#HeartForTheWord

King David experienced quite a journey as he traveled from the pasture to the palace. As the youngest son of Jesse, he wasn’t very highly regarded. In fact, when the prophet approached Jesse looking for the next king, Jesse didn’t even present David as a possibility until he was pressed to do so. After that, David spent years first serving Saul, the current king, and then running from him.

During the years in which David was waiting until God moved him into the leadership position, he traveled from place to place. It would have been extremely difficult for him to hold up and remain safe had he not had assistance. Thankfully, David had a band of mighty men who dedicated themselves to him. First Chronicles 11:10 says, “Now these were the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel” (NKJV). David needed mighty men around him who had dedicated themselves to him in order for him to reach his full potential. Their cause was his cause.

Everybody needs somebody. An old song said, “No man is an island.” Notice that David served before he was served. Many of us have dreams, goals, and a calling, but whose team have we joined to be of service to their cause? “Before honor is humility” (Proverbs 15:33b). Perhaps we are not advancing as quickly as we would like because we have not considered how to help advance someone else’s cause. And even when we pass the stage of wanting to reach yet another level of success, we can still be a tremendous blessing to someone else’s triumph. Ask yourself these questions:

• Whose dream, goal, or ministry do I believe in?
• What financial gift would be a blessing to that person today? (Write a check, put some cash into an envelope, go to that person’s website and put money into his/her account via the “Donate” button, donate a monthly amount for at least a year, or offer to pay a bill, etc.)
• How else can I support that person’s dream, goal, or ministry? (Offer to write some letters or send emails, write Amazon reviews for his/her books, attend his/her next event, volunteer time in his/her office, give of your company’s service at no charge, join his/her prayer team, etc.)
• Have I considered asking the person how he/she could most use assistance? (Whatever the answer, fulfill all or part of that desire.)
• If I were in that person’s position, what would I want someone to do for me?

As we commit ourselves to the callings of others, God will enlarge our territory. It’s called the law of reciprocity. Luke 6:38 says it this way, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good portion—packed down, firmly shaken, and overflowing—will fall into your lap. The portion you give will determine the portion you receive in return” (CEB). Let’s work together and get ministry done!

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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: Watch The Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network’s new internet TV show Life That Matters with Sharon Norris Elliott from any internet-connected device at www.HSBN.tv. (Stream current show Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; or view past episodes anytime!)

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble as well as other favorites, Boomerangs to Arrows, and Power Suit

Why I Get Into Trouble link to our eStore: https://www.createspace.com/5131814

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

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

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

I recently found my elementary school report cards. What fun it was to look over my teachers’ names and my grades. The most amusing part of the trip down memory lane, though, was reading the comments my teachers wrote to my parents. Besides the “good student” and “pleased with progress” remarks, another theme emerged. My second grade teacher, Ms. Leon, noted, “…she has a bad habit of talking.” Evidently, I didn’t change much in successive grades, because when I was in the 5^th grade, Mrs. Payne commented, “Sharon is quite a conversationalist with her seat mate Peggy.”

Although 2^nd and 5^th grades were a long time ago for me, I do remember being “spoken to” quite a bit about my talking during class. I obviously got my work done while I kept up the chatter because I received solid A’s and B’s. Evidently, I simply must have had something to say.

On the heels of this discovery, imagine my delight when I read Psalm 17:17-18.

O God, You have taught me from my youth;

And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.

Now also when I am old and grayheaded,

O God, do not forsake me,

Until I declare Your strength to this generation,

Your power to everyone who is to come (NKJ).

This passage spoke to my heart. Twice in these verses is the word “declare.” From my youth, I have been “declaring.” The Hebrew root (nagad) means “to announce, always by word of mouth to one present.” Even as a seven-year-old little girl, I was already living out my calling. Sure, I’ve matured in what I talk about, but the act itself seems to have been imbedded. Now through devotions, talks, sermons, lessons, seminars, broadcasts, and books, I believe for myself as the Psalmist prayed, that God “will not forsake me until I declare [His] strength to this generation and [His] power to everyone who is to come.” I have my work cut out for me. (Yes, that is the little talker above!)

Think back. What habit of your past could have been a hint to your present calling? What did you do naturally that God can use for His glory? Place your natural affinities in His hands. Your work for the Master will be as effortless as breathing.

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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: Watch The Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network’s new internet TV show Life That Matters with Sharon Norris Elliott from any internet-connected device at www.HSBN.tv. (Stream current show Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; or view past episodes anytime!)

