Day 326: Thanksgiving!

Psalms 28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.

Psalms 30:12

That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

So today is thanksgiving in America and as an old tradition that I’m sure just isn’t in my family, let’s call to mind what we are thankful. Let’s say how thankful we are for God, I want us to be reminded of how great God is. Bringing our attention to His goodness and thanking Him. I know that we thank God everyday, and we should be reminded of His goodness daily. But I just want you all, even if celebrating the holiday isn’t part of your tradition. Take the time to thank God and show your gratitude towards Him.

In everything we do we should glorify God, and I know our lives show how grateful we are. But there is something different about taking the time to thank God. There is something beautiful about acknowledging what He has done and what He continues to do. Some of my favorite moments are when I can just take in the goodness of God and just say thank you. Not with an empty heart but with a heart full of gratitude because I know that His hand is always on me. I know that He is the one who gets me through every moment of every day. We thank God because He has done so much for us, and just because a million thank you s would never be enough to thank Him for all He does, that doesn’t mean that we omit it. We are often caught up in asking God for things that we forget to thank Him. So, in honor of this American holiday, let’s do exactly that. Let’s take the time, not to ask for anything or push our own agendas let’s just take the time to thank Him.
With everything going on in this world it is important that we come together and be thankful for the wonderful things God has done. It’s so easy to pay ettentiin to the negative and see everything wrong. But I choose to see the goodness of God in all the craziness and evil this world has to offer. There’s so much to be thankful for. Let’s point that out today.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to pray and thank God. Whatever that looks like for you do it. Open your heart to Him and show Him how grateful you are.
I love you and I hope you all have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 327!

Day 297: God's Discipline

Hebrews 12:3-11

Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. 5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?He said,

“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.

6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? 10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Now I know we’ve all been in trouble before, by our parents/guardians, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, coaches. Maybe I’m just speaking for myself when it comes to being in trouble by everyone. I’m told it takes a village to raise a child and I turned out fine. However that’s not the point. We all know what discipline feels like one way or another. I can speak for everyone when I say it’s not fun, we don’t like it. The big kicker is when our parents discipline us, because they say they are doing it because they love us. Now when I was younger I was not here for any of it, I did not want to hear it. My mother was a firm believer in “spare the rod, spoil the child” with that being said, there was physical punishment. Every time we would get in trouble, when my mom was done whooping us, she would talk to us and tell us that she was only doing it because she loves us. Little did I know how much that discipline and correction would affect the person I became as I grew up. What I failed to realize is that this discipline was rooted in love, she could have easily let me do what I wanted, not corrected me, and watched me become something I was never meant to be. But she loves me too much. I did not understand it then but now I know that my parents corrected and disciplined me literally because they love me. They did not want me to grow up wild and not knowing the difference between right and wrong. They raised me the best they knew how, and I turned out great. Proverbs Proverbs 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” My parents raised me right and I I grew I learned to appreciate that discipline, because it gave me direction and helped shape me into the person I am today. When we put that into context, how much more does God love us? He loves us immeasurably more than our parents ever could.

God disciplines us in the same way that our earthly father discipline’s us. God loves us so much He is going to correct us, He is going to discipline us, He is going to make sure that we stay on the right track. I love that the scripture labels these as encouraging words, because it is very encouraging. It’s encouraging to know that we have someone that loves us so much that He will not allow us to go down the wrong path if He can help it. Not only that but He gave us the Holy Spirit as a guide, giving us direction and correction. Sometimes we deliberately disobey Him, but that’s another topic for another day. God has a path laid out for each of us, and sometimes on that path we will have to endure times of correction and discipline. God does not discipline us because He’s mean and evil. No He disciplines us to train us, to help us, to teach us how to live a life that is pleasing to Him. We learn a lot from our moments of discipline, we learn a lot about our mistakes and the things we do. However we also learn that God loves us so much that He will not watch us destroy ourselves. He will not stand back and watch us ruin ourselves. No, God is too invested in us, we are His children. Imagine if God did nothing when He saw us straying away. Is that really love? God corrects those He loves, and He has blessed us with parents and guardians to do the same.

