Daily Devotinal Day & Night

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Today's verses are about having consolation through God, during times of affliction. What are the first things you do in times of tribulation or affliction? Do you: a) shut down and become recluse, b) take on numerous tasks in hopes of to ignore the pain, c) lash out at the people around you, or indulge to bad habits, or d) go to God in prayer, meditate on His promises, and praise Him for the lessons learned? We all know that the good "Christian" answer is D, but that isn't always our first reaction. The human mind is built to try and rationalize everything before making decisions, and when experiencing certain levels of tribulation. We can react in many different ways, depending upon our level of grief, as well as our maturity level in our Faith walk. I’m a firm believer of the “Five Stages of Greif” theory, which states that when we experience loss, or trauma of some sort, we experience affliction in phases. The stages of the "grief cycle" are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Most Pastors, counselors, or Psychoanalyst teaches the HALT theory, and these simple principles are meant to help us physically and mentally endure grief. We're more prone to depression and/or a lack of faith, due to affliction, when we're Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and/or Tired. When we're going through hard times it's important to eat healthy and often, avoid things that may cause anger, stay connected with family or friends who are positive, and get the proper amount of sleep. This takes care of your physical and mental health, but above all of that, you must feed your Spirit. God allows us to be tested and afflicted for many reasons. The most common reason is for refinement, in hopes that we'll learn from our mistakes, and/or strengthen our weaknesses. He also tests our maturity, because if you can be faithful with little, He'll bless you with much. In addition, our faith is assessed through tasks that require great trust in God. He must be sure that we're ready before we're called. The only way to be prepared for tests of endurance is to consistently stay in the Word of God, because your Spiritual health allows you to stay on top of the mental and physical. The Holy Bible holds the weapons to defeat the enemy, and the promises to sustain the heart. A strong prayer life is necessary to get through everyday life, because the enemy is betting on you to fail. However, ignoring him, while being subconsciously aware of his presence, allows you defeat him every time. Your energy is much better spent on the Lord, learning His principles, building a strong bond, and allowing Him to feed you the wisdom needed to excel in life. Whether you consider yourself a child of God or not, you're sure to be tested, but trust God and the saving grace of Jesus Christ, which is more powerful than anything we could endure. He urges us to come anytime, anyplace, and for anything, and the most critical time to seek Him is in times of affliction. Paul reminds us of this faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Tim. 2:11-13) If you don't know Jesus as your Lord Savior please pray that prayer today, and when you do, you and Jesus become one. Life could be hard with God, but I could only imagine how much worst it is without Him. Let me know if you need someone to pray with you. My favorite verses today are: Now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

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