| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Stay strong” Our Bible verse for today: “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Don’t say to your neighbor, “Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow” – when you now have it with you.” Proverbs 3:27-28 (NIV) Our thought for today: “Leave happiness and blessings in your wake.” I’ve mentioned in several other daily devotionals that a friend recently gave me a little book of prayers from the Puritans, all of which were written in the 1600s. I’ve been using it in my own quiet time each morning and I’ve discovered those prayers to be deep and rich. Very helpful. In one of those prayers the writer was visualizing himself proceeding through his day. He asked the Lord to help him remain attentive to the people around him, and to focus on being a blessing, help, and encouragement to them. Here are a few lines from that prayer: “O Lord … help me to live circumspectly, with skill to convert every care into prayer. Halo my path with gentleness and love, smooth every asperity of temper; let me not forget how easy it is to occasion grief; may I strive to bind up every wound, and pour oil on all troubled waters. May the world this day be happier and better because I live.” “May the world this day be happier and better because I live.” Amen! May that be true of all of us as well. The world should be a happier and better place because the followers of Jesus are in it. In another of those prayers the writer reflectively questioned himself by asking, “As I pass through life do I leave happiness and blessings in my wake?” This is what Solomon was getting at in Proverbs 3:27-28 (above). If you can bless somebody, then bless them. Why would you not? If you can smile, then smile. If you can help, then help. If you can offer a word of encouragement, then do it. However, beyond just making someone else’s day better by doing that, we actually make our own day better too. Psychologists tell us that one of the most effective things a depressed person can do in order to begin feeling better is to take their eyes off of themselves and their own problems, and find ways to help and bless other people. Taking our eyes off of ourselves and focusing on others instead actually makes us feel better, and our own problems become easier to handle. We end up stronger and happier because we focused on others instead of on ourselves. Let’s take our eyes off of ourselves and stay focused on blessing others. May it be true of you today that as you pass through this day you leave happiness and blessings in your wake. Other people will be better off as a result, and so will you. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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