Daily Reflection - October
 

October 1

A Time to Think: Christ said we could move mountains if we had faith. But He didn't say we wouldn't need a shovel. –Joyce Vollmer Brown, author

To Act: Do your work with faithfulness and a grateful heart.

To Pray: Thank You, Lord, for the troubled times that strengthen our souls and help us grow.

October 2

A Time to Think: Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. –W.T. Purkiser, preacher and author

To Act: Celebrate the unique gifts that you bring to the world.

To Pray: Beloved Father, help me share the blessings You have given me.

October 3

A Time to Think: Faith is seeing light with your heart when all your eyes see is darkness. –Barbara Johnson, writer

To Act: Fill your mind with Christ.

To Pray: Lord, in all the times and places of my life, Your love never leaves me.

October 4

A Time to Think: If I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. –Oswald Chambers, author and evangelist

To Act: Confidently trust God to handle things beyond your efforts.

To Pray: Father I hold tight to Your truth and trust You to work in my life.

October 5

A Time to Think: God's love is never, never exclusive. It is always totally inclusive. –Eugenia Price, author

To Act: Put God first in your life.

To Pray: Lord, You have redeemed me and claimed me and given me a strength that is not my own.

October 6

A Time to Think: We shall come one day to a heaven where we shall gratefully know that God's great refusals were sometimes the true answers to our truest prayer. –P. T. Forsyth, writer and theologian

To Act: Put your problems in God's hands.

To Pray: Dear Lord, help me to realize my wisdom emerges as I accept and integrate all that has happened to me.

October 7

A Time to Think: Trust God where you cannot see Him. Do not try to penetrate the cloud He brings over you; rather look to the bow that is on it. The mystery is God's; the promise is yours. –John MacDuff, author

To Act: Relax and accept God's grace in times of stress.

To Pray: God, I submit the struggles in my life to Your care.

October 8

A Time to Think: There are certain weights in life you simply cannot carry. Your Lord is asking you to set them down and trust Him. What do you say we take God up on His offer? –Max Lucado, best-selling author and preacher at Oak Hills Church

To Act: Confidently trust God to handle things beyond your efforts.

To Pray: Dear Lord, help me face life’s problems with the sure knowledge that You’ll always be there.

October 9

A Time to Think: God's silence is in no way indicative of His activity or involvement in our lives. He may be silent but He is not still. –Charles Stanley, Founder of In Touch Ministries

To Act: Stand up to your fears with faith.

To Pray: Thank You, Lord, for the troubled times that strengthen our souls and help us grow.

October 10

A Time to Think: God has given us prayer that we might draw close to Him, that we might share our lives with Him, and that we might see the miracle of answered prayer each day of our lives. –Hope MacDonald, author

To Act: Remember your faith is the best answer to anxiety.

To Pray: You are awesome, God! Thank You for answering our prayers.

October 11

A Time to Think: In the end, nothing we do or say in this lifetime will matter as much as the way we have loved one another. –Daphne Rose Kingma, author

To Act: Share with others how important they are to you.

To Pray: Lord, thank You for all You have done for me. Help me to share Your spirit with others.

October 12

A Time to Think: Sometimes hope seems as unreal as the angel beside you. But both are there. –Author Unknown

To Act: Focus not on the world's tragedies, but on the world's hope.

To Pray: Father, give me goals that stretch my hope to match Your might.

October 13

A Time to Think: There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. –Brother Lawrence, author and lay brother of the Carmelite monastery

To Act: When you pray, release your worry and rest in God.

To Pray: Dear Lord, help me to persevere in prayer when things seem impossible, knowing that You are the God of possibilities.

October 14

A Time to Think: God shapes the world by prayer. The more prayer there is in the world, the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil. –E.M. Bounds, author

To Act: Perform the little acts that give form and continuity to love.

To Pray: Lord, teach us to be open to the healing You want to send us.

October 15

A Time to Think: Faith is the most powerful of all forces operating in humanity and when you have it in depth nothing can get you down. –Norman Vincent Peale, best-selling author and minister

To Act: Remember that faith will lead you through unsteady times.

