Sunday Devotional

THE WAY TO KNOW

from "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers

"If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine . . ." John 7:17

The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience. If things are dark to me, then I may be sure there is something I will not do. Intellectual darkness comes through ignorance; spiritual darkness comes because of something I do not intend to obey.

No man ever receives a word from God without instantly being put to the test over it. We disobey and then wonder why we don't go on spiritually. 'If when you come to the altar,' said Jesus, 'there you remember your brother hath ought against you . . . don't say another word to Me, but first go and put that thing right.' The teaching of Jesus hits us where we live. We cannot stand as humbugs before Him for one second. He educates us down to the scruple. The Spirit of God unearths the spirit of self-vindication; He makes us sensitive to things we never thought of before.

When Jesus brings a thing home by His word, don't shirk it. If you do, you will become a religious humbug. Watch the things you shrug your shoulders over, and you will know why you do not go on spiritually. First go - at the risk of being thought fanatical you must obey what God tells you.

Oh, that I would be obedient to the Lord and not do my own thing!! I want to be spiritually filled by the Lord day after day and, even though it's not always easy, be obedient to His will.

It's been another busy week around here! The new little puppy has a name and got her first haircut! We named her "Cookie". The name seems to fit her as she is a sweetheart and just so cute! Here's a picture of her after she came home from the groomer.

Isn't she a doll? She has the sweetest personality and such a nice disposition. The other dogs have accepted her and she and my Cocker Spaniel play together all the time. It's very cute! We are thrilled with our new puppy!

My youngest son had his football camp this past week. The first day he forgot to take sun screen and, evidently, so did every other member of the team and they all got sun-burned. *sigh* I really get worried about sun-burn and so was pretty concerned when he showed up that evening all red. He did take sun screen the rest of the week and ended up sharing with most of the team. I was so glad he had it to share! I hate to see those kids get so sun-burned. He really enjoyed the camp, but is really sore and tired. I think it was even harder on him because yesterday and today he had a weed cutting job he had to get done. It was a huge job and he's really worn out! He'll sleep good tonight, that's for sure! He has the week off from football this week and it will give him a chance to rest up and be ready for the new season.

I almost finished my latest cross stitch project. I only have about 6 more stitches and I'll be done! Pictures to follow soon. I'm going to work on my youngest son's birth sampler (I know - he's 17, but I got busy and am just now able to work on it! LOL) and a new Little House Needlework project like the one I just finished. It came out SO cute. I'm really happy with it and like that a lot of her designs honor God. I still haven't finished that afghan I almost had done. I only have about 1 1/2 rows to finish it, but it's been so hot, I don't like having that blanket across my lap while working on it. It may be Fall before I decided to finish it.

It's been a busy week in my hubby's office. I got a new desk from a family friend (it's Oak!) and it was so much better for me and my writing than the one I had in my bedroom. I write in my bedroom, but the desk I had was really too small. So, I ended up moving the small desk to the office and donating the desk I had in there to the Goodwill. I put the new desk in my bedroom and it's so perfect! I'm really happy with it and it just suits my needs so much better. The smaller desk works great in the office because most of my work in done on the computer and I have a computer desk that I use. The smaller desk holds the phone and filing that I need to do and also gives us so much more room in the office. Getting that desk was such a blessing!! I had a lot of computer work and filing to do for hubby this week and the phone was very busy, too! It's always a blessing to hear the phone ring!

It is still horribly hot here! I'm thankful that it's almost the end of July and so we will only have about 2 more months of this hot weather here. By October, things cool down considerably here and sometimes we even get snow by then. Not that I'm wishing for snow, mind you, but cooler weather would be a huge blessing. Keeping the house cool is a big expense and you can't really go outside and enjoy nature because you'll bake. Also, the stores around here don't keep their buildings cool enough and you just swelter in the stores while shopping. I dread shopping during the summer months. I don't understand why some of these big chain stores refuse to keep the stores cool! I always do less looking around when it's hot in there and I'm sure other people do, too. It doesn't make sense to me.

I received the new Greg Laurie book in the mail. I can't wait to read it. It's called "Lost Boy" and is about Pastor Greg and his life story and how he came to Christ. You can check it out here and it's available from the Harvest.org website for a donation. Such sad news regarding Pastor Greg Laurie - his son, Christopher Laurie was killed in a car accident last week. He was only 33 and leaves behind a wife and small daughter. His wife is also expecting their second child due in November. This has to be such a hard time for their family. Keep them in your prayers!

My sister's birthday is Tuesday - Happy Birthday, dear Sister! Have a wonderful and blessed day!! May God bless you always!

That brings me up to date. I hope all of you have a wonderful Sunday and remember to say your prayers and read your Bible! God loves us all so much! What total joy that is to me!

God bless you!