LIVING IN THE NOW

Think about it…

Jesus taught us perfectly how to live in the NOW. Not in the past nor in the future, but in the NOW.

Think about it….

Jesus must have longed for the days before He came to this dusty, sin-filled planet yet He didn't 'dwell' there so that He couldn't be about His Father's business NOW.

Think about it…

Jesus also didn't 'dwell' on what was to unfold for Him in the future - the betrayal, the suffering, His death on a cross. If He had, he wouldn't have been as effective in the NOW of His life and death.

How about you?

Are you 'dwelling' in the past, remembering golden bygone days, longing to be there once again while neglecting the NOW God has given you? Or are you 'dwelling' in the past with regrets and bitterness, unable to even see the NOW?

Are you 'dwelling' in the future with all of its uncertainties so that you are too paralyzed by fears to live in the NOW? Or are you so busy looking to the future that you are neglecting the NOW?

Let's make a renewed commitment to God and His purposes for us in the NOW. He has work for each of us to do, new memories to make, joys to experience. The work, memories and joys can only be experienced if we focus on Him in the NOW.

THIS is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Heavenly Father, please open my eyes to see what You would have me do NOW. In Jesus' name. Amen.

LIVING IN FEAR

When I was in grade school, I always received As and Bs on my report card. Yet every June, just as school was to be let out for summer vacation, I was petrified. Why such fear, you ask? I was afraid that I wouldn’t be passed on to the next grade level when September arrived. I feared that I just hadn’t measured up to the school’s expectations.

I can remember, every June, holding my breath until I yanked my report card out of its little paper jacket, scanning it quickly to see if I’d passed. Of course, with a history of As and Bs, I did. What energy and time I had wasted, imagining something bad which never happened.

I am wondering what fears, real or imagined, we bring with us in our day to day lives as adults? What is the cause of our anxiety? How much time and energy is spent worrying and stewing over things which may never happen? God, certainly, doesn’t want us to live in fear. In Scripture, God’s Word says:

. . . for God did not give us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power and love and self control.
II Timothy 1:7

Heavenly Father, please help me to recognize areas in which I feel fear. Show me how to bring them to You to be dealt with once and for all. In Jesus’ name. Amen.