The Cardinal Rules by Keith Cook
"But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul." Joshua 22:5
Each morning before I go to work I take a glance out into my back yard to see how my wild birds are doing. They really are not my wild birds nor are they all that wild. They are free and not controlled by me yet they are not ferocious or wild in a terrible sense.
They are exciting in an animal kingdom kind of way but also calm and harmless in my domestic neighborhood. Every day I see them eat, drink, fly, sing and call, build nest, fight off predators, and explore the neighborhood skies. Each bird and species is quite unique and special to me. Yet, there is one kind of bird that makes my heart dance. It is the Northern Cardinal. It has a majestic pointed head, long powerful wings and tail along with a bright read coat. They are usually full bodied and sit tall on the ground or in the trees.
I love looking at the Robins, Mockingbirds, Bluejays, Morning Doves, Finches, and the other winged creatures that visit my yard each day but the Cardinal makes me the happiest. Each day is not complete unless I can spot him in the bird bath or sitting on a bird feeder getting seed. If I do not see him I wonder if he has been harmed or has flown off to a new yard and will never return. What joy fills my heart when I can catch a quick glance and know that he is okay and still sitting tall.
In a spiritual way so too is our relationship with Christ.
Everyday our Lord longs to see us and He wants to greet us.
He wants to feed us on His word. He wants to offer us living water to cool our parched souls and spirits.
We are the apple of His eye and he delights in us and wants to spend time with us.
Just like, in the Bible, when the shepherd notices one of his sheep missing and goes off and searches for it until he finds it so does our Saviour search and long for us.
Also our desire to see Jesus should be the same. We should long to meet with Him each day. Be disappointed when we can not spend time with Him. He should make our heart dance and give us a joyful song.
One of the most unique things about our almighty God is that to Him all of us are special. Every man and woman are the most important creature He has made - individually.
There is an all powerful, all knowing and awesome God-only ability to be all places at the same time. That makes it possible for God to love us most while loving someone else the same way. I do not understand it but it is true. God is able.
If God loves you so much why not love Him back in the most humble and obedient way. The Bible says that obeying God is better than to bringing Him sacrifices. It also says we are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. What God wants is for us to love Him and obey Him out of commitment and loyalty.
Today make God special in your life because you already are to Him!
Daily Prayer Focus: Praise God for His unending, eternal love. Renew your commitment to God today to serve Him in obedience wholeheartedly.
On The Go Prayer Focus: On The Go's USA Outreach Effort. God has placed a United States effort on the heart and mind of the On The Go Team. Three key objectives are sharing, praying, and training in every county in the USA using On The Go Advance Teams, Training Teams, Planning Teams, Prayer Teams, GoTeams, and Outreach Efforts. Pray for our staff as they are ministering this week in Washington, DC!
Thank you for taking the time to pray for this important division of On The Go Ministries. For more information on any our ministries here at On The Go, you may send your questions to info@onthego.org.
On The Go Daily Devotion for July 15, 2016
Brought to you each day by On The Go Ministries / Keith Cook Team
Copyright (c) 2007, 2016 On The Go Ministries / Keith Cook Team
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