BIBLE MEDITAION:
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever.” Philippians 4:19-20
ENCOURAGING WORD:
From the day that we are born to the day we die, all the wisdom that we learn and everything that we achieve physically is given to us from the creator of the universe. You can’t even sneeze without Him knowing about it. The problem with most of the human race is that they want to take credit for everything that they know and everything that they have achieved in their life. Yet, no matter how great they might be at something, it could all change in a heartbeat as many professional athletes can tell you. If you have been blessed with an extraordinary talent of some kind, you should get on your knees and praise the Lord for that gift that He gave you. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:31; “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” The biggest issue with being blessed at this high level is the fact, that when people feel that they have all they want and need, they forget about their need for a Savior. That should be first and foremost on everybody’s mind. Since God new from the foundation of the world who was going to receive Him or reject Him, He also knew who would be able to handle fame and fortune. If you were chosen from the beginning of time, because of God’s foreknowledge, that means He knows how your life will playout in advance? Before we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we might walk around this world aimlessly, heading nowhere, not aware of our calling or whether or not we will be called, but you can rest assure that if God has a plan for your life, He will get your attention when the time is right. If you are not a believer and you seem to be going through trail after trail, it could very well be God trying to get your attention. If you feel you are called, don’t take this calling lightly, get on your hands and knees and call out to God in prayer and submit to His will. This is where you make the choice to either follow God and His plan for you and your life, or you decide to do it your own way. If you say that you are not a believer, and things are going great, I will say that there is a good chance that you may not be a child of God. Don’t feel like, just because everything is going well that you are saved, it could be quite the opposite. I can go as far as to say that God has promised us that we would go through trials and tribulation once we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We read this promise in 2 Timothy 3:12; “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” Notice it says all, not some, not a few, but all! This is definitely one promise that we as born-again believers do not especially like. We read in James 1:2-4; “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” This has got to be one of the hardest things for a born-again believer to accept. I don’t think there are too many people that go through a trail and say, this is wonderful. I’m going through a trail! The joy that we should feel throughout the trial is knowing what will come out on the other end. I can honestly say, that in hindsight, most of the trials that I have been through in my life have produced growth in my spiritual walk with Jesus Christ. We never know how great Gods love is for us until we see Him bring us through a trial and know that is all working out for the good as it declares in Romans 8:28; “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” There have been times when I would go through a trial and I would look up to heaven and say; “God, I don’t see how this can be working out for the good, but you promised that it is, so I put my trust in you, and sure enough, when the trial is over, you can see the purpose of why it had the happen. Praise God for all His promises.
We often hear people say, where is your God now, when something happens to somebody that might destroy their career. It may be that He is getting the attention of that person to turn to Him for a better purpose. I can relate to this personally. Back about 25 years ago or so, I was playing, what turned out to be my last softball game. I bent over to pick up a ground ball and ripped my whole interior crew on my knee and tore my hamstring completely off from where it was attached. Needless to say, it was the last time I played a softball game, the sport that I loved that consumed most of my time throughout the whole summer. I believe God had to bring me to that point in time, otherwise I would not have served Him the way that I have for the last twenty five years. It was truly a blessing in disguise. I didn’t know it then, but now it is as plain as could be, and I couldn’t be happier.
With all this being said, I have question for you to ponder, would you like to be rich and famous throughout your whole life and spend eternity without God, or would you rather struggle through life and be certain that you will be with Jesus Christ all through eternally? I’m not saying that you can’t have both, but here is what The Bible has to say about that, Mark 10:25; “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” But, remember, with God everything is possible. But then the Bible also says in 1 Corinthians 1:26; “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” A famous rich woman once said this, “She felt she was saved by an “M”, where it says “not many”, take away the ”M”, and it says “not any!” Some people can handle wealth, but for the most part it is extremely hard for someone to be rich and still call out to God for help.
Whatever you chose, remember this; Philippians 2:10-11; “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Bow now, or bow later. There is coming a day when everybody will meet Jesus Christ face to face, and you will hear one of two statements, Matthew 7:23; “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ or Matthew 25:23; “‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ The question I have to ask you is this, what do you want to hear? The choice is yours! So be wise and give all the Glory to the one who deserves it, Jesus Christ.
Comments