1.3.2023 Devotion

The devotion is about looking ahead and taking control of your life. It talks about reaching a place where you are happier, healthier, and more connected to God. It describes how you will feel safe and confident, not controlled by others or your emotions. You will have healthy attachments and set standards for yourself and others. It asks if this destination seems possible and desirable, and how far along you are in this journey. It encourages asking God for guidance and becoming the person you were created to be. This is the devotion for Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023. Today's devotion is titled, Looking Ahead. The scripture comes from Judges 18.6, which says, Go in peace, for the Lord is watching over your journey. As you embark on this day-by-day journey toward taking your life back, it might help to take a quick look at your desired destination. Though you will never achieve perfection in this world, you can reach a place where you are happier, healthier, and more attuned to God than you ever thought possible. What will your life look like when you have taken it back? You will feel relatively safe and confident, not tossed to and fro by the whims of other people or by the extremes of your emotions. Instead of blindly reacting to every little thing that might threaten your comfort or safety, you'll respond appropriately and effectively. As you discover your real self and begin to live comfortably within pretense or facades, you will develop standards that you intend to keep and expect others to honor. You'll have a good sense of where you end and others begin, and you will be capable of healthy attachments. You'll give other people grace for their imperfections, but not allow those imperfections to hurt or dominate you. You'll be free to be yourself, free to choose, free to heal, and free to be a healthy, loving adult. Ask yourself, what are your feelings as you read through this description of the destination? Does it seem possible, desirable? Why or why not? And the second question, how far along are you in this journey? What choice can you make today to take you further? Ask God this, Heavenly Father, thank you for your gift of wholeness and healing. I ask for your guidance, your protection, your provision, and most of all your presence as I travel toward becoming the person you created me to be.