Your Life Is Your Time
Our lives are governed by time. That's why we're surrounded by clocks and calendars that dictate our activities. As the minutes tick by, we wonder where the day went. When responsibilities and pressures mount, we complain, "I just don't have time to get it all done!" But the reality is that God has given us enough time to do exactly what He's planned for our lives. Perhaps the bigger issue is whether we are using our time to do our will or the Lord's.
Time is a gift from God, and He has allotted each of us a measure in which to live and accomplish His purposes. We have only two options—to spend it temporally on our own interests or invest it eternally. Since time can never be retrieved or reversed, it's critical that we make the most of every opportunity the Lord provides.
The key to investing in eternity is following God's plan for your life, not just filling your days with activities. Jesus was allocated just thirty-three years of life on earth, but only the last three were spent in fulfilling His Messianic ministry. To us that seems like a waste of time. Yet Christ accomplished everything His Father gave Him to do. That's why on the cross He could say, "It is finished" (John19:30).
Scripture compares earthly life to "a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14), but eternal life never ends. It's foolish to spend your life on a vapor when you can reap everlasting benefits by following God's will for your time here. Each day is an opportunity to choose.
~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~
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"Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs; . . . they shall afflict them four hundred years; . . . and afterward they shall come out with great substance" (Gen. 15:12-14).
An assured part of God's pledged blessing to us is delay and suffering. A delay in Abram's own lifetime that seemed to put God's pledge beyond fulfillment was followed by seemingly unendurable delay of Abram's descendants. But it was only a delay: they "came out with great substance." The pledge was redeemed.
God is going to test me with delays; and with the delays will come suffering, but through it all stands God's pledge: His new covenant with me in Christ, and His inviolable promise of every lesser blessing that I need. The delay and the suffering are part of the promised blessing; let me praise Him for them today; and let me wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He will strengthen my heart.
--C. G. Trumbull
Unanswered yet the prayer your lips have pleaded
In agony of heart these many years?
Does faith begin to fail? Is hope departing?
And think you all in vain those falling tears?
Say not the Father hath not heard your prayer;
You shall have your desire sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Nay do not say ungranted;
Perhaps your work is not yet wholly done.
The work began when first your prayer was uttered,
And God will finish what He has begun.
If you will keep the incense burning there,
His glory you shall see sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered,
Her feet are firmly planted on the Rock;
Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted,
Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock.
She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer,
And cries, "It shall be done"--sometime, somewhere.
~L. B. Cowman~
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Selfish?
Over the last several devotionals, we have been looking at the cause of spiritual drought. In today's devotional, I want to look at selfishness as a cause of spiritual drought.
Selfishness is where I am focused on my own interests rather than the needs of others or of furthering God's Kingdom.
In Haggai 1:4-6, 9-11, God says,
"Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes… You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands."
They were investing everything in themselves and their homes, but not a thought was given to God's house or God's Kingdom.
Friend, if you want the rain to fall, you need to think about God and His house first, others second, and yourself third. It is like the old saying, "If you want joy, j-o-y, it's Jesus, others, and then you."
~Bayless Conley~
__________________________
Their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother - Judges 9:3
An assured part of God's pledged blessing to us is delay and suffering. A delay in Abram's own lifetime that seemed to put God's pledge beyond fulfillment was followed by seemingly unendurable delay of Abram's descendants. But it was only a delay: they "came out with great substance." The pledge was redeemed.
God is going to test me with delays; and with the delays will come suffering, but through it all stands God's pledge: His new covenant with me in Christ, and His inviolable promise of every lesser blessing that I need. The delay and the suffering are part of the promised blessing; let me praise Him for them today; and let me wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He will strengthen my heart.
--C. G. Trumbull
Unanswered yet the prayer your lips have pleaded
In agony of heart these many years?
Does faith begin to fail? Is hope departing?
And think you all in vain those falling tears?
Say not the Father hath not heard your prayer;
You shall have your desire sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Nay do not say ungranted;
Perhaps your work is not yet wholly done.
The work began when first your prayer was uttered,
And God will finish what He has begun.
If you will keep the incense burning there,
His glory you shall see sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered,
Her feet are firmly planted on the Rock;
Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted,
Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock.
She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer,
And cries, "It shall be done"--sometime, somewhere.
~L. B. Cowman~
____________________________
The Valley, the Shadow, and a Promise
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.” Psalm 145:18
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Psalm 23 speaks of the “valley of the shadow of death.” For every shadow, there must be light. Jesus Christ said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). A shadow may frighten you, but a shadow cannot really hurt you.
I dare say that a shadow at one time or another has spooked many of us. But thank God, death is but a shadow if you know the Lord Jesus Christ. If you keep your face toward the light, the shadow will fall behind you. You won’t even see the shadow. God doesn’t bring us to a valley to leave us there. He always brings us through.
ACTION POINT:
God is never closer than when you are in a dark valley. That’s when He is especially near. In the original language, we’re told Hebrews 13:5 actually has five negatives! The Amplified Bible translates it this way: “I will never, no, not ever, never leave you nor forsake you.” Memorize this verse today.
“The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.” Psalm 145:18
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Psalm 23 speaks of the “valley of the shadow of death.” For every shadow, there must be light. Jesus Christ said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). A shadow may frighten you, but a shadow cannot really hurt you.
