As I woke up today I was taken out of my routine and began to get a little upset that I was off my schedule. Then I got a spirit check. I was reminded of a story a friend of mine told me a few years back about making changes and adjustments. It ministered to me again and I’m going to share with you today. The question of the day is; do you need to make an adjustment somewhere in your life?
Today’s Prayer
Father, please forgive me. I sometimes look at those I see and get frustrated by the way they are. Some are angry and act ugly and even curse. Others have no desire to do what is right. Some just want to “party” and live like the world all the time. Some are lazy. Some are hurting and holding on to bitterness. I don’t always understand why they are that way. Then I, in my frustration, become angry and grumble. Forgive me for my ungodly attitudes and complaining. I‘m so sorry. Help me to see the potential in others and to pray for them more and criticize them less. I pray that through my prayers to you and through my testimony and example and through my words and deeds, these people would come to know you or come back and lay their issues on the altar. I pray that we all will lift our burdens to you and drop them at your feet, so that you can take them away and guide us in the way everlasting. Please relieve our grief and burdens and replace them with your peace. Please bless us as we serve you. Please help us and pick us up when we stumble. Thank you for your mercies. In the matchless name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Making Adjustments
…”Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” – John 21:6
I have shared this information a number of times over the years and it just feels right for today. A friend of mine is the marketing director of a large food brokerage company and told me a story about one of their client grocery stores located in the upper Midwest. It seems that the store couldn’t understand why at a certain time every winter sales plummeted. They studied their product line and interviewed customers. They did everything possible to uncover the mystery. Finally, someone made a remarkable discovery that changed everything.
It seemed that whenever it was really cold outside, the manager raised the temperature in the store. When customers came into the store it was too warm for them, so they removed their coats and placed them in their shopping carts. This meant less room for food and resulted in reduced sales overall. They lowered the temperature of the store, and as a result, the sales climbed back to the levels they were accustomed to. Their adjustment resulted in restoring sales levels.
The bible tells us in the 21st chapter of John that Jesus stood on the shoreline and watched Peter and a few of the disciples fish. Jesus yelled from the shoreline asking if they had caught anything. They had not. He then suggested they cast their line on the other side of the boat. Without knowing that it was Jesus who was speaking to them, they took His advice. They began catching so many fish they couldn’t bring them in.
Adjusting our lives to God is the first thing that has to happen in order to begin experiencing Him in our daily lives. For some, it is simply following the advice of those above us. For others, it may require a major change in our job situation. Still, for others it could mean making changes in relationships. Whatever the case, you can be sure that until we adjust our lives to God we will not receive His full blessing. Ask Him today where and what you need to adjust to Him.
Quote of the Day
The fruit of the Spirit is not push, drive, climb, grasp and trample…Life is more than a climb to the top of the heap. ~Richard J. Foster~