"And the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased"-Luke 3:22 (NIV).  

The Bible references birds 300 times and identifies 28-29 different species.  Do you know the first bird mentioned in the Bible?  Noah released a raven to determine if the flood waters were receding.  The most often used...the eagle; the most well known...the rooster.  The dove, however, was the Holy Spirit's chosen form when He descended upon Christ Jesus and is mentioned in all four of Gospels (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32).  An appropriate choice...doves were the required sacrifice for guilt and purification.  God sent down "His pure Sweet Love," on our atoning Sacrifice..."a sign from above"..."on the wings of a Dove."   

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready"-Revelation 19:7 (NIV).

Think of the time spent preparing for a wedding.  Choices have to be made: What to wear, flowers, music, food, pictures....These preparations begin as soon as the "who" decision has been made.  It's a time of great excitement...a once in a lifetime event!  Our Who decision is made...we wait on the when.  Christ's bride should be preparing and be ready.  Rejoice!  Oh, and don't worry about the budget...everything's paid in full.  The sky's the limit!

"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?"-Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV).

Why do we limit our prayers to the grounded, the possible, and the appropriate? God is limitless! He is Omnipresent; time and space don't confine Him. He is omniscient; He knows everything, our very thoughts are known by Him...controlled by Him.  He is omnipotent; He controls of all things...on earth...as it is in heaven!  When a speaker presents, he considers his audience, and purposes his presentation accordingly.  Next time you pray, consider your Audience...is anything too hard for God?  No...He is limitless!

"Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son"-2 John 1:9 (NIV).

As we "run ahead" into our day, we cast out seeds in words and deeds along the way.  The seed we want to sow is the love and redeeming grace of Christ Jesus.  Matthew 13:1-9 spoke of the results of those receiving the seed:  Some consumed by birds, some sun scorched  some choked out, but some produced a harvest.  As Christ followers, you want to cast good seed on to good soil, but you need to beware of the choice of seed you cast out.  Weeds come from seeds, too.  Your seeds (words and deeds) can produce crop of weeds...or a bountiful harvest!  Choose the Good Seed.

"From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another"-John 1:16 (NLT).

Each day is like an onion with multiple layers of blessings.  If you cut through it, instead of peeling off each layer individually, you may miss some or all of the hidden treasures God is trying to give you each day.  We step to the tune of ticktock ticktock ticktock.  That rhythm marks our movements throughout the day and we move numbly through each hour.  Don't let the routine deceive you.  It's not the same old landscape, it's a new day, a gift...look again, taste and see, the gracious blessings hidden within the layers.      

“This is what the Lord says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you what is best for you, Who directs you in the way you should go””-Isaiah 48:17 (NIV).

God knows and shows us which way to go.  We rely totally on Him, if not, we’d be lost on our own and misdirected by others.  Trust God with every fiber of your being, don't listen to anything or anyone not inline with God's Word (including yourself); surrender your life to the Lord, and He will shine a Light directing your path (Proverbs 3:5-6).

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me"-Psalm 51:10 (NIV).

God will renew a steadfast spirit within you...if you are steadfast.  Sounds like this devotion is going in circles, but hear me out.  The Florida Mass Choir sings "Be Ye Steadfast."  The lyricist, in frustration, searches for hope when his skies become cloudy..."So then I kneel, I kneel down to pray, it seems like I can hear the soft voice of Jesus, always seem to say...Be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the Word of the Lord."  This devotion is about going in circles.  When we are steadfast in prayer...He is steadfast in renewal.  What a beautiful steadfast relationship!  Jesus bids you, come to Me (Matthew 11:28)...kneel down and be renewed...Be steadfast.   

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God"-1 John 4:7 (NKJV).

Beloved sounds so endearing.  Beloved is defined as "much loved"..."favorite."  God the Father called Jesus His beloved Son (Matthew 17:5) and we are called Gods' chosen ones, holy and beloved (Colossians 3:12).  John referred to himself as the "disciple Jesus loved."  I don't think the other eleven disciples, who read John's writings, had any reservations that John was Jesus's beloved...because they were, too.  And so are you.  You are His beloved, born of and endeared to God the Father...much loved...His favorite.  

"I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her"-Matthew 26:13 (NIV).

The gospel says she spent a year's wages on the perfume.  I imagine her excitedly running through the streets, peaking into houses...until she saw the crowd.  Did her heart quicken as she inched forward?  She was rebuffed, but not by Jesus.  He not only allowed her to approach Him, but to pour the fragrance over His head...filling the house with the aroma and her eyes with tears.  She didn't understand the purpose her actions served... but she served.  This is in memory of her....

