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It turns out that the secret to true success is…

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As we all know, I love words.

I love to use them and read them and study them.

In fact, I am such a word nerd that I always prefer to read old writings in their original form…

no thank you for the updated “modern” versions of classics.

Give me Oswald and Streams in the Desert in their complicated structure with archaic words that send me to the dictionary to make sure I am grasping the author’s message.

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Knowing this, a dear friend gave me the sweetest devotional one year called Seasons of the Heart; because she knew how tender these voices of the past are to me.

I pulled it out again this year, thinking it would be good to go back through and read the writings of these women of faith another time.

Each day, I mark something new in the text and/or copy it into my journal. My devotional musings flow from the thoughts these women had in their quiet times.

Amazing women of faith with such a deep love for Jesus, such a heart to follow Him.

I confess I envy the humility and simplicity with which they empty their souls and seek to know Him more, and I wondered one day what it was that enabled them to live so closely in communion with God.

What kind of woman comes to be so wise and single-minded in focus on her relationship with Christ?

What manner of life would lead to such devotedness?

What compelled them to pen the journey of their faith in such a way that a woman living in 21st Century America can so easily relate to these battles against the inward nature and the outward threat of culture ?

Thankfully the compilation of devotions has a short biography of each of these ladies in the back so I began to read about their lives to see what I could glean.

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And I found that while they all lived in different decades, situations, cultures, and  countries; they shared something in common.

They all suffered disappointments, at best, and more often than not, devastating losses…

illnesses in themselves or their children or spouses or all of the above…

difficult marriages…

death of one or more children/death of a spouse…

prodigal children…

persecution for their beliefs.

Not one of them had what the world would point to as a successful, prosperous, enviable life.

And yet, 200 to 400 years later depending on the author, I am moved to tearful prayers at my kitchen table by the words of these saints that have gone before me.

Because the one thing that we share, these sisters of mine, is the Word of Truth…the Gospel of Jesus Christ…one Lord…one Savior…Eternal and our great need of Him on this journey of life here on planet Earth.

 

So often we think that our trials are evidence of areas of defeat….areas where we have failed or God has not come through…

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but it is IN those very heart-wrenching trials…

as we continue to turn to God and declare who He is…

that we shine His light the brightest.

The transformed lives we live,and the words we share today; these speak across generations…across the years…

and they will mark the path for those coming along behind.

Are you in a season that is breaking you?

Then I urge you to look for Him in the midst of it.

Seek Him in His Word and in prayer until you can call out to those beside you…

those coming behind…

The Lord our God IS faithful!

He will NEVER leave us NOR forsake us!

His goodness and kindness to us is everlasting!

He is FOR us…not against us!

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Be blessed today in the midst of whatever you are going through. I pray you know His very real presence as you place your trust in Him <3

 

 

 

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4 Comments

  1. I am blessed with this reading today. It is so true that hard times and trials, bring out the pure Love of God in our lives. Not always easy, but always worth it. God bless you friend as you are a blessing!!!

    1. Thank you for the words of encouragement. I certainly don’t like the trials, but when I look back on my life those were the times I grew the most and can see God’s fingerprints so clearly <3

  2. I love this! I too enjoy very much reading the words of saints who have gone home already. To read the words of a believer who was born years ago and identify with them, or just knowing that I have the same love and understanding of the Jesus they professed a great love for, gives me a greater perspective of how large the family of God truly is. It’s amazing how scripture is “alive and active” and how relevant it stays through the centuries. I pray that we will be able to live in such a manner, and profess our faith in such a way that many more will be drawn in to read the same Word that has and continues to speak into the depths of our hearts. Words are powerful! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

    1. Haha! I am not at all surprised we have this in common Susan! I think it is why I love to read the words of the old hymns. When I read them, they are just saying in the language of their time the same praises we say today in “modern” words…and they all echo the Psalms and words written in Scripture. The Body of Christ through the ages. Precious <3

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