Devoted to Our Lord
Written by Sarah Ann E.
Excerpts taken from the book “Lady In Waiting”
Used with Permission
As single ladies, we are not consumed with taking care of our husband, children, and the home. We have more time to spend with our Lover, the Lord. “A Lady In Waiting has the advantage of being able to develop her love relationship with Christ without distractions that a husband or family inherently bring to one’s heart.” Do we take advantage of that time that we have? Many of us do not. So many of us sit around and think of “poor me” when we can be using that time to serve our loving Lord.
“This has been God’s plan from the beginning. He tenderly created woman to love Him and to experience the blessedness of fellowship with Him. . . . Nothing and no one can give you a clearer picture of the true God than slipping under His wings and discovering for yourself who God really is, the refuge for which you long. He desires for you to come again ‘into the garden’ and walk with Him in complete fellowship. This is the fullness of devotion.”
“As a single, you have a wonderful opportunity to use your time to maximize your fellowship with God. When you love someone, you give them your heart, the center of your being. God asks for no less. HE desires a totally devoted heart.” Can you say that you truly love God with all your heart? I know that a couple of years ago, I did not love Him with ALL my heart, although I thought I did. All the trials the Lord has brought into my life has drawn me closer to His heart. Your love for the Lord is not just a feeling that comes over you one day. You have to develop a love for Him, through devotion. The Lord uses trials in your life to draw you closer to His Word because you seek to draw comfort and cheer from it. Then, you will draw closer to Him in prayer because you are more dependent on Him. Believe it or not, He is the only one who can completely fill that desire for intimate love in your heart. Just ask a married lady. Her desires are not fulfilled because she does not have a little one to cradle in her arms. You are always wanting and waiting for something.
When you think of the word “devotion” what comes to your mind? I think of my private devotions with my loving Lord. How are your private devotions? Do you just read your Bible whenever you have time, at whatever time of day, and read whatever you feel like? Our devotions are extremely important in our bonding with our Lord. If your devotions are not consistent, then your desire to please your Lord will grow smaller and smaller. Yet, if you are faithful in spending time with our dear Lord each day, then you will grow daily in your love for Him.
Another devotion that comes to mind is prayer. We need to be devoted to prayer. To continue to grow in our love, we MUST make sure that we have a clean heart toward our Lord and not let ANYTHING stand between us and Him. Sin is one BIG thing that will keep us from feeling our Lord’s love near and dear to us. Prayer is one of the most important things in our Christian walk in communing with a holy God and interceding for others. Recently, the Lord has been teaching me a lot about prayer by reading “Prayer—Asking and Receiving” by John R. Rice.
“Do you ever have a feeling of guilt that you are not doing enough to please God, hanging over your head? Do you feel like the scale of expectation is tipped heavily in the negative and you must balance it? Do you feel like you could never do enough to pay for your inability to be perfect? Then your view of God is incorrect. God is NOT hard to please. He takes delight in His creation and quickly notices every simple effort to please Him. Do you feel like God requires too much of you? Do you feel like God denies you the things you need most? If you do, then you don’t really know God.” God is loving. He is not standing over you ready to punish you if you do one little tiny sin. He is a God of love. He deals in love. He will lovingly show you when there is something in your life that you need to change and He WILL give you the grace and strength to change it. It may seem impossible, but He is going to help you.
“Giving God your heart means you are not free to give it away to other things or people that come into your life.” Not even your husband can take away your love for the Lord. “You can’t give a part [of your heart] to relationships that delight you in this world and still seek God with a WHOLE heart. You cannot keep a part of your heart for something that may seem better if it comes along. Devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ is giving everything OR nothing at all. Your devotion to Christ must be a serious commitment to His Lordship. Christ loves you and is completely committed to YOU. Wholeheartedly devote yourself to loving and enjoying Him in return 365 days a year.”
“God says the unmarried woman has the advantage when it comes to her devotion to the Lord. An unmarried woman can give the Lord what a married woman rarely can—undistracted devotion. The time to develop a constistant devotional life cannot wait until you are married. Many single woman waste valuable years as they wait “for life to begin”—after marriage. Ask any wife, even without children, and she will tell you her own juggling routine. A married woman struggles to have time alone with herself, much less time alone with God.” Let us use the time that we have as single ladies to grow in our love relationship with our Lord.
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COPYRIGHT PERMISSION
Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., hereby grants Sarah Ann permission to use quotations not to exceed 500 words from "Lady In Waiting", by Jackie Kendall in her newsletter "Ladies in Waiting".
Materials from "Lady In Waiting", by Jackie Kendall, copyright 1995 used by permission of Destiny Image Publishers, 167 Walnut Bottom Road, Shippensburg, PA 17257 www.destinyimage.com
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