Daily Wisdom

 1Pe 5:10 “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 

Acknowledging and testifying to adversity, is not to be pessimistic, but rather to strengthen myself (Pro 24:10 -  If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small). The more familiar that I am with it, the less likely I am to stumble when it occurs. The scriptures reflect more on hell than heaven itself. You become more reflective of its purpose; you understand God's reason for it (Jms 1:2-4) and are then able to make the best of everything that you are handed. The darkness is only frightening when our faith has been hiding in the sunshine. The Father’s plans and purpose will always be greater weight of glory than our adversity and disappointments. 

R.C. Sproul – “Don’t question why bad things happen to good people. That only happened once, and He volunteered.”… HSAY 

Daily Wisdom

Rom 8:15 “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

Let’s be ever mindful of our eternal inheritance and know that fear is a liar!  Not called to be debtors to the flesh (vs 13), but sons of God empowered with authority by the Spirit of God (vs 14). And while the glory and fullness of our inheritance is beyond the grasp of our full understanding, know in every difficulty we face, and every waiting place, we’re given the chance to trust in the things unseen (Heb 11:1) and patiently hold to the promise of His abundant blessings.  

Fear corrodes our confidence in Christ goodness by hiding our inheritance… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

“… godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Tim 4:8

Let us not confuse earthly wealth with eternal wealth. According to (Pro 11:4) riches profit not in the day of God’s judgement, but righteousness delivers us from His wrath. We increase the value of our days by focusing on value, not valuables. When I set my mind on the things Christ that offer eternal value, the proprieties of my investments change. Father help me to know where true value and treasures lie and fully abandon everything else to secure it (Mt 13:45-46). Where your treasure is so follows your heart (Mt 6:21)!

Those who lay up treasures in Heaven looks forward to the wealth of eternity… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

Isa 28:9 “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.” 

One’s ability to learn and mature in the Lord has eternal effects while in the temporal.

The Lord’s purpose for me requires me to grow from infancy (temporal mindset) and strive for adulthood (eternal mindset), by offering an eternal motivation.

Mat 19:29 “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

But, through this desired growth comes a sense of spiritual tension: we live in one place, but our true home is in another. Causing us to experience this in a couple of ways.

(1) The propensity to treat church like a bunker and try to escape the world.

(2). Looking forward to eternal life while embracing where God has placed us now.

Both can lead to avoiding our purpose in the Lord and the revealing of Himself through us.

This requires maturity to stay focused and endure the journey.

Jesus speaks of eternal reward with a rich young man (Mat 19) as well as His disciples.

The idea of seeking rewards of any sort might seem counterproductive to the Christian life. But, why would Jesus mention to the Disciples that they “will receive a hundredfold” if he didn’t want that to motivate them?

We should be aching for God’s promised eternal reward, but we should also be selfless like Jesus (Mk 10:45; 1 Jn 2:6).

Here’s the solution: our reward is God himself (Num 18:20).

Heaven in its glory and beauty, is where we will enjoy our eternal reward.

But whatever we desire now should be considered in light of our promised eternal reward, God himself.

View the present situation God’s put you in through the motivation of His eternal promises!

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

Ecc 3:11 “He hath made everything beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 

God has "planted eternity in the human heart." This means that we can never be completely satisfied with earthly pleasures and pursuits by fleshly efforts.

When David wrote for us to, “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Psa 37:4), he wasn’t writing to sound religious.

Religion cannot enjoy God, it can only fear him from a distance.

It can be easy for one to find themselves seeing God through the cold eyes of religion. Viewing prayer and worship as labors to earn favor, instead of gifts given to draw near to the Fountain of Life.

The biggest obstacle to enjoying God and learning to delight in him is the merit-based system we often find ourselves in as Christians.  Religion diminishes the gospel and Jesus by subtly conveying that his spilled blood and resurrection aren’t really enough.

Religion can reform a person’s life, but it can never transform him. Only the holy Spirit can transform a heart to find delight in God and the beauty of His Word and its eternal promises.

Religion says, “I obey: therefore, I’m accepted.” Christianity says, “I’m accepted: therefore, I obey.”

Religion is a stereotype, Christianity is Christ like. Don’t confuse the two!

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

Isa 63:2 “Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?”

Edom was a constant enemy of Israel despite its common ancestry in Isaac (Gen 25:23). Edom rejoiced at any trouble Israel faced. The imagery in this passage is of a watchman on the wall of Jerusalem, seeing Edom approaching and fearing that the Edomite king in his red garment is attacking. But, it’s the Lord, in bloodstained clothes, showing who has destroyed Edom and sin.

Point being: As God’s children we must show our Christian colors if we are to be true to Jesus.

The scriptures are laden with the imagery of colors. Too many to list in this devotional, but none the less purposeful in God’s message.  Here are a few that strongly illustrate God’s purpose and how we must embolden these colors in our daily life. Allowing others to see the beauty of Jesus:

Blue – eternity heaven, God’s dwelling.

Purple – king royalty, our Messiah Jesus.

Scarlet (red) – atonement, Jesus shedding of His blood for the reparation of our sin.

White – righteousness, Jesus (Christians) eternal clothing by Jesus redemptive work.

The adage goes: stay with someone long enough and their true colors will show.

Question: The longer someone knows you are they able to see the blue, purple, red, white imagery of eternity through Jesus or do different colors come to the surface?

Every life is full of color, make sure it’s bringing out the God-colors.

HSAY… Todd