Do you fight the good fight?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time–God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
(1 Timothy 6:11-16 (NIV))

When Paul wrote these words to Timothy, he wrote encouragement to a young friend and brother in Christ. He knew that Timothy would face, and probably already was facing, struggles from those whom he was ministering to.

The worldly system is a big stumbling block for many. Greed, lust, envy, anger, and temptation are difficult to see beyond at certain times. Paul wrote to Timothy, expressing Godly principles on how to stay focused on the paths of righteousness and on Jesus Christ. Through all things, stay focused on Jesus Christ and God the Father, for there is none who is worthy of praise, honor and glory above them. No other can offer salvation, mercy and grace wrapped in the present of eternal life with them. Do not let the world detour your faith.

As Paul so aptly states it, “Fight the good fight of the faith!”

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you pay attention to the lessons God is teaching you?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
(Matthew 24:32-35 (NIV))

Too many of us do not recognize the symbolism referenced in this passage because too much of our society does not understand the growth and harvest cycle anymore. We are so used to going to the grocery store and getting what we want. We complain when we can’t get something because it is not in season. We miss out on the way that God intended for us to get our food and the knowledge that everything has signs that tell us when something is about to be ready.

Be honest with yourself.

How many of you could actually plant a garden and know what to do to take care of it? Would you be able to know when the various plants would be ready to harvest? I know that I am probably going to extremes, but I am trying to show that we have lost touch with much of what God has given to us. We no longer look at things and know what will happen next. We expect everything to be the same all of the time.

We have lost the ability to learn the lesson that we are told in Matthew. All of our conveniences have made us think that we are in control. We think that we, as humanity, can manage anything and make it better.

Have you ever heard it said that our education system teaches us more and more about less and less. Think about that. People spend a lifetime becoming experts on one topic and in many instances, they know nothing about anything else. We have educated ourselves out of common sense.

God gave us the world. He gave us the seasons. He gave us the ability to know things of the world that He created, yet, in all of our so-called wisdom, we have lost site of the obvious. We no longer can see the lessons that God has placed right before us.

We over analyze everything and most of the time we are wrong. Think about that. We attempt to learn the logical way that the world works. Many reject the way that it has always been done simply because it can no longer be accurate and truly reflect today’s way of thinking.

I don’t know about you, but today’s way of thinking is a scary proposition. Many people believe that they can successfully do what others have tried and failed. They are arrogant enough to think that the reason the other people failed was because it was not them who were doing it.

How many have heard the saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

I honestly think that is exactly what is going on in much of the world. We, as humanity, have gone insane!

We ignore God.

We ignore His lessons.

We ignore His truths.

We ignore His Son, Jesus.

And, . . .

We embrace insanity.

It is my prayer that we learn the lessons that God is trying to teach us before it is too late.

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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