Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying another hump day. I'm doing well, a little sleepy as usual, but I'll survive. I'm forever grateful for God's presence in my life, and I'm looking forward to another beautiful day. I spoke to my Grandmother this morning, and she's sounding better, and healthier as the days go on. I haven't expected anything less, because God is good! I'm also looking forward to the weekend, even though I have to work on Saturday; weekends are always good, especially in the summertime. I pray you all have a wonderful day, don't forget I post recipes on my website, and I have a few new ones, feel free to post some yourself, it's an open forum, www.divinecuisineepc.com. Have a wonderful day!

Today's scriptures are about confessing our sins. Most people try to rationalize God, and bring Him down to a human level, but in all actuality He's far from human. His omniscience far exceeds anything we could ever imagine. However, He deals with us on a very personal level. We're His children, and He wants us to have the best in life. We will face trials and tribulations, but He doesn't enjoy seeing us hurt. He offers all we need to live a life full of peace, joy, and happiness, no matter what’s going on around us. All He asks of us is to Love Him with all of our hearts. Remember what Paul tells us about love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails... If all God asks of us is to love Him, and each other, we must reverence Him. Let’s try and follow Paul's explanation of love, and a few others found in the bible. You may be thinking what does love have to do with confessing our sins? Well, going to God and admitting our mistakes is sign of humbleness, reverence, and love, because we're admitting to Him that we made a mistake, and asking for His forgiveness. We're showing a sign of respect, and recognizing Jesus' role in our lives. You ever met a person that thinks they're always right? That's a very annoying trait, because we're all human, and no one person has all of the answers. However, we show humility when we're willing to admit that we're wrong. It shows our fear for the Lord, because we know that the penalty of sin is death, and we're willing to confess our imperfections, and ask for forgiveness. It's written in James 4:7-10: Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. Jesus is living proof of God's love for us, so it's very important to honor Him, by admitting our faults, and casting our cares upon Him. I love reading through some of the Proverbs, it's a very cut and dry kind of way to give us instructions about life. Proverbs 15:33 says: The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility. Jesus was humiliated on the day He was killed. Imagine the King of King, and Lord of Lords, hanging on a cross between two common criminals, all for the sake of our sins. After that humiliation, He was given the honor of being Savior of all mankind. Jesus never complained, but He stood on the promises of God's unconditional love and support. Throughout His life He prayed for strength and courage every day, so why do we think we don't have to? It takes a wise person to admit that they're wrong and ask for forgiveness. This reminds me of when I was a kid, if I did something wrong, and my mother caught me, she would always say, "if you tell me the truth I won't spank you". It was something about admitting I was wrong, that diffused a lot of her anger, because it would've been disrespectful if I had lied to her. If I lied my punishment was surely more severe than it would've been had I only confessed. God is everywhere, and knows everything, so sin is the only hindrance in our relationship with Him. If you have unresolved sin, I suggested you stop what you're doing right now, and confess, because there’s nothing we could hide from Him. Ask Him for forgiveness, and the blood of Jesus forgives you. Repentance is necessary to seal this very important act, because we're making an effort not to sin again. God understands our weaknesses, because we're very much mortal, and the flesh is weak. Though He expects us to take responsibility for our shortcomings, and come to Him with a humbled heart. We have the Holy Spirit to convict us when we sin, make it a habit to react to that conviction as soon as possible, and confess. Jesus' death was to free us from the penalties of sin, don't allow His death to be in vain, because we cannot be forgiven until we ask. Take advantage of this very important privilege of being a child of God. If you haven't accepted Jesus as your Savior, then sin is your only hindrance. Go to God, confess your sins, ask for forgiveness, and ask Jesus to come into your heart as Lord and Savior. Don't ever forget that Jesus came to save the lost, and all of Heaven rejoices when you return home (Luke 15:1-7). My favorite verse today is: I have blotted out as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. (Isaiah 44:22)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455021&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=5283727&ct=7162487

I love you!