To Pray: Lord, peace is knowing that Your comfort is only a prayer away.

October 16

A Time to Think: Daily prayers will diminish your cares. –Author Unknown

To Act: Pray and release your worries.

To Pray: Dear Lord, help me to persevere in prayer when things seem impossible, knowing that You are the God of possibilities.

October 17

A Time to Think: Worry is a thin stream of fear that trickles through the mind, which, if encouraged, will cut a channel so wide that all other thoughts will be drained out. –Author Unknown

To Act: Focus not on your fears but your strengths.

To Pray: Heavenly Father, we thank You for the comfort you give us, when we come to You.

October 18

A Time to Think: It is in the process of being worshiped that God communicates His presence to men. –C.S. Lewis, author

To Act: Pray God's Word and see your prayer life flourish.

To Pray: Lord, help me to remember in thought and prayer those whom You have brought into my life.

October 20

A Time to Think: You can see God from anywhere if your mind is set to love and obey Him. –A.W. Tozer, Christian pastor and author

To Act: Believe in what you can become.

To Pray: Lord, all things are possible if we believe. Thank you for loving us enough to send what we need.

October 20

A Time to Think: Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf. –Albert Schweitzer, theologian and medical doctor

To Act: Take time today to nourish your soul with beauty and silence.

To Pray: Lord, let me see Your beauty in the beautiful things You have made.

October 21

A Time to Think: Spread out your petition before God, and then say, "Thy will, not mine, be done." The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school is to let the Lord choose for me. –D.L. Moody, evangelist

To Act: Resolve not to magnify small problems.

To Pray: Lord, grant me the wisdom to enjoy what I have.

October 22

A Time to Think: May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love and joy of God's presence and not a moment without the entire surrender of myself as a vessel for Him to fill full of His Spirit and His love. –Andrew Murray, author

To Act: Surrender your life to God and every experience will grow increasingly more wonderful.

To Pray: Lord, You have redeemed me and claimed me and given me a strength that is not my own.

October 23

A Time to Think: Our prayers run along one road and God's answers by another, and by and by they meet. –Adoniram Judson, missionary

To Act: Allow your dreams to energize you.

To Pray: Understanding Father, our dreams are changed because You have a better road for us to travel, one that brings us closer to You.

October 24

A Time to Think: Leave the broken, irreversible past in God's hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him. –Oswald Chambers, author and evangelist

To Act: Never talk defeat, for if you do, you can talk yourself into accepting it.

To Pray: Dear Lord, help me to take the time to be strong in my faith through prayer and Scripture study.

October 25

A Time to Think: Faith is realizing that I am useful to God not in spite of my scars but because of them. –Pamela Reeve, author

To Act: Turn to God's word to live your best life.

To Pray: Lord, help me hear Your call and serve You joyfully.

October 26

A Time to Think: Only if we trust God to turn past calamities into future comfort can we look with gratitude for all things. –John Piper, preacher and author

To Act: Always be ready to learn and grow.

To Pray: Lord, light my way along Your path so that all I do leads me toward the destination You have in mind.

October 27

A Time to Think: It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. –Anonymous

To Act: When fear comes, counter it with an affirmation of faith.

To Pray: Father, Your love surrounds us; there is no need to fear.

October 28

A Time to Think: Blessings can come in a number of ways. The Lord doesn't give you what you want, the Lord gives you what you need. –Eric Davis, former professional baseball player

To Act: Find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.

To Pray: Beloved Father, help me share the blessings You have given me.

October 29

A Time to Think: A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work. –Sir John Lubbock

To Act: When you pray, release your worry and rest in God.

To Pray: Lord, keep my eyes on You today and not on my fears.

October 30

A Time to Think: I do not understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are, but does not leave us where it found us. –Anne Lamott, author

To Act: Face every situation with faith in your heart.

To Pray: God, when I am tempted to fear, help me to choose faith instead.

October 31

A Time to Think: Where there is great love there are always miracles. –Willa Cather, author

To Act: Remember love is the only thing okay to do in excess.

To Pray: Lord, thank You for the grace that strengthens me for tasks large and small.