Life is Short ~ Eternity Isn't
“Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.”
—Daniel 12:3
Real stars are people who share their faith, not those who have the most followers on social media, not the celebrities of the moment, not the top athletes or musicians or whoever is in the public consciousness at any given time.
I love this statement from Daniel 12: “Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever” (NLT).
We should be looking for opportunities to share our faith. We invite people to come to Christ in every service at Harvest Christian Fellowship. Why do we do that? Because lost people come to church all the time. And I’m glad they do.
If you bring a nonbeliever to church, then you’re thankful there’s an invitation to come to Christ, and you’re praying for that person to believe, aren’t you? And so you should be. We should be bringing people to church who don’t know the Lord.
Can you imagine walking into the emergency room at a hospital, looking at the people who need medical care, and saying, “Get out of here! You’re all so sick”? No, you wouldn’t do that, because that’s what a hospital is for.
In the same way, the church is a place where people can meet God. That is not all the church is for, of course. It’s a place to worship God as well. When we come to church, it’s so important that we engage in passionate and heartfelt worship. The Bible talks about offering a “sacrifice of praise” (see Hebrews 13:15 NLT).
The church is also a place to hear the Word of God and develop our spiritual gifts. But the church also should be a place where people who don’t know the Lord can come meet Him and have their lives transformed by Jesus Christ.
Know the Bible!
A knowledge of the Bible is essential to a rich and meaningful life. For the words of this Book have a way of filling in the missing pieces, of bridging the gaps, of turning the tarnished colors of our life to jewel-like brilliance. Learn to take your every problem to the Bible. Within its pages you will find the correct answer. But most of all, the Bible is a revelation of the nature of God. The philosophers of the centuries have struggled with the problem of a Supreme Being. Who is He? What is He? Where is He? If there is such a Person, is He interested in me? If so, how can I know Him? These and a thousand other questions about God are answered in this Holy Book, we call the Bible.
“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
—Ephesians 6:12
Have you ever been walking with the Lord and doing all the things you think a Christian ought to do, when suddenly you were barraged with spiritual attacks?
You struggled with doubt. You battled temptations. You experienced all kinds of other problems and wondered what horrible sin you committed to bring that upon yourself. What did you do to deserve such a fate? Why did God let that happen to you?
Here’s something to consider: those things may not happen to you because you’re doing something wrong but because you’re doing something right.
Remember Job? The problem was that he had never read the Book of Job. If so, he would have been able to cruise right through the whole thing.
But Job didn’t know how the story ended. All he knew is that one day he had his beautiful family, all kinds of land, servants, and success all around him. And the next day he lost everything in rapid succession.
He lost his children. He lost his possessions. And he lost his health. Maybe he even wished that he’d lost his wife, because in the aftermath she told him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9 NKJV).
Everything fell apart. Did this happen because Job was a wicked man? No, it was the very opposite. Job was a godly man, but the Lord allowed the Devil to bring a series of attacks against him.
In time, the story turned out beautifully, and God doubled everything that Job had.
You might be going through a spiritual attack or getting hit with temptation again and again because you’re a threat to the Devil.
Like it or not, the moment we became Christians, we entered into a spiritual battle. So, we have to learn how to fight using the weaponry that God gave us.
MORE INSPIRATIONS ~ A couple of my favorites
Richard Ellis Talks ~ Richard Ellis CLICK HERE
Living on the Edge ~ Chip Ingram CLICK HERE
Harvest Ministries ~ Greg Laurie CLICK HERE
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