Blessed – herbcotton.org

Have You Received These 5 Blessings?

Text:

Proverbs 2:6-8 (ESV)

6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.

Observation:

I am so thankful to God for all of the blessings He gives to His beloved children.

When I read this Proverb recently I was so encouraged, and excited to see all of the things I have been so graciously given by the Lord.

Inventory of the Gifts of God:

Wisdom
Knowledge
Understanding
Protection
Direction

How often do you get that tugging in your heart that you have been so blessed in your life?

We have many things that happen to us in life that cause us to whine. However, those urges that come to us that reminds us that we have been blessed should be taken as a signal to become a worshipper, and give the giver of those blessings some praise.

Our praises please God. However, they are for the purpose of being a blessing to us. Our praises to God benefits us; it is God’s means of changing our attitude, and altitude.

Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Prayer:

Father God, we are so thankful for all of our blessings. Father, I pray that You will lift us from the circumstances we face in this world, and stir our hearts to look up to You, and live daily in Your presence.

Father, we know in the depths of our hearts that when we live in Your presence that everything changes. Father, open wide the doors of our hearts, and make us willing to be willing to surrender our all to You, and in return be filled with all of You. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

—

Ephesians 6:10-11 (ESV)
¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

Read all the Daily Devotionals by Herb Cotton; click here:

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Who Stole Your Blessing?

Text:

Genesis 1:27 (ESV)

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Observation:

What is your reaction to this declaration in the book of beginnings? The Psalmist helps me to express my feelings in these words.

Psalm 139:14 (ESV)

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

However, there is a thief in the world that God created, and this is also recorded in Genesis. This is what Satan said to Eve and Adam.

Genesis 3:5 (ESV)

5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

God had already created Adam and Eve in His image. But, the enemy of God lied and deceived them.

Notice what God has given to His redeemed people.

2 Peter 1:3 (HCSB)

3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.

Are you one of God’s divinely redeemed children? If so, notice how blessed you are in Christ. Do you feel this rich in spiritual blessings?

Ephesians 1:3-6 (HCSB)

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love

5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will,

6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

Wow! O, how blessed we are in Christ. We are fearfully made, and redeemed from the fall of mankind. Don’t allow the enemy to deceive you. Draw near to God, and live in His presence.

Surely, God is worthy of our praise, and we are privileged to be able to enter the throne room of God to offer our praise, and thanksgiving to Him.

Prayer:

Father, hallowed be Your name. Father, we bow our knee, and offer to You from our hearts the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. And, we do this in mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Hebrews 13:15 (HCSB)

15 Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.

—

Isaiah 55:11 (KJV)
¹¹ So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

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The Joy of Living In the Presence of God

Text:

Zephaniah 3:17 (HCSB)

17 Yahweh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring ?you? quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy.”

Observation:

When I take inventory of my cup of blessings, there is none that I treasure more that what is described in our focal passage for today’s meditation.

I draw strength, courage, and peace from knowing that Yahweh, my God, is with me.

But, not only is He with me, the Word says, “He will rejoice over you with gladness”.

There is nothing more important to me in life than to be pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.

Therefore, I can live with the confident assurance that nothing can separate me from the love of God. This includes these schemes of the enemy of God, and our souls.

No place can separate me from God.
No person can separate me from God.
No circumstance can separate me from God.

Romans 8:35 (HCSB)

35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Romans 8:37 (HCSB)

37 No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us.

Prayer:

Father God, I am so grateful for the relationship that You desire to have with Your people, and the extent You went to make it possible.

Titus 3:5 (HCSB)

5 He saved us— not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Father, O the joy of knowing that our God rejoices over His children with gladness, and with love. Father, give us a burning desire in our hearts to rejoice in You, and in the victory You have given us through Jesus our Savior, and Lord. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

—

Hear the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

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3 Things You Can Do to Be Happy Everyday

Text:

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (HCSB)

18 Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Observation:

When I think about all the things I have to be grateful for, there is none more important than this one that I read this morning.

Ephesians 1:7 (HCSB)

7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.

As I mediated upon this scripture I begin to thank and praise God for His amazing grace that I have freely been given at great cost to Him.

