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 groggy (the usual for Wednesday). I had a long night; I got caught up on the Internet. I keep hearing this entire buzz about the Housewives of Atlanta, and I decided to watch an episode, and it was very interesting, to say the least. I also caught an episode of the Househusbands of Hollywood, which was very interesting to watch as well. I admire some of these men, because it's hard to allow your wife to have that much control, while they take care of the home. I'm a little impartial to that, but that's just me. It was good to see these men recognize how hard it was being a full time parent and husband. I just imagine the woman and men who are single parents, and have to do it all themselves, that has to be very hard. God has a reason for everything, and He gives us strength when we're going through the hard times, and as long as we stand on that simple promise, we'll be just fine. I'm not sure when these shows come on television, because I watched them online, at a website called Hulu, I love being able to do that, but I sometimes get caught up watching episode after episode, and before I know it, 5 hours have passed, so beware. Have a wonderful day, and keeps the prayers coming.

Today's scriptures are about our temporary punishments. God loves us enough pain to chastise us when we sin against Him, to help teach us discipline, and guide us through life. We have the awesome responsibility to live righteously, according to the example of Jesus Christ. When we stray off of the path laid out for us, we put ourselves in danger of seriously hurting ourselves. To avoid that, God allows us to experience some pain and heartache, to make us aware of the consequences of our actions, in opposed to us utterly destroying our lives. Let's look at today's world, we have so many deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Hepatitis, and Diabetes, and most of these things could be avoided if we follow God’s guide to living a Righteous life. However, when we become reckless with our bodies by not eating right, committing adultery and fornicating, etc, we sometimes pay the ultimate price for those things. He tries to help us avoid them, because He only wants what's best for us, but again, He allows us to choose our own way. He lays out our core values, and they all can be easily found in the bible, yet we sometimes choose to ignore them. As we're growing in our Faith walk, He allow us to test the waters, and gives us a slap on the wrist, but as we grow older and more mature in our Spirit, we're subjected to a more severe punishment, because we know better. I don't know how many times I've done things, and as I'm doing them my Spirit says to me, "You know better Saundra", and I go ahead and do them anyway. I feel the percussions right away, and sometimes later on down the line. Even so, I'm at a point in my Faith walk where I'm not surprised, I go through my punishment, totally reliant upon God. I thank Him for the lessons I'm to learn, I listen to my Spirit for the answers and guidance, and I repent. I’ve been in some painful moments, when I just felt like the pain would never end. At that time, I couldn't do anything other than cry out to the Lord for help. It was almost as if I was crippled, and the only One who could heal me was God. I learned to surrender to God, and I was given strength and Peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7). God equips us with everything we need to avoid sin, because He understands the temptation we have to face. He's a God of longsuffering, forgiveness, and understanding, so He allows us to move past our indiscretions, and helps us rebuild from them. It's written in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13: Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. We cannot go through a peaceful life without Him. He goes through such lengths to keep us in His will. If you're going through life sinning, and doing whatever you want to do, with seemingly no repercussions, you should worry. God expects us to fear Him, because we respect His power and leadership in our lives. I've been reading the story of King David and King Saul, in 1st and 2nd Samuel, and these men were chosen by God to lead a nation of people, and when they messed up, they paid for it dearly. There are several accounts of King David locking himself in his room, or traveling to the mountaintops to weep and repent. He even wrote several Psalms to document His anguish, so that others could learn from his mistake. God allowed David to go through all of that, to teach all of us lessons. Just think, Saul and David didn't have Jesus as their Savior, and wasn't able to be easily forgiven for their transgressions, and we have both Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help us through ours. Praise God! We can either live our lives the hard way or the uncomplicated way. The hard way is keep ignoring His warnings, and keep going through refinement. However, it’s very uncomplicated to "seek ye first the Kingdom of God", and that's a foolproof method to getting through life with little stress (notice I didn't say no stress), and maximum peace. Ask yourself a few simple questions, and answer them honestly: How much heartache and pain could you have avoided if you'd just listened to the warnings from your Spirit? How much money could you have saved, had you done it right the first time? How many times have you told yourself "I told you so", when it could've been avoided? We all make stupid mistakes, and complain when we're dealing with the repercussions, but God understands that. Just as parents understand when children do things wrong. Yes we punish them, but that punishment fits the crime, and it's only temporary. After they go through it, all is forgiven, and we move on. Our children could do nothing to make us stop loving them, because our jobs are to care for them, and raise them in a certain manner. What our children does, ultimately reflects on the way we raise them. At the same time, what we do reflects on God, because He calls us His children. The next time you're experiencing heartache and pain, take some time to go to God in prayer, and ask Him what you should be learning from it. Be aware of your emotions and Holy Spirit, and listen and look out for His response, because you will be given an answer. In the meantime repentance is necessary to move past the pain. If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you're living this life on your own, and mark my word, life will get harder inside, especially if God has a calling on your life. All He wants from you is Love, and He'll help you through the rest. He's waiting to hear from you right now! My favorite verse today is: For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. (Isaiah 54:10)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455056&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=5336537&ct=7241253

I love you!