by Dona Hake

Sometimes it can be the hardest thing in the world to say “I am sorry, please forgive me.”   Yesterday when  I was driving  to church I heard a woman’s testimony that just really touched my heart.  It was a true inspiration for my devotional today.

The woman sharing her testimony  had done something offensive in her workplace.  She admitted that she knew she was wrong, but she knew the right thing to do.  Even though it was hard she walked into her bosses office and admitted she was wrong.  The thing that hit me the hardest was the joy that was in her voice as she tried to explain how good it felt to just humble herself.   Sometimes humbling ourselves can really make our flesh squirm, but the end result is pure joy and freedom.

I believe there is two secrets that are tucked in this beautiful word HUMILITY.  There is cost and there is blessing.    Depending on the situation the cost may be admitting to  someone that you were wrong.  Sometimes the costs is keeping your opinion to yourself and not exalting it when you are busting at the seams to just tell someone what you think.  Of course self control works hand in hand, nevertheless, it takes you giving something so your heart can be at peace again.  The blessing of humility is the peace restored to your soul because you are now free from the burden that the situation brought to your heart.

1 Peter 5:5 (CEV)

“God opposes proud people,
but he helps everyone
who is humble.”

There will be times that the Lord will show us areas of our hearts in which we need to humble ourselves.   Pride is such an enemy to our soul and it is a destructive thing.  Let us seek Him as to how we continue to grow in humility and receive His grace as we do so.

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

In the presence of your fears Jesus can be your refuge.  He is our hiding place and He desires that we run into His presence.  Many times our fears are very real and then are those times that worry has created something that has exaggerated a problem.  I have heard it said that worry casts a big shadow on a small thing.   Worry and fear work hand in hand and if left go they will gain momentum.

One of the meanings of worry is “to gnaw,” that is, to cut, bite and wear away bit by bit.  Worry will destroy your peace of mind and it will serve to threaten the strength of your faith.  Worry, like rumination, is to chew over and over again what has already been chewed.  I have heard the truth many times that “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”

I love this quote by Luci Swindoll, “Whether our fear is absolutely realistic or out of proportion in our minds, our greatest refuge is Jesus Christ.”    It matters not whether your fear is big or small, or unrealistic Jesus does not want us abiding in that which will destroy our peace and strength of heart.  He desires we run to Him with our cares, our worries, and our fears.  Run to that place of refuge where He promises to deliver you and keep you as you abide in Him.

Psalm 46:1 (AMP)

