Author: admin

It is an offense against holy God to choose not to trust Him. Ultimately there will be consequences for not believing Him.

We live in a society and an age when people have largely chosen not to place their trust in God. They have heard the Gospel. They know what God says. But they have refused to believe it. Instead, they have pursued their pleasures and trusted in themselves or in others in order to have their needs met. Some have brazenly mocked the claims of God and openly despised His word.

History is clear that God will only be patient so long with those who reject Him. Inevitably He will allow such people to reap what they have sown. Those who reject His salvation will eventually perish, even as they futilely grasp at their idols. A time eventually comes when God exposes us, and our pitiful beliefs, for what they are. If His loving provision and forbearance will not bring us to faith, then He will judge us and cause us to bear the full weight of our foolish choices. A day is coming when each person will experience the full consequences for having refused to trust in God.

When is God’s provision enough for you? At what point are you convinced that He loves you and you can trust Him?

No people in history enjoyed the provision of God like the Israelites did. Yet it was never enough. They always wanted more. They remained fundamentally unconvinced. God provided water, bursting out of a parched rock. He parted the sea and led His people to safety on dry land. He guided them by day and by night, right to their destination. Yet God’s people were continually clamoring for more, as if God had never done anything for them in the past.

Are you a whiner? Do you remain perennially dissatisfied or unconvinced after all God has done for you? What would God have to do on your behalf before you finally came to the point where you fully trusted Him? Could it be (and it is!) that God has already more than adequately demonstrated His trustworthiness to you? It is time to put aside any lingering doubts and to fully trust in the Lord who loves you and is faithfully guiding you to accomplish His purposes.

It is possible to test God, by the requests we make of Him. We can become so fixated on our desires that we ignore God’s provision. We may become so concerned at what we do not have, that we overlook the abundance that is in our hands already.

It is an affront to almighty God to treat His provision as if it were nothing while asking for those things He chose not to give us. Our requests of God reflect our trust in Him. Do we truly believe He loves us? Do we have faith that He will not abandon or forget us? Do we believe God will never respond to us apart from perfect love? If we do, then we will not hound Him with our petty, selfish requests. We will instead, humbly accept His provision and celebrate His goodness to us.

Yet there are those who, even as God is providing them their daily bread, are simultaneously crying out for cakes and pastries. Is God’s provision for you enough, or do you desire more?

How tragic to fall just short of a spiritual victory. God designed us to be a victorious people. He provides every resource necessary to achieve success and to glorify Him. Yet all the provision of heaven will be inadequate if we will not trust Him.

The truth is that there are many believers who turn back just at the point where they could have experienced a resounding triumph. God had fully armed and equipped them. Victory was assured. But then they took their eyes off of their Lord.They forgot the innumerable times in the past when God made them victorious. They focused on the enemy rather than their Commander. They grew more concerned about the problems than they were excited about the possibilities.

Only heaven knows how many victories have been lost, not because they were impossible, but because God’s people turned back just before they could have been grasped.

Society is always just one generation away from being reduced to paganism. Each generation must carefully pass on its faith to those who follow. It matters not how amazing our walk with God may have been if we fail to pass on that faith to our children.

The Israelites had experienced the amazing deliverance from God as well as His daily provision. Yet they had not set their hearts to respond properly to God. Despite the innumerable blessings God showered upon them, they continued to doubt God’s word and to rebel against His leading.

The truth is that all the miracles and answers to prayer in the world will not strengthen our faith if our heart is not open and sensitive to God. If any people in history should have had a vibrant, unshakeable faith in God it was the nation of Israel. Yet, no quantity of miracles could assure a people whose hearts were not committed to God.

What does the generation below you witness as they watch your walk with God?

God expects us to raise our children so they place their hope in Him. However, people do not hope in those they do not trust. And trust is based on past performance. When someone repeatedly proves himself to be trustworthy, we learn by experience that they are reliable.

