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What About Tomorrow?

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It’s kind of strange how Jesus didn’t have much to say about tomorrow. What He did say is that we shouldn’t worry about it.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matthew 6:34, The Message). 

Someone eloquently said, “Today is the tomorrow you used to worry about!”

When dwelt upon, tomorrow’s unknown fears can impact the way you live in the present. Like a scorching fire, fear burns up your energy and vitality. It devastates your hopes and eager expectations, cripples faith and can ultimately destroy your health.

God’s Word is a good antidote for fear. That’s not to say that when it’s read it holds some kind of hocus pocus magic that instantly dispells all our fears. Such an expectation would be naive and unrealistic. Rather, God’s promises are like the anti-venom that neutralizes the poison of a deadly bite. Suddenly healing is within reach. Try reading these passages and note how you are affected: Psalm 23; Psalm 91; John 14:1-3

“I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (Romans 8:38, 39, The Message).
 
Questions About Your Future

One of the best ways to plan for tomorrow is to proactively seize today’s opportunities for learning and personal growth. Here are some questions to consider. Your answers will help provide a glimpse into what your future may or may not hold:  

1. What are you doing today to limit tomorrow’s potential medical expenses?

2. Are you putting any money in savings for future needs?

3. What skills are you honing today to make yourself more marketable in tomorrow’s workplace?

4. What do you want to be doing five years from now?

5. What are you planning to do five years from now?

6. What is today’s most pressing personal challenge?

7. What do you think tomorrow’s most pressing challenge will be?

8. What are you doing to master this anticipated challenge?

9. How much time do you invest in other people (family, friends and others)?

10. There are many things we cannot change. What can you do today to influence your sphere of influence in a positive way?

Read more at the source: What About Tomorrow?

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

Window Shopping

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I remember the first time I saw her. It was 49 years ago, and we were in the college cafeteria just after semester break. She was a new face on campus and being not “socially attached” to anyone at the time, I immediately began to plot how best to impress her and get a date.

I determined this venture was worth spending some of my hard-earned cash on; so, throwing caution to the wind, I purchased two tickets to a Victor Borge concert at Constitution Hall. Since the concert was sold out, I was offered provisional seats on the stage itself just inches from the maestro. The cost was exorbitant, but this only served to convince me that this would surely make the hoped-for-impression.

It must have done the trick. That young lady and I are still dating each other. We’ve also been married for 47 years.

Dating is exhilarating. Everyday is new and exciting; feet walk on clouds, hearts skip beats, life looks beautiful through those rose-tinted glasses. Is that normal? Absolutely! Is it wrong? I hope not. Dating is, in fact, part of our Great Physician’s plan. He fully intended that His children grow up, mature, and seek companionship. “It is not good that the man should be alone,” He told Adam in Genesis 2:18, KJV.

We’re attracted to other people by many things. It could be as whimsical as a smile, or as basic as a feeling of security. But the final selection process—the process that ends with a nervous “I do” uttered before witnesses—must be carried out using issues far deeper than looks and feelings.

Dating is a time for discovering which is the right person for you. It’s a time to get to know what makes us tick; what we like and don’t like; how we spend money; what we believe in; what our habits are.

Dating is a grand experiment, and that may be as far as some couples want to go. But the man and woman who desire to deepen their relationship must make a commitment. They become more and more exclusive until, finally, they pledge to love, honor, and cherish “until death do us part.”

There is Someone who loves you very much. This person has had His eye on you ever since you were born, and He wants to be first in your life. I wonder if we are as fair with Him as we are with one another. In short, are you committed to God, or are you just “dating” Him?

Are you window shopping—looking here and there for someone who will bring you the most benefits? If God promised to make you rich, beautiful, or famous, would you attend church more often?

Is God your blind date—the stranger you hardly know yet who you expect to meet all your specifications? Is He on your heart’s short list only when you can’t find anyone else?

Are you trying to double-date with God? Instead of making Him first in your life, do you expect Him to share time with your career or many social engagements?

Maybe you think you can “go Dutch” with your Creator—He takes care of His obligations, you take care of yours. That way, you won’t be “beholding” to Him for anything.

Perhaps you consider yourself “going steady” with God, but not willing to move up to the next level—being totally committed to Him “until death do us part.”

The ultimate cad in the dating scene is the two-timer—one who pretends to be committed to you while maintaining developing friendships on the side. Have you ever said Yes to God, then returned to your old way of life?

The Bible says that our Great Physician is a “jealous” God (Exodus 34:14). That means He has chosen you, and He doesn’t want anything or anybody to take you away. Like any serious suitor, He longs to spend time with you because He has invested everything He owns in your relationship. He has paid every bill, including your ticket to heaven. No, He’s not trying to impress you or make Himself look good. He’s simply saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love;I  have drawn you with loving-kindness (Jeremiah 31:3).

How could anyone resist a love like that?

Read more at the source: Window Shopping

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

The Seeing-Eye God

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Several weeks ago during my morning quiet time, I prayed for God to show up somewhere and make Himself evident. I talk to Him most days, and I believe in Him, but sometimes, I need a little handholding and reassurance. And I was going to the ophthalmologist that day for what I believed would be a diagnosis that I did not want. So I was feeling a little insecure.

