Daily devotion

Slow Down!

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But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.            Matthew 6:6 NIV

There are always dangerous curves ahead in life, but if you are anything like me you find the urge to I hit the ground running in the morning. We are anxious to not fall behind, but speeding ahead is not great if you are on the Titanic sailing straight into an iceberg!

Jesus teaches us that before we talk to anyone, do anything or make any plans we need to go alone with our Father. Remember that angels fly, the unbelieving world is always on the run but throughout the Bible we read that God walks. If we want to spend our day close to Him we must find a way to slow down our pace so that we can hear His voice and walk one step at a time with Jesus!

Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly. Mother Teresa

sunset over schooley pond

God’s Bakery

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Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11 KJV

Last night my wife was in a baking mood and so she decided on making eight loaves of her homemade bread. The aroma of it was enough to get my mouth watering in anticipation of butter melting in to that first slice fresh out of the oven!

When Jesus taught us to ask for bread He only said to pray for what we need today. We do not need to worry about tomorrow’s bread because our Father’s bakery will never go out of business. Just like the loaves straight from Nancy’s oven, we also need bread fresh from Heaven to feed our hearts every day.

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Then when our neighbors stop by, we can offer them more than just home-made bread. If we are willing to roll up our sleeves  and get to work in the kitchen we will be near to the oven door so that when it opens we can find bread fresh from Heaven to share in time of need!

Growing Older With Jesus

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I am grateful to my friend Robert Keller for his guest post today. Recently as he was recovering from a medical incident he spent three weeks in a long term care setting. That experience put him in the same kind of situation I see every week as I visit in facilities around our community. It is easy to forget that residents in long term care are no different than any of us on the outside. But God remembers! Here is my good friend’s perspective on growing older and learning to lean more and more on the Lord.

Robert Keller

 

As we grow older, we become painfully aware of our increasing physical limitations.  Although outwardly there is a slow decline which results in restricted activity, inwardly the Spirit of God is carrying on an amazing process of revitalization and transformation that results in an ever-increasing freedom unlike anything we experienced in our youth.

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It gets harder and harder to make out what friends are saying to us in a noisy restaurant, but our hearts hear the Shepherd’s voice more clearly than ever. We find that our legs cannot carry us as far or as fast as they used to, yet our walk with the Lord is strong and steady and it leaves us energized instead of exhausted. Our minds are now slow to process new information, but through the Holy Spirit, we are gaining a progressively deeper understanding of the truths found in God’s word. We do not see as well as we once did, but spiritually, our eyes have grown keener and we clearly see the hand of God moving in marvelous ways. Life in this world may become increasingly difficult as our bodies wear out, yet our hearts are filled with peace, hope and joy because

As we focus on the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (2 Cor 3:18)