Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Today's scriptures are about remembering God after our blessings. We receive so many blessings from God on a daily basis, that it's sometimes hard to acknowledge them all. Having good health and strength is a gift, let alone having our necessities like food, shelter, transpiration, employment, etc. Counting our blessings daily is necessary, because acknowledging that everything we have in this life is given to us by the grace of God, helps us stay humble. God promises that He'll never let the righteous fall, and that whatever we ask He'll give. I’m a living witness, who will testify that those two things are true. However, God knows our heart, our maturity level, and where we're trying to be in our faith walk. How many times have you prayed for something, was blessed with it, and never thanked God for it? In addition, when you received those blessings, how did you bless others or uplift the kingdom of God? Just imagine that your child asked you for a car on their sixteenth birthday. You buy it for them because they've been working hard, and doing well in school. Once they get that car, they never say thank you, start messing up in school, and never offer to help around the house. How would that make you feel? We treat God like that more often than we realize, and then when things go wrong in our lives, we question Him. How many times have you asked God "why me", or "what am I doing wrong"? I can’t count how many times I've prayed those prayers. It's written: A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished. (Prov. 28:20 NIV) I’m sure most of us have dreamt of winning the lottery, or building an empire, with so many riches, that we’d never have to want for anything. There's nothing wrong with that, but what matters is what we tend to do with those riches. My Pastor preached about patience this past Sunday, and he mentioned the scriptures, “the last comes first, and the first comes last”, “those who mourn will be blessed”, etc. Those types scriptures pertain today’s topic as well, because God knows what the love of money and material abundance could do to a human being. Our flesh is weak, and to have anything at out disposal could potentially be damaging to our soul. We must grow to a point where we are wise enough to seek God in all things, and adequately manage the little things in our lives, before we could manage earthly wealth. We must learn to work hard, and give freely, putting aside our own selfish ambitions. We should be able to praise God in our struggles an in our triumphs. Learning His ways, and being content with what we have is worth more than any amount of money in the world. God expects us to be like that teenager with their first car in the beginning of our Faith walk, but eventually we must grow and mature. He’s working within us, to accomplish just that. He wants us to have our hearts desire, and is willing to bless us with whatever we need to be happy, but what constitutes happiness? There are so many of us who walk around sad and upset, without a valid reason. We've been blessed with the greatest gift known to man, Salvation through Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit in our heart. That fact alone should bring us joy, peace, and happiness, all the days of our life. All we need to do is consult our Holy Spirit to find out what we should pray for, and ask God in Jesus Name, and it's as good as done. Live your life with gratitude, thanksgiving, and praise on your lips at all time, and watch God work. I'll leave you with this: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6-7) If you don't know Jesus as Lord and Savior, that's the first thing you should ask God for, and with Him comes access to all of the riches in Heaven and on earth. Thank Him everyday for the blessings past, present, and those to come, and cast your nets out into the water, and watch the multitude you'll be blessed with (John 21:1-14). My favorite verses today are: Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; ... then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God: ... for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth. (Deuteronomy 8:11-12, 4,18)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455265&dtype=Scripture
http://www.intouch.org/site/pp.aspx?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=4943197
http://www.intouch.org/site/apps/nl/newsletter.asp?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=4943547

I love you!