-- Wednesday, 8/18/10 -- IN PREPARATION -- Judges 13:24-25
J.R. & Bonnie Ricks
Take a Minute is a daily devotional ministry of
Dogwood Ministries, Inc.
If you need prayer… contact our partners in ministry…
SJ Ministries - Ministry of Prayer
Or simply send your request to SJMini...@aol.com
All other requests, please see the end of the devotional
for Dogwood Ministries addresses
IN PREPARATION -- Judges 13:24-25 NIV
The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Samson was a member of the tribe of Dan. While Samson was growing up, this warlike, nomadic tribe continued to wander throughout the land that God had given them. But the land was still unconquered (Joshua 19:47-48 NIV). It is certain that the tribe of Dan as a whole longed for a settled and conquered land, a land where they could put away their tools of war and their tents and build homes and farms and industry. As Samson grew to manhood, he was bound to be influenced by what was going on within his tribe. And each thing that occurred contributed to the "stirring" of his heart, the preparation of Samson for the work God had planned for him as a judge of Israel.
Throughout our lives, from the day we are born, God is preparing us for the work He has for us to do for Him. No matter whether your childhood was easy or rough, it had a purpose. No matter whether you have had a wonderful marriage or a lousy one that ended in divorce or have never been married at all, there has been a purpose. No matter whether you've worked for one company since you graduated from high school or college, or have changed jobs every year, your work history has a purpose. No matter whether you've had the finest of educations or barely got your G.E.D., your formal education has a purpose. No matter whether you've been a Christian since you were nine, or just came to the Lord last week, that, too, has a purpose.
Everything that happens in your life is a learning experience… a preparation experience for what you are called to do for God. Is there a "stirring in your heart”? Perhaps the Lord is trying to show you what He wants you to do. Try to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life. Let Him teach you what you need to learn in order to be of service to the Lord. Listen closely and listen well. God has a purpose for you, and He wants you to be prepared.
O Lord , you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord .
You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you
are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night
around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are
wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I
was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written
in your book before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I
am still with you.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:1-16, 17-24 NIV
--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TakeAMinute" group.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line to J-R-and...@dogwoodministries.org
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute
General correspondence or to subscribe to Take a Minute: J-R-and...@dogwoodministries.org
Donations to Dogwood Ministries: http://www.dogwoodministries.org
Personal correspondence to Bonnie Ricks: bon...@dogwoodministries.org
Personal correspondence to J.R. Ricks: j...@dogwoodministries.org
--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--