Ms. Rita's Minute

2 Peter 3:8

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 

Photo: Joshua Sortino

Have you got time? Are you pressed for time? In any event, do you know who isn’t in a rush? Jesus. Sure, when we simply don’t have time, or urgency is at hand, the Lord will sustain us, providing prompts of wisdom. Sometimes, ahead of time, if we’re likely to listen (and even sometimes when we aren’t). At least this has been my experience.

Moreover, the Lord has been faithful to warn me about major events in my life years in advance, either through dreams or a sudden knowing in my heart. But I must admit I wasn’t always ready to receive the information. However, He has proven His amazing kindness by sending me little reminders so that I wasn’t totally blind sided or unprepared for the events. The Bible tells us that God will teach and instruct us in the way to go and counsel us with His loving eyes upon us.

In addition, I’ve found that God is a God of order and peace, not confusion. He has precise ways and times of doing and arranging things in each of our lives. Further, He’s a good Father who wants us to have what we need. So, He’s provided wisdom to make life easier to navigate. He doesn’t just throw His children into situations without help, though it can appear that way for a time and season. Nevertheless, sometimes, when we reject His ways for us, He will allow us to do things our own way. Only to see us later humble ourselves and truly seek Him for His solutions with obedience. 

Thankfully, our heavenly Father leads us in the paths of righteousness. He’s even provided His own Holy Spirit to live in us as our Helper. He assists us with decision-making and other duties. Yet we must exercise faith, trusting that we can hear Him clearly and He knows the best time and method for any action we are challenged to perform.

The Lord knows us at the core of our being, better than we know ourselves. Hence, we must be willing to accept that truth and choose His ways over our own, knowing that with everything there is a time and season. The more we come to know Him, the easier it will be to yield to Him as we find Him trustworthy and loving in our day-to-day interaction. Hence, the reason we must pray and study the Bible in order to become more familiar with the way He thinks, noting His actions in various situations in the lives of His people and enemies. 

Rest is His way for us. He has never instructed us to worry or be anxious about anything happening in our lives, but commands us not to worry about tomorrow, as tomorrow will worry about itself! So, because having enough time can play such a big part in our stresses and worries, we can be safe and secure in casting our cares on the Lord as He promises to sustain us, since He cares so much for us. There’s no greater caregiver!

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Scripture references: Job 43:14-16, 1 Corinthians 14:33, Psalm 32:8, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Matthew 6:34, Psalm 55:22.

2 Corinthians 13:5

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

Well, I’ll be adding another candle to the birthday cake of life soon. Hence, I’m pondering what I can do better in my life. For me, it’s a time to reflect on where I am in my walk with God and others.

The Prophet Moses tells me to number my days to gain a heart of wisdom, teaching me my time on earth is limited and I should spend it wisely, while King Solomon reminds me to avoid all extremes, which indicates opting for balance, choosing humility rather than haughty perfectionism or reckless sin. Also, the Apostle Peter reminds me that a person is a slave to whatever masters them. So, I’m remembering I need to be mindful of what and who I submit to.

It’s wonderful how patient the Lord is. He is long-suffering and merciful, as we human beings are not easy to deal with. Yet He doesn’t want anyone to perish. When one is loved as much as He loves us, perhaps it isn’t so hard for Him.

Sadly but thankfully, He puts up with our many distractions, lovingly as a good shepherd and with discipline, guiding us on the right paths. Though often seemingly satisfying to our souls, distractions can be a weight or hindrance to better things for us. If not prayerful, we can get caught up, trapped, or delayed by many things, good or bad, if we yield to them.

The Apostle Paul’s teaching on his focus can also be ours. He did not view himself through a lens of perfection, but, forgetting his past, would choose to focus on what Jesus had next, pressing on to reach the end of his life’s race, receiving the prize for which God, through Jesus, was calling him.

Everyone has their own unique interests; things on which we spend much time. Yet though I cannot see Him physically with my natural eyes, I’d like to ensure that God and His way of living have priority in my life. There is still much of Him available for me to access, know, and hold close by faith working through love.

