Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: daily devotional

God Wants To Bless You

Encouragement

‘And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:’
Deuteronomy 28:2

When you are in good fellowship with God, you do not have to ask for His blessings, He desires to bless you! Obedience puts you in a position to receive.

Just as you may enjoy blessing someone, God delights in blessing you in ways that you wouldn’t imagine. God’s blessings are right in the midst of your everyday life.

For example, you could receive an encouraging message in the middle of a stressful day or you might receive a friendly phone call from a loved-one at the end of a long, hard day. You could check your mail and receive a card from someone who has been thinking of you or receive an unexpected sum of money just at the perfect time.

Often times, God has a way of blessing us when we least expect it. He has a way of blowing our minds. Blessings come just in the nick of time as an expression of His love for us. He reminds us that He knows what is happening in our life.

Blessings are a result of obedience to God. When you walk closely with the Lord, you obey His commands and blessings come. When you are living in obedience to God’s Word, blessings will also come to those around you.

Solomon enjoyed peace and prosperity during his reign as king, but his blessings came largely as a result of his father, David, walking closely with God. God promised Abraham that his obedience would bring blessings to all the inhabitants of the earth (Gen. 12:2-3).

We don’t need to take God’s blessings for granted. When you receive an unexpected blessing, thank God for His everlasting love and recognize the next time His blessings surprise you and overtake you!

Pray

Lord, I want to be close to You. I desire to be obedient to Your commands and submit to Your will and way. Let my obedience to You also bless someone else so that they may see Your glory.

Only Jesus Can Satisfy

Salvation

‘Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”’
John 4:10

Wouldn’t it be awful to know that God had a gift for you that you never received? There are so many things that God desires to give us that we have never unwrapped or discovered. God offers us gifts that truly satisfies our soul.

When Jesus conversed with the woman at the well, He offered her a gift that would change her life forever. She was completely unaware of that gift until she encountered Jesus. He knew the longing in her heart for true love and acceptance. Her ways of searching for love and acceptance always left her unsatisfied and empty inside.

Jesus looked beyond her physical needs and met the desires of her heart. He offered her the gift of living water, the gift of eternal life. What a wonderful gift!

He offers the very same gift to you today. A fresh start with forgiveness and an intimate relationship with the living God. You can begin again!

Sometimes we search for satisfaction in the wrong places or in the wrong people. You don’t have to keep drinking from a well that never satisfies. Real satisfaction comes when you discover your significance in Jesus Christ.

Only Jesus can satisfy your soul!

Just as the woman responded, “Please sir, give me this water so I will never thirst again.”, is the same response we need have today. Believe and receive the free gift of grace today. Don’t leave it unopened.

Pray

Lord, I receive what You have to offer to me. I desire to search for You and Your amazing grace. Help me to discover the great things you have intended for me to have.

True And Eternal Value

Trust

‘Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. ‘
James 5:1-3

What would you do if you knew that your bank accounts would be empty tomorrow? Would go buy as much as gold and silver that you could?

What if you owned stock in a company that you knew was going under tomorrow? You would sell your stock today, right? It wouldn’t make sense to hold on to something that has no value.

It’s obvious that we ought to invest in things that last and let go of things that are of no value. Only a wise person will comprehend that the material things of this world will not last but to invest their life into the life that is to come.

James gives us much needed wisdom today. He says that our treasures here on earth are already corrupted and moth-eaten. Our possessions will testify against us for wasting what God has entrusted us with.

Stockpiling is not an act of faith or trust. Instead it is a lack of being a good steward of what God has blessed us with. In fact, some of our possessions are keeping us from being close to God. It may be time to get rid of something.

What if Jesus returned today? What you have stored up wouldn’t matter. But what would matter are the things that bring glory to God instead of yourself.

Pray

Lord, keep me grounded in Your Word and truth. Help me to have an eternal mindset. Show me how to invest in the kingdom of heaven.