Jesus Calling: December 19th
Do not be weighed down by the clutter in your life: lots of little chores to do sometime, in no particular order. If you focus too much on these petty tasks, trying to get them all out of the way, you will discover that they are endless. They can eat up so much time as you devote to them.Instead of trying to do all your chores at once, choose the ones that need to be done today. Let the rest slip into the background of your mind, so I can be in the forefront of your awareness. Remember that your ultimate goal is living close to Me, being responsive to My initiatives. I can communicate with you most readily when your mind is uncluttered and turned toward Me. Seek My Face continually throughout this day. Let My Presence bring order to your thoughts, infusing Peace into your entire being.
RELATED SCRIPTURE:
Proverbs 16:3 (NLT)
3 Commit your actions to the Lord,
and your plans will succeed.
Additional insight regarding Proverbs 16:3: There are different ways to fail to commit whatever we do to the Lord. Some people commit their work only superficially. They say the project is being done for the Lord, but in reality, they are doing it for themselves. Others give God temporary control of their interests, only to take control back the moment things stop going the way they expect. Still others commit a task fully to the Lord but put forth no effort themselves, and then they wonder why they do not succeed. We must maintain a delicate balance: trusting God as if everything depended on him while working as if everything depended on us. Think of a specific effort in which you are involved right now. Have you committed it to the Lord?
Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Additional insight regarding Matthew 6:33: To "seek the Kingdon of God above all else" means to put God first in your life, to fill your thoughts with his desires, to take his character for your pattern, and to serve and over him in everything. What is really important to you? People, objects, goals, and other desires all compete for priority. Any of these can quickly become most important to you if you don't actively choose to give God first place in every area of life.
Amen !
ReplyDeleteI want to give God first place. How do I do that? I wake up saying his name. I get nothing back?? I see no difference in my life?? I read Jesus Cslling every day. Love the reading but I feel like there is nothing happening in my life. It’s all just words. Nothing is making a difference. I love Jesus but my life is empty even with Jesus in it daily…. please say something that will help me.
DeleteI don’t know if you are even going to read this, but God isn’t a god of rules, rituals, and formalities, He’s alive and active, and desires an honest relationship. It takes a while, and at first it feels like nothing is happening, but one day you’ll notice something, something small, that couldn’t have been anything else besides God answering a prayer. Jesus says “Blessed are those who haven’t seen, and yet still believe.” To be blunt, being a follower of Christ isn’t easy, you have to be willing to give up anything he asked you to in trust, because following the truth in this fallen world isn’t easy. Stay faithful, because Jesus will never leave you, even when you think he did. God is above our thoughts and feelings, and He works in ways we never could’ve expected. If you want to put God first, you need to put yourself last, you must become a servant.
DeleteThank Me for this day of life, recognizing that it is a precious unrepeatable gift. YOU WOKE UP!
DeleteIt's been a year so I hope you see this. Get in the scripture, read it daily, ask the Lord to bring other believers into your life and then find a good bible-based, Jesus centered church. You may not find the best one for you on the first or second or even third try, but I'll pray you find one that feels right for you. Make sure they are focused on Jesus, not political idealogy, which is worldly not Godly. Then get involved there - help with community outreach (a good church will have this) You'll get closer to God, meet people and make friends as you volunteer. Your life will no longer be empty. May God bless you and guide you on your spiritual journey. Ask Him to help. He is with you today and always! ❤️
DeleteWhen my life felt empty I started serving. I washed dishes after a meal served as part of a Celebrate Recovery meeting. This act changed my thinking and opened up opportunities to share my experience, strength and hope.
DeletePlease read Proverbs 16:3 again. It is a reminder for all of us to commit "our actions" to the Lord, then "our plans" will succeed. The point is for each of us to take some actions or initiatives for whatever we desire to in life. Ask God to help you identify 2-3 goals you want to accomplish and then develop a plan of action that includes objectives, timelines and strategies that will enable you get where you want to go in life. God has given all of us gifts, talents, skills and abilities. It's up to us to work towards the fulfillment of our gifts for His glory. 🙏🏼✝️❤️
DeleteAmen, Well first of all l thank you for being so honest with your feeling about what your feeling for Jesus, but to you, you are feeling that He is not giving you that in return. Getting to know God is like falling in love with another man or women. You start to open up with one another, by telling them ALL your hurts and pains as time goes by. They start telling you everything that you want to hear, so you start falling even more in love with them. God is the same way when you wake up in the morning and you talk to God on a personal level open up cry out just as you would your human friend. Look up things that you are going through in the Bible by Scripture, read the chapter, go to the Easy Ënglish Bible with ee they are in green letters....click on it you will understand Gods word's better,then He will start specking to you through His word .Learn how to become Intimate with God. He says in His word
DeleteI understand everything you are saying, I sometimes feel the same way. Just keep trusting and have faith. Don't be so hard on yourself. Some days are better than others. Don't give up. He will hear you.
