Drops of Sunshine - Daily Bread

 

 

 

 

God has given us many things. But fear, hopelessness, depression, and things of that nature are not from him. Should you find yourself struggling in those areas, just have a little talk with Jesus and start your journey on the road of life free from those types of worries. Embrace a life of faith and trust God for the greater.

It's a beautiful thing to be cared for. God shows us that every single day that we are granted the opportunity to open our eyes. We lose sight of that when we focus more on our own strength. Instead, start each day with a reminder that God is in control and trust him in greater ways than you have ever before.  

 You can tell when someone didn't really want to give you something or when they didn't put much thought into something they give you. It's more meaningful when we're able to show that we care. The same goes for anything we give to others, but to our time with God as well. Shift from a compulsory way of thinking and do it because you want to. 

Who doesn't love a good gift? We put a lot of our energy into making sure our loved ones will love what we gift them. God is the same way for us. He unloads great gifts on us on a daily basis and so many people disregard it. Each day we wake, we should thank God for the gift of another opportunity of living and making better choices than we did the day before.

 It's easy to overlook the good when our minds are focused on the bad. When that happens, it's hard to actually see a break in our cloudy skies. That's why we need to be intentional with our thoughts on a daily basis. When there is no shortage of negativity, be more purposeful about seeing the good.

There is an old adage that the only stupid questions are the ones we don't ask. It shows that the quest for knowledge and understanding often pays dividends. We should have that same quest for understanding when it comes to all things spiritual. In this case, there is only one teacher with an understanding that far exceeds our own.

You can pretend to be knowledgeable and can pass off having an understanding of something. But you can't really fake wisdom. When it comes knowing how to effectively apply God's word in our lives, we need his guidance. Only then can we be those well seasoned dishes.

 Some people get frustrated when kids, and even adults, repeatedly ask "why?" We're so fortunate that God does not experience the same frustration with us because there are many times where that is the only question we have. We have the assurance, however, that if we trust and rely confidently in him, he won't fail us.

Embracing the truth of God's word opens up the door for us to tap into his wisdom. Gaining knowledge is easy, but knowing what to do with it is another level. That is where we need to find ourselves during this spiritual journey. Desiring a deeper level to our relationship with God and our understanding of his word.

I used to be a huge roller coaster fan. So much so that I couldn't thoroughly enjoy a theme park without taking a turn on every roller coast at least once. As I got older, and wiser, I began to recognize that some of the risk factors outweighed the entertainment aspect. We have a similar awakening with our faith and God alone is capable of giving us the instruction we need to truly understand his desire for our lives.

There is some truth to the adage about one bad apple. If you allow it to reside, then it will ruin every other apple around it. If we are intent on living a positive, spiritually upright life, then we need to be aware if their are "bad apples" in around us.

People will often use adages about karma in order to get others to make the right choice. We should be kind and gracious to others simply because it's the right thing to do. We can waste much time and energy with cruelty.

Growing up, my siblings and I, as well as others in our circle, were taught the importance of obedience. As I'm sure most children are. It didn't matter what our friends at school were doing. Our parents and other adults around us gave us instruction. Even if they weren't within view, it didn't change the rules. God's standard is similar in the sense that we should never risk his wrath in choosing to deliberately disobey his instruction.

It seems like for every on brand product on the market, there is double the off brand. If it's the original product that we want, we learn to look for the indicators that confirm that we have the real deal. This helps us avoid being tricked by what looks like truth. We can only do that in our spiritual walk if we first know the real thing.

For some people, stepping in to something new changes their perspective. It's like a new outfit you don't want to get dirty. You are more cautious and your awareness of the things around you that jeopardizes that increases. In Christ, our awareness of the things that contradict or threaten our newness should do the same.

I didn't used to care much for thinking about future goals. I would often dread the 5-year plan when advisors wanted to discuss it. Looking toward my future seemed intimidating. What if I failed? What if it took more than 5 years to achieve those goals? What if??!! What matters most is our persistence. So what if it takes more time than originally planned? Do we give up? No. That's the way our faith walk should be. It doesn't matter how a situation looks. We need to believe and trust that God is greater than our fear and keep marching forward.

When we have something positive we are looking toward, it may ignite an anxious expectation. We're almost gleeful thinking about it. That's the way we should carry ourselves as children of God. Every day, anxiously looking forward to his blessings and resting in the confidence of knowing that he will come through. That then gives us a positive reason to look back and see how we overcame by his grace.

Looking back can sometimes help us in our efforts to move forward. Afterall, history tends to repeat because many of us didn't learn from it. But for some people, the past becomes an obstacle to their future. No matter the events of the past, good or bad, they can't be changed. Focus on what lies ahead and trust that God will get you through it. The choices we make today may have an impact on our tomorrow. So rather than wallow in the things that can't be edited, shift your focus.

Many people struggle with making a commitment. Not just in terms of relationships with one another. To dieting, to career paths, and in many other areas in life. When it comes to our faith, struggling to make a choice is not the fence we want to straddle. We must commit to our choice to be children of God and wholeheartedly seek his guidance. We can't do that if our attention is divided.