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

Set Your Mind on Things Above

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Mark Shields

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. – Colossians 3:2

God rejected Saul as king because he was disobedient in not completely following His instructions. This was the main point of the post “Following Instructions” in which you can discover how important it is to set your mind on things above so you completely understand and follow God’s instructions because He knows the greater scheme of things.

Saul had a proud and rebellious spirit; desiring only to partly follow God because he also was interested in what the world could offer. But God is in control working things out and setting things up so give Him a shout. Offer your praise with songs like Way Maker by Leeland.

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Posted in Devotionals, Focus | Tagged Devotional, Faith, Focus, Instructions, Music, Obedience, Praise, Thoughts, Worship | 1 Comment

Following Instructions

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Mark Shields

This day with God will be amazing because we will be given the instructions needed to build a great day. We are not following the world where disorder expands to fill the void of human failure. We are paying attention to God and have faith that order will fill the void with greatness.

This day with God, let us focus on His Word found in 1 Samuel 15. The message from the Lord to Saul was to kill all the people and destroy all that belonged to the Amalekites. Saul did not follow the instructions completely. He did not kill Agag the king of the Amalekites or the best of the sheep, cattle, and lambs (v. 9).

God rejected Saul as king because of his disobedience so a takeaway from today’s passage is that it is best to completely understand and follow God who knows the greater scheme of things. Saul had a proud and rebellious spirit; desiring only to partly follow God because he also was interested in what the world could offer.

This day with You Lord, we have learned how important it is to follow Your instructions. Help us to completely understand and follow Your instructions. We have faith in Your way and we will seek to apply our faith by following Your instructions one step at a time. With You Lord we have all that we need to build our life beyond what could be imagined. Amen.

Posted in 1 Samuel, Bible Study, Focus | Tagged Bible Study, Faith, Focus, Instructions, Obedience, Photo, Prayer | 3 Comments

From Simple to Amazing

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Mark Shields

Today is the first day of the rest of our life. Let us take our first step along the journey today. Keeping things simple, getting out of the way, and letting God set things up for the amazing to be accomplished through His plan.

Step Ahead

Today is the first day
Of the rest of your life
So cut out the past
Using a sharp knife.

The Word of God
Is the sword to use
To pierce the negatives
You want to lose.

So organize
The lessons learned
To pass them on
And the tide will be turned.

To build up the nation,
Energize the people
Who gather together
Under the steeple.

Guided by the Spirit
With lessons engrafted
From simple to amazing
The plan has been drafted.


Poem by Mark Shields – © 11-25-2021
Inspired by
“From Simple to Amazing” Thoughts – As Moses led the people out of Egypt, God guided them by a cloud much like the guidance of the Spirit. Today we have a chance to engraft the lessons of the Bible in our heart along with the experiences of life. We can take them, mix them with prayer, and…

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Posted in Poems | Tagged Experiences, Grace, Ideas, Journey, Lessons, Photo, poem, Prayer, Wisdom | Leave a comment

Confidence in the Lord

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Mark Shields

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. – Philippians 4:13

The post “Boldly Going to Places that No One Else will Go” gave us an example of the Bible character named Jonathan who had confidence and this assurance influenced the men around him so that victory over the enemy became possible. Confidence in the Lord helps settle the past and determine the future. It provides the foundation of courage to assist us as we start a bold adventure and directs our steps to greatness.

Be inspired by the song The Great Adventure by Steven Curtis Chapman and receive God’s amazing grace. Saddle up because there’s a trail to blaze and a life like no other. A life of adventure and things to explore because that’s what we’re created for.

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Posted in Devotionals, Optimism | Tagged Adventure, Confidence, Courage, Devotional, Faith, Future, Music, Optimism, Past, Praise, Worship | 3 Comments

Boldly Going to Places that No One Else will Go

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Mark Shields

Photo Source – Bing Images

The further you go to west Texas, you start to see low range of mountains like the ones in this photo which was taken near Abilene Texas at Buffalo Gap. The small town has a frontier history and you can see in the photo that it got its name from a wide gap in the Callahan Divide which is a low range of mountains where buffalo herds traveled. It was a point on the Great Western Cattle Trail. Today, it has a few restaurants and art handicraft shops and caters to tourists.

As we adventure into God’s Word today in 1 Samuel 14, we will document what happened in the past to gain experience for the future and have faith in a bright future ahead. With Christ in your heart, there is eternity to look forward to and it only gets better each day.

We note in today’s reading that Jonathan and his armor-bearer went through a gap between two cliffs toward the Philistine outpost. Jonathan was bold and had confidence that the Lord would determine the day’s outcome. Throughout today’s reading, Jonathan makes statements that show his confidence in the Lord.

In verse 6, he makes statements like, “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving us”! When going up against the enemy, he said, “That will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands (v. 10). When facing his father Saul about going against the oath he laid on the people, Jonathan made the statement, “I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now I must die (v. 43).” He was not worried about his fate because he knew God was with him.

Because of his faith, Jonathan’s boldly went to places that no one else would go and his confidence influenced the men around him so that victory over the enemy became possible. Confidence in the Lord settles the past and determines the future. It provides the foundation of courage to assist us as we start a bold adventure which directs our way along the road to greatness.

With God, available is a power greater than any other power. The optimism from our faith will not only impact our own life but those around us too. The most incredible times are the result of carrying out God’s purpose. We are living a great adventure and we are building memories today that can be the greatest joys of our life.

This day with You Lord, we are living a great adventure. Some days may be difficult but we are optimistic that something good will emerge. Out of intense difficulties, You Lord can make simplicities emerge. No problem or challenge is too big for You Lord so we are confident that the past will be settled and the future will be amazing.