The Day After
Sunday, November 22, 2020 Good Morning, Lord V.O.D.: Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. M.O.M.: Ephesians 4:31 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.(English Standard Version) Today's reading: Ezekiel 20-21 James 5
The Day After
This is it. The day after your only chance for yesterday. If you loved all you can love, you did the work laid out by God before you. If you did not, get a grip. This is not time to get down about a failure. It is time, however, to get in front of God with all of it. The evil of the day is sufficient. Philippians 3:13 ►Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, Matthew 6:34 ►Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Imagine you are fishing in a boat in the gulf and it capsizes. You have bait and food and people in the water and the sharks begin to close in. You are not really worried about whom it was who insulted you yesterday and you blew up on them. You not worried about the bills you have to pay tomorrow or the people you were going meet. There is nothing but staying alive. Every nerve in your body struggles to stay alive.
Jesus said it, "The trouble of the day is...". Paul said, "I cannot worry about the past. I struggle and strain for the next moment-not tomorrow but the next movement".
The breath you take now is the future. You are living it. Are you loving it? Is your heart at peace?
The step or movement you are making just this minute is what Paul called 'what is ahead'. It is thrown at us like a steady wind. Everyone has the same wind in their faces. All of us have the same number of minutes in a day.
Jesus said, "Peter, do you love me?" We all must hear Jesus ask us, "Do you love me?"
Well, do you love Jesus? Do you. Search your heart. Do you love Jesus with all you are and do you love your neighbor with no judgement of anyone?
Does that question really bother you? You are not alone. "Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time...(Peter, do you love me? John 21:15)"
Some might get defensive when that question is asked of them. Hebrews 4:7 ►God again set a certain day, calling it "Today." This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."
But God did not say he would leave us to the mercy of sharks. He said He would be with us through every move. He is with us now, today. He is not with us yesterday. God is not with us tomorrow(If Jesus does not return, He will be, but...) It is today. The day after-the day before-it is now.
So, gather up your scattered stuff and carry it right into the throne room of God and let God deal with your humility. Don't harden your heart and say, "Just a few more moves and I don't need to drag God into this...". Don't wallow in your own pity 'feeling sorry' for yourself. Some people really like that spot.
Whatever is controlling you-stop-look around-see yourself measured by God's righteousness, by His word-living and written- be truthful. Jesus died so our hearts could be full of that which the world says it fights for. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 ►Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
At all times and in every way-our God of peace-the Lord of peace-gives us peace. He at least makes all His storehouse of peace available at all times in every way. It is a choice away. It is a humbling moment away. Let go of the urge to achieve the temporary James 4: 8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.…
Jesus died so we would live a life of lifting Him up so that He could then lift us up.
Be lifted. Carry peace from now into the day after when it will still be now. Now is the time. Time to love. Time to really live.
Because Jesus wants it that way...
...because He loves us...
Father in Heaven, Forgive me for clinging to my personal gods-my passions-my feelings. I lift up my heart to You. May the world around me see You in my heart. Loving God of all real peace... In the name of Jesus, Amen