“God’s Love Bears All Things”
by Dona Hake
Today we will meditate upon the fact that God’s love bears all things. I would like to share two different translations that I found to be very helpful in bring an even greater revelation to our hearts.
1 Corinthians 13:7Amplified Bible (AMP)
“Love bears up under anything and everything that comes…”
1 Corinthians 13:7-10 (PHILLIPS)
“Love knows no limit to its endurance…”
The love of God does not give up, and it never weakens. Here is another great scripture that I love that reminds me of what the love chapter is saying about the endurance of our God, and it is found in
Isaiah 40:28-31 (The Voice) “Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The Eternal, the Everlasting God, The Creator of the whole world, never gets tired or weary. His wisdom is beyond understanding. God strengthens the weary and gives vitality to those worn down by age and care. Young people will get
tired; strapping young men will stumble and fall. But those who trust in the Eternal One will regain their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run—never winded, never weary. They will walk—never tired, never faint.”
tired; strapping young men will stumble and fall. But those who trust in the Eternal One will regain their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run—never winded, never weary. They will walk—never tired, never faint.”
Isn’t it good to know that even in times of weariness that as we look to Him, He will enable us to regain the strength that we need to go on because God never tires in any situation. Paul said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” We serve a God that will help us to bear down and draw on new strength when we just feel like giving up.
I can remember a particular time in my life where I was growing weary as I was believing for the salvation of my father. He was in a nursing home and I would visit each day, as I was also teaching school. I felt like my days were not long enough, and I was growing physically weak, and unable to focus. One evening while I was in prayer the Lord showed me in my spirit an image of a candle that was burning so long that the wick was ready to go out because the wax was so deep and it was extinguishing the wick. It seemed that the candle was a reflection of me losing hope and burning out. As I pondered this, I can remember asking the Lord for His strength and just one moment of clarity with my father that I might be able to pray with him. I rejoiced as that moment came within a day before he died. I was assured he gave he life to the Lord, and I will never forget the strength that only God could give for I had none in my own ability! Praise God that we serve a God that never weakens nor gives up but presses in until the desired result is accomplished.
“God’s Love Does Not Envy”
by Dona Hake
Today we will go back to 1 Corinthians 13 and think about what God’s love is not. God’s love does not permit us to be envious. Yesterday, I shared with you that godliness with contentment brings great gain to us, and I believe that one of the sure way our hearts could open us up to envy would be if we are not content in what the Lord has blessed us with.
God desires that we guard our hearts with all diligence for this is the place in which He dwells. Proverbs 4:23 speaks to us and tells us why:
“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above
all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.”
God desires that we allow no room in our heart for anything that could poison it, and cause it destruction. He understands that it only takes a little bit of something bad that could become very big and destructive to our love walk and His will for our life. As we look at envy today, we will see it’s power and how it could poison our soul. Envy denotes a longing to possess something that someone else has. Here is a quote that will make it even clearer for us:
“Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.”
Harold Coffin
First of all I want to say that anyone of us can fall prey to this sin apart from the help of God.
The devil can trick us into thinking it is okay to feel certain feelings such as envy . He will try to convince us that it is okay to feel envious as long as we don’t talk about it. You know…just keep it hidden. He cleverly understands the whole concept of hiding things from others and putting on a front of looking spiritual or good while the inside of you is being eaten up by a poison and weakening in your walk with the Lord. Remember this for the Word tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:14 “…Satan himself poses as a messenger of heavenly light…”
Satan may try to deceive us, and cause us to be comfortable with any sin such as the sin of envy, but let us be sober and vigilant for he seeks to devour us with such deception. As we purpose to grow in the love of God, we will be grounded in the fact that love simply is NOT envious!
Lord, help us this day to be vigilant and very cautious over our hearts. Help us to recognize such sins as envy that we can quickly weed it out of our soul and be free to serve You in greater ways. Continue to remind us of all that Your love is and all that it is not. We thank you for Your Word as it leads, guides and protects our hearts everyday!
“Godliness With Contentment”
by Dona Hake
I can remember a conversation with one of the girls that work in this particular store that I visit frequently. She is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and we were fellowshipping around loving the Lord, being content with our lives, and how we loved our homes. We discussed how it is so sad that some people just seem like they have a hard time being content so they fill the void in their life with things that seemingly make them happy and content.
Don’t get me wrong…doing things and going places are nice, and can be joyful but it is not where godly contentment is found. May we learn to enjoy the sweet simplicities of life and the blessings that God has so richly and abundantly poured our way. The Lord has called us to be examples in this world to live life in Him. As we live in godly contentment, I believe that our life will speak to people in ways we would never imagine.
