Do Not Give Up

2 Peter 3:8-9 "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Have you been praying about something for a long time? Does it seem like God isn't listening to you, because you haven't received an answer yet? Do not give up. Keep praying, keep believing, keep focusing on God. 

God's timing is not like our timing. His timing is always perfect. God doesn't make mistakes. You may think that your answer should have came three days ago, but God knows that three days ago would've been too soon. God sees the whole picture of your life. He is aligning the right people to enter your life. He is aligning for you to be in the right place at the right time. 

Trust in God. Keep praying, keep reading, studying God's word.  Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart, to fill you with the peace of the Lord. The Lord's peace will give you the strength to be able to wait and not give up. 

John 14:27 "Peace I leave you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid."

It is important to remember that when you haven't received an answer to your prayers, it doesn't mean that God has left you. He is still with you. He is working in your life in ways that you cannot see. God will answer in His perfect timing, so do not give up!

2 Chronicles 15:7 "But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."

 

Pushing Through

Pushing through to where God leads 

Galatians 6:9  "And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

Life is full of blessings and challenges. Even though it may seem like God is only with you in the times of blessings, that isn't true. That's a lie from the enemy, the devil. The devil wants you to believe that God doesn't care about you. He wants you to think you have to rely on yourself not on God.

During the challenging times is when God may be training you for future situations, future ministry opportunities. There will be times when your human nature (flesh), will want to give up. The devil will whisper in your ear, "See, God doesn't care about you. If God cared about you, why are you going through this? You might as well, just quit!"

These are the times when you need to keep pushing through. Rebuke the devil! Trust in the Lord to provide you with everything you need to succeed, to get you to the finish line. The place where God is leading you to, whether it is healing, (physical, mental or healing of relationships), financial, or spiritual.

Hebrews 10:36 "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."

Pushing through to the future

Philippians 3:13-14 "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

It's easy to allow yourself to think about your past, before you met Jesus. To think about how "bad" you used to be, or to go back to your old way of thinking, old habits, addictions.... Again that is another tactic of the devil. He wants you to stay stuck in your past. 

He doesn't want you to move forward to be used of God to help others. He doesn't want you to have joy, peace and receive the love that only God can give. Keep pushing through, looking forward to the future, not backward to your past. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!"

 

Mercy of God

Titus 3:5 "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit."

Lamentations 3:22-23 "Because of the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed; for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

It is hard to really understand the full impact of the mercy of God. The mercy of God is unlike any mercy that man can give. What is the mercy of God? It is God's great, immeasurable love for people. God created us in His image. His original plan for mankind was for us to live in His perfection. Adam and Eve changed that by their sin in the Garden of Eden. 

 Romans 3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 

God is love, but He is also a God of justice. The Old Testament has many examples of God's mercy and judgement on humans.  God hates sin. In the Old Testament to receive forgiveness you had to make a sacrifice of an animal such as a lamb, without any blemishes or defects.

Today, our sins are forgiven by God's mercy upon us through his Son Jesus Christ. Instead of the blood of animals, we are forgiven by the blood of Jesus. We are not worthy of forgiveness, we are made worthy through the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. 

There isn't anything you can do on your own strength, that can save you. No righteous works that you do will save you. You are saved only by the mercy of God. God's love never fails, or fades. His love for you renews each day. When you confess your sins, God is faithful and forgives you. Don't focus on your past sins, because God has already forgiven you because of his mercy.

Isaiah 43:18-19 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

How to Live for God

Romans 12:1-2 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

We all live in the world. When you are saved you still live in the world, but you don't belong to the world. You belong to Jesus Christ. As you grow in your relationship to Jesus Christ, you will have more of an awareness of what is of God and what is of the world. 

How do you grow in your relationship with Jesus? You spend time getting to know Him. By prayer, reading and studying the Bible, and being in fellowship with other believers. When you are around other believers, it helps to strengthen you and to be accountable for your actions. By building relationships with other believers you build trust and can learn and grow together in the Lord.

Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how we spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

The devil loves to get in our minds. To keep us distracted, and try to fill our mind with confusion, fear, and self focus. Each of us need to keep our minds renewed each day in the Lord. That way our mind will be filled with the Lord's peace and love, our focus will be on the Lord instead of ourselves. 

1 Corinthians 14:33 "For God is not a God of confusion but of peace."

Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things."

Living for the Lord may seem hard to do, but when we rely on the Lord for His strength it is easier. We are all sinners, we are going to mess up. I know I mess up a lot! But, by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, I am forgiven and He helps me to get back on track again, until the next time I mess up and I have to start over!

God is so gracious, and loving. When we confess our sins to God, we are forgiven, because of the blood of Jesus. God knows we are not perfect, Jesus is the only person who walked on the earth that was perfect. God sees our heart, He knows when we are trying our best to live for Him. 

