Jan 2

Genesis 24:21
21The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission.

Nothing great is ever accomplished without persistence and patience because, in order to be successful, your dreams must translate into work.

The people who succeed in life are the people who are willing to do what they don't feel like doing. They are not mastered by their moods, they are mastered by the Master, and they establish their goals and plans according to God's will.

Eliezer was a great example of patience and persistence. We see his patience in choosing the right woman by making a detailed plan. He didn't make a snap judgment. He wasn't impulsive. The Bible says in Genesis 24:21 (NIV), "Without saying a word, [he] watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey succeed."

If you are going to really reach your goals in life, sometimes you have to delay gratification. You have to do the tough thing instead of the fun thing, the right thing instead of the pleasurable thing.

Any goal that's worth achieving is going to have obstacles in the way. You need to have a long-term view so, when difficulties come, you can persevere knowing that you are going to get past it.

God's timing is perfect and ours is not. When you find yourself in God's waiting room, just be patient and persistent. A God-given vision will always be fulfilled.

Hi guys
This will be a NEW guideline of devotion
It's targeted to more of a mature audience.
Share your input on how/if you like it.

Kind of relates to how God can appear absent, but of course, never really is and how it's up to our maturity to stay composed, and know that there is a God given purpose. The main theme that seems to be is understanding that the Christian walk is not an easy one. If something was easy to acquire, chances are, it's not that great of value. Maintaining a strong relationship with God gets tough. We blame him if something goes wrong in our lives because we see him as the big guns upstairs who controls everything.

It's great that at the third paragraph, the speaker pointed out that Eliezer wasn't impulsive, he waited, he listened.
Listening is more important and rewarding than constantly being the one to speak
You ever hear that saying, "God gave you two ears, and one mouth so you can listen twice and speak once?"
When we look at debate battles, the person who usually wins, is the one who listens to the other person, and then says what he/she has to say. IT also makes it easier for us to not be so quick to judge, take things into perspective and then make the right decision. There are gonna be so many times where our mouths are itching to say what we want, but doing what we want, isn't always the right thing.

Great passage!

"Any goal that's worth achieving is going to have obstacles in the way. You need to have a long-term view so, when difficulties come, you can persevere knowing that you are going to get past it."

i liked this because we can just take the easy path and live life to the fullest on earth for treasures that only belong on earth.
I remember talking about this somwhere, where the life of a Chrsitian is very difficult. Isnt your walk in the park. There will be many obstacles standing infront of us and we will live with suffereing. The reason why non-Christians are more successful in life(wealth,jobs,etc...) is because those people are living for Earth, while Christians are living for whats to come after.
NO PAIN NO GAIN

been reallly sickk feel sooo bad =(
gotta catch up on devos now

the path towards God is not always easy. There is so much that can distract us from going forward.
but the Lord appreciates how much effort you have put into your faith in order to get this far in your relationship with him. and he encourages you to go further. There are many things we have to overcome sometimes it can bring us down. thats where our strength in our faith really matters. You know where God wants you to go so listen and be strong.
There are so many other and easier ways to go in life. some others seem to look like they are not "suffering" as much as we are. but think about why you have put this much effort into getting close to God. It is not because your parents want you to or your friends want you to. It's because you want to and that is why we are all growing in our faith and getting stronger with God.

i think i got a cold.....
~Audrey~

sorry guys it's so late right now and im really tired! I'll post this tomorrow...or since it's 1:19 AM, I guess later today!

Good night!

Nothing great is ever accomplished without persistence and patience because, in order to be successful, your dreams must translate into work.

I translate that to basically being another way of saying "easy come, easy go".
You need to work, and work hard in order to fully achieve success. Getting something without any effort, will disappear as easily as it was to gain it.


sorry that's all i really got :/

I guess something that's really to be noted here is that we need to kinda tough it out and really realize that God's plan is just something we really can't comprehend or translate into Earthlike terms.

Trying to see God is really kinda of like trying to see the fourth dimension. As a 3 dimensional creature, we see things in layers of the 2nd dimension from closest to farthest in front of our eyesight. If let's say we were a 4 dimensional being, we would be seeing one layer of the 3rd dimension in a simple fraction of what we observe any moment of our lives. Meaning all the 3rd dimensional space would be visible in one "screen".

So really, when we're asking for signs and complaining that it's too vague when we get them, we have to learn that God's just really someone that's out of our league. We have to learn to tough it through our lives, doing whatever work that is righteous and fair, no matter how trying it is on our bodies. I guess that just really reflects on what JFK said long time ago; " Ask not to have easier lives, but ask for the strength to endure them. " Kinda like how Solomon asked for wisdom, and not the answer to every trivial question or fact in the entire universe.


So yeah. Don't try to see through God, but make do with what he gave you. That's what I'm getting.

btw, the new one isn't too bad, i kinda like it. makes me think more.

Today's passage really reminded me about the pastor with his children and he put a marshmallow on a plate to see their temptation.
Definitely, our first impulse would be to eat it immediately, but our mind knows that it's smarter to wait, to allow yourself to receive two, instead of one.
Delaying gratification, persisting with God. I want to stress on how its not just fighting, it's also God.
His perfect timing tells me he knows what to throw at us, and he'll know how to resolve it.
Along that journey of faith and hardship, we have to be patient, able to see through the end of the tunnel where there's light.
The ability to not conform to the world, to be truly leaders, not showing others that we're Christian, but HOW to be Christian.
And especially why.

Love the new devos already!

What I got was a little different from all of your devos'.
I think it's extremely important to be cautious when dealing with anything you come across.
Especially because it's harder now, as we get older, to distinguish what is influencing us to do the things we do. What I mean is, who's to say that what your doing is not something you're doing because you've been persuaded into doing it by the devil. Does that make sense LOL..

Anyway, of course, it's important to be patient before jumping into things and persistence is also important once you know you're doing what you need to be doing!
But also be cautious. Questioning things makes you stronger in your faith!

Wow I am so all over the place. Sorry guys.

Like we have learned from the theme of the most recent retreat, we know that Christianity is far from clean and easy. We live in a world where being a Christian is becoming progressively harder, but we have to learn to fight the flow and swim upstream. Ignore the disturbing interpretation of the analogy, but atlantic salmon population can only grow when the salmon swim upstream to their native breeding grounds. In the same way, we need to go against the norms of society and return to God. Doing this will allow the holy spirit to not only inhibit us, but strengthen it. On our journey of faith, we will not always be traveling to the same place those around us are, but do not let that discourage or stop you from finding your way back to God.

This devotion ties into the chocie we make in our life which determines what happens to us.
The choice between instant gratification and joy and pain afterward, or pain now and a lifetime of happiness.
God is the choice for us because we all devote our time and strength into worship and bringing others into worship. If anyone does it for the glory and to show off your won talents... i dont think this is the right place for you. Everthing we do should be for God... doesnt mean it has to be all serious and stuff but we can have fun but the praise should be directed towards God. If we do it for self gratification... what benfit does that bring to yourself besides 10 min of glory... Devote yourself to God and he will supply you with a lifeitme of safety and joy.