If you had one day to live, how would you spend it?

Proverbs 27:1

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

An Appointment With Death

This sounds morbid, and I don’t mean for it to, but no one knows the day of their death. All we know for sure is that we’re all destined to die and then face the judgment (Heb. 9:27), so none of us can take our lives for granted and just rest, relax, eat, and be happy (Luke 12:19) because our very life might end tonight. What would you do differently if you knew you had only one day to live? I have been with some people who were on their deathbed and knocking on heaven’s door, and none had remorse over the lack of money they could have made, their desire to have finer things, or that they’d spent more time at work. Just the opposite is what I found to be true. They wished they had studied the Bible more to know God better, they wished they had spent more time with their family and told them more often how much they loved them, and they wished they would have been better witnesses to their lost friends and family members. I suggest you live like today is your last because you never know–it might be.

Don’t Boast About Tomorrow

How can we ever brag or boast about what we’ll do tomorrow when there is no guarantee that tomorrow will ever come (James 4:13-14)? Life is like a morning fog–it comes and then suddenly is gone. What would you do today if you knew it was your last? Would you go to that friend with whom you’ve been sharing the Gospel and tell them once more about how they might be saved (Acts 4:12)? Would you have one last great meal like they offer those on death row just before their execution? What would be your priority today if you knew it was your very last one? Should we not live like that every day?

Make Today a God’s-Will Day

James said that we shouldn’t brag about doing something tomorrow but rather seek to do God’s will today and tomorrow and say if it’s God’s will then I will do this or I will do that (James 4:15) because if you confidently boast about what you’ll do tomorrow, God sees that as evil (James 4:16). That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t plan things for tomorrow, but your plans should include seeking what God would want you to do. We should live today like there’s no tomorrow because there might not be a tomorrow for us on this earth. Would you be more generous today with your money, with your time, and with your prayers? I believe we should live every day like it could be our last for another reason: Christ could return at any given moment (1 Thess. 4:16-18). So live today like it’s your last on earth and like Christ will return today!

A Closing Prayer

God, You alone know the day of my death, so teach me to number each and every day (Psalm 90:12) like it might be my last because it could be. Let me die with no regrets or remorse if You were to send Your Son back to earth today for His church, and in Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

Effective Discipling

     We know that children loved to be around Jesus because he loved to be around them. Children are perceptive. They wouldn't keep going to someone if that person didn't like them. Jesus' love toward them was deeply compelling.
     As mothers, our most important job is to point our children to Jesus. Churches and ministries provide many aids to assist us in our job of discipling our children, but we must make sure the fruit of these aids is drawing our children closer to God and not hindering their growth. While many of those tools and programs might be helpful, they can never replace a child's own parent sitting down with them and pointing them to the Lord.
     "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these" (Luke 18:16, NIV).
     Do you spend time discipling your children or do you let other ministries do it? You will care far more about your child's spiritual growth than a volunteer will, and you will be better able to detect if the program is helping your child really know God. Do your best to make sure your children view God rightly.

Is there anything not possible if you rely on Me for your source of strength?

Matthew 19:26

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Doing Nothing Without God

We cannot really do anything substantial and of lasting value without God (John 15:5) and nothing does not mean a little something. If we think we can really do anything apart from God we are deceiving ourselves. If we even think we’re something without God we are really nothing, again we are deceiving ourselves (Gal 6:3). If we do what Jesus asks us to do then our prayers are more likely to be answered (John 15:15) so we can’t do much through our prayers until we do much for the One Who we pray too. We cannot even please God without faith (Heb 11:6) but even our faith is a gift from God and there is no way we can work for that or brag about it (Eph 2:8-9). Salvation is fully a work of God and what is humanly impossible is nothing to God. The only thing that we can possibly do well is to sin to the nth degree (Gen 11:6).

