Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

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Read

Jonah 1:1-6 (NRSV)

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 The captain came and said to him, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.”

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Reflect

When Israel went out of Egypt they were led by the mighty hand of God. Today, we can still depend on the mighty hand of God to lead, guide, and direct our paths. Maybe you can take a few moments today to ask God to direct you in every detail of your day. Are there decisions you need to make because you don’t know in which direction to go? Ask God to guide you. Ask him to give you discernment about the choices you need to make. Sometimes I realize that I have been pondering things over in my mind, not knowing what to do in a certain situation. Then, I realize I have an amazing God that knows every detail of my life. He is Omniscient, which means He is all-knowing. It’s pretty cool to know that our God can see what’s going to take place down the road, so he knows the right decisions we should make. Just ask him.

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Pray

Heavenly Father, we thank you for guiding us every day in things that we can do for you. We also praise and thank you for our second chances (and third, etc.) that you give us when we make wrong choices. We don’t understand your amazing love for us, but we thank you for it. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Go with God!