Morning

March 31

Deuteronomy 9:6 ⁶Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Need some humble pie? Try this verse! We get things backward today thinking we have been so good that God should bless us. Wrong! All our righteousness is like filthy rags. If we were not blessed, we would be whining complaining, and possibly even forsaking God. He gives only what we can bear, and for some of us that is not very much. Mature souls have a heart to learn from God and endure many trials. The more willing you are to learn the more difficulty comes your way to teach you. Along with the difficulty comes great grace.

Never get to thinking the blessings are because of your goodness. If there is any goodness in your life, it is the goodness of God which has come through the Holy Spirit. If you should yield to His Spirit, and learn and grow so that you demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit, does God owe you blessings? No way! That is merely your duty, your responsibility as a creature. God owes you nothing. If He chooses to bless you, it is either because you need a break before more instruction comes your way, or you are just too wimpy to take anything else.

Stiff-necked, what an expression! When God calls, our heads do not turn. We go our own way ignoring Him. This is the nature of fallen man.

Consider: Thank God for every blessing and realize it comes from His generous Spirit. Thank Him for the trials too for they come from the same Spirit.