High Time
Today's Scripture:
…It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
Romans 13:11, NKJV.
Romans 13:11, NKJV.
Today's Word:
So many people today are living overwhelmed, exhausted and overburdened by the pressures of life. They’ve allowed themselves to live on autopilot, day in and day out, passive toward the things God has place in their hearts.
If that’s you, now is the time to get your fire back! Let me encourage you to press past the things that would try to hold you back. God is saying, “It’s high time to wake up.” Notice that phrasing. Not just time but high time. That means it’s incredibly important because you are coming into a destiny moment! You are sitting on the launching pad. God is about to thrust you to a new level! Now is not the time to be passive, sloppy or undisciplined. Now more than ever, it’s time to get focused and start moving forward!
Why is this so important? Just like the verse says, your salvation is nearer than it’s ever been. That means you are closer to seeing that dream come to pass than you’ve ever been. You are closer to meeting the right person, closer to that healing, closer to that breakthrough, promotion and provision. You may not be able to see it, but it can see you! Your victory is right around the corner. It’s high time to do what God is asking you to do so you can embrace the blessing He has for you!
Prayer for Today:
Father God, thank You for Your hand of blessing and mercy upon my life. Today I choose to rise up. I choose to shake off mediocrity so I can move forward into the blessing You have in store for me in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
The Purpose of Redemptive Suffering
14 hours ago
by Rick Warren
“God comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things.” (2 Corinthians 1:4, 6 NLT)
Who can better help somebody going through a bankruptcy than somebody who went through a bankruptcy? Who can better help somebody struggling with an addiction than somebody who’s struggled with an addiction? Who can better help parents of a special needs child than parents who raised a special needs child? Who can better help somebody who’s lost a child than somebody who lost a child?
The very thing you hate the most in your life is what God wants to use for good in your life.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1, verses 4 and 6, “God comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things” (NLT).
This is called redemptive suffering. Redemptive suffering is when you go through a problem or a pain for the benefit of others.
This is what Jesus did. When Jesus died on the cross, he didn’t deserve to die. He went through that pain for your benefit so that you can be saved and go to Heaven.
There are many different causes for the problems, pains, and suffering in your life. Sometimes the stuff that happens you bring on yourself. When you make stupid decisions, then it causes pain in your life. If you go out and overspend and buy things you can’t afford and presume on the future, and then you go deeply in debt and lose your house, you can’t say, “God, why did you let me lose my house?” You can’t blame God for your bad choices.
But in some of your problems, you’re innocent. You’ve been hurt by the pain, stupidity, and sins of other people. And some of the pain in your life is for redemptive suffering. God often allows us to go through a problem so that we can then help others.
Talk It Over
- What are some of the problems in your life that you have questioned God about or wondered why they had to happen to you?
- How could you use your painful experience to minister to others?
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