Hold On

We all know this passage from Luke 23. It has been used through-out the ages as an example that there is always hope, and it's never too late to accept Christ.
Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The thief who repented is promised salvation and eternity with Christ. Good news right? Did you notice what didn't happen? His misery on the cross continued. He watched Jesus die, and then had his legs broken before he died. We skip over this to focus on eternity but the redeemed man still suffered.

Many times people think that a Christian life is filled with only good things and happiness. It is not Scriptural. I heard someone say that the thief still suffered but his "quality of life" was so much better! As you go through life there will be pain and suffering. Facing it with Christ will bring you through.

Be wise today and always - hold on to Christ through the suffering.

Hope for Our Future

Do you ever get depressed thinking that life will never get better?

Most of us have found ourselves stuck in that place, but God doesn't want us to stay there. Winston Churchill once said, "When you're going through hell - keep going!" Regardless of our present situations, God wants us to have hope. Jeremiah 29:10-14 gives us His hope for today and our future.

¹⁰ This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Meditate on these verses today and see what God has to share with you.

Be wise today and always - know God has better days ahead for all believers.

Trials

Anyone who goes looking for trouble would be thought a fool. Trouble comes at us soon enough. Why go looking for it? Consider this encounter with Jesus found in the book of John.

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12:20-24

Imagine the scene. Some Greeks, complete newcomers, went to meet Jesus. What attracted them? They immediately hear ominous predictions about suffering and death. We don't even know if they understood or were frightened off.

How do you react to Jesus’ talk of coming trials?

Remember that you are told these things not to frighten but to strengthen you.

 

Be wise today and always - die to self to live with Christ.

 

Eternal Life

We all know of John 3:16, but have you applied it to your life and shared God’s love with the world around you?

Jesus said to Nicodemus "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God." John 3:14-18

With Moses in the desert, the people looked up at the serpent and were healed. Jesus wants me to look up at him and be healed. Our lives are full of serious problems and life can go very badly wrong. In the times of greatest crises, the Son is there for me.

Can you open your heart to accept all of God's love for you?

Be wise today and always - open up your life and let the Son shine in!

Clarity

You could not ask for a clearer expression of the revolutionary character of Christianity than these words from the apostle Paul.

For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:25-30

Do you practice the standard spelled out here?

What must you do today to live out your life totally for Christ?

Be wise today and always - fool the world around you and share the truth.

Listen Up

Listening is a great skill. My boss used to say, "God gave you two ears and one mouth - use them proportionately!" In today's scripture we're reminded who to listen too.

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus. Mark 9:2-10

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.

How do you imagine this scene, and what does it mean to you?

At the end of the scene, it was just Jesus and His disciples. When you are alone with Him what is He telling you?

 

Be wise today and always - look up and listen to Jesus.

Proper Response

Do you ever wonder if you are doing the right thing?

Jesus models for us how to be in God's will all the time, and to be about the Father's business.

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the Good News." Mark 1:12-15

Solomon said that there is time for every activity under the sun- a time to act and a time to pray.

In obedience we need to be ready when we are called on to act. We prepare ourselves at other times when we listen and spend time with God.

Where is God calling you now?

Be wise today and always - know and respond to His voice.