In Tents Again, 4/23/2010

In Tents Again
Marybeth Whalen

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed feasts."
Hosea 12:9 (NIV)

Devotion:
Many times in the Bible we read about God giving us direction, pushing us forward and providing us with a future. But have you ever felt like He has taken you backwards instead? Have you ever wondered why?

In today's verse we read about Him telling the Israelites that they were going to take a few steps backwards. They had gotten out of Egypt, moved on with their lives, stepped towards a future, but forgot their God in the process. He determined that the best thing He could do was to take them back to the days they lived in tents, back to the time they celebrated feasts and remembered His goodness. A time, the Bible notes, they were filled with indescribable joy in spite of their surroundings.

God has had to take me back many times, I am sad to say. I get in forward motion, so focused on what lies ahead, that I forget what He has done for me in the past. Living in fast forward gives me little time to rewind, to replay what He has done on my behalf, to rejoice over His sovereignty. Sometimes He has to take me back—not because He is punishing me, but because He knows how spiritually forgetful I can be. He simplifies my life for me, weeding out the distractions so I can refocus on Him. He puts me in "tents" again so I can remember where I started.

Maybe today you are feeling like you are in "tents" again financially or professionally. Maybe your marriage seems to be in "tents" again. Maybe you are going through something with a child that feels reversed when what you really want is to move ahead. Let God take you back, and trust that forward motion doesn't always mean growth.

Sometimes going backwards is what He knows is best for you. Trust the direction He is taking you. Settle into those "tents" and look for Him to dwell among you as He did with the Israelites. Instead of grumbling and complaining about where He has you, choose to feel His nearness and soak in His love. Sometimes He puts us in "tents" again because there is something He once taught us that we need to relearn. What might that be for you?

Dear Lord, I don't like going backwards. I want to move ahead but I know that isn't always what's best for me. I trust the direction You are taking me, even if it means going back. I want to draw closer to You and I trust Your guidance. Please reveal Yourself to me in "tents" again. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Related Resources:
Do You Know Him?

For encouragement delivered to your door, order your subscription to P31 Woman

Visit Marybeth's blog
Becoming A Woman of Influence (CD) by Marybeth Whalen
Come Along: The Journey into a More Intimate Faith by Jane Rubietta
Application Steps:
Think of a time when God took you backwards. What did you learn from that time? Did you draw closer to God? Journal about that experience and write down today's verse.

Reflections:
Do you accept when God takes you backwards? Do you seek to learn whatever it is He is trying to teach you or do you rebel against where He has you?

Power Verses:
Nehemiah 8:17, "The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated like this. And their joy was very great." (NIV)

Exodus 29:46, "They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God." (NIV)


© 2010 by Marybeth Whalen. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/index.php

Embraced by the Father, 4/231/2010

Embraced by the Father
Susanne Scheppmann

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." 1 John 3:1 (NIV)
Devotion:
Her smile lit up the room when her daddy entered. Her rosebud lips spread into a wide beam of a smile. Her silky black hair leapt about her face as she bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. She looked like Snow White after a large cup of espresso. The man started the music and began to walk toward her. He stopped and opened wide his muscular arms—the familiar invitation to dance. She raced to him and perched herself atop his feet. They began two-stepping to their special song, "My Personal Penguin." The princess was dancing with her Prince Charming—her daddy.

Bittersweet joy washed over me like a warm spring rain as I witnessed this scene between my son and granddaughter. Happiness for my granddaughter flowed into my heart, but there was also a tinge of sadness. I regretted never having experienced the same type of father-daughter relationship with my earthly dad.

My own father resembled the character of Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind. He was suave, handsome, and self-assured, but a rogue. I traveled through my childhood and adolescence wishing for a Rhett Butler type of man to whisk me off my feet. I desired a rogue to embrace me with a wild and untamed love. Because of my "father image," I actually desired imperfect love from people. A flawed love would hurt, but it still appealed to my broken heart. I believed falsely that love could only be achieved through volatile sparks of emotion, fueled by the uncertainty of the love.

Of course, it was all a misguided representation of a girl's broken heart. But now, I have learned to know a perfect love—the love of my heavenly Father. Only He has been able to fill my heart with a perfect love. The night I accepted His love, He began to reveal to me the character of a faultless Father. As the Father embraced me, my idea of errant love slid into oblivion. I learned the true meaning of love as I gained knowledge of God. He taught me His characteristics and personality through the diversity of His names, but my favorite will always be Father—Abba—my Daddy.

