Act Justly and Do Good

Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right. – (Psalm 106:3, NIV) 

Those who obey His commands are happy. They do good things all the time. – (Psalm 106:3, ERV) 

The happiest one on earth is the one who keeps Your word and clings to righteousness every moment. – (Psalm 106:3, TPT) 

When we act justly and do what is right, there is joy in knowing that we have carried out the will of God. Our obedience brings happiness, as we discover what it is to know God’s pleasure. He loves us no matter what, yet knowing He is pleased with our words, thoughts and actions brings blessing to the depth of our being. The more we seek the Lord, the more equipped we are to know what is right and just. As we ask, He is faithful to answer and show us what it is to act justly and to do good at all times. We are all a work in progress. No one gets it right 100% of the time, yet those who are actively seeking wisdom and grace, find joy in choosing well. May we ever seek the Lord to lead us to act justly and do what is right, each new day that we draw breath. 

True happiness comes, 

As we freely choose; 

Justice and mercy, 

Proof of God’s good news. 

When we choose what’s right, 

God’s pleasure is known; 

Our hearts find blessing, 

As goodness is shown. 

So, seek the Father, 

Act justly, choose right; 

In everything, 

Choose to be His light. 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You remind us of the happiness our heart will hold when we act justly and do what is good in Your eyes. Forgive us for the times that we have been unjust, unkind, or negligent in doing what You have called us to do. Teach us to trust You always; for You alone are good and faithful. Show us how to love those around us through acting justly and doing good. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we praise You for who You are and how You love us all. Amen. 

© Shannon Elizabeth Grabrick and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present

Human, the Lord has told you what goodness is. This is what He wants from you: Be fair to other people. Love kindness and loyalty, and humbly obey your God. – Micah 6:8

Persevering Pursuit

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – (James 1:4, NIV)

If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be. – (James 1:4, ERV)

So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete. – (James 1:4, TLB)

 

We are ever a work in progress. It is through the deadlines, difficulties and distress, that we mature and grow in patience and perseverance provided by the Lord. Through dependence on Him, our character is strengthened, lacking nothing, so that we may be mature and complete, becoming the person that God calls us to be. Our part is to stick with it; to not grow weary in trusting the Lord. Patience produces the good that God intended in us and through us. May we ever persevere as we press on in all that we are called to do. God provides all that is needed as we lean into Him.

 

Let’s not grow weary,

In faithful pursuit;

Real perseverance,

As we trust what’s true.

Patience produces,

Our growth in the Lord;

And He grants us strength,

Each need He’ll reward.

What He has started,

The Lord will see through;

As we follow Him,

His word’s proven true.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You call us to persevere. Thank You that each time we press in, You grow and refine us to more clearly reflect Your heart to the world. Forgive us for our lack of follow through when things grow difficult. Teach us to trust You more, so that we would ever persevere in pursuing the path to which we are called. Show us how to love those around us in a way that further grows us in character, full and complete in You. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we persevere in the power that You provide. Amen.

 

© Shannon Elizabeth Grabrick and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present

 

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. – Hebrews 10:36

 

The Season Between

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. – (Hebrews 10:36, NIV)

You must be patient. After you have done what God wants, you will get what He promised you. – (Hebrews 10:36, ERV)

You need the strength of endurance to reveal the poetry of God’s will and then you receive the promise in full. – (Hebrews 10:36, TPT)

 

God is faithful forever and His promises are true. The challenge for humanity is that our sense of timing is not the same as He who is the very Creator of time. When we are called to begin to move in a certain direction, as an act of faith, most of us anticipate that after we take the first step, things will suddenly fall into place and become easy. Clearly this is not the case, for the terms persevere, patience, strength and endurance would not be used to describe what it takes to complete the very thing to which we have been called if it was a simple “one-and-done” sort of journey from the promise to its fulfillment. God is faithful to provide the strength that we need to persevere, yet we are the ones who have to make the choice to keep moving in patient persistence in the direction to which we are called. May we choose to persevere in His patient power provided, as the Lord leads us the way that He intends for us to go. For in His time, the fulfillment is well worth the struggle along the way.

 

We must be patient, 

Choose follow the Lord;

Rise up and do right,

Move in one accord.

For in His good time,

The Lord shall fulfill;

His promises made,

As we do His will.

In patient pursuit,

Let us choose endure;

The trials life brings,

For our hope’s secure.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You are faithful to fulfill Your promises in Your perfect timing. Thank You that You are patient with us, even though we desire instant gratification as we step out in the direction to which we are called. Forgive us for our lack of faith and trust in spaces that You have spoken promises. Teach us to trust You more, even when we cannot yet see the evidence of Your hand. Show us how to love those around us with faithful endurance, so that they may recognize Your consistent love in and through us. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we trust in You to provide the patience, endurance and strength that we need to persevere in the season between a promise and its fulfillment. Amen.

