This Day With God – A Spiritual Journey | Share The Word

Guard for the Lord

Posted on June 5, 2024 by Mark Shields

The enemy wants to control our thoughts and make us afraid, but we don’t have to let the enemy control us. Instead, we can make Jesus the King in our hearts and minds. Let the Holy Spirit live inside as we protect our palace working as a guard for the Lord.

Reading today in 2 Kings 11, there was a power struggle in Judah and there was a need for some people to step up and guard the king. Ahaziah who was king Jehoram’s youngest was made king by the people of Jerusalem. He held power for a short time but was killed. His mother who was an intense Baal worshipper was named Athaliah who was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. She set out to kill the whole royal family.

Jehosheba, the other daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada took the infant Joash and hid him so he would not be killed by Athaliah. As part of the royal family, Joash was kept hidden at the temple of the Lord and guarded so he would someday be raised up to become king. Once he was made king, Athaliah was executed (v. 16).

Joash was only seven years old when he took reign of the kingdom so Jehoiada helped the young king with the first major concern for the kingdom. Priority number one was to get things right with God in the nation so Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the new king, and the people (v. 17). The people responded by going to the temple of Baal and tearing it down. They smashed the altar and idols to pieces and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars (v. 18).

The enemy we face brings chaos, unconstructive thoughts, and negative habits. Our efforts seem futile, but the burdens are lightweight rivals to the ONE true God. Futile efforts but efforts that are a part of God’s plan are effective. So, this day with God, let us practice the daily process of guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

This day, let us guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. There is always room for improvement as a disciple to become more like Jesus. Help us to constantly grow in our faith so we can help others grow in their faith. Amen.

Thanks for reading. Please share, like, and follow … build up the Kingdom!

Photo – Taken at Buckingham Palace about 40 years ago. I went to England on a 3-week study/travel with a group at my college.

Posted in Bible Study, Discipline | Tagged Anxiety, Bible Study, Discipline, Fear, Guard, Photo, Praise, Prayer, Thoughts | 3 Comments

Keep Going Towards the Destination

Posted on June 4, 2024 by Mark Shields

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. – Hebrews 12:1

There is a need as brought out in “Never Ending” to be thorough and keep working at glorifying the Lord by finishing effectively what was started. The Lord will reward the effort if we refuse to quit and consistently become better by giving that little extra to fight for every inch as we keep going towards the destination.

This day with God, take inspiration from the song Reckless Love by Cory Asbury. Some of the lyrics go:

I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, 
still You give yourself away.
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, 
reckless love of God.

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Never Ending

Posted on June 3, 2024 by Mark Shields

There are a lot of road blocks in my city. You ever get tired of road construction? Texas is growing so much that the road construction never ends.

The whole nation of Israel was under construction as we read today in 2 Kings 10. The seventh king of Israel was Ahab, and he was the husband of Jezebel who corrupted him with idol worship. Remember in the previous passage, Jehu had been anointed as king of Israel.

God had set this up for a purpose and Jehu began immediately to carry out that purpose by killing all the sons of Ahab to get rid of the corruption. Then Jehu deceptively held an assembly in honor of the idol known as Baal. When they crowded into the temple of Baal, Jehu had his guards and officers kill them (v. 25). So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel (v. 28). This pleased God but Jehu did not turn away from the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan (v. 29).

Jehu kept God’s Word carefully in one area but ignored it in another because he was not obeying the Lord with all his heart. The world today is also full of inconsistency. There is a need to be thorough and to keep working at glorifying the Lord by finishing effectively what was started. The Lord will reward the effort if we refuse to quit and consistently become better by giving that little extra to fight for every inch.

Think of how our society is corrupted by serving idols today. Anything we put before God is an idol like money, job, car, extravagant house, excessive eating, alcohol, and drugs. On and on … it never ends!

But each day is a new day in which we have the opportunity undergo some road construction in our life. There may be certain activities we can tweak a little or priorities that can be adjusted so we step ahead on the road to a brighter future. Life is not always trouble free and we may have to do some things that are uncomfortable or challenging but if we say “yes” to Jesus, we never have to go through them alone. We can press on knowing the Spirit is with us to guide in what habits to discard so we know how to step ahead along this journey and have the endurance needed to keep going towards the destination.

Lord, we are constantly under construction but your love for us is never ending. We keep praying and know You are faithful at removing the roadblocks, so we can go to where we need to go. It’s so easy to get caught up in the secular way but we know Your Way is the best way. Help us to focus on Your Way that has been constructed by the Master Builder named Jesus in whose name we pray today. Amen.

Thanks for reading. Please share, like, and follow … keep working to finish what was started!

Photo Source – “Bing.” Microsoft. N.p., n.d. Web. Images >.

Posted in Bible Study, Going Extra Mile | Tagged Bible Study, Go Extra Mile, Obedience, Photo, Praise, Prayer, Priorities, Purpose, Reward | 3 Comments

Thought From Devotional 05-31-2024

Posted on May 31, 2024 by Mark Shields

Reading John 4:43-54, the Galileans welcomed Jesus because they had seen the first sign that Jesus was the Messiah when He had changed water into wine. Their interest in Jesus had been sparked and their faith had increased. A second sign from Jesus … healing the nobleman’s (royal officer’s) son shows us that the power of Jesus was not limited by space.

This world put’s a heavy weight on our shoulders and we feel at times that there is no hope, but because of Jesus there is more power than we can image. This day, lean on Jesus to help solve the issues faced. Pray and ask for help. Go on your way today knowing that things will work out the way they should and that you will be satisfied with the results.

Posted in Thoughts From Devotional | Tagged Bible Study, Faith, Healing, Hope, Interest, Joy, Optimism, Peace, Photo, Power, Prayer | 1 Comment

Prevail and Never Fail

Posted on May 30, 2024 by Mark Shields

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:57

In the post “See How To Win Battles”, a prophet told Jehu that he would be king over Israel. Jehu had confidence because of this prophecy, and he could see how to carry out God’s purpose for his life. All happened exactly as prophesized. Because of accepting Jesus in our heart, God has anointed us as ruler in His kingdom. Like Jehu, we have confidence to carry out His plan.

God accomplishes what He says by putting the right people in the right places with angels protecting and watching over those doing His work. Accepting God’s love through Christ is the prerequisite to victory. Like some of the lyrics in the song Count ‘Em by Brandon Lake, the Lord will show wonders we can’t number and so many victories, we can’t count ‘em. We will prevail and never fail!