Daily Devotion - Acceptance
Do you feel that you need to perform well to be loved? Do you feel the pressure of living up to an ideal self?
We know that the Bible offers the solution to guilt. It is forgiveness. But, does the Bible offer a solution to shame?
Taking a break from the grind of everyday life, a change of pace and slowing down can be deeply refreshing.
The kitten-napper ignored my pleas and made a beeline for the woods behind our house. I watched helplessly, as they disappeared deeper and deeper into the woods, and the baby’s cries for its Mama grew fainter and fainter.
But it is out of love that the Lord prunes us, because He wants us to reach our full growth potential. He knows the blessings that await us on the other side of the pruning.
We must continue to press on, say "enough is enough" with regret, and give it all over to the Lord. We can choose to live a life of joy and peace.
I wondered, if we call God good when things go right, does it mean He’s not good when things go wrong?
To Him we are made complete and absolutely perfect, lacking nothing. In His eyes we are exquisite just as we are. Isn’t that reassuring in what can sometimes be a very superficial world?
Do you find that you are exhausted from trying to accomplish all that your day brings? Maybe, like me, you are drained from striving for man's approval instead of seeking rest in a God who already loves you just as you are right now.
Are you guilty, as I am, of wanting at least one person to notice when you do something that people don’t normally see? The only one we should seek approval from, true loving confirming approval from, is God.
Who among us doesn’t have a personal story of how we prayed earnestly for something that we thought God wanted too, only to see the clock strike midnight without an answer?
God is after something in all of us, and until He gets that something, our lives can be p-r-e-t-t-y stormy!
"I was trying to swallow the ‘sovereignty pill’," said singer/songwriter Sara Groves. "I was having a hard time choking that down."
There comes a time in every daydreamer’s life when she has to ask, “If this as good as it gets, what am I going to do about it?”
Scripture is sprinkled from the Old to New Testament with the word help. God wants to help us. Why do we insist on living life in our own strength or alone? Is it our pride?
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