We spend planting day in anticipation of harvest day. We spend pre-season getting ready for post-season. We spend rehearsal time longing for show time. We spend work hours to enjoy weekend hours. All this for a fleeting yield, championship, applause, and pleasure. How much more important is it to spend today in getting ready for, in anticipation of, and in longing for eternity? This life isn’t all there is! Eternal fruit, eternal victory, eternal glory and eternal enjoyment are coming. Christian, rejoice and recommit to living for what matters most. This life will soon end, but praise God, the next one never will.
Why Go To A Church Service?
The singing lauds the greatness of Jesus. The preaching proclaims the message of Jesus. The offering furthers the mission of Jesus. The discipleship equips the people of Jesus. The prayers unleash the power of Jesus. The Spirit transforms the image-bearers of Jesus. The communion celebrates the finished work of Jesus. The invitation welcomes new believers of Jesus. The fellowship encourages the good deeds of Jesus. The service nurtures the joy of Jesus. The gathering sends out the representatives of Jesus. Why go to a church service? Because it leads to greater honor for Jesus and greater happiness for you.
The Things You Do For Others
Even if no one repaid them. Even if no one appreciated them. Even if no one saw them. The acts of kindness, acts of generosity, acts of sacrifice, acts of love and all other times you act like Jesus are not unnoticed in heaven. While it may be tiring to keep giving up your time and giving of yourself to do good to the people that Jesus brings into your life, don’t give in to the temptation to stop blessing others in His Name. Remember, the things you do for others, you do for Him. And Jesus sees them. Jesus appreciates them. Jesus will repay them. Someday you will see the glorious outcome of the good you do today.
The Much-Needed Act Of Spurring
Every Christian should not only lovingly do good things, but should also spur on other Christians to lovingly do good things. This includes encouraging both those who are passive and those who are active in serving God’s kingdom. Some people need to be convinced to get going. Some people need to be cheered to keep going. It’s easy to get distracted and discouraged when it comes to pursuing eternal priorities, so we need to help each other not lose focus and not lose heart. Instead of assuming others will continue in a life of good works in the Name of Jesus, we should be affirming them as they do.
It’s What You Forward Ahead
One thing most of us struggle with is disobedience by delay. That is, we wait to do what God has called and equipped us to do. We wait until a more convenient time, thinking we have plenty of time, but more often than not, we will run out of time. For most of us, God doesn’t mean for us to wait until some future day to serve Him by going out in a million-dollar blaze of glory, but rather He wants us to give ourselves to Him in daily nickels and dimes of service. By grace, lay up treasures in heaven with how you use your time today. It’s not what you leave behind that matters most. It’s what you forward ahead.
You Are Not Done Shining Yet
God will bring you through 100% of your dark days until He brings you home. He will not forget you a single moment. He will not forsake you a single time. He will not fail you a single day. Will it always be easy? No. Will it always be comfortable? No. Will it always be the way you want it? No. But it will always be under the careful, calculated and compassionate rule of a Father Who loves you and has a purpose for you. You are alive and breathing today because God made it so; God made it so because you were made to be a light in this dark world. And you are not done shining yet.
For You To Love On Them
Every person in your life is there for this reason: for you to love on them. God put you where you are, and brought people into your life where you are, so you could demonstrate His love for them, to them. These aren’t just neighbors, co-workers, and teammates; they are intended recipients of God’s affection to be administered through you. Every meeting, conversation and encounter is a wonderful occasion to bless and brighten someone else’s life to the glory of God. Remember today…The intersections where your life meets someone else’s life hold a beautiful, God-given opportunity and responsibility to love like Jesus.
It’s All About
It’s easy to be mistaken about this, assume this, believe this, want this and live like this: that your life is all about you. But the Bible teaches that your life is all about Jesus. Let us daily be reminded that you and I are to exalt, proclaim, model, know, serve, praise, believe, seek, adore, please, magnify, worship, defend, treasure, follow, trust, enjoy, obey and love Jesus. We do so to bring glory to the One who was slain for us, conquered sin and death for us, offers forgiveness and life to us, and has become a treasure and joy to us! Because here’s the thing… A life that is full of personal honor for Jesus is also full of personal happiness.
He Can Do Great Things Through You
Don’t waste it. Don’t misuse it. Don’t underestimate it. God has graciously given you a life that is rich with meaning and purpose in this world, at this time, for His kingdom. Your home life, work life and play life are all a part of His divine plan to make a difference in the lives of the people He has connected you with and entrusted you with. You were made to shine His light! The ordinary things of your everyday routine can be done in a way that counts forever. Today, prayerfully consider what steps of faith He wants you to take in living and loving like Jesus, remembering this: He can do great things through you.
