By AIC Brian Jeremiah
Since 2019 I have been doing a discipline that has been valuable beyond calculation. Every morning before I start my day, I read my bible, then I talk to God (pray), but then I go way out on a limb and I LISTEN for God. Since the day He told me to do this practice, He has not failed to give me a wonderful insight, or revelation, or maybe just an encouragement. I write in my journal using the perspective of God speaking to me—because it really IS God’s Spirit who is leading me to the topic of the day.
Quite often the topics are things I’ve never really thought of, or new insights on old topics. I thought I would share a couple with you today, since these ideas are applicable to everyone. Punctuation is not my strong suit, so bear with me. 😊
09-05-2023 7:12am: “Picture a spring of water coming up from the ground. There is water flowing beneath the surface, but it has nowhere to come to the surface until a passage is cleared for it to bubble-up. This is like the flow of the Spirit. He traverses the hearts of His people until He finds a clear (pure) passage to the surface to pouring out on others. My people should all be such passages of purity, so that the world can be refreshed. Will you be a pure conduit for the flow of the Spirit? Self is a blockage; love is a cleanser/de-clogger. As you remove the debris of self with the soap of love, the world will see the flow of the life-giving, untainted water. This image is a motivator for those who would walk in love; will you be that one?”
I just grabbed one more from a couple days later; I pray these will motivate you to go deeper:
09-07-2023 7:20am: “Reach for things which are out of reach; this will leave a gap. That gap is spanned by faith. It is this faith (faith shown by initiating action) that causes the hand of God to move on your behalf. As your walk gets nearer and nearer to the holy, you will begin to see these gaps diminish and you will see that you can reach for anything, anywhere because your mind is set on things above and you will deeply see that in the Spirit there is no gap—no distance or time. Strive for this view. This kingdom view is what brings you to Christ-likeness, and it comes from Christ-nearness. Unfortunately, it is only deeply rooted over a period of time and preparation.”
from Dale: Would it seem we might minimize the impact that an inmate would have on our own spiritual lives. Did this expand your personal view?
“We live by what we believe will happen, not by what we can see.“
2 Corinthians 5:7
“The proof of spiritual maturity is not how pure you are,
but awareness of your impurity.
That very awareness opens the door to grace.“
Philip Yancy
Wow, Dale. These two devotional thoughts are wonderful. Thank you for sharing! Ken
Hello Ken Ball, from Mark and Angie Brown, South Carolina. It was so great seeing you again last Fall. Prayers for you as you continue to serve and as you prepare for God’s next season of faithfulness for you! We are grateful that the Lord allowed our paths to cross.
I, too, am always challenged, encouraged and inspired by these blogs and devotionals!
Thank you, Dale and Sandy, for all you do!