Proverbs 4:18 “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”

Our journey with the Lord is just that – a journey.  It’s not a stagnant, or stationary time in our lives when we just stand still… waiting.  We need to be growing daily, pushing ourselves ever closer in becoming more like Jesus.  And as we mature, we become established, full of Godly wisdom, and able to further the Kingdom of Heaven. For just like that first gleam of dawn, the light of God will shine brighter and brighter within us.

Luke 11:9 ” Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Today marks the 1500 devotional I’ve written over the last 4 1/2 years.  What would have happened if I had not askednot sought…not knocked?  God tells us He will supply all our needs…all we have to do is supply the trust.  And in additional to that, we need to have the insight to realize what we “want” may not be what we need.  As I look back today at how He’s worked in my life with Safetypinlove, I see the plan and purpose He had for me when I first asked, sought, and knocked.

Luke 2: 51-52 ” Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

Even at twelve years old, Jesus had the plan and purpose for His life laid out in front of Him.  But He was also the young son of His parents, Mary and Joseph, and He honored them by His submission and obedience.  Many times in our own life we’ll encounter situations that we just don’t understand, but we know they’re of the Lord.  That’s when we submit anyway…we obey anyway…we honor anyway.

In Christ Jesus…You are redeemed and forgiven.

Forgiveness.  For some that’s a hard word to accept.  They feel as if they need to “do” something first in order  to gain God’s pardon.   But to be forgiven by the Lord has nothing to do with us…for it is solely based on God’s unmerited love and mercy… His redemptive power working to heal and make us whole again.

Mark 7: 20-23 ” He went on: ‘What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean.’ “

This all started when the Pharisees saw the Disciples eating food with unwashed hands and were offended.  Jesus gave the crowd a quick Anatomy/Physiology lesson when He concluded that all food (whether clean or unclean) goes into a man’s stomach, not his heart.  He then instructed the crowd by saying, “Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by going into him.  Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean.” (Mark 7:15)    I’ve heard it said,  if you shake a man, you’ll see what’s in his heart.  For it’s deep within our heart that all wickedness abides.

Hebrews 2:9 ” But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

Jesus died for you.  He experienced the stark reality of dying… for you.  In II Corinthians 5:15 it says that Jesus died for all…and that includes you.  Have you ever given thought to the profound notion that the Savior of the world died for you…just you?  No matter where you are in life…no matter where your walk is right now…remember,  Jesus loves you enough to have suffered unspeakable horror  and death… just for you.

Jeremiah 6:17 ” I appointed watchman over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’ “

It’s the age-old story of mankind’s rebellion against God.  The Lord appoints prophets to bring His Word of obedience and warning…signaling man’s need to take immediate and dramatic action or pay the price.  But what do we usually do?  We don’t heed His Word, for we want to have our own way.  Our evil hearts ever full of stubbornness and defiance when God says, “Obey Me.”  We hear the trumpet, but choose to ignore it out of spite.

Micah 5:2 ” But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be Ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

700 years later, in a quiet unpretentious little town, the Messiah was born.  There was no fanfare, no pomp and pageantry…just a barn and a baby.  The Lord would rather use the humble…the plain and ordinary to do His best work.  Common,  simple people are His very best instrument for some of His most wonderful miracles.  Don’t ever dismiss yourself as someone God could never use…for in fact, you are exactly who He wants.

Galatians 3:26-28 ” You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ…There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ.”

We are all one in Christ.  There is not one nationality or people group above another in God’s sight.  We are all one in Christ.  There is no social or economical stigma in God’s family…for we all stand equal in His eyes…from the least to the greatest.  We are all one in Christ.  There are no gender barriers stopping any of us from fulfilling God’s plan and purpose in our lives.  We are all one in Christ Jesus.

Luke 7: 13 ” When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, ‘Don’t cry.’ “

Jesus and His Disciples were traveling to a town called Nain, when they came upon a funeral procession of the only son of a widow.  Jesus looked on her with compassion, for  she had not only lost her only boy, but also  her sole means of income.  This tenderness towards the woman was prompted  perhaps  by Jesus remembering His own mother and what she soon would be going through.  For Jesus then  spoke  to the corpse , “Get up!” and the young man sat up and Jesus gave him back to his mother.