Daily Devotional for Thursday December 27, 2018

A CHALLENGE FOR YOU TO MAKE 2019 THE MOST SPIRITUALLY PRODUCTIVE YEAR IN YOUR LIFE!!!

(2 Timothy 1:5)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, thank you for this day, a day that was not promised to me but is a gift from you. I pray that each day you wake me up in this coming new year, that I will make that day count for YOU! Guide my steps so that before I go to sleep each night, I can honestly say that I have done something for you and your Kingdom! With each day you grant me in 2019, I will do something during that day to glorify you oh Lord as I pray in your name...AMEN!!!

A CHALLENGE FOR YOU TO MAKE 2019 THE MOST SPIRITUALLY PRODUCTIVE YEAR IN YOUR LIFE!!!

The challenge God has for you in this upcoming new year is easy to understand, but not easy to perform! It will not sound very difficult, but trust me my friend, you will need to be prayed up each day and spiritually plugged in 24/7 so you are operating in His strength and power in order to succeed. Accepting this challenge and doing your best each day can make 2019 not only the most spiritually productive year of your life, but a year in which you will grow in the Lord like you never have in your life!!!

The challenge is simply this. Each day the Lord gives you in 2019, each day He allows you to wake up, before you end that day by going to sleep you need to do something during that day for the Lord. I am not talking about your personal time with the Lord in prayer or the Word. That is a given. I am talking about doing something SPECIFIC DURING THAT DAY for the Lord.

At first glance this doesn’t seem to be that difficult. It could be finding someone during that day to share your faith with. It could be taking 30 minutes of the day and finding some way to serve the needs of others. It could be going out of your way at some point in the day to help someone you know who is in need. There are almost endless things you can do during the day that you consciously and specifically do in order to lay down to sleep at night and be able to point to at least ONE THING you did that day to serve Jesus!

Now, let me help you understand the real life difficulty of being successful in this challenge. How many people, better yet, how many times have you started the year with the goal of losing so much weight, for a smoker to stop smoking, to read the Bible cover to cover, or for any other issue in your life that you wanted to focus on. You do real good January 1st, 2nd, 3rd, maybe throughout the whole month! But, than comes February, March, April, and I submit to you that in most cases what you diligently set out to accomplish starting January 1st is a faded memory.

Trust me, I am not trying to guilt you or shame you. This is simply human nature. So, while having the goal of doing something specific for the Lord every day He blesses you with in 2019 may not seem like such a hard thing to accomplish, it will be! That is why I say you will have to be prayed up each day, spend some time in the Word each day, and be focused throughout EVERY DAY to find that time, that specific thing you will do THAT DAY to serve the Lord!

My friend, the greatest legacy that you can leave is in the lives you touch for God. As I have gotten older, each passing year makes me realize all the more how brief our journey here really is. It is only natural that we think about how we might be remembered after we are gone. I don't want to sound cold, but the fact is, other than our family and possibly a few close friends, the memory of our life will fade quickly.

Once we are gone from this life, there is very little left to remind people that we were even here. Some people may be memorialized by having a building or road named after them, others may have their memory honored by having an event named after them, but for most there will be little evidence of this life once it is over. My purpose today is not to discourage you, but to challenge you in regard to how you CAN live on long after your life here is over.

I have often talked about leaving behind the temporal things of this world when we die. How the only thing we will take from this life into eternity is our relationship with Christ. Our works will be tested and much of what we do in this life will be burned up as wood, hay, and stubble. The works that will stand the test of fire are those eternal works. So it is with our legacy, what we leave behind. We leave behind our name, which may or may not continue. The most visible thing we leave is our children, but they too will one day die.

What we do leave behind that will NOT pass away are those souls who will live for eternity because we were obedient to God. Understand that only the Holy Spirit can bring a person to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. However, God uses human instruments to affect a person's life and bring them to that point. Your prayers, your kind words, your acts of charity, your unconditional love for others during your life will live on in that person for eternity!

The point I want you to understand today is that it is never too early in life, or too late in life to impact someone for eternity. It is after all our purpose in this life. Our purpose is to serve and glorify God. Our service to God comes in the service to others. Our service to others has ETERNAL consequences. It is our greatest legacy. It is the part of us that WILL live on for eternity. We live on long after we leave this life, in the lives of those we touch along our journey.

I love you and care about you so much. I pray that you will read these words over and over for the next few days and begin praying about accepting this daunting challenge for the upcoming year. This is not a game, but is very serious. Only God knows how HE can use your focused efforts each day to impact lives and advance His Kingdom. He is only asking you to participate, to be a human instrument He can use each day to bring about His perfect plan and purpose.

This is one of those Devotionals that you should print out and keep with you. We all go through those times in our life when we wonder what it is all about, if it really matters. The answer is a resounding YES! We need to be reminded from time to time that we are significant because God can use us in His plan and purpose to touch other lives each and every day along our journey if we allow Him to.

My challenge to you today is to make sure you leave an eternal legacy, that you live on after your death in the lives of those the Lord allows to cross your path each day. MAKE 2019 THE MOST SPIRITUALLY PRODUCTIVE YEAR IN YOUR LIFE!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend, brother, and co-laborer in Christ,

Bill Keller