Day 105

RESPECT MY PEOPLE

Today’s Text: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Exodus 20:12)

Today’s Thoughts: We need to honour and obey God first above all others, but God wants us to obey and respect our earthly parents too. It’s not always easy to submit to others, but God promises a special blessing to those who honour their parents. God knows that life will be more pleasant if we respect our parents. When Jesus was on earth He honoured His earthly parents – surely we can do the same. True children of God will follow Christ’s example, and they will therefore enjoy a long life – a forever-life – with their Saviour.

Today’s Testimony: God asked us to honour our parents. But think about it… He surely wants us to have a healthy respect for all our fellow man. God has placed certain people in authority over us and we need to give them due respect. Then there are our peers who also deserve our respect. Finally we have those who are less-fortunate than us, younger than us, or those we just feel are on a lower level than us in whatever way that be. The word “deserve” that I used earlier – let me explain it this way: we are all just as human as everyone else right? We are all sinners in need of a Saviour right? None of us really have anything to boast about. People deserve respect – not because of anything they’ve done, but just because they are God’s creation. God loves us all the same. How can we show disrespect and an uncaring attitude toward any one of His loved ones?!
Then there are those who have authority over us but abuse that authority. Do we still need to respect those people? Have you ever read what Jesus did when the people asked if they should pay taxes? He asked them to bring Him a coin and asked them whose image and superscription was on the coin. They answered that it was Caesar’s. He then replied, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” (Mark 12:14-17). God does want us to obey those in authority, and yet only if we are not required to go against what God would have us do. When we feel that our superiors are taking advantage of their authority there’s only one thing to do – take the problem to the Lord. He knows what we are going through. He knows how to help us. God wants us to obey and respect those in authority. They may be in the wrong, but as long as we remain in the right, God will bless us. As the well-known saying goes: “Two wrongs don’t make a right”.
Now I’d like to bring our attention back to respect for everyone. Do you think God is ever happy when we treat others as inferior? We are not alone in this world – we are surrounded by other human beings who are also battling through this life. God created every single one of them. He loves them all. God wants us to respect our fellow man. You’ll be a lot happier if you do. We must never speak badly about anyone else, or treat them poorly no matter how wrong they may be. The benefit of peace and joy always comes with doing what we know the Lord would have us do. We need to patiently await our reward – eternity with the Lord.
You know what I’m thankful for? I’m thankful that this sin-loving world is not the only hope I have. I have a bright future awaiting me – an eternity with a fair and loving God. I want to be there. I might have to submit to ungodly people in this world for a few years – but if I am faithful I can spend all of eternity with my Saviour.

Today’s Task: Honour your father and your mother. Obey and respect them no matter who they are or how they are. Give due respect to all those in authority, knowing that Christ never fought back when He was falsely accused and mistreated by those in authority in the land at that time. Respect all human beings, knowing that God created and loves them all. Show the love and character of Christ to a world that is dying in need of a Saviour. Ask the Lord to help you – He will.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that although You have placed others in authority over us, You are still in control. Help us to honour, respect and obey those that You would have us honour, respect and obey. Help us to respect Your people. Help us to remember that a happy eternity awaits all those who live for You. Help us to honour, respect and obey You always as our greatest authority. Lord please help us to do Your will at all costs. We want to live for You. Please help us. We love You Lord. Amen.

Day 104

SPEND A DAY WITH ME

Today’s Text: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)

Today’s Thoughts: God created the world in six days and then rested on the seventh. He spent that day with Adam and Eve. God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy. He gave it as a rest-day for us. He definitely didn’t need the rest – He’s God. God knew that we would need a day to pause from the stresses of life and spend that day recharging in Him. God asked us to remember to keep this day holy because He knew how much we would need it. God cares about His children.

