Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
April 14, 2022
Read Isaiah 55:1-9
1 All of you who are thirsty, come to the water! Whoever has no money, come, buy food and eat! Without money, at no cost, buy wine and milk! 2 Why spend money for what isn’t food, and your earnings for what doesn’t satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good; enjoy the richest of feasts. 3 Listen and come to me; listen, and you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful loyalty to David. 4 Look, I made him a witness to the peoples, a prince, and commander of peoples. 5 Look, you will call a nation you don’t know, a nation you don’t know will run to you because of the LORD your God, the holy one of Israel, who has glorified you. 6 Seek the LORD when he can still be found; call him while he is yet near. 7 Let the wicked abandon their ways and the sinful their schemes. Let them return to the LORD so that he may have mercy on them, to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness. 8 My plans aren’t your plans, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. 9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my plans than your plans.
Good Morning, Pray to God this morning!
This passage is prophesizing the story that we studied a few weeks ago regarding Jesus and his encounter with the woman at the well and the living water. Jesus promises us that those who drink this living water will never thirst again.
We receive this living water when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. Our acceptance also signifies the Holy Spirit entering our beings to transform us into all that God has planned for us. We often are confused and unsure of what God is calling us to do. We must continue to listen, pray, study the Scriptures, and join in fellowship with the body of believers.
Through these activities, God’s plan for our lives will be revealed. There are times when this revelation comes quickly, but often it is live opening a gift slowly and deliberately. As each piece of tape is removed and the paper is lifted, we get a glimpse or piece of the puzzle. By the time we have unwrapped the entire gift, the message is clearly before us. What about when the gift doesn’t seem to be ours to claim? God’s purpose and plan were laid out at the beginning of time, and God’s ways are not our ways.
Sometimes it takes time to grow into our gift. For example, maybe you are given an article of clothing that is way too big for your small stature. You look at it lovingly and maybe even try it on for size. You work to provide your body with all that is needed to grow into this gift.
Our gifts and God’s plan for our lives often is very different from what we imagined. When the plan is revealed, we must prepare ourselves by praying, spending time in the Word, and joining together with fellow believers as we prepare ourselves to accept and deliver this gift to the world. Maybe from time to time, we try it on for size by sharing a glimpse of our gift with others. We must continue working and using all of what God has given us, that living water, to grow fully into our gift. The work and time required will all be worth the effort when we are finally ready to share our gift with the world.
Loving and Gracious God, Thank You for loving us. We have so many questions. We are often unsure and we thank you for listening and showing us the way. Thank You! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: When faced with questions, I will trust in God.
Work and Praise God! Pastor Liz
Comentarios