Tony Evans - A Moment for Your Soul: Devotions to Lift You Up

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Emphasis in Scripture quotations is added by the author.

Cover by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cover photo iStockphoto / Thinkstock

A MOMENT FOR YOUR SOUL
Copyright 2012 by Tony Evans
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-5111-1 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-5112-8 (eBook)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

This book of devotions is dedicated to two women whose devotion to Jesus Christ has greatly impacted my life and many others my mother, Evelyn Evans, and my mother-in-law, Eleen Cannings.

I would like to thank my friends at Harvest House PublishersBob Hawkins Jr., LaRae Weikert, Nick Harrison, and Gene Skinnerfor their partnership in publishing. I would also like to thank Heather Jamison for her time and attention to editing this manuscript. May this book bless those who have brought it about.

I remember when schedules were less busy and people seemed to have more time and less pressure in each day. With all of our technological advances, from our smartphones to our touch-screen tablets, youd think we would have found more freedom and time for ourselves. But just the opposite has occurred. With more opportunities to communicate, connect, and stay in touch with the latest information, we tend to have fewer opportunities to connect with ourselves and our Creator.

Amid the busyness and the noise of our world, its critical to carve out moments for your soul. Its essential to allow yourself the luxuries of silence, meditation, and feeding on Gods Word. These are the times when you will discover a new strength, find clarity of thought, and enjoy a breath of fresh air.

A Moment for Your Soul was created with you in mind. These short but meaningful reflections on God, His values, His heart, and His plans for you are designed to give you a moment each day to enter into His presence and to let His truths enter into you.

I pray that you will make the most of these moments and that your soul will feel the fullness of His great love.

Dr. Tony Evans

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

1 T HESSALONIANS 5:11

A father and son walked along a beach after a powerful storm. In fact, the storm had been so strong that as the waves crashed and the wind blew, hundreds of starfish were washed ashore and left far from the water they needed to survive.

As they walked, the father and son began a rescue mission, picking up starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean. When the boy looked at the hundreds of remaining starfish, he became discouraged. Dad, there are too many. We cant save them all. We cant make a difference!

The father looked at the starfish in his hand. The creature would have never made it back to the ocean on its own. As he threw the starfish into the water, he told his son, Were making a difference to this one.

You can make a difference too, even if its only one by one. God has called each of usnot just the pastor or the missionaryto be a voice of encouragement to someone.

Bless someone. Make a difference.

Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.

E PHESIANS 4:15

Most of us can think of someone who has encouraged us. Perhaps it was a parent, teacher, coach, or pastor. Few things are as meaningful as a timely word of encouragement that builds us up and helps us through hard times.

During my years of ministry, I have found that a voice of encouragement can be life-affirming, but a voice of discouragement can have a devastating effect. You must choose which voice you will offer to the people you meet each day.

As you encourage, always speak truth. In each and every situation, seek to discover the truth that will speak life into someones heart.

Today, begin a habit of affirming the lives of the people you meet.

Be an encourager.

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 C ORINTHIANS 15:57

As Jesus hung on the cross at Calvary, He took on our sin debt to redeem us from the law. His death satisfied Gods divine law and overcame the problem of sin and the condemnation of death. When God looks at us, He sees only the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

All the sin of the world for all timeevery millennium, every agewas placed on the person of Jesus Christ at Calvary. When Jesus rose from the dead, He was victorious over sin and death, destroying the power that death held over us.

From the moment of His resurrection, Jesus has shared this victory with all who believe in Him. This victory is a gift of grace. God forgives the sins of everyone who accepts His Son as Lord and Savior.

Every believer can live in great anticipation of spending eternity in the presence of our Lord because of the victory of Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection. If youre a believer in Christ, you have a glorious eternal tomorrow that ought to affect your today. If you forget that Jesus is coming back, you are going to live as if Hes not. I encourage you to remember His victory and His return so that you will live in the light of it now.

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouthso that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

J OSHUA 1:8

God can reverse every downturn in your lifeincluding the financial, physical, emotional, and spiritualwhen you follow Him and His Word.

The prophet Elisha would not accept payment from General Naaman for Gods restoration of the warriors health, but the prophets servant Gehazi couldnt resist. He lied, took the payment, and hid it. Elisha knew what Gehazi had done and rebuked him for jumping ahead of Gods provision and blessing. Gehazi set himself up for failure, and as punishment, he was made a leper.

Seven years later, because of Gods divine arrangement, Gehazi could have stolen and hidden an abundance of riches from an abandoned Syrian camp. A changed man, Gehazi generously shared his profit with the children of Israel. As a result, God restored Gehazis health and promoted him to the kings advisory board.

If you are wrestling with a downturn in your life that may be the result of a wrong decision or an action you made in the past, keep in mind that God longs to accomplish something in you that is greater than you can imagine. Dont throw in the towel. Never let your past determine your future. Rather, put your trust in God through obeying His Word, and set yourself up to succeed, just as Gehazi did.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.