Daily Treasure

“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?” (Matthew 24:45).

Our scripture today is part of the parable of a good and evil servant. You notice the words “servant” and “lord.” Once we give our lives to Jesus, He should become our Lord and we, His servants. As servants we must realize we were bought out of the slavery of sin and condemnation and we belong to God. In view of this, we must understand that everything we are and have belong to Him now. We become “stewards” or overseers of everything He allows us to possess. We must wisely take care of our time, talents, and possessions as if they belong to God, because they do. Jesus has entrusted us to bring honor and glory to Him by being “faithful and wise servants.” Someday soon we will relinquish all we have and give an account to our “owner” of how we have either used or abused what he has permitted us to have in this life. Will we face Him knowing we did the best we could do?

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for missionaries in language school. It’s not easy to learn a new language.

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (I Timothy 4:12).

The scriptures hold the keys to wisdom and truth. This verse holds volumes for all of us to follow, but especially the youth. It says to “be thou an example of the believers;” not to the believers but of them. It is always good to listen and watch the older Christians. Their lives are examples and patterns for our own. At any age, if this scripture is followed, it would make a vast difference in the way we perform as Christians. The Bible is full of these verses to help us become Christians the world cannot point a condemning finger. Remember any reproach on us is a reproach on Christ.

Let us follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit as we unlock the wisdom of God’s Word.

PRAY TOGETHER: Begin praying now, asking the Lord what He would have you give to the Cleo Pursell Foreign Student Scholarship Fund in February.

“But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55).

Often, as Christians, we feel we are martyrs in some way. We feel alone and as if we are the only ones going through difficult times. We really have no idea what a true martyr experiences. A harsh word someone may throw at us is nothing compared with a stone being thrown, at close range, by angry men. The stones hit the skin and pain penetrates the body with bruising and bleeding. This action is repeated until the martyr is dead. This is how Steven was martyred. We feel a little pain and sometimes a bruised ego, but nothing to compare to martyrs.

Whatever we go through the Lord is always there. Look up to heaven and experience the Glory of God.

PRAY TOGETHER: Rejoice, pray and give to the Nehemiah project for the Villalba church in Spain.

“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20).

A good farmer works hard in his garden. He plows, throws out the stones, pulls weeds, adds fertilizer, and whatever else it takes to make the ground ready for his crops. Being a Christian is somewhat like being a farmer. A good Christian will work on her life in a similar manner. She’ll remove the things that may interfere with her growing stronger in the Lord and replace them with the things that will strengthen her. As she grows, she’ll bear fruit and by the fruit she bears, we’ll know what she is. It’s the same with the farmer and his garden. After he does what he can, with God’s blessing, his crops will show the labor placed upon them. If the garden is well taken care of, its fruit will bear witness. It is up to us and God’s grace, how much work we do on our “garden” and how well it produces.

PRAY TOGETHER: As you walk or drive down your street today, pray for the residents of each dwelling.

“But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (Matt. 13:8).

It is our job to keep our lives as clean and free as we possibly can from the sin of this world. God has given us everything we need to do this. He has provided the Holy Spirit to dwell with us. He has given us His word. He has blessed us with our Christian brothers and sisters to encourage us along the way. He is always there for us. What more can we ask for? If we live and do the best we know how, our lives will be useable by Him. We will be like fertile soil, ready for the Master’s use. We will be able to bring forth fruit abundantly by His grace. Praise God for providing everything we need to do His blessed will.

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray concerning the example we are leaving our children by our use (misuse) of resources God has so bountifully given us.

“And some fell among thorns: and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:” (Matt. 13:7).

As we live in this present world, we all have some form of trouble and tribulation to endure. At one time or another cares of this life will come upon us and overwhelm us if we let them. Satan is wise and will use these problems and troubles to try and get us to blame God for what is going on in our lives at the time. He wants us to think God has forsaken us and we should just give up. That is totally false. God is using these troubles to make us better and stronger. We need to draw closer to the Father and not allow the cares and concerns of our lives to choke us. We need to believe God when He said, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:5-6). It is so important for us to read and trust God’s Word during tribulation. It is our hope and we are so blessed He has preserved it for us.

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray as people travel to the annual field council meeting in Brazil.

“”Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth” (Matt. 13:5).

It is so necessary for us to keep our hearts right with God. We must daily strive not to allow evil and the things of this world to take root in us and harden our hearts. We want to do all we can by prayer, study of the Word and doing the will of God to keep our hearts softened and ready to accept what the will of the Father is in our lives. If we don’t do these things, our hearts will become hardened. We won’t be in the right way for God to be able to use us. Let us work each day to live pleasing to the Lord, so our hearts will be receptive to what He has in store for us.

PRAY TOGETHER: Prayerfully read Matthew 6:33 in light of our January study.