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Click here for Devotional Number Three Click here for Devotional Number Two Scroll Down for Current Devotional Current Devotional Starts Below, Scroll Down Please  Sharon James
How Much of Your Life Do You Want God to Change?
Sharon Jaynes Today’s Truth “Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they fill them to the brim,” (John 2:7 NIV). Friend to Friend Shortly after Jesus was baptized, he attended a wedding reception in the town of Cana, in Galilee. Apparently Jesus felt very comfortable at such a party, and I imagine Him laughing, mingling, and having a good time with His friends. Near the end of the festivities, the servants let Mary in on a dilemma – they were out of wine. To run out of wine at a Jewish wedding celebration was an embarrassment and disgrace to the hosting family. Mary turned to her son and said, “They have no more wine,” (John 2:3 NIV) as if she expected Him to do something about it. I can almost see her raised eyebrow and the mischievous twinkle in her eye. Jesus said, “Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come” (John 2:4). Mary turned to the servants and said, “Do what ever He tells you.” Mary seemed to understand Jesus’ power before anyone else. Jesus told the servants to fill six large thirty gallon stone pots with water. So they filled them “to the brim.” Then He told them to draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. When they did so, the master tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He then called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” I often wonder what would have happened if the servants had filled the pots half full or three fourths full. I imagine Jesus would have transformed exactly what they put in. Likewise, God will transform just as much of our lives as we give Him. As for me, I want to “fill it to the brim,” give Him all of my life – every bit of it. It is the same with my marriage. I want to give Jesus all of my marriage…to the brim. So in our winter years, my husband and I will agree…we have saved the best till now. Let’s Pray Dear Lord, I pray that I will be like the servants who did exactly what you told them to do. My desire is to obey you fully…to the brim. Help me not to hold back anything but give You all of me so that you can transform me totally. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Now It’s Your Turn How much of your life do you want Jesus to transform? How much of your marriage do you want Jesus to transform? How much of your marriage have you given Him? How much of your attitude do you want Jesus to transform? How much of your attitude have you given Him? How much of your __________ do you want Jesus to transform? (You fill in the blank.) How much have you given Him? I’d love to know what you filled in that blank. Let’s share at www.facebook.com/sharonjaynes Lost that Lovin’ Feeling? February 20th, 2012No Comments Sharon Jaynes Today’s Truth Friend to Friend If you’re married, what do you do when you’ve lost that loving’ feelin’? Maybe you truly adored your husband in the beginning, but now you can’t remember why. Maybe you honestly admired his finer qualities, but now you can’t remember what they were. Maybe you appreciated his wonderful attributes, but now take them for granted. What do you do now? Here’s a statistic you might find interesting. According to an analysis of the National Survey of Families and Households, 86 percent of unhappily married people who stick it out find that, five years later, their marriages are happier. In fact, nearly 60 percent of those who rated their marriage as unhappy in the late 1980’s, and who stayed married, rated their same marriage “very happy” or “quite happy” when re-interviewed five years later ( Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher, The Case for Marriage (New York: Doubleday, 2000) 148). In comparison, those who divorced and remarried, divorced again at a rate of 60 percent (Judith Wallerstein and Julia A. Lewis, and Sandra Blakeslee, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce, Hyperion, 2000) p295). So, starting over may very well be the answer … as long as it’s with the same man. In the book of Revelation in the Bible, God had this to say to the church at Ephesus. “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love” (Revelation 2:4). Ephesus was one of the most loving churches in the New Testament and yet, somewhere along the way, they lost that initial thrill of knowing Christ. Their love for each other and for God had grown cold. As I read God’s lament, I whispered a prayer. “Oh Lord, how many of us women have forgotten our first love. We’ve forgotten the thrill we felt when we first met our husbands: the spine tingling chills when he walked into a room, the heart skipping flutter when he called on the phone, the tender wooing when we opened a letter penned by his hand, the electricity of sexual desire stirred with a kiss. Somewhere between taking out the garbage, paying the bills, running carpool, mowing the lawn, disciplining the kids, folding the laundry…somewhere among the mundane routine of life, we’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’. How do we get it back? God gave the church two simple steps for the Bride of Christ to renew her passion for her Beloved, and I believe we can apply the same principles to renewing our passion for the man of our dreams. Remember and Return Everyone loves a love story. Tell your children the story of how you first met and fell in love. Remember special days such as your first date, your first kiss, or when you