Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY MONDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying the beginning of another workweek. I'm doing well, a little sleepy, but blessed and highly favored. I had a wonderful weekend, spent some much needed quality time with my mom, and it was good to hang out with her. I noticed I inherited a lot of her good traits, which is very refreshing. She's celebrating her birthday today, when I look at her I'm truly amazed, because she makes me believe that 50 is the new 30. She's 52 years old today, but doesn't look a day over 32, and it's amazing; I hope I inherited those particular genes from her as well. Today is also my Uncle Keith's birthday, as well as my Step-Uncle Donald, we're in the special time of the Virgos, so I start celebrating my birthday from here, all the way up to 21st of September, it's truly a special time for special people. Have an amazing day!

Today's scriptures are about the Lord's comfort and understanding of our sorrows. God is love, subsequently Jesus was so loving and caring, that He gave His all to save mankind. Not only by the simple act of laying down His life, but He came as our teacher as well. He did this because He empathized with us. He experienced sorrow on a number of occasions, because He had to witness suffering and pain to the people He loved dearly. He had to go through it, to teach us how to endure it, and that He did. When we look at His life, He never stopped for sorrow. The only time He did stop, was to take time out to pray and meditate in the presence of God. The most valuable lesson we are to learn is to take all of our sorrows, hurts, and pains to God. He's the only one who could give us rest, and help ease some of what ails us. The word Sorrow is defined: Mental suffering or pain caused by injury, loss, or despair. It's mentioned in about 105 different verses in the New King James Version of the bible, and the very first account is when God punished Eve for her deceit in Genesis 3:16: To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” The very last account of the word is Revelations 21:4: "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” How ironic is that? Sorrow started with Adam and Eve, and it ends with the ultimate redemption of mankind; our reintroduction to the new Garden of Eden, Heaven. Hallelujah! This great transition is possible because of the tremendous sorrow God had for us, and He didn't want us to suffer anymore. We paid for thousands of years with death, and now He has reintroduced life to all who believe in Him. We experience so much sorrow in this life, but it's always met with redemption when we trust in Him. He's always promised a rainbow at the end of a storm, and I could personally attest to that. The love of God has been very prevalent in my life, yet so has numerous years of Sorrow. Sorrow is something that each of us, who sin, could pretty much expect, because with sin comes death. All sorrow isn't meant as direct consequence for our actions, but it's also allowed to make us stronger, by forcing us to die to our self, and be reborn to the ways of Jesus Christ. Jesus had great sorrow for us because He knew the truth, and what we're capable of, but He had to sit back and allow us to make our own mistakes, in hopes that we would learn from the pain we endure. This reminds me of the story written about the rich man, who wanted to be saved. He was told that he had to sell all of his belongings, and give everything away and follow Jesus to be saved. He went away very sad, because he wasn't willing to part with His material belongings. Luke 18-24 says: And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” It seems as though our greatest sorrows come when we're attempting to hold on to some earthy possession or relationship that God is clearly trying to deliver us from. We experience the most pain in our lives when we're living in disobedience. Nothing can make us stay on that narrow path to righteousness, because it’s our free choice. We'll continue to go through sorrow until we succumb to the lessons, which are necessary to learn. Sorrow is a very much human and spiritual feat, which each of us will experience several times over in our earthly life, until we reach the Kingdom of Heaven. It's a very natural emotion to have, and shouldn't be ignored. God is trying to tell you something, and that's one of the best times to go to Him for the answers. One of the things He promises us is that Joy comes in the morning (Psalms 30:5), Always give yourself time to go through it, but know that as a child of God, you're naturally filled with joy, happiness and peace, so when you notice that you're in periods of sorrow, seek peace from the one true Peacemaker, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He's a simple prayer away, so if you don't know Him, now's the chance to get to know Him, because He's the only way out. He's standing willing and able to deliver you, because He knows first hand what you're going through. My favorite verse today is: When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. (Psalms 142:3)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455068&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=7301673

I love you!