Three Steps Forward
Dear Friends,
It is with great joy I introduce you to my friend, Christa Burch, our guest writer for this week’s devotionals. Christa and I have been friends since she was a young wife and mother. Her son is now in college. Just before he was born, Christa accompanied me to a national women’s ministry leadership conference. She knew my hope was that she would sense the Lord calling her into women’s ministry, not only in our local church but on a regional level. We talked, laughed, and cried as we shared our own faith stories and Christa tried to explain the inner stirring she felt was the Lord preparing her for something new and possibly hard. Christa was perfect - in my opinion - for women’s ministry. She loved Jesus and serving Him, she loved His church, and women loved her. But God’s plan was very different than mine. Christa was right, the Lord was preparing her for a challenging journey, and it wasn’t women’s ministry! And yet, these many years later, we can see how the Lord used those hard places to prepare and equip her to pour her heart into her local church’s women’s ministry, bringing not only her culinary skills into play, but her in-depth understanding of scripture and practical application of God’s Word to daily life into the hearts of women longing to know what it means to walk by faith in this messy world.
I love her no-nonsense approach to scripture. Her search into her own heart for sin and the daily process she used to dig deep into her own soul impacted my perspective on repentance. As you read or listen to Christa’s words, I think you will sense her urgency in wanting us to take responsibility for our daily choices as we respond to the grace of Jesus Christ. In Saturday’s devotion, Christa summarizes the week:
“On the very first day, we talked about being doers of the word, not just hearers. We don’t want to be like that person who can’t remember the reflection in the mirror as soon as we walk away. I don’t know about you, but I want to be changed. And change comes when I apply what I read in scripture in practical and intentional ways.
On day two, we learned how to hone our taste buds so that we can confess our sins completely. Yes, things like gossip or bad attitudes certainly need attention, but it’s the sneaky, lingering sins that have been hibernating for a long time that need to be dealt with. Sometimes they’re not obvious at first, so we need to spend careful time with the Lord to comb through the deeper, darker places.
Day three reminded us that our job here on earth is to show Jesus to the people who need Him. “There is no time!”
Day four taught us the importance of relentless and ruthless removal of the “weeds” from our hearts. Sometimes those are the hardest sins to uproot, but the alternative is too dire. Oh, how I want to flourish!
Yesterday pointed us to the hard-to-swallow truth of what it means to love our enemies. Be encouraged, friend -- God has given you the means to accomplish this, even when it seems insurmountable.”
Christa closes with these words:
I will leave you with Psalm 139:23-24, which says:
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Friends, I pray you will read or listen carefully to Christa’s exhortation to take our walk seriously with Jesus and, in so doing, experience grace and peace in a way you did not imagine possible.ponse be to call on You. Amen
Are there other women in your life who could benefit from a daily dose of encouragement? Forward this email so they can click on this link to Subscribe to Daily Treasure to be better equipped to walk by faith on the pathway God has marked out for them.
Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.
