March 22, 2020

March 22

Running with Jesus

Luke 11:9-13 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

    Jesus just finished teaching His disciples how to pray and gives them a list of examples to teach them in child like terms. (You might turn and read this whole text.)  I couldn't help but notice how he used a Father/Son example. We talked about using the Abba(daddy) term in relationship with God! He is our Father and we can learn to be intimate in speaking with Him.

      As I learned to talk with my Daddy at first, it was just in my quiet time. Now, we are in communication all

day long.  I am so thankful He is right with me and I can do what I call “popcorn praying”. No, I’m not being disrespectful as I say this. I am reverent and I speak to Him with respect! He is my Father! He guides and leads me all day long! This means I can trust Him with my request! He will give me what is best of what I request! Friend I want Him to be the kind of Father who discerns what to give me because He knows me and He can see my life at one glimpse! It is like when I took Zoey shopping with me the other day, I let her have a couple of things from the Dollar Store then she kept on wanting sugar filled things and I said ,”No”, I was the adult and I knew best! I didn't tell her that, I just said that is enough, she was content. 

     When we pray we are to ask, seek, and knock but trust God to give us what is best! When He says no, it is ok; when He says wait, it is ok;  when He says yes, give thanks. Learn to rejoice in either answer because He is your Father and what? "Father Knows Best!"

Father, thank You for teaching us to pray. Thank You for giving us things in Your will, way, and time! We love You so much. Show us how to honor and respect all the decisions You make in our request knowing all will work for Your honor and glory! 

Tomorrow:  We run into a demon!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

March 21, 2020

March 21
Running with Jesus

Luke 11:4b  And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

     Here is the greatest struggle we have to deal with in life "temptation"! Temptation is when something attractive, tempting or seductive; an inducement or enticement or pressure applied to your thinking designed to create wrong emotions which will eventually lead us to make wrong actions.
     God's Word says Israel was led into temptation as well as the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil!  Temptation presents us with an opportunity to do one of two things, to obey or to disobey God. We have shown obedience until we have opportunity to disobey! These opportunities are test to see if we will obey!
      I remember a time in my life I went through a huge test and had I disobeyed God, my life as I know it now would never have come about. After I didn't succumb to the temptation, my life changed and then came the plans God had for my life! Oh thank God for giving me the strength to run the other way!
     That was a huge test and sometimes I daily fail more of the little test set before me. Tests are given to show a student what they don't know. So it is with us often we find ourselves not passing those little test! We take little review test in school before we take the unit test to show the kids what they need to study. We need to work on paying attention to those little ones that come and learn obedience to study before the big one catches us off guard!
      Christ tells us to pray,  lead us not into temptations! He knows man well and our weakness! So let's join Him in prayer daily, "Father lead us not into temptation!"
               

Father, give us a willing obedient Spirit! Make us aware and sense when temptation is upon us and give us strength to walk in obedience to You. Fill us with Your Spirit so we can be empowered to run with You through a life filled with temptation!

Thank the Lord, He knows when to answer prayer, tomorrow.

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

March 20, 2020

March 20

Running with Jesus

Luke 11:4a  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.

     Well Jesus wants to run right through the middle of that room in your heart you have the key, locked the door and you won’t let anyone in! It is that hard place no one gets to enter! Forgiveness of those who have hurt us! This door has a key on the inside and you possess it and it is clinched tight in your fist! Oh, so you thought no one noticed it! Friend, you have that fist so tight around that key, like a brass knuckle, and you have it drawn back ready to punch anyone or anything that touches that tender spot! Do you see or realize what an unforgiving spirit has done to you? This place has caused you to be your own worst enemy. To hand on to the pain and heartaches that hurt you the most. Through the power of the Holy Spirit….LET IT GO!!! 

     Forgiveness means pardon or deliverance. We want God to deliver or pardon us but we don't want to pardon or deliver others. Another text tells us if we don't pardon or deliver others, God will not pardon or deliver us! 