1 Timothy 6:6 (VOICE)
“This is ironic because
godliness, along with contentment, does put us ahead but
NOT in the ways some imagine.”
Lord, we ask you today to remind us by Your Holy Spirit to seek first heavenly things. Help us to sort through what is important and what is not. Cause us to see godliness with contentment to be great gain. We seek to be examples of living life in total contentment and peace. We thank you that as we do this people will be drawn to You.
“We Have Been Give Divine Power!”
by Dona Hake
From the day I received Jesus over forty years ago it has been of utmost importance to me to know that God is in as many details of my life as possible. Being an achiever and being a planner has made me very aware of how time can be wasted if I am not planning my day properly. Mary Kay of Mary Kay Cosmetics was a very successful business woman, and I can remember her saying that we should all go to bed at night with at least six things on our “to do” list for the following day if we desire success. I too find that “to do” lists are such a help to me, but I want to always stay flexible, and willing to allow the Lord to interfere with my “to do” lists and my days.
I can testify of the many times He has interrupted my schedule, and I am glad He did. The blessing that comes with obedience in response to His plans is just wonderful! It is so important to understand that God’s Word says that He will give us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He desires to be in every detail if we allow Him. If your life has something stressful going on He will give you peace.
If you are sick He will bring healing if you believe Him for it. If you are afraid of your future, He will give you hope for your future and give you the peace and grace that you need.
If you are sick He will bring healing if you believe Him for it. If you are afraid of your future, He will give you hope for your future and give you the peace and grace that you need.
2 Peter 1:3 (The Voice Translation) “His divine power has
given us everything we need to experience life and to reflect God’s true nature
through the knowledge of the One who called us by His glory and virtue.”
given us everything we need to experience life and to reflect God’s true nature
through the knowledge of the One who called us by His glory and virtue.”
Now I would like to share another scripture with you that go along with what I am
sharing today:
Proverbs 3:5-8 (NKJV) ” Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And
lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He
shall direct your paths.Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and
depart from evil.”
lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He
shall direct your paths.Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and
depart from evil.”
There is a wonderful secret tucked inside this wonderful scripture!Don’t try to figure things out. Listen to God all the time, and keep your own thoughts out of it. He’s the one that will keep us walking the “chalk line” (as my Daddy used to say). Don’t depend on your own wisdom because God’s wisdom is higher, and if we fear and esteem His Word as our highest standard we will be empowered by Him to run from evil. From the depths of our heart we must trust Him above anything else. We just cannot remain in faith, and still embrace thinking two different things at the same time. This is simply leaning on our own understanding. We cannot expect God to lead us in His ways if we have plans to depend on . When we walk with Him the path is narrow, and we must stay focused on Him. We must keep our
spiritual balance. He is well able to keep us standing up straight and strong. Even if we fall He is faithful to lift us up, dust us off, and send us back on our way walking along side of Him. As we fear God in a reverential way He will expose evil and help us to overcome anything that would hinder our walk with Him.
We serve a wonderful God that is quite eager to be in all of our affairs. Allow Him to do that today. Enjoy serving Him and expect Him to do wonderful things through you!
“Love Rejoices In the Truth”
by Dona Hake
1 Corinthians 13:6 (AMP)
” It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.”
As believers we need to love the truth of God’s Word. We must be able to discern that which the devil would try to make us believe above the Word of God. We need to be careful that we never enter into taking pleasure and rejoicing in evil, wrong doings or injustice, but to always rejoice in the truth, and believe the best. Let us look at 1 Corinthians10:5 which I feel is excellent to look at in light of the love chapter.
“We are demolishing arguments and ideas, every highand-mighty philosophy that pits itself against the knowledge of the one true God. We are taking prisoners of every thought, everyemotion, and subduing them into obedience to the Anointed One.” The Voice
I love how The Voice translates it…”demolishing arguments and ideas, every high-and-mighty philosophy that pits itself against the knowledge of the one true God.” There are many arguments, ideas, and high-and-mighty philosophies in the world in which we live. As believers we need to maintain firm convictions about the truth that we embrace, and not waver from it. We are not to just accept anything that comes along in this world, we are to judge it according to the truth that is established within us. When we love God’s Word with all of our heart we will hold fast to it no matter what the voices of this world speak. We will be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in everything we put our hand to.