The Bible says that there is no condemnation in Christ. In other words, once we confess our sins, God remembers it no more!! Our past is our past. God doesn't want us to keep looking back. He wants us to look forward, live each day in expectancy of good things of God.

Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

 

Time is of the Essence

 

Ephesians 5:15-16 "Be very careful then, how you live-not as unwise, but wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."

Time is of the essence. The Lord placed this phrase on my heart to write about for this post. I've heard this phrase before but to be honest, I wasn't sure what it actually meant. I looked up the meaning and this is what I found. Time is of the essence is used in contracts. Two or more parties agree on a set deadline to get a job done. If one or more of the parties causes a breech of contract, because they failed to get the job done. Then they will have to deal with the consequences stated and agreed upon in the contract.  

The scripture above (Ephesians 5:15-16) comes close to this phrase. Each of us have one life to live here on earth. We need to be careful to live our lives wisely, and make the most of every opportunity. In other words each of us only have so much time to do the work that God has called us to do. None of us know how many days/years we have before God decides that our time is up on this earth.

Job14:5 "A person's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed."

We need to make wise choices, and stay alert and look for open doors to be an example of Jesus by our words and actions. When the Lord has placed something on our heart to do, pray about it first to make sure its from the Lord, and wait for the Lord's guidance. 

When the Holy Spirit is leading you to do it, time is of the essence. Don't wait too long, because God has a plan, that person or group of people you are to speak to, may not have much time left. They may be getting ready to make a wrong decision, or maybe they are on their deathbed.

Jesus gave us the great commission to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. In a sense this is our "contract" with the Lord. In this "contract" if we cause a breech, then the consequences that we face are missed blessings from the Lord. The Lord knows our hearts, he knows what our intent is. But, its easy to get distracted and miss what the Lord wanted us to say or do.

Matthew 28:18-20  "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

It's important to remember, everyone makes mistakes. That's why Jesus Christ died for you on the cross. He is perfect, you are not. His blood cleanses you from all of your sins, your unrighteousness. Don't allow your mistakes to keep you from doing the work that God has placed in your heart. Confess your mistakes (sins) to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. God will bring you more opportunities to serve him. 

Useful or Useless

 

Philemon 1:11 "Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me."

In this passage of scripture Paul is talking about Onesimus. Onesimus was one of Philemon's slaves who escaped to Rome. I believe that it was God's plan that Onesimus escaped to Rome, the place that Paul was being held prisoner. God used Paul to lead Onesimus to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. 

Paul referred to Onesimus as his son, because he thought of each person that he led to salvation in Jesus Christ as his children. When we are saved we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. The Bible refers to Christians as the body of Christ, a family. (1Corinthians 12:27)

Paul referred to Onesimus as formerly being useless, then he became useful. What he meant by this was he was useless because he didn't have faith in Jesus Christ yet. So, he wasn't teaching others about Jesus. After Onesimus was saved, he became useful because he was now able to teach others about the message of Jesus Christ.

God has a purpose for your life. God has gifted you with skills and natural talents. When you are saved He will also give you spiritual gifts, through his Holy Spirit. It is up to you to decide if you will be useful to others with each of your skills, talents and spiritual gifts, that God has given to you. Or if you let those skills, talents and gifts lay dormant and become useless. 

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, and to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues. All of these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines."

It takes time to learn what your spiritual gifts are, and how to use each gift. Some gifts you will know right away, others will take some time to manifest. Pray and ask God to direct you in the right path to find out what your gifts are, and how to use them. 

Romans 12:4-6 "For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us..." 

Try not to compare yourself with other people. For example, if a friend has the gift of healing, don't allow yourself to think you aren't as important or doing very much for the Lord if your gift is faith. Each gift is important. Just as the passage in Romans 12:4-6 states, God gives gifts to each of His children to work together as one body. The body of Christ. 

You are loved by God your creator. He wants you to live a life full of peace, joy and love. He has given you the skills, talents and spiritual gifts that He has chosen just for you. Pray for God to help you learn what your spiritual gifts are, and how to use them. Pray and ask that he helps you to be useful with your gifts and talents and not useless. 

Treasure

 

2 Corinthians 4:6-7  "For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

The imagery of this scripture in my mind is beautiful. God has given us (jars of clay) His light. God loves us so much he has given us the best treasure. Earthly treasure rusts and fades away. But, God's treasure is precious, eternal. 

When we acquire this treasure we need to share it with others. God's light is to be seen through us, we should be like a beacon. A beacon that draws people in, so that they will experience the love of God; that pours out from us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Sometimes, as humans its easy to get caught up in our emotions. We will have confrontations with other people who will try to extinguish the light shining in us. We need to be careful to not allow that to happen, because that is exactly what the devil would love to do to us. 

Ephesians 4:26-27 "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."

There are many treasures that God has given to us to enjoy here on earth. Don't put your trust and hope in earthly treasures, where moth and rust can destroy. Seek the most precious, eternal treasure, that we have in Jesus Christ. 

Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also."