Then, I begin to think about how the attitude of gratefulness can be such a blessing in our life if we would learn to practice it daily in our walk.

Our focal verse tells us that this is God’s will for our life in Christ Jesus. Do you really want God’s will to be done in your life?

Here are 3 things I find that the child of God can give thanks for everyday.

Christ Jesus is with you.

Isaiah 41:10 (HCSB)

10 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.

Matthew 28:20 (HCSB)

20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Christ Jesus is in you.

Colossians 1:27 (HCSB)

27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Christ Jesus is for you.

Romans 8:31-32 (HCSB)

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

32 He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?

Prayer:

Father God, I exalt Your name above every name. Father, I thank You for providing the means for our salvation.

Father, thank You for sending Jesus to be our deliverer. Father, I am so grateful and thankful to You that Christ Jesus is with us, in us, and for us, and it is because we have been redeemed by His precious and royal blood. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

—

Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

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Did You Know That God Wants to Bless You?

Text:

2 Corinthians 9:8-10 (ESV)

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Observation:

The Lord is a God of abundance, not of scarcity. What God promises He is able, and willing to deliver.

Are there any witnesses who will testify that God is a faithful God, and that what He promises in His Word He has done for you?

Psalm 37:25 (ESV)

25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

I have spent a lot of time this year getting in touch with my heart. When I meditate on God’s Word, God speaks to me in the deep recesses of my heart.

I encourage you to get in touch with your heart. As you read God’s Word and pray, you will find that you will have a deep thirst and hunger for God. He made you with a space in your heart that only He can fill. God is standing at the door of your heart, and He wants to come into your heart, and bless you abundantly.

The woman at the wall had this experience with Jesus. Notice what a blessing she received.

John 4:12-14 (ESV)

12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”

13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

God wants to fill the cup of your heart with living water. Why not open wide the door of your heart, and let the Savior come in, and be Lord of all?

It’s now time, and it’s prayer time.

Prayer:

Father, hallowed be your most holy and righteous name. All the glory and praise belong to You.

Father, I pray that many who are praying this prayer are opening their hearts wide to You.

Father, as Your Word promises, I pray that those who are opening their heart will expect by faith to receive the blessings of the Lord flooding their hearts with things that last forever: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

How to Become Who God Made You to Be

Text:

Psalm 119:73-80 (ESV)
73

Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
74 Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word.
75 I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
76 Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.
77 Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.
78 Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
79 Let those who fear you turn to me, that they may know your testimonies.
80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame!

Observation:

Is your greatest desire to be the best person you can be, and fulfill the divine purpose of your Maker?

The Psalmist expresses that desire in the selected portion that I am using for today’s text.

The Psalmist acknowledges that the Lord is his maker, and that the Bible has the guidelines for living a purposeful and fruitful life.

Our Maker has made us, designed us, and gifted us to able to strengthen the lives of others. In verse eighty the Psalmist express his desire to live a blameless life, and in verse seventy-eight he expresses his desire to be humble. Our God resist the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

We can find in reading daily the Word of God the spiritual food that we need to be the person God made us to be. That kind of life will be a blessing to others; see verse seventy-nine, and our own lives will be blessed; see verse seventy-seven.

Prayer:

Father God, my dear Father, I pray the prayer of the Psalmist that You would give Your people a burning desire to be the people that You made us to be; a people that will be a blessing to others, and who be blessed by You.

Father, gives us understanding how to do in our daily living; the things that we do, and the things that we say; may they be consistent with the guide book for living; the Bible. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Daily Bread

Title: Do You Know How to be Free and Blessed?

Text:

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
¹⁰For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Observation:

This thought recently gripped me. What is the value of the stirring of the heart if your life is not changed? Selah.

It’s amazing what God can do in us and through us when we submit to His ownership, and do what He says for us to do in His Word. This is the key to having a blessed life; one day at a time. The grace of God is so amazing and so liberating. God does not desire to box you in; His desire is to set you free.

Are you free and blessed?

John 8:36 (NLT)
³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I am so thankful that nothing is impossible with You. Father God, help us and strengthen us to be all that You created us, and redeemed us to be. Lord, I thank You that I am free and blessed. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.