Through the magnifying glass...

March 27, 2015
Friday

Dear God,

Happy Spring and Happy Friday!  The birds are singing and all's right in my world.

Thank you for the blessed time we have had this morning. Maybe it took going through surgery to slow me down and make sure You had the first fruits of my day. I am on track in reading through the Bible in 2015 and, this morning, read about David, the man after your heart.

David was such a godly man ~ a man who listened to You then lived his life in obedience and praise. What happened, Lord? How could a man so attune to your bidding fall so far from grace?  Well, David is no different than many of us. David's sin with Bathsheba was no sudden collapse of his moral values, but rather the outgrowth of an undisciplined life given to passion, polygamy, and idle pleasure. When temptation came, David had no willpower to resist. He saw, he inquired, he yielded. When David's folly was known and Nathan the prophet addressed this with him, David was ashamed and asked for forgiveness. God forgave David BUT the crash would be heard for generations to come in the form of treachery, immorality, jealousy, and murder in David's family.

(I put a table in comparing Joseph's life to David's. Every time I am feeling resentful, I go back and reread Joseph's story in Genesis.)

I got to thinking ~ are there subtle sins eating away at my spiritualness? Disaster in the Christian life more often results from a slow leak than a blow out. For a very long time, I examined my thoughts and actions through a magnifying glass. Then, being human, I thought, "I know my weaknesses, I don't need to take inventory every day. Oh dear, resentments festered, my anger reared its ugly head, and I gradually (ever sooo slowly) became less than I wanted to be. You have a way of bringing me to my knees, don't You. Now, nearly every day I praise You, read a devotional or scripture, and get out my magnifying glass. I pray Psalm 139:23-24 (KJV): "Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

You've forgiven me and remember my sins no more. Yet, there have been the ramifications to deal with. The choice I made when I was seventeen years old paved the way for a lifetime of sadness. There is an old chiche that goes something like this: Our choices become action, actions become habits, and habits become our character. Yet, I know that for every sin, You made something good of it and I am so grateful. I would not be the woman I am today without walking the road I walked.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,

who have been called according to his purpose."

~Romans 8:28

Now, Father, I am NOT telling people who sin that You will definitely use it for good. I'm sayin' that You know we are imperfect; and, in spite of ourselves, for those of us that love You, our ways will be used for the good in glorifying You.

Lord God, I praise You for who you are. I worship You and You alone, one day at a time, one step at a time. Forgive me my sins as I forgive those who have sinned against me. I pray for my church. Grant an extra measure of wisdom to those who shepherd us. I pray for my country ~ may truth be blatantly obvious as we get ready to choose another President. Keep us safe calling up men and women of God to lead us. For those on my prayer list, I pray for good health, peace in the midst of tragedy, and for your grace. I thank you for Jesus, your son, who died on the cross that we may come to him and experience eternal life. I've never regretted being obedient, for in obedience we give You control of the outcome. As a control freak, that's something that I have had to work on every day. This morning, I am filled with peace ... You are good and I give you my life to use for your glory.  Amen, it is so...

Miss Dottie

NOTE TO READERS: Please know I pray for you each and every day. My love for you grows as my blog is being read in countries across the globe.  I just love what Elisabeth Elliott has to say, "Does it make sense to pray for guidance about the future if we are not obeying in that lies before us today?  How many momentous events in Scripture depended on one person's seemingly small act of obedience!  Rest assured, do what God tells you to do now; and, depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next." Let's get together again soon!  Hopefully, I am back in the saddle of life and am set to get on with things. Care to join me?