About Me

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I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Why Live Today?

The problem with most people is that they don't know that the principle from Scripture (cf. Deut. 33:25) says that "as your days are, so shall your strength be."  We can get depressed by 3 states of mind:  dwelling on the past, misinterpreting the present, anticipating the future.  The well-known verse from Psalm 118:24  says, "This is the day that the LORD has made, let us be glad, and rejoice in it."  Tomorrow does not belong to you and is not guaranteed by God--He wants you to live each day to the fullest and "boast not [ourselves] of tomorrow" [cf. Prov. 27:1] for "tomorrow does not yet belong to us."

Each day when we arise we should gratefully thank God for a new day and new opportunity to walk with Him, asking Him if He might come that day.  Matthew Henry said that we should live each day as if it were our last.  We should always be prepared for our death, which can come at any time, and live each day as if it could be our last--and I mean to "occupy, purify, watch, and worship, (conduct main business as usual)" not to sell out and stop our affairs like quitting our jobs, and so forth.  The hedonist philosophy to "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" is evil and presumptuous on God's mercy and grace (cf. Isa. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32).

 A real famous local pastor on TV in my youth used to start each sermon with the verse quoted above and it inspired me to be patient and live in the present:  "This is the day that the LORD has made...."  That verse is also the way many a church service is begun by tradition or custom. ( Focus on the now and you will be happier--God will take care of your tomorrows.  God will give the grace you need when the time comes.) Each day is a new beginning and a new chance to walk with our Lord, and we should be thankful as a state of mind for this opportunity.  Soli Deo Gloria!

1 comment:

  1. Procrastination is a bad habit to get into and to have the assumption that there's always tomorrow to do something that should be done today. In Spanish they say "manana" or "tomorrow" as a matter of course. Make the most of our time given us or seize the day, they say in Latin carpe Diem. The lost opportunity is never found or retrieved!

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