Live Every Day—Prepared
“This is the message we have heard from Him
(The First Letter of John 1: 5-7 NASB)
and announce to you,
that God is Light,
and in Him there is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not practice the truth;
but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light,
we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
For the past month, I have been in the “preparation mode.” Yes, as I look forward toward my thirtieth year of teaching, still, I find myself “preparing” curriculum, “preparing” lessons to teach & “preparing” my mind to forge relationships with students I have not yet met.
- Preparedness is so important when educating the mind.
- Preparedness is also vitally crucial when announcing Jesus to the world.
Therefore, how we live, how we talk, how we react, what we read, what we watch, where we put our bodies, how we spend our money, and how we live our lives each day of the week—
MATTERS—because
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness,
(The First Letter of John 1: 6 NASB)
we lie and do not practice the truth;”
It is so easy for the people surrounding us to see a lie, to see a hypocrite—
how we say one thing & do the opposite.
I realize how much the ‘h’ word hurts our soul. We want to be found faithful, but our humanness gets so much in our way of walking worthy in the way Jesus has called us to walk.
- Thank goodness we have been given the Holy Scriptures to read & read & read, every single day. We cannot skip.
- Thank goodness we have been given the pledge of the Holy Spirit residing within us. We are so blessed to have the very Spirit of God living inside our being, directing us, guiding us & comforting us. He steers us in the way we are to go & He convicts us when we fail, when we sin instead of living as we should. We cannot live as the world.
- Thank goodness we have been given prayer, the intimate conversation we have with the Father, given to us through the relationship we have received through His Son Jesus Christ, the Messiah. We cannot stop talking daily with our Father.
We must Live Every Day—Prepared—for the Bible is clear!
We know our Savior Jesus is coming! We do not know when.
“Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.
(The First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians 5: 1-3 NASB)
For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”
Every person will die. Yes, we have a day of birth and a day of death. We have a day when our decision of what we will do with Jesus will be set in eternity for all eternity. When my final breath comes, I will not be able to pause time and have a do-over moment to give my heart to the Lord.
It will be too late!
My eternal destination will be set forevermore!
Thus, the decision to Accept Jesus as your Savior, to Believe in Jesus’ work on the cross and in the grave, & to Confess your sins as you Confess Jesus as your Savior—must be decided now—while there is still time.
Then, after we have given our heart to Jesus, each day we live MUST BE LIVED FOR HIM!
“But you, brethren,
(The First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians 5: 4-6 & 9 NASB)
are not in darkness,
that the day would overtake you like a thief;”
[Paul speaks of the Day of the Lord when God brings us home to heaven]
“for you are all sons of light and sons of day.
We are not of night nor of darkness;
so then let us not sleep as others do,
but let us be alert and sober.”
[Meaning let us Live Every Day—Prepared & Self-Controlled]
. . .
“For God has not destined us for wrath,
but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
God is calling every person alive to come to know Him!
- He has predestined us all for His Salvation!
- He wants no one to be left behind!
- He desires that no person He has created to go to hell—to a place He created for Satan!
Therefore, God’s children, must be serious in our work we do in Jesus’ name!
We must!
- We are preparing people to meet Jesus!
- We are preparing others for Jesus’ second coming!
- We are preparing individuals to see Jesus clearly!
So, Christians must daily be equipped for the work we have been called to do.
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,
(The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 4: 12 NASB)
to the building up of the body of Christ;”
We are tasked with the work of God, of serving our Savior & of reaching the lost.
What would this school year look like if I looked at each student, each individual I encountered as either:
- A child of God, headed toward heaven’s glory?
OR
- A person who remains lost, headed toward hell’s torment?
We must—the Redeemed Children of God—
- Walk each day led by the Holy Spirit.
- Build relationships with those Jesus places in our paths.
- Look for opportunities of divine Gospel conversations.
- Pray & Pray & Pray & . . . never stopping!
- Preach the Bible & the Good News of Jesus as we go.
- Share the Gospel message with those who we meet.
- Stay on-mission, true to the mission Jesus gave His disciples in
The Acts of the Apostles 1: 8.
We must—Live Every Day—Prepared!
God has a mission for His church & God has a church (a people) for His mission in this world He created. Let us Be On-Mission!