Wanted

"God chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and without sin in His presence. From eternity He destined us in love to be His adopted sons through Christ Jesus." - Ephesians 1:4-5

There are many people that carry the pain of not being wanted or loved by their parents. Many children are born as "mistakes" and many are abandoned when they're young. A lot of people also grow with the feeling that they're just not good enough and won't amount to anything. My own father was told by his father that he would never be anything special in life. These children grow up feeling neglected and seldom know what real love is or how to express and accept it as adults.

If you carry this pain in your heart, the feeling that you weren't loved enough by a parent or were neglected when you needed them, you must remember one thing, although your parents provided the natural way for you to come into the world, it was God that took His time to think about you, design your life, and plan for you way before the world was even created. God chose you before the creation of the world. You are no accident and although neglect from your parents hurts, you are loved and taken care of by your Father in Heaven. Your life might seem small at times and insignificant, but God Almighty has bigger plans for you. You are special, you are loved and you need to pick up your head and carry on with life knowing that God, your Father, planned for you, created you and will do great things for you, no matter who else doesn't love you or appreciate you.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, it's so hard for me to accept and believe Your love at times, but I know You did in fact choose me. Help me to accept this love and begin to change my heart to let go of the pain I hold inside. In Your Name we pray, amen.

In Constant Contact

"Pray at all times as the Spirit inspires you. Keep watch, together with sustained prayer and supplication for all the brothers." - Ephesians 6:18

Just like in the Looney Tunes we watched when we were younger, we have two voices in our heads, one trying to tempt us into sin, and the other leading us to God for the good of our souls. When it comes to prayer, the truth is that most of the time, we don't feel like praying. Don't think that religious people want to pray 24/7 because it's not true. Yes, it is so rewarding to go into the Lord's presence, but a lot of times we just want to be left alone, or we're too tired to pray. But when we allow ourselves to be tuned out like this from being in contact with God, how do we expect God to speak to us or make Himself known to us? Each of us hears that little voice inside of us, nudging us from time to time that we need to pray. But here scripture is telling you that it is the Spirit of God speaking to your heart, telling you to go to Him and speak to Him. You might hear it faintly if you are not used to recognizing it, but if you learn to pay attention to it, God will speak louder to you each time. Do as the scripture says and pray each and every single time you are inspired to. Don't ignore the voice because you don't have time, you are too tired, or you can't pay attention, because it is God that gives you the time you have and He should come before everything else. When you learn to listen to His voice and let yourself be led by Him, then you will receive true blessings in your life. You will no longer find yourself begging and crying in a time of need, because your communication with God will be constant and the gifts and protection He gives you will be continual and abundant; you will no longer even need to ask Him for anything because He gives freely.

Relax your mind right now, do you hear the voice? Do you feel the need to connect to your Father in Heaven? Don't miss this call and go be in His presence.

Today's Prayer:
My Lord, forgive me for the times that I brushed aside Your call because I didn't have time or didn't care to make the time. I seek to put You first and be in constant contact with You. Please help me stay in union with You always. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Responding to the Call of God

"You did not choose me; it was I who chose you and sent you to go and bear much fruit, fruit that will last." - John 15:16

It's a conscious effort to look for God everyday but you need to remember one thing, Jesus has chosen you and has called you by name, you specifically today. Those times you got the urge to pray eventhough it had been a while and that time you opened up the bible out of curiosity, that was the Lord working in you to draw you to Him. Jesus has chosen you, you are so important to Him. He has given you gifts and special abilities He hasn't given to anyone else and He's counting on you to bear fruit, to do His work here on earth. Think about who you can help today, think about what you can do to give hope to someone who needs it. How can you bear fruit and spread the love and truth of God to those that need it? There is no escaping the Lord and this is what you were put here on earth to do, don't disregard the call. You have no idea the wonders that God is preparing to work through you if you open your heart to do His work! This isn't like the work you do in school or at your job in which the ends benefit material things, but these works mean not only the salvation of your soul, but through you others will know and love God too. You will be preparing the paths for others to know the Lord and renew their hearts with His love. You will help bring the joy of the Lord to others and give them a new hope because you said yes to the Lord's call.

