Hello Sweet friends,
Today’s Reading … Isaiah 54-66 and 2 Kings 20-21
Did you catch our theme verse for the summer in the reading today? “so is my word that goes out from my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). I wanted you to have a printable for this verse as a reminder and encouragement of why we chose to do this 90 day read!
This seems like a good place to stop and ask you how it’s going: Are you loving the 90 day summer series? Are you totally overwhelmed? Are you excited and inspired? Are you feeling behind and discouraged? Are you all of the above? I would love to encourage you today.
Recently, I had a bout with melanoma. Everything was handled surgically and the Lord chose to heal me on this side of life. I am so very grateful for that. The process was very scary and seemingly very long. Waiting for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment plans, it all took a toll on my emotional state. During that time, I called out to the Lord. I used all my “tricks,” scripture memory, intense Bible study, worship music. I want to be honest, I was frustrated. I did not “feel” any of it “working.” My attempts to reach God were not achieving the results that I desired.
Maybe you are feeling that way in this process. You are dedicating time to reading God’s Word and yet life is still happening. You are still human, sinful and broken. You may feel frustrated and wonder if God’s promise that His word will achieve it’s purpose is true for you.
After the crisis of melanoma had passed, something interesting started happening and continues to happen in my life. There is new growth, new life and deeper hope in my relationship with Jesus. John 15 says, “I am the true vine and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it may be even more fruitful.” The time when I could not “feel” God working, He was. He was carefully pruning my heart to be more like His. Our faith is not based on emotion, it is based on fact. The fact is that God is holy, good and faithful. Always. Even when my feelings lie to me, He is still good and He is still working.
Please don’t get discouraged if this process feels differently than you anticipated. God’s promises are not based on feeling and He will be faithful to achieve His purpose in your heart as you read His Word. I noticed that a few verses before our theme verse we read, in Isaiah 55:8-9, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”
We have to stop and read what Scripture says carefully. God promises that His Word will accomplish His purposes, not ours. It is when I tried to define the purpose of Scripture in my life that I became discouraged. We may not understand what God is doing in our lives this summer, His thoughts are higher than ours. But we can trust His thoughts and His ways… He will accomplish His purpose.
So, keep reading! Don’t let your feelings lie to you. I am praying specifically for each of you today to feel a fresh breath of motivation to linger in the Word of God and to come to experience Him in a new and more intimate way.
Love you all,
Kinsee
“so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return empty, but accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it”(Isaiah 55:11).
