Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone and you're enjoying the end of another workweek (for most). I'm doing well, just a little tired. It feels like it's been a fight to get out of bed this entire week, I'm not resting enough as usual. Not having to be to work until 11am helps a lot, but if I don't get in bed before 2am, then that really doesn't matter. I find myself being busy with nothing really. Time is very valuable, and I'm starting to see why the bible says let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Heb 12:1). It's really like we're competing against time, and we have little time to complete great the tasks set for our lives. That's deep, so I'm going to save that for another devotional. No big plans for the weekend, just hope to get down to see my dad on Sunday, and work tomorrow. I love working on Saturday, because that means I'll have a 3-day weekend next week, right in time for my mother's birthday. We're going to have a nice time. I pray you have a wonderful weekend, and whatever you do, do it for the Lord.

Today's scriptures are about being joyful about God given strength. I was watching the news last night (which I rarely do), and there was a story about a woman who was in a really bad car accident. She was stuck in her car in the middle of an intersection after the crash, and some people she didn't know came and freed her and her friend from the mangled vehicle. The car caught fire and was on the verge of exploding, and these strangers put their own lives in danger to save her. All she kept saying, while laying in that hospital bed was I couldn’t believe I'm still alive. Then she asked, "I wonder why it had to happen to me?" There are so many things that we go through in this life that leaves us asking, why me. At the same time, God always delivers us from these seemingly hopeless situations, and there's usually a blessing behind it, and that's what brings us joy. This woman, who's a mother of five, can go on to live another day for her children, thanks to the grace and mercy of God. She did suffer two broken legs, and a broken hip, but she's also alive and receiving the treatment she deserves, and I'm sure there will be a bright light at the end of the tunnel for her, thanks to God. These are the times we should sing God's praises, because of the overwhelming joy we feel in our hearts. When we start to grow in our Faith walk, we start to lose all sense of our selfishness, and that's an awesome thing. When we learn and experience the love of God, that love helps us overcome the temporary trials we face here on earth. It also allows us to see the more of the positive, and the focus on the bigger picture. We learn in Isaiah 61:3 that God's consoles those who mourn, and give us "Beauty for Ashes". When we hear the word mourn, we usually think of something we go through when a person close to us dies. But we mourn over anything we lose, that means something too us. That could be a relationship, a home, a job, or something material we care for dearly. We must allow ourselves that time to mourn, but God says He'll take those ashes and turn them into something beautiful, Hallelujah! Jesus said He came so we could have a more abundant life, and that's pertaining to our Spirit. This young lady who was in the accident, joy came from the fact that she was still alive to spend another day with her children. She realized just how precious life is; sure she lost the new job she was about to start, and she has a lot of physical therapy to go through to become healthy again, but God has given her the strength to endure it. All we have to do, through our mourning periods, is trust in God to give us exactly what we need to survive. He never said life would be easy, but He did promise that if we trust in Him, He’d supply our every need. I often smile when I'm watching my young nieces playing, because it seems like they don't have a care in the world. When they're walking down the street, they sometimes start to skip, with a huge smile on their faces, because life is just that beautiful to them. They trust their parents or caregivers to take care of them, and they're okay with that. When I'm watching them play I miss my youth, because I wish I could be that way again. However, the Love of God offers us that type of Joy in our Spirits, because He's promised that if we ask it shall be given to us, knock and the door shall be opened, and seek and we shall find (Matt 7:7). I don't know how many times Paul said "Cast your cares on the Lord", and when we do that, it's showing God that we trust in Him to give us the strength to get through them. However, when we give them to Him we cannot take them back. We're often very self-reliant, and tend to try to take on our problems by ourselves, especially if we've sinned against God, because we're too afraid to face Him. Jesus already paid the penalty for our sin, so stop allowing the devil to throw that lie at you. Repent and keep on moving, with the strength of God. God will never lie, and will never break a promise that’s in His living word, which is the Holy Bible. He promises to give us the strength to endure the race of life, and there's no reason to doubt it. He loves us, and when you love someone you do what you can to make him or her happy, so how much more will God do for us? I've been reading the stories of David, Daniel, Ruth, Naomi, Paul, and countless others in the bible, and the one thing I noticed last night is, whenever they had a problem they prayed. Those verses always start off saying “He (or she) went to God...” and they end "And God Answered and said..." God always answered their prayers, and majority of the time He gave them what they asked. He's given us everything we need to live a life full of Peace, Joy, and Happiness, no matter what is going in our lives, and it's up to us to always share that joy with others. Sing His praises no matter where you go, and always give God the glory. Allow people to see how He is working in your life, because you never know whose life you could touch in a good way. The book of Psalms are mostly songs of praise written for the Lord, and it's the largest book in the bible, so that tells us how important sharing our joy through praise really is. If you don't know Jesus as your Savior, then some of God's promises don't apply to you yet, but they all are offered to anyone who stands in need of salvation. Don't wait another day; it needs to happen right now! If you need a prayer partner please let me know. My favorite verse today is: The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. (Psalms 28:7)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455058&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=7241301

I love you!