January 3, 2023
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:1-2) ESV.
May I start todays’ Devotional Thought by saying, “Now is the favorable time… what a privilege it is for us to live in these days. Now, as never before, God’s children have to live in the awareness of their calling.” In our Scripture today, we see that Paul, the author of Second Corinthians, never forgot who he was in Christ and what he had been called to do. It consumed his whole life.
Paul committed his life enthusiastically to serving Jesus; there was nothing more important than loving Jesus. Paul had this to say in (2 Corinthians 6:3-10), “We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.”
Friends, I included (vs. 3-10) in our Scripture reading this morning because I wanted us to take the time today to read through them again. As we do, may we ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us about how our lives align with the level of commitment Paul is writing about here? The time for messing about is over! We live in ever-changing times and do not know what the future holds. However, what we do know is the One we serve! Now is the excellent time… Are we going to seize the day for God? Are we going to stand up for Jesus and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit? May we begin by joining together in this prayer today?
Dear Heavenly Father, I want to seize the day for You. Now is a good time… I want to be Your child for this hour and the future. Thank You for the privilege of being Your child. Lord, thank You for Your love and faithfulness to me. I surrender all to You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Encouraging Words: God is like computer software. After accepting Him into our lives, He scans our problems, edits our tensions, downloads solutions, deletes all our worries, and saves us.
God Bless you, Friends, and have a Blessed Day <><
Thoughts by Randall Stapleton is a Daily Devotion brought to you by The Bridge - Learn more at https://wearethebridge.org
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