“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…”
(Ephesians 1:3, ESV)
We know that we are blessed. We are here today, living and breathing and reading these truths. We have the Word of God before us, fellow believers [virtually] by our side, cheering us on in our quest to grow in the knowledge and love of Christ.
We are blessed. Today let us consider, how deep does this blessing go?
We wear many labels. We are daughters, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, friends, wives, mentors, and the list continues. We live in a world that defines us by who we are to others, by our relationships and the roles we fill. We follow suit, creating in our mind’s eye the life we think we ought to have. The type of work or spouse we need, a certain number of children to fill a certain home, the timeline in which we would have it all play out. Christ Himself taught us to pray for daily bread, yet we feast on our best efforts. We strive in vain for false perfection.
Sisters, this anxious toil is not what He has for us. The bread God offers is the bread of peace, of blessing, of life. Christ died, the curse of law and sin on His back, to free us from our shoulds and oughts. He took our burdens and gave us blessing.
We toil and stress and feel the pressure of countless to-do’s. Yet He says to us, “Sleep. Rest in Me and what I’ve done.” Can you picture Him now, stretching out His hand of blessing and peace to you?
You who have a quiver full of arrows, a home filled with tiny feet running and little voices crying… You are blessed with the fullness of Christ today.
You whose day is filled with endless meetings and daunting tasks and uncertain outcomes… You are blessed with the fullness of Christ today.
You who long to be fully known, to find a partner for the dreams God has planted in your heart… You are blessed with the fullness of Christ today.
You whose home has grown quiet, who nervously wonders what will come next… You are blessed with the fullness of Christ today.
It is God who builds your house. It is God who gives you bread. It is God who takes your shame and lavishes on you love and freedom and blessing.
May we live in light of this blessing today. Amen.
I so needed this today. All of my plans are in His hands and I’m not blessed because of some label, I’m blessed because He loves to bless me. I take great comfort in this. I love that he word of God is relevant to every moment of my life. Thank you Lord for your living word!
Thank you for your message today! I’m at a place in my life where, amidst my various and turbulent storms, I still feel a joy that I can’t be robbed of! I’m seeing the blessing in every circumstance, and feel peace in my soul. I can certainly testify to the power of drinking the Living Water!
Falling in love with JESUS
ladies do you think we could ever meet in person? like in our respective cities once a month or quarter? Idk I think it would be awesome to have a gathering or conference for SRT ladies. has anyone thought or suggested this before and I’m just late? lol
I’m so blessed by these devotionals. I praise God for his truth and encouragement,
I have been rendered speechless!!! WHAT A DEVOTION!!! I'm full of Christ's love today. Selah.
Last summer I was contemplating a job change. The job I had was WONDERFUL and I was feeling very blessed in it. I knew that the other job I was considering would be incredibly stressful. Then one day I heard a teaching on Christian radio challenging believers not to only consider how much we have been blessed by God but to think about how our lives can bless Him in return. I believe that was God nudging me to accept the new job, and I did. It has been difficult to say the least. I have felt more discouraged and incapable in this job than I have in any job I’ve had the last 30 years. I have “felt” anything but blessed but have prayed day after day that I would be a blessing to God and honor Him in spite of my overwhelming circumstances. I have questioned if I heard God correctly. I have questioned if I should look for another job. How has God answered? He has assured me that I AM BLESSED! Not because of any external curcumstances or because I feel like it. But because God’s word says I am! This devotion confirms all that He is teaching me and is a great reminder of the truth of His undeserved, overwhelming blessings in my life.
God is so good. I'm typing this with tears in my eyes because I am SO KEYED UP AND STRESSED OUT TODAY. Really, this whole week. Endless stuff to do, so much tension at home, worries over a sick mother with Alzheimer's, annoying CRAP at work…. I really, REALLY needed this post today. And He knew it. Even getting to today's reading was another item on my list today, when really it should be my moment of peace, my time to breathe. Not just another thing to get done. As I logged on, I knew it would be so hard to concentrate with a million other worries, a million other things on my mind. Then I read the devotional and felt… whoa girl, settle down. God is so good. I need to breathe. Amen.
The devotions in this reading plan have been amazing- it's like they've been written just for me! I realize they are resonating with many other as well, and provides me great comfort to know that these struggles aren't mine alone. I've been reading long with SRT for a year now, and it's been helping me through some difficult things and helping me put the right perspective on things.
It's so easy to get wrapped up in the consequences of daily life and let the insignificant things take over while I fool myself into trying to control it all. I really need the reminders provided by daily Bible reading to keep myself focused on the things that really matter and to keep myself from getting overly anxious about the things that don't.
Thank you for the tremendous gift of this community and the beautifully insightful devotions that are so perfect for women.