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light"-1 Peter 2:9 (NIV).

God made the difference of night and day in our lives.  We are His chosen...to declare it, proclaim it..."go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere."  We are His living stones (vs. 4-5).  If we don't, if we remain quiet...Jesus said the earth will cry out His praises (Luke 19:40).  As His chosen, we bear His image, and we are commissioned to carry out the duties of His royal priesthood.  Let your lips proclaim, everyday, what God has done!

"My Beloved put His Hand by the latch of the door, and my heart yearned for Him"-Song Of Solomon 5:4 (NIV).

I've tweaked this verse to read from the perspective of the bride for the Groom...Jesus.  We are His bride; we...meaning His church.  The anticipation of Christ's return should be filled with yearning and desire.  Not the same yearning and desire Solomon was writing about, but passion beyond the physical...Spiritual Passion.  It's hard to describe Spiritual Passion in words.  Take the descriptors of all types of loves, pleasures, and emotions...ball them up into one passion.  You're satisfied: physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.  Would you yearn for Him if you knew He was just on the other side of the door?

“So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners”-Matthew 27:7.  

The price for Jesus’ betrayal was 30 pieces of silver and called blood money by the chief priests, meaning it was unclean and against the law to put it back into the treasury (v. 6).  Who does the treasury belong to anyway?  The church’s money is God’s money.  God used his own money to sacrifice His Son.  Two other things jump out at me with today’s Scripture.  

One…The Jewish leaders needed a place to bury foreigners.  Foreigners weren’t welcome; the Gentiles, in fact, were just as unclean as Jesus’ blood money.  Unknowingly, they had coupled the two together (buried with Christ).  

Two…Jesus is the Potter; His money used for His death, to purchase His field, to gather His Own to Him.

Do I hear an Amen out there?

“Although you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy”-1 Peter 1:8.

Indescribable: “that which cannot be described or surpassing description.”  You rejoice, yet you can’t fully describe the depth of your joy.  There are many types of love: man/woman, mother/child, friend/friend, etc.  Each one can be somewhat explained (much better felt first hand).  But the love between you and God is indescribable and you haven’t even seen Him yet!  It’s all the different types of love rolled up into one glorious joyous emotion surpassing description.  Now, imagine your joy when you finally do see Him.  Will you dance, fall on your face, cry, sing, laugh, scream like the fan of a rock star?   If you can’t describe your emotions now, how can you even begin to imagine the indescribable joy you will feel when you’re finally face-to-face with your Savior?  The thought makes my heart skip ☺.     

"So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.  "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant.  And he went up and looked.  "There is nothing there," he said.  Seven times Elijah said, "Go back.""-1 Kings 18:42-32 (NIV).

In 1941, Winston Churchill said, "Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up.  Never give up.  Never give up.  Never give up."  Giving up is a directive of the devil.  If people fail to meet their potential, turning back when they meet obstacles, the devil does his end zone dance, while singing "Another One Bites The Dust."  It may seem your prayers never reach God's ears or that He has forgotten you, but God doesn't forget you (Isaiah 49:15).  He hears and answers your prayers (Psalms 116:1).  Elijah's persistence in prayer paid off...he prayed up a storm!

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!""-Isaiah 52:7 (NIV).

Christians are heralds who bring good news, but during Medieval times, the heralds weren't always harbingers of joy.  They were the town criers who brought news from the battlefield.  Heralds went behind enemy lines, witnessed the battle, and reported which army won...or fell defeated.  Combating knights wore armor, so the heralds were skilled at determining which knight lived, or died, by their coat of arms.  The news of victory or defeat, of life or death, was then rendered by the heralds.  Christians are heralds of good news...peace and salvation.  We know and proclaim Who has already won the battle and Who is alive and will return.  Christian heralds, spread the Good News...our God reigns!  

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up"-Galatians 6:9 (NIV).

Giving up seems like a good solution during moments of exhaustion and indecision.  How does one regain the original zeal and inspiration first experienced when you began?  The "Queen of Jazz" Ella Fitzgerald said,  "Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong." Where there is Love! God is love and, Ella was right, you can't go wrong...but, if you must give up...give up praise, give up honor, give up glory to Almighty God, but don't give up doing good.

Being still and knowing!

Nora <><