Weekday Devotionals
I’m So Blessed
There’s a song by the band, CAIN, called I’m So Blessed. Here are lyrics from the bridge.
'Whether it’s your best day, your worst day, some Tuesday, or your birthday Every day’s a good day, now let me tell you why If you’ve got air in your lungs, if you’ve got blood in your body, you are a child of God ...Come on and sing it somebody.
In the sermon this weekend we learned ‘to be blessed by God’ can have different meanings.
To be blessed by God means: to be sustained in and led through adversity, to accept His discipline and correction as a people and a nation, and that what is blessed is not our bank account but our relationship with others.
Personally, I have been walking through a time of repentance for what feels like a very long time. It is uncomfortable and humbling. God is persistent in peeling back layer after layer of the onion that is my heart. Often, reshaping and sanctifying areas that I didn’t even know were there until He brought it to the light. Adversity comes and reveals to us who we really are. What our true character is. I have had to deeply reflect and ask myself, “who am I?” Well, I am many things: a wife, a mother, a teacher, a friend. But at the core of my being the question remains, who am I? The answer I keep coming back to is, I am a child of God. And because of that simple truth, it’s a good day. ‘Whether it’s my best day or my worst day,’ as the song says. So, I must choose to live like a child of God and let ‘my gentleness be evident to all’ (Philippians 4:5) when I respond to difficult people and unpredictable situations.
Easier said than done. However, God is faithful in continuing to do a good work in us and infinitely patient as we navigate life. Will we get it perfect every time? No. God knows this and that’s why He has blessed us with a Helper. As believers, we have God’s Spirit living within us to help us through every day life. The big, the little, and everything in between. But, it’s up to us to choose to listen and be obedient to His leading. Since He loved us so much and didn’t want us to be a bunch of robots, He gave us free will. To choose the paths we want to take. Sometimes we might choose the path that isn’t best for us and there will be consequences. But, as we see in Job 5:17-18, our period through the wilderness might be God’s discipline. His hand leading us through the difficult circumstances to help us grow. Instead of fighting it, we must embrace it and trust God our Father to lead us through it.
As we have been reading through the One Year Bible, we see that each of Paul’s letters focus on our attitudes and thoughts towards others as proof to us and the world that we truly love God. God is all about relationship. Our relationship with Him and with others. Relationships are DIFFICULT. Can I get an AMEN? But there is so much that God can teach us through relationships. Colossians 3:12 says, “As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Period. Mic drop moment. Still difficult.
But, we, as the church, can be the hope of the world when it feels like there is no hope left. If we choose to be. “But you, man of God, flee from all this (see previous verses in the letter), and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called...” 1 Timothy 6:11
Some might enter a relationship with Jesus believing that after salvation life will be easier and an uphill journey. We are on an uphill journey to Heaven, however it is anything but easy. BLESSED, but not without pain and struggle. As believers we are not excused from the so-called valleys of life, but God promises to sustain us while we are there. We are never alone. And because of that, we are blessed.
-Raquel Simmons
There’s a song by the band, CAIN, called I’m So Blessed. Here are lyrics from the bridge.
'Whether it’s your best day, your worst day, some Tuesday, or your birthday Every day’s a good day, now let me tell you why If you’ve got air in your lungs, if you’ve got blood in your body, you are a child of God ...Come on and sing it somebody.
In the sermon this weekend we learned ‘to be blessed by God’ can have different meanings.
To be blessed by God means: to be sustained in and led through adversity, to accept His discipline and correction as a people and a nation, and that what is blessed is not our bank account but our relationship with others.
Personally, I have been walking through a time of repentance for what feels like a very long time. It is uncomfortable and humbling. God is persistent in peeling back layer after layer of the onion that is my heart. Often, reshaping and sanctifying areas that I didn’t even know were there until He brought it to the light. Adversity comes and reveals to us who we really are. What our true character is. I have had to deeply reflect and ask myself, “who am I?” Well, I am many things: a wife, a mother, a teacher, a friend. But at the core of my being the question remains, who am I? The answer I keep coming back to is, I am a child of God. And because of that simple truth, it’s a good day. ‘Whether it’s my best day or my worst day,’ as the song says. So, I must choose to live like a child of God and let ‘my gentleness be evident to all’ (Philippians 4:5) when I respond to difficult people and unpredictable situations.
Easier said than done. However, God is faithful in continuing to do a good work in us and infinitely patient as we navigate life. Will we get it perfect every time? No. God knows this and that’s why He has blessed us with a Helper. As believers, we have God’s Spirit living within us to help us through every day life. The big, the little, and everything in between. But, it’s up to us to choose to listen and be obedient to His leading. Since He loved us so much and didn’t want us to be a bunch of robots, He gave us free will. To choose the paths we want to take. Sometimes we might choose the path that isn’t best for us and there will be consequences. But, as we see in Job 5:17-18, our period through the wilderness might be God’s discipline. His hand leading us through the difficult circumstances to help us grow. Instead of fighting it, we must embrace it and trust God our Father to lead us through it.
As we have been reading through the One Year Bible, we see that each of Paul’s letters focus on our attitudes and thoughts towards others as proof to us and the world that we truly love God. God is all about relationship. Our relationship with Him and with others. Relationships are DIFFICULT. Can I get an AMEN? But there is so much that God can teach us through relationships. Colossians 3:12 says, “As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Period. Mic drop moment. Still difficult.
But, we, as the church, can be the hope of the world when it feels like there is no hope left. If we choose to be. “But you, man of God, flee from all this (see previous verses in the letter), and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called...” 1 Timothy 6:11
Some might enter a relationship with Jesus believing that after salvation life will be easier and an uphill journey. We are on an uphill journey to Heaven, however it is anything but easy. BLESSED, but not without pain and struggle. As believers we are not excused from the so-called valleys of life, but God promises to sustain us while we are there. We are never alone. And because of that, we are blessed.
-Raquel Simmons
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