Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY THURSDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you enjoyed this beautiful Friday-eve. I’m doing well, looking forward to the weekend, which will be action packed. It’s going to be fun to be taken back to my childhood. I think every adult loves to relive or capture pieces of his or her youth. Some men do it by playing video games, collecting baseball cards or collectable cars, etc, and some women like to get together with their girlfriends to shop, dress up, do hair and makeup, and gossip. It’s important to keep that joyful heart about you, and there’s nothing wrong with capturing apart of your youth, every now and then. If you haven’t had a carefree day, then treat yourself to a day of pampering, go to an arcade, or go dancing. Remember to live life to the fullest, laugh often, dance as if no one’s watching, and cast your cares upon the Lord in daily prayer. Today we celebrate Veteran’s day here in America, and I want to thank all of the men and women in service, past, present, and future; God bless you! You are appreciated, because without you, American freedom wouldn’t be possible. Enjoy the remainder of your day, and be blessed family!

Today’s scriptures are about being led by the Lord. As humans, we’re always being led by something, whether it’s a career or educational goal, a love interest, religion, fear, culture, or anything else that could control our thinking. In the bible we’re likened to sheep, because we have a “heard” mentality. We’re prone to follow a leader, yet we need that leadership in order to stay on a path. Before God created us, He knew exactly what we’d be put here to do, but He still gave us the freedom to choose Him. He gave us salvation through Jesus Christ, as well the Holy Spirit to help us follow His way. Jesus was created to be the Leader of all God’s children, and so He lived His life according to the ways and will of God. He led a perfectly righteous life, because He had to lead by example.

Jesus said: “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” (John 12:44-46 NIV) When we follow the leadership if Jesus, we’re not only following Him, but we’re following the will of God. Jesus is a part of God, and still lives, sitting at His right hand, today. The things that He taught over two thousand years ago are still relevant today. Technology, culture, and even religion have changed tremendously, but the Word of God will be the same now and forever more.

Jesus went on to say: “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” (John 12: 47-50) The best way to stay focused on Jesus, and follow His lead, is to understand that He was in fact God in the flesh. Everything He did and said was given to Him by the ultimate Leader, and the Creator of all things. Rest assured in knowing that there’s no condemnation in Jesus Christ, so to follow Him is to have life, and to deny His is to experience death.

God sent Jesus to free us from the bondage of sin [and darkness], and bring us into His light. Through Him we learn how to live in the Spirit, while still in the flesh. We also learned how to strive for righteousness without the pressures of perfection. Jesus taught us how to be human, accept our mistakes, and do our best to change them. He never wanted to condemn us, but to uplift and strengthen us to the point where we can follow God’s will with a clean heart and right Spirit. Jesus lived, but lived in a way where He could never have been called anything less than the Son of God. He showed His love openly without judgment, and also shared it with anyone in need. What better way is there to live than that?

We are in need of some strong leaders in today’s society, which reminds me of the story about the compassion of Jesus. Jesus had traveled all over His town healing people. It started with only a few, and He told these few not to tell anyone, but of course they didn’t listen. When the word got out, people came from everywhere, just to catch a glimpse of Him, in hopes that they would be healed. It’s written: But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matt 9:36-38) We must continue to pray for Laborers for God’s harvest, because there are so many people in this world suffering, but they don’t know what to do, or how to do it. Sometimes all it takes is for them to see Christ through us, just as Christ made sure that everyone He came in contact with saw the Father in Him.

I love you because God first loved me. I wouldn’t have been able to write that, and truly mean it, if it wasn’t for the leadership of Jesus Christ. He takes good care of me, so that I can show you great care, even if it’s just through an inspiration e-mail, a hug, or lending an ear when you need one. I can tell you from personal experience that I was stuck in the wilderness for a long time, looking for answers to my strife, but I wasn’t looking in the right places. It wasn’t until I sought out the love of God, through Jesus Christ, that I was really able to understand that there is a better way. When I started to read about the life of Christ, I understood that God does have love for the fallen, weary, stragglers, and sinners. Jesus taught me that no matter what I’ve done, or may do in the future, God will forgive me and show me a better way, and all I have to do is follow His lead—that’s where true freedom lies. If you want to experience that freedom, but don’t know Jesus, then take a few moments to take the God Quiz today. My favorite verse today is: Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. (Psalm 5:8)

