Life and Death

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

 

I have a choice. You have a choice. Everyone has the same choice. Everyone since the time of Moses has had the same choice.

 

Deuteronomy 30:19 (TLB)
I call heaven and earth to witness against you that today I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Oh, that you would choose life; that you and your children might live!

Make the right choice — for you, for your children, for those you love.

 

Good morning, Lord. I want to use words that build up, not destroy. I want to do things that help, not hurt. I want to choose life, not death. And yet, I speak angry words when I could be kind, I’m selfish when I could be generous, I walk though my day in a self-centered funk when I could be gracious. I don’t kill others, it is true — but I ignore their needs. Forgive me.

Point me to better choices, O God: to speak goodness, act kindly and walk in love. It will be good for me, good for those I love, good for the world.

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Condemnation and Restoration

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

John 3:17 (NIV)
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

 

 

A different translation paints a picture in my mind.

John 3:17 (MSG)
God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

 

Good morning, Lord. Thank You for Your powerful plan to set the world right, to restore humanity, to restore my soul. Sometimes it seems too good to be true, but then I sense Your gentle touch, I hear the wisdom in Your Word. You, O Lord, are indeed good — good by nature, good for me, good to humankind, good throughout eternity.

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Blessing and Cursing

Posted on January 27, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

James 3:9-10 (MSG)
With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on.

Ouch! This bit of wisdom strikes close to home.

 


Good morning, Lord. I want to leave a trail of blessings, but I drop too many rude and unkind words as I go. Forgive me! Teach me to think before I speak, to choose my words carefully, to say things that encourage others. Let the words of my mouth be acceptable in Your sight (Psalm 19:14).

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Walk in God’s Ways

Posted on January 24, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

Deuteronomy 5:33 (AMP)
You shall walk [that is, live each and every day] in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long in the land which you will possess.

Live out God’s commands each and every day — not easy. But promising — for our long-term wellbeing.

 

Good morning, Lord. I want to live well, leaving behind a trail of blessings. I don’t expect things to come easily. Your way isn’t always comfortable, but it is honorable. Your precepts aren’t stress-free, but they are satisfying. Your commands aren’t effortless, but they are effective. Your ways work well, Lord, in the long run — for me, for others, for Your kingdom.

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God’s Ways

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

 

Psalm 25:4 (NIV)
Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.

 

Show me, teach me. I can’t figure it out on my own.

 

 

Good morning, Lord. Without You, I would be lost … lost in wrong thoughts, lost in my daily journey, lost for eternity. Show me Your ways, O God, today, tomorrow and forever, amen.

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Right and Wrong Ways

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

 

Psalm 1:6 (AMP)
For the Lord knows and fully approves
the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked shall perish.


Good advice from the psalmist: stay on the approved path. The other way is a dead end.

 

Good morning, Lord. Driving, I sometimes take a sideroad just to see where it goes. Likewise, I sometimes follow a side thought, just to see where it goes. All too often, those thoughts lead me astray. Keep my thoughts (and my actions) on God-approved pathways. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil (Matthew 6:13). Set my feet and thoughts on the path of righteousness.

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The Way of Wisdom

Posted on January 21, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

Proverbs 4:11-12 (ESV)
I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
When you walk,
your step will not be hampered,
and if you run,
you will not stumble.

God’s wisdom moves me forward.

 

Good morning, Lord. Your way — the way of wisdom — isn’t always smooth and straight, but You’re with me every step. You guide me, You detour me around temptation, You keep me out of the potholes and pits. When I wander away from Your side, I trip, stumble and fall. Thank You for picking me up, brushing me off and putting me back on the right path.

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Finding the Way

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

 

I like to think I do the right things, the right way. But all too often, I am wrong. There’s only one right way.

 


John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is our way to better (and eternal) life.

 


Good morning, Lord. Thank You for being “The Way,” my way to forgiveness of sin, to eternal life, to peace in my heart, to wisdom, to friendship with Almighty God, to guidance for my life journey. Without You, I am on the path to nowhere. With You, I walk in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake (Psalm 23:3).

 

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Like a Consuming Fire

Posted on January 17, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

 

We’ve seen the photos — the flames, the destruction. The consuming wildfires.

 


Exodus 24:15-17 (NIV)
When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai … To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.

The glory of the Lord is like a consuming fire.

 

Good morning, Lord. Sometimes I focus so much on Your love that I forget about Your holiness and power — forgive me. You are the God of wildfires and candlelight, of raging torrents and gentle rain, of justice and mercy, of glory and grace. You are perfectly holy and perfectly loving. You alone are worthy of all my love and praise.

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Turn Fury to Peace

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Shirlee Abbott

“Praise to the Lord, who, when
tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly
around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease,
turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.”
Joachim Neander, 1680
Trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1863

17th-century thoughts, applicable to 21st century wildfires.

 


Good morning, Lord. Still the raging wildfires, still the raging tempests in our souls. Breathe on us, Spirit of God. Fill us with Your peace and protection. Let not our hearts be troubled (John 14:27), in Jesus’ name.

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