Up Devotions

Because I didn't get it done yesterday, I figured I'd post about it today, so I wouldn't get behind.

Last week in "Up" it focused on being honest with God.

Sunday-- It talked about how God sees everything. Yea, we know that, but do we REALLY think of life that way? It talked about how we want God to see us when we are doing good things. But when we are sinning we ignore the fact that He is STILL watching us.

Monday--It talked about how honesty is the INNER workings of a person. When explaining honesty, words such as integrity, honor, and sincerity come up. It talked about how we sin, every day. Another thing that stuck out at me was how God sees everything, so when you confess your sin, it's not like He's going to be surprised that you did something wrong. One more thing was how once you figure out why you are trying to hide things from God, you can take it before Him in prayer. Reasons I wrote down for not wanting to take certain things to Him were fear, shame, fleshliness, and sin.

Tuesday-- It talked circus elephants and how they train them. And how Satan would like to se us helpless and unable to overcome our past sins. God wants to set us free, but we need to stop trying to get free on our own.

Wednesday-- It talked about how God is Omniscient [all-knowing], Ominpresent [present at all times in all places], and Omnipotent [all-powerful]. It talked a little more on how God can not be shocked by your sins because He already knows them. And how its different if you are going to your mom and confessing something she didn't know. She could be shocked that you would do such a thing, but God is 'unshockable'.

Thursday-- It talked about stress/worry/anxiety. Which I found quite coinicidental because I am going through a lot of worry lately. It said how since Adam and Eve sinned, we have had stress, and trials. Something that helped me a little was realizing that because God is all those things from the day before, [omni-scient/present/potent] He alreayd knows about all those things in your life that stress and worry you. Philippians 4:6 says "Be careful for nothing." In the translation that the book uses it says, "Be anxious about nothing." Verse 7 from the translation in the book says, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Peace, that is what I've been looking for. It talked about how stress IS real, we just need to learn how to deal with it Biblically and with the help of God.

Friday-- It talked about hiding things. We had things because of fear. What I really liked was that, because God knows everything, when we hide something, it hurts Him. He already knows what you have done wrong, you can't hide anything from Him. But when you try to hide things from God, it saddens Him.

Saturday-- It talked about how to start being honest with God with a special exercise. You are to put on a pair of glasses, and act like you are God, going through your room. You're to 'discuss' things with God and find things that you are hiding from Him. Compile a list and then take each one of those things to Him.

Learning about honesty was hard, because it's an area I don't want to learn about. But I NEED it. It was hard to read some of the stuff because I knew I was failing in certain areas. But I hope and pray that the Lord would help me in these areas. And I know He will, it's just the effort that I put into it.