The gift of obedience

Whatever you may have experienced in your own life, dont make the mistake of projecting negative faith into your future. The brightest and the best is already laid ahead for you. First song I learned in life was called "Every Day with Jesus Is Sweeter than the Day before. It's true. While outward circumstances may vary, your walk with Christ will only become better and better, culminating at the time when you finally see Him face to face. Dont anticipate negative days in this temporal world either. Presume upon the goodness of God. He is honored when you have faith in His lovingkindness. HE has plans for you, and they are good. Believe it and anticipate it. Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed it. Zechariah 7:7 its that time of year again when people think about God and goodwill more than they do at any other time. It seems that the nearer we get to Christmas, the more we notice that  people have a willingness to express an interest in religion things. Both church attendance and church activity increase. Does this heightened religious activity honor the Lord? We must be careful that what takes place is not what happened to the people of Zechariah's day. Although they engaged in religious activities, they were out to please only themselves. A vital element was missing--obedience to God. Instead of their conducting empty rituals, God wanted them to know their obedience to Him by: 

(1) administering true justice,

(2) showing mercy and quality Love

(3) refusing to opress widows, orphans, and the poor, 

(4) not planning evil against others 

(Zechariah7:9-10). We can best honor God during this special season by evaluating our own  devotion to Him in light of these four commands to God's people. Our Lord does not want the gift of obedience expressed in acts of kindness and helpfulness for those less fortunate than we are. Try to bring God's love and kindness into someone's life today: Even just a gift of caring can the Savior's love display.