Today’s Testimony: So how has your week been so far? Are you anticipating the weekend? What plans do you have? Is your weekend going to be relaxing or just as busy as the rest of the week?
How’s your life been? Do you feel like you’re riding on an endless train ride? Do you live for the weekends and then when they’re over you feel no better than you did before they started? Could there be something better?
I get tired of studying and everyday business – I need a break. I could just settle for a relaxing weekend, but a spiritual recharge is much more effective. I spend a whole day with the Lord every week. A friend of mine refers to it as “you and Him time”. That’s exactly what it is. It’s my time to spend with the Lord; my time to recharge spiritually. It’s a time when I can withdraw from the concerns and cares of life. The Lord has given us one full day “off” every week – a day when we can rest from our labours of the week, a day when we can put our studies down and rest in the Lord. We do not have to worry about work-load piling up or failing the exam – God will take care of all those issues if we do what He’s asked and spend a day with Him. We need rest for a whole day each week and God knew that. We need to recharge spiritually for a whole day and God knew that. We might think we can cope without keeping His Sabbath holy and spending it with Him, but there is a special blessing, refreshing and peace for all those who take the time to obey this commandment.
The Sabbath is not a day to live for ourselves – it is a day dedicated to the Lord. The special Sabbath-rest consists of spending time in God’s Word (Acts 13:27;15:21), spending time in prayer (Acts 16:13), studying and sharing God’s Word (Acts 17:2; 18:4), going to worship God at church (Luke 4:16), spending time with fellow believers (Luke 14:1), doing good (Mark 3:4, 5) – this can be done by helping or visiting those who need it, not doing any work (Ex. 20: 10), not buying and selling (Neh. 10:31;13:15-22) and not doing our own pleasure or speaking our own words – our conversations must be Christ-centred (Is. 58:13,14). We should also prepare our hearts and our homes to keep the Sabbath the day before the Sabbath which was referred to as the preparation day (Mark 15:42). These are a few Biblical guidelines to enjoy a refreshing and peaceful Sabbath. There is a special blessing available to God’s children if they keep His Sabbath. He blessed the seventh day of the week and set it apart as holy – this day belongs to God. He wants to spend every Sabbath day with you. He deserves to be able to spend it with His people. But He also knew how much we would need a day of rest and recharge. God gave us the Sabbath for our benefit. He loves us!

Today’s Task: Remember the seventh-day-Sabbath and keep it holy. Spend a day every week with your Creator. Rest in the Lord and recharge. God gave you the day off – don’t forfeit that rest. He waits for you every Sabbath – do you come? Please don’t disappoint him. He spent 33 years here on this sin-loving planet just for us – surely we can spend one whole day each week with Him. I invite you to spend the Sabbath with the Lord. He is looking forward to it.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You thought of how tired we would become and that we would need a break. I thank You that You knew that we would need a day to recharge in You. I thank You that You didn’t leave us with the option of whether or not to keep it – knowing that we do not know what is truly best for us – but that You commanded us to spend the Sabbath with You. Thank You for caring about us. I thank You that You blessed the seventh day and that we can still obtain that blessing by keeping it holy. I thank You that You, the Creator, want to spend one whole day with us, Your creation – WOW!!! Lord please help us to trust You and give Sabbath-rest a try. We need You! Please help us to spend this Sabbath and every coming one with You. We love You Lord. Amen.

Day 103

REVERENCE MY NAME

Today’s Text: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

Today’s Thoughts: God is holy. God’s name is holy. As His people we need to bring honour and glory to His name, not bring dishonour to His name. Whenever we use the Lord’s name we must do so with respect. Using God’s name casually without thought as to its holiness is sin. We need to reverence our God and His holy name. We as humans do not want others to make fun of our names – if we know that that is unkind, then how much more should we realize how evil it is to use God’s name disrespectfully?! Our God has a holy and wonderful name. Let us always reverence His name.

Today’s Testimony: I remember learning about the Ten Commandments when I was in primary school. We’re all aware of the often used expressions that make use of God’s name out of its holy context. Some people use His name on purpose to mock Him; others have never really thought anything about it. But whether we do it on purpose or innocently, we are still dishonouring His holy name. The teacher that was presenting the Ten Commandments to us took it a few steps further. She first said that we must not use the word “God” as an expression. She then added that we should not even use words that sound similar. You know how people feel it’s wrong to say “God” so they start changing a letter or two. Does that really make a difference?! Surely we can replace the whole word totally if we must use an expression or even use a totally different expression or no expressions at all. I for one would rather choose one of the latter options than to make God’s name appear unholy. My teacher didn’t stop there. She then asked us about words that refer to God. How about “Word” and “Goodness”? Maybe you can think of some more. I decided to put all those questionable expressions behind me. There is always something far more acceptable to use if we have to say anything at all. The last thing I want to do is hurt my God by dishonouring His name.
Now I’d like us to take a deeper look into dishonouring God’s name. Have you accepted Him as your Lord and Saviour? Are you His child? Do you call yourself a Christian? If yes, then… can the world see that you belong to a loving God? If we are Christ’s followers we are examples to the world of who He is. If we give a bad example we are bringing dishonour to His name – we are using His name and calling ourselves Christians, but advertising for Satan! It is not a light thing to say God’s name out of its holy context, neither is it a light thing to use God’s name (call ourselves Christians) and not live up to that name. No matter how we do it we must never ever bring dishonour to God’s name. His name is holy and must be treated with the highest respect. Our talk and lives must be a witness that we serve a holy and loving God. His name deserves to be reverenced.
Now we need to discuss what’s in it for us. Faithful children would never want to dishonour their father’s name right? God’s true children will never bring dishonour to God’s name on purpose and will be very sad if they do. God will spend eternity with His children. Those who aren’t God’s true children would not be happy living for eternity without sin, and therefore will not be there. If we want to spend eternity with our loving Saviour we need to live as His children. We need to speak and act as His children. We need to live and speak for His glory. The choice is ours – eternity is waiting for those who reverence God’s name and do not take it in vain.

