Are your a "Dreamer" who dares to believe that GOD has a special plan for you? Do you believe, you are SET ASIDE for HIS Purpose? In-spite of our injustices and sufferings we don't blame others. Have we experienced by GOD'S great POWER that we really FORGIVE AND FORGET; and that our wounds are COMPLETELY HEALED? The circumstances of our lives could leave us "cold, hardened and bitter", full of self-pity and Revenge. But instead we are full of compassion, empathy and love. "What the evil one meant for evil against us, GOD used it for good..." (GENESIS 50:20). Have we become "DREAMERS" of the FAITH, where we have VISIONS of being "set aside" for something SPECIAL? No matter how old we are, or how "ordinary" our lives may seem; "GOD means them for GOOD! WHAT A DAY FOR A "DAY-DREAM".
You ARE SPECIAL...
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We are late for an appointment and we begin to prepare an excuse that others will accept; whether it is the Truth or not. Do we spend (conscientiously or unconsciously) time preparing lies and deceit to lead people to believe what is not true? Do we make false promises, use flattery, even make up "testimonials" to support our deception, and become hypocrites because of our own fears, selfishness and pride? Have we "practiced" looking someone in the eye so they will believe whatever we want them to? Isaiah 59:13, "...conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words." In attempting to deceive others, we DECEIVE OURSELVES; WE BEGIN TO BELIEVE OUR OWN LIES!
1 Corinthians 2:16,"For who has understood the mind of the LORD so as to instruct HIM?" Is the only way we want to SERVE GOD is as HIS Adviser? Do we really think we can improve upon "GOD Breathed Scriptures" by being GOD'S Editor? Where we put a "QUESTION Mark" after HIS Commands and Promises; when HE HAS PUT A PERIOD.
This is not just another day, IT IS A SPECIAL NEW DAY... Matthew 7:21-23,"Not everyone who says to ME, LORD, LORD, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven...many will say LORD, LORD, did we not prophesy in YOUR name and do many mighty works in YOUR name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from ME...." Do we "MAKE BELIEVE" we are Christians because we "Quote and Preach" Scriptures? BUT LIVE NONE?
Do we know people (or are one ourselves) who lie when the Truth would be easier? Do we use "flattering" lips and don't keep commitments, where others can put no confidence in what we say? Are our words and commitments empty? Psalm 12:2, "...with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak." St. Augustine describes us as: "A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently..." Do we find great JOY when others see TRUTH in us; or are we deceivingly satisfied to be "A SMOOTH TALKER"?
Ironic isn't it, where we have "one last fling" before LENT? Mardi gras, "Fat Tuesday" and other "Do what I want to celebrations" because we'll REPENT IN LENT. Or is it a time where our relationship with GOD deepens and we experience a greater ONENESS in HIS HOLINESS? Do we have a "New Beginning" in our actions and thoughts where we become, A PLACE WHERE GOD CAN DWELL? Joel 2:12, "...return to ME with all your heart..." Is each Lent a New Beginning for the rest of our lives? Or, is it forty days where we "REPENT IN LENT" and we never become A PLACE WHERE GOD CAN DWELL?
Each day is a new beginning through HIS Mercy, No matter how close we think we are with GOD, nothing shows us HIS love more than being FORGIVEN. When someone FORGIVES us, we experience a taste, a glimpse, of the greatness and power of GOD'S FORGIVENESS. Micah 7:18-19, "Who is a GOD like YOU, WHO pardons and forgives the transgressions of the remnant ...?" Proverbs 17:9, "He who forgives, seeks love..." Do we want the ABSOLUTE PLEASURE of contrite HUMBLENESS in the Presence of GOD? Do we want others to know this beautiful HOLINESS of GOD'S Presence? ACCEPT FORGIVENESS, AND FORGIVE.
We love the thrill of FEELING RIGHT, but don't want the inconvenience or hardship of BEING RIGHT. If a "stranger" were to listen to what we say (when we weep and pray over Beautiful Truth), then watch our actions and words as our conduct pulls back from the same TRUTH; he would scarcely recognize a relationship between the two. HYPOCRISY is destroying Christianity faster than Communism, Marxism and Atheism combined! James 1:26-27, "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, deceives his heart..." Christianity is to be pure and undefiled before GOD! DO WE LOVE THE THRILL OF FEELING RIGHT, BUT NOT THE INCONVENIENCE OR HARDSHIP OF BEING RIGHT?
How is it that "sometimes" we Absolutely Know we are in HIS PRESENCE; AND THEN, we "drift" away? We scratch and claw to regain HIS Presence but nothing happens! The only time we are in that "Pure, Peaceful Relationship, is when we are BOTH in our proper places. GOD is Exalted, Worthy of Praise, All Knowing, All Present, Forgiving and Loving; we are Contrite, Humble, in Reverent Awe and nothing else matters but GOD. In HIS Presence, our RELATIONSHIP changes because we change. We don't doubt our Prayers, we hear HIM clearly and when HE is GLORIFIED is when we have the GREATEST JOY. When we are in GOD'S PRESENCE, OUR FALSE gods BECOME POWERLESS before HIM, (Isaiah 19:1).
WISDOM is often thought of as the application of KNOWLEDGE in a JUST manner so as to reveal TRUTH. Is GOD'S WISDOM of the MIND or of the SPIRIT? Isaiah 11:2, "...the SPIRIT of the LORD shall rest upon him...the SPIRIT of WISDOM...he shall not judge by what the eyes see...or what his ears hear..." WISDOM is the perfection of FAITH, where we value that which we believe by FAITH greater than the things we see and "understand". Do we LOVE GOD above all else? Has the HOLY SPIRIT given us the gift of WISDOM which is; "first pure, then peaceable, gentle...full of mercy...without partiality and without hypocrisy." (James3:17). Do we know a WISE person? Is their wisdom of THE MIND OR SPIRIT?
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About the Author and writerThe writer for our daily devotionals wishes to remain anonymous in regard to his work, giving instead Glory to the Author. Archives
December 2015
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