Sunday 7 April 2013

The Reward of Diligence



The Reward of Diligence

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied
Proverbs 13:4, RSV.

TODAY’S WORD
God longs to pour out His favor and blessing on you. He has rewards, victory and promotion for you, but these things don’t happen automatically. You have to do your part. You have to be diligent. First of all, you have to be diligent to seek His ways and follow His commands. Then you also have to be diligent with what you have in your hand—your time, abilities and resources. In Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about three men whose employer entrusted them with some money. Two of the men were diligent and invested the money and received a great return. The third man was afraid and buried what he was given. The first two men were rewarded and praised for their diligence while the third man was basically fired.

Today, follow the example of the first two men and look for ways to be diligent with what you have in your hand. Whatever you do, do it with excellence! Be the best you can be. Go the extra mile even when you think it goes unnoticed because God notices and promises to richly supply the soul of the diligent!

PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your favor and blessing on my life. Today I choose to be diligent. I choose to live in excellence and do everything to the best of my ability. I give You all the glory and thank You for Your faithfulness in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

***
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen.” (James 5:16 NCV)
People don’t go to war by themselves. It would be a suicide mission. Someone has to have your back.
You need a battle buddy.
The same is true in the spiritual battles we all face. You can’t go to war against lustful thoughts, dishonesty, addictions, and fear by yourself. You’ll be doomed to fail.
If all you want is to be forgiven, admit your sin and brokenness to God. If you want to make a change, admit it to someone else.
Revealing your sin is the beginning of healing. You don’t have to admit your sin to everyone. But you need to admit it to someone. You need one person who’ll love you unconditionally, accept you completely, and pray for you constantly. You need someone of the same gender to be open and honest with.
The Bible says in James 5:16, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen” (NCV).
When you confess your sins to someone else, you open the relief valve and take the pressure off. Suddenly, the boogieman isn’t so big.
Often sin is a cycle. You start out humbly asking God for help, so he gives you the power to make it. After about six months of success, you start getting prideful. Then, you fall. And, in humility again, you ask God for help. If you could stay in that spirit of humility, you’d be good. But pride always returns.
You can’t kick that kind of cycle without friends who’ll pray for you, care for you, encourage you, and keep you on track. When success comes, they’ll help you keep your perspective so your humility stays in check.
That’s why local churches are so important. But you can attend many churches for years and never put yourself in a situation where you know others and are known by others. Make the effort to find a small group of believers in a local church with whom you can be open and honest.
To think you can quit a bad habit without being honest about it with others is simply a cop out. It never works. You guarantee failure when you do that.
Talk It Over
What sin in your life do you need to confess to another person?
- To whom in your life can you confess your sin?
- What frightens you about revealing your sin to someone else?

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