Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY FRIDAY!



I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying the end of another workweek. I'm doing well, a little tired, but in good Spirits. I'm looking forward to another beautiful weekend. I have a lot of cooking and cleaning to do, to get ready for the holiday week. I'm not sure what I'll do next week, but I'm looking forward to having four straight days off. I love this time of the year, because it's all about food and family, my two most favorite things. However, this is also the most stressful time to the year for some. Especially during this recession, because a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet. I always stress how important it is to pray for our nation right now. There are some very, very disturbing things going on in our world, and during this time, people resort to some wicked things for survival or out of greed. Be careful, and know that God will grant your every need, and prayer works, I'm a living witness. I am praying for all of you, and please pray for me. Have a wonderful weekend, and be blessed family!



Today's scriptures are about Jesus being with us in dark times. Dark times are inevitable, we all will face them at one time or another, and God will be there for us every step of the way. There is a famous painting called "footsteps in the sand", which depicts a man walking down the beach on wet sand, and there's second set of footsteps right next to him. That painting has a lot of meaning, because it symbolizes God's presence in our life. During trials, we’re often overcome with stress, grief, anger, and/or sadness, and those emotions can become debilitating. If we don't pray without ceasing, they will overcome us and cause us to fall into depression. In the past, when I became sad or upset my first response was to call one of my friends and "vent", and in most cases we would go out and get at "drink", to hopes of masking the pain. When I got angry, I would fly off the handle and yell and scream, and act totally irrational. The problem with these types of emotional responses is they aren’t pleasing to God. When we live our lives based on circumstance, it's impossible to please God. Jesus gives us peace, and when we call on God, in His Name, He will resurrect, or change any situation we face. God is always with us, He never sleeps nor slumbers, and He doesn't take breaks or day off. However, there are times when He steps back, and allow us to endure certain hardships to teach us lessons. This reminds me of the story of Lazarus in John 11. Jesus heard that His good friend Lazarus was sick, and He was asked to come and heal him. He and His disciples started their journey to Judea two days later. This journey was strange for His disciples because people were trying to kill Jesus in Judea. Jesus said to them in verses 9-10: “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” Jesus had the light inside of Him, He knew that God was going to light His path, so there was no need to be afraid. He knew He had a job to do, and He wasn't going to let death threats stop Him. He told His disciples that Lazarus "sleeps", but they had no idea what He meant by it. Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.” (vs. 14-15) He was going no matter what, to perform His greatest miracle of all times, in order to quiet the doubts of even His disciples. When they arrived, Martha was upset, because Lazarus had already been buried for four days. Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” (vs. 20-22) Although Martha was upset she never doubted Jesus. Jesus said to her , “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (vs. 25-26) This same Christ, who while in the flesh was able to resurrect someone from the dead, lives in us. We have His protection, coverage, and strength. We're to abide in Him as He abides in us, and live life on purpose. I know sometimes the things God tell us to do may seem strange, but we must follow with full assurance that He'll be with us every step. As long as Jesus lives in us our Spirit will never die. No matter what we face in this life, Jesus will bring light to our situations, and He'll resurrect some seemingly "dead" situations, and stimulate stagnant ones. All we need to do is walk with Him, because He's already with us. Sin will darken our path, but repentance will revive that light, so we can clearly see the way in which we should go. Without Jesus all of this is impossible. Pray and ask Him to come in your life, and the same Jesus who resurrected Lazarus will do the same for you. He'll never leave nor forsake us! My favorite verse today is: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalms 23:4)



ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455156&dtype=Scripture

http://www.intouch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=5569835&ct=7613815

http://www.intouch.org/site/pp.aspx?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=4943197



I love you!