Growing with God by Ronwyn: Everyday God

© 2013 by Ronwyn Hughes. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Photograph courtesy of Purple Plum Photography

www.purpleplumphotography.co.za

Editor: June Louw

Published by AuthorHouse 11/14/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-8295-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-8294-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-8296-2 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Introduction & Dedication

January

1 January

2 January

3 January

4 January

5 January

6 January

7 January

8 January

9 January

10 January

11 January

12 January

13 January

14 January

15 January

16 January

17 January

18 January

19 January

20 January

21 January

22 January

23 January

24 January

25 January

26 January

27 January

28 January

29 January

30 January

31 January

February

1 February

2 February

3 February

4 February

5 February

6 February

7 February

8 February

9 February

10 February

11 February

12 February

13 February

14 February

15 February

16 February

17 February

18 February

19 February

20 February

21 February

22 February

23 February

24 February

25 February

26 February

27 February

28 February

29 February

March

1 March

2 March

3 March

4 March

5 March

6 March

7 March

8 March

9 March

10 March

11 March

12 March

13 March

14 March

15 March

16 March

17 March

18 March

19 March

20 March

21 March

22 March

23 March

24 March

25 March

26 March

27 March

28 March

29 March

30 March

31 March

April

1 April

2 April

3 April

4 April

5 April

6 April

7 April

8 April

9 April

10 April

11 April

12 April

13 April

14 April

15 April

16 April

17 April

18 April

19 April

20 April

21 April

22 April

23 April

24 April

25 April

26 April

27 April

28 April

29 April

30 April

May

1 May

2 May

3 May

4 May

5 May

6 May

7 May

8 May

9 May

10 May

11 May

12 May

13 May

14 May

15 May

16 May

17 May

18 May

19 May

20 May

21 May

22 May

23 May

24 May

25 May

26 May

27 May

28 May

29 May

30 May

31 May

June

1 June

2 June

3 June

4 June

5 June

6 June

7 June

8 June

9 June

10 June

11 June

12 June

13 June

14 June

15 June

16 June

17 June

18 June

19 June

20 June

21 June

22 June

23 June

24 June

25 June

26 June

27 June

28 June

29 June

30 June

July

1 July

2 July

3 July

4 July

5 July

6 July

7 July

8 July

9 July

10 July

11 July

12 July

13 July

14 July

15 July

16 July

17 July

18 July

19 July

20 July

21 July

22 July

23 July

24 July

25 July

26 July

27 July

28 July

29 July

30 July

31 July

August

1 August

2 August

3 August

4 August

5 August

6 August

7 August

8 August

9 August

10 August

11 August

12 August

13 August

14 August

15 August

16 August

17 August

18 August

19 August

20 August

21 August

22 August

23 August

24 August

25 August

26 August

27 August

28 August

29 August

30 August

31 August

September

1 September

2 September

3 September

4 September

5 September

6 September

7 September

8 September

9 September

10 September

11 September

12 September

13 September

14 September

15 September

16 September

17 September

18 September

19 September

20 September

21 September

22 September

23 September

24 September

25 September

26 September

27 September

28 September

29 September

30 September

October

1 October

2 October

3 October

4 October

5 October

6 October

7 October

8 October

9 October

10 October

11 October

12 October

13 October

14 October

15 October

16 October

17 October

18 October

19 October

20 October

21 October

22 October

23 October

24 October

25 October

26 October

27 October

28 October

29 October

30 October

31 October

November

1 November

2 November

3 November

4 November

5 November

6 November

7 November

8 November

9 November

10 November

11 November

12 November

13 November

14 November

15 November

16 November

17 November

18 November

19 November

20 November

21 November

22 November

23 November

24 November

25 November

26 November

27 November

28 November

29 November

30 November

December

1 December

2 December

3 December

4 December

5 December

6 December

7 December

8 December

9 December

10 December

11 December

12 December

13 December

14 December

15 December

16 December

17 December

18 December

19 December

20 December

21 December

22 December

23 December

24 December

25 December

26 December

27 December

28 December

29 December

30 December

31 December

Introduction & Dedication

Every year in November I choose to remember my late father’s birthday in my own unique way. I started writing regularly in November 2010 round about this time. I know many people who struggle in their relationship with God as they just don’t know how to connect the dots from everyday life to living fully for Him. My desire in writing this book was to help people recognize God in everyday life. I chose to do so by allowing my readers to walk life with me, to share in my experiences and to share what I learn from them. This book is therefore as much my personal journal as it is a devotional.

