Wednesday, July 11

Jesus Calling: July 20th, 2024

Jesus Calling - July 20th

Seek My face and you will find all that you have longed for. The deepest yearnings of your heart are for intimacy with Me. I know because I designed you to desire me. Do not feel guilty about taking time to be still in My presence. You are simply responding to the tugs of divinity within you. I made you in My image and I hid heaven in your heart. Your yearning for Me is a form of homesickness. Longing for your true home in heaven. Do not be afraid to be different from other people. The path I have called you to travel is exquisitely right for you. The more closely you follow My leading the more fully I can develop your gifts. To follow Me wholeheartedly you must relinquish your desire to please other people. However, your closeness to Me will bless others by enabling you to shine brightly in this dark world.

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

Psalm 42:1-2 (NLT)
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
    so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
    When can I go and stand before him?

Additional insight regarding Psalm 42:1:2: As the life of a deer depends upon water, so our lives depend on God. Those who seek him and long to understand him find eternal life. Feeling separated from God, this psalmist wouldn't rest until he restored his relationship with God because he knew that his very life depended on it. Do you thirst for God?

Psalm 34:5 (NLT)
5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
    no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

Philippians 2:15 (NLT)
15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

Additional insight regarding Philippians 2:14-16: Our lives should be characterized by moral purity, patience, and peacefulness so that we will "shine brightly" in a dark and depraved world. A transformed life is an effective witness to the power of God's Word. Are you shining brightly, or are you clouded by complaining and arguing? Don't let dissensions snuff out your light. Shine out for God. Your role is to shine until Jesus returns and bathes the world in his radiant glory.

Additional insight regarding Philippians 2:14-16
: Why are complaining and arguing such harmful acts? If all that people know about a church is that its members constantly argue, complain, and gossip, they get a false impression of Christ and the Good News. Belief in Christ should unite those who trust him. If your church is always complaining and arguing, it lacks the unifying power of Jesus Christ. Stop arguing with other Christians or complaining about people and conditions within the church; instead, let the world see Christ.

10 comments:

  1. Just what I needed today. Anxious time for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 21, 2020

    Praying for you, Steve! Bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. 'The more closely you follow My leading the more fully I can develop your gifts'---This hit home, as I feel I have strayed and lost my sense of purpose. I need to be close to G-d for my gifts to prosper.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amen to that . 🙏 staying positive look for the good in each Day.

    ReplyDelete
  5. God bless you all and keep you today.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I always come back to this devotional book, it is spot on and always what I need. I feel the Love & tenderness of God whenever I read. Thank you, Amen!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJuly 20, 2023

    Thank you for this morning reading ❣️❣️🙏

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJuly 20, 2023

    JESUS!! Right on time, as Always.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJuly 20, 2023

    It’s me doing all the complaining and fussing. Lord , I need your help in this area. I say trust You and I know You have come through for me. I see Your hand on my life. Why am
    I complaining. Please help me Lord. Amen!

    ReplyDelete