Three things Moses prayed for in Exodus 33: 12-21.
LORD, TEACH ME YOUR WAYS.
LORD, GUARANTEE YOUR PRESENCE.
LORD, SHOW ME YOUR GLORY.
Moses did not want to be adrift. He didn’t want to lead the people of Israel without the presence and promises of God. What a great challenge for 2020!
Jo & I leave today for Sandusky, Ohio. Tomorrow her sister has a procedure on her eyes that she must have or things will not turn out well. But it is in Lorain, OH and Jo is totally unfamiliar with that part of the state and unsure of driving where she has not been. Neither have I but she feels more confident with me driving (okay so maybe just with me being along). We will return Tuesday. I will be out of commission as well on both blogs.
I have a decision I need to make: whether to continue “Living in the Shadow” or not. I have been doing two blogs for two years now. I started this one as a devotional outlet for New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp. I called it Be Transformed. I continued it by renaming it and just using it as a random devotional blog. I had several purposes. One, it kept me disciplined in having a daily Quiet Time. Two, and this will sound somewhat self-centered, I wanted to see if I could write and possibly transfer the daily devotions into a book form. The first, I accomplished. The second, I’m not sure about. What I do know is keeping two blogs going was, at times, time-consuming. It was stretching that is for sure. But what I hoped for (a consistent and growing readership) did not happen. So I’m faced with deciding what to do. I’d appreciate any input you might have…good or bad.
In the meantime, have a fantastic end of the year and a great start to 2020.
Hope everything goes well in Ohio🌞 and you all have a blessed, wonderful 2020. As for the 2 blogs – I followed them both although my data service is very unreliable where I live in the mountains of AZ so many times I have had to read several days worth at a time and times when I have tried to comment but service made so it didn’t go through. I have enjoyed both blogs but would probably suggest that possibly they could be combined into one powerful blog and maybe you would have more consistent “traffic”. Often it seemed like they overlapped some which perhaps would make so people would read one or the other vs both. If you have just one blog you could combine the goal of both blogs into one concise goal and maybe have a little more targeted influence on your readers? Just a thought 🌞 again I enjoyed them both 🌞 blessings in 2020
B, Great thoughts as we turn the corner of a new year… a new decade.
Moses lacked the certainty of guaranteed presence… We have that. We have the certainty to know that God will never leave us or forsake us.
God’s glory is shown every day, from the most simple budding of a flower, to the miracle of birth, to the view of the majestic mountains and the tossing waves of the ocean.
The third… Lord teach me your ways… I have to be a student to be taught. I have to be willing to not only learn, but apply. Humble in spirit…
Lord I pray for that as we conclude the end of 2019 in the next couple of days.
I will be praying for your travels, Jo’s sister’s surgery, and for you to make a decision regarding your blogs.
My only input is to allow God to determine where He wants you for this next season. If the blogs are aligned with that, continue. If you determine that God wants you to spend your time and energies elsewhere… then perhaps it is time to re-allocate.
I know I needed to remove some “extra’s” in my life. I have cut back in a number of areas.
I am putting together a list of milestones for myself for the coming year(s) and the plan to achieve them.
If I don’t hear from you before the turn of the year, Have a Happy New Year!
Well, Pastor Bill, I consider this blog one of my morning devotionals. Your wisdom and wording has ministered to my spirit many times. It will be very missed on my end.
But, as a Shepherd of a flock that The LORD has entrusted to you, if your time is needful elsewhere for them, then you must do what is best for your church.
I leave you with this thought: It certainly isn’t about numbers. You know from my blog, I do not have much of a following that comments. If our words can minister Life to one, then it is worth it for me. Ps. 68:11 says, “The Lord gave The Word: great was the company of those that published it.”
I know The Spirit of our God will lead you, for that is His responisibility, yours is to hear what The Holy Spirit would say and obey.
I will support your decision for I know that will be The LORD’s Will. Enjoy your time away. May He speak to you during this time. God bless you.
Like Diane, I’ve considered Living in the Shadow to be a devotional reading that I look forward to each day, Bill. However, maintaining two blogs is taxing, to say the least (goodness knows I can barely keep twice a week on ONE blog going), and I’d fully understand if you wanted to pull back from it, or maybe just make it a weekly offering.
Safe travels, and hope everything works out for Jo’s sister!
Blessings!
I hope you have a pleasant drive Bill. Sometimes I wish I could take a driving journey to somewhere else rather than Walmart.
I enjoy whatever you write, but with the Christmas Holidays I noticed that you double posted on the two blogs. Even though it’s a matter of cut and paste, it didn’t make any sense t me.
Why not just keep this blog for book reviews? Or maybe you can post twice a day over at your regular blog: morning and evenings when you feel led to.
As Diane said: I’ll follow you either way!
Have a wonderful end of the year/new year with your family!
Safe travels, Bill. Wherever you land where the clock strikes twelve, I wish you and yours a blessed and prosperous New Year. Funny how the original of “prosperous” from the NT is “peace”.
I can barely keep up with my blog and fall behind keeping up with others too.
Whatever you decide to do I’ll support you the best I can! I appreciate your humility and being real in this phony bologna world, brother.