Doing All Things Through Christ

We have already read that we can’t do anything without God but the opposite is also true; we can do all things through Christ but only by His strengthening us (Phil 4:13). Even our daily struggles and the titanic battles we go through we don’t go through them alone because God is really the One Who fights for us (2 Chro 20:15). If we even try to help God in any way we’ll stumble because God doesn’t need our help and by God’s bringing us the victory, He is more glorified. One of the things God cannot do is lie (Heb 6:18) but that’s only because it’s against His very nature of being holy. We can move the proverbial mountains but it takes faith and again, this faith is not in us but is from God.

Our Source of Strength

As we have read, we have no strength apart from Christ do to anything of consequence. There were times during Paul’s many struggles and suffering that he felt he had no strength to go on (2 Cor 1:8) so we must trust God like he did as our source of strength when we are weak and faint-hearted (Isaiah 40:29). Paul acknowledged the fact that his strength came from God (1 Tim 1:12) and even when everyone had abandoned him, Jesus never did and strengthened Paul during the last few hours or days of his life (2 Tim 4:17). I can’t even serve or minister to the church without God’s giving me the strength to do so (1 Pet 4:11). Churches are much like people and sometimes grow weary and must be strengthened in their faith by God, particularly when membership grows rapidly (Acts 16:5). Is there anything really impossible if we rely on God and His strength?

A Closing Prayer

Glorious, Righteous Father, I can do nothing in my own strength but by Your strength alone can I do anything. Please help me rely on Your strength because mine is insufficient and in this way You’ll be glorified and in Jesus Mighty Name I pray.

Amen

What area of your life requires courage today?

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.

Finances

I don’t personally know of anyone who has not struggled at one time or another with fears over their finances and needed the courage to trust God. God has promised in His word that no child of His will suffer from hunger or starve to death (Prov. 10:3), and those who fear God will lack nothing at all, even if they grow weak from hunger (Psalm 34:10). The fear of finances keeps so many people up at night that I lost track of counting them all. Is this an area where you require courage? I suggest you read some of the Proverbs and the Psalms because God promises to never forsake us by reminding us that His own children will not have to go out and beg for bread (Psalm 37:25). If God provides for the birds of the air that don’t even need a job, then why would He not do the same for us, whom He values infinitely more (Matt. 6:26)?

Witnessing

I have done door-to-door and street evangelism and even one-on-one witnessing, and I still tremble at times. My heart starts to pound, my brow grows sweaty, and my voice sometimes gets shaky, but real courage is not being afraid–it is doing what needs to be done despite the fear. Courage is not the elimination of fear; it is acting regardless of fear. Take comfort in the fact that it’s hard for everyone. Ask God to give you the courage to step out and risk for the sake of the kingdom. Ask others to pray for you about this. Great rewards come with great risks, and I can look back on times in my life where I was afraid to share the Gospel with someone but who later placed their trust in Christ. What if I hadn’t gone through with it? Paul frequently asked the church to pray for Him in witnessing boldly for Christ and specifically asked that he might declare it fearlessly, as he should (Eph. 6:19-20). The fear of man is a big obstacle that can trip us up, but trusting God always helps (Prov. 29:25) because if we trust in God, we have no reason to fear anything that man can do to us (Psalm 56:11).

Goliaths

Many of us have our own giants that we face. These might be a disease or illness, a troubled marriage, a dying spouse, unemployment, or whatever else seems to be impossible to you. David had his Goliath, but we have ours, too, and even though David faced a giant about ten times (or more) his size, David trusted in God. David told Goliath that he was certain that God was going to take him down that day (1 Sam. 17:44) because the Lord was going to give Goliath into David’s hands, for the battle is the Lord’s (1 Sam. 17:47). When Moses was near the end of his life, he told Joshua to have courage and be strong because he had no reason to be in fear or dread the future because the Lord promised to go before them in battle when they crossed over into the Promised Land because God was not going to forsake them (Deut. 31:6).

