This is the day that the Lord has made ...

What is your immediate reaction to this headline? Is it, "Yes, I know, but ...", "It sure doesn't feel like it ..." or "Thank you, Jesus!"
How you think about the day (or anything else for that matter), determines how your day will turn out. Proverbs 23:7 says that we are as we think. That means that our thoughts set the standard for how our lives will turn out. 
You can think yourself happy and you can think yourself sad - it all comes down to what YOU decide to think - which thoughts you harbor and meditate on.
Today I encourage you to think on good things, things that Philippians 4:8 encourages us to think on. Look it up in your Bible and start thinking good thoughts. Light dispels darkness, good overccomes evil, and good thoughts get rid of bad thoughts.
I wish you a blessed day!

From "give me" to "make me"

Have you ever watched small children play? I have. And the words you hear the most, are "give me" or "it's mine". 
And we think that's childish. Grown-ups aren't that way. But wait. Are you sure you're not a "give-me-person"?
There's an account in the Bible of a young man who was a "give-me-person". We find the story in Luke 15:11-32. It's the story of the prodigal son.
You probably know the story, so I will only point out the "give me" and the "make me" parts.
In verse 12 the younger of two boys asks the father for his inheritance. "And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me'."
And his father gave him and his brother their share of the inheritance. The young man left his father's house and spent all his inheritance on prodigal living. After some time he "came to himself" and decided to go back to his father and he would say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."
The young man had changed through the ordeals that he went through, and he went from a "give-me-person" to a "make-me-person". And his father rejoiced when the lost son came home, and made him to be more than he asked for. 
Are you going through tough times? May be it's time for you to go from "Lord, give me ..." to "Lord, make me ...".
"Lord, make me ..." is a prayer the Lord longs to answer, to your benefit and His glory!

Are you righteous?

"Am I righteous? I don't know. I never thought about it. I sure don't feel righteous."
These might be your thoughts when you see today's headline. Let me ask you again,
Are you righteous?
"I sure hope so," you might say.
Hoping doesn't get you righteous. Feelings don't make you righteous. 
Then what does?
Genesis 15:6 says: "And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness."
Who is "he" who believed in the Lord? He is Abram who later became Abraham. The margin in my Bible reads, "God did not evaluate Abraham as righteous because everything he did was right, but because he had faith in God's ability to make him righteous."
The key word here in the Bible verse  is "accounted it to him" and in the margin "make him".
Righteousness is not something I become when I strive, work and do the right things, righteousness is something that is "accounted" to me or given to me, something I am made. How? By faith. Abraham believed that God had the ability to make him righteous, and that was all he needed to be righteous. 
Are you discouraged and on the verge of giving up on God because you find it difficult to please Him? Don't! Just believe in God's ability to account righteousness to you. How? Through Jesus. Believe on Jesus, that He died for you, that He lived the righteous life for you, that He lives today to strengthen, support and pray for you. 
Stop striving to live "right", accept God's righteousness in Jesus Christ, and you will be right. Then you will live right because you love the Lord, not because you're striving to become His righteousness.
Accept, relax and enjoy! 

Are you weary?

Weariness and the desire to give up come to all of us from time to time. Are you weary right now? Wanting to give up? Don't! Let us look at ONE who really had every reason on earth to give up, but never did - Jesus.
Hebrews 12:1-3 says, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,"
It says to lay aside every weight and evey sin. "Easier said than done," you might say. "How do I do that?"
Let's read on. "... looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
You do it by looking up in stead of down. Jesus had every reason to look down. He was unjustly accused of blaspheming God and betraying His Father. He knew what was ahead of Him - a terrible death on the cross. In spite of what His feelings and emotions told Him, He looked up to His Father, the only One He could trust. He put His whole life in His Father's hands, and He came out victorious!
When life seems unfair, you're treated unjustly, friends betray you, sickness takes it's toll, and you want  to give up and cave in, DON'T! Look UP unto Jesus. From Him comes your help. From Him comes your redemption, your comfort, your strength and your joy! Let Him fill you with His hope, strength, love and joy today. He is always willing and present to help you in your time of need.
I have never found Him to leave me nor forsake me. When I cling to Him, He's always faithful. When I believe His Word, the Word always does what it says to do. 
Are you weary? Look UP unto Jesus!