God's Box of Chocolates--A Valentine's Day Devotional

Guest author: LauraLee Shaw  

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Everywhere I look near Valentine's Day, there's chocolate: boxes of chocolate in all the stores, chocolate on tv promising to be the only love you need, chocolate Girl Scout cookies--CHOCOLATE! I even saw chocolate Altoid breath mints in the grocery checkout aisle the other day! I think that's what led me to remember the famous quote from Forrest Gump: "Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get." (I even remembered it with his accent.)

In reality, that phrase can be true in many ways. We wake up every morning completely unsure of what the day may hold for us. We've made our plans. Sometimes they even happen the way we make them. But we never know for sure, do we?

The days that come with caramel in the middle are my favorite. The ones with the strawberry goo are just so so--but the ones with coconut--YUCK! I'd rather go back to bed. Then there are the days where tragedy or difficult times come out of nowhere, and the chocolate sits in the pantry untouched...there's no sweetness to be had in those moments, it seems.

God knows that life, as it pertains to circumstances, is uncertain for us. That's why He comforts us and reminds us so many times that He is our constant companion, our steadfast friend, our consistently loving God and Savior. He doesn't keep promises the way we do:

"When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they'll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee His promises, He gave His word, a rock-solid guarantee--God can't break His word. And because His word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable." (Heb. 6:16-18, the Message)

You see, no matter what chocolate we are "in the middle of" right now, He is there--with the certainty of His promise today as well as His hope of heaven in the future. Listen to how the verse above continues to encourage us: (vs.19-20)

"We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up His permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek."

I love the visual picture of grabbing on to Him with both hands as He runs ahead of me to the Father. That makes me able to get up today and praise Him for whatever comes my way. This faith, this confidence, this hope is our unbreakable spiritual lifeline--HIS love for us no matter what, when, how or why. Let's binge on His priceless box of chocolates today...the sweetest and most satisfying of them all.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."
Psalm 34:8

LauraLee Shaw is a disciple of Jesus Christ disguised as a wife, mom, writer & speaker. She is a contributing author to "Women of Passions," and a writer for "Internet Cafe Devotions." You can visit LauraLee at
http://faithcoloredglasses.com
http://facebook.com/FaithColoredGlasses

If It Fits

Whoever wanders off the straight and narrow ends up in a congregation of ghosts. You're addicted to thrills? What an empty life! The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.

Proverbs 21:16-17 The Message Bible

A faithful friend sent me an email and included in it was the following quote, Resist the temptation to try to find natural remedies to a spiritual condition. Think about it for a minute. Have you ever done that? No?

Well, how about this - Have you ever stuffed chocolate or some other comfort food into your mouth in an attempt to ease your stress level? You know - instead of going to God for your answer or your place of peace? That's a natural remedy for a spiritual condition. It's kind of like trying to play a DVD in a CD boom box. They both fit, but you don't get the same result.

Colossians 1:16 NKJV reads, For by Him [Jesus] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. We were created by Him, through Him and FOR Him. We might try one way or the other to fit something else in the place that is only for Him - but nothing else will work properly. You can't fill His spot with a substitution and expect to get results found only in Him. Even if it fits...

Prayer:

Father,

          Shine Your light of Truth on those things we use for quick fixes and in substitution of time better spent with You. Reveal those things in our lives that are not pleasing to You, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen