Making God more of a priority in our life is the firm foundation of a happy life. When we do, He can make us more of a priority in His provision and protection, as well as healing and helping us. He drenches us with His love, grace, comfort, peace, affirmation, and continual presence within us.
Jesus already died for us all - the grand gesture of love for everyone; therefore, the least we can do for Him is to keep His commandments, worship Him with our whole heart, consistently read His Word, and praise Him for His goodness and self-sacrifice for us (John 14:15-31).
God cherishes us, and longs for us to have this same cherishing devotion for Him. He made us a people for His honor and glory, and He loves to spend time with us – even if it is in companionable silence. He is our great God above every created person and thing (Deuteronomy 6:4).
God gradually reveals to us His plans and purposes for each moment of our life (Ephesians 2:10). Then, we follow His guidance specifically. We can do nothing lasting in our human abilities, but we can do all things through Jesus Christ, our Lord (John 15:5; Philippians 4:13). His divine appointments for us turn out to be adventures, the memories of which we cherish for our whole lifetime.
When we cherish His blessings, we can praise Him all day long, as well as the through the trials that we are experiencing. However, we also need to listen to Him. Monologues are not the best method of communication; but dialogue, where we both talk and we both listen, is very productive.
We can actually pray Biblical verses, not to hold them over God’s head to force His hand to work in our behalf, but to build our faith in His faithfulness, goodness, and abundant love for us. Deepening our relationship with God takes time, effort and devotion; but it pays off in huge dividends.
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for paying our sin-debt by becoming our Emmanuel – our Savior in human form. We are so sorry that Your only begotten Son, Jesus, had to live a hard life on this earth, and an even harder death of betrayal, scourging, mock trials, crucifixion and death. His stripes guarantee our healing in our spirit through salvation, in our soul through sanctification, and eventually in our body through glorification.
We so appreciate all the times that You also heal us on this earth as our Great Physician. As Your Spirit changes our soul through various levels from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:16-18), we learn to trust in You completely for every need in our life – from the simplest to the most devastating. We praise You, O Lord our God, in all that we think, in all that we say, in all that we do, and in all that we hope for, as we live for Your glory.
Thought for the Day:
A relationship with God is a cherished treasure that the wise will seek after, even to the losing of our life for His sake; and when we daily take up our individual cross and follow Him, we find that He provides us with an intimate union with Christ in us – who is our only hope of heaven.
- Matthew 10:18-19, 13:44-46; John 3:18
