I love my grandchildren and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for them, but one thing is far more important than all the rest. Feeding them nutritious food and making sure they get plenty of rest is incredibly important. Being watchful and keeping them safe from harm is essential. Reading to them, showing them how to play together, and teaching the to share are high on my priority list, but giving them Jesus is my number one priority, and my relationship with Jesus drives and supplies all the others.
The day of Christ’s return is closer than it has ever been. Do you sense the tension mounting? Look around you. Can you see the chaos caused by cosmic powers operating in rebellion against God? (Ephesians 6:12) There is a palpable uncertainty that hangs over this world, clouding our vision, obscuring our view of our Creator. We look into the heavens and we should see only His glory and majesty, not something to explain and trivialize. (Psalm 19:1-6) We look into the faces of our neighbors and instead of seeing the image of God most high, we see the reflection of our last encounter with that person. (Genesis 1:27) We hear God’s Word and instead of seeing Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life and obediently becoming more like Him through His Spirit’s work in our hearts and minds and lives, we check a box and go on with our days. (John 14:6, Psalm 19:7-11)
”Now, since we are God’s coworkers, we beg you not to take God’s marvelous grace for granted, allowing it to have no effect on your lives.
For he says, I listened to you at the time of my favor. And the day when you needed salvation, I came to your aid. So can’t you see?
Now is the time to respond to his favor!
Now is the day of salvation!“
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/2co.6.1-2.TPT
There’s no time like the present.
Each day is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.
One day at a time, sweet Jesus.
We all like a fresh start. A crisp spring morning. Clean linens. Empty pages in a new journal. A new job. A new city. A new child. All hold so much promise. You’re not thinking about how you’re going to mess it up. You’re dreaming about how you’ll fill this space, this beautiful new life with something wonderful and beautiful. God continually offers us just that- new mercies every morning, grace sufficient for each day, and His continual presence. (II Corinthians 12:9, Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20)
Jeremiah saw his world crumbling around him. He spoke the true words of God at threat to his life even when no one else was listening because he knew for certain that when everything falls apart, underneath are the everlasting arms of God. (Deuteronomy 33:27) We need to know this and it needs to influence and undergird everything we say and do. Everything.
He wrote, ”I have lost all hope of ever having any peace. I’ve forgotten what good times are like. So I say, “My glory has faded away. My hope in the Lord is gone.”
I remember how I suffered and wandered. I remember how bitter my life was. I remember it very well. My spirit is very sad deep down inside me.
But here is something else I remember. And it gives me hope. The Lord loves us very much. So we haven’t been completely destroyed.
His loving concern never fails. His great love is new every morning.
Lord, how faithful you are! I say to myself, “The Lord is everything I will ever need. So I will put my hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who put their hope in him. He is good to those who look to him. It is good when people wait quietly for the Lord to save them.“
Lamentations 3:17-26 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/lam.3.17-26.NIRV
”Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.“
Psalms 90:1-2 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.90.1-2.NIV
You may be living in the wake of someone else’s failure or you may be living through consequences of some past choice, action, or inaction. No amount of grieving or bargaining will alleviate the suffering you face, but by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, you can choose how you live in it and allow God to redeem your future. We all need this hope.
”Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time.
He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.“
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/ecc.3.11.NLT
So much of what we allow to bog us down, sidetrack us, and defeat us every minute of every day has zero eternal significance. Sure you live in the world and you have to survive in the world, but we are not of the world. We can have an eternal security because of what Christ has already accomplished for us by His death and resurrection. We need to bank on this knowledge, letting God’s Spirit do His work in us, and then give it away at every possible opportunity.
”So now there is no longer any condemnation for those who believe in him, but the unbeliever already lives under condemnation because they do not believe in the name of the only Son of God.
And here is the basis for their judgment: The Light of God has now come into the world, but the people loved darkness more than the Light, because they want the darkness to conceal their evil.
So the wicked hate the Light and try to hide from it, for the Light fully exposes their lives.
But those who love the truth will come into the Light, for the Light will reveal that it was God who produced their fruitful works.”“
John 3:18-21 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/jhn.3.18-21.TPT
Stop wasting precious time because none of us is guaranteed tomorrow. Cancer taught me this.
Decide today.
Choose this day whom you will serve. (Joshua 24:14-16)
”Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us a new birth and a living hope.
This hope is living because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
He has given us new birth so that we might share in what belongs to him.
This is a gift that can never be destroyed. It can never spoil or even fade away. It is kept in heaven for you.
Through faith you are kept safe by God’s power. Your salvation is going to be completed. It is ready to be shown to you in the last days.
Because you know all this, you have great joy.
You have joy even though you may have had to suffer for a little while.
You may have had to suffer sadness in all kinds of trouble. Your troubles have come in order to prove that your faith is real.
Your faith is worth more than gold. That’s because gold can pass away even when fire has made it pure.
Your faith is meant to bring praise, honor and glory to God. This will happen when Jesus Christ returns.
Even though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, you believe in him. You are filled with a glorious joy that can’t be put into words.
You are receiving the salvation of your souls. This salvation is the final result of your faith.
So be watchful, and control yourselves completely.
In this way, put your hope in the grace that lies ahead. This grace will be brought to you when Jesus Christ returns.“
1 Peter 1:3-9, 13 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/1pe.1.3-13.NIRV
Evaluate everything based on one simple principle. Will this count for eternity?
Consumed By Fire 🔥
Walk with Jesus
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