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble as well as other favorites, Boomerangs to Arrows, andPower Suit

Why I Get Into Trouble link to our eStore: https://www.createspace.com/5131814

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

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

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)

#HeartForTheWord

My latest enjoyable pastime is watching home improvement and home search television programs. Shows such as Property Brothers, Love It or List It, House Hunters, Income Property, Fixer Upper, etc. play back to back on the HGTV network and could fill the background of my day as I write and grade papers. We’ve done some remodeling in our home, so I know the excitement of ending up with a beautiful new kitchen, bathroom, back yard, or even a redesigned closet. I especially like to see the storage solutions because it’s always a challenge to find room for everything that’s important to me. I’m constantly trying to figure out how to store one more book, or another filing category, and of course, the great new pair of shoes or outfit.

Solomon’s work at having the house of the Lord built caused me to think about how I work at carving out space for my possessions. After he finished the building, he spoke to the people about the importance of the holy place. He told them, “So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; and I have filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. And there I have made a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt” First Kings 8:20-21 (NKJ).

            In all the opulence of the temple, Solomon “made a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord.” Since our bodies are His habitation, the place for “the ark in which is the covenant of the Lord” is inside of each of us. We must sit our “house” down on a regular basis (sometimes we live more like a motor home than a temple), and engage in a remodeling effort. Tear down some walls and carve out that space in your “house” for regular quiet times of prayer, Bible study, and meditation.

This past year has been an extremely trying one for me at my full time teaching job and I must admit, I have not carved out as large of a quality space for the Lord and His word as I would have liked. But summer vacation, this reminder from Solomon, repentance, and a new resolve have all kicked in, so I’m feeling great about being back on track. I encourage you to join me in carving out a space for God and His word in your “house.”

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

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble

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

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

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

#HeartForTheWord

For my internet TV show, I interviewed a young woman whose husband is a quadriplegic. She discussed their struggle with facing the possibility of never being natural parents. In I Samuel chapter one, Hannah was having that same struggle. She prays to have a son. At one point, she is so distraught over this that she is not even able to eat, so she goes to God with a very specific prayer. She is so serious about it that she adds a vow to her request. First, she asks God to “look on my affliction.” Then she requests that God would remember her, and she goes on to ask God directly, “Give me a male child.” Finally she vows to give him back to the Lord and that no razor would come upon his head. (I Samuel 1:11)

Eli the priest saw Hannah praying and when he recognized her sincerity, he blessed her and prophesied that God would grant her petition. Right then, Hannah stopped crying, changed her whole attitude, and acted as if her prayer had been answered.

That’s what caught my eye. Hannah didn’t have her baby; in fact, she wasn’t even pregnant yet, but look at her attitude. Once she received the word from God, her faith in His word took over and she moved as if the manifestation was already there. In essence, upon hearing God’s promise, Hannah said, “Fine then, I’m good!”

May we learn to live in faith in God’s word even before we see results.  “For we walk by faith, not by sight” II Corinthians 5:7 ((KJV).

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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 www.HSBN.tv.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble

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

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

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

#AHeartForTheWord

Besides being a classic love story, what we read about Ruth in the Bible is an uplifting reminder that where we were born and the bad things that happen to us in the past are no indicators of what God can do with us in the present and future. Ruth was from a family line considered cursed. (The Moabites descended from the incestuous relationship between Lot and one of his daughters, see Genesis 19:36-37.) Then she became a widow at an early age and had no children through which to secure an inheritance. But none of that mattered to God. What mattered to God was her heart, which was sold out to Him. After all was said and done, Ruth caught the attention of the most eligible bachelor in town, he fell in love with her and married her, and she became the great-grandmother of King David, directly in the line which led to our Savior!

Stay committed to following God. No matter where you come from or what you’ve been through, a heart sold out to Him is what matters. Don’t worry. Life will work out.

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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 www.HSBN.tv.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble

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

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

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

#LifeThatMatters

Have you ever gotten to the place in your frustration with a situation where you draw a line in the sand? You’ve had it. This is absolutly as far as you will go. Something must change. If you are the one in charge of the situation, you then move to bring those changes about. You are the one with the power and authority, so you make the changes. End of discussion.

In Judges chapter 10, God got to that place with His people. Yet again, once their leader (the current judge) had died, the children of Israel returned to their worship of other gods. When they were once again oppressed by the enemy (this time the Philistines and Ammonites), they cycled back to crying out to God. But this time God exhibited His frustration with them. After reminding them (again) of what He’d done for them in the past, He says, “Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress” (NKJ). Not until the children of Israel confessed their sin and turned from their ways by putting away the foreign idols, did God move to put away their misery.