The thing about discipline is it doesn’t feel good. It’s painful, it hurts but sometimes it takes pain to grow. It takes pain to mature, I might have gotten in trouble for things when I was younger but I knew not to do them again. No, God’s punishment will not feel good, correction isn’t the easiest thing to take in, but it allows us to grow. It teaches us something. But after it all we will flourish, we will know what it is like to live right. To walk with Christ. It’s a part of growing up. We may not understand it now but when we look back we will be eternally grateful for God’s correction.

All this to say, don’t overlook God’s rebuke. He is not going around constantly looking for ways to punish us, in fact He is constantly drawing us closer to Him. He is raising us to be His children and He will discipline and punish us as He sees fit because He loves us. He loves us enough to hurt our feeling for a little while in order to make sure that we are walking and living how we are supposed to. He’s willing to hurt our feelings for a little while in order to teach us and raise us. Sometimes love is brutally honest and cannot spare our feelings, but it doesn’t mean that it is not love.

Reflection

1. Can you think of a time when your parents punished you and you can look back and be grateful for it now?
2. Can you agree that discipline is rooted in love?

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray to God and thank Him that He is a God of correction and that He loves us so much that He will correct us. Pray in whatever way you feel led. Just have a conversation with God.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 298!

Day 283: Faithful God

2 Timothy 2:13

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.

This scripture had me shook when I read it. I brings me to the question when someone asks, “Who is God?” One thing we can say is He is faithful. It’s who He is, cannot be unfaithful. Have you ever met someone that is faithful even when the other person isn’t. He’s faithful even when we aren’t faithful to Him. What?! God is faithful to us even when we are unfaithful to Him. Where else are we going to find this kind of commitment? We are all looking for commitment in relationships, but we’re overlooking the commitment we already have. God is committed to loving His people and that means being faithful. He is committing to sticking to and following through on His word. God is here to stay and He will never leave. This is the type of commitment we are looking for but we are looking for it in the wrong places. We have someone who is going to love us eternally and unconditionally. We have someone that is going to remain faithful no matter what, someone who will never break a promise and always follow through on His word. Why are looking everywhere else to find it? More importantly, why is so hard for us to be faithful to Him?

I know many of us have been in relationships, but how many of us can say we will stay in a relationship with an unfaithful person? I know for a fact that I would not, and that’s why I’m not God, However there are many things I am willing to work through but there’s only so much of being unfaithful that I can take. However God is not the same, He is constantly working through it with us. When we have our moments of being unfaithful, He doesn’t stop being faithful us, instead His love for us remains the same, because that is who He is. God loves us so much that instead of walking away from us, He forgives us, and works through it with us. How amazing is that? That we have someone who will always be there. No matter what, we can always know that God is there for us. That no matter what we can always depend on Him. That’s beautiful! It’s amazing. One of the greatest example of God’s love for us and His want to be in relationship with us is Jesus. He sent His only son to die on a cross so that we may be saved and that we may have a relationship with Him. If that’s not love I don’t know what is.

The last thing I want to say is that God will not send us someone who is unfaithful Sometimes we are looking for someone to be faithful and love us unconditionally but we have not come into the knowledge or understanding of God’s love and faithfulness for us. Before we can fall in love with anyone else we have to fall in love with god. Before we have a relationship with anyone else we must have a relationship with God, because God teaches us how to love as well as be loved. God has someone for all of us, but don’t settle. God has someone that will be faithful to us and love us the way He loves His church. But in the meantime rest in God’s love and faithfulness.

All this to say, God is faithful. He is the most faithful person be will ever be in a relationship with. Let’s focus on being faithful to Him, and committing our lives and heart to Him.

Reflection

1. Have you ever been unfaithful to God?
2. Why do you think it is so hard for us to be committed to God and faithful to Him?
3. How do you feel knowing that someone loves you and will be committed to you forever, despite the things you do or go through?

Prayer Time

Take the time to thank God today, before anything just offer Him a prayer of thanksgiving. Tell Him how much you love and appreciate Him. Then pray in whatever way you feel led. But today I want you to thank God for who He is and what He has done for us.

Day 99: God Brought Me This Far...

