Every single grain of sand that falls in the hourglass of your life is a gift from God to be used for good. You can’t regain or recycle what has been used. You can’t get more than what remains. You can’t be sure when the last grain will fall. The days are long, but the years are short; the days drag on, but the years fly by. While there is still time, spend it on the things that matter most, the things that matter for eternity, the things that matter to God. You will never regret the unwasted life of prioritizing, pursuing and proclaiming Jesus to a darkened world that desperately needs the light you can hold out to it. What immeasurable bliss awaits when the last grain drops, and you hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.” Until that day arrives, don’t put off until another day what God has given you to do with this day. Live every day as if it were your last one on earth; someday if will be.
He Will Finish What He Started
In a world of seemingly endless uncertainties, there is something that we can be absolutely sure of: God will finish what He started in us. There is zero chance He will fail. God has begun a good work in us, and He will work all things together for good to ensure its completion. We will keep going. We will endure. We will make it to the finish line where our faith will become sight in the presence of God. Not because of anything we can do apart from God, but because Jesus is a part of us, enabling us by His grace to persevere to the end. He is both the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), and He is faithful even when we are not. We are on our way and until we get there, even when our days include struggles and our walk include stumbles, let us press on in joyful confidence that getting to our heavenly home does not depend upon us but on God at work in us and for us. Yes, we work hard by His grace to follow Him closely in loving obedience, but He alone will ensure that we are able to do so every step of the way. Rejoice as you hold on until the end-before-the-beginning, knowing that God is holding on to you. On this, eternal security firmly rests for those who are trusting in Jesus: He will finish what He started.
This Life Is Not All There Is
One of the enemy’s biggest deceptions is convincing us to live as if this life is all there is. It’s the cause for the fear of missing out, the fear of sacrificial service and the fear of death. It’s the reason so many strive to build their own kingdoms instead of building the kingdom of God. It’s the basis for the never-ending search for happiness by looking to the world instead of looking to Jesus to find happiness that is never-ending. The lie that we should live as if this life is all there is to live for is the fountainhead of ten thousand troubles. And you can find out exactly what you’re living for by honestly answering one simple question: why do you think, feel, speak, and act as you do? Is it because of some earthly aim or ambition, or because you’ve got your sights set on eternity? Everything looks different when you look past the temporary to forever. This place isn’t our home; we’re heading home. This life won’t last forever; the next life will. This treasure trove will fade away; the ones laid up in heaven have an everlasting shine. The joys and pleasures of today that never satisfy enough and never last enough will give way to fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore when we enter the presence of God.
There Is An Order To Love
Love both sums up all of God’s commandments and gives us the motivation to obey those commandments. But only when we love rightly. All the sins of all the people in all the world are the result of loving wrongly. Augustine described sin as “disordered love”. Or said another way, we sin, we break God’s commandments, when our loves are out of order. He noted that for our loves to be in proper order we should not… Love what it is wrong to love. Fail to love what should be loved. Love too much what should be loved less. Love too little what should be loved more. You see, there is an order to love. We are to love God above people. Love people above things. And love things in such a way that they help us to better love God and love people.
Trusting That God Knows What He’s Doing
Why are some things hard? Why are some things easy? Why are some things ongoing? Why are some things abrupt? Why are some things present? Why are some things absent? Because God knows best what to allow into our lives, how intensely they should be experienced, and how long they should remain. It’s not always easy to see the “why” behind the “what” that God allows into our lives. But the longer we walk with Jesus, the more we recognize that our Heavenly Father uses all the things He allows into our lives to build us up in our faith and bless us in ways we never would experience if we followed our own plan. Looking back, we see that in those moments we didn’t think God was working, His fingerprints were on every irregularly shaped piece of the puzzle, fitting them together to form us into the image of His Son. God doesn’t expect us to know what He’s doing; He just expects us to trust that He does.
The Secret Of Contentment
When we become convinced that we cannot be joyful without something desirable that is absent from our lives, or we cannot be joyful with something undesirable that is present in our lives, our gaze has drifted away from Jesus onto our circumstances. The secret to contentment, regardless of what we have and don’t have, what we get to do and don’t get to do, who we are and who we are not, is to expect Jesus to fulfil the longings of our hearts. When we look to Him for hope, peace, rest, comfort, courage, security, companionship, strength, and provision, and trust that He will sustain us and satisfy us in all circumstances, God is honored in us, and we are happy in Him. We can be joyfully content whether we have little or much because we have it all in Jesus.
