Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Today's scriptures are about the love of God, and the great pleasures He has in store for us. When you think of God, and how good He’s been in your life, how would you answer the question, “How great is God”? John shared his thoughts with us, and it's written: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:1-3) John said "everyone" who has hope in God, will be purified. Our hope in God therefore shows our love for Him, and He has great roads paved for those how love Him. All we have to do is trust Him with our life, by following His commands, and the sky's the limit. We're meant to live in abundance, and have great joy in life, through Jesus Christ, so God will make sure we get there. Jesus said: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21)
Knowing that God has had our life planned out, from the beginning of time, helps us understand how very precious we are. We're His chosen children called into service, so there's a reason for us to be here. God doesn't work the way the world works, and we must surrender to Him, so that He can conform us to His ways. There's always great pleasure when we're walking with Him, no matter what's happening in our life. With God, we'll find the beauty in ashes, because He's fixed our heart to be able to think that way.
Our feeble minds aren't able to understand how vast the love and knowledge of God is, so we can't begin to figure out what's going to happen in the future, and we're not expected too. He only expects our trust and that we follow the leadership of His Holy Spirit. I promise, from experience, when you Cast your cares upon the Lord and leave them there, you have nothing else to worry about. If you pray the way Jesus taught you, and in His Name, then all of your bases are covered.
When you get the urge to follow Him in a certain way, that may or may not be logical to the world, but it feels right in your spirit, then go for it, and only joy will follow. Never say never when it comes to God, because He won't set you up for failure. He'll provide your every need, and light your every path, because it was predestined that way. There's nothing more fulfilling than to know that you've completely surrendered, and you're making a difference, because He’s using you for something great. Surrender is the most important thing to God, and He’ll determine the “something great”. Remember He said, "I don't think as man thinks", so great to Him is far different than anything we could imagine. It's time to stop worrying about what people think, and comparing ourselves to their measure of success, and seek first the Kingdom of God. Learn the ways of Christ, and pray and ask God to show you what He thinks is great, and what you need to do to make Him proud.
Consider the life of Jesus, He wasn't a rich man, didn't have fancy clothes, a big house, or jewels, like King Solomon or King David, but He was rich in Spirit. He got to do things that only others could dream of. He made a real difference in the life of others. Yes he was persecuted, talked about, and ultimately tortured and killed, but none of that mattered to Him, because He had an eternal joy that we couldn’t imagine, because He surrendered, and so have thousands of others who's chosen to walk that path. We must learn to lose ourselves and take on our roles as servants of the Most High God. God will in turn serve those who serve Him. He takes great pleasure when you're following in His ways, and don’t worry, the Holy Spirit will show you how.
Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior is only a part of it. Surrender takes you saying, "Lord here's my heart open to You, my body sacrificed to serve You, and I’ll love You for ever and ever, Amen". I've been saved since I was a young girl, but I hadn't surrendered until about 5 years ago, and I've learned to surrender every day since. If you don't know Jesus as Lord and Savior then take that first step right now. If you do have Jesus in your heart, yet still haven't experienced the joy of the Lord deep inside, then you need to surrender right now. He's waiting to hear from each of you. My favorite verse today is: Since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. (Isaiah 64:4)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455342&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!