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Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Today's scriptures are about the Shepherd to the Sheep. Why is Jesus often referred to as our Shepherd? Most importantly, why are we often referred to as His sheep? Well thanks to some research, I've found that sheep are often "prey" animals. They have the natural instinct to follow the leader, usually travel in crowds, and they often panic when faced with stressful situations, based on their "herd mentality". They aren’t considered the brightest of the animals, but their smart enough to know how to follow the right path laid out for them. According to this, and other sources, sheep are similar to humans, especially when it comes to our culture. We do tend to "herd" like sheep, and we succumb to the most popular trend.
The Shepherd is a person appointed to lead the sheep. He familiarizes himself with them, by constantly caring for them, so that they would trust him enough to follow. The Shepherd is usually a confident leader, and commands the attention of the sheep. He’s been appointed to the flock, to make sure that they get from one destination to the other safely. He allows the sheep to roam freely, because they're often good at following the direction of the leader, until they're lead astray by a predator, or another strong-minded sheep. Jesus is referred to as our Shepherd because He offers everything we need to make it to our destination safely. He'll provide living water, food for our souls, and protection from predators, so all we have to do is follow.
The enemy is always looking for an opportunity to attack us, and he does it in any type of way. If we lose sight of our Shepherd, then we also leave ourselves open to those attacks, which could ultimately lead to our destruction, or we'll fall victim to the ways of the world and succumb to the flesh.
When we are in this world with no leadership, or guidance, we're lost. We tend to do things that aren't becoming of us, and fall into bad habits, because we know no other way. We don't have the positive leadership, nor can we see clearly the road ahead, so we maintain the best way we know how. I remember being in that very dark place, not too long ago. I can remember having no sense of direction or purpose, and not knowing my left from my right. The parable of the Lost Sheep helped me out tremendously! Jesus said: “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." (Matt 18:11-14) The day I read this scripture for the first time, in Joyce Meyer's book "Be Anxious for Nothing", it was one of the brightest spots in my life, because at that time I truly felt the love of God. The Holy Spirit allowed it to resonate in my heart, and I learned that just because I was lost, Jesus never stopped looking for me. When I finally found my way back home, God and all of Heaven rejoiced at my return. I was that one important sheep! There was never a time when He wasn't looking for me, or knocking at my door waiting on me to answer. He's always waiting with open arms, because He's been given the awesome job of being our Shepherd, and He doesn't take that job lightly.
He doesn’t lead us like dogs with leashes, but we're allowed to journey with Him and make our own choices, because He trust us love Him enough to follow His familiar voice. He offers salvation, and is slow to anger and quick to forgive, because we need to be able to trust and rely on our leader to be there no matter what. Jesus is the true and highest Shepherd of all mankind. He earned our trust by the lifestyle He lead, and the sacrifice He made for us. I don't know about, but I will follow anyone who loved me enough to give up His life for me. Someone who never sinned, was always honest and true, and but sacrificed it all for a sinner like me, and asked for nothing but love in return.
When you stray, the enemy's best attack is to make you feel guilty for your sins, worthless, and shameful for your transgressions, so much so, you feel like you're not worthy of God's blessings, or Jesus’ gift of Salvation. The enemy leaves you feeling empty inside, which causes you to not only fear God to a point where you stop communicating with Him, but also hide from Him when He's calling you. All of these things can be overcome by simply returning home, asking God for forgiveness of your sins, with a heart of repentance, and accepting that forgiveness for what it is, a clean slate. He's done that for me, on numerous occasions, because He's the God of the second, third, forty-ninth, or fiftieth chance. No matter how much you stray, if you come to Him with a humble heart, He'll always forgive you, and welcome you back home. God loves you; it's just as simple as that. It grieves His heart to see you in pain, or to know that you're lost in the wilderness trying to find your way home. If that’s you, consider this your call home; He's waiting to hear from you. If you don't know Jesus, start there first. My favorite verses today are: I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:14,27-28)

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