NOW

Procrastination is putting off what could or should be done now, until a later time. Perhaps a time when we have more energy or are more motivated.

Some things are too important to wait. There may not be another tomorrow…for us or for someone else whose life we can have an effect on…today.

¹And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— ²for He says,

“At the acceptable time I listened to you,

And on the day of salvation I helped you.”

Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— ³giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, 2 Corinthians 6:1-3 (NASB)

Notice three things…

Working together with Him

He has called us “friend” and here partners in the ministry of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What is referred to as the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28:19-20 tells us to “go,” “make disciples,” “baptize” and “teach.”

He helped us on our day of salvation

He sent someone into our life with the Gospel. Someone was obedient in sharing Jesus Christ with us so that we might inherit eternal life.

Give no cause for offense

Now that we have received salvation through Jesus, we are to be obedient to Him (share the message with others). We are to live as He would have us live so as not to bring dishonor to His name.

Is there someone you are to be sharing Jesus with today…either by the way you live your life or by sharing the message of salvation directly…

Today will soon be over…there are so many people to reach...so many children, teens and adults that do not know Jesus…

NOW is the time…

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

DISAPPOINTMENT

Down at the SPRING Student Center there is always some “drama” going on about how a boyfriend or a girlfriend disappointed someone. I’m not making light of it, just pointing out that we see a lot of that kind of situation there.

Students are not the only ones disappointed by other people. The amount of devastation that conflict wreaks on our lives is proportional to the amount of confidence, or trust that we have in that individual with whom we experience the problem.

Whenever I come across a situation like that, whether it is best friends, boy/girl friends or whatever, I think of this passage of scripture...

⁸ It is better to trust in the Lord

Than to put confidence in man.

⁹ It is better to trust in the Lord

Than to put confidence in princes.

Psalms 118:8-9 (NKJV)

It amounts to having our priorities straight. Our relationship with God MUST be the most important. God will NEVER let us down. We can always trust Him to do what is best for us, even though we may not always agree at first.

People are going to disappoint us. People are not perfect, whether Christian or not. Only God is perfect.

This fits in quite well with my life verse of Matthew 6:33 where my sign-off comes from…

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

SCARED

We tend to do things differently when we’re scared. We react instead of thinking through a problem to its possible outcomes. We often climb into a self-protective shell thinking that we can protect ourselves better than…God!

Listen to the following conversation about Jesus from the Gospel of John.

⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do since this man does many signs? ⁴⁸If we let Him continue in this way, everybody will believe in Him! Then the Romans will come and remove both our place and our nation.” John 11:47-48 (HCSB)

They were afraid of losing their place. That word can be looked at in two basic ways: their place in society as the ruling class or the temple where they worshiped. Either way, they took it upon themselves to come up with the solution rather than inquiring of God.

They were afraid of losing their nation. Those talking were the chief priests and ruling class of the Jewish nation. Had they forgotten that God didn’t allow the nation to be wiped out by the Egyptians or the Philistines? Were they saying then that the Romans were more powerful than God was?

Let’s face it...they were just being selfish. Their fear was causing them to act irrationally, totally leaving God out of the picture.

What does God say about fear?

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

In First John 4:16-18 we read, “God is love…perfect love casts out fear…he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

Do you allow your fears to get in the way of your relationship with God? Confess that to Him and seek Him in all things that you do. He will never let you down. Don’t ever be afraid of “losing your place,” whether it’s a position in the church or your job. God may have something different in mind for you…ask Him!

The chief priests and the ruling class were so overwhelmed by their personal fears that they completely missed knowing God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, the Messiah that they had been studying about and waiting for all that time.

Don’t miss out on what God has in store for you because of fear…

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

FREED

Do you ever feel as though you’re stuck in a rut, as if nothing you do is getting you anywhere? Sometimes it seems as though we are stuck in time, in a past that we can’t escape. THERE IS A SOLUTION!

Read the following passage and see if you can find it!

³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Romans 6:3-10 (NIV)

Accepting the sacrifice of Jesus’ own life for your sin is your “ticket” to the future. You are free from the penalty of death and free to live for God, the author and finisher of your salvation. No longer are you stuck in the past and tied to your old ways. You have been freed by the blood of Jesus Christ from ALL guilt and free to live a fantastic life with Jesus at your side.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD