The Word For Today

Jesus changed the world. These were the last instructions to his disciples: 'All authority has been given to me in Heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you' (Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV). Jesus' followers took this seriously: 'Daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ' (Acts 5:42 NKJV). They remembered that they followed a man who taught everyone, and who commanded them to teach all peoples. So they did. They began to teach both men and women, both slaves and free.

Some of the world's greatest teaching institutions were founded by followers of Jesus, like Oxford and Cambridge universities. George Marsden noted: 'One of the remarkable facts about American history is that within six years of landing in Massachusetts wilderness, Puritans established what would soon become a reputable college.' These words are from a student handbook: 'Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life (John 17:3), and therefore to lay Christ...as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.' That was Harvard University!

Jesus' words not only inform us; they also transform us.

Here's Paul's prayer for the Ephesian church: 'That...God...may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation' (Ephesians 1:17 NKJV). For the Colossian church, he asked that God would fill them with 'the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding' (Colossians 1:9 NKJV). James wrote: 'If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God...and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting' (James 1:5-6 NKJV).

Godly wisdom also comes to us through reading the Bible. This is why Paul, in his last letter before being beheaded for the gospel, wrote to his successor Timothy and said, 'From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation' (2 Timothy 3:15 NKJV).

How would you know that the wisdom you're walking in comes from God? 'The wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good deeds, impartial and sincere' (James 3:17 GWT). As young Solomon took the throne of Israel, God asked him, 'What shall I give you' (1 Kings 3:5 NKJV)? Solomon answered: '"Give to your servant an understanding heart."...The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing' (1 Kings 3:9-10 NKJV). As a result, Solomon became known as one of the wisest men who ever lived, and he wrote three of the books of the Bible. And the God who gave him wisdom will give it to you too. All you have to do is pray for it and open your heart and mind to his word.

The greatest moment in your life is now. Not because it's pleasant or happy or easy, but because it's the only moment you have. Every past moment is irretrievably gone. If you live there, you lose your life. And the future is always out there somewhere. You can spend an eternity waiting for tomorrow or worrying about tomorrow. If you live there, you likewise will lose your life.

This moment is God's irreplaceable gift to you. Most of all, this is the moment that matters because this is the moment where God is. If you are going to be with God at all, you must be with him now - in this moment. That is why the psalmist says: 'This is the day the Lord has made. Let's rejoice and be glad today' (Psalm 118:24 GWT). That is why the prophet Jeremiah said God's mercies never fail because 'they are new every morning' (Lamentations 3:23 NKJV). That is why the apostle Paul said, 'Be careful how you live...Make the most of every opportunity...Understand what the Lord wants you to do' (Ephesians 5:15-17 NLT).

Frederick Buechner wrote, 'Morning, afternoon, evening - the hours of the day, of any day, of your day and my day. The alphabet of grace. If there is a God who speaks anywhere, surely he speaks here: through waking up and working, through going away and coming back again, through people you meet and books you read, through falling asleep in the dark.' All of this means one thing - the greatest moment in your life is now.

Do you remember the ten spies who doubted God's ability to deliver on his promise and dissuaded the Israelites from entering the Promised Land? Their doubt was so offensive to God - he had already revealed his power to them through the exodus from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea - that God executed judgement on the spot. The very next day, the Israelites did an about-face. They changed their minds, but it was too little, too late. One day's delay cost them forty years! They missed out on the Promised Land because their reaction time was too slow.

Now this does not mean you should live in fear of missing out. After all, God is the God of second chances (see Jonah 3:1). But understand this: inaction is an action, and indecision is a decision. When you're dealing with God, your response time is all important. Paul's ministry began when he had a life-changing encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road. Immediately he fell to his knees and cried: 'Lord, what do you want me to do' (Acts 9:6 NKJV)? In the book of Isaiah, when Heaven opened and God said, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' immediately the prophet Isaiah said, '"Here am I! Send me." And he said, "Go, and tell this people"' (Isaiah 6:8-9 NKJV).

You don't want to get ahead of God, and you don't want to lag behind him. What you want to do is seize the opportunities he gives you as quickly, decisively and boldly as you possibly can. Your response time matters.

Today's problem is not necessarily tomorrow's problem. Don't sabotage yourself by assuming it is. Resist self-labelling: 'I'm just a worrier.' 'Gossip is my weakness.' 'My dad was a drinker; I guess I'll carry on the tradition.' Stop that! These words create alliances with the devil. They grant him access to your spirit. It's not God's will that you live a defeated, unhappy life. Turn a deaf ear to the old voices and make new choices. 'The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance' (Psalm 16:6 NKJV).

Live out of your inheritance, not your circumstances. God has already promised you victory and provided you with weapons for the fight. 'Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds' (2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NKJV). How did Joshua conquer Jericho? By using God's strategy: 'Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord' (Joshua 6:6 NKJV). Joshua placed the ark of the covenant in the middle of the procession. Every activity orbited around God.

The secret of victory is to keep God centre stage in your life, using the weapons of worship, Scripture and prayer. Employ every tool God offers: Scripture memorisation, prayer, petition. Turn off the TV and open your Bible more. Worry less and pray more. Conquer your hang-ups by drawing daily on the presence of God.

Dr A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, was plagued with poor health. Two mental breakdowns and a heart condition led to a physician telling him - at age thirty-eight - he wouldn't live to be forty. The diagnosis was no surprise to Simpson. Preaching was agonising for him; even climbing a slight elevation left him breathless. In desperation, he went to his Bible to find out what Jesus had to say about disease, and he became convinced that Jesus wanted to heal him. Shortly after, he went for a walk in the country. Coming to a pine wood, he sat down on a log to rest and pray. He asked Jesus to become his physical life until his life's work was accomplished. He later said, 'Every fibre in me was tingling with the sense of God's presence.' Days later, he climbed a 3,000-foot mountain. 'When I reached the top,' he said, 'the world of weakness and fear was lying at my feet. From that time on, I literally had a new heart.'

Dr Simpson went on to preach 3,000 sermons in the next three years, sometimes holding twenty meetings a week. He became a prolific author whose books are still blessing the world. And he died at the age of seventy-six.

In the Bible, Jeremiah prayed: 'Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed' (Jeremiah 17:14 NKJV). David said, 'O Lord my God, I cried out to you, and you healed me...you brought my soul up from the grave' (Psalm 30:2-3 NKJV). Isaiah said, 'You will restore me and make me live' (Isaiah 38:16 NKJV). So pray and believe God for healing.