Today's Devotion

I was reading my Bible today like I should do EVERY day and do most days, but anyway I was reading and today God lead me to 2 different passages. The first one was Proverbs 3:5-7. Now most of you know those verses and I even memorized them as a child in Sunday School. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct they paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil."

I have been going through a couple of very personal things lately and I have found that when I am in God's Word and praying like I should, I feel better! Everything seems to go smoother but when I am not reading His Word like I should and not praying like I should, I feel bad and things start to go sour again for lack of a better term. I get bitter and angry. And while my friends are awesome people I find myself going to them BEFORE I go to God when I am struggling with something. Now why is it that I think the King of Kings cannot help me with my problem more so than my friends? Now don't get me wrong. My friends are awesome and I am not saying to not go to your friends for advice or to vent or to cry. We NEED that. What I am saying is we need to go to God FIRST because He ALWAYS knows what is best for us and if we get in His Word He is going to show us what he wants us to know or give is the answer to our problems and questions.

Well the next passage of scripture He led me to was Hebrews 4:12&13 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." I had someone say to me once, reading my Bible is not going to change what I think about certain things. Well this passage of scripture disproves that in and of itself. Of course we know when we read our Bible our minds change about certain things for the better of course. Basically, what this verse is saying is, The Word of God is living and operative. It has the power to reach to the inmost parts of one's personality and to judge the inmost thoughts. It pierces  to the depths of the soul and spirit not between the two. They stand for the innermost facets of our immaterial nature just as joints and marrow, the material aspect. Both soul and spirit can be involved in what pleases and displeases God.  See His Word can change how we think and act. It more powerful than anything we can say or do.

Maybe that person that said that to me is reading this now I don't know, He gave this to me for a reason and that reason is, I needed it! I think what we all as Christians need to do is stop praying for God to change that certain someone that does us wrong or drives us nuts, but say, "God change me." As Stormie Omartian said, those are the three hardest words to say. Oh of course ask God to help those others and of course ask God to guide their thoughts and prayers, but we cannot even begin to pray effectively for others until we first pray for God to change us, as wives and mothers. Change us into a woman in His image.