“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”

— Psalm 90:12

Sometimes somebody can be present with you, but they are actually far away. We should strive to “be there” in the midst of conversations we are often half absent from—that we might “be there” in the moments that we have to spend with spouse or child or parent or friend.

Those who do not live in the present are like the man in the following poem:

He was going to be all that mortal should be—Tomorrow;
No one should be kinder nor braver than he—Tomorrow.
A friend who was troubled and weary he knew,
Who’d be glad of a life and who needed it, too,
On him he would call and see what he could do—Tomorrow.

Each morning he stacked up the letters he’d write—Tomorrow;
More time he’d have to give others, he’d say—Tomorrow.

The greatest of workers this man would have been—Tomorrow. The world would have known him had he ever seen—Tomorrow, But the fact is he died and he faded from view, And all that he left here when living was through Was a mountain of things he intended to do—Tomorrow.

Wherever you are, be there…today, if possible. Ask God to teach you to live fully in the present that you may take advantage of every opportunity He gives you to serve Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, give us the strength to live in the present and fulfill all our duties of the day…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN SERVE
HIM TODAY AND TOMORROW.

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing, that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

— Malachi 3:10

God wants us to be generous, and He blesses us for it. You can’t out-give God, and the windows of heaven will be opened unto you. It isn’t a matter of finance—it’s a matter of faith and acting on God’s promise found here in Malachi. You cannot possibly lose. If you believe that promise, you will inevitably be a tither—or more. I think about a young boy in his very early teens. He wasn’t very strong and he was small for his age, but he had to make a living. He got a big cart and pushed it down the streets of Chicago, crying out, “Cheese for sale. Cheese for sale.” This little scrawny kid managed to make enough money to live when he had no other help.

His daughter (or niece, I am not sure which) came to our church years ago and wanted to meet with me in my office. I had the pleasure of listening to his story through her. God blessed this young man because he gave his life to Christ and determined that he would tithe on all he made. First thing you know he had somebody else pushing another cart. Then he had somebody else pushing another cart for him, and then another one, and another one. It wasn’t too many years later when children in school were in a spelling bee, and one of the children was asked, “How do you spell cheese?” and one little boy said, with a bright smile, “Kraft”— because the television had told him “that’s how you spell cheese.” J. L. Kraft’s name had become synonymous with cheese.

Father God, give to us the strength to be faithful in our giving to Your kingdom. Thank You that You are so generous, You just give and give and give. Let us be like You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN GIVE TO
THE LORD, KNOWING HE OWNS IT ALL.

“But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest perhaps you be found even fighting against God.”

— Acts 5:39

After the conversion of Constantine, he allowed for the freedom of the Christian church for the first time in its existence. The Christians could crawl out of the catacombs and actually build buildings where they could publicly worship Jesus. It was a glorious time for the church after 300 years of persecution.

But a few decades after Emperor Constantine’s death, there arose a ruler from his own family who tried to turn his back on Christianity and make the Roman empire solidly pagan. His name was Julian the Apostate.

By rejecting Jesus, Julian the Apostate made a wreck of his life, but thankfully his reign was short-lived. It is said that he was wounded in battle, and as he lay dying, sinking into the sand, he picked up a handful of sand filled with his own blood and threw it into the sky and said, “Thou hast conquered, Oh Thou Galilean” and thus, Julian’s work perished with him. Attempting to overthrow the Christian religion by writing a book against it, he inadvertently ended up confirming most of its basic historic tenants.

Our faith is built upon a solid rock that neither pagan nor demon can overthrow. Yes, there have been small clouds that have come and obscured the sun for a moment. “Julian was such a cloud,” said Athanasius, the great defender of the faith. But the cloud, as he said, “…it is a little cloud, it passes away.” The sun, however, continues to shine in its brightness in the sky, and so it is with Christ.

Lord, give me strength to endure the godless cry of pagans and persecutors, knowing that they are but clouds before the sun…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN PERSIST,
KNOWING JESUS WILL PREVAIL.

“The king, before whom I also speak freely, knows about these things. For I am persuaded that none of this is hidden from him, for this was not done in a corner.”

— Acts 26:26

There continue to be some skeptics, not of a learned sort I may say, who deny the historicity of Jesus. But there is no true historian in all of the world who would dare place his reputation on the line by saying that Jesus never lived. However, there are those amateur skeptics that like to come up with such statements from time to time that Christ was a fable, He never really existed, and the Bible is a collection of myths. But there is a great deal of attestation for both.

