dec 11

Psalms 90:1-4
1 Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!
2 Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.
3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals!”
4 For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.

The sands of a desert are constantly changing. Sand dunes sometimes move across the desert like large, lumbering beasts; the wind blows against them, and they lose sand on one side and gain it on another constantly shifting, changing, moving. A dune may grow to a height of five or six hundred feet and later disappear. Sometimes the desert sands drift over farmlands, covering the fields and destroying crops. Sometimes the sands blow across a small city or town and fill its streets and alleys; some ancient towns have been buried beneath sand for hundreds of years. The shifting sands of a desert can make travel difficult, even impossible. A cart or wagon cannot roll through the deep sands. Horses will soon become exhausted trying to step through shifting dunes, often sinking chest-deep. Humans trying to walk in desert sands often take a step or two forward before sliding a step or two back. It is easy to get lost in a sandy desert, too, because the landscape is constantly changing. Dunes look different on one side than they do on the other, and the shape of the terrain can change in a matter of hours. The shifting sands of a desert can be dangerous. The same is true of shifting opinions and ideas about what's right and what's wrong. You see, some people think that they can decide what's right or wrong. "The way I see it," they say, "such-and-such is wrong." Or "I don't think it would be so wrong to do so-and-so." They may decide that a thing they thought was wrong last week is OK today. They may figure that something is OK for them to do, even though it would be wrong for someone else to do it to them. But that kind of thinking is not only dangerous, it's wrong. It's not up to you and me to decide right from wrong. We can't rely on our own ideas or opinions; those things may change from week to week or day to day-even hour to hour, but right and wrong don't change according to what we think. The only reliable standard of right and wrong is the unchanging God. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn't change his mind. He doesn't forget stuff. He doesn't change the rules if he's in a bad mood. Our attitudes may vary, our moods may shift, our opinions may change, but God remains the same.

REFLECT: Have you changed any of your opinions or ideas in the last few months? weeks? days? Has God changed during that time? Do you make choices based on what you think or based on what others think? Or do you make choices based on what God thinks? Can you think of a time when you did each of the above?

i tend to make decisions from my own liking. i think it really applies to the majority of people that they make decisions based on what they like. sometimes, the decisions i make isnt something that God would appreciate because it is only about me or me and my friends, whatnot. i suggest that we all try to have a little one on one time with God whenever for about five minutes and allow Him to guide you into his way of thinking and to becoming more like Him. i find that as humans, we are always trying to please ourselves more than others so spending some time with God should make you think about Him and eventually, you will fall into the habit (hopefully) and make decisions that would please God and make Him proud. it is our duty as Christians to spread the word of God, and it will all accumilate as we go on with our daily lives.

i got different messages from different parts of today's devo verses:

Verse 1-2: "Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God."
He created everything and had everything perfectly planned out. He payed attention to every little detail and thought about every detail in each human being that has ever lived! He still thinks about us and takes care of everything.

Verse 4: "For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours."
Eventhough our time on earth is so brief for God, he still cares for us eventhough our life here is temporary. He still wants that special time with you as he watches you grow and come closer to God.

It's good to know we all are with an amazing God!
~Audrey~

It's relieving news to hear that our God is a consistent God, one who wont change decisions like we may. I feel as if as I already know which decision God wants me to make, all the time. I know what's expected, but with whatever we've got going in our lives, the decision follows, and once the decisions fall into repetition, so do our morals. Regardless of growing closer or apart to Christ, God would be here, as he reminds us of his love for us. Long story short, we must try to keep ourselves as consistent as possible, if not, how could anyone rely on US to be leaders?

srry guys completely exhausted past 2 days will catch up tomarrow

I didn't get much from today's devo, but I think the important point was that we remember to follow God. When we are starting to lose our step and stumble, God will always be there to help us. Why travel the dunes when you can travel a sidewalk. Like a conductor, look to him when you're feeling lost or out of place and he'll always guide you back to where you should be.

I really think back to how this verse and a lot of other verses we've looked at so far revolve heavily around being consistent.
We have to realize now matter how consistent we claim to be, God will always stay the same.
Think back to that song "Yesterday, Today, and Forever", and that's really how long God has loved us and thought of us.
But then again, there's our side of the relationship where we keep on changing and bring all these ups and downs in our connection.

Something to exercise is being consistent in the relationship with God, and I think it's something that we all have trouble with sometimes.

2 Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.
God has created us even before time. He has a goal for each and one of us. But he gave us fre will and the right ot make a choice of what we do. It is really simple to just turn away form God because it is so much easier. But we have to make the right choice, and usually the right choice is the hard choice. God gave us free will, a choice and he has a plan for us. But if we ignore his wishes and go along with what we want, looking at the short term happiness, we dissappoint God. i feel that God has changed me in the past few years and it really is miraclious

Consistency. God is consistent and we should be too.
But unfortunately, we aren't.
We're always changing. Always learning.
But isn't it relieving to know that he'll never change? His opinion of you won't change over time. He's known you since before you were born and will know you even after you die.

And so, like God, we should try to be as consistently high on our spiritual roller coaster ride as we can!

Ive made some good and bad decisions during the past month and God truly has changed over that time. God always changes and i feel him changes as each day passes. Usually if its a good choice to choose... i agree but if its a terrible choice, i dont just agree. I fight for what the right decision is unless it is absolutely out of my power. God plays a big role in my life and when i make some choices, God is in the equation. I used to have the WWJD bracelet and it helped me think about God a lot but i lost it.... sad sad. Dont always try to make decisions yourself... especially if it is hard... put God in the equation and he will change it into a simple equation like 1+1...
never take him for granted

God is our one companion in our entire life, that will never change no matter how much we change.
We'll get older, and go through a lifetime of different experiences. Those experiences might change us in good ways and bad ways, but we always have to remember to stay faithful to our relationship with God.