Dear Beachside Family and Friends,
A question often asked of us when the workday has been completed, classes as school are finished, the shopping has been done, and we are finally able to kick back and unwind is this: How was your day? The question opens the door to a myriad of responses, running the gamut from "the best day of my life" to "the day from hell." We define each 24 hour passage according to how we feel about it, and our emotional responses to the experiences between sunrise and sunset determine whether it was a good day or a bad one.
Many individuals seem to be caught up in unbroken chains of bad days. Still others have yo-yo combinations of good and bad days, up one day and down the next. Some feel that they nave no control over the things that happen to them, and live weeks, months, and even years living one defeated day to the next. We recognize these things as a part of the human experience, but are these the lives that God intended for us to live?
Is it possible for God to nave a bad day? Does work get Him down? Do His personal relationships keep Him in a state of turmoil? Is it possible for Him to feel like quitting? To all these interrogatories the answer is a clear and resounding NO! Everything He creates is good, and that includes every day of each one of our lives. The first part of Psalm 118:24 reads "This is the day the Lord has made..." it is impossible for Him to create anything with imperfections. He does not create days full of evil designed to torture and distress us. The second part of this verse says "...We will rejoice and be glad in it." It is Gods responsibility to create our days, and it is our responsibility to rejoice in them!
Paul told an assemblage of Greek philosophers " For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’(Acts 17:28). We were created in the image of God, and if we are born-again, He lives in us through His Son Jesus. Hi? very nature inhabits our lives, and every circumstance in life is an opportunity to rejoice. Not everything we experience each day comes from God, and we do not rejoice over what Satan does. We can choose to rejoice in our relationship with the Lord not by thanking Him for circumstances He did not create, but by rejoicing in the midst of them. "Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but IN (not for!) everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. (Philippians 4:4-6)
Each day presents us with a choice. What will we do, and how will we respond to the challenges we face. When someone asks the question "how was your day", what will our answer be? Moses told Israel "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: (Deuteronomy 30:19) if we make a conscious choice for life and obedience to God and His Word each day, our response to the question will be the same day in and day out. "I had a blessed day, and I am truly blessed!"
Pastor Ramon
