“Being Transformed By the Living God”
by Dona Hake
Today I want to share how truth can define who are as you seek it wholeheartedly. May we seek His truth from the greatest depths of our hearts like never before! The world is looking for truth, and we must live in such a way that we are living witnesses of the one true and living God. In addition to living truth before a world of those that do not know Him, we need to be living examples among those younger than us in the faith. Therefore, we as believers need to commit ourselves to know that we are walking in the truth that we know that we can be a living testimony of His Word.
`
Romans 12:1-2 Easy-to-Read Version
Romans 12:1-2 Easy-to-Read Version
“So I beg you, brothers and sisters, because of the great mercy God has shown us, offer your lives[a] as a living sacrifice to him—an offering that is only for God and pleasing to him. Considering what he has done, it is only right that you should worship him in this way. Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.”
The world is putting such a pressure and demand on all of us but especially our young people. It is trying to mold their minds to adapt to the world’s ways, thoughts, etc. Our billboards give visuals to us of what beauty and success are, causing us to be tempted to endeavor to measure up to such unreality. How sad it is that these things have so much power that one tries to define themselves by such demands.
If we allow anything or anyone else to define us we lose our ability to grow genuinely and discover what the Lord has for us as an individual. Confusion will run through our minds over the simplest of problems and decision making. We will be tossed about with every wind of change or newest thing which presents itself as an answer rather than turning our eyes and hearts to the wisdom of God. We need to make the decision to let God define who we are according to His Word and His standards.
It is as we seek His truth with every fiber of our being that we will walk in total freedom from the dictates of this world. What freedom to know we are allowing Him to mold us into what He sees as a success, and not what the world defines as success. When we continue in His Word, and we receive greater revelation, God will begin to challenge our hearts to change, and this is a good and wonderful thing. There is no need to fret because God will work in you, and it is His good pleasure to work in you, and bring His will to pass in your life.
Philippians 2:13 (AMP)
“[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while [a]effectually
at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both
to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and [b]delight.”
“[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while [a]effectually
at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both
to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and [b]delight.”
We can rest assured that as God is at work in us, and He will energize within us the desire to do what it takes to make any changes needed. I encourage you today to look to God’s truth wholeheartedly in everything you put your hand to. He is faithful and well able to cause your hand to prosper, and you will live transformed in the freedom of being who God created you to be! God bless you.
“Eternity Was Planted In Our Hearts”
by Dona Hake
Make no mistake…whatever God does, He has a plan and a purpose for it. When God created man, He not only formed him and breathed life into him, He created a place in man’s heart in which His life would fit. He created man with a need for his Creator. I can remember two whole years of my life as a teenager in which every night I prayed a particular prayer before I went to sleep. These were the two years before I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. My heart was struggling against the living God. I had two friends diligently praying for my salvation and I was so stubborn. Every night for those two years before I closed my eyes I would say to God, “There has to be more to this life than this.” I know now that my heart was implanted with a need for Him and He was the only one that could fulfill that need. Because of prayer going forth for me, my heart was experiencing a lost and lacking feeling because of my need for the Living God. My heart continued to grow curious and look for answers. My friends, I exhort you to never grow weary in praying for those that look hopeless for I can remember how stubborn I was. I thank God for those that did not give up and continued to pray for me!
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (AMP)
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
God has planted eternity in every heart and mind that has ever lived. But remember this…we are born with the choice of whom we will look to to satisfy our every need. Within the heart of man is a longing that only God can satisfy yet man who chooses to fill his voids apart from Christ will never be fulfilled. I can remember someone saying that there is a whole in every man’s heart that only God can fill. Until one accepts Jesus Christ as Lord of their life, there will always be a yearning for more and an emptiness in the soul of that person.
This is how the New Life Version of Ecclesiastes 3:11 is translated:
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has put thoughts of the forever in man’s mind, yet man cannot understand the work God has done from the beginning to the end.”
I particularly want you to look at “man cannot understand the work God has done from the beginning to the end.” All of God’s ways and thoughts are above and beyond our comprehending, and the beauty of this fact is that this makes God who He is! He is beyond us figuring Him out, He is awesome and we should not try to comprehend His ways.
Let us trust Him today with all of our hearts. Let us also rejoice that because we know Him, we can live in all of the beauty and abundance that He desires for us. I praise God that He did plant eternity in every man’s heart and mind. Lord, we askthat You lead us in our actions and words that we would be a testimony to those around us that have not yet made that choice for You. God, you have planted eternity within those hearts that are still empty….oh that they would see their need for a Savior!
