Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY TUESDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying this "terrific Tuesday". I'm doing well after a long day of work. I haven't worked this hard in a very long time. I'm so ready to take a nap right here, right now, but duty calls. It's such a privilege being able to serve the Lord in any type of way, but writing is one of my favorite pastimes. It's therapeutic for me, because I communicate better in writing. I find that I'm able to process my thoughts better while writing, and I'm grateful for this gift from God. It's only right that I use it to serve the Lord. There's a song by J. Moss called "We Must Praise". In this song, brother Moss points out the importance of using every gift and talent you have to Praise God. We each have something unique to add to His Kingdom, it's just up to us to dig deep, and seek the answers from God. If you haven't already, pray and ask Him what you can do for Him, instead of always asking Him to do something for you. Enjoy the remainder of your day, and be blessed family!

Today's scriptures are about God's mercy for those who fear Him. I think this may be one of the most misconstrued subjects in Christianity. I don't know how many times I've heard someone say, "I don't want to serve a God I have to fear, isn't He supposed to be loving, caring, and forgiving, etc." It's amazing how the enemy twists things around, to make them work for him. Having fear for God is one of the best things that could happen to us. It teaches us discipline, and respect for authority, as well as a fear of disappointing or disrespecting Him. We're to be so afraid of His wrath that we'll try out best not to sin against Him. That same fear will promote reverence, a deeper love for Him, and a greater appreciation of grace and mercy. If we fear Him for these reasons alone, He’s quick to have mercy on us, because at the same time, we’re showing our love for Him.
I always compare the fear of the Lord to the fear of our Parents. Growing up, our parents were our “everything”, our provider, protector, and the people responsible for loving, teaching, and guiding us in the way we should go. We refer to God as being our Heavenly “Father” because of the way He designed the chain of life. We're given a permanent bond with our parents that never fade, no matter how old or independent we become. The cycle of our Spiritual life works the same way. Once we’re born again in Christ, we’re to look to God as our parent. He’s now responsible for our growth, and will provide and protect us. We’re to fear Him grater than we fear our earthly parents, because in doing so, we’ll receive grater rewards.
It's written: And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? (Deuteronomy 10:12-13) What do you think God will gain if you're afraid of Him? He created us for fellowship. All He's been asking for, since He created Adam, was love. He created the Heaven and earth, the plants and animals, but none of those things are designed to communicate with Him as well as we are. He created us to be His companions, to love and commune with, all the days of our life. He doesn't want us to fear Him to a point where we stop communicating with Him, or try and hide from Him to cover our sin. Remember when Adam and Eve first discovered that they were naked, they hid themselves from God? The first thing He said, when He came to fellowship with them in the Garden, and couldn’t find them was "where are you?" He wanted to know why they hid themselves from Him. God wants us to fear Him to a point that we love and respect Him, but He doesn't want us to be so afraid that He has to continuously call out to us, "Where are you?"
He gave Himself as a sacrifice to bring us closer to Him. Jesus taught love, togetherness, repentance, restoration, and righteousness in God, but He also warned us to keep that parent/child fear for God. Jesus didn’t dwell on fearing God in His teachings; rather He focused more on teaching the love of God. Jesus said: “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:4-5) Jesus came to create a new covenant, but He also wanted us to understand that we must believe in Him, or God will condemn us. However, if we accept Jesus as Lord, God will bless us in so many ways. God will indeed give us beauty for ashes, and overlook our transgressions when we ask. He’s have great mercy on our souls, because we’ve been washed and renewed by the Lamb of God. He loves us, and we're His pride and joy, so He wants us to have the best out of life. However it’s written: “…but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” (Matt. 6:23)
It’s just this simple, we're rewarded when we're right and punished when we're wrong. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be punished, so out of respect for Him, I'm going to do my best to do what's right. He loves us much more than we could ever understand, so we must focus on that love, but understand the power of His wrath. He'll do whatever it takes to help you complete His will for your life, so you could do it the easy way or the hard way, which will it be?
I urge you to take a few minutes and to take Dr. Stanley's God Quiz today, I'm sure you'll find some great insight into your Salvation, or lack thereof. If you don't know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then be very afraid, but if you do, understand that the fear that He wants us to have, is meant to keep us closer to Him, and obedient, for our own good. My favorite verses today are: The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. (Psalms 145:18-19)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455412&dtype=Scripture
http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/today-on-radio
http://www.intouch.org/magazine/daily-devotional

I love you!