Time spent with Him in prayer, Bible study, and relating to others is all a part of getting to know Him and growing in Him. His desire is that, as Christ’s ambassadors, we help others to know Him. This involves discipleship, baptism, and teaching, taking place in various ways, from informal to formal.

How much do I love the Lord? Only He knows for sure. Yet Scripture tells me I am to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s a whole lot, “the most,” and best, and He deserves it!

I know I’ve fallen short in some areas, but as I continue to seek Him genuinely and consistently, He’ll get me together. Thank God, with Him, all things are possible, and it’s not by our own might or power, but by His Spirit.

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Scripture references: Psalm 90:12, Ecclesiastes 7:18, 2 Peter 2:19, 2 Peter 3:9, Philippians 3:14, 2 Corinthians 5:20, and Matthew 28:19-20.

Romans 5:17

“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”

As God’s beloved sons and daughters, we are new creations in Christ Jesus. We aren’t the same as we were before knowing Him, as we’ve been reborn, receiving the gift of righteousness through our Lord and Savior. Therefore, when we work out salvation, we are merely walking out the new life Christ has already given us. The Bible reminds us that Jesus suffered to sanctify us through His own blood. So, now we have graciously been given His gift of eternal life!

By the power of another gift, His Holy Spirit, Christ now lives His life through us, as we are changed from glory to glory. We’ve been crucified with Christ, and no longer live as we did before, but Christ lives in us. Hence, the life we now live is by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Amazingly, we no longer have to see in order to believe, as we live our lives by faith, not by sight. We realize that without faith, it’s impossible to please God. In addition, we’re transformed by the renewing of our minds with God’s word, and His law is fulfilled when we love others, as love does no harm to a neighbor.

Moreover, we realize that without the Lord, we can do nothing because it is God who works in us to will and do of His good pleasure. As the Body of Christ, He has given us various gifts and talents to carry out His will. So, whether functioning as a hand, arm, leg or foot, we are each a part of the Lord’s Body.

Thankfully, God has equipped us with weapons of spiritual warfare that are mighty through God; spiritual armor to withstand the wiles of our enemy. We are not alone through life’s challenges or attacks, and our heavenly Father has provided many precious promises regarding our welfare. He has not only heavenly gifted us, but I’d say heavily, gifted us. There is so much He has freely done for us. Who is like the Lord?

Now, we can rest in knowing we belong to a Savior who will one day return for us to take us home to live with Him forever. However, until then, we are to occupy until He comes.

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Scripture references: 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 5:17, Hebrews 13:12, Philippians 2:12, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 12:2, Romans 13:10, 2 Corinthains 5:7, Galatians 2:20, Hebrews 11:6, Philippians 2:13, Romans 12:6, 2 Corinthians 10:4, John 14:2-3, and Luke 19:13.

2 Timothy 4:2

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.“

The Apostle Paul offered vital, wisdom-filled information for the difficult times ahead in the second of two letters to Timothy, a young man who was a trusted partner in his missions and was described as a son in the faith.

His words are still of great value in making us aware of those people and attitudes we will encounter in the last days. Here, Paul provides how one should preach or give God’s instructions. He basically says to be ready at all times, to correct, rebuke, and encourage in delivery.

When correcting someone’s error, the actual truth is to be given. Rebuking someone is an authoritative or formal way of telling someone they have done something wrong and need to correct it. Encouraging someone would be giving them courage, hope, and confidence so they feel able to do something or keep trying.

In teaching the truth of the Bible, it should be communicated not just with patience but with “great” patience and “careful” instruction. The goal is to be able to plant the seed of the Lord’s instructions, not to be disrespectful or offensive.

Nevertheless, some people may be offended by anything spoken from the Bible, which sometimes can’t be avoided apart from not speaking. Sometimes, people will not want to hear what you have to share, but only what they want to hear.

