BELOVED

"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost," (Jude 1:20 KJV)

 Thanking God At All Times

    Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.     Hebrews 13:15

Lifting up your hands and thanking God is spontaneous and easy when you have just received a wonderful blessing: “God, I can’t thank You enough for this miracle!”

“Thank You Father, for answering my prayer!”

“Father, thank You for the windfall!”

Perhaps you came close to being in a fatal accident, but God plucked you out of danger just in time. Or your grandmother, an unbeliever for many years, finally received Jesus as her Savior and got healed of a long-term disease.

But there are times when you don’t feel like lifting up your hands to thank and praise God, yet you do it. Perhaps you feel very discouraged lately. Perhaps everything is going wrong for you and you feel like your life is in a mess. You can’t hold back the tears. Yet, you make a conscious decision to lift your hands and thank God for being in the situation with you. You open your mouth and begin to praise Him even though you really don’t feel like doing it.

In the midst of the trial that you are going through, you praise Him that He is your righteousness in spite of all the mistakes you have made. You thank Him that He is your Prince of Peace, and that His peace will arise in you and still the storms in your life.

My friend, God sees and appreciates such times when, despite feeling so discouraged, you offer a freewill thanksgiving offering to Him. In fact, your thanksgiving during such times is more highly prized by Him than your thanksgiving during those times when you are feeling joyful because you have just been blessed.

And when you choose to thank Him for His unfailing love, and His faithfulness to deliver, protect and provide for you even when you don’t see the blessings yet, before long, you will find yourself experiencing and enjoying the blessings! So lift your hands and praise the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever! (Psalm 106:1)

Thought For The Day
God sees and appreciates those times when, despite feeling so discouraged, you offer a freewill thanksgiving offering to Him.

 The Default Setting is Death

"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)

Two things are certain in life. God wants to bless you and Satan wants to destroy you. God is looking for every way possible to bring joy into your life. His plan is for you to have everlasting life. Starting now, and continuing throughout all eternity, He wants to shower you with blessings.

On the other hand, Satan is looking for every way possible to destroy you. His destiny has already been established. He has been judged and sentenced to the pit. (Rev. 20:3.) His goal is to pull God's creation into the pit with him. He lives in darkness and, in fact, is the prince of that kingdom. He hates the light and everything that the light represents. His plan for Christians is sickness, poverty, and death to all our relationships. Everything that God holds dear, such as character, integrity, peace, and joy, Satan hates.

In the beginning, God created man and clothed him with His glory. Adam rejected God and brought a curse upon mankind. (Gen. 3.) Four thousand years later, God sent His Son, Jesus, to reverse the curse so that we could live under the blessings of God instead of the curses of the devil. This generation is living in the dispensation of choice. We choose our destiny. We decide whether we will live under the curse or under the blessings of God.

Because of a lack of knowledge or because of procrastination, many people are not making a choice. What they don't realize is that by not making a choice, they have allowed the choice to be made for them.

To choose Jesus and receive Him as Lord and Savior is a choice for life. (Deut. 30:19.) To reject Jesus is choosing the devil's plan. But there is a default setting. If you fail to choose, the default setting is death.

We are born into darkness and when we become born again, we are transformed into the Kingdom of Light. (Col 1:12-13.) Without the born-again experience, there is no transformation and we remain in darkness.

Salvation is the most vital decision for you. This one decision will determine your eternal existence. If you haven't already chosen salvation, it should not be taken lightly and the choice should be made immediately. Remember, if you fail to choose, the choice has been made for you.

"You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8)