Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: christ

Spend Time With God

Encouragement

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭46:10‬

We use the excuse sometimes that we don’t have enough time. While that may be true for some things it’s not for others. In fact most of the time it’s just simply an excuse.

Take a look around and think about your life and your schedule. We live busy lives but there are certain things that we must take time for. We have the time; it’s more of a priority issue than a time issue.

Sometimes God will slow us down so that all we have is time. Time to pray. Time to meditate on His Word. Time to spend with family. Time to do the necessities. Time to reach out to a neighbor in need. And time to rest.

The Bible says to seek His Kingdom first. This means that He should be our highest priority. Seeking God should not be something that we just “fit in” our schedule, it should be the most important thing we do. Our time spent in prayer with God and time spent in His Word should dominate everything else we do.

Today’s verse shouts the importance of being still and taking time to listen to God. It’s His small still voice that we cannot ignore. How can we hear God speak if we are always in a rush and trying to “fit in” time for Him? We can’t!

The Bible reminds us that God wants to spend time with us. He wants to commune with us and allow us to be in His presence and to see His glory. How devastating our lives are when we are not still long enough to allow God to do His work in and through us.

Are you making the most of the time you have? Are you investing your time into the things of God? Make sure that you prioritize time with God so that He doesn’t have to slow you down.

Pray

Lord, I want to hear your small still voice. I want to make sure that I listen and obey. Help me to manage my time more wisely.

Justifying Evil

Encouragement

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20

Have you ever been tempted with the idea that telling a lie would actually accomplish more good? I think we all have! 

Do you ever mention someone in a prayer request but end up gossiping instead of praying? Or have you ever pushed your agenda ahead of others for personal gain? 

We all face the temptation to justify something good that God has declared wicked. We’ve also been tempted to call evil that which God has declared good. God says it is good to love our enemies, yet we often make it our job to hold them responsible for their actions. It happens so quickly.

Satan tries to convince people that what God has called good is actually evil and what God declares evil, is in fact, good. In the beginning Satan persuaded Adam and Eve that disobedience towards God would guarantee a better life. The believed him and immediately began to suffer the consequences of sin.

We need good discernment when Satan tries to deceive us into doubting what God has clearly stated as truth. Allow God’s word to hold you accountable. Stop searching for exceptions to His commands and start obeying whole heartily. 

Pray

Lord, help me to overcome the temptations of the devil. Give me courage and wisdom to notice when I am convinced that doing wrong is better than doing good. Let Your truth outweigh the lies of Satan.

Be Sure To Rest

Encouragement

And He (Jesus) said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
Mark 6:31a

Life can get very busy, very quickly. We must take time to breathe and catch up on some much needed rest and relaxation. If not it will lead to an overload of stress.

God rested. He rested on the seventh day of creation week. He set an example of how we should take a break from our busy schedule and take a look back at what has been accomplished. God rested because He knew we needed rest. 

Without a break every once in a while, you can become overwhelmed and burned out. The demands on our time come at us from every direction. We must always remember to take time for our family and relationships that get pushed to the side when we are too busy.

Today might be a good day to be still and listen to God. Even in ministry work, we can become so busy that we push God to the side in order to deal with the activities of serving others. God wants us to take a break and spend some time with Him. 

When our priorities are in order we live a more peaceful life. Spending time with God needs to be our top priority and then we can focus on our relationships with others. 

Pray

Lord, give me a day of rest and relaxation. Help me to prioritize my time with You and increasing my knowledge of You. Bless my time that I can spend with people who matter most to me.