For those of you who have been walking this road with me for some time, I pray this book will be a reminder. As I have walked this road for a second time, while compiling this book and revisiting the moments of truth that led to this writing, I am at awe at God’s grace for allowing me practical moments of reflection that link the heart of God to the daily life of man.

To God my heavenly Father, Jesus, His son and to the Holy Spirit, I must give thanks and praise for being my guide and inspiration while writing.

To my late father, Desmond Victor Hughes, for all of life’s lessons and your sense of humour, I am eternally grateful.

To my mom, June and stepdad Lenn, your love and support through everything and especially my writing, thank you.

Too my special friends and family, who have supported and encouraged me along the way, thank you!

All my love,

Ronwyn

January

Everyday God

1 January

Read your Bible—Making it work

The New Year brings with it many resolutions. Maybe yours was to grow in your relationship with God. If so, good, you’ve come to the right place. In order to do this we sometimes need a reminder about the basics, like reading our Bibles.

Never before in history have we had so much access to information, and we are bombarded with it constantly. At home I have several Bibles all different versions. These are great to use for home study and preparing teachings, but they can really be impractical for our on the go generation.

Thanks to technology though, access to the Word of God has also become so much easier. Google ‘Bible’ and you will find many versions for download to your PC or mobile. Otherwise, if you want to go the old fashioned route; a pocket Bible will fit nicely in your daily luggage.

Making sure you have easy access to the Word of God will make it easier to keep in touch with God through scripture.

Many question why we should read such an outdated book. If this is something that has crossed your mind, let me assure you that the Word of God is as relevant today as it was when it was written.

Reading your Bible regularly will give you insight into the heart of God for your life. I want to encourage you to make time to read God’s Word whenever you have the opportunity to do so.

2 January

Belly of the fish

In the 2nd book of Jonah, Jonah finds himself in the belly of the fish. We’ve all landed ourselves in trouble at some stage due to our own sin, yet in the midst of this Jonah worships God and repents. Jonah chose to focus on God and because he did, God causes the fish to spit him out.

David disobeyed God’s principles and violated God’s laws. When he was confronted about his sin, David did not get arrogant but chose to worship, repent and show his remorse and God forgave him. God said of David, He is a man after my own heart, by this he meant that David had a worship filled heart. David’s devotion to God is what led to him being the first King in the blood line that leads to Jesus.

Paul and Silas were not in sin when they found themselves in prison, but I’m sure they were remembering Jonah as they worshipped. As they did, the earth shook, their chains were broken and they were able to escape. I’m sure they worshipped all the way as they made their way out of prison.

Worship can have a powerful impact on our lives too. Worship and repentance release the power of God in our lives and set us free from bondage. This is because God inhabits the praises of his people and in his presence no evil can have power over us.

If you want more of God’s power and strength, make some time to allow worship to become part of your life.

3 January

Prayer—What is it really?

Prayer is communication with God in its simplest form. Yes, there is a lot to learn about prayer as you grow, but getting started is important. You can talk to God the same way you would to your best friend.

Telling God how you feel, when you are stuck in traffic and really expressing your feelings in a positive way, that is part of prayer. Talking to God when you wake up, that’s also prayer. Maybe you are wondering if God would even want to know how you feel, seeing as he has a whole planet to look after, but he really does want to communicate with you on everything that happens in your life.

Well, how do we address God? Personally I prefer ‘Father God’, ‘Precious Holy Spirit’, and ‘Lord Jesus’, these all work for me. You’ll find your own love language with God. What He desires most is for us to adore him and to communicate with Him about everything and whenever we can.

So start talking to Him now and He will be your closest friend in every joy and trial. He will rejoice in your victories with you, and weep with you when your heart is broken. There truly is an amazing joy to be found in developing your relationship with God and learning to be open in your communication with Him is the first part of that journey.

4 January

Reaching Out—being an effective witness

I’ll admit this isn’t my strongest skill. I’m a nurturer and teacher by nature. I really admire people with the talent to speak words that draw people’s hearts to God on mass and we have many wonderful evangelists today.

So, if I’m not an evangelist, what do I do? Well, we need to live our lives with recognition of God’s strength and compassion in our lives. My aim in life is to live in a way that will honour God. Yes, we will mess up many times, but what people need to see in us is that we are repentant and that we are willing to change where we need too and that we are not too stubborn to admit when we are wrong.

