we awaken with the troubles of yesterday on our mind. Many days we can be haunted with thinking about mistakes even though we have sought His forgiveness. It is truly a blessing to partake of His loving forgiveness yet we need to learn to forgive ourselves. As we meditate upon His compassion for us, we will learn and grow in that same love. May we remember that our hope is in God, and we need to wait, and continue to seek Him with our whole heart.
Today I encourage you to ponder the scripture I have shared with you in Lamentations. No matter how exhausted, weary, or guilty you feel, God’s compassion is inexhaustible. Know that His faithfulness is as long and broad as the day. When He forgives, it is removed from us as far as the east is to the
west! I want to continue to remind you that there will be those days in which you face a test or trial that you never saw coming. Jesus said we would have those days, and we are not to let our hearts to be troubled.
west! I want to continue to remind you that there will be those days in which you face a test or trial that you never saw coming. Jesus said we would have those days, and we are not to let our hearts to be troubled.
Everyday we need to make time to invest in building our faith by renewing our mind with His Word. Pray and spend time conversing with Him throughout your day. Today set your heart to expect of Him and trust Him wholeheartedly. God is good! Praise God that His mercies are new every morning; great and abundant is His stability and faithfulness.
“You Taught Me How To Walk”
by Dona Hake
I have been sharing on loving truth and hating anything that is against the Word of God. The more we embrace truth, and determine ourselves to live by it, we will quickly recognize any deception that would try to deceive us. I love how the Lord is so interested in every thing that I do. Over the past week or two He is impressed upon my heart some simple little things that were going to happen before they happened. They were not bad things, they were simply little things that were going to change my schedule, and it helped me plan my time more efficiently. I ponder how great it is that He cares about all things that pertain to life and godliness. This serves to remind me that if He cares about the simple details, how much more He desires to help us, and keep us steadfast when things seem unsure in our life.
Today we will look at how He desires to keep our feet strong, focused and purposed as we walk in the light of His truth. Did you ever have the electricity go down in your home during a storm, and on your
way to the place where you have all your flashlights, candles, etc… you stub your toe because you cannot see two feet in front of you? The truth is that in this world, it is totally dark, and we need the Lord by our side at all times to teach us the way that we not stumble, and get ourselves in unnecessary trouble.
Psalm 18:36 The Voice
“You taught me how to walk with care
so my feet will not slip.”
My little Granddaughters love to feed the fish at my pond. They totally understand that they are NEVER permitted to stand on the rocks around the pond unless I am holding them securely. Sometimes they may get a little nervous about the rocks being shaky under their feet, but they know and believe that I am holding them firmly, and I would not let them fall. Even though their feet are shaky, they seem to forget about it because my arms are wrapped securely around them.
As we follow the Lord and walk with Him, there will be days where things seem shaky under our feet. As we trust Him and know that He is teaching us, and firmly securing us, we can rest knowing that our feet will not slip. I am going to leave you with a handful of translations of Psalm 18:36. They all bring a little different perspective of the same truth. God bless you!
Psalm 18:36 KJV
“Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.”
Psalm 18:36 Amplified Bible
“You have given plenty of room for my steps under me, that my feet would
not slip.”
Psalm 18:36 Easy-to-Read Version
“You cleared a path for my feet
so that I could walk without stumbling.”
“Love Truth and Hate That Which Is False”
by Dona Hake
Yesterday I shared from Ecclesiates 3:8 and it says, “A time to love and a time to hate…” There are times in which we are called upon to hate what God hates. Every day of our life we will be presented with opportunities to make choices, and God wants us to choose His way, and His way is always truth. Today I want to talk about lying and falsehood. God desires that our hearts be sold out completely and committed to His Word. May we never ever think that we can pick and choose when we are going to walk in truth. May our hearts desire to know that we are saturated in His Word. May we be determined to walk in a way in which we never waver but stay true to every precept He has given us to live by.
It is as we are with strong conviction about living His Word in our lives that we will take strong stands against falsehoods that would try to pull us down and weaken our convictions. Falsehood is lack of conformity to truth or fact.
Psalm 119:163 (CEB)
“I hate, I absolutely despise, what is false,
but I’m in love with your Instruction.”
