Devotion

‘Don’t Be Afraid To Turn the Page’      

1 Thessalonians ( NIV )

 1Paul, Silas^[a] and Timothy,
      to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
      Grace and peace to you. ^[b]

 2We always thank God for all of you, mentions you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

1 Peter 5:8

(8)Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (9)Resisting, standing firm in that faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind suffering.

It’s never easy to start in a new adventure or new beginning or challenges. God never sees them as challenges to overcome and He knows what to use to help us become better and not bitter. It is important not be bitter when you are in a test. This is important because you risk taking the test over when you don’t do well and this creates delay, stagnation on our part. Change can sometimes scare us; force us to go into hiding; what we have to remember is, where our help comes from. God uses our new beginnings as a faith walk, strengthening our faith when we think we can’t be push anymore. It may hurt and we may not feel at out best all the time but, this is what God uses to get us to a new level in him. Growing never feels good but the end results produce a tree planted. There are places God wants to take us but, we have to be willing to go there and open to wherever His next venture leads us. God knows what we are capable of and so does the devil. He knows what we hesitate about and why and again so does the devil. The devil is watching your every move like a chess game; He wants to checkmate your every move to delay your arrival time. We cannot afford the delays, time is of the essence and the gift of time given to you by God is important to the people you meet, the influence you have on the atmosphere around you. Scripture in Matthew 6-10 (NIV) explains; Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven is vital because what is going on in heaven has to be in an agreement on earth to have manifestation in the earth.

We are in times now where have to totally rely on Gods revelation. This requires us to sit with God and not sit with man. God has release revelation through to the Holy Spirit, to be release to us all who belong to him. Turning the page is half the battle, getting to our destination. Transition is never easy but, growing is beneficial to us all.

  'We have to stay dress for the battle.'

                                                                               Maria D. Smith