EAGLES...

 I love Eagles....I have a picture on the wall, statues and screen savers. Also a enjoy the passage in Isaiah when shares "soar on wings like eagles''  

So today I began reading this passage and then I began writing some thoughts...I like it when God does this...Some times thoughts come fast, and other times it might take day's. A few times God will wake me with thoughts. I find this hard because I am unable to get up and write so I hope and pray to remember those thoughts and write them down in the morning. When I was able I would get up and write, I know God understands!! Not sure why I shared this but maybe one of you was wondering about my preparation of my devotions. Not all of them are done this way, however they are all prepared with prayer and guided by the Holy Spirit!! OK lets us get to our devotion today.........

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 "But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength..." 

(Is. 40:31a)

 

It isn't about never falling. It is about having a reason to get back up again. Everybody falls; everybody fails. Most failings teach us life's greatest lessons, and it is only through that failure that we learn a better way. 

Wisdom comes from knowing both sides. We tell our children not to touch the hot stove. Why? Because we know from experience, either ourselves or from someone else, that if they touch the stove they will get burned. Like a phoenix* from the ashes, this verse tells us to rise again when we fall. To "soar on wings like eagles" (Is. 40:31b, NIV). 

Our hope says that our lives matter, beyond the fall. God's Word tells us we matter. Though we are "like grass that withers and flowers that fall" (Is. 40:7,8, NIV) we are the ones who will one day stand in the very presence of God our Creator. As human beings, we are flawed, and we are guaranteed to fall from time to time. As sheep who wander, we don't always do what we should. 

The difference is we have a loving Creator who is our Shepherd, who will chase after us in love, search us out, and bring us back to him. 

"Even youths grow weary, and young men stumble and fall" (Is. 40:30, NIV).

Being a Christ-Follower doesn't make us invincible, or even perfect. It is that pursuit of a God-centered life and to live bearing the image of Christ that sets us apart, in our imperfect, human bodies. Everyday, we are pursuing that perfect image.

Our hope resides in God's love for us, and that His love will never abandon us in our need, in our fallen nature. Through His love, we are renewed for His greater purposes.

Renew comes from the Latin word renovare, meaning again (re) make new (novare). If every day we are given "fresh strength" (Is. 40:31, MSG) to face that day, we will always be able to face whatever comes in that day. This is why it is called renewal. Because the strength has gone out of us, and we have received it back again.

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Prayer:

Father may you bless us today with your presence and remind us when we fall to get up in the strength of Christ. Lets us rest in you today Father. Amen

*Legendary bird that....  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_%28mythology%29