Do you know Abba—the heavenly Father? He is waiting for you with His arms wide open. Come and be embraced by the Father.

Dear Lord, thank You for revealing the true love of a Father to my broken heart. Help me learn to live out my life in Your perfect and holy love. Remind me that You love me just as I am—flaws and all. Thank You for Your love. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Related Resources:

Do You Know Him?
Embraced by the Father: Finding Grace in the Name of God by Susanne Scheppmann
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan
Visit Susanne's blog

Application Steps:
Read Zephaniah 3:17. Write down the activities that sound like a father loving his daughter. Imagine yourself sitting on the Father's lap and allowing Him to sing over you.

Reflections:
What is my mental image of a father?
Do I believe that God loves me as a perfect father would? Why or why not?
What hinders me from accepting God's unconditional love?
Power Verses:
1 John 1:2-4, "The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete." (NIV)
Galatians 4:6, "And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father.'" (NLT)

© 2010 by Susanne Scheppmann. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/index.php

Feeling Weak? 4/20/2010

Feeling Weak?

Mary DeMuth, She Speaks Conference Graduate

"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God."
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NASB)

Devotion:
I didn't know that when those older boys pinned five-year-old me to the earth, my backside poked by brambles, that someday God would choose that frightened little girl, sexually abused for a year, to shame the wise. But He chose a shattered me.

I didn't know that as my childhood home filled with drugs and unsafe parties, God would rescue weak and scared me. But, eventually, He salved my fears.

I didn't know that as I ran from other predators, the boys' marks on me like a beacon, I'd someday limp into the arms of a Savior. I felt debased, unworthy, ugly, dirty, ruined. But He welcomed me.

I didn't know that as my earthly father slipped from this earth, my Heavenly Father stood nearby, open armed. Though my earthly father's death left me fatherless, my Heavenly Father didn't orphan me. He grafted me into His family.

I didn't know that as I considered different ways to kill myself in junior high, as I faced a third parental divorce, that Jesus' own beautiful death provided a way of new life for me. He rescued me from taking my life.

I was all the things the apostle Paul wrote about in today's key verse, and then some. Neglected, needy, pained, lost, small, frightened. And yet God took those negatives and beautified them with Himself. That's the great paradox God brings to all of us, no matter how "easy" or hard our upbringing. It's not that we're strong and sufficient and wise, it's that He is.

Perhaps you've looked back on your past and shuddered. Perhaps you've questioned God about why He'd allow atrocities in your life. But consider this: God gets the most glory in the life fully surrendered to Him, and it's hard for a self-sufficient person to submit. He does the most work in our helplessness. (See 2 Corinthians 12: 9, 10).

Our weakness and frailty are not merely places of desolation; they are dance floors—holy places where the God of the universe is allowed to freely move in our lives. Our own lack allows for and welcomes this sacred dance where God's talent outshines our capabilities, where only He receives the glory.

Will you lay down your past today? Will you trust Him with the mess, the memories, the mayhem? If you do, He will take the marred pieces of your life, reassemble them, and make you fly. So you (because of Him) can shame the wise.

Lord, I confess I've seen my own injuries as reasons to blame you and keep You far from my heart. I'm sorry. Help me instead to see my weaknesses as a place where You can demonstrate Your strength. I welcome You into the painful places. Do something new and miraculous. I don't want to be embittered. I want to be free. And I want to give You all the glory. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Related Resources:
View the trailer for Mary's newest book, Thin Places: A Memoir and purchase your copy today of Thin Places: A Memoir by Mary E. DeMuth

The Mom I Want to Be: Rising Above Your Past to Give Your Kids a Great Future by T. Suzanne Eller
Hidden Joy in a Dark Corner: The Transforming Power of God's Story by Wendy Blight
For more encouragement, read Stained and Ruined
Application Steps:
Find a trusted confidant and share your story with her. Confess ways you've pushed God away. Ask her to pray for you so that you can allow God into the painful places of your life.

Journal a prayer to God about your difficult memories. His shoulders are big enough to carry your authentic, raw words.

Ask God to specifically guide you to Scripture that speaks to your past. Write them out, put them in your purse, and memorize them.

Reflections:
Look back on your life. When have you felt closest to God? The most distant? What were your circumstances at each time?

In what ways are you afraid to surrender your past to God?

How can you choose today to believe the truth that God's strength is stronger where you're weak?

Power Verses:
Isaiah 43:18-19, "Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert." (NAS)

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong." (NAS)


© 2010 by Mary DeMuth. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.proverbs31.org