It is like a tumor of the brain, to use a not very happy metaphor, which cannot be removed by surgery without killing the patient. To remove the Scriptures and to remove Christ from history is indeed to destroy the body of history completely.

There is more evidence for the fact that Jesus Christ lived than that Julius Caesar lived. To deny the basic historicity of the New Testament is to deny all of ancient history together. Not only do we have the witness of the New Testament writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, and Jude, but we have many other Christian writers of the first and second centuries, including Barnabas, Ignatius, Clement, Irenaeus, Hermes, and Tertullian. And then there are many non-Christian sources testifying to the existence of Jesus and the Christians. These include Josephus, Tacitus, Thallus, Phlegon, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, Emperor Hadrian, Emperor Trajan, Lucian of Samosata, Mara bar Serapion, The Talmud, and Toledoth Jeschu. By first century historical standards, Jesus was well-established historically.

Dear Lord, give us the strength and opportunity to share with somebody the incredibly strong proof of Your life and work…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
RECOGNIZE THAT HISTORY IS HIS STORY.

“You are cursed with a curse, your whole nation, for you are robbing Me.”

— Malachi 3:9

Some people avoid church because they think it’s all about money. But it is really more about the concept of stewardship. The first principle of stewardship is very simply stated by the psalmist: “The earth belongs to the Lord, and its fullness, the world, and those who dwell in it” (Psalm 24:1). It all belongs to God. He created it, and He allows us to use it. We are mere stewards of these resources. He blesses us with good seasons and rain and all of the things that are needful. However, He does say one thing: we are to return a tenth of that to Him, just as a test of our faith and obedience to Him.

This brings us to the second principle of stewardship, namely, that the tithe belongs to the Lord. It is His, He claims it, and therefore if we do not return it, we are, He says, robbing Him. “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8).

It is not ours. One writer says, “When we keep it, it is simply an act of theft. We may have put it in our bank account…we may have a new car that we have driven in to church, we may be watching football games on a new TV, but it is not ours.” At minimum, give to the Lord ten percent of what you have, and watch how He blesses you for it.

Dear God, give us the strength today to set aside that which is Yours. Forgive us for any stinginess on our part. Please, make us generous, as You are generous…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
GIVE FREELY AND GENEROUSLY.

“Listen, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son and shall call His name JESUS.”

— Luke 1:31

The church calendar begins the first Sunday of December, which marks the beginning of the Advent season. Advent comes from Latin and simply means “coming.” Jesus came into the world the first time that first Christmas some 2000 years ago.

We remember that the entire Advent season climaxes on December 25, when the Western church (Protestant and Catholic) celebrate His birth. The Eastern church (Orthodox, Coptic, etc.) celebrate His birth on January 6, along with the coming of the wise men. A church council to reconcile these two dates came up with the notion of the 12 Days of Christmas. Regardless of the particular day celebrated, what counts is that we remember Christ’s coming into the world. In one sense, we could celebrate Christmas every day of the year because every day we should celebrate the salvation the Savior has brought to us.

Advent and the whole Christmas season is marked by light. Lots of lights. Why is that? Because suddenly into the darkness of the world of woe there shone a great light, as the Son of God first manifested His light and His glory. Incredible! Jesus is the Light of the World, and wherever He has gone He has brought His light. He has enlightened the minds of countless millions of people. The Bible tells us that God is light, and Jesus is God the Son, and so He brought that light of heaven with Him into this world.

Lord Jesus, Light of the World, shine in our darkness. Help us this Advent season to prepare properly for Your coming again. Renew our hearts with Your light and peace…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN SHINE
OUR LIGHT IN THIS DARK WORLD.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!”

— Psalm 133:1

I remember when I was newly converted I was invited by a friend to attend a country church. As I pulled up in front of the church, I could see that there was a big conflict brewing between the church members outside. There was a man at the front of one group and another man in front of the other group, and they were yelling at each other. I had no idea what they were talking about.

Here I am, six or eight weeks old in the Lord, and I’ve been invited to learn about Christianity from my friend, and they are just about to go at it with fisticuffs, and I thought any moment this is going to turn into a huge brawl. I was so astonished, and I remember wondering is this what Christianity is all about?

I remember how repulsed I was by that, and I thank God for His persevering grace that held on to me in spite of that. Of course, that’s no excuse for us to us to say something like, “If so and so is a Christian, I don’t want to have any part of Christianity.” That’s like saying, “If he’s going to go to hell, then I’m going to go to hell too.”

