Day 5 – 365 Days Through the Word

Day 5 – When we don’t know the future it’s sometimes hard to let go of the past.

Today’s reading Genesis 17:1 – 19:38.

Genesis 19:26 “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”

Through the covenant made between God and Abram, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah with the promise that Abraham would have a great nation through the future offspring of Sarah. In disbelief, Sarah laughed, thinking it could not be possible for her to bare a child at such an old age.

God’s response to Sarah is the same response He gives you and I when we disbelieve, “Is anything to hard for the Lord?” And the answer…..always a resounding, NO! But Sarah hung on to the past of nothing happening thus far, and boy was she surprised when the Lord revealed His power.

Not to far across the land another member from Abraham’s family was struggling. In the land of Sodom, Lot was dealing with pure evil, and his family was caught in disbelief. They all formed a comfort in where they were placed, but the Lord told them it was time to leave. God planned to destroy Sodom because the only believer there was Lot. So, Lot begged his family to come with him, yet only his wife and daughters followed. However, there was a stipulation, they must not look back to their past life in Sodom. Lot’s wife clung to the comfort she had there and turned around as they were walking away. Immediately, Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt in her disbelief and distrust of the Lord.

When God has a plan for our life and it seems so different from what we were already doing, we must continue to move forward on the path He’s set before us. If we turn back to the old way, what was planned may never take place.

Dear Heavenly Father, Looking to the Future you have for me is the only way for me to look. Help me to keep my focus on Your Son, Jesus Christ, the perfecter of my Faith as I run this race. Please don’t let me turn back but let me keep running until I hear those mighty Words: well done my good and faithful servant. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 4 – 365 Days through The Word

Day 4 – The decisions we make can take us on journeys where we feel completely alone or where the road may be bumpy and sometimes extremely difficult yet never alone and always strengthened.

Today’s reading Genesis 14:1 – 16:16.

Genesis 15:1 “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

Lot, Abram’s nephew, and Sarai, Abram’s wife, decided to take things into their own hands when life wasn’t going the way they wanted. Each of their decisions took them to difficult places, battles to fight, loss, confusion and frustration. But God gave them someone that would be a blessing to them even in their selfish decisions…Abram.

Abram would save Lot and his family from destruction and stay completely faithful to his wife through her bad decisions. However, Abram, would also have to face the consequences of the decisions his wife had made because these weren’t of the Lord.

Through Sarai’s influence, Abram would have a son with her servant, Hagar. This son, Ishmael would cause trouble and problems for centuries to come. Even trouble today!! But Abram never had any need to worry or fear because God would be his constant shield and continue to bless His future descendants to this Day.

What will your journey look like, do you feel all alone on the path or do you always have the extra set of footprints in the sand? God can and will always be your shield, as He is my family’s. Seek Him in every decision. Let your life be His completely. Let your Future memories be the Will of God!

Dear Heavenly Father, I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know you hold tomorrow in your hands. Let me not worry about the outcome and always trust your plan is for my good because I trust in You. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 3 – 365 Days through the Word

Day 3 – To His Will we shall say Yes and from His gifts we will be Blessed. From each Gift we shall Give back for because of Him we have no lack.

Today’s Reading – Genesis 9:1 – 13:18.

Genesis 13:14-18 “The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.”

We begin today with Noah receiving the covenant of never again there being a flood that wipes off everything God created and the promise of life on this earth until the earth is no more. This covenant to be remembered through the gift of a rainbow in the clouds after each rain.

Through Noah all nations and people would be created. One of which is Abram, son of Terah.

Now in these days family and multiplication of descendants was everything. It was what God requested of Noah with His covenant, however, Abram married Sarai and she was unable to have children. This inadequacy, however, didn’t discourage Abram. He still fully trusted the Lord and followed His every Will, the plan God laid before him.

Included in this plan was the call for Abram to leave his family and go to the land of Canaan. By no means would this have been an easy decision, comfort was found with his family, and the blessing God promised seemed quite unrealistic!

But God, He promised Abram that he would be made into a great nation (through a barren wife) and all families of the earth would be blessed by his family (yet he still had no descendants).

No matter how crazy it all sounded and seemed, Abram chose to say Yes to the Will of God. He followed the Plan, trusted the Lord, and to confirm His belief, at each place the Lord took Him Abram, he would build an altar to the Lord…all of this being part of His ultimate Plan.

