Daily Devotional: Friday, April 9
Speaker: Ben Sigman
Theme: Living Every Moment
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Happy Day by Tim Hughes; No Not One by Christy Nockels; Jesus Paid it All by Kristian Stanfill; Hosanna by Brooke Fraser.
Read: Romans 8:35-39; 2 Corinthinans 5:17; John 6:51
Bible Challenge: Luke 19 Think: One of the employees on my staff this week told me how he deals with difficulties at work...you know the kind we tend to complain and whine about. I was really intrigued by his answer. He said he pretends it's his first day on the job. I laughed and then began to think about it some more. You know the feeling; excited, eager, a little nervous, desirous to make a good first impression, maybe a little naïve, and no doubt acting with a sense of urgency. But what I really loved about the answer is how he reflected back upon a moment in time to transform his current circumstances...looking through a different prism to experience the present.
That also brought me to another place of reflection. A friend of mine who led a small group I was in a number of years ago used to ask the best questions. One evening he asked each of us to remember back to the days, weeks, and months when we accepted Jesus as our Savior. He then asked us to compare that to the present. I remember the days following my decision for Christ, how excited, eager, thankful, and joyful I was. Time has put a lot miles between me and the day I first believed, and maybe I have let those miles also distance me from the joyful existence that was realized in that moment. Perhaps I need to take a page from one of my employees and remember back to that first day I believed. How does that transform the present? How does that allow me to live more humbly, more urgently, more expectantly? Probably most importantly it allows me to humbly remember the saving grace and forgiveness that was freely given to me....that's a reason to celebrate daily!!
Paul encourages us in one of todays devotional readings that living expectantly allows us to look past our current circumstances, with hope and knowledge that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Ask: Am I allowing lifes current circumstances to rob me of the joy of my salvation? Maybe you haven't received Christ into your life yet, but you desire a relationship with Him, to become a new creation in him (2 Corinthians 5:17), to live eternally with him (John 6:51). Is he knocking on your door, your heart?
If you want to know have a relationship with God you can know him today by asking Jesus into your life, into your heart. Simply ask Him and He will answer. A simple prayer such as:
Please Lord Jesus forgive me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend.
I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ."
Pray: Heavenly father let me remember your touch, your grace, your forgiveness of me. Help me hold it close to me each day. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church. |
