Happy Friday, Friends!
I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! Additionally, I sincerely hope you have been warm, safe, and with power during this challenging week for so many in our country. Please continue to pray for those who are being negatively affected.
I want to start off by sharing a couple of quotes and a scripture. I will then share a few thoughts and challenges for us all.
Last Saturday, I came across this quote:
“Treasure this day and treasure yourself. Truly, neither will ever happen again.” – Ray Bradbury
Then, during his message last Sunday, Pastor Steve said, “Imagine a place where every person has high value.”
On Monday, I was listening to Pastor Craig Groeschel’s Sunday message, titled "Choosing Unity in a Divided World." At the end of his message, Pastor Craig cited John 13:35, which says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
So Friends, what if we lived like these quotes and scripture were true? What would our world look like then?
Treasure this Day…it will never happen again.
What if we simply lived this day to the fullest? What if we didn’t live in regret, shame, or whatever of yesterday because the reality, Friends, is that we cannot change any of it? And, what if we didn’t live in worry or fear of tomorrow, which may or may not arrive, and the things we worry about and fear may never happen? What if we just embraced and cherished this day with everything that is within us? If we were to live it to the fullest, hindered neither by the past nor the future? Just fully alive today! Let’s make Psalm 118:24 the daily declaration of our lives: “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Unconvinced? Here is the reality, Friend: this day will come and go, never to be seen again. The choice to live or survive, be positive or negative, is yours and yours alone. You live it however you choose, just be mindful that it will never come again and you are literally exchanging a day of your precious life for it.
Treasure yourself…your life will never happen again.
The Bible says that each one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made, created on purpose for a purpose for which we are perfectly equipped, lacking nothing. Oh, Sweet Friends, I pray that we will all truly realize how valuable, how precious, each and every one of us truly is. God thought enough of you and me to create us. He wanted to have a relationship with us so badly that He sent Jesus to die for our sins that we may be in a right relationship with Him through the sacrifice of Jesus. Shouldn’t we at least honor the One who created us and the One who suffered so we may live? Please, be very careful and thoughtful of the words you speak over yourself, for when you criticize yourself, you are literally criticizing the handiwork of the One who created you.
Look, as a guy who has spent, and if I am honest, still spends, way too much time criticizing myself, I get it. The truth is, we all have flaws, challenges, and struggles. Do we really think that the God who created us doesn’t know it? You see, Friends, it is these very flaws, challenges, and struggles that cause us to rely on the One who created us. I am fully aware that in my strength, I am incapable of becoming the Godly man, husband, father, leader, and friend that He created me to be. He, however, is the God of the impossible. When I lay my life at the foot of the cross, allow Him to lead, guide, and direct every step of my life, I honor Him and the life He has blessed me to live.
So what if we stopped criticizing and beating up God’s masterpieces – ourselves? As with the day, our lives are also ebbing away. We have one to live, and we get one shot at it. None of us is going to extend our lives by speaking life or speaking death over ourselves; however, the quality, depth, and breadth of the lives we live will be directly impacted by the words we speak over ourselves. Since our words and actions have the potential to reverberate in eternity, we would be wise to carefully consider them. What if you and I agreed with what God says about us?
And now, we pivot: “Imagine a place where every person has high value.” Truly Friends, we don’t have to imagine it; we simply have to recognize and appreciate it. Everything stated above about you and me is true, and it is true of everyone else, too. The real problem, I believe, is our lack of recognition, respect, and appreciation for it!
What if we treated everyone like they had high value? Just as God created you and me, God created them. Just as Jesus died and rose for you and me, He died and rose for them. It isn’t a matter of someone having high value; it is a matter of us honoring them and the high value they possess.
And finally, what if we were really known by our love? In the same message where he cited John 13:35, Pastor Craig also cited Proverbs 6:16-19:
16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
If the Lord hates something or finds it detestable, wisdom tells me we should listen. He also tells us to “love our neighbors as ourselves.” Should we listen?
So Friends, what if we genuinely – gonna need help with that! – everyone? How different would our world be? And this quote has also challenged and inspired me: “Love me when I least deserve it, because that is when I need it the most.” - Jay McLean
This is a very challenging Happy Friday – to write, to read, and most importantly, to live. I will again testify that I have found in my life that the only chance I actually have to treasure my life and each day I am blessed to live, to recognize that everyone is valuable, and to love everyone is through the wisdom, discernment, power, and strength of the Holy Spirit. What if we allowed Him to truly lead our lives every day?
Please feel free to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, and please stay well!
Kev
