Weekly Devotional
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REJOICE, IT’S A GOOD DAY

Psalms 118:24; Lamentation 3:22 – 26

This is the day that the Lord has made.  We will rejoice and be glad in it!
 
In the scripture verses preceding this one in psalms 118:24, you will realize that the psalmist was describing some trying times.
Yet he comes back and says, this is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.  This implies a conscious act, a choice to rejoice despite the circumstances, or what the day may bring. We will rejoice!  It did not say that the day was good, but candidly states that in spite of what day it was, it was made by God and so we choose to rejoice and be glad in it.
What could cause us to rejoice no matter what the day brings? 
The psalmist gives the answer when he says that God made the day, and if he made it he already knows what plans he has for us for that day.
 
Many times we are guilty of taking into the new day, the cares of the previous day, thus perverting it before it starts. “Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof”.  It is our responsibility to treat each day as a new day and make a conscious decision to make the best out of it, determined to accomplish that which God has planned for us that day.  This is an act of gratitude to Him.
 
I remember clearly, the Holy Spirit rebuking me one day. I had had an incident the night before with another individual and it had me all flustered.  On my way out next morning, I was worried about the situation and was contemplating how I would deal with the individual when I met her that day.   I was getting all depressed, when the Holy Spirit arrested my attention and said to me, “Are you going to spoil today and miss out on what I have planned for you”?  Immediately the reality hit me and I decided that I was not going to let this happen.  I can testify that that I had a wonderful time that day and the situation worked out much better than I had expected.
 
Jesus instructed us in Matt. 6:34 to not worry about tomorrow. 
 
So let us all take advantage of God’s mercy, loving-kindness, tender compassions, stability and faithfulness that are new every morning.
And let us enjoy today, like it is the only day that we have with a view to realizing what God has in store for us.  This will help us to deal with all the situations that come our way and remove from us the stress and frustrations that face us. Irrespective of what time it is in the day it can work out to your advantage if you let it.
 
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THE IMPORTANCE OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH – PART 2

Heb. 5:12-13 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of mild is unskilled in the word of righteousness for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

To continue our discourse on Spiritual growth we must recognize that growth comes when we learn something new and put it into practice.

One can learn slowly and learn well, whereas, one can learn quickly and still not learn at all.

In order to grow spiritually, one must decide to learn the Word of Righteousness –The Word of God. Anyone who does not do this is called a babe and in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 he is referred to as being carnal. In Heb. 5:12 The Word of God is called: (i) milk (ii) Strong meat (iii) the Word of Righteousness. Righteousness here means to be in right standing with God

In Heb.1:9 we are warned that it is not enough to love righteousness but to hate evil (iniquity) also. Iniquity will put you many steps back from growing in Your Christian life.

There are benefits to loving and practicing righteousness. One is that it will make you a candidate to receive a good deed from God - The oil of gladness – in the time of trouble you will still smile. Something about your face will say something about what’s in your heart.

As growing children of God we must practice the principle of Repentance (Heb.6:1) We must live differently from the world – the world lives by reality we must live by the practice of the Word of God. If we use the word of God we will be able to make righteous judgments and be able to make the right choices. We MUST learn the word of God in order to practice and live by it. He stands behind his word to perform it. His arm will be revealed to you when you choose to live by it.

To grow as a Christian we must be interested in:

  1. 1. Pleasing God – to do that we must learn the word of faith by studying it, constantly using it (everyday). The word of God gives you discernment; causes you to grow steadfastly and you will be able to see change.
  2. 2. When we choose to receive the word of God the Holy Spirit will move to see that word implemented in our life. The word that we believe will give the Holy Spirit something to work with.

We must, therefore, read, study and decide to practice the word of God. Little changes in your life as a Christian can bring good results. One word from God will change your life but to get that word you must spend time in the Word.

You can’t live today on last week’s word. The world taught us how to think but if we want to live in the kingdom we must train ourselves to think according to the Word

A CHRISTIAN WHO WILL GROW MUST HAVE HIS SENSES EXCERCISED TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES

 
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