When you rejoice in truth you will have a heart that is totally free. You will be wise and discerning because you have put the truth above your opinions, your desires, your feelings and emotions, and you want Him and only Him to direct your steps. Let these scriptures come to life to you today, and if any negative or untrue thoughts come your way, deal with them according to the truth. See ANY untrue, poisonous thoughts and wrong emotions as enemies and take them as prisoners and subdue them into obedience to the Anointed One!
“Walk As He Walked”
by Dona Hake
Yesterday I had shared with you several scriptures regarding our call to walked as our Lord walked.Oh to walk like Jesus walked!!! If you did not get to read Sunday’s devotional, I encourage you to scroll down and read it before you read this one. It is right below this devotional.
Jesus was and is our supreme example to walk on this earth. The beautiful thing is that now we have the Holy Spirit to draw upon at any time for wisdom and direction with every step we take. I have been sharing with you from 1 Corinthians 13 on what God’s love is and is not. I believe as we live in Him, move in Him, and have our being in Him, we will most certainly be walking as He walked, and our words and actions will represent His love. Here is a wonderful scripture that should encourage your heart relative to growing and walking like Him.
Phillipians 1:6 (MSG)
There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God
who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a
flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
One thing that I want to emphasize today is that we are all at different stages in our spiritual growth. Therefore, compare yourself to no one. As you seek His face know that He is molding you with His Word and all He asks for is humility. If you desire for Him to deal with you, you MUST be humble, for a humble heart is a heart that can be molded by Him.
I remember reading a book by Watchman Nee, and he shared how that we all have caverns within our souls that still have not seen the light of His Holy Word. You see, no matter how much we know there will always be understanding that can go to a greater depth. The Lord knows our heart and He desires that His light invades every part of our being. He wants to turn every stone over, and deal with us that we are in a position to fulfill His will and work for Him while we are on this earth. Remember He works in His timing. He is a patient and loving God, and He sees the end result. I encourage you to be patient with yourself in your journey in this life. Know this…as you keep your heart humble and teachable, He is at work, and it is for a great work!
“Celebrating His Love”
by Dona Hake
As Christians the holiday Easter has so much meaning to us. We understand that Jesus had to die for us, and for this we should be so thankful. My heart ponders how it must have been so exciting and breathtaking when the tomb was found empty. Oh the joy of knowing He has risen!
For the past week I have been sharing from the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. Today I want you to focus on Him who made it possible for us to not only be redeemed from our sins but He desires to empower us to live as He lived. He wants us to walk as He walked, and do even greater works than He did!
1 John 2:6- The Voice translation
Anyone who says,
“I live in intimacy with Him,” should walk the path Jesus walked.
NIV – “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
NLT – “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”
I want to encourage your heart today to believe that He can empower you to walk as He walked. May we permit Him to continue to mold us into His image that He can uniquely use us as we live our days on this earth. My friend, there is so much to be done, and there are so many that need to be reached. Today, let our hearts rejoice as we celebrate our risen Lord, and let us live to touch a lost and dying world as His unfailing love flows through us!
“Love Never Looks Down On Others”
by Dona Hake
We continue with our study in I Corinthians 13 and we are presently on the verse, “Love is not proud.” I am going to share the same scripture that I shared yesterday.
Psalm 131:1O
Eternal One, my
heart is not occupied with proud thoughts; my eyes do not look down
on others; I don’t even begin to get involved in matters too big,
matters of faith, state, business, or the many things that defy my
ability to understand them.
Eternal One, my
heart is not occupied with proud thoughts; my eyes do not look down
on others; I don’t even begin to get involved in matters too big,
matters of faith, state, business, or the many things that defy my
ability to understand them.
Today we will focus on how important it is that we never look down on others. Yesterday our focus was on the importance of guarding our hearts from pride. When one’s heart is prideful they will always find reason to look down on those around them. Therefore, they will lift themselves up in pride. I think how grieved this must make God to see His people do this. I can always remember being told that the ground is level around the cross. He came to save all mankind. He looks down on no one as lesser than another. His blood was shed for all mankind, and in the eyes of God, there is hope for all of us.
Our Loving Heavenly Father is merciful and loving to all, and He expects that we do and think the same. If one feels they have reason to put themselves above others, remember this…their opinions and reasons for this thinking hold no water in the sight of God. Remember, God hates the sin of pride.