God has both the power and authority to bring a decent amount of discomfort into the lives of His children when we are disobedient. His word is His line in the sand. Are any of your ways bringing God to the point at which He will say to you, “I will deliver you no more”? If so, confess and put away the “foreign idols.” Don’t push it.

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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 www.HSBN.tv.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble

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

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

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

#LifeThatMatters

I asked some teenagers, “What would you need to consider yourself to be living the “good life”? The common thread in all of the answers was, “I would need lots of money and to be safe when I walk outside.” Hmmm, money and security: I thought that was interesting.

Only one or two mentioned anything about working, yet we read in Proverbs 14:23, “In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty” NKJ. Contrary to the beliefs of those young people, they are headed for 30 – 50 years of work in order to earn the means to live. When I said that to them, my words weren’t exactly met with glee. You see, some of those young people are not working hard in school because they actually believe someone will hand them money to live on when they reach adulthood.

Did our kids come up with this idea themselves? What would cause young people to think money just falls from trees (or simply pops out of the automatic teller)? Why would young people think they should be rewarded simply because they exist? How much of their attitude have they inherited from our actions?

A godly work ethic actually involves work and will be “caught” by our children as they watch our lives. Talk is cheap. Whether we’re in school, in transition between jobs, employed just to get a paycheck, involved in our desired career, or even retired and free to choose how we spend the hours of our days, let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work glorifying God with the breath He’s allowed us to use.

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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 www.HSBN.tv.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble

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

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

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

#LifeThatMatters

In Judges, chapter 6, the Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon to tell him he is the next judge chosen to deliver Israel, this time from the oppression of the Midianites. Not understanding why he, the least in a small family, would be chosen, Gideon asked the Lord for some reassurance. First, the Lord consumes food with fire. Then He allows dew to fall on an animal skin only and not on the ground, and then on the ground and not on the animal skin (see verses 21 and 36-40).

I was a little puzzled by this, not by the signs themselves, but by Jesus’ reaction in the New Testament when He was asked by the Pharisees to show a sign. His reaction then was, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign!” Matthew 12:39 NIV. Why was it wicked for the Pharisees to ask for a sign but okay for Gideon?

I think the answer lies in the heart of the one asking the question. You see, the Pharisees were asking for a sign out of their sarcastic disbelief; Gideon was asking because of his sincere desire to believe. Gideon’s heart beat for God and he wanted to be sure he was moving in obedience. Our loving heavenly Father has no problem reassuring us that we are really hearing from Him, but woe to those of us who clearly hear God’s voice and still do not move and obey. The Pharisees simply wanted to see some magic; their hearts were twisted to hate Jesus no matter what they saw. Gideon was poised to obey.

What do we do with the voice of God when we hear it?

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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 www.HSBN.tv.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble

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

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

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

We hear Hebrews 10:25 preached to us all the time, admonishing us to go to church. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (NKJ). Okay, that’s fine, but why? Other than the fact that this verse says I should go (which should be enough of a reason to do anything – because the Bible tells me to), what’s the big deal about going to church? Why can’t I just stay home and glorify God? I can read my Bible. I can do Bible studies. I can even watch preachers on TV. Why do I need to physically go to church?

As with all the Bible, verses don’t stand in isolation from the other verses around them. Let’s look back a few verses and pick up the context of Hebrews 10:25. Chapter ten begins by giving an explanation of how the old covenant, with its many sacrifices, was just a shadow of the new covenant, now ratified by the one marvelous, atoning sacrifice of Jesus. Since we can now enter into this new and living way thanks to Jesus Christ, our high priest, let’s live in accordance to it. Here’s how we do it:

1. Verse 22: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…” We live this new life in Christ by drawing near to God with a true and sincere heart.
2. Verse 23: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering…” We live this new life in Christ by holding fast to what we believe without being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.
3. Verse 24: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” We live this new life in Christ by admonishing others to love and participate in good works.

The command in verse 25 concerning going to church comes on the heels of verses 22 – 24. We draw near to God by hearing the Word taught on a regular basis by someone we know and trust, and to whom we have committed the care and nurturing of our soul – our local pastor. We hold fast to the confession of our hope by being in constant fellowship with other believers who can encourage us through our ups and downs. And we can only consider one another to stir them up toward love and good works if we are around other believers. We are able to draw near, hold fast, and stir up as we assemble ourselves together.

No more excuses. The next time the church doors are open for service or Bible study, be there.

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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 http://www.HSBN.tv.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Why I Get Into Trouble

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

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

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