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My Inheritance – Barbara Durnil
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Our stressed and worried economy

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14: 27 NASB

The European economy is crashing down piece by piece. The United States is drowning in debt. Our ship is larger and takes longer to sink, but sink it will. These emotions and thoughts held me captive as I began my prayers. Fear permeated my soul. My fixed income and expenses wouldn’t make it through more downturns. The year ahead looked bleak.

God interrupted my thoughts as I prayed about my financial security. Your deepest need is My peace, not your finances. His words cut deep. I’d been focused on the fear of future possibilities for financial distress. To feel fear is an obvious lack of peace and true peace comes only from God. My feelings were still running rampant, but I asked for His peaceful presence. I realized His peace resides in me, and it would gradually work its way through my being as I thanked Him.

Part of Jesus’ inheritance to us is a specific part of Himself – peace. He gave us a very particular kind of tranquility, like a rare gold coin. It’s not found in the world. It comes only through Jesus. He left it for us to have as our own. This rare gift supersedes trouble and fear when it’s put to use.

I left my prayer room ready to face the future without fear. I have the full assurance God is always there. Didn’t He tell me He would be with me even to the end of the age? That is all I needed to know to move on. Fear is overcome when I remember that the gift of peace is mine to have forever. Reach for the peace found in Christ not only in your finances but also in your daily life.

Barbara Durnil is a retired medical worker and freelance writer. As a born-again Christian, she has loved and followed God for thirty-three years, teaching and holding leadership positions in the Christian Community. Listening to God and writing His voice is her joy and passion.
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Focus – Barbara Durnil
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Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NASB

I watched the disheveled, stooped woman shuffle along the sidewalk pushing her cart piled high with belongings. I felt panic rise in my throat. My mouth went dry and my heart pounded. Fear claimed me as my mind replaced her face with my own.

For years I worked a job with fear it would end abruptly and leave me on the street. I looked down that street of life and the details of broken lives were all too clear. My focus was on the street and I was already selecting my shopping cart.

The job did end exactly as I feared, and the image of the tired little woman pushing her load, jumped into alarming detail. Fear gripped me as I focused on the consequences of joblessness. My eyes and mind saw poverty and its result. God was obscured by my fear.

Like a camera focused for distance, so are the eyes of the person who looks at the street and the panorama of life. There are many scenes between the distant mountains and the flower only inches from the camera . .. it depends on the object of focus. To make the image of God clear, refocus close up. Once the lens of my vision was refocused, God became visible with startling clarity. I saw Him upholding me and there was no reason to fear, for He was near.

I still need to check my focus periodically like a photographer, always working the camera lens to bring the subject to perfection. The objective is to always keep God in focus so the picture is clear. Remember, as life causes motion and bumps, the lens needs to adjust. Glancing around confuses the image. Things only become clear when God is the object of focus.

Look toward God and your eyes will adjust.

Barbara Durnil is a retired medical worker and freelance writer. As a born-again Christian, she has loved and followed God for thirty-three years, teaching and holding leadership positions in the Christian Community. Listening to God and writing His voice is her joy and passion.
Read Barbara’s devotions.

Receive a daily devotion on your Kindle!

The Nourishment of God – Barbara Durnil
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Conditioning in God

Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Isaiah 55:2 NKJ

Stop this treadmill, it’s going too fast. I can’t run any harder. I hadn’t realized the treadmill had increased its speed. My mind screamed the words as I crashed into the wall.

When I hit the wall…it was time to re-evaluate how I spent money. I had things but there was no nourishment, no satisfaction. I needed to consume what was good for me, and that meant listening to God. The time had arrived to change the diet. I could run daily, but until I stopped eating junk food, the running was useless exercise.

That was my condition as a young widow. I ran hard to maintain life. All my energy was spent on physical labor and training horses. The work and maintenance was cost and labor intensive.

I took three part-time jobs and taught equitation in the open time slots. When I brought in a new horse it included stabling and jump training, which meant my teaching pay went back to the stable. I was sprinting through each day and when it ended I was exhausted, hungry, and dissatisfied. My wages were giving me no sustenance.

Then I heard God speak. Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good.

I had to change my delight. I sold seventeen acres and kept two horses, but dismissed the jump training. I downsized and spent my money on true bread. My focus turned back to God and I put more time and effort into knowing Him better.

God wants us focused on Him. He loves to provide for His children and His ways to do that are creative and surprising. God specializes in abundance, making sure every need is met in the ways that are best suited for us. He gives us healthy nourishment.

The human default is set on junk food. The craving for corn chips and chocolate éclairs grows as it is fed, and soon rejects true nourishment. The checkbook doesn’t change, but the appetite for unnecessary junk increases. How is the diet on your plate? Too much junk and not enough nourishment for the money spent is not filling. There is satisfaction, delight and abundance in the bread of life.

Barbara Durnil is a retired medical worker and freelance writer. As a born again Christian, she has loved and followed God for thirty-three years, teaching and holding leadership positions in the Christian Community. Listening to God and writing His voice are her joys and passions.

Read Barbara’s devotions.

 

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No Worries – Barbara Durnil
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So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34 NASB

When did this bed get so hard? My mind flipped from one idea to another, refusing to bow to the hour of night. My body succumbed to the frenzy of my mind and I threw the covers aside. I left the chamber of distress and headed for the office where I could think in the light.

I needed a plan…money was short. The dark bedroom created alarming scenes of unemployment, debt, sacrifice, homelessness, and hunger. I needed to anticipate all these things and to prepare. The soft light of the lamp spilled onto the fringes of the desk, and brushed the picture of my granddaughter. What if I lose the house and must relocate?

The antique gold ring, the Courbette English saddle, and Wilson K-28 golf clubs became objects of income. I saw myself mending clothes past their prime and planting a garden. The newspaper lay open on the desk to the employment ads and taunted me with empty possibilities. Eventually, my rescue efforts consumed me. The future in front of me turned black.

Morning came and with the light came revelation. In trying to visualize every possibility in the future, I lost the moment. Darkness does that; it blinds the vision of the now and harbors shadows of the maybe. Satan’s darkness does that too. When I look away from the Son I lose sight of God orchestrating the present. I was organizing my future without knowledge of its contents. There were steps to take that were time appropriate, and God’s grace was given to me for that day.

Jumping ahead of God’s plan put Him out of my sight. If I am already into tomorrow’s worries, then I am ahead of God. That places His light behind me, and casts my own shadow in front of me, creating darkness.

Walking in tomorrow’s sunlight is impossible; the light of the Son also is for today. Trust He will rise again tomorrow.

Barbara Durnil is a retired medical worker and freelance writer. As a born again Christian, she has loved and followed God for thirty-three years, teaching and holding leadership positions in the Christian Community. Listening to God and writing His voice are her joys and passions.
Read Barbara’s devotions.

Receive a daily devotion on your Kindle!