Today's Devotion

Part of our school days here at the Centre include morning devotion time.  On Monday's and Thursday's we all gather to hear one of the students give a short testimony/devotion.  On Friday's we all gather for a time of Worship.  On Tuesday's we have our devotion time in our classroom and one of the students from your class gives the devotion.

Today was my day.  We are still at the point where we are allowed to share in English... Praise the Lord. haha!  I wanted to share here what I shared this morning with my class.

As I was praying about what to speak on I was coming up short.  My attitude these days is a bit on the fritz and many Bible verses feel clique.  So I sat at my desk with my Bible open staring at my desk and I felt a nudge in my spirit to get my journal.  I keep a Prayer & Thought Journal.  In this journal I write down Bible verses that strike me, thoughts that I get as I read the Word, sermons notes that have changed me, music lyrics that capture the words I can't find myself. 

So I continued to sit and flip through the pages of the journal.  Looking at dates and thoughts and verses and lyrics and remembering when these things happened and how I felt.  Yet nothing seemed to be something I wanted to share.  So I stared at the wall a little more before I gave up and moved on to something else.  'I will write it out in the morning', I thought to myself as the clock was screaming at me to go to sleep.

Fast forward to this morning.  I wake up, get my necessary cup of coffee, and turn on my computer.  In the mornings I have some 'Jesus Time' which includes reading my Bible passages (1 Year Bible reading plan), a time of Prayer, and listening to the IHOP prayer room.  

So I read my designated reading.  Good stuff!  Then I sat.  

Then as it usually happens, God shows up in a still small voice.  Three words.  That's all I got, three words.  Remember - Rest - Revelation

I grab my journal and flip through the pages.  Then I grab my Bible and look up passages.  Remember. Yes, remember!  Rest.  Yes, rest!  Revelation. Yes, revelation!  From there the thoughts flowed from Holy Spirit to my spirit freely...  

Remember

I realized that last night when the Lord nudged me to open my journal it was because He wanted me to remember.  Remembering is very important... and not just in language learning.  Remembering is important in our walk with God.  The Bible is full of promises that God made to His people throughout generations.  These promises were for them and are for us!  And God makes us promises in our lives.  It is imperative for us to remember the promises. 

Psalm 33:18-22,

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,
 that he may deliver their soul from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

 Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
 For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

Here we are all are different stages in our lives yet all find ourselves here in language school.  Many of us are frustrated and some feel hopeless.  We are facing trails of many kinds.  Our kids are sick... We don't understand 75% of what we are 'learning'... We are dealing with issues here and back home... Many things are coming our way and it is easy to forget.  It is easy to forget why we are here in the first place.  We must remember.  We have to remember the promises.

God brought us here to learn French so we can go to a French speaking nation.  We have to remember that He is a good Father and He has not called us to people who speak French and will not give us the language we need.  God has given each of us different promises and He is faithful to bring them (and us) to completion.

Revelation 12:11,
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 

God's promise in Revelation 12:11 speaks directly to us!!!  God promises that we will conquer him [satan] BY the blood of the Lamb (God) and BY the word of our testimony.  God promises us that we will overcome!

Rest

This season of our lives is very demanding.  I often feel tired and drained... and I don't have little ones at home to take care of so I can't imagine adding that piece!  In this season our rest is found in the Lord.  We can come to a place of rest when we choose to remember God's promises and rest in our assurance that is found in Him.  

Matthew 11:28-30,
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

This kind of rest is not passive. No, it is active!  Jesus says come to me and I will give you rest.  Jesus says take my yoke... learn from me... and you will find rest.  We have to trust Him enough to bring all our selves before Him and take the rest He has promised us.  And as we choose to be active in finding rest, God gives us yet another promise...

Hebrews 7:25,
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.  

We can rest in knowing that when everything around us is busy and demanding and overwhelming that Jesus Himself is praying for us!  Now that I can find rest in!

Revelation

I pray that in this season God will pour out deeper revelation of who He is in our lives!  A deep revelation that is an anchor of hope for our souls and cannot be taken from us.  I pray that God will give our minds revelation (understanding) of the French language.  That He will open our minds to comprehend all that we need to learn about language and about Him!

I want to pray for us out of one of my favorite prayers that Paul wrote in Ephesians.  

Ephesians 3:16-20 (changes/emphasis mine),

I pray that according to the riches of his glory he may grant us to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith—that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us!

Amen.