Monday Morning Inspiration
Good Morning My Beautiful Link Sisters,
I hope your week is off to an amazing start!.
As I was contemplating and praying about what to share today, I thought about a message that I wrote for a morning devotional group message. The devotional process is called *SOAP *Devotion: “*S*cripture, *O*bservation, *A*pplication, and *P*rayer. I know the format is different but I am going to share it in the SOAP Devotion format, so please bear with me.
*My title for this SOAP reading is “EVEN WITH ENEMIES ALL AROUND:* * I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW.”*
*S**cripture*
*1 Corinthians 16:5-9*
*The Living Bible Translation*
*5 *I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia first, but I will be staying there only for a little while. *6 *It could be that I will stay longer with you, perhaps all winter, and then you can send me on to my next destination. *7 *This time I don’t want to make just a passing visit and then go right on; I want to come and stay awhile if the Lord will let me. *8 *I will be staying here at Ephesus until the holiday of Pentecost, *9 *for there is a wide-open door for me to preach and teach here. So much is happening, but there are many enemies.
*Observation*
The truth is, if we’re not paying close attention and being aware of what is going on around us, we can and often will be taken advantage of. We will be caught off guard, deceived, or even tricked. The enemy wants nothing more than for us to be weak in our faith. Two very popular words these days are “*Stay Woke.*” For me right now, that means “*Stay Spiritually Woke.” * God gives us discernment for a reason and we should pray for it and use this discernment so that we miss nothing that He has for us and that we miss nothing or no one who does not have our best interest at heart.
*Standing firm* i*n your faith* means to persist. So keep standing on the truth and remembering, the truth of what you have believed. Keep standing on the truth that has set you free. We should not live in and participate in a world that insists that we tone our beliefs down or that we lay our beliefs down because of what the world says. We do not have to abandon our beliefs out of a longing to be accepted by the world.
*A**pplication* We have all been blessed to be successful in whatever fields God has chosen for us. I found myself in situations where my friends or so-called friends disappeared. All of a sudden “your crew” disappeared. And then you figure out pretty quickly that if they liked you better when you were struggling and you lacked the things that you desired, then they were not your crew anyway. Well maybe they were your crew, but they were not the crew you thought they were. They turned out to be your *wrecking crew.* There were those that pretended to love you and have you back as long as you lacked, as long as you were not really accomplishing anything, or as long as you seemed to have no ambition. It appeared that you would remain right where they were. While there might have been nothing wrong with where they were and what they were doing, you knew God had more for you. I know I found myself in that place where God revealed that while I loved my crew, I had to vacate them. Maybe some of you have had the same experience or some of us might still find ourselves having to vacate relationships.
While I didn’t fully understand it then, I can see it clearly now. I can look back and see so many obstacles. I can see that my mother nor my God would allow me to miss what was meant for me. God would not allow me to miss the accomplishments He ordained for me and my mother would not allow me to miss what she had and prayed for me.
This is when maturity starts to set in and I mean spiritual maturity. And for me, it was because I was able to see those around me for who they really were. Not that I did not still love them but the time came that we needed to go our separate ways. As I was reading and studying I realized how even in years that have long passed, I knew it was time to let go.
– *I **realized that the relationships were not according to God’s Word.* – *The relationships** see**med to draw me away from God** i**nstead of drawing me nearer.* – *They were distracting me from my goals and aspirations.* – *I **was absolutely not growing as long as** I **was around them.* – *I **even realized that there were lessons to be learned but** I **just couldn’t understand why** I **had to learn them through bad relationships.* – *When** I **realized these things,** I **knew** I **had to find a way out and** I **asked God to help me get out.** I **even said in a few cases to the Lord** “I **don’t want anyone to get hurt.** I **don’t want anything to happen to them,** I **just want out.”* *He spoke to me quickly, “**i**f they truly meant you no harm, they will be fine.*
You all know by now that I love sharing songs and one first song that came to mind is “*I Can See Clearly Now*” and “*God Favored Me.” *I think both of these songs are very appropriate because based on where we are in life. I have to believe that God loved us and favored each of us enough that He allowed us to see past, over, and around all of the things and the people who were not meant to be in our lives. Maybe they were just there for a moment in time. There could have been nothing wrong that we could really see but God had a different path for each of us.
*Prayer*
God, I thank you so much for life’s transitions. Thank you for allowing us to learn from every crook and turn in our lives. We even thank you for those crooks and turns. While we might not have understood it when we were going through it, we can see it very clearly now. We can see why the obstacles were there. We see that it’s because you trusted that we could learn to go around the obstacles, you trusted that we would gain strength because we would learn to jump over them. Maybe it was all because we would eventually have to use all that we learned in every situation to help someone else along the way. Help us to never forget but always look back and bring others forward to a life where they will realize that you are always present; a life where they will realize you were there all of the time. Help us and them to know that You were waiting for us to gain a clear vision. Continue to use us for your will and use us in your way. We pray that we can live up to it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I hope your week is off to an amazing start!.
As I was contemplating and praying about what to share today, I thought about a message that I wrote for a morning devotional group message. The devotional process is called *SOAP *Devotion: “*S*cripture, *O*bservation, *A*pplication, and *P*rayer. I know the format is different but I am going to share it in the SOAP Devotion format, so please bear with me.
