Jentezen Franklin Ministry Daily Devotional 22 November 2024 | Topic:  It’s A Wonderful Life You Live

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It’s A Wonderful Life You Live

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34 

In the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the main character is a guy named George Bailey. George is a good guy, but he gets extremely down in hard times and even contemplates suicide. Fortunately, He has some friends who get together and pray for him. And when they pray, their prayers touch heaven. A head angel who is in charge of all the other angels turns to one of the lesser angels and says, “It’s time for you to earn your wings. Your assignment is to go down and help George Bailey.”

The inferior angel said to the superior angel, “Well before I go, tell me, what’s wrong with George Bailey? Is he sick? Does he have some horrible disease?” And the superior angel’s answer is a classic. He said, “Worse than that, he is discouraged.” 

The devil knows the greatest thing he can use against the believer is discouragement because you’re never really defeated until you’re defeated on the inside. 

Oftentimes, discouragement is born when we compare ourselves with other people. When you are tempted to start comparing, just remember where you came from. And remember where you started. Never forget how much God has blessed you. You are not where you used to be. But if you start comparing yourself with someone else, you can get discouraged because you can always find someone who has more than you and who is doing more than you. Stop today and reflect on your life. Look at the house and car God has given you. Look at your sweet children. Recognize how good God has been.

In Psalms 73, David found himself so discouraged he wanted to quit. He said, “Truly, God isn’t good to Israel, even to as many as who have a clean heart. But as for me, my feet almost slipped, and I became envious of the wicked.” He was saying, “Oh, I know God will bless Israel, but I’m the exception.” When you start that kind of thinking, you are listening to discouragement talking. David was also saying, “I’m living clean, I’m living right, and this is not working for me. This faith in God is not working. They’re doing better, and they worship idols. “

We may often look at the highlight reel of other people’s social media and wonder why they have so much, and we don’t. Maybe they are bad people, and you can’t understand why they have bigger houses and better jobs. You see them going on extravagant vacations, and they don’t seem to have a care in the world. But the comparison is like tunnel vision. It takes your eyes off all the blessings of God around you and keeps you focused on what others have. Comparing blinds you to God’s goodness and makes you ungrateful. 

During the course of the movie, the angel shows George what life would have been like if he had never been born. George is forced to see the positive ways his life has touched each person in the town. At the end of the movie, the angel says this famous line: “You see, George, you’ve really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?” Your life matters so much more than you realize. You never need to compare yourself to anyone else because God made you to be you and do what only you can do. If you look hard enough, you will realize that you truly live a wonderful life.

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