May 24

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

the right day to thank God for the storms in our lives.

“And it was only right that He should make Jesus, through His suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”  Hebrews 2:10b NLT

The fact that Jesus had to experience the suffering that He did is a difficult concept for many people to comprehend. In fact, the whole issue of suffering is a major sticking point for some. The question is always asked, “How could God stand by and watch the suffering of His Own Son?” We all know that God did not stop it. What we spend so much time contemplating is “Why did He not stop it?”

The suffering of Christ was His final display of perfect obedience to the Father. His suffering made Him the complete sacrifice, earning salvation for the rest of the world. His suffering at the hands of those He came to save demonstrated to the rest of the world that storms enter the lives of even the very best of us. But out of those storms, things of beauty arise, just as Christ rose from the dead before ascending to heaven.

During storms, things around us often look harsh, dark, dangerous, and emit a sense of foreboding. But we usually see soon after that the storm has created new life and things of beauty. The suffering that we endure as a result of the storms in our lives will produce within us a greater understanding of the pain of another human being. It will enable us to be greater providers of comfort to others during the storms in their lives.

No one likes to suffer, and God does not enjoy watching us stand and face our storms. Obedience to God can lead us into stormy weather, but the Lord will lead us safely out again, and we quite possibly will be pleasantly surprised at what is revealed after the storm has passed.

Instead of questioning God’s intentions, we should thank Him for the storms in our lives and ask Him to reveal the beauty that can be produced as a result.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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Mayt 23

Posted on May 23, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a good day to get back on course.

“’My people have forgotten how to do right,’ says the Lord. ‘Their fortresses are filled with wealth taken by theft and violence.’”  Amos 3:10 NLT

God selected Amos, who was a shepherd in the southern part of Israel, to see a vision of the Lord’s judgment that was to be passed on the people in the northern part of the country. Amos proved he was a man of God by traveling to the north and warning them of what was to come if they didn’t correct their ways.

Many of the people Amos spoke to had been doing the wrong things for so long, they had forgotten what the right thing was.

In many ways, things are not so different now than they were those many centuries before the birth of Christ. Just as they grew complacent in their faith, so have many of us. For many, rather than look honestly at themselves, defensive walls go up and indignation sets in at the mere suggestion of complacency on their part. This is nothing to be embarrassed about, or to get defensive over. It happens to many people more often than we may think. In a world that moves faster and faster every day, it sometimes becomes easy to forget what the right thing is.

“Not for me!” many of us claim, and for some this may be true.

But far too many of us fall into patterns of behavior, or thought, that are in direct violation of the things that God teaches, and we do so with no evil intent and oftentimes no real purpose.

We just “drift off course.”

As a ship moves through the ocean, currents will pull at it and if the captain of the ship does not pay attention and make corrections as he goes along, he will find the ship winding up in a totally different place than originally intended even though it may appear as if the ship has always been pointed in the same direction.

We must all avoid the “currents” of temptation that will attempt to pull us off course without our even being aware of it. We must avoid complacency and stay focused on our destination. Each one of us needs to take out our Bible, which is our ‘map,’ and see if we have drifted off course.

If we have, we need to take the steps required to correct it so that we arrive at the correct destination.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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May 22

Posted on May 22, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a terrific day to pray for others.

“I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.”  Romans 15:30 NIV

Prayer is a gift from God.

It is the ability to communicate directly with Him and seek comfort, ask for help, and – hopefully – to give thanks to the One who makes so much of value available to us.

It is an opportunity for reflection, and it is a way to ask for guidance and direction in our lives. Prayer is also the first place we should turn when we are confronted with temptation.

And we will be confronted with temptation.

But prayer is also a great way to fulfill the Lord’s instruction that we love one another and look out for one another. We can accomplish this by using prayer for the benefit of others.

Asking God to help us heal in times of great sadness or sorrow is perfectly alright, but asking God to help someone else find the strength to deal with a terrible loss or tragedy is a great way to help a friend, neighbor, or family member, at times when we may feel unable to do anything. God can get to places in a person’s heart that we cannot, and He loves to hear our voices imploring Him to help.

We also need to consider the many people throughout the world that we don’t even know who work tirelessly, sacrifice much, and risk their very lives to share the Word of God with others so that they may experience the joy of a life that has been changed by knowing, and accepting, Christ Jesus.

In their struggles to spread the Good News, these brave men and women need our prayers of support. Just as Paul reached out to others in his day to pray in support of his struggle, we should all pray for the many thousands who continue that struggle today.

There are many good reasons to pray. Our personal problems are among them.

But it is also a beautifully Christian thing to take time to pray for all who need God’s help, and today is a terrific day to do just that.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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May 21

Posted on May 21, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a wonderful day to encourage young people.

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”  1 Timothy 4:12 NIV

God makes it clear that it is never too late to look to Him for the answers that we seek for our lives.

The well-known saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” simply does not apply when it comes to discovering the joy of salvation and eternal life with God that can be ours when we accept Jesus Christ as our savior.

This certainly is wonderful to hear for any of us who might be arriving late in life at the simple truth that our time on earth should be lived with God’s purpose for us in mind.