Today’s Task: Remember that God’s name is holy and reverence His name. Do not use it lightly or out of its holy context. Do not call yourself a Christian unless you are willing to live as a Christian and be a good example for Christ. Never ever dishonour God’s name. It is sin and it saddens our God. God loves you more than you will ever know. Please give Him due respect. Talk for God and live for God – then when day you can talk with God and live with God. What a day that will be!

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You thought of us when You gave the commandment to reverence Your name. You knew that we would not be able to spend eternity with You if we did not learn to talk for You and live for You. I thank You that You loved us enough to share with us what hurts You. Please help us to use Your name with respect so that we will not hurt You. Lord help us to never use Your name disrespectfully on purpose and anger You. You and Your name are holy – help us to treat them as holy. Help us to be faithful witnesses for You – showing to the world that we serve an amazing God. Help us to live up to the name Christian in all that we do and say. We love Your holy name Lord. We love You. We praise You and thank You in Christ’s name, Amen.

Day 102

NO OTHER GODS BESIDES ME

Today’s Text: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)

Today’s Thoughts: Only God is worthy of our worship. We must never reverence anyone or anything else. He is to be our only God and the only One we worship. God is a jealous God. Wouldn’t you be?! He created us and then He gave His Son to die in our place so He could keep us, and then we decide that He isn’t good enough and find other gods. When we sin – we reap the results. The results of sin often affect more than just the ones who sin – it can affect, as this text tells us, generations to come. But God doesn’t want us to choose the gods in this world, whatever they be, because He knows that any other god will only cause us pain. He wants us to have Him as our one and only God. If He is our God He will be merciful to us. If we choose Him, love Him and obey Him He will have mercy on us. I want the Lord to be merciful to me and bless me. I want to place Him as First and Foremost and All in All. I want Him to be my everything. How about you?

Today’s Testimony: God might be first in our lives, but do we have other gods as well? When the Lord gave the Ten Commandments the other nations were worshipping graven images, more commonly known as idols. We do still have idols today, but those are not the only gods we can have. This commandment I often used to skim over as I did with many of the others. For instance the one that says, “Thou shalt not kill.” I didn’t really think I had to worry too much about that one because I would never kill anyone on purpose, but there is far more to this commandment than what it appears to be. I found the same with the second commandment. I don’t have or worship any idols so I thought I didn’t have to worry about this one. The way I’ve rephrased it is the way I now understand this commandment – “No other gods besides me”.
A god can be anyone or anything that occupies a special place in your heart. No, I’m not saying that everyone and everything that occupies a special place in your heart is a god, but those things are what can become gods. A god usually has some sort of control over our lives. For instance: how does fashion affect the way you dress? How do your friends affect the way you speak and act? Do TV, movies, books and games have an influence on your mind? Does food appeal to you more than it should? Are you over-concerned about your weight? Are there any forms of entertainment you would hate to miss? What matters to you in this life? Have you got any gods other than the one true God?
I think most of us, if not all of us, have things in our lives that have a very important place in our hearts. We need to be sure that God is our only source of strength, peace and joy and that nothing else is ever good enough. We need to run to God when we’re in need and to no one and nothing else. It’s when we try and find peace in someone or something other than God that we become more dependent on other gods. The peace this world can offer is only temporal – God’s peace is eternal. The benefit of having God as our one and only God is that we can have eternal peace no matter what troubles we face, because we always run to the only one who can solve our problems. We can be content when all else fails and disappears – God will always be there. If we only follow the Lord’s will for our lives we will be far happier than if we followed the will of others and our own will. God knows what’s best for us. He will have mercy on us if we choose Him as our One and Only. Life is sweeter with only one God!