God Will Get You Through The Day
The more confident we are in God’s love, mercy, and faithfulness, the more we will turn to Him for help instead of looking elsewhere for it. And we will find that help, for His mercies are always lovingly and faithfully delivered anew each morning. New because each day has new needs. New because today’s needs are different than those from yesterday. New because we are never to enter any day thinking we don’t need God. New because they testify of God’s steadfast love and great faithfulness day after day. New because our daily walk is to be one of faith. New because their day-by-day presence re-centers and re-stirs our hearts to grateful worship. Whatever happens today, we can be assured that God’s custom-tailored, need-meeting, heart-stirring, joy-producing, Jesus-glorifying mercies will be there to save the day. That doesn’t mean it will always be without problems, pain and pandemonium. Sometimes you’ll arrive at the end of the day a little broken and beaten up. But what will help get you through the day is remembering that God will get you through the day!
Jesus Forgives Our Sin And Frees Us From It
Jesus died not just to forgive our sin, but also to free us from it. The amazing grace He lavishes upon is both pardon from sin and power not to sin. We can let go of the old life and latch hold of the new. New identity, new purpose, new beliefs, new hopes, new dreams, new motives, new joy, new freedom, new eternity, new life and new power to live it is ours because of Jesus. When we settle in our hearts and minds that everything is better with Him, because of Him, for Him, and in Him, we will no longer settle for the things that are not from Him. How do you resist the pull of the old life? Remember all that is yours in the new life.
There Is A Good Reason For Your Suffering
We are tempted to wonder why “bad things happen to good people” and why “good things happen to bad people,” but the gospel does not operate on the basis of merits and demerits for producing “deserved” circumstances in the lives of God’s people. Oftentimes evil and agony are permitted, such as in the crucifixion of Jesus, because God’s gracious and glorious and good purposes are served. He does not always give us a reason for the long and difficult road of suffering, but He will always give us His loving care and go with us so we do not travel it alone. God has a good reason for and a good result from the suffering in our lives. In the end, the suffering of this world is not worth comparing to the glory of the one to come.
What I Pray About When I Pray
What do you typically pray about? Be honest: Is your prayer life more about getting God to do your will or you to do His? I’ll be the first to admit that it’s much easier for me to pray “let this cup of suffering pass from me” than it is to say to my Heavenly Father, “nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.” Yet, there is nothing so freeing and fulfilling than to be right where God means for me to be doing right what God means for me to do. He’s the God of both the hills and valleys, and I have His promise that Jesus will be with me to guide, strengthen and encourage in the ups and downs of life. So, I talk to Him. Not in order to secure what I need to build my own kingdom, but to request what I need to live for His. Prayer involves seeking what we need to do what God wants. Pray for God’s grace to do God’s will. There will be a thousand times more joy for you in doing things His way instead of demanding your own.
With Faith All Things Are Made Possible
There is often a tension between belief and doubt when things become difficult. The mountain seems too high. The path seems too rough. The situation seems too overwhelming. The outlook seems too bleak. The task seems too great. What we need to remember is this: if we believe in a small God, our problems will always seem big. If we believe in a big God, our problems will always seem small. It would be plausible to lose hope and lose heart when facing things that are too much for us to handle if we were forced to handle them alone. But Jesus has promised to never leave us alone, always supplying the grace we need for the needs we face. The more we trust in Him, the more we will rely on Him to take the next steps into the unexpected, uncertain and unpleasant difficulties of this broken world. He will work it out for good as we work out His purposes for us. With faith all things are not made easy. With faith all things are made possible.
Making War Instead Of Making Excuses
Every person alive disobeys God, but the ways in which we respond to our sin is often in stark contrast with each other. Some people rationalize. Some people repent. As Christians, we have a faith in Jesus that is demonstrated by loving obedience, though imperfectly executed. That means we too will disobey God at times, but because of the love we receive from Him and have for Him, we will admit our sin by seeking His pardon for it and His power to be free from it. People who love Jesus repent by making war against their sin instead of making excuses for it. Therefore, let us strive for holy living while resting in the grace of God, remembering and rejoicing over this truth: what Jesus has done for us on the cross is sufficient to both cleanse and correct our transgressions.