first realized he was the man you wanted to marry. Listen to a tape or watch a video of your wedding. Steve and I celebrate not only our wedding anniversary but also the day he asked me to marry him. I’m sure my son has tired of hearing the story time and time again, but he’s never doubted that his parents are crazy about each other. (If you are single, think of the day you first came to Jesus. Tell someone about it. Praise God for it. Each year we celebrate our son’s spiritual birthday…July 4th.) Let’s Pray Now It’s Your Turn If you aren’t married, tell someone how you met Jesus Christ and gave your life to Him. A Balanced Life, P2 Mary Southerland Today’s Truth She (Martha) had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying (Luke 10:39). Friend to Friend A balanced life is focused on right things. Focus is always found at the feet of Jesus. Mary lived out this truth. In fact, Mary, more than any other person in the New Testament is associated with sitting at the feet of Jesus. What does it mean to “sit at the feet of Jesus”? We must first stop. Now that is a novel idea for most women. Mary stopped what she was doing – helping Martha in the kitchen – and came to sit at the feet of Jesus. Of course, Martha immediately began complaining that she had been left to do all the work while her sister wasted time sitting at the feet of Jesus. I have discovered there will always be someone who will misunderstand or complain when you choose to do what Jesus told Martha was “the better part.” Luke 10: 40-42 “But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’” Mary made a choice and so must we. Choosing to sit at the feet of Jesus requires decisive planning, purposeful scheduling and a willful determination. Every day, God wants relationship building time with us, which means that time at His feet, in His presence must be our highest priority. Jesus gently rebuked Martha because she had forgotten what was really important. It is amazing to me how I can squander away the best part of my day, leaving Him with the leftover scraps of time and then have the audacity to complain that my life is void of power and purpose. Distractions come from every side. Some of those distractions are good and wonderful things, but they are all still wrong things if they keep us from stopping to spend time with God. Every day, we choose where to invest our time. We plan everything from committee meetings and church activities to lunch appointments and choir practice – but fail to schedule the most important activity of all, spending time with God. Are you desperate for the peace and balance only He can bring? Then it’s time to stop, take inventory of the demands upon your time and begin investing the best part of everyday sitting at His feet. Being wrapped up in God’s work can easily become a shabby substitute for being wrapped up in His presence. And we can only be wrapped up in God’s presence when we learn to wait on Him. I absolutely hate to wait, on anyone or for anything. Waiting robs me of control and forces me to face the unknown. But waiting on God brings priorities into a right focus and releases the catalyst that may very well change my life course. Waiting is not a passive use of time. Waiting is active spiritual obedience. In each waiting room of life, He is at work preparing me for the circumstance and the circumstance for me. Psalm 5:3 (NLT) “Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” From those still, quiet moments of waiting and seeking comes a balance and focus that takes root and grows. It is through the choice to wait on God that the seeking heart – the expectant heart finds every need met. We not only must stop and be still in order to sit at the feet of Jesus, we must learn to listen. Time spent seeking God and listening for His voice is vital. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV) “Now choose life…listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.” Countless voices clamor for our attention. The key to a balanced life is training our hearts toward God and teaching our spiritual ears to listen for His voice above all others. I taught third grade for several years while my husband attended seminary. My class was one of seven third grade classes, which meant that the first few days of school were chaotic. The PE teacher was a welcome sight when she appeared at my door to take the students outside. It was the responsibility of each teacher to pick up her students when PE was over. Seven teachers trying to get the attention of over two hundred students was especially interesting on the first or second day of school when the teachers didn’t know their students and the third graders didn’t know their teacher. However, after only a few days, an amazing thing happened every year. When the teachers lined up, it took only a word or two for the students to come running. They quickly learned to recognize the voice of their new teacher above all the rest because they listened to her voice all day long. The voice of God comes to us in many ways but every voice must be held up and measured against His main voice, the Word of God. To sit at the feet of Jesus, we must learn to stop, be still, and listen for His voice and then rest. Rest will not come until we have heard His truth. However, when we have learned and applied the truth of God we can then rest in Him and our world falls into perfect balance. Resting in Him requires trust. When our son, Jered, was seven years old, he fell while skateboarding, cut his chin and needed stitches. We raced to the nearest emergency clinic where we met a young doctor, who at first