Word for Today, Fri, 27 Sep, 2002: Living for the Eternal
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
As we close out a work week, how about a fresh reflection on the
Word of God? After my notes is the Friday edition of Quiet Walk.
My continued prayer for each one of us is that we will exercise
our faith today, and make living by faith a regular, purposeful
way we live, until it is still purposeful, but instead of a
reluctant, forced into, last alternative, it becomes our every
day way of life. May the Name of God be forever praised as we
live by faith in Him, because of what Jesus Christ has done for
us!
Your Brother in Christ,
Brian
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Q U I E T W A L K D E V O T I O N A L
by Walk Thru the Bible
Friday, September 27, 2002
2 CORINTHIANS 5
We should live for the eternal rather than the temporal, and we
will be rewarded accordingly.
INSIGHT
One of the marks of maturity is the ability to put off immediate
reward for the sake of a future goal. Likewise, the willingness
to put off temporal reward for the sake of eternal reward is a
good mark of Christian maturity.
The Scriptures teach that someday we must all appear before the
bema seat of Christ. In ancient Greece, the bema was the
grandstand where judges gave out honors to the winners of
athletic competitions. Thus, it is before the divine bema that we
will all appear. If we compete according to the eternal rules, we
will gain the honor of reward from the eternal Judge.
As Paul wrote, we must set our minds 'on things above, not on
things on the earth' (Colossians 3:2).
PRAYER
* Offer your praise to the Lord as you 'set your mind on things
above':
Unto You I lift up my eyes,
O You who dwell in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the
hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her
mistress,
So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He has mercy on us (Psalm 123:1-2).
* Pause for praise and thanksgiving. As you seek to keep your
life free from sin and in fellowship with Him, pray this
confession to the Lord:
'O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to
You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads,
and our guilt has grown up to the heavens' (Ezra 9:6).
* Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. Then
pray this affirmation to the Lord:
We make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well
pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body,
according to what he has done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians
5:9-10).
* As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:
* greater commitment to Him,
* the work of specific Christian ministries,
* your activities for the day.
* Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the Lord (Psalm 31:23-24).
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Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
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