|
Listen to this devotional: |
Listen while you read: "Be Thou My Vision"1 (Lyrics) |
Psalm 86:11 – Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. (NIV)
The Holy Spirit impressed this verse upon my heart when I first asked Christ into my life. More recently, as I have been asking Him to reveal more of my inner self to me — the good, the bad and the ugly — He has brought this verse back to my mind.
Truth — it's a big little word, and it tends to get our attention.
The Holy Spirit confronted me one day this spring about my version of truth, that is, my own self-talk — the tape that plays in my mind whenever someone has hurt my feelings. As I relive the situation, I hash it out, and hash it out again, and then again. I can do that for minutes, an hour, most of the day, before I ever stop long enough to hear the words softly spoken in my mind, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10a NIV). It is so hard to hear God's still, small voice over the raging of hurt emotions.
What is my self-talk? It's my level playing field, my home-ice advantage, where, with silver-tongued eloquence, I can silently tell that other person how right I am and how wrong they really are, and I can think of all the things that I should have said. But as big as this field is (I can spend hours there), it is also small — far too small to allow forgiveness any room, either for forgiving the other person or for asking forgiveness for myself. My self-talk keeps me firmly on the throne of my life, where Jesus needs to be.
Of course, my self-talk is fantasy — it's all a lie. "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth! Yours, not mine! If you can relate to fantasizing like this, we could both beat ourselves up over it, but in this fallen world, such self-talk is, humanly, our default mode. It is where we are likely to begin, but how long will we stay there? Only God can heal our hurts, and only He can bring forgiveness to us and through us to others.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are so prone to justify ourselves and distance ourselves from anyone who hurts us, whether they meant to or not. We ask that Your Spirit would help us to recognize quickly the lie when we fall into it. Teach us Your way, O Lord, and we will walk in Your truth; give us an undivided heart that we may fear Your name. Amen.
Forward this devotional Share this devotional on Facebook Like PresbyCan on Facebook
Although PresbyCan doesn't have a mobile app, you can still have a PresbyCan icon on your mobile phone home screen. 
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – In Ottawa, Ontario — Uphold John Sourial and his leadership in the mission outreach to Arabic-speaking believers through an evangelical mission in the Presbytery of Ottawa. Give thanks for the large group of youth and young adults who worship and grow together.
Update: Prayer for good vacation and part-time position: "Update May 1, 2024: We had a good vacation. Praise the Lord. Thank you to all Prayer Warriors...." 
Prayer for P.: "Update April 29, 2024: Good news: Praise the Lord!! P has been given the apartment. It will be a..." 
Amen Don.
Thanks for the challenging word, Don.
Thanks for this, Don. Very well expressed.
Thank you, Don, for sharing this honest devotional with us. Blessings.
Beautiful Devotional, Don. My favourite bible verse “Be still and know that I am God”.
Hi Don. Thank you for this devotional today. I have been nursing a hurt in recent weeks which has come to be overwhelming. I appreciate your thoughts as to how to find a way forward.
Blessings.
This is a confirmation for me re a decision I am being faced with. I have asked God for wisdom as I had nearly made the decision based on faulty reasoning. Now He has given me rock solid leading upon which to base the decision. I am waiting for Him to give me the next step.
Bless you.
Do I ever relate to this!
I have tried limiting myself to a certain time period and then, turning the whole mess over to the Spirit who does a much better job of resolving it than I ever can.
Thanks for sharing
Greetings Don,
Thank you for the thoughtful and most meaningful devotional you contributed this morning. Yes, as thoughts go through our mind of how to react to someone’s actions or words we must discipline ourselves to keep our mind and heart open to follow the Lord’s way of handling the situation. His teaching will give us peace of mind.
Hope life is getting settled in your area after the evacuations earlier this summer.
Blessings to you,
(B.C.)
Good morning Don – I have just come across this devotional that you wrote. I think I was made to read it today. The whole “self-talk” message really resonated with me. Thank you for this devotional and may God continue to bless your writing.