“The Righteous Man Will Not Be Defeated”
by Dona Hake
Proverbs 24:16 (The Expanded Bible)
“Even though ·good [righteous] people
may ·be bothered by trouble [fall] seven times,
they ·are never defeated [ get back up]”
I have been amazed at times at testimonies given by believers of receiving great strength during some of the deepest trials of their lives. What a testimony we can be in those times in which situations and circumstances could serve to weaken us yet as we stay focused and keep our hope on Him, we continue to stand strong! Yes there will be times that we are weak, weary, and there are times in in which our choices may set us back. Praise God for those times that even when we are at our worse, He promises to lift us back up…IF we look to Him. As we reach for His strength in our time of weakness He promises to meet us where we are at, and stand us back up on our feet again.
This life brings obstacles and difficulties that can stand in our way in the good fight of faith, IF we permit them to. Let me say that again…. things can stand in our way IF we permit them to. Along with difficulties and trials, we can become worn down in our hearts and minds. Many times during trials we can be tempted to focus so much on the problem that our thoughts become saturated with them. Let us meditate on the truth that God has commanded us to be diligent to guard our hearts and minds with His Word. He well knows the fight that we have before us, and He is well able to equip us to fight it!
I want to encourage you today as you run the good race, and set out to serve Him to be diligent to do all that He requires of you and do it with all of your heart. God is looking for a people that are willing to give their all, He is not looking that we do everything perfectly for He knows we are human and that is impossible. He is looking for the pure and diligent heart that seeks to obey Him.
“Satisfied Seeking His Righteousness”
by Dona Hake
The other morning I found myself reading the beatitudes in the Amplified version and I was loving the wording in this translation. God desires that we hunger for His righteousness so that He can fulfill that desire. Let us look at Luke 6:21 in the Amplified:
“Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness]
are you who hunger now [for righteousness, actively
seeking right standing with God], for you will be [completely] satisfied.”
The words that stood out to me and ministered to my heart were ~blessed~ being defined as ~joyful, nourished by God’s goodness~ You know when we are hungry in the natural, we can reach for the wrong things, and they certainly to not nourish our bodies. Yet if we are hungry we can reach for that thing that will bring healthy nourishment to our bodies. I love though how His Word is showing us that as we hunger from deep within for His righteousness that we will be nourished by His goodness, and the blessing of joy will accompany that filling from Him.
As we seek to walk in righteousness, we are desiring to walk in all that God is. He is all good, He is all moral excellence, He is all virtue, and He is all pure! May we actively hunger after His righteousness all the days of our lives for as we do, we will be satisfied and spiritually nourished in that desire.
Psalm 17:15 AMP
As for me, I shall see Your face in
righteousness; I will be [fully] satisfied when I awake
[to find myself] seeing Your likeness.
“The Time We Are Given”
by Dona Hake
Time is a gift to all of us, and we must use it wisely. I hear people say it all the time, “Time flies…” Wow! Some days I wonder where the day has gone, and I think even now that we are half way through February already!
I recently saw something that was shared on social media that I thought was thought provoking about time. This young lady was 37 years old and she has decided to return to school. It is a University of Western Sydney in Australia, and it was a three hour work shop for mature age students returning to learning. She shared a shot of what was on the overhead screen, and it was about time. This is what it said:
*We all get 24 hours a day
*It does not matter how rich, how smart or otherwise. Nobody gets more time in a day, week or semester than anyone else.
*No one can make more time
*We can only use it wisely or waist it
*Even the most intelligent student can fail at this University if they do not manage their time well.
I think this is a wonderful bit of wisdom for anyone and any age. As I meditated upon sharing this with you today, there were three words on my heart that I want us to ponder. They are grace, choices, and wisdom.
It is true that all of us have the same amount of time, yet each of us have totally different demands on the “plates” of our life. I know in my life that different seasons seemed more demanding, and there were seasons in which those demands could have brought me great stress. As I look back on a particular time I still cannot believe that I was able to swing the schedule I had along with raising two young sons at the time. It simply was God’s grace and the instruction of His wisdom in my life. I simply want to share with you that there may be times in which our days may seem impossible but know this…God’s grace is sufficient to help us deal wisely with every demand. His wisdom will enable us to do exactly the right thing at the right time. Lastly I want to share about our choices with what we do with our time. Let us look at the scripture from Ephesians 5:16 …
“…making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.”