This message was necessary for Paul to teach as he highlighted that the time would come when people wouldn’t embrace sound doctrine. But, instead, to suit their own desires, they would gather around them many teachers to say what their itching ears wanted to hear, resulting in turning their ears away from the truth, to myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4); meaning accepting false stories, man-made fiction, or deceptive ideas.

Paul knew, as many of us know today, that people wouldn’t always desire to hear the truth of the Bible, and we should be prepared for that occurrence as well. Yet Paul encouraged Timothy to keep his head in all situations, to endure hardship, doing the work of an evangelist, discharging all the duties of his ministry (2 Timothy 4:5).

God has given us the fruit of self-control by His Holy Spirit, and walking by the Spirit in communicating the Lord’s teachings is necessary in representing Him well and making an impact on the listeners. Sometimes, people may be offensive and disrespectful in their response to what you share, but we are to endure with a lot of patience and carefully continue with all the responsibilities God has given us in ministry.

Matthew 11:28

“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”

Have you been experiencing fatigue from life’s pressures lately? Have challenges discouraged you or weighed you down to the point that you have very little energy to function normally? 

Well, whether the heaviness has come from situations regarding employment, family, friends, ministry, or physical ailments, Jesus wants us all to know that we don’t have to carry these things as heavy weights throughout our lives.

These weights are known as burdens, which basically are heavy loads. Heavy loads exhaust our stamina and make us weary. Merriam-Webster defines weary as being extremely tired or lacking energy and enthusiasm, usually as a result of physical exertion, mental strain, or prolonged exposure to a situation. What we need is the Lord’s perspective on all of these things we carry.

Jesus doesn’t expect us to heap these burdens onto ourselves that cause such weariness, but to come to Him so that He can give us rest. Remember, He is God, and we are not.

Moreover, He tells us in Matthew 11:29-30 to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him as He is gentle and humble in heart, and as a result, we find rest for our souls. His yoke is simply submission to His will for our lives, which we learn through hearing and reading His word and doing what it says.

Thankfully, Jesus is kind, compassionate, and patient. It isn’t heavily burdensome to be discipled or covered by Him. His commandments aren’t grievous or impossible. He doesn’t create a taxing or abusive environment wherever life takes us. He has made us victorious, overcomers in difficulty or trials!

With each circumstance we learn, and we grow as His plans for our good are eventually brought to fruition. It is the enemy of our faith who will tempt us to believe we should carry things that God has not given us to carry. Yet God wants us to walk freely by the Spirit, which is life for us.

So remember, “Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken” (Psalm 55:22). Release your struggles to Him, trusting He’ll give you the strength to endure. God promises His support as we do. So we don’t have to fear facing life’s challenges alone. God supplies wisdom to us generously. He just wants us to ask.

Psalm 34:8

“Taste and see that the Lord is good…”

Ah, the goodness of the Lord endures forever. It’s not hard to dwell on it. He does and has done so much for everyone. In Psalm 34:8, good, in Hebrew, translated as towb, can be defined as pleasant, agreeable, beneficial, beautiful, best, better, bountiful, etc. It often means something is well-designed, fit for its intended purpose, functioning as it was created to. It also indicates ethical rightness and general welfare, prosperity, or happiness. How in the world can one sufficiently describe God’s goodness when it transcends our human language?

Psalm 34:8-10 gives us two wonderful benefits we receive from the Lord because of His goodness:

1. We’re blessed when we take refuge in him. To take refuge in him means we receive  His shelter, protection, or a safe place from danger, trouble, or distress. Further, 1 Peter 2:1-3 tells us that now, having tasted that the Lord is good, we should rid ourselves of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander, and crave pure spiritual milk like newborn babies, so that we’ll grow up in our salvation.

2. Those who fear the Lord lack nothing. Fearing the Lord means we reverence Him, with awe and respect for His supremacy and holiness, and give attention to and obedience to what He says. As a result, we are not deficient or short of anything. Psalm 34:10 says that when we seek Him, we lack no good thing.