By the same token, while it is never too late to learn, it is also never too early.

For those among us who waited until later in life to find our way, we know how much richer and fuller our lives would have been if we had discovered the joys of knowing Christ at an earlier age. We know how much happier we would have been and we know how much good we could have done for those around us.

We must encourage those who are young to take advantage of their youth and to experience the love, grace, and blessings that are a part of knowing God.

Many young people already have found the Lord, accepted Christ, and live lives of service. Individuals like that must be encouraged to speak even if they may be reluctant because of their youth.

God has a use for each of us and we only need make ourselves available to Him to discover what that use is. It is easier for young people to council other young people that a relationship with God, and service to others on His behalf, is a much more rewarding way to live than to spend all of their time playing video games, watching television, or engaging in behaviors that can only lead to pain and suffering.

Reach out to those who are young and encourage them to reach out to others. Help others find what you have found, and show them how it can change their lives for good.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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May 20

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

the ideal day to heed God’s warnings.

“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”  Genesis 6:22 NIV

Millions of people claim to have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and further claim to believe that He is the light that will lead us to life everlasting if we follow simple rules of decency and morality.

And then we go on with our daily lives as if we never spent one minute reading the Word of God:

We approach a homeless person on the sidewalk or in our car and we cross the street or roll up the window so we don’t have to deal with them.

We search the internet for juicy tidbits of wrongdoing by someone we know and then gossip about them with others.

We hide secrets of sinful behavior from our friends, our families, and our spouses.

We ignore opportunities to do the right thing, we engage in inappropriate conversations, we sin in a lot of little ways, and maybe a few big ways.

But sin is sin and not heeding God’s admonishments to avoid sin is not wise.

Has it really become so difficult for us to live decent, moral, loving lives? Has the world become so decadent that immorality is the accepted norm? Do the repeated instructions issued by God fall on deaf ears?

Do we think God is making it up when He tells us that the final judgment He will pass, on the way each one of us lives our lives, is coming? Sometimes we act like we don’t believe that we will be judged, but God makes it very clear throughout the Bible that this will happen.

So why do we ignore His warning?

Are we so spiritually immature that we think God’s warnings apply to everyone but us?

Disobedience to God might be understandable in some way if God’s instructions to us were complicated or unreasonable. But how complicated is the instruction to love each other and treat each other as we would wish to be treated? And how unreasonable is it to ask people to exhibit maturity and decency in their words and their actions?

God instruction is neither unreasonable nor complicated. If there are complications in our lives, we probably put them there or invited them in.

Live happier, healthier lives with fewer complications and a lot more joy by heeding God’s warnings and following His instructions and today is the ideal day to start.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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May 18

Posted on May 18, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

the right day to ask, “How do I see things?”

“To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.”  Titus 1:15 NIV

We are all familiar with the question, “Is the glass half full or half empty?”

No matter who is looking at the glass, the amount of water in the glass is the same, so what could possibly account for people seeing things differently? Is not the human eye basically constructed the same in all humans? The color of our eye doesn’t change what we see; the shape of our eye doesn’t change what we see; and the gender of our eye does not change what we see.

What, then, does cause us to see what should be the same thing, in different ways?

Obviously the difference must come from within. Our education definitely influences our perception, but so does the environment in which we were raised.

How we were raised spiritually also affects how we see things.

Some of us look around at the world and manage to see good things everywhere, in spite of the evil that exists. Some of us look at the same thing and see mostly that which is evil. When Paul wrote his letter to Titus instructing him how to organize the churches on the Isle of Crete, he pointed out that people see with their eyes, but how they interpret what they are looking at is determined by what is in their hearts.

This is not to say, necessarily, that if we see only evil, or mostly evil, that we are evil. This only points out that the negative things in the world are what we focus on internally.

With Christ in control of our lives and with our focus daily on the lessons He taught, we can learn to fill our hearts with the things that are required to see more of what is right with the world.

Of course, we don’t want to be blind to the pain of others or the needs of those less fortunate than ourselves, but we must focus our “…thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8 NLT).

This will enable us to see more of what is good in the world and it will also enable others to see the good in us. And with everyone seeing more good, the world can slowly become less evil.

The question for today is, “How do you see things?”

Ask Jesus Christ to help you answer in the right way.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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May 16

Posted on May 16, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

the perfect day to think about “everything”.

“’What do you mean, what’s the matter?’ Micah replied. ‘You’ve taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!’”  Judges 18:24 NLT

When the stock market crashed in 1929, there were numerous stories of people committing suicide, many by jumping out of the windows of tall buildings. Why did they do it? The reason given is the same in every instance: they killed themselves because they had lost “everything”.

Oh, really?

Everything?

When our lives are built around the wrong things, it is possible to feel that way. If money is what we live for, if money is what we “worship”, then it is understandable that a stock market crash that takes it all away could be mistakenly viewed as having taken ‘everything’ from us.

But those who live only for money, gold, jewelry, cars, houses and whatever other material possessions money can buy are living for the wrong reasons and are definitely worshiping at the wrong altar.

