Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying another "hump day". I'm doing well, but still feeling little aches and pains, and require your prayer. I'm working on resting, and drinking warm tea and Theraflu, that should fix me right up in no time. My niece Shamara's birthday is today, and she'll be turning 10 years old! I'm getting old, because I remember when she was born, and I was only 21 years old, but it seemed like only yesterday. It's funny how time flies, my goodness. She's such a wonderful young lady, and is growing up so fast, she's going to be tall like her Auntie. She wants to go Ice Skating for her birthday, so I'm going to attempt to take her this weekend. The problem is, none of us know how to ice skate, we could barely roller skate, and so this will be interesting to say the least. I'll dress in layers to try to cushion the blows, other than that, it should be fun. Have a wonderful day!

Today's scriptures are about the dangers of riches. In Matthew 19:23-24: Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Are up familiar with these verses of scripture? As baby Spirit, I couldn't truly grasp the meaning of this scripture. However, as years passed, and I started to grow, I paid more attention to the few verses before these, which says the rich man came to Jesus and asked Him how he could be saved, and Jesus' answer to him was to sell everything he had and follow Him. The rich man went away very sad, because he wasn't prepared to part with his earthly wealth. Yesterday I also referenced 1 Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. It doesn't say that money is evil, but the love of money is. God wants us to put Him first in our lives, but if we have everything that money could buy on this earth, we could misconstrue that with inner peace. Money can do some strange and destructive things to people, because we tend to think that we're larger than life. Reality TV shows are the new craze in America, so we see it all the time when we watch celebrities on these shows. Most of them can go anywhere and do anything they want, at any given moment; people worship them because of their fame. Think about the life of Michael Jackson. This talented man was blessed with a wonderful gift of music and dance, but the media drove him mad. He had so many pressures on him where he allegedly started to abuse drugs, which ultimately killed him, and he had virtually everything he could ever want. I'm not sure what really went on with Michael Jackson, or any one else who takes this tragic fate, but I do know that when we get large sums of money, we tend to depend less on God. It's written in the bible that God will bless the poor, and those who mourn, because they are more likely to turn to God, during trying times. Whereas, when a person has great financial resources, they're more likely to turn to the world when they're hurting. I can attest to that in my own personal life, because when things are going good for me, I have a little money in the bank, and all of my bills are paid, I tend to become lenient with my prayer time. I start to "have fun", and sometimes I've had too much fun where I missed out on my time with God. If I have extra money, when I get upset I could shop or take a vacation, instead of falling on my knees in prayer. If we're not careful, money can become an idol, and it's written in Exodus 20:5-6: “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." From the outside looking in, being rich and/or famous seems like a glamorous life, but at the end of the day, everyone has his or her own problems. God requires our all, and cannot stand a double-minded person (James 4:8). We cannot worship two masters, it's either Him or the world, and if given an ultimatum to choose money or Him, which would you choose? I posed this question a few years ago, and at the time, I would honestly say that that would be a very hard decision. Now that I've grown in my walk, hands down, I would choose Jesus over anything or anyone on this earth. So let's straighten out this myth today, God loves ALL mankind; it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. He's simply commanded us to "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and Soul”, and you cannot do that if you allow the love of money to rule your life. There's nothing wrong with aspiring to have a fruitful and and abundant life, but if strengthening the Kingdom of God isn't first in everything you do, then there's a good chance those riches could evoke lots of evil in your life. If Jesus came to you today, and said give everything you own away to the poor and follow me, would you do it? If you are rich, take a moment and truly think about this. If you're not rich, but aspiring to be rich, then what would you do with your riches? If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you're very poor in Spirit, and you will not inherit the Kingdom of God. All you need to do is say a prayer to God, asking Jesus to come into your heart as Lord and Savior. After you do this, you will inherit the Kingdom of God, and you're rich in Spirit, for all Eternity, no matter what your bank account says. My favorite verses today are: Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent. (Revelations 3:17-19)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455084&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=5408289&ct=7318167

I Love You!