A Closing Prayer

Oh mighty God of the universe, please forgive me when I fall into fearful circumstances and don’t trust You enough, knowing that You will never leave me or forsake me and that You will take care of my every need. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

The Flock

     When God created Adam, he also made him a partner. He said it's not good for us to be alone. We are meant to live in fellowship with others. In the Bible we are called sheep--and sheep are apparently very social animals. Sheep require other sheep to be around or they won't display normal sheep-like behavior. They just don't do well on their own.
     In light of this, isn't it interesting that we are compared to sheep in Scripture? A sense of normalcy is possible when we don't isolate ourselves from others. There's no need to feel anxious or alone in this journey of life because God has given us a family--his family.
     You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it ( 1 Corinthians 12:27, NIV).
     Do you have a flock of sheep to accompany you in this life? Be encouraged today to embrace the church community around you. Make the effort to be hospitable and spend dedicated time with others who are like-minded. You might be surprised just how normal you are.

UNFAILING LOVE

     Could your child lose your love? Think of the worst things they've ever done, or if they are still very young, imagine the worst they could do. Now picture them sleeping. Recall the day they were born. Despite any level of anger, disappointment, or betrayal, could you honestly turn off your love for them?
     I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39, NLT).
     Consider all the evidence in your life of God's love for you. Write out a prayer of thanksgiving and love to the one who loves you without condition and without fail.

What would others say that you treasure most?

Second Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Where Are Your Treasures At?

Jesus once said that where our treasures are, there is where our heart truly lies (Matt. 6:21). So, what would people say that you treasure the most? Is it your job? Maybe it’s your family. Perhaps it’s something else. But can anything on earth really measure up to the value of the Spirit of God in us? No, that is the most treasured of all things and in particular Jesus Christ, Who came to die for us and truly didn’t deserve it. What is more valuable than your soul and your eternal destination? Can a man or woman put a price on their saving faith? What can compare with the riches that are found only in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 8:9)? The point is, where you keep your treasure, that’s where your heart is (Luke 12:34).

True Treasures

In Jesus Christ we have all the treasures that anyone could ever desire, if they only knew in Whom those who are saved are hidden in, and those are the treasures of the true wisdom and knowledge of Jesus Christ (Col. 2:3). We can’t even fathom the depth of the riches and knowledge of God because they’re totally unsearchable (Rom. 11:33). Let’s imagine that we lived in nation that is hostile to Christianity. Sixty percent of the world lives in these areas; that is around 100 million people in all. Now imagine you are there and they drag you into a court. Would there be enough evidence to convict you in a court of law that you treasure Jesus Christ and your faith more than anything else? Would your neighbors be witnesses and have enough evidence on you to convict you of being a Christian? If not, they would say you didn’t treasure God enough to be sent to prison for your faith. What would your best friends say you most treasure in life? Would they clearly know it was God? Would that be the first thing they said about you or about me? I would pray it would be that we treasure Jesus Christ above everything.

Time and Money

They say that time is money, but if we break this down into different categories, what do you spend the most time doing? Where does most of your money go? Bill Bright once said that Christians spend only 2.3% of their money in supporting the work of Christ. Americans spend more than eight times their money on pets than they do on the kingdom. What does that say about me? What does that say about you? Would others say you love your pets more than God? Some people I counsel say their family is more loving and tender with their pets and spends more time with their pets than they do with them? They speak to their pets in a much softer, gentler tone than they do them! In other words, some people treat their pets better than their own family and friends! Is that true about you? What about me!? Would people say you adore your pets more than God? If we asked people who know you and who know me, would they say that you and I treasure our weekends, our sports, our money, our jobs, and our pets more than God? Very convicting, isn’t it?

A Closing Prayer

Great God, please forgive me for not always putting You first, and help me to invest my time into those things which are eternal and not things that will pass away, things like a kind act, a generous gift, and a selfless love of others. I pray others would clearly answer the question that what they treasure most is You and that nothing else comes close. In Jesus strong name I pray.

Amen