The school year and devotions

Devos from a book God Calling: August 24 - Sublime Heights Our Lord, we know that Thou art great and able to deliver us. I am your deliverer. Trust in Me absolutely. Know that I will do the very best for you. Be ready and willing for My Will to be done. Know that with Me all things are possible. Cling joyfully to that truth. Say many times, "All things are possible with My Master, My Lord, My Friend." This truth, accepted and firmly believed in, is the ladder up which a soul can climb from the lowest of pits to the sublimest of heights. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. Daniel 3:17 August 25 - Exhaustion We seek Thee as Thou hast told us. And seeking you shall find. None ever sought My Presence in vain. None ever sought My Help in vain. A breath of desire and My Spirit is there -- to replenish and renew. Sometimes weariness and exhaustion are not signs of lack of spirit but of the guiding of the Spirit. Many wonderful things would not have happened but for the physical weariness, the mind-weariness of My servants, which made the resting apart, the giving up of work, a necessity... Though My Way may seem a narrow way it yet leads to Life, abundant Life. Follow it. It is not so narrow but that I can tread it beside you. Never too lonely with such companionship. A comrade infinitely tender, infinitely strong, will tread the way with you. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:14 I was reading Psalms 55 which is about a betrayal. Psalm 56:22 stood out to me:

"Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."

Despite all the betrayal and anguish and pain David is going through, he is able to pray and trust God wholly. He trusted in God to "uphold the believer in the struggles of life"(MacArthur Study bible). 2 Cor 4 furthermore expands on this. By putting our burden on God, he strengthens us. we can withstand Life's hurts and pains. God can carry us though the hard times of life , like in the Poem Footsteps. [God] whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you." Furthermore," knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;"- Romans 6:6 we are free from sin. Just as Pastor Bob illustrated, the Holy Spirt can empower us to overcome the gravity of sin if we allow it to and humble ourselves. We can do our devotions daily and overcome the sin of being prayerless/not doing devotions. I say sin because it is something we need to repent of and turn away from . It harms our relationship with God. It kinda implies we don't trust; we aren't needy; we don't need to listen and obey Jesus. However, like the savage in Brave New World illustrated, we cannot do this by ourselves. "What if the Church, for heaven's sake Finally stepped up to the plate Took a stand upon God's promise And stormed hell's rusty gates What if His people prayed And those who bear His name Would humbly seek His face yeah And turn from their own way He said that He would hear His promise has been made He'll answer loud and clear, yeah If only we would pray"- What if his people prayed by Casting Crowns. Prayer Devotions Accountabilty P.S. You might be wondering why I titled this the school year and devotions. I titled it becuase I felt that as a community and group of fellow Christians/Catholics, we can build each other up , just like Iron sharpens Iron. We can sharpen each other and change our lives, our schools, our world. We are the future of the Church. feel free to add/comment/correct me