Weekly Devotion

The Lord wants us to enjoy our lives. He loves us very much, so much so that He came in person to die for our sins, so that we can have eternal life with Him. And that is going to be even greater than anything we can ever imagine or dream!

And He wants us to enjoy our lives on earth as well. He came to give us life and life in abundance. He lives in all His fullness in us and all His promises are yes and amen in Jesus Christ!

But we need to do our part as well. We need to make sure that we give priority to the things that matter the most and spend less time on things that will wither away one day.

First of all we must give priority to our relationship with Him. He is the One we should search for, He is the One we should strive to know better, He is the One we should adore and honor. Jesus Christ should be our cornerstone and our foundation. We cannot move an inch forward if we are not moving in sync with Him.

Then second of all we should give time and priority to our relationships. We should make special time with our spouses, our kids and our family/close friends and also in that specific order. Nothing on earth, and especially not your work, is more important than them. They are the only 'thing' you can 'take' to heaven and into eternity. Don't you think it is worth the time and the effort to teach them about Jesus and to nurture them in a loving relationship with Him? Don't you think it is worth it to be Jesus' Hands and Feet to them and to live an example? Remember always, charity starts at home. They need to see and experience your love.

And thirdly you need to look after yourself, the Temple of God. If you don't and you are worn out and depressed, the Lord cannot use you for bigger things. You cannot rise up to be all God created you to be, if you don't even have the strength to look after yourself. And at the end of the day the whole Body of Christ will suffer. You have a unique role to fulfill and to bless other Christians with, but if you don't take care of yourself you won't be able to do that.

Stand up and be all you were created to be. Be a blessing to others and be a devout child of the living God. Represent Him in every way to a fallen world. Then you will find the true meaning in life and find an inner peace that you are fulfilling your role here on earth and making a difference in this sinful world.

Lord God, thank you for creating us, each with a special purpose to fulfill. Thank you that You believe in us. Help us to prioritize our lives in such a way that You will be in first place, help us to look after our relationships and also after ourselves. We can only do it in Your strength. In Jesus Name, Amen.

The Bible is quite clear on another aspect of our lives and that is that we should strive to attain wisdom. And by striving towards it we also find ourselves in a fortunate position of growing spiritually. And through growing spiritually we discover a wealth of treasures hidden in the Word of God. What an exciting prospect!

The Word of God quite specifically says that we should strive to attain wisdom. We should run after it as if we are chasing a monumental treasure!

"Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or a hidden treasure." Proverbs 2: 2-4

Now wisdom is such a massive concept. How can we be wise? How do we attain it? I think we can write thousands of books on this subject alone, but let's focus on the basics for now. The Bible is quite specific about attaining wisdom. I think for a start we can look at the verse above and start by listening more than we speak. I am sure that the Lord made two ears and only one mouth for a reason. We should listen twice as much and think carefully before we speak, as life and death is in the power of our tongue.

We should allow the Holy Spirit to help us to respond to and deal with situations in the correct way. We should be discreet and realistic and allow His Spirit to empower us to make the right plans. We should make the most out of life, be open to correction and reproof, and above all value the truth.

The Bible also specifically warns against being a fool. Some of the characteristics of a fool mentioned are the following: being ignorant, arrogant, aimless, careless, argumentative, want everything on a plate, doesn't think for oneself, prefers fantasy to fact and illusions to truth.

Now I think if we read the list of actions related to a fool and those related to being wise, it is natural to want to lean towards being wise, but it is easier said than done. It is easier to retaliate when someone hurts you, it is easier to receive everything than to think for yourself, it is more convenient to dream dreams than to actually get up and do something about it, it is hard to be open to correction and reproof, it is hard to be discreet when your ego cries out for recognition. It is hard I know. I battle with it myself. But thank God that He is there to help us with the battle. Thank God that He doesn't condemn us, but that He came to set us free.

We should ask the Lord daily to gain wisdom. Ask Him to help you on a step by step basis to walk the steps towards true wisdom. Restrain yourself from foolish activity and focus on your only true source of inspiration, Jesus Christ. Step by step you will attain wisdom, and though the progress of growing we will find ourselves happier than we have ever been, more at peace with ourselves and with others. I will end of with two powerful scriptures of Paul declaring that we must pray and ask God for spiritual wisdom. May God bless you.

"We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what He wants to do in your lives, and we ask Him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while you will learn to know God better and better." Colossians 1:9, 10

"I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God." Ephesians 1:16, 17

Father God, thank you for being there for us. Thank you for instilling wisdom into our spirits. We want to grow in knowledge and stature in You. In Jesus Name. Amen