What’s a book that completely surprised you?
When I began reading it over a decade ago, I had no idea what I would find. But God’s Word has so many different stories to tell. The main one is that He saves us from disaster and His wrath every time. In Genesis, God saved Noah and his family from the flood. This was the beginning of His salvation of mankind and the story continues through the rest of the Bible.
The story is not easy to pick out in some of the books, because it’s not written as a story in every book. But in some way, God does save a person or a group of his people in every book. Look for it and you will find God showing up at just the right moment.
Your relationship with Jesus and God is supposed to be based on love. He has loved you since before the world was created, so you and I need to return at least a little of that by loving Him for all of the blessings that He has given to you. Your life, your family and even the breath that you take in and out so many times each day. Your heart was designed by Him as well as all of the chemical actions that take place in your body every second of every day so you can be…well, you!
Consider all of the little things that happen and they HAVE to happen so you can get up every day. Each of them is orchestrated and guided by God, so your life is a miracle during every minute of every day and it is given to you by your Creator. So…be thankful for every second that you have because you don’t know how many you have left.
The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, But the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied. (Proverbs 13:4)
As I adjusted to the general education system in 6th grade, my mother taught me the principle of working hard. This is something that still resonates with me today, especially with senior year right around the corner.
Now that I am a senior getting ready to graduate high school, there comes the temptation to slack off and blow everything off to the last minute. This temptation is especially going to come with a 3-10 page research paper that all seniors must complete prior to graduating. However, every grade in the gradebook counts, because now you are looking for colleges and universities that demand such high academic standards. For many, Zoom and remote learning has created the perfect opportunity for us to be lazy and shoot for mediocrity.
However, it is the diligent, hard-working person who reaps profitable results. This attitude of diligence is what landed me on the honor roll for five consecutive school years, and what allowed me to earn the Principal’s Award for Mathematics this past school year.
When God sees our work ethic (whether in our academics, our personal responsibilies, our career, or even the way we worship and serve God), we will inevitaly reap good fruit. To be clear: You sow the seed of diligence, while God Himself produces the results.
Today, let us all use today as a day of productivity, not being idle or lax in what we done, but pour out our hearts and souls into each and every task or assignment God gives us. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and give us the wisdom and motivation to work for the kingdom of God, and for those around us. Amen!
In life, you can fail at anything. The one thing that you shouldn’t fail at is claiming your salvation. As a pastor and in life, you can fail by trying to please everyone. Preach a message that doesn’t hurt anyone’s feelings and doesn’t tell them that they are born a sinner. Tell them that everything will be fine if they are good enough and live by the “golden rule”, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you“. Teaching and preaching a “sermon” that makes people feel good is the way to be a failure if you are trying to “preach” for God but it might bring you success if you are doing it for your own gain financially or personally.
Jesus didn’t preach a message about feeling good or just doing good, although He did that very well. He taught that God loves you and He calls those whom He knows will work with Him and for Him. He taught that your life has meaning and purpose in God’s Kingdom if you follow Him and listen to Him. While the “golden rule” is good teaching that Jesus taught, it is not the only rule. It will not save your soul.
Believe in Jesus as your Savior and accept Him as your Lord, then you shall have eternal life in Him. There are no specific things that you have to do or perform. There is no specific amount of time that you have to give to Him in His service. But…when you realize the complete salvation that He bought for you with His blood and His life on the cross, you will want to serve Him and give Him whatever you can to work for Him. Because when He calls you to become His disciple you need to search the Scriptures and see what He paid for your soul and that’s what will humble you to the point of being His forever.
It doesn’t take a lot of education. His disciples were fishermen except for Matthew. God can use your talents whatever they may be simply because He is the One Who gave those talents to you. He knows what you can do and He will empower you to be able to do what He calls you to do. Having lots of letters behind your name and certificates on the wall doesn’t make you any better than one of the disciples. They learned at His feet and their education was just as good as any college education today. Make sure of Who you are serving in your walk with Him.
The Living Message of Christ 