We all have experiences that shape the way we view the world. A single experience can change our days, or even our lives.
Admit it, we’ve all had days where our emotions are exceptionally against us, someone cuts you off in traffic, or something yucky happens to start off your week - like cutting off part of your finger and having to go to urgent care before 9am (yes, the last example is, in fact, how my week began). Small occurrences can throw our whole day off and make it hard to see the good of the day.
On the other hand, we can wake up ridiculously joyful, the sun can be shining after a storm, or Wawa could be giving away free coffee (yes, the last example was also a surprise to me a few hours after I got a splint). These small components of a day can make the world seem brighter.
We all have those days that feel exceptionally gloomy or summer-sunshine bright. We all have the same seasons in life. A loved one passing can be one of those exceptionally gloomy occurrences that make it hard to smile for a while. An encounter with a dear friend or an awesome and unusual experience can leave you feeling like you’re walking on Cloud Nine for weeks. Whatever the specifics are for you, I’m sure you have examples of your own running through your head.
The question I’ve been thinking of for weeks, months, maybe even years now, is how much differently would we live if we remembered truth and lived Christ every day? Satan does a great job at keeping us preoccupied in order to keep our minds from being able to slow down and ponder the truths of Scripture and this life. I love Corrie tenBoom’s words: “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” Any east-coasters want to shout an “amen” to that?
God has clearly slowed me down today, as I sit with a splint on my finger, flipping through Scripture, journaling of it’s truth, and trying to type this article in order to convey what truths I think I need to constantly remember, and maybe you do too. If you’re a Christian and have personally encountered and accepted Christ, your days should have an overall brightness to them because of where God has brought you from, and what He is bringing you to. Obviously, we won’t escape hardship, but through hardship, we can see a bright eternity. The ongoing encounter with this Dear Friend of ours should change the course of our every single day. We should live as though He is real, because He is. Here’s a list of big, Scriptural truths that should, and would altar the way we view every day if we brought them to remembrance and dwelt on them daily.
He is all-powerful and sovereign over every situation.
He is the One who was before all time, is outside of time, and sees the end from the beginning. He knows your every thought and fear, joy and pain, day and death (Psalm 139). He doesn’t just know, He is in control of them all. Though He doesn’t always create the bad circumstances we experience, He orchestrates them all and uses every one of them for good in the lives of those who love God (Romans 8:28). Trust His character and His guidance (Proverbs 3:5-6). This should change how we view trials.
This world is not our home, but our office.
We are passing through as pilgrims and sojourners (1 Peter 2:11). He has given us a mission; He’s entrusted us with the message of His Gospel (2 Corinthians 5:20). Eternity with or without the Lord is at stake for others around us (Matthew 13:30). Additionally, Jesus is alive (Matthew 28:6) and He is coming again (Matthew 24:29-31).
Every sin was paid for at the Cross of Calvary.
Jesus took our punishment (Galatians 3:13). Nothing was or is too big or too small; Jesus paid for it all. “Every,” and “all,” mean all. There is no room for an “except.” We are called to live in the freedom of Christ, grateful for His work on the cross, not diminishing or disregarding it by unbelief. Guilt is one of Satan’s greatest tactics. I struggled with it for years throughout high school until one day I remember the Lord saying to my heart that for me to hold on to a past He didn’t hold on to would mean that His cross wasn’t sufficient, but was in vain, and that belief and action of holding on to my sin that was paid for, was sin.
Satan is real, and he really hates you.
He is like a roaring lion who seeks to devour you (1 Peter 5:8). He desires to steal your joy and peace and to lead you to eternal damnation (John 10:10). He will rob you of everything that in this world, while he can – especially your boldness. He desires that you would shut up and stay shallow. He does not want you to go deep in the Lord. He does not want you to share of Christ’s love with anyone you come in contact with. He does not want you to remember that you are a child of The King. Satan is the father of lies.
Prayer matters.
It’s said that prayer changes us, which is true. It aligns our hearts to be okay with whatever the Father wills when you sit in it long enough. But it actually matters. Our prayers are like an aroma before God (Psalm 141:2). They can please Him. And James 5:16 says the prayer of a righteous person avails much. He even bends down to listen (Psalm 116:2).
The Church is His people, not a building.
He does not say there is one way of worship, one way of praying, one way of teaching. We are all different members with different gifts that should work together as one body. Getting caught up over the unessential is anti- Christ. The last thing Jesus told His disciples before the Cross was all about how important unity among believers is (John 17). Have you ever been around the bedside of someone who knew they were dying? They pour out their heart and what is most important to them that they want you to remember. This is what Jesus talked about right before He was taken for His crucifixion. And now, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
Jesus is victor over life and death. He indwells you and this goes back to the first point – He is involved with every detail of your life.
We will never arrive until we arrive.
We will never be good enough. Our righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags, good for nothing but to be thrown out (Isaiah 64:6). We were completely justified through His forgiveness on the Cross when we chose to believe; we are being sanctified and purified until the day when we will be glorified with Him (Romans 8:30).
His love is real.
His love is not cliché. It’s not shallow. It’s not fickle. It’s not forced. He loves us with perfect, unconditional, agape love. He loves us like a father (1 John 3:1), brother (Romans 8:17), friend (John 15:13-14), spouse (Revelation 19:7), counselor (John 14:16), teacher (Psalm 48:14), and our self-sacrificing savior (John 3:16).
Dear brothers and sisters, it’s time for us to stop half living for eternity and half living for earthly pleasures. It’s time to fully step in to all that God has. Selah on these truths. Stop and ponder them. Let them change your hour, your day, your week… your life. Because they will. All of Scripture is God-breathed. Bathing in these verses and truths is like breathing in God’s exhale. And that, should change the course of our daily and entire life.