I want to encourage you today to keep your heart laid open to God relative to how you view and treat people. Many times and sadly enough people put people down just because it makes them feel good about themselves. I find it so sad to think that this is how one would seek self esteem. This must be so grievous to the heart of our Lord. We need to see ourselves in light of how God sees us. Again, as we stay humble before Him and we constantly permit Him to examine our hearts, I believe that He will show us the ugly sin of pride if it is trying to creep in. Be quick to repent if you catch yourself in this sin of looking down on people. God is good and merciful to restore us and purify our hearts.
“Love Is Never Proud”
by Dona Hake
“Love is very patient and kind, never
jealous or envious, never boastful or proud…” 1 Corinthians 13:4 ( the Living Bible )
We are continuing with the “love chapter” from 1 Corinthians 13. I mentioned that I will be skipping around the chapter, and today we are going to look at another manifestation of the soul of man that God’s love will NEVER exhibit. God’s love is never proud, it does not boast nor does it strut about.
Pride is so ugly and God hates it.
Pride is so ugly and God hates it.
We need to love and embrace all that God loves and we need to understand everything that God hates, and determine ourselves to hate it as well. We need to desire that we are in total sync with the heart beat of God. When we seek to grow and embrace what God loves and hates, we will begin to walk in greater depths of wisdom and discernment in our lives.
Proverbs 18:12 (the Voice) A proud heart precedes destruction, and before honor is humility.
The humble heart is a beautiful heart in the eyes of God, and you will find that those around you will see the beauty if they have eyes to see. It is as we desire to honor Him in every area of our lives we
will be humble and seek to remain humble.
will be humble and seek to remain humble.
The proud heart is the heart that will have a path that will be walked, and it’s end will be destruction.
Let us daily ask the Lord to show us that if there be any pride in us that He would reveal it that we may repent and our hearts would return to humility. May we seek that our hearts be totally occupied with Him and serving Him.
Let us daily ask the Lord to show us that if there be any pride in us that He would reveal it that we may repent and our hearts would return to humility. May we seek that our hearts be totally occupied with Him and serving Him.
Psalm 131:1O
“Eternal One, my heart is not occupied with proud
thoughts; my eyes do not look down on others; I don’t even begin to
get involved in matters too big, matters of faith, state, business, or
the many things that defy my ability to understand them.”
Lord, we ask you today for a greater awareness of the true condition of our heart relative to humility. Help us with the help of Your Holy Spirit to identify the slightest bit of pride that is trying to enter in for we understand that everything starts as a small seed. Convict us in those times where we feel we have a right to look down on others or see ourselves in a prideful way. We thank you that you are able to guard our hearts and minds as we live and abide in the Word of God.
“Love Is Patient” Part 2
by Dona Hake
We have probably all heard or possibly even spoken the comments that I am about to share…
“I am so impatient!”
“Why is it taking so long for my prayer to be answered?”
” I can’t take it any more.”
“This person just gets on my nerves and I cannot handle their faults any longer…”
On and on I could probably share the many things that run through our minds, and come out of our mouths when our patience is being tested or running thin. In light of saying that I want to look at the book of James. I love the book of James. The Living Bible translates it like this:
James 1:2-4 (TLB)
“Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.”
I don’t know about you but sometimes the “not squirming” part can be very hard to resist! Believe me, James understood the soulish tendencies of man, and how one thinks when his or her faith is being
tested. We see from this scripture that in those times that circumstances seem to be stretching us to uncomfortable positions in our soul that God is doing a wonderful work within us. When we are looking to God in the midst of any trying circumstance , we can be assured that He is at work in us no matter how trying it may be. I can testify that many times I have gone through trials, and attained wisdom in the midst of it because I purposed to seek Him in the midst of the storm.
tested. We see from this scripture that in those times that circumstances seem to be stretching us to uncomfortable positions in our soul that God is doing a wonderful work within us. When we are looking to God in the midst of any trying circumstance , we can be assured that He is at work in us no matter how trying it may be. I can testify that many times I have gone through trials, and attained wisdom in the midst of it because I purposed to seek Him in the midst of the storm.
Think about an area of your life that you seem a bit challenged in the realm of patience. We all have an area or two that we can identify where our patience needs some growing. I once again encourage you to take that area to God, and ask Him with a humble heart to help you. As you take that particular thing to the Lord admit that you are weak, and you need His help. Determine yourself that with God’s help you will get through whatever trial you may be facing, and at the end of the day you will be a stronger person, stronger in character, full and complete!
Philippians 2:13 (TLB)
“For God is at work within you, helping you obey him, and then helping you do what he wants.”
“For God is at work within you, helping you obey him, and then helping you do what he wants.”
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!