Ready, Set, Go…
The alarm clock rings, and we’re already running behind. Before we even known if we’re ready, willing and able to enter the day, it’s ready, set, go. 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. At the beginning, middle, and end of the day, take moments to connect with Him. You’re not too busy to spend time with Jesus. You’re too busy not to spend time with Jesus.
If He Is For You
Because of Jesus, we can have courage; the kind of courage that does not shrink back from saying and doing the right things no matter what people might think of us, what might happen to us, and what it might cost us if we remain faithful to Him. We press on, knowing that He will graciously keep us and empower us and provide for us and go with us and deliver us and save us because He has promised to do so. Therefore… Be bold to speak the truth in His love. Be brave to face enemies with His love. Be encouraged in opposition by His love. If He is for you, it really doesn’t matter who is against you.
The Way We Count
Christians should count the various trials in our lives as joy. Not as defeat. Not as pleasant. Not as punishment. Not as meaningless. Not as insignificant. Not as a reason to complain. Not as a lack of God’s care. Trials can be many things, but they cannot be joy-stealers unless we let them. While it may feel like trials are breaking you today, you can be sure that God is building you up through them in ways that are going to be amazingly good in the days to come. Your faith muscle becoming stronger. Your deliverance becoming sooner. Your witness becoming louder. Your homecoming becoming sweeter. Yes, you have hardships; but you also have hope.
What Jesus Did Is Enough For You
There is a word that can drain life out of us. It can make us walk around in shame and guilt. It can rob us of our peace. It can cause us to feel doubt, pressure and fear. This word often doesn’t make us want to try harder; it makes us want to give up. This word is “enough”. Have you prayed, read your Bible, served, loved, trusted, worked hard, shared your faith, worshipped, been kind, helped others, obeyed God, and lived for what matters … enough? No, never enough. But the pressure is off because what Jesus did is enough for those who trust in Him! Secure in this, strive to live in a God-honoring way today while resting in His grace for you.
Overflowing Cups
We are to be generous with our words, actions, time, money, forgiveness, kindness, hospitality, patience, service, friendship, compassion, skills, truth-telling and love. We can confidently share every good resource in our lives knowing that even as we give away, there is always enough. Because if God gave us Jesus, He’ll also give us everything we need along with Him until He welcomes us home. He is always pouring out more forgiveness, goodness, kindness and blessedness so we can be more of a witness to His generosity by giving away part of what He gives to us. Overflowing cups are not for us to choke on, but for us to let others drink from too.
It All Belongs To God
What you and I have is ultimately not our own; it all belongs to God. Our time is His. Our Talent is His. Our Treasure is His. Little or much, temporary or lasting, tangible or unseen, everything in our lives is the property and possession of God. We have been entrusted to steward it faithfully, dispense it liberally, and credit it clearly to the One from Whom all blessings flow. Our stewardship will not be judged by the amount we are able to give, but by the readiness, cheerfulness and faithfulness of our giving. It is not a matter of how much we have to be generous with, but how generous we are with how much we have.
Wonderful Gifts From An Even More Wonderful God
It is right to enjoy the good gifts of God in the way that He designed them to be enjoyed because that’s why He gives them to us. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches of the created world are supposed to be enjoyed because God made them to send and made us to receive … pleasure. But rather than enjoying them too little (ingratitude) or too much (idolatry), let us enjoy them as they were intended, as a catalyst for treasuring the Gift-Giver far beyond what He might give to us. The gifts that God sends us are wonderful; but they are nowhere near as wonderful as Him.
God Speaks To Us Today
The Bible is referred to as the “Word of God” for a reason: God speaks through it. He says what He wants us to know about Himself and His creation, revealing how He designed the universe to work and what He has decided is best for us as we live in it. He expects us to respond in some way every time we read from its pages… By doing, saying, correcting, believing, feeling, thinking, or sharing something. We are to listen for the voice of Jesus and follow Him the best we know how in any given moment, and strive to know more so we can better follow Him in the moments to come. Doing so brings honor to God and happiness to us.
What He Tells Us To Do
God wants us to be happy. When He tells us in the Bible to do, say, correct, believe, feel, think or share something, it is not to take away our happiness, but rather it is to take away the things that are in the way of our full and lasting happiness. We must trust that God is after our happiness, that He knows best how to bring about our happiness, and that what He tells us in the Bible is designed to lead us into happiness. Doing what God tells us is not always easy, popular or instantly gratifying. But it is always for good, always better in the end than sin, and always the best option for making us truly, ultimately, and eternally happy.
Growing In Grace
There is a three-word description that summarizes what happens from the moment we put our faith in Jesus until the moment we come face-to-face with Him: grow in grace. We are not meant to stay the same or stand still, but to progress in our experience of grace for the rest of our lives. There are countless observations, implications and applications that flow from God’s grace to us, and we have the delightful duty of discovery. Day by day, we are to prize, prioritize and pursue intimacy with Jesus. For progress does not come from fixing ourselves, but fixing our eyes on Him. This is how we grow: we set out to know.
