Week 2 – Hatching & Protecting – Pause and Reflect

Take one verse from the readings from this past week.

Read it. Write it out. Pray over it.

Where this week have you seen or needed the nurturing/protecting hand of God?

1. Have you brought & submitted your plans to the Lord, trusting that His ways are wiser, higher, better?
2. Have you sought refuge in the Lord? Are you needing to find that safe place of shelter in Him?
3. Are you gathering up the manna of God’s promises every single day and finding refuge in them?
4. Have you been quick to run, quick to respond, quick to call on Him, quick to flee to Him?
5. Are you aware and alert as to the dangers & temptations there are which would beset you? What can you do? Where will you find your protection?

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Week 2; Day 5 – Protection

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of suffering.

1 peter 5:8

The chicks know their mother as their protector, there is no-one else to whom they can or will go. She alone knows them through & through and she will fight for them. There is no lion or tiger more fierce than that of a mother hen protecting her chicks!

We need to be aware of dangers, snares & temptations around us. If we know our own areas of weakness, and the shiny things which lure us away from the things of God, then we can seek help from our Protector.

Many times we are tripped up by things that we are unaware of and which we come upon unexpectedly. Other times it is the same old, same old thing. Whichever it is; we need to have the protection of the armour of God on.

We need the help of the Holy Spirit to overcome temptation. We need to know our help and protection is from the Lord and that if God is on our side then really who can be against us?

Thank You Lord, that You fight for us this day. Thank You that You are mighty and that we need not fear when You are by our side. Amen.

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Week 2; Day 4 – Calls

Jerusalem, Jerusalem you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I would long to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings and you were not willing.

Luke 13:34

Matilda has two very distinct calls: one is for food as she calls the chicks over when she has found some. The second is for danger. Danger, quick, come, hide, into the nest box or under me. Quick.

Like the wee chicks we are often unaware of the dangers around us. But we have to have that immediate response, that immediate run to our safe place in Jesus.

No point having a look around and see if we can handle the problem/danger ourselves. We need to have that immediate response in-built in us to turn to the Lord, to call out to Him, to run to Him.

We need to be willing in our vulnerability to find our refuge & shelter in Him.

Lord, may we always be quick to come, quick to respond to Your voice calling us. Amen.

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A Month with Mother Hen

This October I am taking up the challenge to write everyday with others from the Five Minute Friday writing community on the 31 Days of Free Writes 2019 Challenge.  I am going to be sharing  life lessons learnt from my mother hen!

The way of a Mother Hen with her chicks is truly one of the wonders of the animal world.  There are many life and spiritual lessons we can learn from her.  These particular lessons have been drawn from watching my own ‘Broody Hen’ this summer when she successfully hatched and reared 7 chicks.

So meet Matilda, she is a grey speckled hen with a pom pom on her head, so quite regal looking!  She actually is a neighbour’s hen who went “broody”, that is the natural instinct to sit and hatch eggs took over her, so we took her to ours, gave her a safe place and put 10 of our own eggs under her to sit on.  

So starting from tomorrow (Monday), I will be posting a very short daily devotional for 4 weeks, – Monday through to Friday with a time to pause and reflect at the weekend.  The devotionals will be short and  will include a scripture reading, a little story about Matilda & her chicks and the lessons we can learn from her, followed by a short prayer.

See table of contents below and click on the day’s reading to take you directly to that devotional day’s devotional.

Table of Contents

Week 1 – Sitting

Day One – Come Away

Day Two – Focus

Day Three – Self-Sacrifice

Day Four – Patience

Day Five – Waiting

Weekend – Pause & Reflect

Week 2 – Hatching & Protecting

Day One – Fruition

Day Two – Refuge

Day Three – Manna

Day Four – Calls

Day Five – Protection

Weekend – Pause & Reflect

Week 3 – Learning & Growing

Day One – Recognising

Day Two – Learn form Example

Day Three – Searching

Day Four – Drinking

Day Five – Transforming

Weekend – Pause & Reflect

Week 4 – Community

Day One – Boundaries

Day Two – Community

Day Three – Relationships

Day Four – No Idols

Day Five – Finish Well

Weekend – Pause & Reflect

“I’m participating in 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes in October!   www.fiveminutefriday.com/31days2019“