Sunday, August 7, 2011

“THEN CAME MORNING”


Good morning. And what a beautiful day it is dawning. I pray you had a weekend that was full of rest, enjoyment, love and time spent with family and God.  My week ended by donating a tooth to the dentist.  I am so thankful to have that pain gone and will be looking forward to the tooth fairy coming to visit.  If they pay by the size of the tooth, I should make enough to pay off my house.

Trying to deal with this tooth ache, I had not given much thought to the topic for this weeks devotional, until this morning. Sitting in front of the computer, watching the sun rise and listening to the birds, God reminded me that once again, today is a brand new day. I cannot rely on the sermon I preached last night, nor can I say, "well I was going to get to that tomorrow". It is all about what am I doing today, right now. After all, isn't that how we look at God?

For many people, what God did thousands of years ago is in the past. And the blessings promised for obedience are somewhere down the road. So we look, ask and wonder what is God doing for me today? The very first thing we should notice is the miracle of life happened. Our bodies went to sleep last night and somehow awoke this morning, to life and breath, that we did not know for sure we would have when we went to sleep last night. Next, through the assurance of Ephesians 6, we have the amour and weapons to see us through the day. Then God will speak to us through His Word, if we will read it, and reassures us of His presence in the song of a bird, or a light breeze, or maybe that soft calming peace that comes over us. All the day long He watches over us and see us through our accomplishments as well as our disappointment, while longing to be included. God provides safe travel to and from all the places life takes us today and the jobs or activities that we do. He provides physical food and material things to meet our needs of the day. He brings us back to the shelters He has provided us to once again feed the physical being and catch up on some of that rest, we feel like we so much deserve and before you know it, we are off to sleep, without a thought of waking up to another day.

 What did we miss in the previous day? More than we can cover here in a short devotion. We did not talk about all the sins and disappointment that a day of life brings with it. In Romans 3, we are reminded that all have/do sin and fall short of the glory of God. Where would we be, if when we woke up this morning, God sat us down and said, "you only get forgiveness for 3 sins today, after that, you are on your own"? Or where would we be if God's mercy was like a credit card, and had a 10 sin limit? In Romans 6:23 we are told that the wages of sin is death. It does not say one sin or a hundred sins. It says the wage of sin is death. But wait, here comes the good stuff. In Lamentations 3:22-23, we are told by the prophet Jeremiah,

"Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness". Does that mean we have an American Express Gold card to do as we please? God forbid. In Romans 6:15, Paul reminds us, "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!" The Old King James says, "God forbid".

I am thankful that God's mercies are new everyday.  My wife and I were talking the other day about how it seems like more thunderstorms come at night and what a difference a day makes. Look around you. The SON is shinning. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. It is always the darkest just before the dawn. To use one of my dad's sayings, "if you feel you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hold on", Morning is coming.

Remember:  Today is the best day of your life.  Why, you ask?  Because it is one you have never seen before, and will never see again.  Make the most of it.

Until next time, pray for each other and me, as I continue to pray for you. God Bless and Love in CHRIST,

Brian Hanvey
Associate Pastor
bethelbaptistchurchtn.com 

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