Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying the end of another workweek (for most). We finally made through the week, and I'm drained, but I still feeling good. TGIF! I'm happy that I'm learning how to find the positive in everything, because that truly does change your entire outlook on life. I used to be that "I know but" type of person, who always chose to see the worst in things. Someone would say, "that's nice car" and I would say, "I know but it burns a lot of gas". I guess I still have a little bit of the "but" mentality in me, however God's helping me work on that, especially when it comes to myself. I guess in being a semi-perfectionist, I see things as, “that's good but it could be great”. That's a gift and a curse, because on one hand it helps me strive to do my best in everything, but on the other, it causes me sometimes set unreachable goals, and when I fail, I then become a procrastinator. How do you overcome that? There are several ways I'm sure, but I find answers in the Serenity prayer, "Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference". Overcoming procrastination and being a perfectionist, is only possible by having the wisdom to know the difference between the things you can and cannot change. Accept and love who you are, because that's exactly who God created you to be, and continue to work on your own greatness, for you and God, and not because the world deems it important, special, or beautiful. Enjoy your weekend family, and be blessed!

Today's scriptures are about the light that leads us. Life is full of exhale moments. You know the times in life when something bothers you, or has you in bondage, and it seems like you're always holding your breath? When you finally overcome those things, or reach a solution to the problem, it's like you can finally exhale. Throughout my Christian faith walk, I've had moments when it felt like I just wasn't growing. It was like I was stuck on this emotional rollercoaster that was going nowhere fast. I was frustrated because the more I tried to do right, bad things would happen, which would lead me right back to doing wrong. It was a wilderness moment, and a time of refinement. Dr. Stanley said, in one of his teachings, people are too busy trying to change their life, or become a better person, before they surrender to God. He went on to say, “the truth is, we're incapable of doing that on your own”. After I heard Him say that, I exhaled. Once I found out that we're incapable of becoming righteous without Jesus, it gave me hope. It allowed me to let myself off the hook a bit, in order to focus more on learning the ways of God. At first, I was beating myself up, because I thought I should be, or do better, but I was doing the best that I could do on my own.

Jesus taught us, in the Sermon on the Mount to, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matt. 7:13-14) How do we learn how to stay on that narrow road, which leads to the narrow gate Jesus is referring too? We live in a dark world, which has great influence over the flesh, and it's very easy to sin; that gate is very wide. If we aren't purposely focusing on serving the Lord, we could easily stray from the righteous path. For example, how many Christian broadcast TV or radio stations are there, versus secular stations? Enticements are always at your fingertips, and when you're not committed to serving the Lord, you're more likely to succumb to the world.

The good news is you're not alone. God created us this way and He understands our weaknesses. He's given us salvation through Christ, which allows us to live life in abundance. Just because we live in a dark world, we aren’t necessarily of it. God has instilled a light within us, and He also lights out pathways. When we look to Him for guidance, we'll see everything so much clearer. We should pray before we make any decisions, big or small. Remember whenever we ask, He answers, so when we ask for guidance He'll show us the way. As soon as I awake in the morning, I first thank Him, and then ask Him to guide my path for the day; it’s become a habit. When I'm really confused, or faced with a big decision, I spend extra time in the prayer room. There are always times when the answers aren't really that clear. When that happens, we must spend quiet time with Him in prayer and meditation. In some cases we could fast, which helps us truly focus on Him. There are also times when we could speak in tongues, by asking the Holy Spirit to pray through us. Either way, God will show us the way, no matter what we're going through. There isn't anything too large, or too little, for Him to handle.

Do you notice a trend here? The bottom line is, life is what you make it, and you get out of it what you put in. Jesus told us to "Enter" by the narrow gate..., which requires us to take some steps. God isn't going to wave a magic wand and we’ll become this wise and powerful person. Yes we all have the light, but we have to learn how to seek it, and most importantly how to use it. Our Christian life is all about growth, remember we're once "babes in Christ”, and if we don't seek the knowledge and wisdom to grow from that point, then that's where we'll stay. I find myself straying off of the path of righteousness when I'm not into the Word of God everyday. If I go even a week without praying, reading my bible, and being surrounded by the Word in some type of way, I feel lost and in the dark. That will happen to any believer, whether you're a babe in your Faith walk, or you're a Minister who preaches in the pulpit. We're all still in the flesh, but the key to avoiding the gate that leads to destruction, is to live by the Spirit, for the Spirit, and in the Spirit.

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) Jesus never asked us to be perfect and without sin, He only asked us to love Him, and surrender. Only then could He shape and mold us into the righteous children of God we were intended to be. Remember if you've accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, you've been chosen from the beginning of time. If you haven't chosen Jesus as Lord, then now is your time; God also chose you! If you're not sure what you believe, take some time to take the God Quiz today. My favorite verses today are: When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light. (Proverbs 6:22-23)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455436&dtype=Scripture
http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/today-on-radio
http://www.intouch.org/magazine/daily-devotional

I love you!