Charles R. Swindoll - Bedside Blessings: 365 Days of Inspirational Thoughts

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BEDSIDE
BLESSINGS

365 DAYS OF INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHTS

Charles R. Swindoll

Bedside Blessings
2011 by Charles R. Swindoll

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE. The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are from The Living Bible. 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (PHILLIPS) are from J. B. Phillips: THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH, Revised Edition. J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

ISBN 978-1-4003-1844-5

Printed in China

11 12 13 14 15 TIMS 6 5 4 3 2 1

When I remember

You on my bed, I meditate on You

in the night watches.

PSALM 63:6

CONTENTS

Gods timing
is always on time.

M ark it down. Things do not just happen. Ours is not a random, whistle-in-the-dark universe. There is a God-arranged plan for this world of ours, which includes a specific plan for you. And through every ordinary day and every extraordinary moment, there is a God who constantly seeks you.

The God who loves us and redeemed us... is there, and He is not silent.

Oh, the depth of the riches

both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

ROMANS 11:33

G ods voice isnt all that difficult to hear. In fact, you almost have to be closing your eyes and stopping your ears to miss it. He sometimes shouts through our pain, whispers to us while were relaxing on vacation; occasionally He sings to us in a song and warns us through the sixty-six books of His written Word. Its right there, ink on paper. Count on itthat book will never lead you astray.

I hope in You, O LORD;

You will answer, O Lord my God.

PSALM 38:15

O ur part. Trust God wholeheartedly, in every corner of life, recognizing that He is the One in charge.

His part. He will make your paths straight. The word means smooth, straight, or even. In other words, He will smooth out your path. Hell take care of each of those obstacles on the trail ahead of you.

Trust in the LORD

with all your heart.... He will

make your paths straight.

PROVERBS 3:56

S erendipity occurs when something beautiful breaks into the monotonous and the mundane. A serendipitous life is marked by surprisability and spontaneity. When we lose our capacity for either, we settle into lifes ruts. We expect little and were seldom disappointed.

Though I have walked with God for decades, I must confess I still find much about Him incomprehensible and mysterious. But this much I know: He delights in surprising us. He dots our pilgrimage from earth to heaven with amazing serendipities.

You open Your hand and

satisfy the desire of every living thing.

PSALM 145:16

H ow wonderful that God personally cares about those things that worry us and prey upon our thoughts. He cares about them more than we care about them. Not a single nagging, aching, worrisome, stomach-tensing, blood-pressure-raising thought escapes His notice.

You can throw the whole weight

of your anxieties upon him, for you

are his personal concern.

1 PETER 5:7 PHILLIPS

F ix your eyes on the Lord! Do it once. Do it daily. Do it ten thousand times ten thousand times. Do it constantly. When your schedule presses, when your prospects thin, when your hope burns low, when people disappoint you, when events turn against you, when dreams die, when the walls close in, when the prognosis seems grim, when your heart breaks, look at the Lord, and keep on looking at Him.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,

the author and perfecter of our faith.

HEBREWS 12:2 NIV

I f I have learned anything during my journey on planet earth, it is that people need one another. The presence of other people is essentialcaring people, helpful people, interesting people, friendly people, thoughtful people. These folks take the grind out of life. About the time we are tempted to think we can handle things all aloneboom! We run into some obstacle and need assistance. We discover all over again that we are not nearly as self-sufficient as we thought.

A mans counsel

is sweet to his friend.

PROVERBS 27:9

B e specific in your prayer life. If you need a job, pray for a job. If youre an engineer, ask God to open up an engineering position for you, or something related for which you are qualified.... If you need fifteen hundred dollars for tuition, ask or that amount. If some fear has you in its grasp, name that fear and ask specifically for relief from it.... We need, as one of my mentors used to say, to guard against the slimy ooze of indefiniteness.

Therefore, let everyone

who is godly pray to You.

PSALM 32:6

I d like to deliver a beautiful message to you, my friend. Gods hand on your life may be just beginning to make its mark. That steep hill youve been climbing for such a long time may be the ramp to a destiny beyond your dreams. I do not believe there is any such thing as an accidental or ill-timed birth. You may have arrived in a home that was financially strapped. You may have known brokenness, hurt, and insecurity since your earliest days, but please hear me on this: you were not an accident.

You are a chosen generation,

a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

His own special people.

1 PETER 2:9 NKJV

L isten carefully! Jesus Christ opens the gate, gently looks at you, and says: Come to Me, all you who labor and are... overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] (Matthew 11:28 AMP).

Nothing complicated. No big fanfare, no trip to Mecca, no hypnotic trance, no fee, no special password. Just come.... Unload.... His provision is profound, attainable, and right.

You are my hiding place;

You preserve me from trouble.

PSALM 32:7

W hen was the last time you thanked the Lord for not showing you the future? Im convinced that one of the best things God does for us is to keep us from knowing what will happen beyond today. Just think of all the stuff you didnt have to worry about just because you never knew it was coming your way!