✝ Daily Encouragement (1/23/25) "Living Carefully"
Published: Thu, 01/23/25
Updated: Fri, 01/24/25
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(Click refresh or reload for current message) Thursday,
January 23,
2025 
This
large barn is
on the grounds
of the Milton
Hershey
School.
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"Living Carefully" Message summary: Today how can we live carefully and make the most of every opportunity to express our faith in Christ? As we are open to the daily opportunities God provides for us, seeking to make the most of them, we are living as those who are wise while fortifying ourselves against the evils of our day.
Listen
to our message
on your audio
player.
I
encouraged
Brian to day
by day keep
staying
faithful and
shared an
illustration
about JR, a
man we will
likely visit
with in
another
company today.
He mounts a
post-it note
on his monitor
celebrating
each day he
has
experienced
freedom from
alcohol
addiction. As
I recall he is
at some 1,200
days or 12
pads of 100
notes! (a good
marketing idea
for post-it
notes)
Years
ago I spoke to
a group of men
in recovery at
a Teen
Challenge
chapel. Most
had lived in
various types
of destructive
addictive
behavior,
drugs,
alcohol,
gangs. At the
conclusion of
my message I
prayed for a
group of them
who came to
the front for
special
prayer. I
urged them to
consider that
their prior
way of life
does not
determine
their destiny.
"Be
very careful,
then, how you
live--not as
unwise but as
wise, making
the most of
every
opportunity,
because the
days are
evil". The
Amplified
Version
renders the
verse: "Look
carefully then
how you walk!
Live
purposefully
and worthily
and
accurately,
not as the
unwise and
witless, but
as wise
(sensible,
intelligent
people),
Making the
very most of
the time
[buying up
each
opportunity],
because the
days are
evil."
Let's
examine this
verse phrase
by phrase:
1)
We need to be
very careful
how we live.
Our enemy, the
devil, goes
about like a
prowling lion
seeking whom
he may devour.
Many have
lowered their
guard but we
must resist
him by
standing firm
in our faith.
Regardless of
our age or how
"mature" we
may be in our
faith this
call to
careful living
is ongoing.
2) We need to live "not as unwise but as wise". We need "the wisdom that comes from heaven" (James 3:17) and this will increasingly be contrary to the wisdom that comes fromthe world. Remember the old saying, "What's popular may not be right and what's right may not be popular". Jesus never let the desire for acceptance or popularity among His hearers dictate the truths he disclosed or errors He refuted. In our present age far too many let the world dictate. I read a true-to-life satire blog about a church, "promising to lower its doctrinal standard to meet whatever any competing congregation believes". 3) We need to make the most of every opportunity. As God's people seeking to live out our faith in these evil days we need to make the most of every opportunity, which the KJV translates as "redeeming the time". These opportunities abound for the Spirit-led, earnest follower of Christ. 4) The days are evil. This was true when Paul wrote the passage and it's also true of each succeeding generation, including our own. In seeking the true wisdom that comes from heaven I want my eyes to be open to the evil, not blinded by it.
Today
how can we
live carefully
and make the
most of every
opportunity to
express our
faith in
Christ? As we
are open to
the daily
opportunities
God provides
for us,
seeking to
make the most
of them, we
are living as
those who are
wise and
fortifying
ourselves
against the
evils of our
day. Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"All
To Jesus I
Surrender”
Watch
on YouTube
Robin
Mark
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Personal
Mission
Statement:
"I am created
by God to
bring Him
glory. Through
God's Son
Jesus Christ I
have been
redeemed and
make it my
life's goal to
please the
Lord. My
mission in
life is to
honor God
through my
faith and
obedience and
prepare myself
and all whom I
may influence
for eternity."
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