*My title for this SOAP reading is “EVEN WITH ENEMIES ALL AROUND:* * I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW.”*
*S**cripture*
*1 Corinthians 16:5-9*
*The Living Bible Translation*
*5 *I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia first, but I will be staying there only for a little while. *6 *It could be that I will stay longer with you, perhaps all winter, and then you can send me on to my next destination. *7 *This time I don’t want to make just a passing visit and then go right on; I want to come and stay awhile if the Lord will let me. *8 *I will be staying here at Ephesus until the holiday of Pentecost, *9 *for there is a wide-open door for me to preach and teach here. So much is happening, but there are many enemies.
*Observation*
The truth is, if we’re not paying close attention and being aware of what is going on around us, we can and often will be taken advantage of. We will be caught off guard, deceived, or even tricked. The enemy wants nothing more than for us to be weak in our faith. Two very popular words these days are “*Stay Woke.*” For me right now, that means “*Stay Spiritually Woke.” * God gives us discernment for a reason and we should pray for it and use this discernment so that we miss nothing that He has for us and that we miss nothing or no one who does not have our best interest at heart.
*Standing firm* i*n your faith* means to persist. So keep standing on the truth and remembering, the truth of what you have believed. Keep standing on the truth that has set you free. We should not live in and participate in a world that insists that we tone our beliefs down or that we lay our beliefs down because of what the world says. We do not have to abandon our beliefs out of a longing to be accepted by the world.
*A**pplication* We have all been blessed to be successful in whatever fields God has chosen for us. I found myself in situations where my friends or so-called friends disappeared. All of a sudden “your crew” disappeared. And then you figure out pretty quickly that if they liked you better when you were struggling and you lacked the things that you desired, then they were not your crew anyway. Well maybe they were your crew, but they were not the crew you thought they were. They turned out to be your *wrecking crew.* There were those that pretended to love you and have you back as long as you lacked, as long as you were not really accomplishing anything, or as long as you seemed to have no ambition. It appeared that you would remain right where they were. While there might have been nothing wrong with where they were and what they were doing, you knew God had more for you. I know I found myself in that place where God revealed that while I loved my crew, I had to vacate them. Maybe some of you have had the same experience or some of us might still find ourselves having to vacate relationships.
While I didn’t fully understand it then, I can see it clearly now. I can look back and see so many obstacles. I can see that my mother nor my God would allow me to miss what was meant for me. God would not allow me to miss the accomplishments He ordained for me and my mother would not allow me to miss what she had and prayed for me.
This is when maturity starts to set in and I mean spiritual maturity. And for me, it was because I was able to see those around me for who they really were. Not that I did not still love them but the time came that we needed to go our separate ways. As I was reading and studying I realized how even in years that have long passed, I knew it was time to let go.
– *I **realized that the relationships were not according to God’s Word.* – *The relationships** see**med to draw me away from God** i**nstead of drawing me nearer.* – *They were distracting me from my goals and aspirations.* – *I **was absolutely not growing as long as** I **was around them.* – *I **even realized that there were lessons to be learned but** I **just couldn’t understand why** I **had to learn them through bad relationships.* – *When** I **realized these things,** I **knew** I **had to find a way out and** I **asked God to help me get out.** I **even said in a few cases to the Lord** “I **don’t want anyone to get hurt.** I **don’t want anything to happen to them,** I **just want out.”* *He spoke to me quickly, “**i**f they truly meant you no harm, they will be fine.*
You all know by now that I love sharing songs and one first song that came to mind is “*I Can See Clearly Now*” and “*God Favored Me.” *I think both of these songs are very appropriate because based on where we are in life. I have to believe that God loved us and favored each of us enough that He allowed us to see past, over, and around all of the things and the people who were not meant to be in our lives. Maybe they were just there for a moment in time. There could have been nothing wrong that we could really see but God had a different path for each of us.
*Prayer*
God, I thank you so much for life’s transitions. Thank you for allowing us to learn from every crook and turn in our lives. We even thank you for those crooks and turns. While we might not have understood it when we were going through it, we can see it very clearly now. We can see why the obstacles were there. We see that it’s because you trusted that we could learn to go around the obstacles, you trusted that we would gain strength because we would learn to jump over them. Maybe it was all because we would eventually have to use all that we learned in every situation to help someone else along the way. Help us to never forget but always look back and bring others forward to a life where they will realize that you are always present; a life where they will realize you were there all of the time. Help us and them to know that You were waiting for us to gain a clear vision. Continue to use us for your will and use us in your way. We pray that we can live up to it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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www.youtube.com Have an amazing day!
I love you all.
*Link Stephanie * Chaplain
Attachments area Preview YouTube video I Can See Clearly Now I Can See Clearly Now <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_rB4v75jqU&authuser=0>Preview YouTube video Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FscIgtDJFXg&authuser=0>Preview YouTube video God Favored Me (Extended Version) God Favored Me (Extended Version) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu9j_n0gihE&authuser=0> Thanks for sharing! Love it! I love this! ReplyReply allForward