Today's Prayer:
Thank You Lord Jesus for calling me to be Your servant. I accept Your call with all my heart and with all my soul. You are my King and I want Your will to be done in me. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Only The Dead Give Excuses

"To another Jesus said, 'Follow me.' But he answered, 'Let me go back now, for first I want to bury my father.' And Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their dead; as for you, leave them and proclaim the kingdom of God.'" - Luke 9: 59-60

All of us, at one point or another, have felt the call of God, even in something as simple as someone telling us to go to church, because through faith, we know God inspired it. Now, the question isn't were you called, it is what do you do once you are called? In this verse, Jesus called someone to follow Him and he gave an excuse. This person's father wasn't actually dead - what it means is that this person didn't want to leave their father to follow Jesus, instead when his father dies he would leave everything. How many times do we give Jesus an excuse? When you fail to go to church on a Sunday, it's an excuse. When you decide to put off praying, it's an excuse. When you put off a gesture of kindness you could do for someone, it's an excuse. Jesus' answer to that person was to let the dead bury the dead, meaning that if you don't follow Jesus, you are spiritually dead, so while you are called by Jesus to have life in Him, those that give excuses are dead.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your call and for the life You want to give me. Help me to respond to Your love and to Your call so that Your will be done through me. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Piped Tunes and Funeral Songs

"What comparison can I use for this people? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain: 'We piped you a tune and you wouldn't dance; we sang funeral songs and you wouldn't cry.'" - Luke 7: 31-32

God has created us as His children and it is His design for us to draw close to Him so that He can care for and nurture us. The problem is that in this world we get distracted by so many things and God slips further and further down our list of priorities; we forget about His promises and about His love. When we forget about Him, in His love and mercy, He allows for things to come into our lives to bring us back to Him.

When Jesus says "We piped you a tune and you wouldn't dance," He means that He's brought so many beautiful things into your life - your health, a steady job, people that love you - and you have been unappreciative of His favors, taking the good in your life for granted and not being faithful to God for having given these things to you out of His love and care. He has given you gifts to win your love and attention and you have refused His kindness. Likewise, when Jesus says, "We sang funeral songs and you wouldn't cry," that means that since you didn't respond to the blessings bestowed upon you, He allowed for trials to come to you so that through prayer and supplication, you might become friends with Him again. But some people don't even respond to this and completely brush off God's call.

Each day God works to make Himself known to us but people fail to pay attention. Don't be one of these people that wouldn't dance or cry for the Lord.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your care and the blessings You have given me. I pray that You will always remain number 1 in my heart, and if I ever let You down, please help me to respond when You pipe a tune or when You sing a funeral song for me. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

It Was I Who Cared For You

"I loved Israel when he was a child; out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I have called, the further from me have they gone - sacrificing to the Baals, burning incense to the idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; yet little did they realize that it was I who cared for them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with leading strings of love, and I became for them as one who eases the yoke upon their neck and stoops down to feed them." - Hosea 11: 1-5

I want you to think about God's love for you today. This isn't one of those verses about how God loves us so much, and He does, but this one reflects His sorrow in not having us respond to that love.

We're all too concerned with having people love us and care for us, or even making sure our family and friends know we love them, but how have you responded to God's love? Have you taken the time out today to show Him you love Him too and you appreciate the blessings in your life?

Take the verse above and wherever God mentions Israel or Ephraim, replace it with your name. What a tender and nurturing love God has for us! He truly loves us as His children. Look at how He's described taking you by the arms and teaching you how to walk. Before you were even born, He has guided your steps with love and care. We give thanks to others for what they've done for us, but it was God that put those people in our paths to help us, yet we stray from Him and give more importance to other people and other things in our lives.

I'm sure many of you have experienced this feeling or are going through it now - think back to a time when you cared for someone so much and had them ignore you or place you second or third in their lives no matter how hard you try to get close to them. That's the pain we cause God. It's so easy to forget Him when we're doing well. We forget God is real and He is alive and only run to Him crying and pleading when we need something. How selfish are we? Should the way we treat Him be the way He treat us?

Please take this moment to put everything else aside and spend time with Your God who has created You and is waiting for You to speak to Him now.

Today's Prayer:
God, time after time and problem after problem, You are there beside me unconditionally. I'm sorry for all of those times I was too busy to thank You for Your love and for the blessings You've given me in my life. I'm so sorry for the pain I have caused You when I have ignored You and I promise to strive to grow closer to You each day. In Your Name we pray, Amen.