Showing posts with label preparation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preparation. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Danger Ahead!

A battered, old truck was rambling down a country road and approached a sharp right turn. Unfortunately, the driver applied the brakes but nothing happened. It missed the turn and ended up in a field. 
Fortunately, the driver climbed out of the cab uninjured. Dusting himself off, he said to the crowd that gathered around him, “I reckon I should’ve bought brake fluid before I needed it!” 
Procrastination presents problems. One of the problems for procrastinators is that what they tend to put off leads to crises. Like the truck driver ending up in a field. Fortunately, he ended up in a field with no injury to himself.
One unfortunate result of procrastinating is that it can result in irreversible consequences. This is true of those who face death thinking there will always be time to make things right with God. This is certainly one of Satan’s greatest accomplishments: convincing the lost to believe that “there will be time tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, the next day. Perhaps next week.” Not wise!
Satan takes great pleasure when he gets us to focus on tomorrow instead of today. He rejoices when we have “spiritual intentions” that we “reserve” for “tomorrow.” Those “intentions” also include our promises to read His Word, pray, attend church and witness.
Prayer: We pray, Father, for those who have delayed accepting You as Savior. May Your Spirit work in their hearts and help all of us to turn our intentions into actions. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture for Today: Zechariah 1:4 “Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.”

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Prepared For the Future

While growing up I remember an advertisement that was very popular: “Clothing makes the man.” It’s a slogan from the past that has been overcome by ads that are much different. Each time I heard it, I would stop, look at what I was wearing and wonder if it would be a help or a hindrance to what I wanted to accomplish.

Though the slogan is a thing of the past, clothes continue to contribute to the opinions others form about us. And we, also, do the same. More often than not we judge others by their clothing.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come,” are words that describe the “woman of noble character.” How do we identify the garments of “strength and dignity” and is it ever wise to “laugh at the future?”

“Men,” God’s Word reminds us, “look at what people wear. God looks at the person’s heart.” Character and values are something that flow from the inside of a person. The essential qualities described here refer to God at work in the lives of those who surrender their lives to Him. Strength comes from His presence within and dignity is the result of being who He wants us to be so we can walk in a “just pride” because we are His very own children.

When we walk in His strength and not our own and when we realize the benefits of being “His child,” there is no reason to “fear the days to come.” We are in “good hands,” His hands and that is what matters most.

Prayer: Often, Father, we fail to recognize all that we can have through You. Open our heart to Your greatness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for Today: Proverbs 31:25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.