NSM Evotional 07/11/2012

[GPiper]

You too are a light.jpg

A Glory Seed Devotional
Spirit Food for the Journey…

Many stories of the bible have reverberated across the annals of time and have found their way (by divine design) into my life. Last Sunday as I sat quietly in the church sanctuary preparing myself for worship I began reading chapter 8 of Ezra and the Spirit brought my attention: “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, "The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him." So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.” (Ezra 8:21-23 ESV)

What stood out for me was even though he trusted and had faith in God there was still some anxiety in Ezra over the journey they would be undertaking. Yet at the same time, Ezra also understood that to “tap” into God’s protection God would need to be what mattered most to the people traveling with him. Many times in my own life when difficulties have become roadblocks, I focus not on God’s protection but on the roadblocks and suddenly they become bigger than God.

I would much rather than think when I focus on God there will be no roadblocks however, I know better than that. Therefore, I am taking away from Ezra’s experience that when difficulties do block my path I am going to focus on my hunger pangs for God rather than my spoon-fed fears. Experience tells me that may not always be easy because anxiety is a very powerful emotion but anxiety is only an emotion and is no match when the Holy Spirit embraces and empowers my spirit.

What happened to Ezra and his people? “Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days.” (Ezra 8:31-32 ESV)

For those of us who are Holy Spirit empowered even though we are ambushed from time to time we will always be victorious because two thousand years ago when Jesus walked victoriously from his tomb he passed on his victory to us!

The only thing we need to remember is when we brag about what God will do for us we need to back up our words with our lives not just our mouths!

Grace and PEACE!
Gary

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“The LORD is with you while you are with him.
If you seek him, he will be found by you…”
(2 Chronicles 15:2 ESV)

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Scripture quotations marked ESV "Are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."