May 23

Our Careful Unbelief

“… do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on” (Matthew 6:25).

Jesus summed up commonsense carefulness in the life of a disciple as unbelief. If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, “Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?” And He always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-128/

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               May 22

The Explanation for Our Difficulties

“… that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us …” (John 17:21).

If you are going through a time of isolation, seemingly all alone, read John 17. It will explain exactly why you are where you are—because Jesus has prayed that you “may be one” with the Father as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or do you have some other goal for your life? Since you became a disciple, you cannot be as independent as you used to be.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily=devotion-127/

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                          May 21

Having God’s “Unreasonable” Faith

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

When we look at these words of Jesus, we immediately find them to be the most revolutionary that human ears have ever heard. “… seek first the kingdom of God … .” Even the most spiritually-minded of us argue the exact opposite, saying, “But I must live; I must make a certain amount of money; I must be clothed; I must be fed.” The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God but how we are going to take care of ourselves to live. Jesus reversed the order by telling us to get the right relationship with God first, maintaining it as the primary concern of our lives, and never to place our concern on taking care of the other things of life.https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-126/

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                    May 20

Taking Possession of Our Own Soul

“By your patience possess your souls” (Luke 21:19).

When a person is born again, there is a period of time when he does not have the same vitality in his thinking or reasoning that he previously had. We must learn to express this new life within us, which comes by forming the mind of Christ (see Philippians 2:5). Luke 21:19 means that we take possession of our souls through patience. But many of us prefer to stay at the entrance to the Christian life, instead of going on to create and build our soul in accordance with the new life God has placed within us. We fail because we are ignorant of the way God has made us, and we blame things on the devil that are actually the result of our own undisciplined natures. Just think what we could be when we are awakened to the truth!

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-125/

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       May 19

                       “Out of the Wreck I Rise”

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Romans 8:35).

God does not keep His child immune from trouble; He promises, “I will be with him in trouble …” (Psalm 91:15). It doesn’t matter how real or intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate him from his relationship to God. “In all these things we are more than conquerors …” (Romans 8:37). Paul was not referring here to imaginary things, but to things that are dangerously real. And he said we are “super-victors” in the midst of them, not because of our own ingenuity, nor because of our courage, but because none of them affects our essential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. I feel sorry for the Christian who doesn’t have something in the circumstances of his life that he wishes were not there.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-124/

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          May 18

Living Simply—Yet Focused

“Look at the birds of the air … . Consider the lilies of the field …” (Matthew 6:26, 28).

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin”—they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon—all of these simply are as well—yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful. Jesus said there is only one way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Do not worry about being of use to others; simply believe on Me.” In other words, pay attention to the Source, and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). We cannot discover the source of our natural life through common sense and reasoning, and Jesus is teaching here that growth in our spiritual life comes not from focusing directly on it, but from concentrating on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually—just as “the lilies of the field.”

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-123/

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          May 17

                               His Ascension and Our Access

“It came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:51).

We have no experiences in our lives that correspond to the events in our Lord’s life after the transfiguration. From that moment forward His life was altogether substitutionary. Up to the time of the transfiguration, He had exhibited the normal, perfect life of a man. But from the transfiguration forward—Gethsemane, the Cross, the resurrection—everything is unfamiliar to us. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race can enter into the life of God; by His resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to anyone, and by His ascension our Lord entered heaven, keeping the door open for humanity.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-122/

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              May 16

The Habit of Recognizing God’s Provision

“… you may be partakers of the divine nature …” (2 Peter 1:4).

We are made “partakers of the divine nature,” receiving and sharing God’s own nature through His promises. Then we have to work that divine nature into our human nature by developing godly habits. The first habit to develop is the habit of recognizing God’s provision for us. We say, however, “Oh, I can’t afford it.” One of the worst lies is wrapped up in that statement. We talk as if our heavenly Father has cut us off without a penny! We think it is a sign of true humility to say at the end of the day, “Well, I just barely got by today, but it was a severe struggle.” And yet all of Almighty God is ours in the Lord Jesus! And He will reach to the last grain of sand and the remotest star to bless us if we will only obey Him. Does it really matter that our circumstances are difficult? Why shouldn’t they be! If we give way to self-pity and indulge in the luxury of misery, we remove God’s riches from our lives and hinder others from entering into His provision. No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity, because it removes God from the throne of our lives, replacing Him with our own self-interests. It causes us to open our mouths only to complain, and we simply become spiritual sponges—always absorbing, never giving, and never being satisfied. And there is nothing lovely or generous about our lives.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-121/

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May 15

The Habit of Rising to the Occasion

“… that you may know what is the hope of His calling …” (Ephesians 1:18).

Remember that you have been saved so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in your body (see 2 Corinthians 4:10). Direct the total energy of your powers so that you may achieve everything your election as a child of God provides; rise every time to whatever occasion may come your way.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-120/

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                    May 14

The Habit of Enjoying Adversity

“… that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:10).

We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation of “myself” that I would have apart from Him? The only thing that will enable me to enjoy adversity is the acute sense of eagerness of allowing the life of the Son of God to evidence itself in me. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-119/

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