While the Sun Still Shines: Every Moment Is an Opportunity to Pursue Your Destiny

By Rachel Renee Smith

While the Sun Still Shines by Rachel Renee Smith is the second devotional in a series that empowers people to confidently face the storms of life (The Rain Won't Hide These Tears) and to see every day as an opportunity to fulfill their destiny and purpose in God. We all have potential and power to positively transform our own lives and the lives of

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rain Publishing
• Release date: Oct 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9780989974257

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You are my Life

Lord, in spite of me, You have brought me to levels of my destiny that I have always dreamed of, yet I know this is still only the beginning. I know there is so much more in store, so much for me to do, so much work yet to be done in me.

Thank You Lord for preserving me with Your grace and mercy that I might live to see this day. I’m so thankful to know that no matter what happened in my past, I still have a bright future and even today shines more brightly because of Your Love in my life.

Today, I come before You asking for a fresh start. I repent of any fleshly desires, doubts and fears. Lord cleanse me and dress me in Your Holiness as I rededicate my life to You. I want my days to be increasingly marked by my love, obedience and service for You. More importantly, I give my life to You to use as You please. You have done so much for me, the very least I can give You is myself.

From this day forward,

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, Oh Lord my Strength and My Redeemer (Psalm 19:14 NKJV). For one thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. (Psalm 27:4 NIV)

From Sorrow to Success

God has a Plan for Your life. Do you believe that? Do you believe that He can use you to reach others and change lives? Do you believe you can be happy and fulfilled? Sometimes we look at our present circumstances and past influences and find it hard to believe that something beautiful could be produced in such seeming chaos. However, from chaos I believe the Lord receives His greatest Glory.

Job was a man who loved God yet his faith was tested far beyond what seemed fair. Somehow in the midst of pain, sorrow and destitution, Job was able to testify that no matter what, God could accomplish whatever it was that He intended. In due time Job’s blessings were multiplied more than what he had ever seen.

Job 42:2 (New King James Version)

I know that You can do everything,

And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.

I’m Changing

God has a plan for your life and that plan never changes. What changes is you! You can ignore the plan, run from the plan, trip yourself up, get lost somewhere in the wilderness, blame God and everyone around you, but He still has the blueprint in His Hand. The longer you run, the longer you delay entering the blessedness of His Will.

The Lord has given you the ability to choose. Are you happy with what you have chosen? Do you see His peace, joy and love unfolding in Your life? Alternately, are you experiencing the same old things day in and day out? Do you find yourself continually caught up in drama and conflict with other people? Do you wish for the spotlight and the praise of others?

When your actions are based on a desire to please man rather than God, you are not in line with God’s will. You cannot receive God’s best for your life if you are trying to impress people. Ask yourself, Who gave me life? Who has the power to transform my life?

God is the only One who can transform your life. However, this will not happen unless you really want it. If you want to change, you have to be willing to put people-pleasing in the past. As long as you are trying to impress someone, you are only performing. Your relationships won’t be real when you are not yet real. Most of the people you are trying to please may not even care for you, possibly because they have never met the real you, they have only met the representative that you thought they wanted to see.

The God who loves you has a plan for your life that you may not even be able to imagine right now. He has the best things in store specifically for you. He is waiting for you to accept His Will. It does not matter how much time you think you have wasted or how much you may have messed up. God didn’t rip up the agenda. He knows how to redeem the time and get you up to speed. Just surrender to Him today.

Lord I thank you and I pray for my brother and sister reading this right now who genuinely want Your best for their life. I pray that You would remove the distractions and the voices that discourage them from being all that they can be. Help them to see themselves through Your eyes, Lord. Allow them to feel the warmth of Your love and know that You will be with them every step of the way. I pray that they would surrender to You and allow You to transform their lives. Remove the weights Lord, remove the shackles that hold them back. Free them to be complete in You today Father. In Jesus’ Name! Amen.

Hebrews 12:1-3 (New Living Translation)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

Draw Me Close

Today’s message is a reminder of how much God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. You cannot have a close relationship with someone where there is emotional distance and lack of intimacy. This is why the Lord is always chasing after us with His grace, mercy and love. He sent His only Son to die for us so that there would be atonement for our sin, and so that we could have a personal relationship with Him, no longer kept separate by our sinful nature.

God knows every detail about us yet He loves us just the same. The more we understand His love, the more we understand our position as daughters and sons. There is no need for fear and shame before Him. Those emotions are designed to keep us from knowing God and accepting His Love. All that is required is a heart that wants to please Him, a heart that is willing to submit to Him. He will take over and do the rest. He wants to be close to you.

There were several years of my life where I continuously made bad choices that were hurtful to myself and others. While I continued to pray, my guilt and shame always made me feel like I was unworthy of God’s Love, joy, and peace. I wanted to be close to