Daily Devotional Day & Night (Post # 400)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Today’s scriptures are about resisting the enemy. We live amongst evil every day of our life, and the enemy is always tempting us to sin against, and stray away from God. He’ll use any means necessary to block our blessings, and stunt our growth, so it’s up to us to make that very hard for Him. We must purposely live in righteousness, and in love, because living any other way will lead to separation from God. Granted, once we accept Jesus as Lord, our salvation cannot be taken from us, however, when we sin, we’re separated from full fellowship with God until we repent. That’s so very scary for me, because I know life with God, but I definitely know life without Him, and I choose God. Once you get a taste of His Agape love, there is no going back. God has opened my heart to point where no matter where I am or who I’m with, I’m at peace. The enemy tries to destroy that, but I put on the amour of God, and continue to battle against him.

I’ve learned that it’s me that has to change. I was saved as a child, and baptized on my 15th birthday, and since then my life has been a roller coaster ride. It’s been one trial or obstacle after the other, but they’ve all worked together to make me who I am today. Most of the tribulation that’s happened in my life was all about the choices I made. God always gave me a better alternative, with every decision I’ve made, but it was my ignorance, and desire to please my flesh that made me choose something other than Him. I wasn’t making any changes in my life, or choosing light over darkness, but I primarily chose what felt good to my flesh. I hung around people who were on the same, or sometimes lower, spiritual and moral level that I was, and we were like Jesus described, the blind leading the blind. I did things the only way I knew how, but never tried to learn a new way. What needed to happen was for me to seek the Lord and allow Him to lighten my path.

How do we resist the enemy? We have to change our way of thinking, and use our instruction book for life, the Holy Bible. This may be the most controversial book in the world. I’ve heard more people dispute the validity of the bible, and the stories in it, than I’ve heard people promoting the truth of it. People say, this book was written by man, so some things are fabricated, or aren’t true. They also say that because it’s been translated so many times, that some things were lost in the translation, but people who think like that truly underestimate God. I think many of us give more credit to the power of the devil, than they do God. If He created the WORLD, and everything in it, why couldn’t He use man to write and translate the Bible? I never claimed to be a Biblical Scholar, but I do know God. I write by the Holy Spirit, and the wisdom and knowledge that He’s instilled in me over the years, so I can testify that He still speaks through so many people, including me. If you have any doubts about the Holy Bible, think about Who God is, and then ask yourself if it’s possible that this could’ve been solely written and translated by Him, through man. You’ll find the answer in the Holy Spirit.

The only way to truly resist the enemy is to seek God. Everything you do, each day, need to be about God. Always ask yourself will this exalt God, or is He going to be proud of this. Live according to the principles taught in the bible. Try your best to keep His commandments, and live in Love, as Jesus pointed out to us. Remain slow to anger and quick to forgive, and always look to serve your fellow man, as if you were serving Jesus Himself. Take a moment to breathe, and spend some alone time with Him, praying, and meditating on His word. Sometimes just sitting quietly for an hour, just in deep thought about the love of God, and what He teaches in His word, helps keep you centered. This helps you build up your spiritual muscles, so that you can fight against the attacks of the enemy. If you don’t do these things, then you’re spiritually weak, and it’s much more difficult to resist the enemy.

When we looked at the story of when Jesus was tempted by the enemy, He actually had conversations with him. Jesus fought back with the sword, the Word of God, and finally told Him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” (Matt. 4:10). This is the key to being able to resist evil—your main concern is serving God and God only. The first step to walking away from evil is to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you’ve done that, then from the time your feet hits the floor in the morning thank God, and pray without ceasing throughout the day. Do everything with Jesus in mind, because everything that He did in His life, He had us in mind. If you don’t know Jesus, then take a few minutes to take the God Quiz right now. My favorite verses today are: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)

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Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Today’s scriptures are about the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ. Each person was created for a reason; some like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who played a major part in the lives of an entire race of people, and others like the maid that takes care of our home with so much precision and care. We each are servants of God in our own right, but there is none like Jesus Christ. He’s the only person who ever was, or every will be, qualified to be the Lamb of God, and He carried out this position with great integrity, longsuffering, obedience, and humility. He followed the will of God to the letter, and gave up His life for the greater good of all humanity. He was exactly who God created Him to be, and lived the life He was expected to live. Thanks be to God that He did what I was incapable of doing, all because He loves me.

From the beginning of time Jesus was present, because He has always been a part of God. Jesus was exactly who God expected Him to be—He was loving, loyal, faithful, truthful, giving, strong, encouraging, and I can go on and on. He was able to live like this without fail, because He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, as one of today’s verses points out. We’re not too different from Jesus because we were created just a little lower than Him. You and I aren’t expected to be Jesus, because there was only one Him—we can only strive to be “like” Christ. I am expected to be Saundra, Dr. King was expected to be Dr. King, and you’re expected to be you. I believe that we start to struggle in our spiritual life when we become unhappy with who we are, and try to change ourselves to be like people we weren’t meant to be. You must embrace, and love who you are. There’s no one like you, and in the eyes of God you’re special and unique. Yes, you must do your best to live a life pleasing to God, but you must look to Him, and Him only, to find out what that’s supposed to be.

The enemy will always defeat us with “great expectations”. We must know what God expects from us, and what we should expect from Him. Jesus laid out what He expects from us when He said: “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” (Matt 22:37-39) I include these verses in so many devotionals because a lot of believers don’t understand that this is all that God expects from us. He created us for love and fellowship. Jesus went on to say said: On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (vs.40) He said this because when we love God, and love each other, we’ll automatically do our best to follow the laws put in place, which helps us live a civilized, happy and peaceful existence.

What can, or should, we expect from God? It’s written: Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4:17-19) It’s also mentioned in this chapter that God is Love, so we can always expect unconditional love from Him. He gave us life through Jesus, and the freedom to live it; we could’ve only gotten that from Him. We’re no longer to fear life and how it will end, but we’re free to live our life according to the Will of God, and if we make mistakes along the way, that’s okay, because He loves us. He came in the flesh to atone of our sins—He was here on earth walking, talking, living and breathing just like you and me. When He was sad He cried, hungry He ate, tired He slept, lonely He sought comfort through His friends, and when His skin was pierced He bleed.

Jesus’ experience here on earth gave God insight on what it is to be human. He literally can feel our pain, which deepens His love for us. He offered us freedom, which is something that we could never get from another human being. In life we can only expect the greatest from God, because He proves His love and existence to us every single day, when the sun rises and sets. Jesus proved His love for us, when He willingly endured pain, heartache, rejection, and a brutal death, so that we could live beyond this world, now and forevermore. All you have to do is believe, as it’s written: Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:15) Jesus is the ONE and ONLY way to gain salvation, so if you don’t know Him, take some time to take the God Quiz right now. My favorite verses today are: Who made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. (1 Philippians 2:7-9)

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