2 for 1 deal!

Okey dokey...yesterday I was feeling like garbage so I didn't read my devotional or blog. So today you get a 2 for 1 deal!! LOL!

Today's Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7:10

Thought for the day: "Jesus didn't die so we'd be sorry. He died and then was resurrected so we'd be changed." - Steven Furtick

Wow, that's a pretty powerful statement when you think about it. I read it in The New Living Translation version and this is what it says:

¹⁰ For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

I'm having a hard time putting in to words what I'm feeling about this one. It's hard to admit that God wants us to feel sorrow. But it's comforting to know that it's not sorrow for sorrow's sake. That there is a reason behind it. It's because he wants us not to sin and to be closer to Him. To work on that love relationship with Him. 

I can relate this to my life. When I correct my son on something he's done wrong he always says sorry. But when it's the third or fourth time he's done the same thing wrong....and says sorry...it means nothing. I keep trying to explain to him that just saying sorry doesn't make it right. It's just a word. There's no meaning behind it if you keep choosing to do it over and over. 

Being repentant means you want to change that behavior. That you don't ever want to do it again. That it pains you to know you've wronged someone that badly. Without that repentance of my sins, there is no way I can get closer to God.


Today's Scripture: Psalm 94:18-19

Thought for the day: "The only thing that stops the desperation  the uncertainties, the twirling, is for the Spirit of God to cover my heart and make it still."

While reading this one...I totally am thinking of a conversation that I had with my friend at church today. We are doing a small group called "Experiencing God" and during this group she very bravely spoke up and said that with the way she grew up, she doesn't feel like she could possibly be a good mom. As a mom myself, I totally get that! There have been tons of times that I have felt like I am a horrible mother. I just blogged about one instance earlier this week. 

I've had others tell me that I'm a good mom. Or that I'm pretty. Or that I have a great heart. Or that I'm good at this or that. Or give me any kind of compliment. And while it's nice to hear...and sometimes very needed to hear...sometimes it's not enough. Sometimes I am still filled with sooo much doubt and feel in desperate need of reassurance that it's frustrating. 

I read this scripture in The Message version of the Bible...and it made it really hit home to me.

18 The minute I said, “I’m slipping, I’m falling,”
    your love, God, took hold and held me fast.
When I was upset and beside myself,
    you calmed me down and cheered me up.

Give your fears, your anxieties, your worries, your problems, your concerns, your frustrations and your doubt to God. Let go of them. Step back and watch and feel His love for you. Watch Him take those negative things in your life and turn them into a positive. He can do that!!! And isn't that just the most amazing news?!

I'm going to focus on this scripture too. And will probably post it at work as well. (People are gonna get sick of seeing all this scripture around my desk!) I'm going to hold fast to God's love for me. Are you?