[ April 4, 2015 by admin 0 Comments ]

4/4/15: In the Shadow

#LifeThatMatters

When I drive home from work, I head west into the setting sun. On several stretches of the highway, depending upon the afternoon time, I contend with the glare of the setting sun shining directly into my eyes. The car’s sun visor is no help when the blazing round drops below the extent of its protection. Sunglasses dim the glare a bit, but I find myself still squinting. I resort to holding my hand up until my arm tires. The bumper-to-bumper traffic just prolongs my misery until the sun mercifully dips below the horizon. (You wonder about the length of my commute? I’m on the freeways in Los Angeles. Need I say more?)

Anyway, one day I caught a brief break. Up the lane to my left came a huge luxury travel bus. Once it got beside me, its size blocked out the sun. If I matched the speed of the bus, I could escape the punishment of the sun’s glare by driving in its shadow. When it sped up, I sped up. When it slowed, I slowed. As long as I kept pace with that bus, my misery was avoided and I could see without squinting or trying to supply my own shade.

Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (NKJ). Until my encounter with the bus, I always thought of this verse as something to be experienced while being still. I pictured myself cuddled up next to God in His shadow as if sitting cross-legged with my back comfortably against a tree trunk and in the shadow of its branches. But what about when I’m moving? Do I give up the comfort of His shadow like I do when I walk away from the tree?

No, the “secret place of the Most High” is an abiding spot that both sits still and moves. The abiding is an attachment that travels with God’s presence just as the tabernacle used to do. The shadow of the cloud by day would move or stay put. My protection from the glaring rays of any hindrance is found as I keep pace with God’s presence. The shadowed place is where He is. When He moves, I move. If I don’t, I will find myself left behind where He wants me to be, and out in the glare. When He stops, I stop. If I don’t, I’ll be running ahead of God, and dog-gone-it, there’s that glare again.

Be it stationary or on the move, let’s abide in God’s cooling, calming shadow. Ahh, what a relief!

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©2015 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: Get ready to watch The Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network’s new internet TV show Life That Matters with Sharon Norris Elliott from any internet-connected device at HSBN.tv.

 

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble

Trouble copy 2

Here’s the link to our eStore: https://www.createspace.com/5131814

Also still available:

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

Boomerangs FrontCover

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

Power Suit Cover

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

 

 

 

[ April 3, 2015 by admin 0 Comments ]

4/3/15 The Enemy is Listening

#LifeThatMatters

           After Jesus’ body was taken from the cross, Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man who had become a following, asked Pilate if the body of Jesus could be given to him. Pilate allowed it, so Joseph took Jesus’ body, “wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his [own] new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock” Matthew 27:59-60 (NKJ).

            It is very interesting what happened the next day. We talk a lot about the day Jesus died, and we talk a lot about the day He rose, but what about that middle day. What happened on that middle day?

            A very key thing happened on that middle day that concerned Jesus’ enemies. Matthew 27:62-66 tells us a conversation took place between Pilate—the same guy who had just given the body of the Lord to Joseph—and the crooked religious leaders who had been the impetus in Jesus’ assassination. The passage says:

 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by nightand steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

             How intriguing to realize that all of Jesus’ disciples and other close followers had totally missed every reference Jesus made to His resurrection, but His enemies had not missed that vital piece of information. Over and over again, Jesus had declared that he would be killed, but He would rise again. He even told them when: on the third day. Wouldn’t you think that if you had been one of the disciples, you would have been eagerly awaiting that third day to come around? If you had really listened to what Jesus had been saying, wouldn’t you have been sitting outside that garden tomb with great expectation for the dawning of that third day? Everything else Jesus said was always on point; why would this saying have been any different?

          But no, the disciples weren’t expecting Him to live again. They were in hiding. Joseph of Arimathea didn’t expect Him to live again. He was probably thinking about the work that would go into digging out another cave in which he would be buried when he died. The women didn’t expect Him to live again. They had watched where His body was laid so they could return the next day and further prepare It properly for a decent burial. No one considered the real possibility except His enemies. Why? They had been really listening to His every word. Their reason for listening so attentively was to catch Him in a web of His own words, but their evil intention led to their eager attention. And unwittingly, they actually became the first ones to repeat the proclamation, and thereby share the news of Jesus’ resurrection.

        Keep up the good work of proclaiming the truth of the gospel whenever the opportunity presents itself. They may not act like it, but your children your co-workers, your extended family members, your friends, your neighbors, and even strangers are hearing and they are listening. It was necessary for someone from the enemy’s camp to be a witness to the Resurrection. And it is necessary for those around us today who are antagonistic to the gospel to hear it anyway. Just as nothing can be erased from the mind of a jury, God’s word cannot be erased from hearts. That’s why Satan tries so hard to snatch it away, choke it out, and smother it up (see Matthew 13:3-9 and 13:18-23). Isaiah 55:11 clearly states God’s declaration about His word. “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (NKJ).

So tell it! The enemy is listening!

 

____________________________

©2015 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: Get ready to watch The Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network’s new internet TV show Life That Matters with Sharon Norris Elliott from any internet-connected device at HSBN.tv.

 

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble

Trouble copy 2

Here’s the link to our eStore: https://www.createspace.com/5131814

 

Also still available:

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

Boomerangs FrontCover

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

Power Suit Cover

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)