Del Bates is an author and a speaker. She is the president for the chapter of Treasure Coast Word Weavers in Vero Beach. She also is on the area Board for the South-East Area of Aglow Int. in Florida and resides as the president of her chapter, Vero Beach Aglow.
She has self-published a 40-Day Devotional Book Daily Seeds/Seeds of Grace. Del also has numerous stories in various anthologies and recently won an award at the Florida Christian Writers Conference in the Children Story Book category.
She and her husband are snowbirds. Florida in the winter, and Michigan in the summer where she enjoys her three grown children, their families and their five precious grandbabies.
For the past few years, my husband and I have been searching for a new house. Our real estate agent tried to meet our needs. She took us out on several occasions, but each time we walked away empty.
Then one night while I was searching on the internet, I stumbled across the listing for a move-in ready spec house. Under the picture, it stated there was an open house the very next day. Since it seemed to be just what we were looking for, we decided to stop in and check it out.
As we pulled into the drive, I was almost speechless, “I think we found it,” I exclaimed…” With not even a step through the door, my husband said the exact same thing. Once over the threshold, we both stopped in amazement. It was perfect. Colors, décor, and even the layout of the home was exactly what we wanted.
You see, just as the real-estate agent thought that she knew what we wanted – each house came short of our expectation. Well, the enemy thinks he knows what we need also. He throws many things our way. He tricks us into believing that the things of this world will give us pleasure and meet our needs. But God created each of us with a vacuum that only He can fill. We try to fill it with all the things of this world that we think will make us happy, but the truth is, nothing will sustain us until we find Him.
I love what Paul shares with us in Philippians,
“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ ...” Philippians 3:8
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
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How true. Just as Paul was willing to give up everything, he knew that nothing could ever surpass what he found in Christ. In 2 Corinthians, Paul also reminds us,
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
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What a freeing feeling that is! To know that once we accept Christ, the old is gone and we become a new creation in Him. The things that were important to us before, will never bring the same satisfaction again.
Just like trying to find the right house, although we searched and searched, we always came up empty. Life is the same. We can spend our entire lives searching for love, for happiness, and for all the things that we think will bring us fulfillment. Only when we understand that the things of this world are a false pretense of what true happiness is, will we be able, to proclaim as Paul, “I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.” Philippians 3:9
and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.* For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
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What are you searching for? What are you doing/using, to find fulfillment and acceptance in your life? Maybe today is the day to lay it all down, and try Jesus. Take a second to search your soul and ask the Lord Jesus to come in and take residence to fill that empty spot that only He can fill. Let go. Let go and try Jesus; what do you have to lose, but to be like Paul who says, “for whose sake I have lost all things that I may gain Christ!”
Prayer: Dear God, I have tried all the things of this world to satisfy myself. Although they lasted for a time, I always just felt empty inside. Thank you for providing Your Son, Jesus to bring me the peace, the love and the joy I can only find in Him.
I love verse eight when Samuel hears the voice the third time and approached Eli; listen to what happens: “A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me’ Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So, Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ So, Samuel went and lay down in his place.” 1 Samuel 3:8-9
So the LORD called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. "Here I am. Did you call me?" Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, "Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, `Speak, LORD, your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went back to bed.
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Is He calling you? Has God given a special gift to you and has He been calling you to use it for His glory?
Just as my brother was gifted with a voice to sing, God has placed a special gift inside of you too. So, as the Lord called Samuel, He calls you. He calls me. The question is, how will we respond to His calling?
Think about it. Is there something that He is asking you to do? If so, then let us respond today as young Samuel did, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