Today’s Task: Today’s message is the hardest one for me to follow, even though I used to think it didn’t apply to me. We all need to find our only source of peace, strength and joy in our Lord Jesus Christ. If we need to feel valued – we need to find that sense of value in knowing that Christ valued us enough to give His life for us and that he still cares about us so much. God is ALL we need. Today’s task is simply to remember that and to give God our hearts – the whole thing.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord we praise You that You are our God. Please help us to have no other gods besides You. We thank You for the peace, joy, strength, sense of value and all our other needs that only You can provide. Please help us to run to You and to You alone. All earthly gods are only temporal peace-givers and will never fill those empty spaces in our hearts. Lord I thank You that You want to fill every heart and that You have not just left us to battle on alone without Your mercy. I thank You for the benefit of making You our One and Only and All in All. Please help us, we are so weak. Lord please be our Everything. We love You Lord. Amen.

Day 101

NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME

Today’s Text: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)

Today’s Thoughts: God created us and thus we belong to Him. We chose to stray and thus in order for Him to be able to keep us forever He sent His Son to die for us. We deserved to die but God bought us so that He could live with us for all eternity. That’s the kind of God we serve. Our God does not require us to appease Him with human sacrifices as believed about some other gods – our God sacrificed Himself in our place. We serve an amazing God! He wants to be first in our lives, but truly He deserves to be. We need to be careful not to ever hold anything or anyone above the Lord, including ourselves. May God always occupy the first place in our hearts and lives.

Today’s Testimony: For years I wondered about the first two commandments. To me they seemed so similar. I figured that if you didn’t have any gods before the Lord you obviously wouldn’t worship any graven images. But then I saw the huge difference between the two commandments and realized why the Lord gave them both. The first one says, “No gods before Me – I must be first and foremost.” The second one says, “No other gods beside Me – I must be your all in all.” Yes these two commandments may be similar, but they have an important difference. We’ll discuss a bit more about the difference tomorrow.
Right now I’d like to share the benefit of keeping the first commandment. When I introduced this topic I mentioned that the first four commandments display our love for God. The first four commandments can thus often seem like selfish requests. But seeing we know that God is far from selfish, we could maybe settle for the fact that God asks us to do these things because he deserves our love and obedience. But there is something far more special about these commandments. God gave them because He knew they would benefit us. And yet, let me be quite honest – the observance of these first four commandments is a life or death situation. Please keep reading through this entire series and if you are not convinced, ask the Lord. If you’re still not convinced – I’m only an email away.
So now let’s discuss the benefit of having no other gods above the one true God. Let me start by asking you if you have a very close earthly friend? Do you share everything, or just about everything, together? Do you both know what the other likes and dislikes? Do you ever know what the other would say about a certain situation before you’ve even shared it with him or her, simply because you know each other so well? Why is it that you know each other so well? Is it because of the time you spend together being best friends? It’s when someone is important to you that you come to know them personally right? That’s how it must be with God. We need to spend so much time with Him building on a personal relationship that when He speaks – we know it’s Him; when we need to make a decision – we know what He would have us do; when we have a problem – we can peacefully trust in Him. That’s what we need!!! We need to have God as first and foremost in our lives so that we can cope with all that life throws at us. How many times do we make terrible mistakes because we cannot hear God’s voice leading us? How many times do we shrink into despair when we face trials because we cannot sense the Lord’s peace? How many times do we not know what God would have us do as opposed to what we want, others want or Satan himself wants? Would you like to be able to live with the certainty that all these fears would be gone? The answer is quite simple, and yet to put it into practice is not that easy. We need to get to know the Lord better – we need to have Him as our first and only God. We need a relationship with the Lord that is so strong that nothing can separate us from His side. We cannot live eternally with the Lord if we do not have a personal relationship with Him and the only way to get an unshakeable one is to place Him as first and foremost. We can only truly cope in this life if we do the same. God truly wasn’t being selfish – He knew we’d need Him.

Today’s Task: Make sure God is Your God above all else. Spend time with Him and form a strong and personal relationship with your Saviour. You need the Lord! Please give Him first place in your heart and life and never ever give that place to anyone or anything else. Make God your one and only.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that You gave us the Ten Commandments for our benefit. I praise You that we can have a close, strong and personal relationship with You. I thank You that You’ve done all You can to make that possible – the rest is up to us. Please help us to place You first in our lives so that we can come to know You more. Help us to have no other gods before You. We want to know You. We love You Lord. Amen.

Day 100

OPEN MY EYES TO WONDROUS THINGS

Today’s Text: Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. (Psalm 119:18)

Today’s Thoughts: Have you ever heard of the Ten Commandments? They are also referred to as the Law of God. When we hear of laws and rules we often don’t have very good thoughts do we? We want to be free, but at the same time we do realize that rules and laws are important. God has given us a set of guidelines for happy living. He wants us to live happy and fulfilling lives and that is why He gave them. I don’t know what you presently think about the Ten Commandments, but bear with me for a few days and I’ll share with you what the Lord has shared with me. God wants to open our eyes to behold wondrous things in His law. God’s Law was given for our benefit.

