Morning Manna

"So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?" -- Hebrews 13:6 AMP

Abba, thank You for opportunities for bravery. Thank You for opening doors where faith and fortitude are the keys. Thank You for provoking our family to focus forward!

Adversity provides chances for us to either shrink back or spring forward. The choice is our to make.

There are seasons and times in our lives where a fork appears on the path before us. "Give me the shortest route please!" That's usually my heart's cry; however, the fast forward requires me to dig deep into the Truth that I know, the Truth that You have revealed to me. I rely on our relationship and all that we have journeyed throughout our story.

Your Arm is not short, nor weak...You are the God of the Angel Armies. You are fiercely in love with me...I need not fear.

You paid a great price for my Peace...may I choose the road less traveled in response. You will never fail me, nor abandon me.

Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow!

Morning Manna

"Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell]." -- Hebrews 4:11 AMP

Abba, You were intentional to prescribe a pattern for us at the very Beginning. Work followed by rest. And in this work, not only was it Very Good, but if brought You much pleasure. And then, You rested to gaze upon the beauty of Your Creation.

Thank You that You bring the increase! You invite us to partner with You because You know our pattern of working, of earning. I believe You do that just for us. Because we are prone to sweat, You give us opportunities to purposefully engage in specific activities for our pleasure.

You invite me to pray for my benefit and just because You love to hear my voice. Yet, You will provide all of my needs according to Your Heavenly Warehouse...regardless. You invite me to pray and exchange my prayers for Your Peace.

Unbelief is a serious work and is exhausting...doubt, fear, wondering if the answers will ever come. Unbelief is defeating. Unbelief and worry is sin and is hurtful to You.

So we labor to enter into Trust. We labor to enter into Peace. We labor to enter into Rest. For our very own flesh fights all these Gifts of Your Grace.

The season of Harvest is approaching. Cause me to enjoy the fruit of my labor. Cause me to enjoy the Work of Your Hand in the life of my family.

Cause me to enjoy this time in this season...for I am Loved.

Morning Manna

"And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint." -- Galatians 6:9 AMP

Abba, I am enjoying what You are teaching me about times and seasons. My understanding of Your Timekeeping is growing bit by bit, little by little...spreading seeds of patience in my heart.

Delay is not denial. My seed is encased in Your Protection and will produce a harvest at the right time and within the right season. The immense blessing for me is that You are the Vinedresser. You lead me, You guide me, in the care-taking of my vineyard. You season my vineyard with Love.

"Due" and "appointed" are words of hope. May I not see them as occasions that will never come, but specific points on the time-line of my life that have yet to arrive. They are on their way!

I am Your learner. I ask You to continue to teach me, Holy Spirit, reveal more and more of Christ Jesus, The Risen Savior, The Anointed One, The Lover of My Soul.

Teach me that I may teach others, I pray.

Morning Manna

"Let those who favor my righteous cause and have pleasure in my uprightness shout for joy and be glad and say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, Who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant." -- Psalm 35:27 AMP

Abba, the word "prosperity" in Psalm 35:27 means Shalom = completeness, soundness, welfare, and peace.

In Your Last Will & Testament, You bequeathed Shalom to Your disciples (John 14:27). Shalom is my inheritance! You took my fear, my hesitations, my doubts and replaced them with Your Shalom....Your Gift to me.

Oh that I might live as an heir of Your Grace...Your undeserved, unmerited Favor. I magnify You this morning for You are most certainly worthy of my praise.

You take pleasure...this makes me smile! As You provide, as You bring new seasons, as You make Yourself my Dwelling Place, Your Heart is full of delight. You delight in me...as I do with my children. They bring me so much pleasure!

Jesus, I am overwhelmed that You love me sooooooo much. After all that You and I have been through together, the ups and downs of this life, You have never failed me nor abandoned me...You never will.

I invite and receive Your Shalom today in Your Name I pray.

Morning Manna

"...Break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you." -- Hosea 10:12 ESV

Abba, I love it when You wake me up early to teach me something! You planted a seed in my heart yesterday, a curiosity...now this morning, You are watering that seed and opening my understanding.

You are SO faithful. You provide me with the direction that I need in due season and at the perfect time.

You made me a Learner...I bet You're just as excited as I am about new Truth.

Open my ears that I might hear. Open my eyes that I might see. Open my understanding that I might grasp.

Morning Manna

"Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour." -- 1 Peter 5:8 AMP

Abba, I'm afraid that when I'm irritable, weary, and out-of-sorts, I sound like a roaring lion myself! I can come across as the enemy to my husband and children. This is not what I desire.

The real enemy is The Enemy. As John Eldredge says in his book Epic, "Life is very confusing if you do not take into account that there is a Villain. That you, my friend, have an Enemy."

The truth is that there is an enemy who longs to destroy me. Either I am aware of his devices and understand how to respond in prayer or I blame You for all that appears negative in my life, for all that has not gone "according to plan", my plan. 

Satan is my arch-enemy, my adversary, my opponent in this life. I can be sure that he has a strategy...he has studied my statistics, he knows my weaknesses, and he knows what makes me tick - like a time bomb!

Thank You, Jesus, that You remind me and make me keenly aware that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against satan and his cohorts. Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world!

Thank You for reminding me that satan is the accuser...he accuses everyone except himself. He's good at pointing the finger! 

Thank You, Abba, for sending Your Son to redeem me from the curse, to redeem me from a life of accusation and condemnation, to redeem me from certain gloom and doom.

In You, in Christ, I can do all things...in Christ my enemy has already been defeated. 

Thank You that we fight from a position of victory vs. for victory!

Morning Manna

"The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest. The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward! Lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the Israelites shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea." -- Exodus 14:14-16 AMP

Abba, I've found myself in a strange situation and I can't really make heads or tails of it. I know that I'm in amongst these circumstances for a reason, although I don't see it right now.

Father, You made a way when there was no way. You parted the sea for Your Children, Your People Israel. You are the God of the Angel Armies and Your Hand is Outstretched. You are the God who sees, You are the God who hears, and You are the God who is concerned about me. You are Forever Faithful and Trustworthy.

My heart desires to follow Your Lead. My heart desires to follow the guidance of my Great Shepherd. Thank You for comforting me with Psalm 23 in the midnight hour. You know me so well...You know how my brain works. You know that, because of my strengths, I am prone to figure out a matter. However, You remind me that the matter is not mine to solve, but Yours.

I cry out to You this morning. And at Your Beckoning I move forward. Your Hand is outstretched to mine, plump with comfort, to enter into a new season.

My heart is Yours. <3