“I hate, I absolutely despise, what is false,
but I’m in love with your Instruction.”
Psalm 119:163 Good News Translation
“I hate and detest all lies,
but I love your law.”
Today Lord we ask that You would give us discerning hearts for we well know that the devil can come as an Angel of Light. He can try to confuse us in order that we walk away from our strong convictions. We thank You Lord that Your grace is able to keep us strong and deliberate in our walk. We ask that Your Word would grow deeper and deeper within us as we proclaim that we love Your law with all of our hearts. In Jesus Name! Amen.
“By the Light of Your Face”
by Dona Hake
Psalm 89:15 The Voice translation
“How happy are those who have learned how to praise You;
those who journey through life by the light of Your face.”
“How happy are those who have learned how to praise You;
those who journey through life by the light of Your face.”
I just loved the translation of this particular scripture. It makes me think more about how my life here on this earth is a journey. Some days the journey is smooth and some days the journey is just full unexpected things that try to hinder me. The important thing about the journey is knowing that He has promised to be right there beside us, and He would never leave us.
Sometimes when the journey gets rough we have to purpose to keep our perspective. These are the days you may not feel like praising Him, and you have to command your soul to rise up from hopelessness and be encouraged. When you do this, you begin to praise Him regardless of what is
going on around you. Therefore you are truly happy because you have learned how to praise Him even when circumstances are not conducive, and you would rather not fight the good fight.
We serve a God that is absolute light, life and love. As we stay in His presence there will be a fullness of joy. As we walk closely beside Him we can have absolute confidence that even though this world is dark, our journey will be illuminated by Him as He goes before us. I love this awesome quote that reminds me to stick real close to Jesus at all times!
“The closer you walk with God,
the less anything can get
between you and Him.”
May we meditate today on how we need to stay close beside Him at all times. May we recognize immediately anything that would come to distract us, and take our eyes off of Him. Allow the light of His countenance to illuminate your journey, and walk in expectancy of all the good things He desires to do for you today!!!
“You Are As Close To God…”
by Dona Hake
A few years ago I can remember a church displaying a sign on their front lawn, and it was all so simple yet so very profound. It said:
“You are as close to
God as you choose to be”
I absolutely love things like this that really make one stop and examine their heart. There is so much truth in this handful of words. These are “heart checkup” quotes that provoke one’s thinking. We live in a time where there are tests for this and tests for that to maintain optimal health because we want to live long, healthy lives. This is a good thing, yet we need to do check ups on our spiritual health as well! The Lord desires that we live strong prosperous lives while we live here but we have choices and responsibilities to do so.
It all boils down to the fact that we have choices in this life. Today I am sharing about your choice in how closely you walk with Him. I find it important that our friendships are ordained of the Lord, and we need to be careful who we associate with. Some people are mere acquaintances, but there are those that you desire to be friends with and know them in a closer way. You touch base with them often, and you make sure you are communicating on a regular basis. You are as close to people as you choose to be.
So it is with the Lord Jesus Christ…you are as close to Him as you choose to be. If you know Jesus it should be important to you that you know His heart, and He wants you to know His thoughts. When He speaks to you through His Word or in prayer it is so precious because you are experiencing an intimacy with Him. The closer we walk with Him, we will desire for that closeness to grow even stronger. Jesus desires to be our friend all the time, not just when problems arise. I love knowing that Jesus is always with me. We need to remind ourselves of this because He lives and dwells within us if we are a believer. I just know it probably thrills Him to know we are purposing to be conscious of His presence.
I am going to throw a thought out to you to ponder. If you were to invite a very important person into your home you may want to go to every extreme to make your home look nice inside and out. You may cook a very nice meal and go all out making them feel welcome. I am sure you would also make every effort to treat them with kindness and courtesy. Your speech would be thought out before you spoke a word because you would not want to be offensive in any way. You would want them to feel welcome and received.
As believers the Lord Jesus should always be treated as a guest of great honor in our homes. When you are in your home you need to remember that He is present and in your midst. He should also be honored and respected as He dwells within you. Remember, you are the temple that He dwells within. As we live and move and have our being,we should be moving closer to Him. We need to make wise choices over our speech, our conduct, and every decision we make. Remember…you are as close to God as you choose to be.