Philippians 1:6

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

God is faithful, this is a fact and it is something we have come to know and learn through experience. We know that everything God starts He will finish, we know that He will see us through whatever it is we are going through. He guides us through this crazy yet beautiful life. As Paul says, ‘I am sure of this..’ God doesn’t start something that He won’t finish, that’s not how He works. We know that He will complete every good work He has started in us, in this nation, in the world. It will all be completed, and His promises will be fulfilled.

1 Timothy 6:6

But Godliness with contentment is great gain.

A lot of times I thank God for where He is taking me. Especially when I feel the pressure to worry about how my life will turn out and how it will all work out. I find myself saying all the time, “God got me here, He will take me all the way.” “He didn’t bring me this far to leave me.” I say these words as a declaration of faith and trust in my Lord and Savior. I say that out of pure belief knowing that if He did it before He can do it again. Knowing that He holds to His word and it will be fulfilled in my life. While this is beautiful and something that I will stand on all the days of my life, I believe that something changed in me when I learned how to be thankful for where I am in this present moment. When I took my eyes off of where I’m going and focused on where I am. I had to learn to thank God for the present as much, if not more than I thank Him for my future. I had to learn to have faith in where God is taking me but also being content with where I am. Because He brought me this far. God brought me here for a reason and I’m not just passing through, I am here. I think our generation believes that we can't be happy until we are where we want to be. We base our happiness on our “success” We aren’t content with the present, we are constantly moving and rushing towards the future because that’s where we want to be, and we miss the adventures and the beauty of where we are. If we are constantly running for the future and what is ahead of us, we will never have time to stop and enjoy the present because we are constantly moving. It won’t allow us to stop, because at one point the past and the present were the future, and if we keep rushing through them because we want something more, we will miss what God is doing right in front of our eyes. We must understand that God has us here for a reason. This might be a stepping stone to where He is taking us but it matters just as much as the destination. The future is bright the destination is beautiful but can we be happy with where we are before we get there? Can we be faithful with the little things, and appreciate the little steps?

Reflection

1. Are you content with where you are?
2. Do you find yourself constantly running towards the future?
3. Can you stop and thank God for where you are?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Take the time today to thank God for where you are in this time on your life. Thank God for the very moment.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 100!

Day 90: Never Forsaken

Psalms 37:25

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

I grew up hearing this scripture, I could quote for as long as I could remember because it is one of the key scriptures in the bible that we all call on. It was until recently that I really understood the depth of these words, and how encouraging they were. This scripture does more than encourage us by telling us everything is going to be alright, no David is stating facts. He is saying what he has known to be true. God is faithful. I believe that this is something we can all attest to, as for me I can say that God has come through for me every time, even in the times where I had only a drop of faith. He never left me and He never will.

To encapsulate this scripture, or break it down a bit more, David starts by talking about His age. He says I have been young and now I’m old, and never have I seen the righteous forsaken, never. All his life, from when he was a little boy to the old man he is now, never has God forsaken His righteous people. As long as we are committed to the Lord and doing right by Him we will be okay. We don’t have to worry about a thing because He has us. He won’t abandon us, He won’t forget about us, because we are His people. We live our lives committed to Him and He provides everything we need and gives us the desires of our hearts.

It may seem like God has forgotten about us or He’s taking His time to get to us. But trust me He’s coming! He will come through, every single time.

The keyword in this sentence is righteous,the righteous will not be forsaken. See sometimes we think we can live any kind of way, and use God only when we need Him We must commit our lives to Him, if we want to be near God and near the cross we can’t be dipping and dabbing into the world. We have to choose our Master. I know the right choice but it's not mine to make, we each must choose for ourselves to live a righteous life committed to God.

David continues this scripture by saying, “...Or his children begging for bread.” this reminds of the prayers of my grandmother. Many of us credit the prayers of our mothers and grandmothers as the reason we are here today. When we live a righteous life, others in our lives will benefit from it. Not only will we for nothing but our children, and our family and the people connected with us will be taken care of.  God will take care of us, He will never forsake us, no matter what. He is faith, and we must be faithful to Him.

Reflection

1. Do you trust God?
2. Are you willing to let go of everything of this world in order to serve and live for Christ?
3. Have you ever had a moment when you thought the Lord forgot about you?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide you prayer today. Thank God that He is faithful and has never forsaken us. Just take the time to thank God for all the wonderful things He has done in your life.