The Mountain Reminds Us To Depend On God
We were not made to be self-reliant, self-sustaining or self-sovereigns. God created us to be dependent upon His gracious care and provision, turning to Him and trusting in Him, moment by moment for what we need for what we face. Our wisdom and willpower are inadequate for handling life, but His is infinite, and it is readily available to those who have put their faith in Jesus. Don’t try to make it on your own. You were never meant to. Whenever there is a mountain of little stuff piled up a mile high, or one big mile high mountain, that is too big for you to climb, perhaps God put it there as a gracious and loving reminder for you to depend on Him.
You Do Not Need To Pretend With God
We all keep secrets. There is not a human being on the face of the earth who fully discloses every thought, feeling, motive, desire, and attitude to others. The relationships we are involved in are to some degree built on us holding back some things about us. Not so in our relationship with God. We cannot hide ourselves from Him; nor do we have to. The One who matters the most, knows us most and loves us most. He also has committed Himself to the long-term transformation of making us more like Jesus. What comfort, what relief, what joy is ours that with God we do not have to pretend to be something we are not, because God is making us into what we are not yet. And there is absolutely no risk that He will walk away from those of us who have been gloriously saved into His family because of our faith in Jesus. For when He looks upon you and me, though He sees everything about us, what He sees most is a beloved son or daughter.
Your Story With Jesus Has Just Begun
Suffering will be a part of your earthly experience, but so will God’s sustaining grace in greater measure. You will never walk through the valleys alone, for Jesus, the suffering servant, is always with you. While things will often not turn out the way that you hoped for, God is actively working things out in your life for good and will graciously provide everything you need until you have no more needs. Be assured of this: there may be many unexpected and unpleasant plot twists, but God has written a beautiful story for you. And your story has just begun. It will unfold forever with Him in heaven where every chapter is better than the one before.
God Judged Jesus In Our Place
The tendency to harshly criticize others while liberally exonerating ourselves will only be eliminated by a proper response to grace. This comes from a God-given true understanding of our own need for spiritual healing and correction for our imperfections. Having then recognized that we ourselves are far from perfect and desperately flawed, we can rejoice in this stunning reality: God judged Jesus in our place. Only when we focus on Jesus’ removal of our condemnation will we ever be able to stop condemning the people around us. When you find that you are focused on and frustrated with the faults of others, remember that your life is riddled with faults too … yet you are loved, accepted, forgiven and helped by Jesus to make changes. From the overflow of grace given to you, extend it to others like you.
God Doesn’t Need Us, But People Do
God doesn’t need us to do anything for Him as if He could ever be deficient in some area that we could supply for Him. But our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, teammates, and complete strangers do need us to do for them. Not because God is failing to meet their needs, and we should make up for His oversight or indifference, but rather because in His loving providence, He has sent us to bring His aid to them. God puts us in places where needy people are right in front of us so we can be like Jesus to them by offering a helping hand, a guiding word, and a loving embrace. His hands. His words. His love. Delivered through us.
Will It Matter 100 Years From Now?
Here’s a simple, but significant, lens through which life looks radically different than we often see it… will this matter 100 years from now? How we think, feel, speak, act, and react would be wonderfully different if we saw things in light of eternity. Our motives and attitudes would change for the better if we remembered that this short life is not all that there is. And our very lives would create an everlasting ripple if we could look a century into our future to see the impact of our today. In dependence upon the presence and power of Jesus, let us give less priority to the things that really don’t matter and more priority to the things that do.
Helping Others Take Their Next Step With Jesus
God has divinely positioned you so that your life intersects with others for the purpose of helping them take the next step in their spiritual journey. You have access and influence and opportunity to shape the lives of the people you know for everyday and eternal good as God works through you. One of the greatest aims of your life should be that the people in your life grow in their relationship with Jesus because of their relationship with you.
Make The Right Choice To Spend Time With Jesus
Admit it, some days are a blur. We wake up, and over the coming hours, it’s a nonstop rush to not fall behind. The remedy for busy, frantic lives is not to speed up, but to slow down. The thing that will most help us with what we face each day is to simply spend time with Jesus getting recharged so we can be prepared for what lies ahead and refocused so we can prioritize the things that matter most. That’s the most important part of our day, and it should have the most intentional part of our schedule because it’s the most influential part of our lives. You know what the cure is for being overwhelmed, worried and frustrated about the many things on your schedule? Making the right choice to spend time with Jesus today.
