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My Thoughts

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - The Prayer Filled Life - Day 104 - Isaiah 55-6-9 - My Thoughts - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – The Prayer Filled Life – Day 104 – Isaiah 55-6-9 – My Thoughts – Growing As Disciples

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:6-9 (NIV)

My Thoughts And Ways

Do you want to know my thoughts? Do you want to live according to my ways? Do you want to be able to know and do my will? Yes, I do. What must I do for me to be able to know your will and walk in your ways? That is a good question. Wanting to know my will and walk in my ways is a very good step. It however is not the first step. What is the first step? You must be willing to turn from your own thoughts and ways. As long as you hold on to your old thoughts and ways you are not ready to be guided by my thoughts and ways. Many of your thoughts and ways are in direct conflict with my thoughts and ways. You must not think that it is you who will decide what are the correct thoughts to think or the right ways to walk. You must set aside your thoughts and ways to follow me. That is the very first step. You must turn away from the thoughts and values and opinions of the world if want to be able to know and do my will. Is that clear? Yes, it is quite clear. I will turn away from my old way of thinking and speaking and acting. I will receive your kindness and mercy and love. I will welcome your forgiveness of my sin and cleansing of my unrighteousness. You are my Savior and Lord. I will love and follow and serve you. That is very good. Now, you are beginning to talk about the next step you must take if you want to know my thoughts and walk in my ways. I’m not sure what I said that constitutes my next step? You said that I am your Savior and Lord and that you will love and follow and serve me. Your next step is that you will seek me with all your heart and mind and soul and strength. That is how you will come to know my thoughts. That is how you will be able to walk in my ways. Now do you more fully understand? Yes, I do. Do you believe that I will tell you my thoughts and show you my ways as you earnestly seek me? Yes, I do, without a doubt. Will you seek me with all that is within you? Yes, I will. That is very good. Then you will know my thoughts and walk in my ways. Thank you, Lord.

Lord, I will forsake my thoughts and ways.  I will turn to you. I will seek you with all my heart and mind and soul and strength. Thank you for your kindness and mercy. Thank you for your pardon. Tell me your thoughts. Help me to live according to your ways. Amen

Key Question…  How are you seeking God with all your heart so you can know His thoughts and live according to His ways?

Living It Out…  Seek God with all your heart so that you can know His thoughts and live according to His ways.

Seeing It Happen…  Have faith that God will tell you His thoughts and show you His ways when you seek Him with all your heart.

Get Ready To Share…  Share with another person or your small group how God has told you His thoughts and shown you His ways.

Prayer To Bless Others…  May you seek the Lord so you can know His thoughts and live according to His ways.

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

The Prayer Filled Life – Day 104 – Isaiah 55-6-9 – My Thoughts – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                                                                    Copying not permitted                                                                    www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

My Ways Are Higher

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Wisdom - Isaiah 55:8-9 - My Ways Are Higher - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Wisdom – Isaiah 55:8-9 – My Ways Are Higher – Growing As Disciples

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.   Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

How High?

Think about this for a moment. How high are the heavens above the earth? If you could look out into space and see the end of the universe, how far would that be? I have no idea. Is there even a place where the universe ends? That’s a good question for another time. Trying to think this way starts my head spinning. I can’t even imagine thoughts this large. If I could, my head would surely explode. My small mind and little thoughts cannot begin to contain what you know. Yes, that’s very true.

Why do you think that I have bothered to tell you that my thoughts and ways are so much higher than yours? Do you think I have a purpose in mind? I certainly know that you aren’t bragging about your knowledge and wisdom. Tell me what you think. I think you want me to know your thoughts and ways. You don’t want to keep them as a secret from me. No, I do not. It’s important for me to know that you have much larger thoughts and much better ways than I do. Why is that? Well, two things will happen. First, I will stop relying on my thoughts and ways when I realize how small and inferior they are. Then I will begin to desire your thoughts and ways because they are so much higher and better.

Where do you think your desire to know my thoughts and ways has come from? My desire has not come from within me. As I have stumbled through life by relying on my thoughts and ways, I have seen their futility. I have come to grip with the fact that my thoughts and ways are broken. They don’t work and don’t lead me to where I want to go. In the painful discovery of my broken thoughts and ways, I cried out to you. I asked for your help. I asked you to show yourself to me. I asked you to lead and guide my life. I gave myself completely to you. I said that I was willing to set aside my thoughts and my ways so that I could follow you. Have I answered your prayer? Yes, you have.

Do you still, even now, desire my thoughts and ways? Yes, now just as much and more than ever. Do you think that I will continue to reveal my thoughts and show you my ways? Yes, I’m positive that you will. When will I do that? You will do that one step and one day at a time. Why do I reveal myself to you in that way? You know that I could not handle more than that. Yes, that’s true. When else do you think I will reveal my thoughts and ways to you? You will reveal yourself to me as I seek you with all my heart. Yes, I will. Is that what you are now doing? Yes Lord, it is. Thank you for drawing me to you. I want to know your thoughts and follow your ways.

Lord, there is nothing that I desire more in life than to know you. My heart, mind, eyes and ears are focused on you. I am filled with a hunger and thirst for you. I want to know your thoughts. I want to live according to your ways.  Amen

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Wisdom – Isaiah 55-8-9 – My Ways Higher – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com