Showing compassion to those around us is a great way to share the love of Christ. When our actions touch lives and we have learnt the basic skills needed to share the gospel, we will not struggle to share God’s message of hope.

In tomorrow’s message, I’ll share with you how to effectively share the gospel on a one on one basis with friends. It really is simple and with these tools you will have the confidence to do so as and when an opportunity arises.

Another important aspect to our witness is how we react to not only our own, but other people’s sin. As we become more aware of the grace that God has shown us in forgiving our sins, we should be able to help other people to acknowledge their own sin and then how to experience the grace and love of Christ in their own lives.

5 January

Sharing the Gospel—the easy version

Sharing the gospel can be easier than you think. To get you started, here is a useful method of doing so. Use a hard copy Bible. Memorize the first verse and write each new scripture reference with a short note at the bottom of your page. By knowing the scriptures we need to use and what point we need to make with each one we can easily share these points.

John 3:16—God loves us. He sent his only Son to die for us and in so doing demonstrated how much He values us.

Romans 3:23—All of us have sinned before God. It is because of our sin that we need a saviour. Some people say, I am good and I live a good life and treat people well. The truth is that because of the sin nature, we fall far short of the standard that God has for righteousness.

Ephesians 1:7—Jesus died so that we could be saved. Our salvation and redemption was conditional to the shedding of blood. Jesus died and shed his blood so that we would not have to.

Ephesians 2:8—We are saved by Grace. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. It is only the blood of Christ that can set us free. When we accept Christ’s gift by faith, we are saved.

Romans 10:9-10—We need to confess Christ as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, and we need to accept that by faith. When we make that confession, God sends his Holy Spirit to live in our heart and to help bring scripture to life so that we can gain a heart and mind reality of our relationship with Christ.

6 January

Messing Up

1 John 1:9 says that we must confess our sins and that God is faithful to forgive us. Does that mean that we have to sit down every day, take stock of our sins and repent and pay penance? No, what God desires is for us to become sensitive to his spirit and to learn when something has grieved him.

Believe me, when we open our hearts to God, we soon learn when God is speaking to you about sin in our life. God does so with a very gentle but firm conviction that he places inside us. God desires sensitivity to His leading, and His ultimate goal is for us to become so sensitive to His Spirit that He can lead us with His eye.

What do you mean, guide us with His eye? Do you remember that look you got from mom or dad when you just shouldn’t have done or said something, and they are not in a place to spank you! Well that is guiding us with His eye.

As you grow in your relationship with Christ, God will speak to you in a way that you will soon recognize. We call this the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the more you talk to God the clearer that voice will become to you.

We need to learn to take note of how that voice, feels or sounds to us so that we can be more aware of it and open our hearts to the wonderful truths God wants to share with us. As we deal with our sin, our hearts become a fertile ground for God to work in us.

7 January

Rebel with a cause

It would seem to most people that worship should come naturally once we’ve committed our heart to Christ. In truth however, our natural response to the presence of God leans more toward rebellion.

That’s what Jonah was doing when he landed up in the belly of the fish. He heard God’s voice clearly yet disobeyed and went in the other direction. So don’t be surprised when you hear the voice of God and you suddenly find yourself running in the opposite direction, this is a perfectly natural reaction.

How do we deal with this and yield to God’s presence? Learning to yield to God’s presence takes time. So how do we recognize our natural rebellion and yield to God’s love?

Have you ever given someone a hug and then felt a short jerk as they become aware of the closeness and indicate that they want to move away? Have you ever given someone a hug and felt them really hug you back?

When we are in a place of trust with someone we become aware of their caring for us and we are more willing to linger in a hug. In the same way, as our relationship of trust with God grows, we will feel his presence and then linger longer in that moment, this is yielding to God.

Will you give God an opportunity to love and hug you today?

8 January

Grace that gives endlessly

God gives Jonah a second chance and forgives him of his sin and allows him to carry on with his mission. Yet when God forgives Nineveh, Jonah becomes angry with God.

This seems at first glance to be strange, but a closer look reveals that this is a normal reaction. Haven’t you prayed for someone to get saved and then when they do and God blesses them you feel angry? It has definitely happened to me.

We need to remember that the grace of God has no bounds nor shows no favouritism. God gives grace to all who are willing to accept Him as saviour and that grace is according to His own measurement and not ours.

