Roots grow deeper, but all is grey. Ground, skies, and leaves brittle and blowing in the winter wind. Roots grow deeper, but nothing is green. Only in our dreams and imagination are plants flourishing and lush. Roots grow deeper, but how can we know? There is no sign up here of life down there. Roots grow deeper, so faith presses on. From the winter of faith-sowing comes the summer of sight-reaping.
Week 3 Day 1
Pray:
Ask God to reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Reflect:
“In the beginning God…” This is how the Bible begins. It begins with ultimate reality, the one who has always been and will always be. It does not start with man or earth or the universe but with God. All of our thinking must begin at the same place. This is not weird, or unreasonable; it is critical to coming to right conclusions about our lives and the world in which we live. All thinking processes and conclusions have a starting point, a beginning. If the starting point is me, or mankind, or math, or finances, or gravity, then the chain of thought will follow from there. So how do you begin a thinking process with God? How can I do math problems or spreadsheets beginning with God? That seems silly. It simply means that in all of our thinking and living and believing, we begin with the reality of God. He has always been, he will always be. Therefore, I must look at myself, my studies, my work, the physical world, and the interactions of humanity with the reality of God as the starting point. A certain governor was known to write the word “Jesus” at the top of every agenda sheet he was given before a meeting. Why did he do this? To remind him that as he dealt with budgets and taxes and prisons and school systems and laws, that the starting point for thinking clearly about anything is Jesus. Close the gap today on your faith…put Christ at the beginning of every thought, word, action.
Pray:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today.