Have you ever been so afraid to hope for something good that you simply accept that it won’t happen to you? We don’t hope because we are too afraid of the disappointment that usually follows hoping. We call good things too good to be true. And while we brush it off that something like that could never come to someone like us, our friends say, “But this must happen for you! You deserve it!” And then you feel slimy and even worse than before?
“I can’t stand those words, “you deserve it” because I know exactly what I deserve. I have read the scriptures and know where I came from. But I also know where I am going and that changes the whole story.” Corrie Vallance
Or is it that we are simply counting the wrong things as Blessings? That we think God blessing us looks one way, but in fact, it happens right under our noses and we never really see it happening!
Sometimes we build each other up so high, we forget to remember God is not concerned with our Earthly existence, creature comforts or mortal opinions. He is concerned with our Hearts!
His providence does not provide kush jobs, financial freedom, loving relationships and stress free lifestyles. His providence brings opportunity to build Perseverance. And we all know what that brings right?
Romans 5:3-6
3. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4. perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
So the next time we are praying for something, remember to be careful what we pray for. Most of the time when we find struggle, it’s because we prayed for enlightenment. God has no intentions of giving character to those who don’t earn it through perseverance. So, be careful what you wish for.
And this is why, His ways are so different than ours. As we look at one another we tell each other you’re a good person, you deserve a break, you deserve that “good thing”… But do we really deserve anything at all? In actuality, what we truly deserve is nothing more than death!
Proverbs 20:9
9 Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin”?
We are all guilt ridden and full of sin because of the rotting flesh we reside in and because of the Adamic Nature that resides in us. But it is when we die Spiritually to the slavery of it, that we are born again. Risen from Ashes, we live in a whole new life and in a whole new way!
So there are blessings that await us! This we can be sure of. But they do not come to us because we tire of conformity. They do not lavish us in rest from learning. They are not to be compared to a deserving of the flesh, as there is no rest for a wicked man as we all know. True Blessings come to us in Gifts of Wisdom, in Gifts of Strength to press onward. They come to us in Daily Bread. They come to us in Salvation.
Proverbs 30:7-8
7. “Two things I ask of you, LORD; do not refuse me before I die: 8. Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
So, let us not be fooled into thinking we deserve anything other than the fire of our Heavenly Father is bathing us in each second of this life. For we will become hard-pressed, but will never wither.
2 Corinthians 4:8-11 8 We are hard pressed on every side,(A) but not crushed; perplexed,(B) but not in despair; 9 persecuted,(C) but not abandoned;(D) struck down, but not destroyed.(E) 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,(F) so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.(G) 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake,(H) so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.
So, be it today that we are brought to an understanding that His ways. Be today that His Ways compound the Glory we are to recieve. Let us not misinterpret the fire. Because it is by this fire, we are refined, santified and brought to show a mere example of Christ’s Death and Resurrection so as to be good stewards of the Good News, the Gospel that came to show us the Ways of the Lord were not our ways. But They are Holy and Perfect in everyway.
Deuteronomy 32:4
Verse of the Day
Monday, May 17th
4. He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
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