GOOD NEWS DAILY - October 7 | Lara Love's Good News Daily Devotional

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LATEST UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST

Dear friend,

I am finally starting to get caught up with some much needed rest and at the same time pressing forward with my writing. I have been doing less streets ministry in the past week or so, and that is a challenge for me! Why? I love the Lord more than anything and anyone, and I love people, and I love, love, love the Lord has blessed me with calling me to the streets to help people find and forever follow Him. I am so looking forward to having my full energy back and at the same time am so thankful the Lord pulling me back a bit right now is most importantly giving me the opportunity to spend lots of time with Him and in His Word.

Thanks for your continued love and prayers!

IF YOU NEED HELP BEGINNING OR PRESSING ON IN A FOREVER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT AT 843-338-2219 OR lara@GoodNews.love

love & blessings,

lara

TODAY’S LITTLE LETTER FROM LARA

Dear friend,

Within seconds of finishing my devotional below about letting go, the Lord reminded me that letting go isn’t always about saying goodbye to something or someone. Oh, sure, sometimes the Lord does call us to end a commitment, a relationship, a responsibility, a dream, etc. But sometimes it’s not that He is calling us to end whatever it is. Sometimes He wants us to LET GO OF THE OUTCOME OF IT. To stop trying to figure it all out, to determine the future, to control the unfolding of it, to imagine how everything will turn out, etc. Sometimes He wants us to let go in the sense that we need to FULLY PUT OUR TRUST IN HIM and to simply continue forth in faith WITHOUT TRYING TO EXERT OUR OWN WILL IN THE SITUATION. Oh, do I have so much learning and growing to do!

I want to encourage you to consider whether you need to go to a deeper level of trusting the Lord. Are you reading the Bible daily? Are you learning to live by it? Is your trust in the Lord growing over time? Are you willing to go deeper in your faith in Him?

Please join me in going deeper in the ways of the Lord – trust, faith, and letting go included.

Following Jesus is anything but living a stagnant, stuck life. It’s about LIVING FOR CHRIST – and learning day by day to put our trust in Him and to carry on in learning to faithfully, lovingly, humbly follow Him forth!

Press on, my friend! In the ways of the Lord for the glory of the Lord, AMEN!

love & blessings,

lara

TODAY’S DAILY INSPIRATION

LET IT GO!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“What did I ask you to do?” the Spirit of Christ who indwells His followers asked me in my heart.

He was speaking to me regarding something weighing heavily on my mind not to mention in my heart.

“Let it go,” I replied.

Then came the message. With strong conviction.

“Please do.”

Ouch. Why did I have to be reminded? Can you relate?

Sometimes the Lord tells us to let go of something or someone and we don’t let go. Other times, we let go but then take back what or whom we let go. Sometimes, in obedience to the Lord, we truly let go and stay true to His instruction to let go.

If we really want to love and honor and please and obey the Lord, we need to let go when He says let go and not grab back a hold of what or whom we let go.

We don’t need to understand the Lord’s reasons, we don’t need to want to let go, and we don’t need to agree with His will. Obedience to Jesus isn’t about us. It’s about Jesus.

So when the Lord says let go, that’s exactly what we need to do.

Have some letting go to do? If you don’t feel able to let go, think of it this way. The Lord will give us the love, grace, mercy, strength, and anything and everything we need to live in obedience to Him.

So if you need to let go, by all means, LET GO!

TODAY’S 365 BLESSINGS

365 BLESSINGS is a devotional book I recently wrote that will soon be available in print by the grace of the Lord for the glory of the Lord!

BLESSING 151

“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.” Daniel 6:10-11

Miraculously, by God’s grace alone, yes, Daniel survived being thrown into a den of lions as his punishment for praying to the one true God. You can read the story in Daniel 6. His devotion to God was unstoppable, and no matter the challenges he faced for loving and worshiping and serving God, he pressed on.

What an incredible blessing so many of us have the freedom to love and worship the Lord and to read the Bible without persecution while so many others worldwide are persecuted beyond description even to the point of death for doing so. Let us not take this phenomenal blessing for granted. To worship the Lord freely, to read His Word freely, to speak of Him freely, not everyone is able to do this. Not especially in this day and age. So, for those of us who can, let us be ever thankful! And may our hearts and prayers go out to those who cannot.

TODAY’S THE CROSS DEVOTIONAL

WILL YOU SAY THIS WORD?

““The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

I have a new word in my vocabulary. Okay, it’s not a new word. It’s a very old word. I’ve known it for decades and used it when I felt like it. But that’s exactly the point. That’s why I call it a new word. In essence, that’s what it is. Because I’m finally using it the way I should have all along. And I wonder, are you using this word on a regular basis? Will you say it? When you should? As I’m learning to do?

OKAY. There it is. My new word. The one I’m finally using when I should. More and more, I find myself responding to the Lord when He tells me to do something with, “Okay.”

Not, “I’ll think about it.” Not, “Maybe later.” Not, “let me weigh my other options.” Not, “I’d rather do something else.” Not, “that’s too hard and I have an easier, better way.” Not, “I know better.” Not, “I have my own plans, thank you very much.” Not, “let me argue with you for a while, then I’ll consider what you’re telling me.” Not, “You don’t love me, God, or else you’d never tell me to do this.” Not, a zillion other things I’ve said and done through the years when the Lord has made plain and clear His will for me and I haven’t immediately obeyed Him – if I’ve obeyed Him at all.

The Lord told me to clean up my obedience, that it’s been messy, so I’m answering Him with this.

OKAY.

And, increasingly, I find at long last I’m responding to the Lord when He tells me to do something with a simple, humble, “OKAY.”

Do you have some tidying up to do when it comes to your obedience to the Lord God almighty? If yes, as I do, please let’s get busy. Loving the Lord. Obeying the Lord. Honoring the Lord.

OKAY?

TODAY’S SERVING JESUS IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE

THE 2-ORANGES STORY

^”“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” Mt. 25:37-40

Oh, how excited I was to get two somewhat good looking oranges. It is New York City after all. I bought them at a stand on the street. They didn’t look perfect, but they were oranges. And I don’t eat much fruit these days despite how much I love it. But the oranges were quickly gone. Not into my belly. First, a young homeless woman. I couldn’t help myself. I was compelled to ask if she wanted one. No hesitation. Yes!

Then, walking with a precious friend, I noticed a senior homeless woman all bundled up and somewhat bent over if I recall. Sort of slumped in her chair. Not looking so good. I wanted to talk to her about Jesus. To give her a Gospel tract. To pray for her if she wanted prayer. She wasn’t interested. But still, she had a desire. She said she was hungry. All I had was that one orange that was headed right for my belly later.

Instead, I knelt down at her feet, carefully peeled the orange, cut it into sections like she wanted, then handed it to her. Then my sweet friend took me to a public restroom to wash my hands from the sticky orange juice.

I was near tears. Why? I had been feeling so very broken. So run down from so much spiritual warfare. So hard to believe I could be useful to the Lord in any way and that I could possibly have anything to give anyone.

But the Lord showed me in that orange what matters most of all is that we’re surrendered to Him, that we believe in Him, that we follow Him, that we serve Him, that we listen to Him, that we’re obedient to Him, and that we make ourselves available to Him.

One day, that woman could open up the Gospel tract I left with her and read about how to have a forever relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and remember how someone peeled an orange for her and handed the juicy pieces to her.

Friend, serving Jesus we can do no matter what state we’re in, no matter how we feel, no matter our circumstances, when we humble ourselves before Him and serve Him in any way He desires.