June 14, 2006
Encouragement for Today
(Principle 1)
"The Face of God"
Marybeth Whalen, Proverbs 31 Speaker Team Member
Key Verse:
Psalm 105:4, "Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." (NIV)
Devotion:
Lately God has been teaching me what it means to seek His face. Since I try to share in these devotionals what He is teaching me in my own personal walk with Him, I wanted to share what I have learned about God's face with you.
As a disclaimer, I will say that I am no theologian I am just an ordinary woman trying to become more like Christ and draw closer to God by studying His Word. God tells us in His Word that He created us in His image (Genesis 1:27), so I am making the assumption that God has a face. I don't know whether God has the physical facial features we humans have. No one knows this— even Moses was not allowed to see God's face (Exodus 33:20). Therefore, I have taken a certain amount of creative license in this devotional to make my point. I hope you will enjoy reading today some things the Bible has to say about the face of God.
God's mouth : I have been learning to listen for God's words to me. I have learned to listen for His voice, which is not a roar but a whisper. I have to train my ears to hear it, and live my life aware of God's voice in the midst of all the other noises that compete for my attention. One Bible story I love where this is described is I Kings 19:11-13. Elijah the prophet wanted to hear from God in a time of trouble, and He waited to hear God's voice. There was first a wind, and then an earthquake, and then a fire. God was not in any of these. His voice came in the gentlest whisper that followed all these things. While sometimes I wish God would shout at me just to make things clear, I have found that this is not the case. Isaiah 30:21 says, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.'"
Learning more about the face of God has been a fun walk through the Bible for me. I love knowing more about the face of my Abba Father. I love knowing that He turns His face towards me. No matter what the circumstances in my life are, He does not turn away from me. I love knowing that I have the ability to make the God of the universe smile. The thought that He sees my tears and wipes them away sobers me. We know that Jesus experienced tears, too, while He was here on earth (John 11:35). My biggest challenge each day is to keep my face turned towards His as I endeavor to feel His pleasure.
My Prayer for Today:
Dear Heavenly Father, help me to seek your face each day. I want to be aware of your voice and know that you do see me and hear me. Thank You, Father, for this reassurance that You care for me intimately. I praise You for being my Heavenly Daddy who loves me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Application Steps:
Reflection Points:
Do you know that God sees you?
Do you trust that He hears you?
Do you spend your days listening for His voice?
How can you grow in your awareness of God's eyes, mouth and ears each day? What offering can you give that will be a pleasing aroma to Him? How can you seek His face more diligently?
Power Verses:
Psalm 34:15-16, "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth." (NIV)
I Chronicles 16:11, "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." (NIV)
Revelations 22:3-4, "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads." (NIV)
Additional Resources:
Becoming a Woman Who Listens To God. by Sharon Jaynes
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/newresources_becomingAWoman.htm
Intimate Moments With God, by select authors
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/newresources_intimateMoments.htm
Hearing God, ETC Corner October 2004
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/etcOct04.htm
