January 12

I have spent the past few days working at church and being a mother and a wife. Yes, busy busy days. But good busy. Productive busy. This week I am at a conference, so I may not get to blog as much as I would like. This is time and energy well invested, I'm sure.

It felt so good this morning to put aside everything. My computer, this blog, the dishes, the laundry, phone calls. To put aside all of this in order to draw close to God. Oh, so refreshing! I turned on my knees with the Bible next to me. It's at that point, nothing else matters except - God. This is my time of peace and worship. So here it goes:

On my knees before God, as His child I asked for permission to enter into His presence. Tears in my eyes because of the reality of the Creator accepting me, I continued to worship. I praised Him for who He is: Redeemer, Savior, King of my life, Creator, Merciful, Just, and Righetous. I asked Him for forgiveness for falling into my temptation once again. I also confessed my unwillingness to walk in faith. Forgiven, I asked for wisdom and understanding in reading the Word. "In the Name of the One who saved my life, and the One who gave it to save and the One who breathed the breath of Life into us both, Amen.

So the song I listened to is Kirk Franklin on the Hero CD, "Brokenhearted". Find it on the internet and listen. It's wonderful!

Reading: 1 Samuel 2: 12 - 36
Samuel reminds me of Daniel. They both had integrity. They both followed after God as young men despite the corruption around them. This section is about the priest Eli's sons. They were no good, corrupt men. God was about to judge them. But Samuel found favor with God. Read verse 35. This is another prophet coming to Eli to tell him what God says; so this is God speaking really, "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind". Imagine that! God allows us to know, have a piece of and follow after his own heart and mind. I can not even grasp how wonderful that is! Can you? But it is true. Do you believe there is a God? Well, this is what God is looking for all over the world. People who will submit themselves to Him and truly seek after Him. When we do this, He gives us His heart and mind! The Creator. The One and only true God! He wants to do this with us. He does not need us, but He chooses us. Who is willing to be made worthy?
The other verse I like, verse 21, "And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord". Hannah was faithful to the Lord, recognizing that He was the only one who could bless her. And God blessed her indeed with many other children. She went to visit Samuel every year. That must have been wonderful for her to see her son grow.

Reading: Romans 5: 1-11
After reading this, all I could think of was: faith, justified, perseverance, powerless, reconciliation, access, stand, rejoice, saved...
Let me know how this passage speaks to you.

I finished devotional time in prayer. Sitting, by the window. Looking out into the sky. I prayed for people that I know that are struggling; people that I met yesterday; my pastor; my husband; my children; and my family. I also prayed for you and future readers. I prayed that God would make Himself popular and be glorified through this blog. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would touch the hearts of those who will read this in the future.

Praise Him!