Acts 17:28 NIV
[28] ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
Good Morning!
If you read the above verse slowly and really ponder on the words, you realize that we are only here on this earth because God breathed life into us and gave us “our being.” Like every person and creature on the planet, God sustains our life in His hands.
For this reason, we should wake up every day thanking Him for the breath in our lungs. He is the sustainer of life. It is in His sovereign authority that He gives and takes away. We, as Job well understood, know that we came into this life naked and when it is our time, we will leave the same way.
Job 1:21 TLB
[21] “I came naked from my mother’s womb,” he said, “and I shall have nothing when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and they were His to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job 12:10 NIV
[10] In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Psalm 150:6 NKJV
[6] Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!
Job 33:4 NKJV
[4] The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
The Dash
We’ve all seen the gravestones, here lies so and so, May 8, 1957 – March 29, 2018. They were born naked and left the same way, but what about the dash? That was their life. It is in the dash that this person lived and moved and had their being. It is this time that they left their mark, made a life, had children and grandchildren, had a career, worshiped God and left a legacy.
The dash is who we are now. We will all leave this life some day and slip into eternity. We can’t take anything with us but we can pay it forward. Jesus told us to lay up our treasures in heaven. The way we live our dash now is the way we can prepare our future in eternity.
It is never too late to start. No matter what your past is, God is always faithful and just to forgive us and start fresh and new today. He removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. His mercy is great and wants us to walk daily with him in a new life of simply trusting in Him.
Matthew 6:19-20 NKJV
[19] “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; [20] but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Psalm 103:11-12 NKJV
[11] For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; [12] As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
The Scope of God’s Work
We do not understand why things happen the way they do. Why does God allow travesties and pandemics? Our human minds are not capable of thinking like God’s mind. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways are higher than our ways. We just have to trust that He is sovereign. He knows what is best for the world that He created.
He hasn’t left us nor forsaken us, but has a plan that people cannot see — the scope of His work from beginning to end. We can only have trust in Him and follow The Lord’s Prayer, thanking Him that His will be done and He will give us our daily bread. These were Jesus’ instructions to us. If it were not so, he would not have told us.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT
[11] Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
[8] “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. [9] For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
John 14:2 NKJV
[2] In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
This Life Is Hard. How Do We Know What To Do?
The prophet Micah gives insight with three simple things that God requires of us:
1. Do what is right
2. Love mercy
3. Walk humbly with your God
If we follow these simple steps, we will build our treasures in heaven and will be living and moving and having our being in sync with God’s plan for our lives. He knows the scope of everything beginning to end and He will make our “dash” significant if we simply walk humbly with Him.
Micah 6:8 NLT
[8] No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
I love you and am praying for you today!
Dad