In the realm of our choices may we be reminded that wrong choices with our time will cause our time to slip away. Once it is gone, it is gone. We cannot wish it back nor can we buy it back. That time is gone. If we waste time, many times we really do pay for it. Wasted time can cause small demands that need accomplished to seem impossible. If you have ever tried to hold sand in your hands, you will find it almost impossible for it slips away quickly, and this is how time is as well. My friends, time really does go quickly, and we must use wise choices over every minute of our day knowing that we are honoring Him with all of our time. May you recognize today the value and blessing of each and every minute that He has given you. Enjoy your life, make the most of your time, and bless the Lord with every opportunity that life brings to you!!
“God’s Sufficient Grace”
by Dona Hake
Last evening just as I pulled up to my home at the end of a long day my gas light went on, and I heard the “ding!!”. It is nearly on the “E”. I knew it was low but I did not feel like standing out in the bitter cold and pumping gas. Today I must stop and get gas for if I do not I am going find myself sitting somewhere on yet another cold, frigid day, and I am really going to be inconvenienced. Not only would there be the inconvenience but because of not doing my part, I would be wasting precious time to get done the things that need done. Sometimes we must stop and get exactly what we need for specific things if we use them to accomplish certain purposes. Today we will look at the word ~sufficient~. Sufficient defined is when something is enough to meet a need or purpose. It is the adequate amount of something. Today if I plan to go anywhere, I must put a sufficient amount of gas into the tank. I cannot put water into it or some other substance, it must be gas. You see I know that you know that it would be silly to put anything but gas in my tank, but how many times to we try to replace God’s strength and ability with our own knowledge, ability or strength?
Let us use this analogy to reflect upon our need for His grace to do specific things. If we do not look upon Him and ask for His grace, we will surely rely upon our own resources, knowledge and ability. May I suggest that as you begin your day in prayer that you can ask Him for His much needed grace to live your day. I ask the Holy Spirit to remind me to beware of doing things in my own ability. I desire with all of my heart that my strength and help is from Him and from Him alone! It is His grace that will see us through any circumstance, and He desires that we draw upon it in all that we do.
In the scriptures (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) Paul spoke of calling out to God to help him. Paul had enough of dealing with problems and he begged God that the whole issue would depart from him. God’s response…”My grace which is my favor, my lovingkindness, and my mercy are all that you need. My grace is SUFFICIENT against any danger and it enables you to bear this trouble manfully. My strength and power are made perfect and show themselves MOST effective in your weakness.”
Paul’s heart was totally toward God and he realized that all he had to do was allow God’s grace to rest upon him. One translation implies to allow God’s grace to rest as a tent pitched upon us. What an awesome way of looking at dwelling and drawing upon His wonderful grace.
Paul then said, “when I am weak in my own human strength, then I am truly strong, able and powerful in God’s strength.” Paul saw that God’s grace was all that he needed. He saw that it was sufficient. God’s grace is adequate for His purposes and it will always be more than enough. Today I encourage you to make sure that you are drawing upon His grace. In the morning and throughout the day, remind yourself to look up and draw upon His strength and ability that flows from His throneroom of His grace. May we draw upon it as we live this life.
“But Seek 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.
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 she needed to cease from her work and 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!
“Hate What God Hates”
by Dona Hake
I was with my four year old Granddaughter yesterday. I was across the room and she said, “Grandma, what does it mean to hate?” I replied at first, “What did you ask?” Again she said, “Hate…what does that mean?” Honestly it is moments like these that are so precious that I wish I could freeze that moment in time. It was so precious to see her face and innocent eyes looking at me as she was trying to understand a word and what it meant. In that split second so many responses began to run through my mind but I knew I needed to scale this answer down to where her understanding of spiritual things are. I began to share with her that we never hate people that do bad but rather hate their actions and sin. I also shared with her that we need to understand that we are to hate the devil for he always does evil things to try to lie and hurt us.
Today I am feeling to share with you that God indeed desires that there are things that we need to hate passionately. He wants us to know Him so well that we know exactly what He detests and abhors. He desires that we hate what He hates and love what He loves. To hate something is to dislike intensely or passionately or to feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward a particular thing.
Psalm 97:10-11-Amplified
“You who love the Lord, hate evil;He protects the souls of His godly ones believers,He rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown like seed for the righteous and illuminates their path,And irrepressible joy is spread for the upright in heart who delight in His favor and protection.”
