Monday 23 Apr 2012

Monday Reading: Philippians 4:5-7

Key Verse: Philippians 4:5
5  Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Devotion:
Depending on which translation you look at you may find the word ‘moderation’ being translated into different words such as gentleness, kindness, modesty, meekness or humility... but I think you start to get the big picture when you find out how many words can be used. I have had many people try to say how I should be living and how I should be presenting myself, but each time that I have tried to follow other people’s advice I have always found myself wanting. It was only when I started to live my life for Christ that I realised that I could be happy in everything that I did!

No matter how much we try to live a good life we will always find something that we can do better or something that we have failed at. If we focus on those things then we are either going to end up being so depressed because we cannot do anything right or we will end up working ourselves to death and never being content with anything that we do. But if we are willing to live with Christ and work with Him then we will begin to see w whole new outlook on life that we seem to have missed all along.

I have always struggled to keep a close walk with Christ because of the many distractions in my life and the harder I try the more I find it is difficult. It was only when I began to rely on God for guidance and for grace that I began to see that living with Him has to be the only way in life that we can be truly happy. Whilst I know that my attitude to life may have raised a few eyebrows from my friends and family, I also know that I am living the life that brings me the most joy; and with that I am able to allow others around me to see that I have this joy inside me.

The greatest compliment that people can pay me is to tell me that I look happy or that I am smiling because I then know that I am happy in Christ! Whenever people say to me that I look down or worried, those are the times when I know that I have been trying to fix things myself instead of allowing God to guide me along His path. That does not mean that I can sit back and just enjoy life because I seem to have far less spare time than ever before – but I also know that I am making a difference! The key point does have to be that I always look forward to God for advice, that I always rely on Him for protection and that I have always counted on Him for grace and strength. Then I know that I have begun to move in the right direction!

Points to Ponder:
Who do you rely on most of all?

Do you always include God in everything?