 

© Shannon Elizabeth (Moreno) Grabrick and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present

For I have always been mindful of Your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on Your faithfulness. – Psalm 26:3

The Essence of Prayer

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself interceded for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. – (Romans 8:26-28, NIV)

Meanwhile, the moment we realize we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs and aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. – (Romans 8:26-28, MSG)

 

Yesterday, my pastor spoke about prayer. He reminded us that the essence of prayer is talking to God. So often we overcomplicate prayer, thinking that it requires specific rituals, routines or the “right” words. In actuality, prayer is us communing with God. It is a time of intentional slowing down to not only share our hearts with Him, but to listen as well. When we do not have the words to speak, we can rest in silence before Him, fixing our hearts on Him, and He hears what we cannot put into words. May we take time each day to commune with our Maker, as He knows and He hears our every heart cry and is faithful to be present as we travel each step of our path.

 

In strength and weakness, 

Our faithful Lord hears;

Each prayer that we pray,

Throughout all our years.

Even without words,

With our hearts to Him;

He hears and He knows,

Each need from within.

All things in our lives,

Can be used for good;

As we live for Him,

His grace understood.

So make time to pray,

With our God, commune;

You’ll find He’s faithful,

His heart to us tuned.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that prayer is not the complicated thing that we tend to make it out to be. Thank You that prayer is talking to You. Thank You that You made the way for us to commune with You directly. Forgive us for neglecting our relationship with You through lack of prayer. Teach us how to slow down, pull away and be disciplined to have intentional time conversing with You. Show us how to love well, all those whom we encounter, and to pray for all who are in need. Help us to listen too. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we come before You intentionally and spend time communing with You. Amen.

 

 

© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present

 

I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power. – Daniel 2:23

Be Consistent and Don’t Quit

Jesus told them a story showing that it is necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. – (Luke 18:1, MSG)

Then Jesus taught the followers that they should always pray and never lose hope… – (Luke 18:1, ERV)

 

The story that Jesus used to demonstrate this truth to His followers, was the story of a persistent widow and an unjust judge. Though the judge lacked compassion, he ultimately granted the widow what she was requesting, because of her unwavering persistence. She refused to give up, and eventually received the justice that she was seeking. If an unjust judge will grant justice to someone who is relentless in their pursuit of what is right, how much more will a loving God hear the requests of those who earnestly seek Him? God sees, hears and knows what we need, and is at the ready to be our help and our hope. Our charge is to present our requests before Him. When what we are asking is in alignment with the will of God, He is faithful to provide what we need to continue on the path that we are meant to pursue. Answers rarely come in ways that we would anticipate, yet He is always faithful to meet us as we choose to persist in our asking. May we continue in our pursuit of God with persistence, as He is faithful and present forever.

 

Do not grow weary, 

Of faithful pursuit;

For sometimes answers,

Come along our route.

Keep pressing forward,

Ask and ask again;

For God is faithful,

We must trust His “when”.

Sometimes repeating,

Our prayerful requests;

Remind us that God,

Alone, knows what’s best.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You do not grow weary of our requests for Your help in our lives, and in fact You tell us to keep asking and pursuing You and that which we need. Forgive us for our lack of persistence when we do not see answers right away, and teach us to trust in Your perfect timing. Show us how to love well, those all around us, so that they may be encouraged and strengthened in their own spaces of waiting. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we persistently pursue You in all things and at all times; for we know that You are faithful to answer. Amen.

© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present

For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. – 1 Peter 2:19

Healing Happens as Fear Flees

“Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe and she will be healed.” – Luke 8:50

These words were spoken to Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue who had asked Jesus to come and heal his dying daughter.  In the chaos of the crowd, he received word that she had died.  Jesus, despite the seeming impossibility, instructed Jairus to not be afraid and to believe that she would indeed be healed.  Though he was likely swimming in a sea of emotions, Jairus turned to trust and believed that Jesus would do what He had said He would do.

God is a God of making what is seemingly impossible in the natural, entirely possible in His supernatural strength and grace.  He is willing to take our tiny traces of faith and hope, and turn them into something miraculous.  Not by anything that we do or don’t do, rather when we seek Him instead of self, we provide a place for our Heavenly Father to move in His might.

This whole faith and healing pairing can easily become muddied when He does not do what we want Him to do.  It can be difficult to see the miraculous, when we feel that it all has missed the mark.  Sometimes, the healing does not happen until the afflicted are held in His loving arms in Heaven.  It is challenging to understand the “why” when we do not witness His wonder in the natural.  This is where hope and faith and trust in He alone who is trustworthy, must become our lifeline.  Our prayers never go unnoticed.  However, we see but a glimpse of His grand plan for people and how He can best use lives (and sometimes deaths) of His beloved, to bless and lead others unto Him.

Dear Heavenly Father, please help our hearts to hold all hope in You, and keep fear far from us.  Help us to believe for the unbelievable, and give glory to You through our every circumstance.  Teach us to trust You at all times, that Your good and perfect plan is present, despite what we may see.  Grow our faith God, so that we may be prayerful people who present Your perfect peace to all who need to know that You are near.  Amen.

© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present