I went through my morning, met a friend for a business lunch appointment, and then went to my eye appointment. I had been there two weeks earlier and was asked to return. Another round of pupil dilation, a couple of tests, and then the doctor came in to review things. He looked over papers twice, looked in my eyes, and then declared that everything was good. He blamed the mistaken condition on a machine that gave an inaccurate reading last time. “Your optic nerve looks fine today. Come back in six months–good-bye.“

Hours later at home after my pupils had come back to their normal setting, the significance of my day suddenly dawned on me. God had literally “shown up” today. He was there in my eye appointment. Now I know that He doesn’t or can’t go about healing every medical condition (I still have some of those), however, I had asked to SEE Him today. I had to laugh at the way it transpired. He is the creator of symbolism.

 As I have been reading Luke 11, I realize that asking is important, whether God acts or my eyesight just gets better. Verse 9: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you ”(NIV). I believe that He delights in surprising us and reminding us of His love. So I am emboldened to ask for more.

Thankfully, my perspective on life has very little to do with my optic nerve. Yet I filter everything that I view through the lens of God’s love and my faith in Him. “If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. Keep your eyes open, your lamp burning, so you don’t get musty and murky. Keep your life well-lighted as your best-lighted room” (Luke 11:34-36, MG).

Read more at the source: The Seeing-Eye God

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

Those Growing Bones

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Getting our kids to eat healthy can be quite a task but being persistent has its benefits. One benefit is supporting the growth of healthy bones and teeth.

As children grow, the body demands calcium to support bone development. Infants need calcium so that bones can increase to support their ever growing weight and size. Calcium from breast milk and/or formula meet the infants’ need. However when they become toddlers and children, they need a steady supply.

Between the ages of 10 – 15 years old, the weight of bones double1 but this is the time growing children and teenagers abandon calcium sources. This compromises bone density and bones are more vulnerable to breakage. For example, children and teenage boys who don’t get enough calcium have more forearm breakages than those who do get enough calcium.2 

When teenagers and children have low calcium intakes, they increase their risk for osteoporosis or brittle bones as they get older. Here’s why. During teen years and up to age 25, bones increase in density. After this, the body maintains density. When we reach 40 years old, we start to lose calcium. If we do not have significant stores, our bones can become brittle in the later years of life. What we do now for growing bones can affect our children’s bones in later years.

Where do we get calcium? One of the most abundant sources of calcium is from milk and dairy products. What are the best sources? Keeping a steady supply of milk, cheese and yogurt in the daily diet will help keep bones strong. If milk sources cannot be digested due to allergies for example, there are other sources of calcium. Soy, almond and rice beverages can be a source of calcium. Don’t forget to read the label to make sure calcium has been added. Broccoli, beans, bok choy, spinach, almonds, tortillas and tofu with calcium sulfate are other sources that contain calcium. Getting these foods in the diet will help provide calcium for bones.

Don’t forget that growing bones need more than calcium. Other nutrients to support bones include vitamin D, magnesium, potassium, boron, fluoride, iron and many others. Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, will help meet the demands for these nutrients.

How much calcium do growing bones need?

Calcium Requirements*

Birth to 6 months  – 210 mg
6-12 months  – 270 mg
1-3 years old  – 500 mg
4-8 years old  – 800 mg
9-18 years old  – 1,300 mg
*Source: Eunice Kenndy Shriver National  Institute of Child Health and Human Development website.

1. How much Calcium in our bones? www.idph.state.ia. Accessed, December 29, 2010.
2. Ryan LM. Forearm fractures in children and bone health. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Obesity: December 2010 – Volume 17 – Issue 6 – p 530–534.

Read more at the source: Those Growing Bones

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Healthy Living.

The Shell Around Us

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Recently when the wind blew some trees down across a trail near where I live, I went out the next day to clear them away. When I arrived one was still partially standing, leaning up against another tree, so I cut it down with the chainsaw and used the tractor to drag it away.

After clearing away all three of the trees, I was picking up the broken branches and clearing the area when I noticed a pretty deep hole in the ground caused by one of the trunks of the tree as it fell. This hole was several inches deep, and looking into it I noticed what looked like a bowl in the bottom. “Hmm, that’s weird,” I thought as I took the toe of my boot and tried to dig it out. I was startled as it moved; it was a turtle! I guess he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, because that tree had landed right on top of him and pushed him several inches into the ground. I was afraid he was hurt or his shell was cracked, but after carefully digging him out and putting him to the side, a few minutes later he poked out his legs and head and ambled off into the woods.

As I continued with my work I thought about the turtle and the Christian walk. During the storm the turtle was protected from the weather and from the fallen oak tree. He wasn’t squashed like a frog or bird because of the protection of his shell.

As followers of Christ we are protected. God’s means of protection includes the Holy Spirit and His holy angels. You can read more about the protection that God gave to Job in Job 1, 2 and Daniel 3.

Think about God’s protection as a shell about you as you read this from Psalm 91:

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him. He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do Psalm 91not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. . . If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. . . The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love Me. I will protect those who trust in My name. When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them My salvation” (Psalm 91, NLT).

Remember to commit your heart to Christ every single day, and you can rest assured that His protection will surround you as well.

Read more at the source: The Shell Around Us

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

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