Psalm 73:28
But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord
God, that I may declare all thy works.
But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord
God, that I may declare all thy works.
James 4:8 The Voice
Come close to the one true God, and He will draw close to you.
“Seek Him First”
by Dona Hake
Matthew 6:33
Easy-to-Read Version
“What you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he wants you
to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need.”
Easy-to-Read Version
“What you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he wants you
to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need.”
In this portion of scripture Jesus is teaching that our priority as a believer is to seek His kingdom first and His righteousness and all else will be taken care of. He was teaching that heavenly things are always more important than anything else. He well understands how things in this world can occupy our hearts and minds and cause us to lose site of the most important thing.
Prior to Him sharing this He spoke about worrying about being clothed. He spoke of the lilies of the field, and how they grow without care and they thrive. How much more will He take care of us? Yet we worry. In the life in which we live it always seems to be something to be tempted to pick up care about.
Jesus understands our weaknesses and our human nature, yet He commands us to cast our care, and wants us to do the most important thing, and that is to just seek Him first. Let us read some scriptures from the writings of Luke.
Luke 10:38-42
Easy-to-Read Version
“While Jesus and his followers were traveling, he went into a town, and a
woman named Martha let him stay at her house. She had a sister named
Mary. Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him teach. But her
sister Martha was busy doing all the work that had to be done. Martha went
in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the
work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are getting worried and
upset about too many things.”
Easy-to-Read Version
“While Jesus and his followers were traveling, he went into a town, and a
woman named Martha let him stay at her house. She had a sister named
Mary. Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him teach. But her
sister Martha was busy doing all the work that had to be done. Martha went
in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the
work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are getting worried and
upset about too many things.”
This story tells us once again that our Lord desires that we seek Him first. Mary understood this well, but poor Martha in all her good intentions did not understand. The cares of her duties were being placed before her doing the right thing. I do not believe Martha was wrong for wanting to serve, she went wrong in her serving by ending up carrying care, and then assuming that Mary needed to be doing the same. Mary understood that time needed to stop and she needed to sit at the feet of the Lord. Martha did not understand that she needed to set the work aside and sit before Jesus.
May we learn from this story of Mary and Martha. Let us seize the opportunities in which the Lord is desiring us to stop and hear what He has to say. Remember in your walk with Him that there is ONLY ONE THING THAT IS IMPORTANT and that is to seek Him first!
“God Will Fill Our Hands”
by Dona Hake
God has blessed us with hearts to seek and look to Him everyday. May we seek to bless Him and bless those around us with our love, faith, and godly deeds. Today we will look at the heart of a woman that was a widow. She had very little to live on yet her heart was toward God in her giving. In this portion of scripture we will see that Jesus perceived her heart as he observed the others’ giving.
Luke 21:1-4 (AMP)
” Looking up, [Jesus] saw the rich people putting their gifts into the
treasury.
And He saw also a poor widow putting in two mites (copper coins).
And He said, Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of
them;
For they all gave out of their abundance (their surplus); but she has
contributed out of her lack and her want, putting in all that she had on
which to live.”
” Looking up, [Jesus] saw the rich people putting their gifts into the
treasury.
And He saw also a poor widow putting in two mites (copper coins).
And He said, Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of
them;
For they all gave out of their abundance (their surplus); but she has
contributed out of her lack and her want, putting in all that she had on
which to live.”
As I pondered this scripture from this particular version my eyes were drawn to how Jesus observed how there were some that gave out of the abundance or their surplus. Surplus is something that remains above what is used or needed. Many times people may be guilty of giving only the required amount of what they feel is expected of them whether it be their money, their time or their talents.
Jesus perceived this as grievous because this type of giving is really not from the heart, it is merely being done out of obligation. As Jesus observed this precious widow’s giving He determined her gift to be greater than the sum of all that gave out of surplus.
Let us remember that anything we have been blessed with whether it be our talent, money, good job, etc…is a gift from God, and we need to live in a place of giving our very best. Giving our best is an attitude of the heart that the Lord desires that we embrace. As the widow placed all that she had she knew very well what she was doing. She was purposing in her heart to give all because she understood she would be blessed.
