Morning Encouragement
Lord of a New Day
Good morning,
In scripture, there are multiple references to “the time of God’s favor”. But, what is the time of God’s favor? Is it Saturday evening, Sunday morning between 9 – 10 or, maybe Wednesday evening? It may surprise you but, the time of His favor is today, right now, at this very moment (2ndCorinthians 6:2). This is good news to us because, it means that no matter what kind of day we had yesterday or, how bad we fouled up, today is a new day filled with God’s promises for our life (Lamentations 3:22-23). When we chose to live in yesterday or tomorrow, we lose sight of what God has blessed us with today. Consider, if you will, the beloved teenage mantra “I can’t wait until I am 21”. Then we turn 21, 31 comes fast and before we know it, we are into our 50’s wondering what happened to the time. For this reason, we are commanded in scripture to redeem the time for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-16). The word redeem means “to gain or regain something in exchange for payment” (dictionary.com). when we redeem the time, we are using what is in our hands at the very moment. When it comes to salvation, the all too familiar refrain “I will accept God tomorrow” and never accept his gift until moments before death and, sometimes, not even then. The Evangelist D.L. Moody said, “I have learned that when anyone becomes earnest about his soul’s salvation and he begins to seek God, it does not take long for an anxious sinner to meet an anxious Savior”[1]. Conversely, when we do not embrace our savior in the time of his favor, he will not be found in our day (Isaiah 55:6).
For God to favor anything or anyone, that person or thing must first be set aside (sanctified). When we sanctify this very moment for the Kingdom of the Most-High, he draws near to us and we have fellowship with him (James 4:8). Tragically, many of us, including me, go through our day from one struggle to the next and, at the end of the day, we are exhausted, drained, and at the end of our rope. This is not God’s best nor, is it his desire; it is the alternate outcome when we do not redeem the time. In Jeremiah’s letter to the Exiles in the heathen land of Babylon, he spoke emphatically about living daily for the God of their ancestors by making right choices right where they were (Jeremiah 29). Understand this, the exiles were in a place they didn’t want to be in; if they had their druthers, they would prefer to be back in Jerusalem attending the Temple just as they had in the golden times of Solomon. Yet, Solomon’s temple had been destroyed and the great kings of old were dead. In the same way, many of you are in places you would rather not be, facing circumstances you would rather not deal with, and feeling the pressure of the world collapsing around you. It is my encouragement to you today, “redeem the time for the days are full of troubles”. You cannot change the attitude of the world but, you can change your attitude and outlook by living daily for God.
“Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory and brilliance of the Lord has risen upon you.
“For in fact, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness will cover the peoples;
But the Lord will rise upon you and His glory and brilliance will be seen on you.
“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising (Isaiah 60:1-3 Amp).
Father,
Please be with my readers today. May you be with them through all of the trials and struggles of their day.Doubtless, the world has ideas on how to live and many thrive in the world’s circus but, in the end, it all falls apart. Thank you for the powerful gift of daily salvation because, it lifts us up when all we can see is the mountains that surround us. While we go through our day, we may not understand why we are facing troubles but, help us to trust you through to the end that we may see the puzzle of our life come together for the world to see.
In His Name
Mike
[1]D.L. Moody. Tomorrow May Be Too Late. Bible believers. Accessed http://www.biblebelievers.com/moody_sermons/m4.html
Mikes Encouragement 