Today’s Testimony: Now I’m not sure what you know about the Ten Commandments so first we’ll have to share a few things of importance. The Ten Commandments are divided into two sections. In keeping the first four we display our love for God and by keeping the last six we display our love for our fellow man. You can read about this in Matthew 22:35 – 40. The Ten Commandment themselves can be found in Exodus 20:1-17.
Human beings are selfish – there’s no question about it. So the logical question for a sinful human being to ask is, “So there’s something in it for God and something in it for others… but what’s in it for me?” I’d like you to think about the answer to this question for a bit. Were the Ten Commandments given for your benefit?
During the next few days we’re going to discover what the benefit is for keeping each of the Ten Commandments. Some say we no longer have to keep them. We’re not going to dive into that at this stage, but let me say this – if what the Lord has shown me is correct, and that the Commandments have personal benefit for each and every one of us… why on earth would we not want to keep them?
I don’t know what your feelings are toward the keeping of the Ten Commandments, but I ask you to please continue reading Today’s T’s as we discuss this amazing truth together. Once you’ve read all that the Lord has shown me you can make an educated decision on whether or not you want to keep the Ten Commandments or not, but I promise you that keeping them will do you no harm. If it does bring you harm it shows that Satan is definitely not happy with your decision to live by God’s guideline given to His people so many years ago. I’m telling you – they can still benefit us today!
God does everything for the good of His children. The fact that God gave His Ten Commandments means that He knew that they would be for the good of His people. If they were good for them then – I believe they’re good for us now. This beautiful truth of the benefit in keeping the Ten Commandments only hit me a few months ago, and I want to share it with you. Please will you allow me to?

Today’s Task: Today I simply want you to bow your head and ask the Lord to open your eyes to the wonderful things in His Law. Ask Him to show you all the wonderful truths He wants you to know. Please be open to His voice.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You love us. I thank You that You gave the Ten Commandments for us; for our benefit. Please help us to realize that You gave them in love. Lord I pray that You will help us to keep Your Commandments so that we can receive the benefits; but Lord, if some of us refuse to, please may this study at least help all of us to realize more fully that You do all things in love and for our benefit. Lord, please help us to obey You in all things so that You can see and know that we love You. We do love You Lord. Amen.

GOD’S BLESSINGS ARE NEW EVERY DAY

Today’s Text: It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22, 23)

Today’s Thoughts: The Lord should have destroyed us long ago. We are so sinful and cause Him so much pain. But His love forbids that. Because of His love and tender mercy for each one of us He did not destroy us and He is patiently waiting for us to fully surrender to Him. God faithfully blesses us every day even though we definitely do not deserve His mercies. His blessings are new every morning. God does not forget about His people – He loves us too much!

Today’s Testimony: When the Lord gave me this ministry He promised that He would provide the testimonies. He has never failed me. It’s not always easy to press on, but God grants me the strength I need. God is so good!
As VBS was approaching and I knew I would be busy and exhausted I wondered if I should take a break from Today’s T’s for the two weeks that I was teaching at two different Vacation Bible Schools. I asked the Lord and He told me that I must rather press on and He would tell me what to share. He promised that He could provide a blessing to share even if it be one day at a time. So that’s what I did – I continued. This week is my second week of VBS. Last week, although Today’s T’s came later than usual, I still sent them every day. But Thursday was an extremely busy day and I knew Friday would be worse. I asked the Lord about it and He said that I had continued with Today’s T’s as He had said and I could therefore take the day off from Today’s T’s on Friday.
Today I’m sharing testimony number 99. I stand in awe! My God is so amazing and so good! When He calls us to do a work for Him He does not leave us to do it alone – He’s right there with us. He has always provided testimonies for me to share – whether it be through helping me to choose the right one to share, or by blessing me with a brand new one – He has never left me empty-handed. I might go to Him feeling empty-handed sometimes, but He always sends me away with my hands full. God is so good! He provides me with new blessings every morning. We serve an amazing God!

Today’s Task: Trust the Lord to bless you with whatever you need. He knows your needs and He knows you. Ask Him to intervene no matter what it is that’s troubling you. God cares about you. Place your concerns in His hands. I invite you today to thank the Lord for all His wonderful blessings – they are new every day.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that You bless us so much and that Your blessings are new every morning. You’ve never forsaken us and we praise You. I thank You that You did not destroy us, but are patiently calling us to You. Please help us to trust You more. I thank You for Your great love for us. Help us to tell others about the ways You have blessed us. Help us to help others to come to know You too. We love You Lord. Amen.