God has an uncanny way of getting our attention…of controlling situations until suddenly we find the walls closing in around us. And most times, we’re there because of our own disobedience. We’re self-absorbed and engrossed in the idols of this world…or we’re preoccupied and fixated on what others think of us rather than God. Either way, we end up in dire circumstances with no way out. And as the old saying goes, “Sometimes you have to end up in the gutter to finally look up.” Jonah was running from the Lord in disobedience, when God got his attention by confining him in the belly of a fish for three days. Three long days to think about what he had done…three long days to repent, relent, and be restored. Have no doubt about it, if you’re running from the Lord today, He will get your attention sooner or later.
Tag: eternal life
James 2:5 ” Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the Kingdom He promised those who love Him? “
Everyday there are common, ordinary people -just like yourself – that do extraordinary things in the name of Jesus. These people may be poor when it comes to material things, but they are rich in the things of God. The Lord is depending on ordinary people – like yourself – to do His work here on earth. These are people who, in the world’s eyes, may not have much to offer, but they are rich in faith, with confidence in their salvation and eternal life…and with that kind of trust, they can move mountains. For Luke 6:20 says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.” The Lord is looking for common, ordinary people to advance His Kingdom here on earth…are you in?
Ezra 4:24 ” Thus the work on the House of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius King of Persia.”
The important part of this Scripture is not what is said, but rather the space of time between when the building of the Temple stopped and it was restarted. For it was 16 years that no work was done at the building site. How many people do you think looked at the Temple foundation year after year and considered all the work a loss? We will all have setbacks in life…times when our forward motion is hampered or even stopped for a season… and we don’t know why. This delay is not a time to declare defeat…for with God, any setback is only temporary in His timetable. And if we have faith and persevere, any delay will have success in the end.
II Corinthians 6:1-2 ” As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For He says, ‘In the time of My favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
Someday I’ll get right with God. At some time in the future I’ll give my heart to Him…but not yet. I’ve got too much I want to do, and I don’t want the rules and regulations of being a Christian to hinder me. I’m young and I want to just have fun. Sound like you? You’ve been holding God at arms length…knowing what you should do, but wanting to wait till you’re “old” to commit. But consider this – someday may never come for you – your future may end today, and this is why now is the time to be serious about your eternal salvation. When we’re young we have this grandiose vision of immortality, and the future goes on forever…but in an instant…this can all change. That’s why the Gospel Message is for you today…the forgiveness of your sins is for now, not someday. Don’t wait until tomorrow to make that decision you know you need to make today…for you may be running out of tomorrows.
Proverbs 27:15 ” A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day.”
I love how Webster’s Dictionary defines nagging…to find fault incessantly, to complain or constantly scold. That’s what this Proverb is addressing…a contentious wife who is always finding fault, clashing verbally over often petty matters, and demanding the last word. No wonder her husband is out in the garage or in his man cave hiding out. No one wants to live in that kind of environment. And elsewhere in Proverbs, we find this interesting idea that coincides, “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” (Proverbs 14:1)
Hebrews 3:19 ” So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.”
Moses led the Hebrew Children out of Egypt…but none of them ever saw the Promised Land due to their unbelief. Instead, they wandered in the desert for 40 years…going around and around the same mountain. Doubt and unbelief wastes time. God tells us to do something, but out of unbelief, we say “No!” So God sends us around the mountain to think about it. Soon, His tells us one more time the thing He wants us to do. If we again say “No!”, guess where He sends us…wandering around that same mountain! Unbelief wastes time…precious time that we could be changing lives for Christ if we had said “Yes!” the first time.
Isaiah 43:18 ” Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
A victim mindset builds an altar to all the bad things that have happened and worships there…harping on the past and paying more attention to it than to the future. A victim mindset is put in place early on when others show sympathy, so we continue to seek that support and favor…using our past to gain attention. Soon we are defined only by our past…and not of how God is moving in our present. A victim mindset chains us to the past… never able to move ahead, and break free. For every time those old hurtful memories are brought up and dwelled upon…we’re victimized again.
Psalm 142:1-2 ” I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out my complaint before Him; before Him I tell my trouble.”
There’s been many times in my life when I’ve bared my soul to the Lord and complained loudly! I’ve spilled out my frustrations as well as my tears before Him…knowing He would be the only one that could fully understand my distress. And God does. There is nothing you’re going through today that has caught God by surprise…nothing He doesn’t already know about. The old Hymn, “What a Friend we have in Jesus” is so true…for when there’s no one else you feel you can confide in…Jesus is always there.
I John 2:1 ” My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have One who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
As it tells us in Romans 8:34, at this very moment, Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf. Jesus is our advocate…one who comes forward on behalf and as the representative for another. He is then also our intercessor and substitute…standing in our place before God…intervening in our defense. We have no greater advocate than Jesus…no greater champion and friend.
Luke 18:28 ” Peter said to Him, ‘We have left all we had to follow You!’ “
From the moment Jesus beckoned that rag-tag group of fishermen with, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”… there has been the decision of whether we follow Jesus or not. For many, it’s a sacrificial decision…knowing that they are at risk of losing everything. Following Jesus sacrificially means accepting the potential loss of family, employment, and even freedom. But Jesus assured the disciples, and all of us, that this sacrifice isn’t without great reward…for in Luke 18: 29-30 He goes on to promise them, “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”
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