Live Today!

Message by Chad Kelly

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Time has a way of getting away from us, doesn”™t it? (clock with wings slide)

Regina Brett is a bestselling author, an award-winning columnist with the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

On the day that she turned 45 years old, about a decade ago and after surviving breast cancer, she wrote a column entitled, “45 Lessons Life Taught Me.”

“Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good ”¢ When in doubt, just take the next small step ”¢ Life is too short to waste your time hating anyone ”¢ You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree ”¢ It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it ”¢ Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present ”¢ Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks ”¢ Over prepare, but then go with the flow ”¢ What other people think of you is none of your business ”¢ However good or bad a situation is, it will change ”¢ God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do ”¢ If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back ”¢ Burn the candles, use the nice sheets. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.”

What has life taught you about TODAY?

LIVE TODAY!

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters! 

Psalm 90:12 (NLT)

12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
so that we may grow in wisdom.

NIV

12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

 

St. Austin said, of this verse:

We can never do that, except we number every day as our last day.

We REALLY should live today as if it is our last!  THAT is true wisdom!

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters!

Ronnie McBrayer

There is always the temptation, as Frederick Buechner says, “to believe that we have all the time in the world, [but] the truth is we do not. We have only one life, and the choice of how we are going to live it must be our own”¦For each of us there comes a point of no return ”“ a point from which we no longer have life enough left to go back and start over.”

No longer enough life left to start over: There is a ruthlessness to time that demands we spend what we have while today is still called today.

(train tracks/clock slide)

We”™re on a train that is ever moving through today”¦don”™t miss the ride today!

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters!

The life of the apostle Paul teaches us how to live today.  Paul gave his last 30 years of life showing/telling the world about the love of God in Jesus Christ.  He suffered unbelievably to get the word out about Jesus.  And he ended up spending his last year in the infamous Mamertine Prison in Rome before being executed in the spring of 68 AD at the hand of Nero, one of Rome”™s most vicious Emperors in his treatment of Christians.

From the bottom of that 400 year old (at that time) cistern turned into a dungeon-prison, Paul wrote his last recorded words to his apprentice, Timothy, a young pastor in Ephesus.

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 9, 13, 16-18, 21 (NLT)

 

1When it comes to God, don”™t hold anything back.

As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.

Can you and I honestly talk like that about our relationship to the Lord?

And now the prize awaits me””the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.

Maybe it”™s serving a friend that you know needs help/encouragement/listening ear today, maybe it”™s forgiving someone that you”™ve held a grudge against, maybe it”™s giving time regularly to help others less fortunate than you through some avenue close to home.

When it comes to God, don”™t hold anything back.

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters!

 

2 Being with those you love is the best place to be.

Timothy, please come as soon as you can”¦11 Only Luke is with me.

Paul wasn”™t afraid of dying””in fact, he longed for heaven.  Paul wasn”™t even panic-stricken, as some of us would be, to be alone in that awful prison””for, as we”™ll see in a minute, he was very aware of Jesus”™ presence with him.  BUT”¦he still wanted and needed those that he loved and that had proven their love for him”¦and he wanted them physically close to him.

Someone said:

Never say good-bye without saying I love you, as the last time you spoke to them might be the last time you speak to them.  Let them know how much they mean to you while there is still time.

Don”™t forego the chances you have in life to be with those you love and those who love you!  Why is it that sometimes we neglect those who matter most in the name of work or just “too busy” or  something that”™s more fun?  Even if it”™s a little inconvenient, spend as much of the time you have with those closest to you”¦and you won”™t have to live with the regret of not spending more time with those that really matter in life.

Being with those you love is the best place to be.

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters!

 

3Simple comforts are the greatest.

13 When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers.

Now”¦for Paul, that coat was about to be really important because winter was coming fast.  And he had no money to send someone to the Wal-Mart to buy one.  That was his only coat in the world!  And he loved his books and papers.  Probably all related to Jesus somehow”¦maybe his version of the Bible.

We just came through the Christmas season”¦and it seems the older I get the less I really want.  All I wanted this year is a new and comfortable pair of running shoes.  And what really is important day to day is laying down on MY pillow at night after reclining in MY chair for awhile””both are “just right” for me and affect my life every day, almost without exception.

It really doesn”™t take much to be happy when we slow down and enjoy the simple things, does it?

Simple comforts are the greatest.

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters.

 

 4. People will do you wrong. Get over it!  Know that GOD will never leave you”¦and that”™s enough!

16 The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death. 18 Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

People will do you wrong. Get over it!  Know that GOD will never leave you”¦and that”™s enough!

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters!

 

5. Do what you have to do, and do it now ”“ do it today.

21 Do your best to get here before winter.

Do what you have to do, and do it now ”“ do it today.

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters!

“Today”

 What a powerful word that is, but a word we don”™t think near enough about. We know it as the current date on our calendar ”“ the pop-up screen on our smart phones ”“ the heading that rises just above our to-do list. It”™s a lot more than that.

It”™s an Old English word ”“ two words actually ”“ with Germanic roots: To dæge. “To” means toward or “as far as,” to go. Dæge meant “lifetime.” So when our ancestors spoke of “today,” as in “I will do it today,” they were not speaking of a 24 hour period or 1,440 minutes. They were saying this: “Today ”“ To dæge ”“ this is as far as my life goes.” Or, it could be understood this way, “I will do it (whatever it was) today ”“ I will go at it with my lifetime.” I will give it my life. My momentary life is all I have.

We are talking about all we actually have to give. We no longer have yesterday to give.  And we don”™t yet have tomorrow to give.  My life today is all I can really give!

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters!

Conclusion

Friday, January 4, 2013”¦two days ago”¦less than one hour from where you sit”¦in Gordon County (Calhoun), Georgia”¦the following happened:

1)      A friend of ours, Peggy Fogarty, who is in her 70s found out that she has masses in both lungs and in her liver.  There will be very little that doctors can do.

2)     A pastor of a church where my friend Ronnie pastored for several years, a married man with 2 children, following years of emotional and psychological struggles, committed suicide.

3)     A friend of one of my friends in Calhoun, Greene, who works as an EMT in Gordon County, responded to a call for an accident at Ralston”™s Corner, where 136 intersects 411.  He was the first on the scene”¦where he found his 2 children already dead and his wife barely hanging on to life””and, as far as I know, she”™s still in critical condition right now.

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters!

We cannot turn back time! (turn back time slide)

Ronnie McBrayer

What will you do NOW, that needs to be done, while today is still called today?

I”™m talking about action that must take place before it is too late ”“ not spending your days on yourself, but on what will count.

Spend your life, don”™t store it away. Don”™t make your existence a museum built to what used to be, make it a mission to bring about what can be. Life is not about preservation of the past, but purposeful living today. Today. If there is one lesson to learn it is that: Your lifetime is only good for today ”“ that”™s as far as it goes ”“ take it as far as it goes.

Life is short, eternity is close and loving God/others TODAY is what matters!

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