Feb 16, 2026 – Initiative
Utmost – Chambers writes about spiritual initiative, “God does not give us overcoming life; He gives life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says – ‘Arise from the dead,’ [Eph. 5:14] we have to get up; God does not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand – ‘Stretch forth thy hand,’ and as soon as the man did so, his hand was healed, but he had to take the initiative.”
Streams – Through Charles H. Spurgeon, Cowman encourages us during “affliction” to “quietly wait and patiently endure the will of the Lord till He comes…. It is not difficult for the Lord to turn night into day. He who sends the clouds can just as easily clear the skies. Let us sing God’s praises in anticipation of things to come. ‘Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all’ (2 Cor. 4:17). Trials do serve their purpose.”
JA – This is so important, even vital, to how we move through our days and our lives: “BEFORE YOU BEGIN A TASK – large or small – take time to pray about it. By doing so, you acknowledge your need for Me…. This enables you to go about your work in dependence on Me…. I can guide your mind as you think things out and make decisions…. gives you confidence, reducing stress. It is wise to thank Me often for My help and to keep asking Me to guide you along the best pathway…. When you request My involvement before you begin, I can point you in the right direction – saving precious time and energy.” See Colossians 3:23, Psalm 32:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, and Song of Songs 6:3.
Max – Romans 8:34 – “Christ Jesus. . . is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Max asks us to, “Ponder this promise: Jesus, right now, at this moment, in the midst of your storm, [even if the storm is just a simple task to be handled that for some reason, at this time, seems daunting enough to call it a storm] is interceding for you. The King of the universe is speaking on your behalf. He is advocating for a special blessing to be sent your way. You do not fight the wind and the waves alone. It’s not up to you to find a solution. You have the mightiest Prince and the holiest Advocate standing up for you.”
Prevail #47 – Ruth 1:13 – “Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.” I believe we’ve all felt like Naomi at one time or another. If the reason isn’t clear for her pain, Larson makes it more so, “Naomi had reason to grieve, to lament, and to even wonder where God was in it all. She’d lost her husband and then her two sons. She not only grieved as a widow and as a mother, but as a woman who was now at the mercy of the culture, the elements, and the times. Or so she thought. Truth was, she wasn’t at anyone’s mercy; she was in the mercies of God. She just didn’t know it yet.”
The “yet” is key. The sooner we recognize the yet in our situations, and the possibility of better down the road because of what we learn about God and His ways, the sooner we can move through the lamenting. Larson gives us encouragement for these seasons as she points out that, “…God never left Naomi’s side. He’d made a plan to redeem her story long before she ever knew she needed one. God’s always in the process of bringing redemption to our stories…. Yes, we need to process our pain. Lament is healing to the soul. [It’s so comforting for her to make this clear] But consider carefully the great difference between blaming God and crying out to Him.” I love this clarification and her closing prayer, “Precious Jesus…. Help me sort through my losses in a way that draws me closer to You and heals me from the inside out. Amen.” And Lord, use my pain and experiences to help others.
JC – “Thank Me for the conditions that are requiring you to be still. Do not spoil these quiet hours by wishing them away, waiting impatiently to be active again…. Limitations can be liberating when your strongest desire is living close to Me. Quietness and trust enhance your awareness of My Presence with you.” See Zechariah 2:13, Isaiah 30:15, and 2 Cor. 12:9.
Power – Joyce’s title today makes another important point, “Healthy Roots Develop Healthy Fruit.” Joyce explains, “When you become a student of God’s Word, you begin to desire a change in your behavior…. We must deal with the root of the problem. No matter how good things look outwardly, if they are not right on the inside, sooner or later it will be revealed on the outside…. Receive His love, learn to love and value yourself, and you will begin to produce better fruit in your life.”
Simpson goes back to the point from Jesus Always about prayer, “In the consecrated believer the Holy Spirit is pre-eminently a Spirit of prayer. If our whole being is committed to Him, and our thoughts are at His bidding, He will occupy every moment in communion and we shall bring everything to Him as it comes, and pray it out in our spiritual consciousness before we act it out in our lives.” One of Church of the Highlands’ mantras, that they put on arm bands a number of years ago, is “Pray First.”
Acts 6:4 – “We will give ourselves continually to prayer.”