Problems of pride and desire for preeminence often cause Christians to not act Christianly sometimes toward each other. How pleasant it is when Christians work well together in unity.

Lord, give us strength to live at peace with all men, especially our fellow Christians. Forgive us for the pride in our hearts that too often prevents us from getting along with our fellow believers…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN EXPERIENCE
UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST.

“My brothers, not many of you should become teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater judgment.”

— James 3:1

Some of the liberal denominations have taken the resurrection of Jesus away from their statements of faith (if they have one), and their churches are withering away—for their congregations instinctively know that there is nothing there but froth, and they will not tolerate being deceived. If Christ was not bodily raised from the dead in human history, Christianity would cease to exist.

Over time, these liberal churches are dying. Their seminaries turn out ministers who do not believe the Bible—they do not believe Jesus is divine, that He died for our sins, and, as noted, that He rose from the dead. One could ask why they are even in the ministry, but they will have to answer that for themselves. They should beware of what James says, that teachers will incur stricter judgment.

Sometimes, the person in the pew in these churches actually does believe. But the leadership does not believe the things of Christ. This is a blight upon the church at large. These churches, once in the main line, are beginning to fade away.

A survey from about twenty years ago showed that by the middle of the next century, there will be two great religious forces in America and far and away the largest one, will be evangelical Christianity. Alister E. McGrath writes, “In a 1990 survey of the 500 fastest growing Protestant congregations in the U.S., 89 percent were found to be evangelical.” That trend continues. The other force will be Roman Catholicism—maybe a third or a half that size.

Lord, give us strength to stand against false teaching and hold fast Your Word. Thank You for preserving Your church all these centuries, even when there are Pharisees and Sadducees in our midst…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN EMBRACE THE
FAITH ONCE AND FOR ALL HANDED TO THE SAINTS.

“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

— 1 Thessalonians 5:18

“In the Name of God” begins the “birth certificate of America,” as it is called. The Mayflower Compact was the first step leading to the creation of the Constitution.

Every Thanksgiving we have an annual holiday reminding us to give thanks to God, just as the Pilgrims did in their long physical and spiritual journey.

“In the Name of God” is where America began, and I trust that today, though they have been long dead, the Pilgrims may still speak to us through this national holiday that we might learn something of those grand ideals, those spiritual truths, that so gripped their lives and so changed the world. Though their voice has oft been silenced by the cacophony of secular voices in our time, I think Thanksgiving should be a time to take a few minutes to thank God for His many blessings. That would include our fathers and mothers who brought forth this good land.

The Pilgrims based their colony on the Bible. They were fair in their dealings with all. They began as a church in England, where there was no religious freedom, so they moved to Holland, where there was toleration. Eventually, they came to America to worship Jesus according to the dictates of their consciences.

The Pilgrims dealt with unbelievably difficult circumstances. Half their number died that first winter, but through it all they thanked God. They provide a model of giving thanks to God in all circumstances.

Lord God, we do give thanks to You for all Your blessings. Give us Your strength in hard times to continue to give thanks and praise to You. Help us to honor this holy day by true thanksgiving to You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN THANK
HIM EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR.

“…and the same horn was warring with the saints and prevailing against them”

— Daniel 7:21

In Daniel 7, the prophet, who lived about 500 years before Christ, had a vision in which he foresaw one pagan kingdom after another arise. They were like beasts. The final one, believed by most commentators to be the Roman Empire, was a fierce persecuting beast. It waged war against the saints, and for a time it prevailed against them, and Rome provided a picture of what was to come.

The great persecutions that have come to the Christian church down through the centuries have come from government. One government after another, from Egypt to Assyria to Babylonia to the Roman Empire to the time of Hitler to the Soviets, all have fought against the saints of God.

Remember that the saints in the early times of this era had to face the actual beasts in the Coliseum. In America, I think initially we had a government that looked upward to God. But more and more progressively, because of the sinfulness of Christians, because of our unwillingness to witness for Jesus Christ and get involved in the culture, we are seeing more and more discrimination against things Christian. If you are truly a Christian, then expect anti-Christian persecution. Jesus said that if they persecuted Him, the Master, how much more will they persecute us, His followers? But we can rejoice because one day, in His sovereignty, He will show us why He allowed it all.

Lord, give us strength today to face any persecution for Your name’s sake. Strengthen our faith so that we will persevere to the end and receive the Crown of Life. Let us be faithful in prayer for all who suffer for Your sake…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE ARE MORE CONCERNED
WITH GOD’S APPROVAL, NOT MAN’S.