Memory of the Month: Proverbs 15:1-A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Today's reading: ISAIAH 26-27 PHILIPPIANS 2
The Thought For The Day
How hard is it for you to smile? Some folks have a hard time smiling. Life is hard for them or has been hard and has not given them much to smile for. Pray for these and if you should be one, ask God to lift you out of it.
Think of someone you love--really love--someone you would give all for. Think of their face and what you would do to put a real smile there. This is what Paul wrote about in Philippians, chapter 2.
28 I am so excited to be sending him back to you! I can picture the joy on your faces when he arrives; I can feel my worries falling away.
Paul was sending a trusted worker, who had almost died, back to the Christian community. This brought so much joy to Paul but to those folks at Philippi.
He pictures their joy which brings him joy and this is all because of the life Christ Jesus was working in them all. Paul's life was living in Christ Jesus but that is not all he did. (The scripture records that he worked as a tentmaker to help support himself in the ministry, so, he knew what hard work was as you may know it here and now. Paul worked with pressures like we do. So this is not just some writer from long ago who had a 'mail-me-money' ministry. Paul walked as Jesus walked--really walked-hundreds of miles.)
Again, can you picture joy on the faces of those you know and love? Can you picture your own face with a real smile? Doesn't it break your heart when you see tears on the faces of those you love? Now, I ask again, what would you give or do to see real smiles of joy on the faces of those you love?
In Philippians 2:28, Paul says that imagining their smiles took his pain away or restored his peace.
Stop and remember that the Bible tells us to seek God and His kingdom and all these other things will be added, (Matthew 6:33). To see smiles on the faces of those we love is a great dream. But what about the faces of those we do not know? Remember, "love thy neighbor as thyself?"
Desiring joy for those around us means we get out of our own desires and let God fill us with His desires. Jesus' entire ministry was His meeting needs. Our ministries are to be the same. But Jesus was not a comedian-those kind of laughs are so temporary. Jesus set souls free. He gives us His kind of peace that the world does not understand. His peace makes way for real joy-real smiles-not pasted on masks but real peace in real hearts and lives.
So, what will your thought for the day be? How about this?
Isaiah 26: Now open the gates to welcome the righteous,
so that those who keep faith may enter in.
3 You will keep the peace, a perfect peace, for all who trust in You,
for those who dedicate their hearts and minds to You.
Open the gates-pray and confess your reservations and fear and walk-dedicate your heart and mind to Christ Jesus into the world filled with God's peace as you trust Him.
Get your thought for the day from The Holy Spirit and He will carry you...
...because He loves us...
Father in Heaven,
I confess my fear of the voice of the world. I dedicate my hearing to you-my trust-my faith. Let the world see Your joy in me as I see them with Your eyes.
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