Charisma Magazine

Imagine this great tragedy: A woman walks with God for 40 years, fully saved, redeemed and following Christ. She comes before the throne at the resurrection, and for the first time, she realizes what she’s missed. She feels wave upon wave of pleasure flowing from the Son of God and says to herself, “I could have drunk from this well of spiritual delight every day on Earth. I just had to encounter Your heart and Your beauty. Life would have been so much better! Everything would have changed, and I would have accomplished so much more.”

Many Christians are like the woman I’ve described: They spend their days on Earth believing that Jesus is harsh instead of tender, mad instead of glad and distant instead of affectionate. When they finally see Him as He truly is, they will be filled with regret at not having spent their time on Earth radically pursuing His heart and reaping the amazing pleasures.

In Acts 27, the apostle Paul was a prisoner on a ship with 276 passengers onboard. Launching the voyage in the winter, the ship headed into a violent sea storm, called Euroclydon. The ship tossed like a leaf in the wind and was in danger of splitting into pieces. No stars or light from the moon was seen for many days, and because of the dangerous rocks and quicksand, it appeared that Paul and the passengers would drown in the murky waters.

Paul had been on an extended fast and was praying for God’s intervention. God released a heavenly messenger to bring Paul this encouraging Word:

I was going to a birthday party. Like any great Pappy, I stopped on the way to the party to get my grandson, Elijah, a present for his first birthday. He was at the age where he mimicked sounds. If you asked him, “What does a doggie say?” His reply was “Arf.”  How did he get to be so cute?

As I walked into the little toy area of a drug store, I spotted the perfect toy. A drug store doesn’t have a really big toy section I found out. But here it was: a cute, fuzzy, battery-operated puppy. A long cord was attached to the toy, with a small box on the other end. It had two buttons on it, to make the doggie bark and walk. Now this was a cool toy! It was well worth the $5.99 price tag.

We are a product of what we say. This is true even in the business realm. If you have ever been involved in sales of any type you will understand what I mean. You are taught to set a goal and then tell other salespeople in your district that you are going to sell a certain amount of goods during that period. As you say it with your mouth, a certain amount of truth will enter into the situation.

The reason is that we are created in God's image (see Gen. 1:27), and God has what He says! When He said, "Let there be light," there was light (v. 3). Since we are created in God's own image, we have the authority to open our mouths and put in motion what we desire for the future.

There are times God sits you down and says, “Here are some things you need to know!” When God brings you into that kind of season, it’s a very special time. Treasure it! What He teaches you in a season of instruction will equip you for all that lies ahead.

The children of Israel went on a journey through the wilderness before they entered their promised land. In this entire journey, God was working to accomplish one thing: to prepare a people for Himself. He was teaching them that they could trust Him; from trust He would lead them into the fullness of His promise. He is the same today and is doing His will the same today. God is working in your life to teach you and strengthen your faith so that you can enter into the blessing He has prepared for you.

The greatest joy one can know in life is the presence and peace of God. As we open our hearts and spirits to Him we give Him opportunity to speak to us and to fill us with His joy and peace.

The Bible tells us that in His presence “is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11, NKJV). Because this is true, our most important APPOINTMENT each day must be our time alone with God and His Word, a time when He can speak to us and we can speak to Him.

Satan, our No. 1 enemy, would rather have us do anything than keep this appointment. So we must ask for and receive God's help in order to be faithful on a daily basis.