The simple fact of the matter is that as long as we worship only God; as long as we keep Him in our hearts; as long as we do all that we can to demonstrate our faith and our love, there is no way that anyone or any situation can take “everything”.

God can never be taken from us.

If we are unwise; if we are foolish; if we believe the wrong things, we can reject God, but He can never be taken from us.

Obviously, losing a job or a dramatic downturn in the stock market could create serious problems for us financially, but these are all only temporary problems of this world. Bad financial news is not worth a life. Our secure relationship with the Lord will see us through any difficult period in our life – financial or otherwise, and it is of the utmost importance that when life turns against us, we turn immediately to God.

When we have a good relationship with God, we have everything we really need, and it is nice to be able to live each day in confident assurance that no one can ever take “everything” away from us.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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May 15

Posted on May 15, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

an awesome day to follow the example set by Jesus.

“I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”  John 13:15 NLT

We are all familiar with the lesson taught by Jesus that instructs us to, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.” (Matthew 7:12a NLT).

Many of us learned this, and teach it to our children as to our children as “The Golden Rule”.

Some may consider what Jesus said to His disciples after He washed their feet as simply another way of saying the Golden Rule, but it is far more than that.

Think about our relationship with the Lord compared to our relationship with those around us. We probably treat God with more respect than we do our next door neighbor. We are all very likely to fall all over ourselves to please God, but are only mildly concerned with what those around us think.

Of course, this makes sense since we ask so much more of God, right?

Actually, this is far from right. What Jesus was teaching His followers is that if we are to ask for God’s mercy, then we must show mercy to others. If we are to ask God for His love, then we must take the love He gives us and share it.

How can we ask the Lord to treat us right if we treat others wrong?

Where do we find the nerve to ask God to hold out His arms for us if we are not willing to hold out our arms for others?

How can we ask God to give us eyes with which to see and then not use our sight to notice another person’s tears or pain?

It is a good thing to treat others the way we want them to treat us. This is important, because Jesus said it was. But it is even more telling of our understanding of what Jesus said if we treat those around us the way we want God to treat us.

We must learn for ourselves, and teach our children, that we must never ask the Lord for anything we are not prepared to willingly share with those around us.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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May 14

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a superb day to keep our promises.

“But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, ‘We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.’”  Joshua 9:19 NASB

Joshua, and those who had advised him, discovered shortly after making a treaty with the Gibeonites that they had been duped into believing that the Gibeonites were from a distant land. They were seeking to avoid being destroyed by Joshua’s armies in battle, so they engineered a detailed deception.Joshua failed to consult with God before making his decision to enter into a treaty with the people of Gibeon to protect them. He consulted only with his advisors and they were fooled.

To say that Joshua and those who encouraged and advised him to proceed were angry at being tricked is probably an understatement, but they had given an oath to protect the Gibeonites and there was no way out of it.

A promise is a promise.

No promise should be made lightly. If there is doubt that we will be able to keep our promise, then we should not make a promise in the first place. Particularly with our families, it is important that we are as good as our word. This teaches our children to be reliable, responsible, and honorable. Nothing is worse to a child than to have a mother or father promise to be at a recital, sporting event, concert, or some other event that is important to them and not show up. We do not want to be responsible for that level of hurt and disappointment. If we cannot do something or are not positive that we can, we must never make a promise.

The truth may cause sadness, but we at least have taught them to be honest.

It is no different with spouses, other family members, friends, or co-workers. When we promise something, it should be a guarantee. It is important in all our relationships that people are able to take us at our word.

Our word should be a bond. Giving our word – fulfilling a promise – shows good character, so remember: If you can’t do something, just say so.

But a promise is a promise.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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May 13

Posted on May 13, 2021 by Tony Casson

TODAY IS…

a great day to remind ourselves to trust God even when we don’t understand.

“His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’”  John 2:5 NASB

When Jesus’ mother gave that instruction to the servants, she had no understanding of how He could solve the problem. She just believed that He could. She gave the problem over to Jesus and then let Him take care of things. She probably was not expecting Him to perform a miracle, and things undoubtedly worked out better than she had anticipated.

This is something that is very difficult for so many of us.

We have the best of intentions when we speak of our faith in God and we give our problems to Him and ask for His help, but we often then sit back and expect Him to do things the way we would do them. It doesn’t always work that way and sometimes we simply cannot understand the approach that the Lord is taking to our problem.

Do we know, better than God, how any situation should be handled? Is it wise to even harbor the notion?

The truth of the matter is that with faithful and diligent reading of the Word of God, we must know in our hearts that whatever God decides is truly what is in our best interests in the long run. It is of the utmost importance that we accept the fact that, far too often, we base our decisions on what we think is best for today.

God is concerned about tomorrow – and the day after that.

If we are truly paying attention to what the Lord tells us in the Bible, we simply cannot harbor the thought that we are not satisfied with the way He is handling a situation we have given over to Him.

There is no safer place for our problems than in the hands of God. There simply is no possibility that we can know, better than the One who created us and gave us life, what is best for us.

We must all give our problems to God, and then trust in Him even when we cannot understand.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

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