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Devotional for By Minister Mamie L. Pack "The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice." Proverbs 12: 15 NIVTears were flowing down his cheeks as he struggled to pull it loose. The more he struggled the tighter the knot became. He yanked. He grunted. He was frustrated. Yet, in spite of all of that, he would not ask for help. I sat in the kitchen watching our four year old try desperately to get his balloon string unattached to a toy that he was using as an anchor. Determined to do it on his own, he would not ask me for help. So there I sat, watching and waiting. Seeing his tears, I thought surely he would take my help. Gently I asked, "Baby, do you want me to help you?" "No, I can do it myself" was his quick reply. Again, I just continued to sit and watch. Then it happened. The toy broke and the balloon was still attached. It was after realizing that he had broken the toy that he came to me saying, "Momma, will you please help me? I broke it. Can you fix it?" Standing there with the broken toy in his hand, he came to me with tears in his eyes and outstretched hands. He came to me with expectancy. It just amazes me how one situation with a child can speak volumes to our relationship with Christ. There have been too many times in my life where I have continued to try to handle things on my own. I foolishly told myself that I can handle this or I have this under control. At no point did I go to God, because in my mind, I didn't need the help. Not only did I not see the need to go to God, I didn't see the point in even heeding the guidance of those God had placed in my life to counsel me. Unfortunately, it wasn't until something broke like my heart or a relationship that I realized that I needed God's help. I can just imagine that God often sits and waits for us to finally get to the point in which we get passed ourselves, or rather our pride, and come to Him for direction, for help, for strength. Just as I reached out to our four year old, God too reaches out to us. He provides for us His Word, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the counsel of our pastors, teachers, and others anointed/appointed to speak life into our lives. It is up to us to humbly submit ourselves to His direction when we seek Him in our personal devotion time, in prayer, and in His word. We don't have to wait until something is broken before we seek Him, but if that happens we serve a God that is always available to us. It is never too late to submit ourselves to His will if we are willing to come to Him with a repentant heart. Prayer Heavenly Father, I cannot thank you enough for being there with me every step of the way. Thank you for being there even when I didn't realize that I needed you in my life. Lord I pray that you continue to guide me in every way and in every area of my life. Lord I do not seek to solve any problem on my own, instead, I want you. I want your direction, your will, your peace. Guide me on this path so that I do not focus on what things may seem like but instead I continue to press toward the mark of the high calling. Thank you Lord that you have fashioned a plan and a purpose for me. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen. Suggested Weekly Monday Proverbs Tuesday James Wednesday 1 Peter 5: 6 Thursday Proverbs Friday Proverbs Saturday Ephesians 2: 9 Sunday Proverbs 11: 2 Application Choose to place your situation in God's hand instead of your own hands. About the author: As a wife, mother, educator, daughter, friend, I, Minister Mamie L. Pack, seek to be an accessible tool to the Lord. It is my desire to use my gifting of writing to reach the lost, encourage the believer, and teach the people through the Word of Jesus Christ. Click here for other writings available at the author's blog www.LifeINowLive.blogspot.com
Devotional for Minister Mamie L. Pack So in love “37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22: 37-40 NIV In my mind, I can still recall that very first moment my eyes met with his. Oh, how handsome he was standing there smiling at me as if he had waited his whole life for that moment. Yes, I recall the butterflies that tickled my belly with excitement from the first moment we met, to the moment he professed his love for me, even to the moment I became his wife. Even now, that excitement still flutters when I hear him come through our front door. That excitement still flourishes each time I hear him say those three wonderful words, “I love you”. Before meeting my husband, I really did not quite understand the love that can exist between a husband and a wife. I didn’t understand the connection that grows from that love. When my husband came into my life, I had never had any man love me so unconditionally that he could see my faults but still choose to love me anyway. I was/am amazed at how much love lives in his heart for me. Yet, I understand now that his ability to love me overflows from his ability to love God. As people are preparing to celebrate or cringe over an upcoming Valentine’s day, I started reflecting what it means to be in love with God. People are going to buy all sorts of items to find that perfect gift that shows their love. Hallmark and American Greetings have hired all sorts of writers to capture those special words that convey just how much others mean to us. But when was the last time we gave Christ a valentine? What do we do to show God and others that we are so in love with Him? Here in Matthew 22: 37-40, Jesus provides us with very clear ways to show our love for Him. We are to love Christ above everyone and everything else. Our love for Him should come before our love for our spouses, our children, our careers, everything. He guides us to love Him with all our heart or our affections. We are to love Him with all of our soul, or rather life. Out of our love for Him we will give our lives for Him in time, service, and obedience. Simply, we choose to live our life in His will. He guides us to love Him with our mind. Then out of the love we have for Him we are able to love others. When we are in love with a person, we crave to be near them; to know all we can about them; to tell everyone about that special person. Being in love with Christ is no different. Our love for Him should cause us to crave to be near Him through prayer, devotion, worship, and praise. Our love should drive us to learn all we can about Him. To know more about Him we are to seek Him above all else. When we are in love with Christ, we can’t help but tell others about Him. We will want others to know the joy and the peace we have found in our Heavenly Father.
