June 30, 2026 – Becoming
JC – “You are increasingly released to become the one I created you to be. This is a work that I do in you as you yield to My Spirit. I can do My best handiwork when you sit in the stillness of My Presence, focusing your entire being on Me…. I am the Way and the Truth and the Life…. Don’t worry about what is on the road up ahead. I want you to find your security in knowing Me, the One who died to set you free.” See John 8:32, Philippians 2:13, and John 14:6.
Prevail #181 – Larson’s title is comforting and empowering, “He’s Made You Equal to the Task” and she bases her thoughts today on Ezekiel 3:8-9 – “But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted as they are. I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock! So don’t be afraid of them or fear their angry looks, even though they are rebels.” Larson offers a helpful explanation of this Bible story, “God called Ezekiel the prophet to confront a stubborn, rebellious people given to idolatry and apathy regarding the things of God. Imagine being called to an assignment that you knew would fail.” Sometimes when I read these stories, I don’t fully lean in to the reality of what they faced; so, I unfairly judge their reactions.
She continues, “God told Ezekiel to warn His people, but He also informed him that the people wouldn’t listen. So why the assignment? [Good question. It’s one that we ask God quite often; and, her answer is a good one to store and hold onto.] Because every act of God changes the story on earth. Changes us.” [I had a situation that I was trying to handle years ago and people would tell me it was futile to communicate my concerns; but, I persisted because I was doing it more for my peace of mind than for any meaningful response.] When we’re tied up with the fear of man, we will look to others’ responses for our cues. But when we look to the Lord and remember how He has conditioned us in our past battles, we’ll stand firm in confidence that He is strong in us…. dare to consider God’s faithfulness in your present and how He’s prepared you in the past…. And when you face opposition and seem to gain no ground, trust that something’s changing in you and in the greater story. Some of these things we won’t see until the other side. But ours is to trust and obey. Outcomes are in His hands.”
I woke early this morning and laid there praying before I got up; because, as I believe I’ve mentioned before, sometimes praying lulls me on back to sleep. It didn’t work this time. One of the last things in my prayers was asking for help in not only getting chores done today, but also in putting the Christmas boxes back in place after having moved them for the men who installed our new air conditioner the other day. Plus so many other projects that I continue to mention in these posts. Actually, that’s another project. Learning about blogging. Yesterday I unearthed the Blogging for Dummies book, by Amy Lupold Bair, Don gave me after I started this endeavor; and, somewhere in this 726 page book, I read that I should be calling this a post. The blog is the whole thing and each individual writeup is a post. I have digressed, which indeed is why I ask for God’s help in staying on track with my projects! Larson’s prayer: “Jesus, Thank You for Your mighty work in me. You’ve made me equal to the task before me. I will trust You. Amen.”
Power – Hebrews 4:14 – “Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him].” Joyce explains, “When we hold fast to something, it indicates something or someone might be trying to take it away from us. Satan will try to steal our confession by putting wrong thoughts in our minds, hoping the thoughts will produce wrong words…and then create wrong actions…. Begin saying the same things God says, and get into agreement with Him so His good plan for your life can come to pass. Hold on to your right confession even when circumstances don’t look good, because they will change!”
Streams – Job 4:16 – “I heard a hushed voice.” Cowman shares A. B. Simpson’s thoughts about growing closer to God and becoming who He designed us to be as we listen for His voice: “Some twenty years ago a friend gave me a gook entitled True Peace. It had an old medieval message and this one primary thought – that God was waiting in the depths of my being to speak to me if I would only be still enough to hear His voice. I assumed this would not be a difficult thing to do, so I tried to be still. No sooner had I begun to do so than complete pandemonium seemed to break loose. Suddenly I heard a thousand voices and sounds….” THAT is why I got up this morning. As I was praying, I thought about the Christmas boxes which led me to thinking about sooo many other things that weren’t on my prayer list.
Simpson continues, “In every direction I turned, I was pushed, pulled, and confronted with indescribable unrest…. But God said, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Ps. 46:10). Then my mind was filled with worries over my responsibilities and plans for tomorrow, and God said again, ‘Be still.’ As I listened and slowly learned to obey, I shut my ears to every other sound. Soon I discovered that once the other voices ceased, or once I ceased to hear them, ‘a gentle whisper’ (1 Kings 19:12) began to speak in the depths of my being…. the voice of prayer, wisdom, and service. No longer did I need to work so hard to think, pray, or trust because the Holy Spirit’s ‘gentle whisper’ in my heart was God’s prayer in the secret places of my soul…. His voice became the essence of all knowledge, prayer, and blessings, for it was the living God Himself as my life and my all.”
JL – “All-satisfying God, My soul thirsts for You – for the living God…. I’m thankful You designed me to desire You, and I delight in seeking Your Face. Help me not to feel guilty about taking so much time to be still in Your Presence. I’m simply responding to the tugs of Your Spirit within me…. I’ve found that the more closely I follow Your leading, the more fully You develop my gifts. In order to follow You wholeheartedly, I need to relinquish my desire to please others. Still, my closeness to You can be a source of blessing to other people – as You enable me to reflect Your Glory in this dark world. In Your bright, shining, Name, Jesus, Amen.”
