The end of the work day (almost) in the US. End of the day in other parts of the world. How was your day? God-centered? Rich? Blessed? May I be so forward as to ask you “How?” if you responded positively.
Give God thanks in ALL your ways!
Yesterday, we shared on this subject, are we putting it to use? There is no one there to “assess” you. Your heart is! What we are not presently aware of will be revealed. EVERY moment makes you, YOU! Experiences, circumstances, faith! Faith? Yes, “Faith!” The KNOWLEDGE of things not seen yet in the physical, but the assurance that it is there, Amen
So, again “How was your day?” Lesson-filled, praise-filled, blessed? Let me go out on a limb here: What is “Blessed”?
To Be Blessed Means …
One of my favorite Scripture passages is the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12, where Jesus lists what it means to be blessed. It’s certainly not what comes to my mind when I think of being blessed or when I pray for others to be blessed. Remember all those childhood prayers, “Bless Mommy, Daddy, and Auntie Sue”? We had no idea what we were saying! We were actually saying, “Let them be poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure, peacemakers, and persecuted.”
So how could such things lead to happiness? It seems like they lead more to the opposite of happiness. But the Beatitudes tell us one thing clearly. We can never be happy when we live self-centered lives. We may be fooled into thinking we’re happy for a while, but eventually it will fold in on us because true happiness can be found only in a relationship with our Creator. Only the One who made us knows what will truly make us happy and give us satisfaction in life. We have to get to the end of ourselves and the beginning of God to gain any lasting contentment in life. And that can happen only through divine revelation and transformation through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. It’s the “pearl of great value” (Matthew 13:46), worth selling everything to gain it. And ultimately, it’s the secret to true satisfaction.
We have shared this earlier, but I wanted to point out fact. We say it so often without truly grasping what it means. Are you blessed?
Stubborn me asks “What do you have?” trials, temptations, hardship? Through it all, the ONE thing we can profess is PEACE!
Ever heard/thought of or said…”This will pass”?
Yes it will! Things come in seasons. What season is evident in your life at this time? Faith it out (or on if it is rich in positivity). I can say to both sides of the fence, “ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened!”
In closing, remember the parable of the Ten Virgins?
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
“ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
