When Is My/Your Time???      A Word from THE WORD!!! #313

As we come into this new year (calendar wise), it seems a good time to assess our progress?  What are we (you and me) waiting for?  It seems one of Satan’s favorite tricks is encourage us to put off until tomorrow what God is calling us to do today.

“Boast not thyself of to morrow;

for thou knowest not

what a day may bring forth.”  Proverbs 27:1

Jesus gives us a great measuring stick, if we will but heed it and apply it to our lives—today, and today and today.  For tomorrow never comes.

“Therefore take no thought, saying,

What shall we eat? or,

What shall we drink? or,

Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things

do the Gentiles seek:)

for your heavenly Father knoweth

that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God,

and his righteousness;

and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow:

for the morrow shall take thought

for the things of itself.

Sufficient unto the day

is the evil thereof.”  Matthew 6:31-34

One of the most well-known and repeated passages, is one we need to consider today.  What we pass on today, may never come our way again.   What are you putting off until tomorrow?

One of the stories I share in my new book, is from the day my daughter was murdered.  That morning as I was spending time in prayer, The Spirit kept bringing my daughter to mind, and I’d go on with my praying and the thought would come again, several times.  I finally realized that I needed to act on this prompting, so I messaged my daughter asking (in our code, as she was a dollar store manager—and they are either working or sleeping…) if she was sleeping or working?  She messaged back that she was on her way to work, so I called her, and we chatted for about 25 minutes, and then she said she was at the store, so we said our “goodbyes and our ‘I love you’s’ before we hung up”!  Little did I know that 30 minutes later she would be dead.  Well, my friends, I’m here to tell you, I will thank Jesus through eternity for that last phone call, for I know beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Jesus prompted that phone call, and I am beyond grateful for it—a treasured gift from my Lord.  What if I had said, “I’ll call her tomorrow!”?  Jesus said it best:

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God,

and his righteousness;

and all these things shall be added unto you”!

So, let’s close with the aforementioned passage from scripture; I’m sure many of you will recognize it.  The question is, “Will you heed it?”

“And Hatach came and told Esther

the words of Mordecai.

10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach,

and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;

11 All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know,

 that whosoever,

whether man or woman,

shall come unto the king into the inner court,

who is not called,

there is one law of his to put him to death,

except such to whom the king

shall hold out the golden sceptre,

that he may live:

but I have not been called to come in

unto the king these thirty days.

12 And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.

13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther,

Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape

in the king’s house,

more than all the Jews.

14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace

at this time,

then shall there enlargement

and deliverance arise

to the Jews

from another place;

but thou and thy father’s house

 shall be destroyed:

and who knoweth whether thou art come

to the kingdom

for such a time as this?

15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai

this answer,

16 Go, gather together all the Jews

that are present in Shushan,

and fast ye for me,

and neither eat nor drink three days,

night or day:

I also and my maidens will fast likewise;

and so will I go in unto the king,

which is not according to the law:

and if I perish,

I perish.”  Esther 4:9-16

Much like the three Hebrew young men who faced Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, Esther got the point and acted in faith upon it. What do you need to act upon today?  I pray that we will each be found faithfully listening, heeding and stepping out in faith, love and obedience to our King; seeking “first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness”!  I pray that we will set out minds on Jesus and commit to be found seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness—not some alternate plan of our own, or of anyone else’s!  Oh, how easy it is to let the enemy’s voice override the call of our Master—be it out of fear, lack of understanding, distractions of time, circumstance, privilege or lack thereof—Esther received the counsel of her uncle and sought God’s provision in her obedience, knowing that “if I perish, I perish”.  How much are you willing to risk to heed God’s timing for you!  And remember my friends, God’s timing isn’t the same for everyone; don’t measure your call by anyone else’s call.  Just decide to heed, obey and go forward at God’s direction.  I pray that we will each commit to hear, heed and obey.  The time may be short that the simple act of obedience in faith can make a difference—whether it be in a kingdom or in a single life.  Jesus loves each one.

“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying,

This is the way,

walk ye in it,

when ye turn to the right hand,

and when ye turn to the left.”  Isaiah 30:21

To God be the glory!!!

Amen and Amen!!!