     Now that throws a new take on the picture! Friend as a child I harbored so many injuries from

different sources and instead of me locking  the other sources up I found I had locked myself in my room. I became inward and could not function healthy in relationships in life. I became self-conscious and insecure. When we open our fist and let Jesus take the key and open that door, He will enter and clean out all those old skeletons from all the decayed bodies we placed in that room! The best thing that can ever happen to you is letting go! The neat thing is we don't have to live that way anymore. I am telling you a new freedom will come into your life! The choice is yours though! Aren't you tired of trying to run with all that stuff weighing you down? Let go and let Jesus!

 Father, today we want to learn to walk in newness of life You want to give us. Help us mark this date so the devil cannot bring it back to mind. On, March 23, 2020, I let _________________ go. (Give Jesus the key and insert that name.)

     Now start running like you have never before, it is over and done! 

 Father, thank You for helping us release those old feelings and knowing our life is in Your hands! What a relief! Freedom at last!

Tomorrow: Lead us not into temptation!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

March 19, 2020

March 19

Running with Jesus

Luke 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.

       He is teaching His disciples to pray for their daily needs. God is our provider and sustainer for life. Some do not recognize it all comes from Him. Our biggest problem is discerning a need from a want. Our culture is constantly throwing commercials at us to tempt us to spend all our time, energy, and money on wants. Most of the time we are like the commercial, "it's my money and I want it now!" We demand God to give us everything right now. In this verse He taught them "give us this day our daily bread!"  It is a daily thing! God’s provision is daily not all at once. Some things can't be stored up! We may say, “How can they handle that situation”, well we get the right measure of grace when we need it!

      Yesterday was a very tiring day I felt like the man with about 10 spinning plates and I was running to keep one from falling. If it fell it would break. I felt tired and weak so at first I just kept running in high gear all of a sudden I just sat down, got still, began to cry out to God for my need right then. I had several issues that needed resolving I prayed Father I need you to smooth these rough places I am dealing with. I felt so out of control! After my "little talk with Jesus" I saw Him go into action. My Martha Spirit went away and my Mary spirit was back sitting at Jesus feet listening and watching Him! He gave me what I needed for that day!

      Most of our problems are we are so busy getting and doing our wants that we leave out the source and move away from our provider! What do you really need today? Peace, comfort, hope, guidance, strength then go to the source He will give you the measure you need!

Father, thank You for being my daily provision yesterday and this helps us know You will provide today too! We are so blessed to be able to sit down and lay everything on the table before You and know that no matter what is on our plate You can give us what we need. That includes if we need the power to wait and be still! We love You and we hallow our Provider today!

Tomorrow: Let’s talk about forgiveness.

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

March 18, 2020

March 18
Running with Jesus

 Luke 11:2b ..."Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."

     Here it is right in the middle of the Lord's Prayer the struggle of the wills. When we accept Christ we still have that old nature that cries out for it’s will to be done. Jesus was fully God and fully man without sin but experienced all the temptations that we go through. We so struggle to do things our way when we pray Your will be done on earth as in heaven we are seeking guidance. So often living in flesh with it’s desires we miss God's will and ultimate desire for our life. God says before we were born He knew the plan He had for our lives. Seeking His will to be done will give us His best plan. Often we have problems discerning so His word tells us to ask so we can know His will! It helps us keep a proper focus on life and daily we will not miss out on witnessing opportunities that otherwise we would not be focused on!  Then when we face difficulties we can go through them knowing that no matter where our road leads us He is right there with us on life's journey. When we accept where we are and cease to fight it we have a peace that will come over us and life flows so much better.
                 

Father, today we pray Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! We can trust You with Your plan and will for our lives. Help us to not be selfish and only live for self today! As we go our way help us stay heavenly minded and make Godly decisions as we continue our run with You. It is comforting to know when I run with You I stay on the right path. Help us not stray or get lost we want Your best and You always know what's best!

Tomorrow: Our daily Bread! It's in the oven baking!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015