A Faith That Saves Is A Faith That Loves
Birds fly. Flowers bloom. Honey sweetens. Water dampens. Light illuminates. It’s automatic and appropriate that they do these things because that’s how they were made. This is their nature and design, and it is right to expect them to act in a certain way just as it is right to expect saving faith in Jesus to work itself out in love. It is normal. It is natural. When God’s grace remakes us into people of faith, the new love we have for God will burst forth in acts of love for others. We can’t help but love. We can’t stop loving. We will live this out imperfectly, but this is for sure: A faith that saves is a faith that loves.
Blessed To Be A Blessing
God has not blessed us with time just so we can use it binge-watching Netflix. He has not blessed us with money just so we can spend it on more comforts. He has not blessed us with abilities and skills just so we can serve our own interests and passions. The generosity of God has been extended to us with blessings of time, talent and treasure that we might both enjoy them ourselves and extend them to bless others. Those of us who are trusting in Jesus have been entrusted with showing the world His heart for them by being His hands and feet and mouth to them. You have been blessed; now go be a blessing.
Pleasing God Over Pleasing People
The paths will divide. The objectives will conflict. The plans will differ. The desires will compete. The advice will disagree. We will often find ourselves having to choose sides for who we will listen to, go with and live to the satisfaction of … God or people. We simply cannot be and do what will make Him happy and others happy at the same time, all the time. Rather than compromising to satisfy the crowd, let us show others the better path, the better objective, the better plan, the better desire and the better advice found in the good news of Jesus. Today, by grace, let us prioritize pleasing God over pleasing people.
Privileges And Responsibilities
Being in a loving relationship with Jesus brings both gracious privileges and glorious responsibilities. On one hand, we are given endless blessings that will carry on throughout eternity. On the other hand, we are given important assignments to be carried out until completion. While it may seem like the privileges are more desirable than the responsibilities, this should not be so. Our assigned tasks are opportunities to proclaim, serve, please, model and glorify the One Who saves us by His grace. When we do the good things that Jesus has planned for us, we do them unto Him. That, in itself, is a privilege.
Doing Good
Our motive. Our mission. We need to communicate these two things to others when we show them love through the way we treat them. First, we need to let them know that the good we do for them comes from appreciation for what God has done for us and anticipation of what God will do for us. It is from the overflow of what we get from Him that we give to others. Second, we need to let them know that we do good works because a good God has commissioned us to go in His Name to share His love with others. Let us credit Him by telling people this… God has done good to me. God has sent me to do good to you.
God Works Through You
Do you know how God works through your life to change someone else’s life? The everyday moments of life. Don’t think there is no value in the chaos of your life. Don’t believe that your normal life isn’t anything special. Don’t accept the lie that what you do and how you do it doesn’t matter. Don’t give up when your efforts seem fruitless and unappreciated. Don’t be silent about communicating the love of God in both your words and actions. Moment by moment you can bear the Father’s heart, bear witness to Jesus, and bear the fruit of the Spirit. Every moment counts when you live it to point people to God.
You And Others Have Different Assignments
You are not someone else; someone else is not you. God has ordained that each of His children be equipped with gifts, abilities, opportunities and resources to fulfil a specific purpose in a specific place to a specific people. Some are more visible and more vast than others, but all are important. To avoid falling into the trap of comparison as we seek to live out the plans Jesus has for us in His kingdom, it is important for us to remember that the measurement of godly stewardship is not fruitfulness, but faithfulness. It is not the size of your platform that is most important; it is what you do with what you have been given.
Greatness
God wants you to be great. But… It’s not about size. It’s not about strength. It’s not about superiority. It’s not about success. At least, not in the ways that the world calculates those things. In the world we live in, the more people who serve you, the greater you are. In the kingdom of God, the greater you are, the more people you serve. God intends for your greatness to be in ways that are radically different than the world’s standards, for He measures greatness in the cross of Jesus Christ and in every act of His children that expresses that same kind of servant love towards those in need of it. By grace, be great today.
Nothing Done For The Kingdom Is Wasted
Satan wants to convince us that our doing good isn’t actually doing much good. He will skew the facts, point to the wrong metric, and mislabel our actions as failures. But God doesn’t measure our success by social media likes, comments and shares. God sees us quietly toiling behind the scenes loving Him by loving others and measures our success not by our fruitfulness or fanfare, but our faithfulness. What’s even more encouraging is this: God is working through us in ways that are unknown to us. So… keep on faithfully serving King Jesus because it all counts. Nothing you do for His kingdom will ever be wasted.
God Doesn’t Need Us, But Other 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.