Prayer My Heavenly Father, who is my creator, my provider, my healer, my director, my all—there just does not seem a way worthy enough to thank you for being who you are in my life. With each day that passes, I am in more awe over who you are. There is never a moment that you are not in perfect control over every situation. I thank you that you seek to have everything for my good. Lord, I am so thankful to be a receiver of your love and I pray that my love for you may grow with each moment of every day. Show me how to draw closer to you in every area and every relationship in my life. I want to allow my love for you to grow so vast that it touches everything that I touch. Thank you for loving me so much that you sent your son to die on the cross for my sins. Lord, your love overwhelms me. I love you so much, in Jesus name I pray, Amen. Suggested Weekly Monday Matthew Tuesday John Wednesday Deuteronomy Thursday 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 Friday Mark 12: 32-24 Saturday Deuteronomy 6: 5 Sunday Luke Application Fall more in love with Christ and allow that love to overflow to others. About the author: As a wife, mother, educator, daughter, friend, I, Minister Mamie L. Pack, seek to be an accessible tool to the Lord. It is my desire to use my gifting of writing to reach the lost, encourage the believer, and teach the people through the Word of Jesus Christ. Click here for other writings available at the author's blog www.LifeINowLive.blogspot.com
Devotional for February 15-21, 2010 By Minister Mamie L. Pack The Option “Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:” Jeremiah 32: 17 KJV There are times in just my daily living that I seem to hit a wall. I get to a place with a situation that I just don’t know what else to do. I have followed the guidelines of the system in the ways that I understood. I sought help when the occasion permitted it. I asked questions when I didn’t understand. Yet, in all of my effort, there were times that it seemed I just didn’t have any options left. Instead, I would be there frustrated, confused, sometimes angered asking myself, “What do I do now?” It is in those moments that I am reminded, as I am now, that there is always an option. As long as I have Christ as my Lord and Savior, He is always the option. We can follow the systems or trust in people, but it is only Christ who is always faithful. It is He alone that does not forsake us. Our option is to seek Him. We seek Him for strength, for wisdom, for guidance, even for help. In choosing Christ as our option, we realize that ultimately He is in control. There is nothing too hard for Christ. He is able to take what could have destroyed us and use it for our good. So the question is not, is God able but rather are we choosing to allow Him to be sovereign over every situation in our lives? When we have God as the option, we are able to allow ourselves to get passed our personal situations and become intercessors for those around us. It is in that prayer time that we are able to petition God on behalf of others for Him to have mercy, to grant healing, to allow them to be used by Him. For too often, we can allow our focus to be on our situation that we become blinded to the role we have in interceding for others. Choosing Christ allows us to not see the situation, but rather focus on the one that has everything working together for the good of them who love Him. Having God as the option does not mean we will always understand His plan, but it is a choice by us to trust in Him as our Lord and Savior. Jeremiah knew all too well about having Christ as his option when it appeared that things were only going to get worse. The messages of judgment upon
Prayer My Heavenly Father, who is my strength, my guide, my provider, my all, thank you Lord for the beauty of this day. Thank you for providing clarity and revelation to me in every situation. Lord I seek not to know every step, but rather seek to be obedient to your direction and will with each step. I seek to trust you along this journey regardless of how things may seem around me. Lord I know that you are bigger than any situation and that there is nothing to impossible for you. Forgive me for the times I seek to help you out instead of following your directions for me. Help me so that I may be patient in the process. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen. Suggested Weekly Reading Monday Jeremiah 32: 17-20 Tuesday Matthew 19: 26 Wednesday Genesis 18: 14 Thursday Mark 10: 27 Friday Luke 18: 27 Saturday Jeremiah 32: 27 Sunday Luke 1: 37 Application Allow Christ to the option for every situation you face. About the author: As a wife, mother, educator, daughter, friend, I, Minister Mamie L. Pack, seek to be an accessible tool to the Lord. It is my desire to use my gifting of writing to reach the lost, encourage the believer, and teach the people through the Word of Jesus Christ. Click here for other writings available at the author's blog www.LifeINowLive.blogspot.com Devotional for February 22-28, 2010 Minister Mamie L. Pack
What sticks
“1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." Genesis 16: 1-5 NIV
One of my favorite hobbies is scrapbooking. It combines two of the areas that I love—photography and being creative. Whenever I sit down to create a page of memories, I find myself relaxed and immersed in trying something new. Actually, I began scrapbooking over 13 years ago as a way to chronicle my new baby’s growth. Since then, I have created a scrapbook for my wedding, my college years, each of my other sons, and the list goes on and on. It is amazing to me to sit and look back at that first scrapbook and then look at how my abilities have progressed.
