Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying the end of another workweek (for most). TGIF! I'm doing well, looking forward to a beautiful weekend in the DC area. It's supposed to be in the mid 80's all weekend, whew hoo! I think spring is here to stay, thank God. I turned my heat off last weekend, and I refused to turn it back on, electric bills are on the rise for everyone. It was freezing in my house last night; I just bundled up and took it. It'll warm right up today, and I'm opening all the windows this weekend, to get some fresh air. The only things that I don’t like about spring are the bugs that come in. My nemesis is the jet-black spiders, and those little hoppy things that come in the basement. You know what I'm talking about? It's time to go to work with the Home Defense spray, and cut the grass. Enjoy your weekend, and whatever you do, do it for the Lord!

Today's scriptures are about how God keeps His promises. Have you ever heard God speak to you? I can honestly say I've heard God speak to me on several occasions, but in the past, because of my maturity level, I may have chosen to ignore His voice. I hear a lot of people say, "God don't talk to me because I’m not all holy, or I'm a work in progress". I'm here to tell you this is false. God speaks to us through the Spirit all the time. We have to know how recognize His voice, because the enemy speaks to us as well. You ever saw a TV sitcom that has a person, with an image of a little devil on one shoulder, and an angel on the other? That's almost how it really is, because God gives us Angels for protection against the enemy’s demons. Those of us that are saved don’t have to worry about this Spiritual warfare, just get accustomed to God’s voice. He speaks to us in a small still voice, and we must be focused to hear it. He also speaks through other people, so we should listen to our Spirit when we're interacting with people. My girlfriend calls it "the third eye". We have a way of seeing through people at times, because of the Holy Spirit. It happens to me all the time, God may have told me something and I might've questioned it, or brushed it aside. Sure enough, I'll be engaged in a conversation with someone, and they'll say the same exact thing I heard Him say, and the light bulb would finally go off. That person may not know that God is speaking to me through them, but I could always tell. As we grow in our Spirit His voice gets louder and louder, and we'll start to notice it more. He speaks to me often, for example, I might see someone with a not so flattering outfit on, and in my mind I start to judge them, but my Spirit would say "stop it Saundra", and I might actually say aloud, "I'm sorry, or Lord forgive me" with a smile, because it amuses me how close we really are, it's like my dad yelling at me. There are other times like the other night when I forgot my purse in the car at home. He said to me, "get your purse out of the car", I'm thinking, it’ll be safe in this neighborhood. He just kept saying, "Get your purse… get your purse." I finally went out to get it, who knows what would've happened if I hadn't. These are small examples of everyday things, but He also speaks to us on our life's purpose and calling. A friend posed a question recently asking if your purpose was your passion. My answer was: God gives us a passion for our purpose. He created each of us for a reason; He created Noah specifically to build the arc, Moses to free the captives in Egypt, Michael Jordan to play basketball and encourage young men, the list goes on and on. When He shares your purpose with you, and gives you a passion for it, that's when He'll lay the plans out for you. It doesn’t have to be grandiose like the people mentioned above, he could’ve called you to teach, or to serve others. The word passion is a very powerful word; it actually means a powerful emotion. Christ's crucifixion is often referred to as "Christ’s Passion". God promised to send a messiah through the Prophets that came before Jesus, and once Jesus came, He gave Him the passion to fulfill His purpose. This is why it's so important to pursue God's purpose for your life, most people are stuck doing a job they have no passion for, because they don't have Faith in God's promises. The people that follow His promises may not look happy from the world’s perspective, but they're actually filled with joy, peace and love. What has God promised you? Take a few moments and think about it. If you could be doing anything you wanted with your life right now, what would it be? Are you doing it? The place to start is the Bible, it's filled with God's promises to us, and although this book was written thousands of years ago, they still hold true today. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The first and most important promise is the promise of salvation. All you have to do is accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and He'll do the rest. He loves us, so He takes time to share His promises with us individually. Our job is to slow down and listen. We can learn how to listen better by meditating on His word. Open your third eye to see and receive His promises for your life. My favorite verse today is: There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel: all came to pass. (Joshua 21:45)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2454946&dtype=Scripture
http://www.intouch.org/site/pp.aspx?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=4943197
http://www.intouch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=4949629&ct=6866021

I love you!