Day 8 - Make God's Day

SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 35:27 - Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
So many people get in heated debates about whether or not God wants to prosper people. I can't believe how many "Christians" talk about all the hardships that God brought to them: death, disease, bankruptcy...one minister even credited God with making a man an alcoholic! I certainly wouldn't want any of these "Christians" as my Public Relations agent! We are God's ambassadors. We're His PR agents. What people see in your life and mine is a direct representation to them of God and His goodness or, in these people's case, the negative outcome of knowing God. That's the problem. These people probably mean well, but they don't KNOW God, His ways, or His Word. Throughout the Word of God we see that if someone understood God and His covenant, and were obedient to His commands, they were blessed. No wonder God actually delights in the prosperity of His servants! He wants the world to see, "If you follow Father God, it's going to be a wonderful life. The Israelites are a great example of this. They didn't have the better covenant that we have, but even whenthey obeyed they lived in peace. Every time the Israelites "did evil in the sight of God" they went into slavery and bondage. That hasn't changed today.

People perish for lack of knowledge-knowledge that God is good and He does good things for His children. He blesses them and delights to prosper them. The mark of a good father is the way he takes care of his children. We understand this in natural parenting. If a man gave his children cancer or tempted them to do evil, or relinquished them to a life of alcoholism, we would call that man a child abuser. Our God says, "If you being evil men know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will God give good gifts to His children?" This is referring to the Spirit of truth that leads us into maturity and blessing.

If it brings pleasure to our Father to give you prosperity, then why don't you make God's day and prosper?

I really mean that. People are watching you, and your decision to persevere with the Word of God may make the difference in someone making it to heaven! They may decide based on the evidence in your life that God really has answers and they should turn and follow Him. It will open doors that give you an opportunity to impact the Kingdom of God. Ultimately, it will make Him joyful! Isn't that what the word "pleasure" means? Its definition is a high degree of enjoyment or delight; joy; rapture. I love thinking that God gets overjoyed with rapture when good things are coming into my life because I have tapped into His Kingdom laws through obedience and faith. Religion has misconstrued this true picture of God. But you know as a parent how wonderful it feels to see your children blessed, and how painful it is when they are misguided and experience bondage as a result.

It's time we brought God a high degree of enjoyment! He can't make us prosperous without our consent, belief, and obedience to follow His ways. Just like you want to bless your children when they obey, God desires to prosper you! We must follow the precepts in His Word to receive. If we won't, He can't!

ACTION: Make a decision to believe that you are God's child and realize that He gets pleasure from you and your life when you're blessed. Weed your heart of any wrong teaching, and guard your spirit from teaching that perverts the image of God's character

Celebrating Freedom Together,
Pastor Gary Keesee