It is Never too Late

Jesus told a parable about the lord of the vineyard who told his steward to hire laborers throughout the day (Matthew 20:8-20). At the end of the day, the landowner gave all of the workers the exact same amount of money.

Those who worked the longest hours in the hottest sun were mortified and bitter at what they perceived as the owner's unfairness. They believed they deserved more money than those who worked in the cooler part of the day for just a few hours.

We learn from this parable that God is not interested in how long we live in His service. We can rejoice in the fact that the people who come to Christ later in life are accepted by our Father with the same love as those of us who come to the Lord as a child or teenager.

We recently had the privilege of helping a couple who were both over 90 to come to faith in Christ. Other senior Saints were on death's door when God used us to share His gospel with them.

There is no greater feeling than to snatch people from Satan's hand in their last years/moments of life. We will spend eternity with them and rejoice around God's throne together.

It is never too late to humble our self under the mighty hand of God and submit our life to His capable hands. As we yoke with Him, He carries half our load; and when we are weary, He will even carry it all.

God provides for our every need - even the minutest details that consume our thoughts and emotions. He is trustworthy and deserves all of our praise and thanksgiving.

God's love consumes us as we stop worrying about the particulars of our life. We rest in His peace and know without a shadow of a doubt that as we cast our cares on Him, He really does care for us.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for loving us enough to free us from our earthly bondage. We know that You listen to our prayers and answer us when we call on You in our trials and distress (Psalm 86:6-7). Remind us that You will always give us Your faith to live in such a way as to bring honor and glory to You.

The moment we take our eyes off You, fears and complications arise in our life, and we get entrenched in the carnal issues of this world. We want Your Word to fill us fully with Your Truth; so that we can encourage each other with thankfulness in our heart for all that You do for each one of us (Colossians 3:16).

Thought for the Day:

When we compare our life to others, we will be discontent; but when we focus on the life God provides for us, we realize the multitude of blessings He provides for us each and every day.

Rejected, but Never Alone

 

Jesus knows how it feels to face rejection from those to whom He poured out His life. He identifies with us when we dedicate our entire life to our family, church family and friends; yet, they walk away from us.

These people do not always respond positively to our presence in their life. Even our closest family members may attempt to wound us with their words and actions to cause us to reject them.

That way they can perceive themselves as the martyr in the relationship.  If, however, we do not reject them, they eventually reject us and accuse us of abusing them.

They want a reason to reject us, so they claim that we are toxic in their life. They discard us and walk away from us. They may think of us from time to time. These memories may even be positive and draw their hearts toward us; but they resist the urge to mend broken fences.

Showering them with God's unconditional Agape love at each door that God opens for us will ensure that they know deep down inside that we are always here for them, regardless of how they treat us.

We may move on with our life and walk through other doors that God provides for us, but we are always sensitive to their needs and respond in love rather than rejection when they happen to reach out to us.

This may restore our relationship with them and increase our ability to live Christ's life in their presence, giving them yet further opportunities to surrender their life to our Savior and King.

However, they may never approach us again - viewing us as dead to them or estranged. During their life, they cut us out of the momentous times in which we could share.

They want nothing to do with us and our special moments. We are rejected, but God never leaves us alone (Hebrews 13:5). He provides His Saints as our family and focus; and His presence in us sustains us throughout our lifetime.

Prayer:

Father God, our relationship with You is our focus in this life and for all eternity. People, places and times here on earth are a vapor on a cold day. Here for a moment and then vanished. Even a mate, parent or child may reject us; but You never leave us alone (Hebrews 13:5). You are the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:7).

Christ is our very life (Colossians 3:4). We need no one and nothing apart from You. You give us all things to enjoy in Your timing and way. If we do not have it, we do not need it, or You would supply it for us. We trust in Your wisdom and goodness.

Thought for the Day:

God holds the key to our relationships, and He decides whom to allow into our life for His reasons and purpose; we can know for certain that He does everything for our ultimate good. - Romans 8:28

Supernatural Comfort

Pep talks, whether we give them to our self or someone else gives us one, are usually rather useless and anti-climactic. They do not change our situation and the words ring with an empty echo in our soul. People mean well, but their words seem trite compared to our issues.

God gave us dozens of stories in His Word, with situations and outcomes similar to ours. He gives us the root cause and solution for each scenario too, so that we can draw comfort from the lives of these ancient Saints.

Jesus reminded us that we would have trials in life, just like He did; but then He comforts us with the revelation that He already overcame these trials; so He can help us through them, since He lives within us (Romans 15:4; John 16:33).

Paul, an accomplished soldier and statesman, lived a successful life until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus in broad daylight. He ended up blinded by the risen Jesus' great light, and this caused him to spend time in retrospection, introspection and meditation until his eyes healed.

From this experience and his future persecution, he learned to rejoice in every situation, because He knew that God hid the seed for a miracle within every one of them. If nothing else, trials teach us patience, just as his did.

After meeting Christ, Paul's life had so much more peace, because he allowed patience to do her perfecting work during the trials of life (2 Corinthians 1:3). God actually gave him rest for his soul as well as his body (Matthew 11:28; Hebrews 4:3).

As we learn from these examples, we count every trial as a joyous occasion too; and we develop this same patience, which perfects our faith (2 Corinthians 1:4). If we seek Him first, God always comforts us in times of discouragement and tribulation (2 Corinthians 7:6).

As we draw near to God, and trust only in Him, He provides for us in such magnanimous ways that we cannot help but to shout it from the rooftops (and post it in our social media accounts) (Psalm 73:28). In times of illness or grief, and even on our deathbed, God sustains us (Psalm 41:3).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for delivering us whenever we call on You (Psalm 50:15). In our weakest moments in life, You give us Your strength. We end up boasting in the victorious outcome of our trials, because of the supernatural work, which You accomplish for us in each one of them (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

You are our refuge and strength, and You remove our fear by consoling us throughout our lifetime (Psalm 46:1-2; Isaiah 40:29). You are our Father of Lights and we glorify You and give You all the praise for giving us Your character, nature and gifts (James 1:17). Thank You for allowing us to cast our burdens on You, for sustaining us and caring for us, and for not allowing life to overcome us (Psalm 55:22).

Thought for the Day:

Through the comfort and patience we learn through reading the scriptures, we develop hope, which keeps us from feeling shame and discouragement during times of trouble and trials. - Romans 5:5, 15:4