God is perfectly good and devoid of anything evil. We must see Him as He truly is: holy, merciful, faithful, and just, among the many amazing things He is. We taste of Him throughout life’s journey and learn of and experience His perfect ways as He works in, through, and around us. Psalm 119:68 reminds us that He is good, and what He does is good. Tasting the Lord is trusting, proving, and experiencing Him in our lives, and in doing so, we are blessed. 

Colossians 1:14

“in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Hallelujah! Today I’m praising God that we’ve been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of His Son. Let’s take a minute to think about Jesus. Just who in the world is He? It is written that He’s God’s Son, the image of the invisible God. So, if we want to know what God looks like, we should look at Jesus. What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in His life? What is His example for us living on earth?

First, let’s recognize that throughout His life, the Holy Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control were perfectly demonstrated by Jesus for us. Through His various acts of blessing, whether healing, delivering, teaching, etc., Jesus made known to us the Spirit, character, and will of God.

Further, it’s important to note that all things were created for Him. Sometimes we’d like to think that it was all for us, but the Bible tells us that, whether in heaven or on earth, He’s the one all things were created for.  Not only that, but He holds all things together. I’d say this tells us that without Him, all things fall apart.

If we want to know who matters most, we can look to Him. The Bible teaches us He’s the Head of the Church, the Body of Christ. So we are the living, breathing humans that make up the body of Him who is the head. This shows us that there is no other head. Of all the other religious beings we could come up with to worship or hold in high esteem, they should not be compared to Jesus. He is the Son of the Most High God.

Because of Jesus, we are no longer alienated from God. Until Jesus came, various animal sacrifices were used as atonement for the sins of mankind. However, because of His death on our behalf, we’ve now been reconciled to God. No longer are these sacrifices needed, as Jesus became the supreme sacrifice for our sins when he suffered and died on the cross. He was the sinless offering given, once and for all, so that we may become children of the Father. This is an amazing thing to think about.

It is our honor to accept what Jesus has done for us and love and live for Him all of our lives. Colossians 1:22-23 reminds us that He has now presented us holy to God, blameless, without accusation, if we continue firmly in our faith and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel we’ve heard. 

Moreover, Christ lives and works in us! What an awesome and gracious thing Jesus has done for us in dying for us and then living in us. Now, let us not forget His words in Revelation 22:12-13, “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

Ephesians 2:6 (NLT)

“For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” 

If you believe and honor the Bible, don’t listen to lies! Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are now seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus.  We aren’t prideful about it, but are grateful for it. It is finished! Now, we’re able to act like it. Hallelujah!

Jesus paid the price for our new position in Him. Mark 1:15 shows us, “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” As such, we are of a different rule, a special place, one of a holy, righteous, and just king. His title, among many, is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We are God’s children (Romans 8:16), often called saints, holy people, set apart for God, emphasizing our new identity in Christ. Though we may sin, I love how He calls things that be not as though they already were (Romans 4:17). Not to mention we are now heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). 

Interestingly, He no longer calls us servants, but friends (John 15:15), and because of our spiritual union with Christ, “…you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). 

We must remember we are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), but our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We’ve been bought for a hefty price and aren’t to become slaves of human beings (1 Corinthians 7:23). And as Stephen reminds us in Acts 7:48, “The Most High doesn’t live in temples made with human hands.” Besides, as stated in Acts 7:50, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the Lord. ‘Could you build me such a resting place? Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’”

As we live on the earth, we will be subject to all kinds of lies our enemy may bring to our minds about who we are, what we can’t do, and so many negative things.  However, don’t receive, dwell on, or embrace any of it! The truth of the matter, as I’m reminded of in an old song we used to sing back in the 80s, written by Dwight Liles and sung by Steve Green, “We are alive in Christ, dead to the world, free from the sin that enslaves. In His death we died, in His life we live again, on the other side of the grave!”

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Illustration: Easy-Peasy.Ai