Good morning people who are seated with God in Christ Jesus in heavenly places.

Ephesians 1:3 NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

God the Father is worthy of praise because of all that He has made available to us in Christ Jesus. This includes every spiritual blessing!

Too often, blessings have been reduced down to physical answers to prayers. While we all should celebrate these, true spiritual blessings are so much more. In fact, we can still be waiting for our physical miracles, and yet be walking and living in divine favour through the blessings purchased for us by Christ Jesus.

The truth that we are alive in Christ, living in Christ, hidden in Christ and made righteous in Christ, are spiritual blessings that supersede anything tangible or natural. Yes, spiritual blessings can overflow into the natural, but this verse makes is clear that we are blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing that is found in Jesus.

Can you list some more spiritual blessings that are available to you in Christ Jesus?

The book of Ephesians is rich with truth about what some of these blessings look like. Over the next few days, let’s lean in further together.

For today, I encourage you to meditate deeply on the Book of Ephesians.

Good morning people who complain about problems less and praise God more.

Psalms 34:1-3 NIV I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.

King David wrote this in a very dark place in his life when he had to pretend to be insane in order to not be killed. I think this makes these words even more powerful than they appear to be.

David states that it is God and His goodness that will always be on his lips. Rather than complaining, David chose praise. And this is a keyword – he chose praise.

Many people don’t praise because they don’t feel like it. Distractions are all around, and feelings can be like roller coasters. Many times we conclude, “I can’t praise God right now because…” It simply is not an accurate statement. We can always praise God, but we don’t always choose to praise God.

David takes it further and declares that other afflicted people will hear his praise of God. Wow! Even in his darkness, David was thinking about his influence of others; he was aware of his call to point people towards God.

And then he does something that is so powerful even in our lives today. David praised alone, but he also praised God with other people; ‘Glorify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together.’

What do you do when you are alone: do you praise or complain?

What do you do when you are with other people: do you praise or complain?

I encourage you to slowly meditate your way through these verses above, and to intentionally choose to glorify God – alone and with other people. 

Good morning people who stop long enough and lean in to hear the quiet whispers of God.

Following on from yesterday, let me urge you to take more time to pause and listen to God.

I know that life is full and there is always lots to do. I don’t know many people who are waiting for something to do because there is nothing to do in life. Rather, I know many people who ‘don’t have time’ to do many of the important things in life.

If that’s you, I don’t condemn you. In fact, many times, I find myself there too. However, I know that it is not a healthy place to be, and if I’m really honest, it is avoidable, but it requires me to be a bit more honest with myself.

I’ve found that, more often than not, it really does come down to priorities. It’s not so much about busyness, as it is about priorities. And priorities are defined by what is most important to us. It could even be said, priorities are about what we love the most.

Again, there’s no condemnation from me, but I join you in encouraging us to stop the excuses and to re-establish the right priorities.

Let’s be honest, how many times have we said that we don’t have time to spend in God’s Word or in prayer or worship, and yet we spend significant moments of time “unwinding and relaxing” through different forms of entertainment? And we do this without it truly ‘filling the tank’ or ‘restoring the soul’.

Going to God is where we need to go more. And when we do, let’s pause and listen. Let’s think about the Lord and meditate on who He is. Let’s gaze upon His majesty and His beauty. Let’s ask Him what’s on His heart and look for Him in His Word.

And then when He whispers, let’s enter into the conversation that He is initiating. There is so much more my friends, but it comes when we take time, pause and listen.

Good morning people who intentionally and regularly feed yourself in God.

As I sit to write another day of BIY, I hear Father say, “Remind them that BIY is only a supplement.”

Supplements are great, but they are only supplements. This word means ‘a thing added to something else in order to complete it or enhance it.’ It can also mean ‘a substance taken to remedy deficiencies in a person’s diet.’

Let me be clear: Anything I write does not complete the Word of God. Nothing can be added to the Word of God to make it better. It is wholly inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it is infallible. Within Scripture, we will find all that we need to point us to knowing God better, as well as to revealing God’s will and purpose. I can’t complete it.

In the truest sense, I cannot enhance it either. Sure, I can write about it and point out some truths from it, but that’s about it.

And then there’s the part about a supplement being ‘a substance taken to remedy deficiencies in a person’s diet.’ Think about this spiritually. BIY is not the remedy to the spiritual deficiencies in anyone’s spiritual diet! Why not? Because God’s Word is where we should turn, and God Himself is who we should go to.

Now that I have talked myself out of any need to write BIY, let me state clearly that I will continue to do so because Father gave me a clear word to ‘feed people every day for the rest of my life.’

But today, I feel compelled by the love of God to re-establish that my tiny contribution is to be a small supplement to your own daily feeding and feasting in God and in His Word. I beg you, don’t make my devotion your only or main God time. There is so much more available to you; infinitely more than I could ever provide.

So, go to God today; talk to Him, listen to Him, commune with Him. And go to His Word; read it, memorise it, meditate on it, and step through the pages and find God Himself. May your intimacy with God increase as you keep God and His Word your priority.

God bless you dear friends.