"7" Minutes Alone with God

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised (Hebrews 10:36) When I come across Bible passages that refer to perseverance, I am often reminded of an incident my family and I witnessed a number of years ago, involving a bear and an insulated thermos. We were living in southeast Montana where my husband was employed at Yellowtail Dam.  The lake had been built by spanning the Bighorn River, flooding its many canyons and ravines.  Walls up to 1000 feet rose from its floor on all sides, making access virtually impossible except by boat.  Once on the water, access to land was limited. In fact, there was only one place to dock a boat and go ashore.  It was at the end of a peaceful ravine known as Black Canyon. Here, on a small plot of ground, surrounded on two sides by rock walls rising straight up for several hundred feet, the National Park Service had established and maintained a tiny picnic/camping s...

  (to be sung to the tune of “There’s a Song in the Air”) There’s a song in my heart, and a smile on my face, for I know beyond doubt that I’m saved by Your grace. I’ve been made right with You, and I never shall die; it’s the gift of Your love which I can’t earn or buy. But I owe You my life for the things You have done; to live it according  to the words of Your Son. Every word that I say, and the things that I do, will be pleasing to You, if they’re honest and true. All my actions and motives expressed as they’re meant, since You see my heart. and You know my intent. So the song that You hear, and the smile that You see, are the evident signs that You’re living in me. I’ll trust Your direction, and go where You lead, for Your grace is sufficient to cover my need. Glenda Collins Inman

He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust   (Psalm 103:14) Did you hear about the young pastor who received the same telephone call every week?  Early Monday mornings his phone would ring and a deep mellow voice at the other end would say, “Hello.  This is God.  I just called to tell you that today you have my permission to fail.” The caller wasn’t God, of course, but an older pastor who was aware of the unrealistic demands his young colleague made on himself, and was reminding him that God does not expect His children to be perfect. We know from Scripture that this is true, but does God actually condone failure?  The question intrigued me, and as I began to search His Word, I was surprised to find much evidence that in some matters, God does grant us permission to fail.  Here are a few of the ones I found: God grants us … … permission to fail to have all the answers :  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean n...

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Matthew 6:6) Nan was the mother of three young children and the wife of a youth pastor.  And she was frustrated.  She had been trying to set aside one hour each day for prayer and meditation on God’s Word, but try as she might, it never seemed to come together. The daytime hours were filled to the brim so she tried getting up an hour earlier but invariably her husband or one of the children also woke up early.  Staying up after everyone else was in bed wasn’t any more successful, for then she found herself dozing off in the middle of prayer. The problem was doubly embarrassing because of her husband’s position, but at last she swallowed her pride and confessed the problem to the senior pastor who listened with no comment as she poured out her heart.  She wondered what he was thinki...