Your First 5 Minutes With God

May 19 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:3-5) Meditation In the eyes of those close to me, before I was saved, I might have appeared to be a “good” person. I was friendly enough. I never got into fights, but you wouldn’t want to know what was in my heart. Before I was saved, my heart was filled with darkness. In the eyes of God, I was a slave to every evil, awful thought my mind could come up with. The only opinion that counts is God’s. After I had been saved for a while I began to forget just how sinful I was. The further I get from that sinful time in my life, the harder it is to remember i...

To all my readers: I am changing this blog to a weekly format. I am being forced to do it this way because this blog site is saying my blog is too short to continue publishing. I purposely try to keep it short so you will have time to read it every day. I hope you will understand and keep reading. Thank you, Brad Hopkins May 12 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15) Meditation Before I was saved, I worked in a very competitive environment. Many of my co-workers were very jealous of the accomplishments of others. I have to confess; I too would get that green-eyed feeling if I didn’t get promoted when I thought I deserved it. Outwardly, I showed a happy face. I would congratulate the person who was recognized or promoted, but inwardly I was terribly envious. I received as many promotions as most in my career field, but I couldn’t rejoice for others because of jealousy and covetousness. I didn’t know how to deal with grief s...

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32) Meditation Have you ever been hurt by someone? How did you react? I’m not a very good Christ-like example to go by when I’ve been hurt. It’s my fallen nature to want to immediately retaliate, forgetting how much I was forgiven by God. Without thinking of what Christ has forgiven me, I always want to make anyone who’s offended me, to feel as bad as I do. When all has been said and done, I wish I would have taken the extra time it would take to let go of my anger and hurt feelings. I always feel terrible for how I’ve reacted after I’ve had time to think about what I’ve said. Usually, when I’ve been hurt or disappointed, the offender doesn’t even realize or care they’ve hurt me. Their apparent indifference hurts even more. On the rare occasion when I’ve actually held my anger in check, I’ve come to realize the offense was either unintentional or was done un...