As believers we need to know that we are deliberate in giving our very best. We need to constantly be checking our hearts that we are not being guilty of giving God or others merely what is left over.
God may call upon you to do something, and when you look at your time it seems impossible to accomplish. Know this…if you believe in your heart that it is the will of God, He will provide time. If God is speaking to you to give money, and it is hard to imagine how you can do it…believe Him and He will fill your hands with that offering or gift for you to give. God provides. Plain and simple. When
you believe, God will fill your hands with that which you need!
God may call upon you to do something, and when you look at your time it seems impossible to accomplish. Know this…if you believe in your heart that it is the will of God, He will provide time. If God is speaking to you to give money, and it is hard to imagine how you can do it…believe Him and He will fill your hands with that offering or gift for you to give. God provides. Plain and simple. When
you believe, God will fill your hands with that which you need!
“Giving Him Your Thanks”
by Dona Hake
Psalm 145:7 (AMP)
They shall pour forth [like a fountain] the fame of Your great and abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of Your rightness and justice.
I love this scripture for it reminds me that daily I should be like a fountain pouring forth to all around me proclaiming that I am blessed, and I serve a God of abundant blessing! Today I am thinking about being genuine in my words that I speak about the blessings in my life. May my life show that I am blessed going in and blessed coming out! Let us not only speak of blessings when all is going well but let us speak of His blessings no matter what is going on in our lives.
Today I just want to put the challenge out that we always humbly return to Him the thanks and praise that He deserves, and live in a place that our eyes are always on Him from whom all blessings flow. The greatest blessing that we can give thanks for today is that His life is flowing like a mighty river within us. Dear friend, it is not there for us alone, but that abounding life of all that God is, is there for those around us. We are to become springs of His life that flow and bubble over continually.
John 4:14
Amplified Bible (AMP)
But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no
never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a
spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto
(into, for) eternal life.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no
never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a
spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto
(into, for) eternal life.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Let us remember to give thanks to Him often!!!
“Let Us Also Forgive”
by Dona Hake
The love of our Heavenly Father is always available to us. All we have to do is just stay in His presence and walk with Him. As we continue to grow our reactions to being wronged will be a godly reaction because we are knowing and understanding the depths of His unending love. We are so blessed as we have been given so much unconditional love. He is the God of a second chance. Yesterday I shared about God’s amazing grace. I am sure we can all share a time in our lives where after we came to know Him we were given a second chance at something. Over and over we continue to receive His amazing grace that is shed toward us!
Today I want to share with you to be mindful of giving second chances to others in your life. The giving of forgiveness is that second chance. When someone offends us, it is us that has a decision to make. We can let it go and forgive or hold something against the individual. If we fail to forgive, we become a prisoner to our own decision to hold on to the offense. When we are obedient to forgive, we are then free from the effects of an unforgiving heart. It is only by the power of God’s love at work within us that we can give someone a second chance by releasing them of the offense they have caused you.
One day the subject of forgiveness came up between the Lord and His disciples and Peter popped a question I am sure Peter was taken back by the Jesus’ answer to his question.
Matthew 18:21-22 The Voice
Peter:” Lord, when someone has sinned against me, how many times ought I
forgive him? Once? Twice? As many as seven times?”
Peter:” Lord, when someone has sinned against me, how many times ought I
forgive him? Once? Twice? As many as seven times?”
Jesus: “You must forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Many times we are just like Peter. We want to feel as if we are so full of love, but you see our love has limitations. God’s love has no limitations. Today I encourage you to draw upon the love of the God that has no limitations. Maybe you will get through your day, and have no opportunities in which you are required to forgive. Know that if opportunities require you to forgive that God desires you to draw upon His heart of love. That precious love will give you all that you need, and it will empower you to freely forgive as many times as you have to. Continue to draw on. and grow in God’s love that you may be able to freely give that which He has given you.
“Love is a fruit in season at all times, and
within the reach of every hand.”
Mother Teresa
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!!
thank you Lisa for sharing. I am blessed that this was a blessing to you!
Ralph &I are really enjoying your devotional together.
So glad this is blessing you both!
Oh, what a wonderful reminder! I want to break the magnifing glass of worry and trust God for each step I take.
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!