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Hear the devotional: https://bit.ly/3tcyuXI
YourBestDayEver: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/eradio-valverde9
View Devotional here: https://bit.ly/47RQcPr
16 Be cheerful no matter what; 17 pray all the time; 18 thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. 19 Don't suppress the Spirit, 20 and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. 21 On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. 22 Throw out anything tainted with evil. 23 May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together - spirit, soul, and body - and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. 24 The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 The Message Bible)
A wonderful Tuesday to you, dear Friend. I pray this brings an unexpected blessing to your life and walk with Jesus. I also pray this might bring words of encouragement and hope to whatever need or challenge you may be having in your life right now. I ask prayers for my pastor, The Rev. Dr. Matt Pennington who is under the weather with a stomach bug. May God make him well and strong; pray for all who also have had to struggle with that pesky bug!
Yesterday we talked about God's incredible plan that He has for us and a lot of times we don't understand His plans or purposes, and today I was the recipient of that. A dear friend and colleague in ministry emailed me letting me know that he had somehow come across an old podcast that I started back in 2020 and due to several reasons I could not continue it. He said he really liked it and wanted to find it again so he he could share it with his wife. I confessed I had lost track of it and that I might not be able to track it down, but I gave it a try and did find it. I have to confess the podcast was more for me than anyone else and I called it "Your Best Day Ever," and I had forgotten most of what I said. It was a spontaneous recording on my phone only and no editing; recorded it directly to then-Anchor.fm, now it is Spotify for Podcasters. I thought the change and demise of Anchor.fm, meant I had lost it forever, but I did find it and the few episodes that I recorded were still there. Oh, and in listening to one, I spoke of Covid and that was one of the major reasons I could not continue this endeavor. I will leave a link for you to hear one or more of the episodes in hopes that something I did say might bless you as it blessed me. And the podcast was influenced as was Paul as he wrote this encouraging passage to the believers in Thessalonia. Paul knew, as do I, and all of you, that Christians don't always have perfect or even good days. We, as humans, do have trying times and we encounter situations that don't bless us in ways that we'd like. Such was the life of the believer in Paul's time. If Paul had a podcast this would be a hit! Hear it as such!
Paul begins with a truth: No matter what, stay connected to God! A friend shared with me today that his life has become a nonstop prayer to God for his wife, for his family, for the work he does and the realization that without God, he is weak. I was blessed to hear that because you and me can identify with that, too; When we connect with God we get the extra strength we need to face life. Paul says, "Be cheerful no matter what." Yes, there are people who are just like that, hard as it might seem to us at times. I thank God for some incredible people I met during my ministry that lived that sort of life, including some in the last stages of life who lived in nursing homes. I confess that as an intern minister I feared going into nursing homes for not having been in any before having to; and believing that they were just awful places that I thought certainly had that effect on those forced to live in them. I was wrong. In spite of the atmosphere, God's grace was seen on their smiles and felt in their loving, kind words to me with just the words I needed at the right time!
Paul says we should pray all the time. Yes! And amen! And in our prayers we should be thanking God regardless of what might be happening to us or to loved ones. We belong to Jesus Christ and our lives should reflect that. Paul urges us to be led and fed by the Spirit, and to open to those who share words they've heard from "the Master (Think Sunday sermons and Sunday school lessons!). Yet, Paul, given the challenges of his time, and yes they do still compare to today, there were those who did not necessarily share God's word, so he says, "Don't be gullible, and check out everything, and keep only what's good." Yes, amen. Paul also says to rid our lives of all evil or things "tainted with evil." And our hope is that God will Himself, Who made everything holy and whole, will be able to make us holy and whole, and He will hold us together and make us whole in spirit, soul, and body, and He will keep us fit for the coming of the Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. And what makes us think we can bank on these words? Paul says because the One who called us is completely dependable. And the title of today's devotional comes from the last sentence of the last verse: If He said it, He'll do it! Amen!
PRAYER: LOVING GOD, we thank You for the wisdom found in Your Word. Help us embrace a spirit of joy, continuous prayer, and gratitude in our lives. May we not quench the work of Your Spirit but be open to His guidance. Strengthen us to live in accordance with Your will, knowing that You are faithful to fulfill Your promises. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Pray without ceasing!
Receive my love and thankfulness to you,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
