Following up on the theme of brokenness, which we’ve discussed so much this week, Lorraine Ezell’s Coffee Break devotion this morning reminds us that no matter how bad our yesterdays have been; today is a brand new day! So, thanks to God’s unfailing love, faithfulness, compassion, mercy and grace, we can do and think about things differently today and get different results (just as promised in Isaiah 55). And when we read all of Lamentations 3; men and women standing for marriage restoration can certainly relate to what it means for our souls to be downcast within us. But as Lorraine reminds us, what an awesome promise we have in Lamentations 3:22-26, which says Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. So as we’ve discussed earlier this week, we need not fear and dread the difficult times of our lives, because God knows all about them and intends to use them all for His purpose and the glory of our Lord and Savior, and He WILL cause it ALL to work together for good when we love Him and are called according to HIS purpose (Romans 8:28); just as confirmed in Lamentations 3:29-40, which declares Let him bury his face in the dust—there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men. To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, to deny a man his rights before the Most High, to deprive a man of justice—would not the Lord see such things? Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. What amazing confirmation of everything we’ve been talking about this week! We need not dread this terrible time in our lives when we feel as if we’ve lost everything dear to us; instead we need to embrace it all as a time of learning and preparation for the great work of restoration God wants to do in us, our spouses and our marriages and families. And just as the Word promises in so many passages of scripture, when we are in distress and call on God, He will hear us and answer us and show us great and mighty things we do not know (Jeremiah 33:3); also confirmed in Lamentations 3:57-58, which says You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” O Lord, you took up my case; you redeemed my life.

So read the following Coffee Break devotion by Lorraine Ezell and remember that today is indeed a NEW DAY and be blessed and encouraged! And as one of the FAM Fellowship members reminded us yesterday; rejoice and God will give you even more to rejoice about!

“They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:23

I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I miss it. There are days that I don’t always do what I should, but I am thankful that even if I missed it yesterday, I don’t have to stay there. Today is a new day- a new day that has brand new mercies available to me. Yesterday I might have been a failure, but today I can be a winner. Yesterday I might have suffered defeat, but today I can be victorious.

Look at Peter. There was a “yesterday” and a “today” for him. Yesterday, he denied Christ, but then we see him a few days later and Jesus is commissioning him to feed His sheep. Mary Magdalene had a “yesterday”. Yesterday she was full of demons and the Lord cast them out. The next day-her “today”- she is a follower of His- staying by His side even until He drew His last breath on the cross.

There is a “yesterday” and a “today” (so to speak) in all of our lives. Yesterday we may have been in one place, state or condition, but today because of the goodness mercy and grace of the Lord we can be somewhere completely different. You might have missed it yesterday, but today you can get back on track. Yesterday you might have blown it, but today you can get back up. Yesterday you might have been disobedient, but today you can repent and fulfill His will. Yesterday you might have walked in the flesh, but today you can walk in the spirit. Yesterday you might have been a failure, but today you can be more than a conqueror. Don’t let your mistakes of yesterday hold you in bondage. Today is a new day and the Lord is standing at it’s threshold waiting to make it a new “today” for you.

Have a great day. You may have blown it yesterday like Peter, but today you can hear the Lord say “Feed My sheep”.

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell, and available online and sent by email free of charge for the asking from About the Master’s Business Ministry, Inc.

So please feel free to call Lorraine at (601) 833-5278 or E-mail her at mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net
And you can visit her on the web at MastersBusiness.org.

Posted Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 10:19 am in Seeds Of Faith.