Daily Devotional for Monday February 4, 2008
Keep Pressing Forward
(Philippians 3:14)
Keep pressing forward! Today is one of those days when I just want to pull up a chair, sit next to you, and talk. Today it isn't evangelist Bill Keller standing in the pulpit preaching a sermon, or on a platform dealing with the issues of the day from a Biblical worldview, this is simply your friend Bill, sitting next to you and giving you some encouragement. I want to tell you that no matter what you may be facing today, keep pressing forward. Don't let the challenges of daily life detour you, keep pressing forward. In the midst of the battles you are fighting in your life today, keep pressing forward!
One of the big ways satan neutralizes many Christians is by throwing so much at them each day, by the end of the day you are just happy you made it and are looking forward to getting some sleep. The enemy of your soul gets you so conditioned to just making it through the day that you start to make that your goal each morning. You wake up and your prayer is, "O Lord, just help me make it through the day!" Listen to me my friend, we aren't here to just make it through the day, we are here to make a DIFFERENCE through the day! Each day is a special gift from God, it isn't promised to us, and if our goal is simply to make it to the end of the day we are not being good stewards of that wonderful gift.
We usually think of stewardship in regard to how we handle our money. I want you to understand that good stewardship also entails how we handle the TIME God blesses us with. God doesn't give us a new day to simply make it through another 24 hours. He blesses us with that day so that we can serve and glorify Him and make an impact with our life for the Kingdom. God will hold you accountable for how faithful you have been with each minute just like he will hold you accountable for how you handled the resources and talent He blesses you with throughout your life. God doesn't expect you to be faithful with what you don't have, only with what you do have. He gives everyone resources, he gives everyone talent, and he gives everyone TIME. You may have more or less resources than someone else, more or less talents than someone else, but everyone gets 24 hours each day!
Listen, I understand one of the hardest things in the world is to deal with all that life throws at you each day, and in the midst of all that, try to be productive for the Lord. You have work, school, family, health issues, different weaknesses you have to fight, hobbies and things you enjoy doing, on top of the day-to-day trials and tribulations we all have to face living in this dark, sin-filled world. As each day unfolds, as those unexpected situations arise, it is so easy to get bogged down and expend so much energy fighting problems that we simply want to get home and shut the world out. The last thing we are looking for is more drama, more battles, that we know are going to come as we step up to serve the Lord. So we sit back and do nothing, which is exactly what satan wants!
In the past months with all that is happening and unfolding at Liveprayer, the attacks have been ferocious to say the least. Many out of left field, totally unexpected. Even though we deal with it daily, in the past couple days the attacks have been as intense as ever. THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED WHEN YOU STEP UP TO SERVE THE LORD! We have actually had several people unsubscribe from the Daily Devotional telling us that there are always too many things going on at Liveprayer, and each day in addition to the Daily Devotional, the updates on what we are doing at the ministry make them dizzy. One gentleman said that it is like watching a James Bond movie with all that action going on and it was simply too much drama. This is coming from people who are simply reading about what is going on here! Why do you think some churches are like time capsules? You can go back after not having attended there for the past 10-15 years and everything is exactly as it was the last time you were there!!!
I understand most people aren't willing to deal with all of the daily drama in their life AND the drama and challenges of serving the Lord. I want to encourage you today to not let satan keep you from serving God. He has a plan and purpose for your life, He has work for you to do, and serving Him is not an option it is a commandment! No matter how challenged you may be in your daily life, MAKE THE TIME AND EFFORT each day to find ways to serve the Lord. There are endless ways you can serve Him at your local church. There are tons of ministries that need people to help them. Most people can serve the Lord just in the course of their daily lives as they share Christ with the people who cross their path each day. God will open the right doors, guide you, it is your responsibility to make serving Him each day a priority!
I love you and care about you so much. My word for you today friend is to PRESS ON! The prize is before you. At the end of your journey through life, when you take your last breath, the only thing that will matter is your relationship with Jesus, and the only thing that will stand for eternity is your service for Him! What you leave behind, your true legacy, are those lives you have impacted for Christ during your life. It is through your faithful service to the Lord each day, that God uses your life to touch the lives of others. Those lives, most of whom you will never even know about until you get to Glory, are the precious stones of your life, what will stand for eternity. The rest is wood, hay, and stubble that will burn up.
So today I encourage you to PRESS ON! No matter what you may be facing in your life today, PRESS ON! No mater what challenges are before you, PRESS ON! No matter what life may throw at you on a given day, PRESS ON! God has called each of His children to serve Him, each in their own way. Don't let the trials and tribulation of life bog you down, or sap all your drive and energy, PRESS ON! The prize is before you my friend, PRESS ON!!!