{"id":9808,"date":"2024-02-19T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=9808"},"modified":"2024-02-05T11:51:53","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T16:51:53","slug":"honest-admission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2024\/02\/19\/honest-admission\/","title":{"rendered":"Honest Admission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Green-and-White-Reminder-Facebook-Post.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9810\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Green-and-White-Reminder-Facebook-Post.png 940w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Green-and-White-Reminder-Facebook-Post-300x251.png 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Green-and-White-Reminder-Facebook-Post-768x644.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">\u201cFor I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king,&nbsp;\u201cThe hand of our God is for good on&nbsp;all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.\u201d&nbsp;So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Ezra 8:22-23<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Honest admission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ezra backed himself into the proverbial wall.&nbsp; Proclaiming to the king God\u2019s faithfulness in protecting and caring for his children, Ezra didn\u2019t feel like he could ask the ruler for military help.&nbsp; Praying his proclamations would come true, the nation fasted and prayed to the Lord, receiving divine intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boldly telling others about God\u2019s power can seem daunting.&nbsp; The devil lurks around, whispering doubts in our ears.&nbsp; \u201cGod won\u2019t protect you.&nbsp; He doesn\u2019t love you\u2026\u201d On and on the lies go.&nbsp; When we call on the Lord, He listens and answers.&nbsp; We may disagree with His response, but God always replies yes, no, or wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve heard one of my favorite \u201cCome to God\u201d stories more than once from different people. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Oliver Anthony, the singer\/songwriter whose song \u201cRich Men North of Richmond\u201d spiraled him to fame, has one such story.&nbsp; Anxious and depressed, he hit rock bottom and told God he couldn\u2019t do it anymore. The singer gave his life to the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cWe all sin, and we all do stupid things; we\u2019re all just people.&nbsp; Nobody\u2019s special or righteous.\u201d<\/em> Christopher Anthony, a.k.a. Oliver Anthony<a href=\"#_ftn1\" id=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the years, I have heard versions of the same story as Oliver\u2019s.&nbsp; People at the bottom of the pit ask God to give them a sign that He exists.&nbsp; Something happens in that moment that convinces the person the Lord heard and answered, confirming His reality.&nbsp; Life changes instantly as they begin to follow Jesus and discover new life in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ezra didn\u2019t know how the Lord would respond to their fasting and prayer, but he never doubted God would answer.&nbsp; Backed into a wall, only with the Lord\u2019s intervention would they survive the journey ahead.&nbsp; None of us can face a day with God.&nbsp; We may not acknowledge His presence, but the Lord never leaves us; always present, always working.&nbsp; Wherever life takes you, whatever path you follow, God goes with you, guiding and directing.&nbsp; To follow Jesus closely, we must seek Him.&nbsp; Fasting and prayer deepen our connection with the Savior as we humble ourselves before Him and seek His will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Journal Questions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How can I apply today\u2019s devotion to my life?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What happened that caused you to give your life to Jesus?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How has life changed since you began following God?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Prayer:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lord, thank You for never leaving us and answering our desperate cries for help.&nbsp; As we fast and pray, give us eyes to see and ears to hear You.&nbsp; Guide and direct us on the path You want us to take, and help us fulfill our divine purpose.&nbsp; Let Your power and glory shine through our lives, illuminating the world with Your presence.&nbsp; May our actions honor You in all we do.&nbsp; IJNIP. Amen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" id=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whiskeyriff.com\/2023\/08\/30\/oliver-anthony-gets-emotional-telling-joe-rogan-about-how-god-changed-his-life-i-didnt-have-anything-left-in-me-i-feel-so-empowered\/\">https:\/\/www.whiskeyriff.com\/2023\/08\/30\/oliver-anthony-gets-emotional-telling-joe-rogan-about-how-god-changed-his-life-i-didnt-have-anything-left-in-me-i-feel-so-empowered\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two-minute read. \u201cFor I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king,&nbsp;\u201cThe hand of our God is for good on&nbsp;all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.\u201d&nbsp;So&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2024\/02\/19\/honest-admission\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Honest Admission<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9808"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9811,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9808\/revisions\/9811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}