Grand Sweep Daily
Joel
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten – the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm – my great army that I sent among you.”
Joel
32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on
John
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Good morning!
Have you ever been known to waste time? I seem to hold the world’s record in procrastination. When I take a long look the beginning of my life to today, I can identify periods when I squandered away the moments in a self-absorbed lifestyle. The sin of selfishness is something I’ve battled my entire life. Selflessness is hard hill to climb. When will I place the needs of others in front of my own personal comfort? How hard am I willing to work to make an eternal difference for another soul? Am I just plain lazy?
My mother used to put moth balls in our bedroom closets to help protect our clothes from bug infestation. We didn’t have a lot of clothing to spare, and she was determined to keep what clothes we owned clean, pressed, and bug free. My children grew up with an overabundance of clothing; a pair of blue jeans for every day of the week; a t-shirt of the month club, and scads of scads of socks, under garments and pajamas. My mother was much smarter than I. She didn’t have near the piles of laundry to go through each week. We didn’t change our clothes three times a day to suit our fancy. I wonder why I didn’t adopt the “less is more” plan with my children. It is a strange thing - as we grow older, we begin to realize just how smart our parents were.
Joel reminded God’s children that even during times of famine and plague, they were loved. Last night in class, my professor made a profound statement. He said that it is only experiencing the adversities of life that we grow in faith. I’ve had my share of adversity, and I’m pretty sure you have too. When we tread the deep for long periods of time, keeping our heads just above the water’s edge, fatigue can sometimes set in. There were periods of time in my life when I just didn’t seem to care. Have you ever experienced a time of inexplicable apathy?
If you find yourself in survival mode, grab hold of God’s Word today. It is written just for you. Listen to the Words of the Prophet Joel, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on
In times of trial, the road of faith can become a steep hill to climb. We stop to take a breather. We rest our weary bones in absolute exhaustion, where it feels like we might get eaten alive. We cannot overcome this alone. We need a Savior to help carry us to the top of the hill. God says if we call upon the name of the Lord, He will save us, every survivor whom the Lord has called. The Lord is crying out to you and me today to ask Him for help. We must stop wasting precious time and reach out to the Only One who can carry us the rest of the way home.
Grace and peace,
Deb Spaulding
Pray for: greater faith! God is waiting to redeem you today. If He can turn a seasoned procrastinator like me into a child He can use for Kingdom work, He can change your heart too. Won’t you reach out to the Lord and ask Him to come into your heart right now?
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© Copyright 2007, Deb Spaulding
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