Dear Heavenly Father, Sometimes your call on me may seem unreal. I may feel inadequate. But in those moments let me remember you and trust you and the plan you have. You will always be enough and you will fulfill everything you start. I may not always believe in myself, But God, I can always believe you. Let me always says YES to your WILL for me. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 2 – Journey Through the Word

Day 2 – A Fresh Start in His Plan

Today’s Reading: Genesis 4:1 – 8:22.

Genesis 8:22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

From the beginning man has been able to choose his own path, but God has control of the ultimate plan.

God blessed Adam and Eve with 2 boys, Cain and Abel. Each child was special in his own right, and God had a different plan for each of them. He created them both, but He created them both differently with different gifts and different jobs. Both jobs were necessary for the earth to be taken care of. However, when it came time for them to give an offering to the Lord, Cain chose to give just a portion of what he had, whereas, Abel chose to give his first and best to God. So God accepted Abel’s offering but had no regard for Cain’s because Cain had no regard for the Lord but only for himself. Cain in his selfishness allowed anger and sin to creep it’s way into his heart causing Cain to continue down the wrong path.

Sin overcame Cain, and Cain killed Abel. The Earth grieved this pain, and Abel’s blood cried out to the Lord from the ground. Cain still had a chance to repent with a fresh start and ask for forgiveness from the Lord because the Lord is a loving, forgiving God. But instead, Cain chose to lie to the Lord. So God used His power and forced Cain to leave his family and wander the earth hopelessly forever.

Yet even with this Sin, the Lord still loved His creation, so He blessed Adam and Eve with another son, Seth. And from Seth’s family, man would begin to seek the Lord. However, at the same time, evil, sin and corruption filled the earth, grieving the Lord so much that He regretted ever creating man. But God found favor in the life of a descendant of Seth, Noah, a man who was blameless and walked with the Lord.

God would continue His Ultimate plan using Noah, his family, an ark, rain, and male and female of each living creature. He would cleanse the earth with a great big bath, a baptism of sorts, the flood!

From this Fresh Start would come a covenant that as long as the earth remained, seed time and harvest, seasons and all ranges of temperatures, and Day and Night would never cease…all being Part of His Plan.

Dear Heavenly Father, Remind me always that there is a Fresh Start available no matter what happened yesterday or sometime in my past. You give each one of us the opportunity to start anew because of your grace, mercy, and forgiveness through your Son, Jesus. Let me always wake each day remembering that your mercies are new every morning. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Day 1 – Journey Through the Word

Day 1 – In 365 days a lot can happen.

Your very life is changing from one day to the next. But if you focus each day on the plan God has for you, Joy will overflow from the depth of your heart, pouring over the hurts, hurdles and hills you may have to climb. My joy, alone, comes from the Lord, no matter the circumstance or situation I find myself in. I have found that Joy by going to Him daily in a quiet time before most people wake up. I seek Him through His Word, His whisper, and in deep prayer at His feet. Even when I’ve had nothing come out of my mouth but tears run down my face, I’ve still sought Him. And by the end of each year I find that I have completed the entirety of the Bible, still seeking to read it again and again, just to grow closer to Him and know Him in a deeper way. Each time I read His Word there is something new spoken into my heart, so this year, I would love for you to join me in reading through the Word.

Together for His Glory,

Kristen

Today’s Reading: Genesis 1:1 – 3:24.

Genesis 1:4 “God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.”

Everything God created was good. He made Heaven and Earth knowing the eternal plan for a future Heaven. He created Light to brighten the darkness, and He created Man in His own Image. The evil we see on this Earth wasn’t created by Him, but by Satan, the fallen Angel, who wanted more power and knowledge than God. But as Adam and Eve now we find out, no one But God can handle that kind of Power or Knowledge. Satan would use the serpent, in all his craftiness to cause Adam and Eve to fall, but God in all His wisdom knew this would happen. God knew everything He created was good, but he had to teach everyone that He was God and no one was greater. In His plan He would cause us to sweat at our work and have deep labor pains, all to acknowledge His strength. He created us from the dust and to the dust our bodies would go again.

However, ONE day, each one of us that trust in His Son will have a new body, find the perfect Garden of Eden in our future Heaven…and all of this is just part of His Plan.

Dear Heavenly Father, Please help me to make Your Plan my plan this upcoming year. Help me to take the time each day to sit with you and grow with you and experience all you have to offer me. Help me to not get distracted by the patterns of this world but be transformed daily by Your Word, overflowing with the Peace and Joy you have promised. In Jesus Name, Amen.

On Christmas Day

On Christmas Day –

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:20 “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

The shepherds saw the baby, told everyone what the Angels had said, worshipped Our Savior, and Believed! They were forever changed by what they heard and saw, and they had full faith in this newborn Messiah. So the shepherds continued to worship Him as they went back to their daily duties.

