The Devotional - 019 - Bedtime Thoughts

A Thought for the Day – 019 – Bedtime thoughts

Proverbs 3:19-24 – The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew. My son let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion; so they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck, then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

 

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Matthew 6:9b-13 – Our Father in heaven, Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Also in Luke 11:2-4 the prayer is much the same but shortened and there are some word differences of which you can read on your own.

When we lie down for the evening, we should quickly inventory our thoughts. Almost immediately if there is trouble in the passing day it will surface; when sin is involved in that trouble it too will surface. We certainly have good days and bad ones; what I mean is; that if you are on the grassy side of the earth, you might find a weed or two and of course if you are under the grassy side; in remembrance, there will be some who remember you as a weed and some who remember you as a flower or a beautiful groomed lawn.

Now you might be saying too; what does the above paragraph have to do with the scripture verses? Answer – MUCH! In our days on earth we are given Word from God through His Living Word (The Holy Bible) that there is a place where His Will is being done, that place is HIS home (heaven). It is also THE place where RIGHTEOUSNESS dwells and THE place where the RIGHTEOUS are going or have gone to. When we go to bed and if our thoughts are on the weeds of the day; the thoughts are dusty; the apostle Paul has an interesting analogy concerning this in 1 Corinthians 15:45-49.

So last night when I went to bed I began thinking about the LORD’s prayer; I thought about God’s Will being absolute and perfect in heaven. I thought about how it is His perfect Will, for that same Will to be accomplished in earth. I thought about both places and then in thought; Gee!!! I like the earth; do I not strive to live righteously to assist God’s will for the earth, then I thought of my root problem. I do seek to keep an upright walk in the power of Christ as His strength is made perfect in my weakness. In other words do I rely on God the Holy Spirit to keep me abiding in Christ.

Most times yes I do; but failure to rely totally is found in me when I ask God to forgive me of sin; He does so, but He also shows me my compassion on those who have wronged me in some way. I do seek forgiveness for sins; it is the only way for you and I to allow God to accomplish His Will on earth, but often in the process of His out sourced Will for me; I will purposely interrupt His Will by my personal SIN, sin that we carry into a room of sinners, or into a room called – church!

Woe is me and I say again woe is me. I thought about the kingdom of God in heaven; I thought about the righteousness there. The place where PEACE prevails and where GOODNESS is the forecast of the day, yes I like the earth enough to stay here until the LORD calls me home, but truly I long for that forecasted day of “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done”. My soul longs to embrace the moment and truly I hope that yours does too. Now once again; we are not getting a bus load of people to go anytime soon so stay healthy; wait… again I say wait on the LORD and He will direct your steps. (Proverbs 16:9). Go ahead and take a long walk through His Living Word today… you will be full of joy and as the apostle John say in 3 John. As the Elder he says; “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” 3 John 4.

I think it is much better to dwell on the heavenly kingdom, than to dine on a bowl of vanilla ice cream, but on this side of heaven that just might be a good breakfast!