God Delights in Blessing Us

God blesses us all day long in so many ways; we are just too busy to notice. If we focus on our to-do list or the negative issues we are facing, we miss seeing the blessings.

God delights in blessing His children (Psalms 8:4-5, 139: 6-7, 17). He rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). When we ignore or do not appreciate what He does for us, we get disappointed and frustrated by what we wanted Him to do, and what we perceive that He failed to do.

God arranged our genes, gave us our parents, and had us born in the city and country that He chose in order to give us the personality and talents we have, so that we can use them for His purposes.

Self-improvement is our carnal attempt to perfect our self. God wants to lead us, and for us to take the back seat (Mark 8:34). As we focus on praising God in the midst of our short-comings, He will replace our imperfections with His Spirit's fruit.

As we yoke up with Jesus, we find rest in God's grace. His mercy allow us to submit to His Spirit's direction each and every moment of every day. His presence eliminates the emptiness, fear and depression in our soul.

We develop a friendliness with others. We share the gospel with anyone interested in hearing that God loves them and has a plan for their life. We love God and His Kingdom as our priority and then we love others as we love our self (Matthew 6:33; Mark 12:30-31).

Prayer:

Father God, You hold us securely in Your love. We have no fear of life's storms, because You are in control of them all. You bless us with Your contentment, joy and fulfillment even in the midst of negative circumstances. You calm the storms and cause the sun to burst through the clouds, illuminating our days with Your peace.

As You shed Your love in our hearts, teach us to love others as our self. Remind us to look for Your blessings all through our day and to share Your blessings with others as You give us the opportunity to bless them. Help us not to miss Your divine opportunities or to take Your divine provision for granted.

Thought for the Day:

God does not ask us to trust one another, because we are frail humans and hurt one another - often without realizing it; but He does expect us to trust Him to bless us in His timing, will and way.

My Hiding Place

Most people have a Happy Place. That one place on earth that makes them feel free, happy and safe. A place in nature, the mall, at home, a favorite restaurant, the back pew at the church facilities, etc.

Destruction can wipe out these natural places, however. They are illusive at best. Contrarily, if we find our Happy Place in the presence of God, it will never be destroyed. It goes with us wherever we go and no one can take it away from us.

Our Hiding Place in God preserves us from trouble. God comforts us with songs of deliverance in our spirit (Psalm 32:7). He keeps us safe as our shield, as we hope in His Word (Psalm 119:114).

His presence is a shelter and shade from the struggles and stresses which parch us, and a refuge from the storms of life (Isaiah 4:6). God shelters us from the tempests and gives us the refreshment of the waterfalls of His love and contentment during dry spells (Isaiah 32:2).

When disasters destroy our habitat and water floods our natural hiding place, He offers us the plumb line of righteousness and the measuring stick of His justice to help us to rebuild on the foundation of Christ in our life (Isaiah 28:17).

We hope in the promises of His Word and wait on His instructions when darkness surrounds us on every side (Psalm 18:11, 119:114). His presence provides us with a constant secluded place to keep us safe (1 Samuel 19:2).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that Satan will hide as a lion in his lair in order to catch the afflicted, many of whom he wounded from his constant assaults on their life (Psalm 10:9). He lies to us and we believe his corruption. Yet, You provide us with a hiding place from the destroyer (Isaiah 16:4).

At times, You will even use people to present us with a hiding place from life's discouragements and insecurity (Deuteronomy 32:38). Yet, more often than not, if we look to the natural world, we trust in a lie for our safety and wellbeing (Isaiah 28:15). Keep us ever mindful of Your love, surround us with Your angels, and shower us with your blessings in the midst of this dry and desert land.

Thought for the Day:

If we hide the light of Christ within us, we fail to shine His saving grace to the world around us; so let us represent a city on a hill with a promise of a true and secure Hiding Place, as we offer solace to those God brings into our life (Luke 11:33).

 

Meekness and Grace

God's Spirit slowly transforms our life in Christ from one stage of glory to the next until we have the mind, character and nature of Christ in us (Romans 1:1, 6:18).

We are no longer slaves to the negative attributes of our human personality, but we are free indeed (John 8:36). We grow in meekness and grace in order to live in total surrender to the loving hands of the Master Potter (Isaiah 64:8).

God's Spirit teaches us to draw near to God and to resist Satan's temptations, so that he has to flee from us (James 4:7). We no longer live as slaves to sin, dancing to the beat of Satan's tune.

We are free to live in Jesus' holiness and righteousness, which He exchanged with us for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:17). We no longer live in habitual sin (1 John 3:9), because Christ poured out His love for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

God reconciled us to Himself through Christ's sacrifice on Calvary's cross (Colossians 1:20). He molds us into a spotless Bride for His Son. We end up as a glorious Bride without any blemish or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27).

As we maintain our daily focus on Christ, He authors and completes our salvation in spirit, soul and eventually in body (Hebrews 12:2; James 1:4). We live in union with Christ and we purpose to further God's Kingdom in the earth (Luke 2:49).

Like Jesus, we can do nothing from our own strength, wisdom or resources. We need our Father, our Savior and their Spirit. We are one with them now and throughout eternity (John 5:19, 10:30).

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus has Your mind and through His presence within us, we share Your mind as well (1 Corinthians 2:16). Our union with You increases and deepens as we keep our mind on You (Isaiah 26:3). Help us to repent of our dependence on our human wisdom and understanding, which limits our usefulness in Your Kingdom.

We want to walk away from our humanity, including our goals and good works, and embrace Your divinity within us. Teach us to follow Your Spirit as He guides us through every step of our day until we learn to acknowledge You in all of our ways (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Thought for the Day:

We can learn to fellowship with the Trinity and to listen to God’s Spirit within us as we put on the mind of Christ and accomplish His will for each moment of our life.