“God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation],

a very present and well-proved help in trouble.”

~~~~~♥~~~~~

By Dona Hake

“God is good!!” This is a beautiful and solid truth yet I think sometimes it has just become a cliche. May our words that we speak about God always cause joy to rise in our hearts as we speak them. He is indeed a good God, and a wonderful God. There are not enough words to express everything that He is to those that love Him.

Yesterday as I was trying to sort through my different Bibles and favorite books I pulled out a slip of paper from one of my Bibles and on it I had written the following scripture:

Psalm 42:8 (AMP)

“Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness

in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be

with me, a prayer to the God of my life.”

Sometimes when I am reading words just come alive and jump off the pages and I love writing them down and reading over them again. When I write scriptures down it was because something very special stood out to me and spoke to my heart.

As I found this paper it reminded that God speaks to me through His Word. It is important to remind ourselves that the truth that God IS good and this truth can be fresh and new every morning. At the end of a day He has a song for your heart. Even though there may be things in your day that you encountered and they seemed to rob you of your joy, He brings a song to your heart as your lie down to sleep. Today I want to think about how my God is good and He wants me to remember that everyday!

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

Romans 15:13 (GW)

“May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and

peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow

with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Oh that we remind ourselves that He is the source, the River where only good things flow. We are told in the scriptures to guard our hearts with all diligence for from our hearts flow the issues of life. If our hearts are not right and things are out of balance, everything will seem wrong. As we see Him as the source of every need and all that we need to sustain our lives we will look to Him as our source of real hope and change within ourselves and everything around us. He is our only hope to make straight the crooked paths in our lives.

Romans 8:28-30 (Phillips translation)
“Moreover we know that to those who love God,

who are called according to his plan, everything that

happens fits into a pattern for good.”

If you are standing helplessly as things may seem out of control around you…know He is your hope. He is at work and He has a plan. As you trust in His ability you will find hope overflowing with a fresh peace and joy like never before. Many times it does not work out according to how we planned it yet as we hope in Him, we will understand His plans more clearly. Today I desire to be full of his joy and peace and overflowing with His hope!

by Dona Hake

 I have heard it said that 67% of people hate change. I kind of feel that holds true. I really can not say where I stand on this thought because some days I like to see things a bit unpredictable yet there are other days I hate the kind of changes that can come in this life. I am sure you too could agree.

I am so thankful that Jesus never changes. His love never changes for me. No matter how bad I mess up He still loves me. If I fall, He promises to reach out His loving hand and pick me up…but I must reach out and ask for His help.
I am glad that He never changes positions… He is always by my side and I am so glad that I can count on that. His ear is always towards me when I pray, He has never failed to be therefor me with a listening ear. In His Word it says that He NEVER fails, that fact will never change. On and on I could go but it’s just that simple… Jesus never changes. He is not capable of it!

I hope this stirs you to think about the concrete fact that He is faithful and there is no changing in Him. The world may change and we all well know that it is. There may be things that are changing and it is beyond your control to make it the way it was. But take comfort in the fact that the God of the Universe NEVER changes…it’s that simple.

by Dona Hake

I love watching how our youngest granddaughter tries to keep up with her big sister.  Some days she amazes me how she seems so independent and wants to do so much without any help.  The other morning I was getting her out of my car and it was deep snow and ice, and she got a bit frustrated with me.  In her mind she wanted to try to walk through it herself and did not even want to hold my hand.  I knew she would have fallen so I picked her up and carried her past the danger.  The whole time I am hearing, “Grandma, I can do it!!! Put me down!!!”

How many times do we think we can just do things without God’s assistance ?   How many times do we  go forward without God’s okay on something therefore doing things in our own ability.  Many times God does step in and pick us up and carry us past the “difficult” and unfortunately there are times we have to learn the hard way.  Thank God He is merciful and patient with us and He is always there to pick us back up, and point us in the right direction.

Proverbs 16:3
(NIV)
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.”

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

Psalm 31:24 (NASB)
“Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the Lord.”

The other day while riding in my car I heard someone sharing a testimony and it was relative to our hope being in the Lord.  She said, “Hope is like oxygen for your next breath.”  That one sentence was so powerful and it really touched my heart.  Sometimes in life you just do not even know what you are going to do in the next moment you face.  Things can be so overwhelming that we seem to not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Know that Jesus is there for you, no matter how hopeless it may seem.

When I ponder this scripture in Psalms, it challenges my heart in a different way.  It says, “and let your heart take courage…”   Sometimes we can tend to relax our faith and just accept things as they are, therefore discouragement is able to flood your soul. God desires that we TAKE COURAGE and believe for things to become as He sees them.  Let us take courage as we hope in Him for He truly is our light no matter how dark the darkness is.  Know that hope in Him is like oxygen for your next breath and it will cause you to hold fast and confidently stand in faith until your storm passes.

~~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

Psalm 19:14 (TLB)

“May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts

be pleasing even to you,

O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.”

I think that we cannot pray this prayer too many times. Oh that we would ask the Lord more often, “Is what I just said okay Lord?” or “Lord Is my heart right in this matter? I think Jesus wants us to view Him as our best friend and we should be allowing our best friend to challenge our heart and bring accountability in our lives.  Truth is if we would check in with Him more often we could really avoid a lot of problems in our life.

Really when you think about it, it is the unspoken thoughts that are not dealt with that will eventually get us into trouble with loved ones and friends or those in the work place. Let us remember the next time a thought comes that you are not too sure of to stop and ask Him. “Lord, I need some direction here because I do not know if my thinking is correct on this matter.” Fill my mind with Your thoughts that I be not offensive and hurtful to those that I love.  Please give me the wisdom that I really need right now.”

The Lord has promised to help  us with all things that pertain to life and godliness so be encouraged that it is His heart to help you walk victoriously in this life.

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

“…I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Psalm 23:6

To dwell in a place means to  live or continue in a given condition or state.  God desires that His children never  leave the beauty of His presence.  He desires we never stray or entertain thoughts of the “grass being greener on the other side.”    As He follows us all the days of our lives, He so longs for our love.  He longs that we give Him everything.

Oh that we would remind ourselves as much as possible of the abundance of blessings we possess in Him.  Let us declare that we belong to Him and exhibit it proudly.  We should delight to give testimony of what He has or is doing in our life.  I encourage you to look for opportunities to share the wonderful things He has done for you as you dwell in Him!

by Dona Hake

“SURELY goodness and mercy SHALL follow me all the days of my life.”

As we have walked through each precious verse of Psalm 23 we can be most assured that we serve a faithful, loving Shepherd!  Because He is so good, we can most assuredly say “only goodness and mercy WILL follow me.”

If you have lived any length of time on this earth you can testify to the fact that there will be tests and there will be trials.  Nevertheless, our Shepherd has promised to follow us around with His goodness and His mercy.  Many times trials can test our confidence in Christ, but we must remember that He will never give up on us.  Even though we fall, He has promised to lift us back up and restore us again.

His goodness and mercy should not only follow us but we should have it flowing through us.  I believe that we can vessels of His goodness and mercy even to those that you may feel are undeserving of it.    I leave you with two questions to ask yourself and ponder…How do you deposit the blessings you have received into the lives of others? And can others see that you are  being followed by His goodness and mercy?  I find these two questions very challenging and I want to think about them on a regular basis in order to keep my heart challenged…how about you?

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