The more we are in fellowship with God by prayer and the reading of His Word, the more we will immediately identify what the Lord hates. We must keep our hearts guarded and never hate people that do evil acts. We love the person yet hate the evil deed. The Lord is able to help us do this. This scripture tells us that His light is sown like a seed for us, and it WILL illuminate our path. That Light will correctly define for us the things that we need to reject that are evil and poisonous to our souls. Today let us love like God yet hate those things that He hates. God desires that we live uncompromisingly as we serve Him in faith and in truth. that He will be glorified in our life.
Proverbs 8:13 The Living Bible
“If anyone respects and fears God, he will hate evil. For wisdom hates pride, arrogance, corruption, and deceit of every kind.”
“He Leads Us In the Smallest of Things”
by Dona Hake
Yesterday I shared with you how precious it is to have a heart that is free from the noise of this world. Our hearts must be a place of stillness and quiet that we may hear from our Loving Lord when He desires to speak to us. I mention so often that He is concerned about the smallest of things. Many times people only go to the Lord with things that they are unable to figure out but they save the big things for prayer. I love when the Lord shows up and shows Himself as my provider even in those things that I thought would not be worthy of a prayer.
I can remember a few years ago getting in my car and traveling to an area of town that I was not real familiar with. I needed to go to a particular store to pick up a gift card and honestly I could not figure out how to get to this store. I drove around in circles till I reached a point of frustration and I was ready to forget about it. Then I heard His voice quietly speak to my spirit, “Have you asked me for help yet?” I thought to myself how we can so easily go about our business and forget that He wants to help with all kinds of things. I admitted to Him that I did not ask Him for help and I prayed a simple “Help!!!” prayer, nothing fancy because I had to make a decision because I was in some busy traffic and I needed to proceed. I pulled into a grocery store and I felt to ask a shopper for directions .
I pulled up and there was a woman to my right and another to my left loading their car with groceries. I originally went to ask the one woman and I felt I was supposed to ask the other one instead. You see…I now know that God was directing me to the exact person I was to ask help from. It was just amazing what this woman did. She said, “Pull your car over, wait till I get my groceries loaded in the car and you can follow me and I will lead you right to the store.” She explained that it was
complicated and so many have trouble finding this store. She led me right to the entrance. I purposed to tell her that she was an answer to prayer and she seemed blessed that I shared that with her.
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God’s hand was upon me that day, and He led me to the perfect person for help. I could of missed this blessing by not listening to His still small voice speaking to me about something I perceived to be too trivial to pray about. Lesson learned! I hope this blessed you and I hope you are reminded to include Him in the smallest of details in your day today as you take time to quiet your heart and listen to Him.
“The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me…” Psalm 138:8
“In the Silence of the Heart”
by Dona Hake
Today I would like for us to meditate upon the importance of our hearts being a place of stillness, peace, calm, and silence. I particularly want us to look at the word ~silence~. Silence is the absence of any sound or noise, it is a place of stillness.
Many times when we think of noise we may think about the noises that go on in our house. Maybe you have small children that get loud at times or you have a particular appliance that gets on your nerves because it is so loud. You may go to work where there are loud noises and it hurts your ears. Sometimes you may be in your car and out of nowhere an ambulance or police car’s siren can alarm you because it is so loud. You may think at times that you just want to get to a place where there is total peace and quiet. Noise is so much a part of the world in which we live, but what about the noise that goes on in our minds and hearts because we have not been diligent to keep our thoughts, troubles and opinions in their proper place. It is sad to say that many people live with constant “noise” between their ears and in their heart, and it just becomes a normal thing and they accept it to be something they have to live with. Here is a beautiful quote by Mother Teresa for you to ponder….
“God
speaks in the silence of the heart.
Listening is the
beginning of prayer.”
beginning of prayer.”
Our heart is the place that our Lord dwells and I believe it should be a place of stillness and silence. The Word tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence for from it flows the issues of life. May our hearts and minds be a guarded place. May we learn to arrest those thoughts that come from out of nowhere to rob you of your peace. Ask yourself if that thought is worthy of remaining in your mind and robbing you of the precious peace you desire. Today I encourage you to yearn for your heart to be a place of silence and refuge. May it be a place so quiet that you can hear your Lord speak to you in prayer. Silence in the heart is truly the sweetest silence to know!
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!