After Christmas Day is here and gone much of the world will forget about Christmas until it comes again next year, but if we are walking by our Faith we should continue to Worship the Lord as we leave this Season. He was a miracle birth, a prophesied Child, the Son of God brought to us in a Manger so He could live a life just like you and I. He felt all the feelings we feel, He worked and learned a trade. He became human so we could be saved and have eternal life through His death and resurrection. He LOVED, just as we should LOVE!

And because of this promise and this child, no matter what tomorrow brings, as for me and my house, we will worship the LORD. As we go about each year, we will praise Him for all of His Love, Mercy, and Goodness to us!

Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Carry the Wonderment of this Season throughout the Entire year while you walk with the Lord, and watch as your Faith will grow stronger and your Joy will abound forever!

Merry Christmas from the Hitchcock’s! ❤️💙

On the 24th Day of Christmas

On the 24th Day of Christmas –

Our greatest treasures are Gifts that should be given in an act of worship to the Lord.

Matthew 2:11 “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

At Christmas we mimic the act of the Wise Men(the Magi) in giving the greatest gifts to the one’s we adore.

We give gifts to our family, friends, children, teachers, co-workers, and so on, to say I love you and appreciate all you’ve done. Each gift becomes a small token to show them how much they mean to us.

Shouldn’t we also be willing to give even more to the One that saved us of our sins and is preparing us a place in Heaven with Him?

The Magi gave their greatest gifts, the things of the most worth, as a sacrifice to Him who would save the world.

On Christmas morning as you open your gifts would you be willing to give a gift to the Lord as well? How about commit to giving completely everything you have and everything you are to Him? Make your life a living sacrifice for the one who came as a baby to give of His life sacrificially for you.

Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

From firsthand experience, I promise, it’s completely worth it!

On the 23rd Day of Christmas

On the 23rd Day of Christmas –

Memories stored in your Heart are like Treasures in Heaven. Nothing can steal them and they will never rust or rot.

Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Mary had just witnessed a miracle happen through her own body, but the biggest part of this miracle was that she gave birth to her son. He was fully God and fully human, and she was able to connect with Him just in the same way we connect with our own children.

She began storing up memories of Jesus from the time she gave birth to Him. Probably just cradling Him in her arms, looking down on each finger and toe, and remembering every kiss from an angel, every mark from God that was laid on His body. She knew her son because she treasured Him and every memory of Him. But Mary also knew that one day she would have to let her son go do the work of the Father, and that would require Him leaving this earth and going to Heaven. So Mary took every opportunity to Treasure the time she had with her child because she was willing to let Him go.

Memories and moments with those we love are treasures we are storing in our heart. All the other stuff we gain is just that “Stuff”. It’s not meant to go with us. We need to be more like Mary and Treasure up memories in our heart, not store up things of this earth. The treasures in our heart will live forever, but the things of this earth will one day be gone.

On the 22nd Day of Christmas

On the 22nd Day of Christmas –

Go tell it on the Mountains, that Jesus Christ is born!

Luke 2:17-18 “When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”

The shepherds couldn’t contain the great news when they saw baby Jesus. They went out straight away into all the surrounding towns and told them of what they had seen.

Those of us whom are believers should be inspired like the shepherds and tell the whole world about the Love of Christ.

We are like a light on a hill that can’t be hidden. We need to do as the song says and Go Tell It on the Mountains, Over the Hills and Everywhere, Go Tell it on the Mountains that Jesus Christ is Born!

Don’t hide what you believe, especially not now, especially not at the opportunity of joy at Christmas, let everyone know the good news of our Savior’s birth.

On the 21st Day of Christmas

On the 21st Day of Christmas –

We must learn to run to Jesus.

Luke 2:16, “They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was a baby, lying in the manger.”

The shepherds wasted no time in going to see Jesus. Different translations said they hurried or came with haste. No matter the translation, the shepherds were ready to see Jesus the promised Messiah, and they weren’t going to wait around for others to tell them or ask others if it was a good idea, they were going to run straight to Him.

Everyday we have an opportunity to run straight into the arms of our loving Savior, the one who gave His life for us.

There are decisions to be made, comfort needed, peace required, and miracles desired. And the only one we should be running to in these situations is Jesus.

One day, each one of us will have another opportunity to physically run into His arms. On that day, do you think we will wait to ask for directions? Don’t wait today either! RUN to Jesus, He is the author and perfecter of our Faith, and He is waiting for you!