glance, seemed friendly enough. Jered, however, took one look at the strange doctor and panicked. It was his first experience with stitches. After several attempts to gain Jered’s trust and cooperation, the doctor grew impatient and said, “Son, this won’t hurt. If you cannot be still we will have to put you in restraints.” Now I had two major problems with those statements. First of all, there were not going to be any restraints placed on my son. And secondly, of course it would hurt. Glaring at the doctor I explained, “If you will just tell Jered the truth and explain what you are doing he will be still for you.” The doctor looked at me as if I had just arrived from another planet and said, “Right!” Before I could rip off his head, Dan told the doctor we had a plan. I knew what my plan was but thought it wise to consider Dan’s. Holding Jered’s head still, Dan softly explained what the doctor would do and told him to fix his eyes on me while I told a story. It worked. Jered calmed down and the stitches were done in a matter of minutes. Even though he did not fully understand or trust the process, Jered did fully understand and trust us. Truth is always the basis for trust and trust is always the basis for rest. We rarely take time to stop, be still and listen, allowing His truth to soak into our hearts and minds where trust and faith grow strong on a steady diet of truth. As a result, our faith is weak and rest is hard to find. When we learn to sit at the feet of Jesus, we will know Him better, trust Him more and find the rest we so desperately crave. Clarity of purpose and a right focus will come. And that, my friend, is the cornerstone in a life of balance. Now It’s Your Turn Oswald Chambers writes, “We can choke God’s Word with a yawn; we can hinder the time that should be spent with God by remembering we have other things to do. ‘I haven’t time!’ Of course you have time! Take time, strangle some other interests, and make time to realize that the center of power in your life is the Lord Jesus Christ.” What is the main focus of your life? For the real answer, take a long, hard look at where you spend your time, money and energy. What changes do you need to make to bring your life into a right balance with God? Devotion Number Three Words Can Captivate Your Man (Or Anyone!)February 15th, 20121 Comment
 Sharon Jaynes
Today’s Truth A good wife is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds (Proverbs 31:10, The Message). Friend to Friend OK, today is a devo for our married GiGs, but you single gals are not off the hook. Words are so powerful. We can use them to build people up or tear people down, to encourage or discourage, to speak life or to speak death. If you are not married, think of a friend or family member looking at your picture and musing about the impact you’ve had on their life. What would run through their mind? Now, you can read this devotion and put someone else in this buddy’s seat. Today, I want you to use your imagination. I want you to imagine your husband sitting at his desk or at a quiet place at work. Imagine him lost in thought about how blessed he is to have you as his wife. He holds your framed picture in his hand and moisture begins to pool in his eyes. He is captivated. All the riches in the world are not to be compared with the jewel I have in this woman, he muses. What did I ever do to deserve her? God has given me such a gift. All our married life, she has done nothing but love me, bring out the best in me, and look out for my best interest. All the guys at the office are envious of our relationship. I see the way their eyes soften when she comes by just to tell me hello, grabs my hand when we’re at office functions, or pecks me on the cheek for no apparent reason. I notice that her loving words to me are in stark contrast to some of the cutting remarks of other wives…and so do my friends. I look around at the accomplishments of my life, but having this woman as my wife is my greatest. Oh sure, there are many women out there in the world who are accomplishing great feats, but my wife…well, she surpasses them all. What a picture! That’s the woman I want to be, don’t you? And amazingly my words can be the determining factor as to whether this scenario is possible or not. Did you know that there are words your husband longs to hear? Did you know that there are words we should never say? Let me give you a few from my book, The Power of a Woman’s Words. Words Never to Say to Your Husband
Words Your Husband Longs to Hear
Today, be aware of the words you say to your husband. Do they build him up or tear him down? Do they make him glad he came home, or wish he hadn’t? And for the single GiG, consider the words that you speak to your co-workers and friends. They have their own lists too. Let’s Pray Dear Lord, please keep watch over my lips today. Help me use my words to speak life to those I come in contact with today. Help me use my words to build up and not tear down. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Now It’s Your Turn Why not pick out 1 or 2 phrases from the list of words your husband longs to hear and try them out today? You might be surprised just how much his eyes light up! When you love your husband well, God says “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” Let’s hold each other accountable. Pick one of the lines from what your husband longs to hear and tell me which one you are going to say today. And single gals, you pick one too. Tell me at www.facebook.com/sharonjaynes My Spiritual Journeyby Dianne
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Gwen Smith
Mary Sutherland