You’ve probably heard it said,”Live each as it is your last”. That’s good advice–it might be! The Bible speaks often about the brevity of life, and in serious tones about our accountability to God. Life is like a shadow or a vapor –here one moment and gone the next! Considering that our days are few and passing fast, these wise words from Greg Laurie should get our attention:

One day, perhaps sooner than we expect, we will enter into eternity. So how will the value of our days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built. What will matter is not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught. It is not about your competence, but about your character. It is not about your success, but about your significance. In other words, why did you do what you did?

One day, when we are standing at an awards ceremony in heaven known as the Judgment Seat of Christ, rewards will be given out. This is not about whether you will get into heaven, because the Judgment Seat of Christ takes place in heaven. But rewards will be given, and the test of them, according to Scripture, is motive. In that final day, God will not be saying, “Well done, good and successful servant.”

Rather, God will be saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

That is not to say you can’t be successful and faithful. After all, it sure beats being a failure and being unfaithful. We want to do what we do for the glory of God and to the best of our ability. But we also want to keep our priorities straight, because eternity always should be in view of all that we say and do.

The Bible tells us that our days on earth are short. “We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace”

We act as though life on this earth is the main event, and the afterlife is, well, an afterthought. But nothing could be further from the truth.

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”–James 1:19–21

Some of our problems come from the fact that we are slow to do things we should and fast to do things we should not. One of the areas in which this displays itself for many is in our hearing and speaking. Lehman Strauss asked, “Could it be that we are not more ‘swift to hear’ because we are not ‘slow to speak’? God gave us two ears and only one mouth. Should we not be twice as swift to listen and learn?”

Many times conflicts arise in churches, marriages, friendships and work relationships because someone jumps to a conclusion without knowing all of the facts and begins telling everyone they know what they think happened. These people may be quite sincere in what they are doing, but they can be destructive nonetheless. It is impossible to recall words once they have been spoken. Mark Twain said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”

Do not be in a hurry to repeat things that are told to you, and be sure to evaluate the facts before you reach a conclusion. Solomon reminds us, “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him” (Proverbs 18:13). While there is a time to speak up for what is right, we should never respond in haste or anger. Rather, we should be quick to listen and make sure that we fully understand the situation before we begin to speak.–Dr. Paul Chappell

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword—” (Heb. 4:12)

A Christian university student was witnessing to another student who was from a liberal seminary. When the believer quoted a verse, the seminarian said, “I don’t believe the Bible.” The Christian quoted another verse, only to be met with “I told you I don’t believe the Bible.” The third time the Christian quoted a verse the seminarian became agitated and exploded, “Don’t quote the Bible to me. I’ve already told you I don’t believe it.” By then the believer felt completely frustrated and defeated. He figured that he was a total failure as a soul winner.

It so happened that Dr. H. A. Ironside was a guest at his home that night. At the supper table, the Christian student shared his disappointing experience about the seminarian. Then he asked Dr. Ironside, “When you are trying to witness to someone and he says to you, ‘I don’t believe the Bible,’ what do you do?” Dr. Ironside replied with a happy smile, “I just quote more of it.”

That is excellent advice for any would-be soul winners. When people say they don’t believe the Bible, just quote more of it. The Word of God is living and powerful. It has an effect on people even when they don’t believe it.

Suppose two men are dueling. One says to the other, “I don’t believe your sword is real steel.” What happens? Does the second man lay down his sword and admit defeat? Or does he give a scientific discourse on the carbon content and malleability of the metal? Ridiculous! He gives his opponent a good sharp jab and lets him feel how real the sword is. So it is with the Bible. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It needs to be used more than it needs to be defended. It is well able to defend itself.

I do not deny that there is a place for proofs of the inspiration of the Scriptures. Such proofs serve a valuable purpose in confirming the faith of those who are already saved. In a few cases they help people come to saving faith. But generally speaking people aren’t convinced by human reasonings or arguments. “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” Men need to be confronted with the powerful Word of God. A single verse of Scripture is worth a thousand arguments.

This highlights the importance of Scripture memorization. If I haven’t committed verses to memory, the Spirit will not be able to bring them forth at the appropriate time. But the main point is that God has not promised to honor my words, but He has promised to honor His own. So in dealing with the unsaved, I must use the sword of the Spirit generously and watch it produce conviction and conversion by a miracle of grace. –William MacDonald

Today we stop to honor the courage and sacrifice of those who have served in the military to protect and defend the freedoms that we enjoy. It was on November 11, 1918, that the First World War—the “war to end all wars”—reached its conclusion. This day was set aside to honor those who fought in what was then the greatest conflict the world had ever seen. As further conflicts have followed, proving that war has not ended, honor for veterans of other wars has been added to the observance of this day.

The failure of the treaties drawn by men to bring about lasting peace and the continued drumbeat of conflict and war highlight the truth for us that God is the only source of peace, and the only true defense for any nation. Though we may have impressive military might, apart from God’s hand it can quickly be brought to nothing.

To those who, as our national anthem put it, placed their lives “between their loved homes and the war’s desolation,” we owe a debt of gratitude. To God who is our hope of peace, we should not only give thanks, but also pray. Though many in our land have turned away from Him and snub His Word and His law, we should thank Him for the thousands of righteous people who love and honor God. We should pray today for His protection and peace.— Give thanks for those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom, and pray to God that He will be our sure defense.–Dr. Paul Chappell

Keep thy heart with all diligence,for out of it are the issues of life.–Proverbs 4:23

In the light of the great disappointments we encounter we have a great need to heed what our text says, lest we grow weary and faint. Pastor Jack Graham said:

Some people always look for a reason to be unhappy. They walk into a beautiful meadow, and pass all the flowers just to find the cow manure in the corner so they can complain! In my years of ministry, I’ve seen many people just like that. But if I had the choice, I’d definitely prefer to be with people who look for the positive.

I talk with pastors all the time whose churches are resisting them for no real reason. These pastors want to do some great things but they’re just crushed because of the pessimistic spirit of their church. And even outside the church in the workforce, people would much rather be behind an optimist than someone with a negative attitude. Optimistic teams are much more productive!

Look at today’s verse: “Keep thy heart…” That means we’re to keep our mind, will, and emotions pointed in a positive direction( on the Lord) so that even when setbacks occur, we know the victory will be ours. And when we do that, we’ll experience a flow of joy in our lives.

Keep your heart; don’t lose hope; stay optimistic. The victory is already yours. So live like it!

Remember, we are not fighting for victory–we are fighting from victory– Jesus has already assured us of that!