The reason we repeatedly remind our children and those around us of God’s actions in our life is because people must see how absolutely dependable God is in every circumstance. The reason many young people today are turning away from God and the church is because they have never seen how faithful and practical God is. These young people may witness their parents attending church but they never see how God makes a practical difference in their lives.

It isn’t that God is untrustworthy, but that we often fail to bear witness to His faithfulness. It is our divinely appointed responsibility to glorify God by telling others of what He has done. Do not let today go by without telling someone of God’s goodness to you!

The primary source of spiritual growth and learning for the next generation is not the school, the local youth programs, or even the church. It is our homes. God expects parents and grandparents to pass on to the next generation the teaching, instruction, and reverence for the Lord.

Too often we inadvertently hide God’s activity from our children. God answers our prayers for provision and, though we are delighted, we fail to sit down with our offspring and explain to them what God just did. Or the Holy Spirit guides us to make an important decision. However, though our children may witness the results of God’s guidance, they are not shown the way God directed us. Or God blesses us. While our children experience the benefits of divine blessing, they have no idea why and how God caused His face to shine upon us.

If the generation that follows us is to walk with God as we have, then they must be taught how to walk with God, as we have. That means regularly talking about God’s activity with them. It entails that we are careful not to hide God’s activity from others. How clearly and compellingly are you sharing with those around you what God has done in your life?

As Isaac approached the end of his life, he requested his favorite meal before he blessed his older son and died.    Isaac’s desire to fulfill his physical appetites gave his younger son Jacob an opportunity for deceit.

With his mother’s help, Jacob prepared the stew, disguised himself as Esau, and received the blessing that was rightfully his brother’s.  As soon as Isaac pronounced the blessing, a hungry Esau returned from his hunting, made the meal his father had requested, and learned that his father had blessed his brother.

Throughout his life, Esau–like Jacob–was tempted to take control of his own life and destiny, and it’s undoubtedly a temptation you have also faced.  It takes steady faith to leave our lives and future in God’s hands.  Too often we tire of waiting on God or something else compels us to turn from the Lord.  Yet when we seize control of our lives, disaster inevitably follows.  Ask the Lord to help you release your hold on your life and entrust it to His capable hands instead.

All it takes is one visit to your doctor to put your life in perspective! Hearing you have cancer, or a terminal illness immediately helps you evaluate your life’s priorities. If you have been working feverishly to gain a new position at work or to grow your retirement investments, or to accomplish certain projects, then you may be greatly disappointed at how quickly they evaporate before you.

We live in a physical world, but what really matters in life occurs in the spiritual realm. The earth is deteriorating and will one day come to an end. Our physical bodies are wearing out. Death awaits us all. While we can ignore that reality and resist it with all our might; it is inevitable.

Some people approach death with horror, knowing they failed to set aside treasures for the life to come. Their focus was on the temporal, even though they knew it would not lost for long. At death, their life’s investments must be surrendered with nothing to show for it in the life to come.

Others wisely choose to invest their brief life in eternity. They recognize that their life on earth is fleeting and brief at best. Like a farmer who fervently collects hay while the sun still shines, so these wise people collect eternal treasures while they can. For them, death is not loss, but gain. It is a celebration of what God did through their ordinary life on earth.

Are you worried and troubled about things that will not last? Is your focus and energy consumed with activities and objects that are even now fading away? Invest your life well!

Lest we forget, Jesus instructed His disciples to affirm before God, each day that our life is to be focused on God’s kingdom, power, and glory and not ours.

Our lives will inevitably come to an end. Our projects, company, positions, and investments will be no more. Whatever fame or recognition we may have achieved will fade away. But God and His work will advance from glory to glory. His name and fame will increase. His kingdom will expand. His power will remain undiminished.

Every day we must decide what we will invest our lives in to. We can spend our time feverishly advancing our causes and projects, or we can surrender ourselves fully to the cause of Christ.

Every day we must pray and commit ourselves afresh to the furtherance of God’s kingdom and His glory. Just because we were committed to it yesterday does not mean we are wholeheartedly aligned to it today. So we pray afresh, each day, that God would be glorified by the way we live our life.

How will you invest your life, today?