Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY THURSDAY!

Today's scriptures are about God's temporary chastisement. We always reap what we sow, more than we sow. Like any parent, our Heavenly Father chastises us for our sins, and for a moment we may anger Him, but He will always love us no matter what. I know I write this a lot, but do you truly understand that God "waits to be gracious to us"? He wants us to communicate, and fellowship with Him. He has a set will for our lives, which is meant to bring us joy, peace and happiness. When we stray off of that path, He'll do whatever it takes to get us back on. God rewards us when we do something good, and punishes us when we do something bad. We aren't punished out of spite, but to learn lessons. Those punishments are always temporary, and then we're right back in His good graces. Even sooner when we confess what we've done, and ask for forgiveness. God knows what we need, even before we need it, but if He allowed us to do whatever we want, whenever we want, we would have neither self-control nor discipline.

He's slow to anger, and quick to forgive, so even in His anger He hears our cry and answer’s our call. It's written: "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matt. 7: 9-11) I can recall times when we were children, when my mother had to chastise us. She rarely did, until she knew that what we were doing was going to be of harm or danger to us. The rules she put into place were meant for our protection, and not to cause grief in any type of way. Our chastisement usually came with a punishment of being confined to our room for a few days, or even a spanking. Afterward, she would always embrace us, and let us know the reason for our punishment, and the error of our ways. At times she was distraught because of our mischief, and would apologize for the harsh punishment (which is most cases wasn't harsh at all). That helped us understand that she loved us, and she was only trying to look out for our best interest. If our parents care enough to discipline us, to keep us from going down the wrong paths, then how much more does God love us? My mom never condemned us, or left us to die, but she cared enough to not only correct us when we were wrong, but also show us a better way.
In order to stay in God's good graces, we must put Him first. There are times when it feels like He's just not answering our prayers, or we go through trials, hurts, and pain, so in those times we must examine ourselves. Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart, and reveal the things that may be blocking your blessings. God is fair, so He will not punish us if it isn't warranted; especially if we're humble enough to go to Him, and admit we’ve made a mistake. We must do this with a contrite hurt, and ask Him to show us a better way. He'll reveal everything we need to know, and begin to fix our heart, to a point that we won't even want to do those things anymore. I can testify to that!

I think of King David, and all that he went through. He was hand chosen by God to be the ruler of all of Israel, and though he loved God with all of his heart He still fell short at times. David wrote several Psalms in his time of sorrow or pain. In the times that he felt like God had turned His back on him, but He always rejoiced in the fact that God will always be there for him. God made a covenant with David, it's written: I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him... (2 Sam. 7:14-15) I was reading Psalms 31 last night, which was written by David, and according to his words, oh did he receive some blows. However, at the end he remained encouraged in the covenant God made with him.

When God gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins, He made a covenant with each of us, just as He did David. Through that act, He's shown us that He will never leave nor forsake us, because of His undying love for us. When we step in His way, or sin against Him, we can expect some type of repercussion, but that repercussion will never be more than we could bear. It'll be a lesson taught out of kindness is truth. When it feels like you've lost that connection with God, don't worry, it happens to all of us, even King David. Just continue to pray, meditate, and study His word. Continue to cry out for Him, and repent, because He's never left your side, He just needs you to be right where you are.

If you don't know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then there is no connection to God. Although He's in all places at all times, you won't "feel" Him, until He's put a call out on your life. When you feel that, I would encourage you to answer, because it's written: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14) If you've accepted Jesus as Lord, and don't feel a connection to God, then call out to Him, in the Name of Jesus, and He'll be right there. Take a few moments to take the God Quiz today! My favorite verse today is: In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:8)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455421&dtype=Scripture
http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/today-on-radio
http://www.intouch.org/magazine/daily-devotional

I love you!