Since beginning scrapbooking, one of the lessons I have learned is that an adhesive is not just an adhesive. In the first scrapbook, I used plain Elmer’s glue sticks that I had stashed in my bookbag of stuff. I figured that glue was glue. Boy was I wrong. You see there are all sorts of adhesives—glue sticks, photo tape, tacky glue, and photo slits to name a few. When one has a small, light-weight project that is not expected to last for the long haul, then glue sticks will do the trick. But, I didn’t want my scrapbooks pages to last a short time. After only a couple of years, I had to go back and adhere my work all over again. This time I used tacky tape. Tacky tape is a permanent, industrial strength tape that can be used for small items like glitter while also being good for larger items too. In short, it is a tape designed to last.
There are times in our walk with Christ that we must decide what kind of adhesive we are going to use. When it comes to the promises that God has made for healing, deliverance, or peace, do you stick to Him as long as things are light and easy? Is it easy for you to hold on as long as it happens within your time limit? When we hold on to Christ like the glue stick somewhere along the way, we will fall off. Our hold on Him, which comes from seeking Him, will become weakened and we often seek to find our own answers, according to our own time. BUT! But if we choose to hold on to His word like the tacky tape, then we have chosen to hold on to Christ for good. We choose to hold on to His word through the good times and the bad. Through moments of weakness, disappointments, and what may seem like disparity pass because we have made a choice to be connected to Him. That connection helps us to be mindful of His authority over our lives. It helps to be reminded that God does NOT need our help, but rather us who need Him.
There is a lot we can learn from the lives of Abram and Sarai. When, in old age, they are promised a child their own doubt causes them to question God. At that moment, they, like we do, inadvertently question whether God is able to do the impossible. Their lack of vision caused them not to be able to accept God’s vision. Then along the way, when it did not happen within the time frame they expected, they decided to “help God out” by allowing Abram to lay with Sarai handmaiden Hagar. At that point, they were like the glue stick. Thankfully, we serve a God that is merciful and full of grace. So, at any point we may choose to turn that glue stick hold to a tacky tape hold at any time. The choice is ours.
Prayer Most awesome and wonderful Father, I continue to be in awe over your presence in my life. No matter how challenging things may be around me, you continue to offer your arms as shelter for me. You provide peace in the storm that surrounds me. Lord, I am thankful that you continue to provide for me more than I could ever ask or think of. Reveal to me those places in my heart that are hindrances from me keeping my hold and my vision on you. Purge my heart so that what I think and what I do are pleasing in your sight. I am thankful to be your tool. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Suggested Weekly Reading Monday Genesis 16: 1-5 Tuesday Isaiah 50: 10 Wednesday Psalm 37: 5 Thursday Psalm 143:8 Friday Jeremiah 17: 7 Saturday Psalm 75: 1 Sunday Psalm 118: 8
Application Choose to have a permanent hold on Christ. About the author: As a wife, mother, educator, daughter, friend, I, Minister Mamie L. Pack, seek to be an accessible tool to the Lord. It is my desire to use my gifting of writing to reach the lost, encourage the believer, and teach the people through the Word of Jesus Christ. Click here for other writings available at the author's blog www.LifeINowLive.blogspot.com
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