Thursday's Reflections

It is a wonderful day to offer God praise for His daily presence in our lives. I was unable to share my inspiration with you last week due to the medical procedure on my heart that I underwent on Wednesday. I am also thankful that I was discharged on Thursday afternoon in time to share dinner with our family! The procedure went well and my heart rate is much better than it has been for the past two - three months. I offer God sincere THANKSGIVING & PRAISE FOR HIS GOODNESS.

Last Thursday was a special day set aside for our nation to remind ourselves of the blessings of God that have been upon America since our very beginning. Don’t you believe that each and every day of our lives needs to be lived with appreciation for and recognition of the daily blessings of God? We should never allow our wants and desires to be greater than our praise and worship. It seems that we always think we need more proof of God’s Goodness before we want to take the time to offer Him praise. But TODAY is the DAY to lift our voices in gratitude to an Almighty God who watches over us day by day.

The words of this song have been in my heart for the past few days. “Open the eyes of my heart Lord; Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see You, I want to see You…”  This passage of scripture was deposited in my Spirit this morning during prayer; John 12:35, “Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. (NKJV) (Emphasis Added) I trust that you are aware as well as able to recognize that there is a battle between Jesus (The Light) and the prince and power of darkness (Satan). The people of God are caught in the middle of this battle and we are being challenged to make the correct decisions concerning the direction of our lives.

I encourage you to pay close attention to these following words. They will be straight to the point but written in love and compassion. The destiny of OUR SOULS depends on the decisions that we are making concerning our relationship with God. The culture of the present day church world is far more interested in affirmation and encouragement than we are interested in conviction. I try my best to provide affirmation and encouragement in every opportunity that arises and I am sure that you also take the same approach to life.

I also believe that God teaches us the power of affirmation. His Word tells us that He is willing to call us His children when we choose to walk in fellowship with Him. But the Word of God also teaches us that the Holy Spirit will reveal the sin in our lives so that we can identify our need for a Savior. It is easy to applaud affirmation and become offended at conviction as God calls us to draw closer to Him. I FIRMLY BELIEVE that God is calling us to draw closer to Him and WE must be willing to invite His conviction as well as His correction into OUR LIVES! We will soon learn that the conviction and correction of God is for our benefit and not our demise. We must stop running from conviction and take the opportunity to respond to the Love of our Heavenly Father who is at work in the present preparing each of us for the future.

Would you be willing to join with me in prayer against the powers of darkness that are seeking to blind our eyes to THE TRUTH? The Truth of God is under attack not only outside the church but inside the church. Satan works to either eliminate the Light or at least hinder the Light from being displayed through our lives and in our lives!! Here is a call from God; Romans 13:11-12, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” (NKJV)