DeleteYour question is a year old now, but was there for me today. A little gift from God. And I'll thank Him by responding . I could say the same. I manage to read Jesus calling "Almost" every day then look away to my own endless to-do list. I'm human, I'm selfish, I'm afraid to let go of my perception of control of a life that feels empty. I truly believe were all born the Hope of GOD'S Love within us. His door is always open. As I step toward Him my life becomes brighter and lighter. Let's tell Jesus what we're feeling (pray). And go to the source, the Bible (I need to start the Bible -in- a-year plan, "again"). Our Shepard Jesus is always looking for us lost sheep :o)
DeleteKeep praying and know you are a child of the true and living God! Even King David kept his faith in God and cried out even more when God seemed far from David. Pray Psalms 17 that you may be comforted and remain encouraged 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
DeleteKeep praying and know you are a child of the true and living God! Even King David kept his faith in God and cried out even more when God seemed far from David. Pray Psalms 17 that you may be comforted and remain encouraged 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
DeleteAnonymous-I understand your frustration. But please don’t give up. Sit in a quiet place, and talk to Jesus. Then be quiet and listen. It may be subtle, and just one word responding back to you, ask for Jesus to let you know he is with you. I ask for signs and they come in many ways. A friend who reaches out when it’s unexpected. It may be a bird that sits on your window sill. It may be a stranger who looks at you with a warm smile. It will begin to change your view.
DeleteI pray you've felt His touch since you wrote this. I looked back at my last year too. Our flesh has no concept of the goodness of God. I pray you have found some hope 🙏🏼
DeleteThe Good Lord says it's his way of testing You to see if you will leave him or stick with him.You have to be patient.
DeleteReading his Word every day, setting aside quiet time for prayer and for the Bible, listening to worship music and/or podcasts of people who talk about living a Christian life, going to church regularly, aiming to rid your life of sin and walk with/obey the commands God has set forth. Simply put, plug your life more and more and more into all of this and your life will most certainly change for the better! One additional thing that I myself intend to do soon is to join a small group within a church. I know God is leading me to this decision and unfortunately I have been too timid to try it out. But we are called to push our boundaries and all of us have many things we can do to improve our faith and draw closer to Jesus! I will most certainly keep you in my prayers! God bless!!!
DeleteIn God's time, all will make sense. The Lord, Jesus Christ, works in a ways we may not fully understand, and that it why trust and faith in Him becomes key to establishing our intimate relationship with Him. Do not lose your faith in Jesus. He is here to save us from eternal darkness and sin. Jesus loves you. I am praying for you. God bless.
DeleteAmen !
ReplyDeleteI know that feeling. Jesus timing is perfect. He’s not going to do something that won’t work for you. It is protection rather than neglect. Keep praying Jesus will surprise you in ways that sometimes you won’t even imagine or sometimes you don’t realize. Focus on your current blessings and thanking for that in the process 🙏🏼
DeleteMy Jesus CallingApp no longer will take me to my daily readings or the scriptures. It only gives me afs to upgrade my purchase. Today I tried to google the reading and I FOUND THIS! Thank you!!
ReplyDelete🙏 amen
ReplyDeleteAmen, Thank You Lord! 🙏❤️❤️❤️🙏
ReplyDeleteHelp me, my dearest Lord, to do what I can and trust the results to you.
ReplyDeleteTo: person who shared on December 19, 2024 wanting to give God first place, feeling discouraged and reaching out for someone to say something that might help. Said a prayer for you because I truly believe in the power prayer🙏. Also hope and pray you are still reading your JESUS CALLING💌🙏💌 For me, your comments ring true.and sometimes we do feel deeply discouraged because things are not what we expected, goals are not coming to fruition as we expected and when we stop and think about it, might you agree we want what we want when we want it ? We forget we are not at the throne, our patience goes out the window and sometimes I imagine running after that patience, catching it and bringing it back home. I need to remind myself of my long lasting faith and to truly believe the strength and patience will come into play. I recall a reading, in Jesus Calling that when we are desperately needing our Lords help, we directly ask JESUS,HELP ME‼️ When things calm down, I express gratitude because another reading stated our Lord loves to hear THANKFULNESS from his children. Keeping a GRATITUDE JOURNAL helps because we often forget the multitude of blessings we get each and everyday. They come in all sizes; tiny to huge! Try keeping a GRATITUDE JOURNAL for a week and start with one blessing a day. See what happens. I found myself writing up to ten blessings per day with many, strangely enough, previously taken for granted. From the ability to see, hear, touch, walk, speak, write and so many others. Imagining what our Lord went through when he was crucified helps keep issues in perspective. The ability to share with one another here is a blessing in itself. I pray your day is filled with blessings🙏💌🙏 FG in CA December 19,2025
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