If we were to receive the just reward for our sins we would all be punished, but God allows us all opportunities to repent and to willingly come to Him.

Grace is unmerited, something we don’t deserve. It overwhelms us when we receive it because it is usually given at times when we feel we have most failed in our relationship with God.

God has given us grace freely and because of that we need to learn to be gracious to others too!

9 January

Anger management

Some situations in life just make your blood boil instantly. They arrive without notice and send you into a rage without warning. The Bible says be angry, but don’t sin. That sounds like a total contradiction. Losing your temper and chucking your toys, seldom achieves anything positive.

What do you need to do when anger is stirred up inside you? Firstly recognise the fact that anger is a sign that a personal boundary has been violated. Stop, take a deep breath and think about what it is that has angered you.

Realise too that you have the right to tell someone that you are angry with them, but you don’t have the right to scream, shout and belittle another person. Tell the other person that you are angry with them and then tell them why. Then have enough respect for them, to allow them to explain their side of the story.

In all likelihood you will find that there is a miscommunication of some kind that can be resolved if you talk it through. Being able to communicate about our feelings, especially anger is one of the biggest growing points in life and in our relationship with God and will probably take a lifetime to master.

Learn to grow in patience with yourself and with others and you’ll find that you will become angry a little less often. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you can grow in patience and I know that He will guide you to solutions that will work for you.

10 January

What am I?

In the movie, ‘I Robot’, Sonny the robot attacks the police officer and says, What am I? I find that to be an interesting choice of words. I think most of us ask the question, who am I, when we should be asking the question, what am I?

Well, what are we? We are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body. We need come to a revelation that we are firstly a spirit being, one that is like God. This is what God meant when He said, Let us create man in our own image.

We have a soul; that is a mind, will and emotions. Our soul brings to the fore our essence and manifests what is inside our spirit.

Our body is our outward manifestation of who we are and houses our spirit and soul. When God made Adam, He created his body and then breathed into him the breath of life, that is, He breathed his spirit into him.

The trouble for us of is that we get so caught up in our fleshly needs and desires that we lose sight of who we really are.

If we can learn to shift our focus from our bodies to our spirits, we will have a fuller understanding and appreciation for life. Living this way can totally change your mental paradigm and open us up to the realities of the life that God desires for us.

11 January

A prayer for the man in your life

This one is for the ladies. We often spend so much time focusing on the negative aspects of our relationships that we often forget to lift up the men in our lives.

I’ve written this short prayer to help us to pray for our men:

Lord today I stand guard over my husband

I pray you protect him physically

Protect him emotionally

Protect him spiritually and

Govern him sexually

Guard his heart and mind in Christ Jesus

Give him strength and peace

Bless him abundantly so that he may be able to bless his family

Conserve his life and satisfy him with long life!

Amen

12 January

His voice through the Word

There are three primary ways that God will speak to you. He will do so through His Word, a still small voice and an inner witness.

Reading your bible is important to help you, not just with getting to know God and Jesus better, but in getting to know His voice too.

When you commit yourself to regular reading of the Word of God, you will find over time that there will be many occasions when something you read in the Bible will just jump off the page and speak right into your situation.

How should we approach reading the Word? It is good to read one of the gospels, and the book of John is usually recommended as a starting point. Then skip the rest of the Gospels and go to Acts and then into the Epistles (letters), i.e. Romans through to Jude.

If you are starting out then skip Revelation as this book requires some teaching to be able to understand some of the symbols and history behind the writing of the book.

For Old Testament reading start with Psalms and Proverbs and then move your way through some of the other books. Ask God to guide you in your reading and you will find that He will quickly show you the books He wants you to read.

13 January

His voice through a still small voice

God will speak to you at times through the ‘still small voice’. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah is on a mountain and he sees a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire… . but God was in none of them.

Then he hears a still small voice, also translated as ‘a delicate whispering voice,’ and he knows that this is God, so he approaches God and God speaks to him.

Scripture is filled with hundreds of scriptures about the voice of God. As we read them, we begin to understand His voice and how God speaks. God is a gentlemen and He will never force His way on you. He will speak to you in a still small voice.

The challenge for us today is that our world is literally filled with things that ‘scream’ at us. The media, television and movies all impact our daily lives and our thinking.

We have to learn to take time out to be silent to hear the voice of God and respond to His word according to His will. This is where prayer and meditating on God’s word will be a vital part of your life.