I dare say that a shadow at one time or another has spooked many of us. But thank God, death is but a shadow if you know the Lord Jesus Christ. If you keep your face toward the light, the shadow will fall behind you. You won’t even see the shadow. God doesn’t bring us to a valley to leave us there. He always brings us through.
ACTION POINT:
God is never closer than when you are in a dark valley. That’s when He is especially near. In the original language, we’re told Hebrews 13:5 actually has five negatives! The Amplified Bible translates it this way: “I will never, no, not ever, never leave you nor forsake you.” Memorize this verse today.
~Adrian Rogers~
_____________________________
Over the last several devotionals, we have been looking at the cause of spiritual drought. In today's devotional, I want to look at selfishness as a cause of spiritual drought.
Selfishness is where I am focused on my own interests rather than the needs of others or of furthering God's Kingdom.
In Haggai 1:4-6, 9-11, God says,
"Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes… You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands."
They were investing everything in themselves and their homes, but not a thought was given to God's house or God's Kingdom.
Friend, if you want the rain to fall, you need to think about God and His house first, others second, and yourself third. It is like the old saying, "If you want joy, j-o-y, it's Jesus, others, and then you."
~Bayless Conley~
__________________________
Their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother - Judges 9:3
Is not this the reason why God has set us in families? Had He so chosen, each of us might have been created alone as Adam was, and sent out with no special connection with others of our race. But instead, we are closely connected. It is very rarely that a man is so utterly bereaved as to be destitute of some relative.
Between a man and his brother there is a special tie. It may be truly said, in the case of brothers, that a doorway has been made through the walls which ordinarily part men, which may be bricked up or filled with debris; but the wall there will always be thinner than anywhere else, and some day the doorway may be opened for the passage of the messenger of peace. Men are always more inclined to follow the man of whom they can say, "He is our brother." Brotherhood, sisterhood, relationship of any kind, is therefore a very precious talent; and it becomes us solemnly to ask ourselves whether it has been put to use. Have you ever spoken or written to your brother or sister about Christ?
As soon as Andrew had found Jesus, he started off to find his own brother Simon; and Simon was glad to follow him because he was his brother. Had another tried, it is as likely as not that he would have repelled him. But what could he say to the man who had shared his childhood's sports, and had helped him haul in a net of fish many a time after a night of hard work?
This is the reason that Jesus has so strong a hold on human hearts. He is our brother, bone of our bone; not ashamed to call us brethren; and this constitutes a moving argument why we should be inclined to follow Him.
~F. B. Meyer~
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Blessed Assurance
And having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:21-22
The book of Hebrews instructs us to live by faith in God alone. The originator of our Christianity is Abraham, the father of faith. Because Abraham believed God, it was counted unto him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). His faith made him “right” before God. As a result of this righteousness, God protected his family as they grew into a nation, the Israelites. Moses was raised up as their first official leader to establish their worship, culture and Laws of the land. God spoke to Moses as he wrote down God's ways for the people, including the Ten Commandments. These rules were given to instruct the Israelites in how to live. These rules were enforced to protect them from walking away from God and to protect them from destroying themselves (through transmission of diseases) and each other. These ways were not given to replace "faith."
However, by the time Jesus came to earth, the rules were valued more than faith, mercy and kindness. The rules became more important than the people. For God so loved the world that He sent His Son, Jesus, to restore what was lost. Because of the love of God, our High Priest died on the cross and rose from the dead to allow us to live by faith, not by works.
Faith is not established by obeying the rules or the Laws of the land. Galatians 2:16 says, "a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus." Jesus did not abolish the law; He fulfilled it so that we can be accredited as righteous (“right” before God) through faith in Him alone. Christianity started through Abraham's acts of faith, and through our High Priest, we overcome the world through our faith. Jesus alone is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Today, let us draw near to the Lord with a true heart in full assurance of faith, knowing that we have a High Priest who understands our sufferings, forgives us of our sins and cleanses our conscience.
~Daily Disciples Devotional~
And having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:21-22
The book of Hebrews instructs us to live by faith in God alone. The originator of our Christianity is Abraham, the father of faith. Because Abraham believed God, it was counted unto him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). His faith made him “right” before God. As a result of this righteousness, God protected his family as they grew into a nation, the Israelites. Moses was raised up as their first official leader to establish their worship, culture and Laws of the land. God spoke to Moses as he wrote down God's ways for the people, including the Ten Commandments. These rules were given to instruct the Israelites in how to live. These rules were enforced to protect them from walking away from God and to protect them from destroying themselves (through transmission of diseases) and each other. These ways were not given to replace "faith."
However, by the time Jesus came to earth, the rules were valued more than faith, mercy and kindness. The rules became more important than the people. For God so loved the world that He sent His Son, Jesus, to restore what was lost. Because of the love of God, our High Priest died on the cross and rose from the dead to allow us to live by faith, not by works.
Faith is not established by obeying the rules or the Laws of the land. Galatians 2:16 says, "a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus." Jesus did not abolish the law; He fulfilled it so that we can be accredited as righteous (“right” before God) through faith in Him alone. Christianity started through Abraham's acts of faith, and through our High Priest, we overcome the world through our faith. Jesus alone is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Today, let us draw near to the Lord with a true heart in full assurance of faith, knowing that we have a High Priest who understands our sufferings, forgives us of our sins and cleanses our conscience.
~Daily Disciples Devotional~
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