Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY THURSDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying this beautiful Friday-eve. I'm doing well, just a little tired, but blessed nonetheless. While catching up with my e-mails today, I came across information about another Woman's Weekend Retreat, hosted by my aunt, Minister Sabrina Roberts. If you'd like more information, check out her website http://faithwalkministry.vpweb.com/. I wasn't able to attend the one she hosted back in June, but heard it was spectacular. I'll be sure to attend this one, because I know it's going to be great. These are strong, wise, women of Faith, and I'm sure we'll learn a lot. Her contact information is under the section that says "Contact Us", on the website. Feel free to contact her if you have any questions. Enjoy the remainder of your day, and be blessed family!

Today I wanted to write about the wisdom of accepting who you are, and it all started from Proverbs 12. Every verse of every Proverb is full of wisdom, and you can get so much from a few words. This chapter began with: Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. (vs 1) What God sees as discipline is to keep His commandments, and walk according to His Word, but the world often sees it differently. Discipline is necessary to live a successful life, but could often be misconstrued. It's strengthened through trial and error, and can only be mastered by the ability to see correction in the Lord, the ability to accept life as it comes, and be grateful for every aspect. None of us are experts at everything, all the time, but it takes discipline to please God. Only a fool will fight the natural process of growth, because of their own self-proclaimed wisdom; the only true wisdom comes from God.

God created us just the way that He wanted us to be, but people spend so much time telling us to be something other than our self. There is nothing wrong with who you are, how you look, or what you like, because that's a part of your makeup. Some people kill themselves each day trying to correct mistakes, change their appearance, or readjust themselves, because of what society (or the world) tells them they should be. We place so much emphasis on our flaws and failures that we forget to praise God for our triumphs and victories, which far outweigh the bad. Mistakes are made to bring knowledge and wisdom, as well as refinement. When we fall out of step with God's will, the best thing to do is to ask Him how to get back in. He is our only Judge, so we're living to please Him and no one else. Yes we love the people in our lives, and strive to make them happy, but God sits on the throne of our lives; so must work hardest to please Him.

So far this year, I've heard of three suicides from friends who lost neighbors, and loved ones, because the weight the world was on their shoulders (so they thought). It's written: Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad. (vs 25) I know depression very well, and most of you that I've shared my story with know this very well. Anxiety brings a pain so severe that it could bring people to the point of taking their own life. It gets this severe because of the pressures of the world. Everyone is different, and they process things differently, so to try to completely understand why suicide is so prevalent in our society is beyond me. However, I can take a wild guess. Turn on the television and watch commercials. We're always inventing something to make us look better, perform better, make more money, buy better clothes, bigger homes, etc., as if the way God created us, or what He’s blessed us with isn't good enough. The best piece of wisdom I’ve received is to be content with who you are. If you aren't content with you, then it's up to you to change it, that's where the discipline comes in. When you close you close your eyes at night it’s just you, and you must be able to live with yourself. Don't change because the world wants you to change, but be open to the leadership of God. Remember we are peculiar people, and we're meant to be different from the rest. Surround yourself with positive people, who will give you a positive word, and you're heart will be forever glad. God loves you just the way you are, flaws and all.

A friend shared this verse with me earlier today, and I think Paul had the answer to how to be content with being you. It's written: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NLT) This is the truth, and nothing but the truth. Love who you are and I know that's not easy for everybody, because you've spent so much time hating who you are. If you don't love who you are, learn how to see yourself the way God sees you. He sees you through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and you're blameless and righteous in His sight. If you don't know Jesus Christ then you may never be content within yourself. Take a few moments and take the God Quiz today! My favorite verse in this chapter is: In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. (vs. 28)

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Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying the end of the workweek. T... G.... I... F.!!!!! I've never been so happy to see a Friday in my life. It's been a really good week, and I've been very productive. Things are starting to get back to normal, but not really. You ever felt free and complete, even though things in your world aren't going as planned? That's how I feel as of today, like there's a breakthrough coming. I've been spending a lot of time going back through the daily devotionals, to get them edited for the book, and God has spoken to me through them, and it's as if I didn’t write them. It's liberating, and I'm grateful that God choose me. We've been attempting to raise money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure fund raiser at work, so everyone is wearing pink, and it's good see that people are getting involved. This foundation is huge, and prayerfully they will find a cure. My Granny died from breast cancer, so the cause is near to my heart. CoStar will match all of our donations, so if you haven't already, take a moment and donate at least $5, and that $5 will turn into $10 http://www.info-komen.org/site/TR/PassionatelyPink/PassionatelyPink?px=1896835&pg=personal&fr_id=1130. Have a wonderful weekend, and be blessed family!

Today's scriptures are about being content with our current blessings. No matter how much God blesses us we always want more. Would you say that I'm accurate with that statement? Personally, I'm never content with anything. Greed is a sin, and it's a sign of ungratefulness. That's the way of the world. The more wealth you have, the more privileges you're afforded. With money comes prestige, power, and in most cases fame. In the Kingdom of God our treasures are stored up in Heaven. We're to be more concerned with our works, and pleasing God then anything we could acquire here on earth. It's written in Luke 12:47-48: And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. God blesses each of us according to His will, and where we are right now is exactly where we should be. As children of God we’ll always have enough, because He will provide our every need. We must be content with what we have, before we could receive more. God knows are heart, and maybe we're not ready to receive the larger blessings He has in store for us. We must work on maturing in our Faith walk, and strengthening our relationship with Him, in opposed to building earthly riches. God knows where we are in our walk, and He won't attempt to feed steak to a newborn baby. Let's think of it on earthly terms, if you haven't graduated medical school, will you be able to perform an open-heart surgery? If you haven’t gone through any physical training, would you be able to run a 25K marathon. Each day we're given on earth is a blessing, and we must treat it as so. Have you ever tried to give someone something and they said it wasn't good enough? How would that make you feel? We do that to God all the time. We pray for a car, we get a car, but then turn around and say, "I wish I had a nicer car". We pray for a job, we get the job, and then we say, "I wish I made more money". Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being successful, and working hard to achieve your goals. However, there's a thin line between striving for a goal, and lusting after desire. Hopes and dreams can quickly turn into lust if we're not careful. A friend told me recently that we must celebrate our small victories, and so often we lose sight of those. We must praise God for the simple things, because we take a lot for granted. We're blessed to be able to walk, talk, and see, because those things could easily be taken from us. I watch my grandmother struggle to breathe, and that made me realize how precious taking a breath of air really is. Be careful not to measure your success by your earthly possessions, because being rich in the Spirit is a much greater accomplishment. Jesus was the King of all Nations, but He survived with meager means, and had tremendous peace. Wealth is a blessing, but so is mediocrity at the right time, but life is about growth, so you never know what will happen. Seek God in everything, praise Him often, and be grateful for all seasons of life. Take each day as it comes, and never forget to count your blessings. Jesus is the key to inner peace, happiness, and love. If you don't know Him, please take a moment and invite Him into your life. He's very eager to fellowship with you. My favorite verses today are: Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. (Proverbs 30:8-9)

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