Closer Yet

By Jodi A Woody

All Christians are on a journey with the Lord. Sometimes we walk away from Him, sometimes we stumble and bumble our way, and sometimes we stay on the path that He has set before us.
The important thing about our walk is not that we have made mistakes or have seemingly failed at times, but that we can always get back on the right path.
The pages of this devotional come from just such a journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jodi A Woody
• Release date: Apr 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310073830

Jodi A Woody

I've always loved the written word. I enjoy writing almost as much as reading. My tastes run from science fiction and fantasy, steampunk and westerns, to historical and romance. The only genres I don't read, ever, is horror, (Life is scary enough, why add to that?) And Erotica. My all time favorite stories are fairy tales! Especially ones that have been re-written for adults. Now that my children are now grown, I have started to write again. The ideas are coming faster than my fingers and brain can keep up with. I live in Wisconsin with my husband of thirty three years. We have raised three children of our own and had others in our home off and on over the years, through fostering and just helping those that we 'adopted'. I have nine grandchildren and am blessed to have two with me on a daily basis. Though I plan on writing some Christian fiction, I am first of all a Christian, I do plan on writing some that are purely for entertainment without any kind of "Christian message". My goal is to make some characters come alive and to provide a small place of escape for my readers.

Book preview

Closer Yet

Jodi Woody

Copyright 2013 by Jodi Wooy

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CLOSER YET: DEVOTIONS FROM A WALK WITH GOD

Introduction

I have been a Christian for 44 years, but I haven’t always walked with God. Some of those years I walked away, some I stumbled and bumbled my way, and some I stayed on the path. I like to think that I learned from all of it.

What you are reading now are devotions that came out of that journey. Some were written as blogs, some I used as teachings in a ladies Bible study, and some I taught to my local church. Some are short and some a tad lengthy. But I think that they would work nicely for a daily reading.

I have included some prayers in the back and there are a few poems I have written scattered throughout.

I certainly have not arrived and I am not saying I have all the answers, but I do know that I love God, and want to help as many as I can to know him better and to strengthen their own walk with our Heavenly Father.

1

Closer Yet

Do you hear the Bridegroom calling for His bride?

The Father is calling all is prepared, the table is set.

The Holy Spirit is calling, the wedding garments are ready.

Can you hear the bride calling?

Are you ready?

Are you washed in the blood?

Is your lamp full of oil?

Are your garments without spot or wrinkle?

Revelation 22:17 (KJV),

"And the Spirit and the Bride say, come.

And let them that heareth say, come.

And let them that athirst come.

And whosoever will, let them take the water of life freely."

2

Push On

Peace is not the absence of war or turmoil. Peace is a sure confidence in the midst of war and turmoil. Let’s face it- life can be scary, filled with bad news, death, divorce, illness, financial stress and ruin, just watch the news (or better yet, don’t). But we, who put our hope and trust in God, need not fear (He is trustworthy). Though we might not always feel Him near- we can stand on His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

We tend to want God to pull us out of our circumstances, vanquish all of our enemies (right now please), and keep us out of all trouble. But God, in His sovereign wisdom, knows the plans that He has for us-plans to prosper and not to harm us-He knows the beginning from the end. When we stumble into trouble, or a circumstance crashes over us like a mounting wave, He isn’t surprised; He has already seen you come through. God, who loves us and wants what’s best for us, knows that getting through is what brings strength, not running from. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger may be some popular lyrics from a song, but the saying has been around forever. We overcome our trials, hardships, and circumstance by trusting in His strength and love to see us through. When we come out on the other end, we have more confidence, wisdom and strength. We have learned more about Him and His faithfulness.

Be assured, God isn’t the one who sends the hard stuff. He never makes us sick, poor, pained, lonely, fearful (the list goes on); all good gifts come from the Father above. All that other stuff, that we hate and dread, comes from living in a fallen world, from a real enemy, and sometimes from our own stupid choices, but God allows us to go through those things because He knows what we need in the future. Don’t ‘camp out’ there, or ‘set up house’ there- hike up your skirt-hitch up those britches-pull up those boot straps-and go through! He promises to never give us more than we can handle. The secret is to not try and do it in our own strength. All the power that created the vast universe is at our disposal-simply ask Him to strengthen you for the journey and press on. The end will be so much better than the beginning and you will be a better person.

James 1:2-4 (ESV), Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Lord, I thank You that You go before me to prepare my way!

3

Sitters and Chasers

I went to a graduation at a small Christian school last night. I used to teach there and the single high school graduate had been one of my students for five years. I see her every Sunday and Wednesday at Church and the couple of days a week I volunteer, at the school in the office and the kitchen. But all of a sudden, last night, in her cap and gown, up on stage, giving her speech, she looked different. She was grown up. She wasn’t sitting in the class room waiting to graduate. She was done-she’s gone from a sitter to a chaser. Off to college in a big city in the fall, chasing her dreams. My prayer for her is that she doesn’t randomly run after whatever sparkles and looks enticing, but that she sits and listens to that still small voice as well. Time spent chasing rainbows is wasted time. Time spent chasing out destiny, is time well used.

After the ceremony, the little ones sang and did hand bells, super cute, 3, 4, and 5 year olds. After wards, Mothers and Fathers were chasing little ones down, trying to get pictures. Grandmas and Grandpas were sitting, and watching, proud of their families. Two mothers sat their three year olds next to each other on chairs for a picture. A little blonde princess in an orange dress and the dark little gentleman in his vest and tie, everyone stared and smiled. She leaned in and put her head on his shoulder, he put his tongue in his cheek and got that ‘deer in the headlights’ look. The princess’s father laughed! The mothers, grandmothers, well pretty much any woman who stood there smiled at the cuteness of it all. Latter, I was thinking of the difference in boys and girls. Boys are chasers, because they love to be chased. Girls are sitters, because they love to be caught. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work well that way. The boys run by and practically beg to be chased (they really don’t want to be caught, just chased) and the girls sit and look at them, longing to be captured (and they hate running in their princess dresses and glass slippers).

Sitters and Chasers. Some of us sit and watch the world pass us by. Some of us chase it down and demand all we can get out of it, only to find that it wasn’t what we really wanted, the fun was in the chase, not the capture. We look at what we caught, what we hold in our hand with a death grip, refusing to give up what we worked so hard for, only to see that it is fool’s gold. Can’t we be both? Do we only have to choose to either sit, or chase? I say yes! Sit first; hear what God has planned for you. Then, when he shows you the path, run! Don’t look back to see who’s running with you, don’t look to the left or the right to see what other paths are being taken, just go for it. Sometimes, we get to sit for a spell, rest up, recalculate (like Lola-the voice of my garmen), but we always have to get back up. I guess we even slow down at times, when the road gets scary, and the path gets hairy, but still…move ahead.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV), For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Father, I want to be a chaser not a sitter. I choose to run after you.

4

Cursed No More

Ephesians 2:1-10 (TLB), As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,  in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Once you were under God’s curse, doomed forever for your sins. You went along with the crowd and were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against the Lord. All of us used to be just as they are, our lives expressing the evil within us, doing every wicked thing that our passions or our evil thoughts might lead us into. We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God’s anger just like everyone else.  But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead-only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved- and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms-all because of what Christ Jesus did.

Now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ. Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. Even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.

Jesus, I want to be more like you. I want to see the need in others and be there to help.

5

Letting Go of Worry

I Peter 5:7 (NLV), Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you.

I used to worry too much! Sometimes I would worry that I worried too much! It’ll make you sick if you let it go on, which I have proved in my own life over and over. Worrying had