Our lives can get very busy, very fast. It’s important to remember that as we live our lives, though we may have big dreams and plans, even if these are kingdom plans we can’t forget about the being a light right here and right now. 
“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” – James 4:13-15
This scripture from James is extremely powerful and life-changing. It so perfectly reflects the common motives of the world and gives us a reminder of our existence here on this earth.
When we live for the world our motives and dreams are mostly focused not in the moment, but on the things to come. This isn’t a bad focus to have and I personally believe that this desire for something to come is a kingdom desire we each have within us. Though when we live for the world we can guide that desire in the wrong direction.
The reality is even though we may have big dreams and desires planted on our hearts, we need to remember to always keep a kingdom focus and even though these dreams and desires may be exciting, we cannot let them distract us from our day to day lives.
We need to remember that we are only here for a short time and that our true calling and the greatest commands are to love the Lord our God with all our heart soul and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. When we are only focused on the future we often neglect the momentary opportunities we have to be a light for the kingdom.
We need to take each day at a time not forgetting our dreams and desires, but allowing those things to fuel our day to day duties of loving God and loving each other. We need to be that light and step into our callings at this moment and allow our daily obedience to well up to those big kingdom dreams!
A Light Here, A Light Now
Living In The There and Then
God stirs up big dreams and desires in all of our hearts, these dreams and desires help fuel us to do kingdom work. It’s important to remember that even though these dreams and desires are often exciting, we can’t let them become a distraction to us no matter how “good” they may seem.
We are all guilty of doing this from time to time and it’s hard not to. Life can be challenging and sometimes moments of our lives can even be painful or uncomfortable. It becomes easy to try to escape the reality of life by thinking of better times to come.
As Christians, we all can look forward to the greatest thing to come, an eternity in heaven with our Lord and Savior! But we also need to remember that eternal life doesn’t begin when we die, it begins the moment we turn to Jesus Christ. We need to allow this eternal hope to fuel our daily decisions without putting aside the daily opportunities to be a light for Jesus.
My family and I are going on vacation in a few weeks and we are all super excited! Here in New York we have had a pretty crummy winter and it is hard for me not to dream of how nice it is going to be to get away from the cold and snow and bask in the sun on the beach!
But I can’t allow this excitement for what is come keep me from living in the moment now, no matter how cold or snowy it may be! It is easy especially as we draw closer to our goals or desires to just let life slip right on by.
One of the best things we can actively do is allow these dreams to fuel our daily decisions and prayers without overwhelming our mind and thoughts. When God puts big things on our hearts we shouldn’t ignore them but we need to not get caught up in “daydreaming” and put a plan into action, with milestones and small goals along the way.
This way, instead of constantly worrying if we are doing “enough” or giving these dreams enough attention, we can have these goals in place and get back to focusing on loving God and loving others.
Life Is Only A Moment
“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” – James 4:14
None of us know how much time we have here on this earth. For some, this may seem scary or even bring about hopelessness or sadness.
As Christians, we know that our time here on earth is not all we have but that we will be living eternally in Heaven with God with our brothers and sister in Christ. So we need to allow the truth of this scripture to excite and fuel us knowing that every moment matters and that we can’t let a second of it just pass us by.
We also have to remember that this time is not only all we have on this earth, it is all there is on this earth. What I mean by this is just as much as we shouldn’t be focusing on the future, we can’t spend our time dwelling on the past.
This moment right now is all we really have here on this earth, we don’t have yesterday or tomorrow, that is all the Lords and it is also His to worry and care about. Fortunately for those of us who have turned to Christ, there is nothing in our past that can keep us from the grace of God washing us white as snow by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Every moment, every second should be for the glory of God!
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31
Some people have trouble squeezing God into their weeks and often have a hard time even making it to a Sunday service. Others have a hard time squeezing Jesus into our daily lives, whether that is to read our bibles or spend time with Him in prayer. The truth is being a light in the right now means so much more than just “squeezing” Jesus into our schedule. Our focus should be on bringing Him into our lives.
This means bringing Him into every decision and every moment, being in true communion and fellowship with Him. Loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, so that the overflow of that love can change the hearts of those we come into contact with.
Live Each Moment For The Lord
In John Chapter 10 Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” this abundant life is a life lived in Christ. It’s a life that is set free from the bondage of sin and submitted to the way of righteousness.
This abundant life should be a life lived not just at church but wherever we are, whenever we are, with whoever we are. This means at work, school, anywhere we are He is and we are allowing His love and example of life to shine through us.
For more on being this light outside of church check out Leah’s awesome article, she wrote titled 7 Ways To Be A Light Outside of Church. It’s inspiring and gives some great examples of how we can shine for Jesus!
Living this way is our true and proper worship to God. It’s not about trying to be a “good” person or do “good” things, it’s about having a true relationship with God and allowing His mercy, grace, and love to be on display through us and our actions.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” – Romans 12:1
Ultimately it is about living in the moment and more importantly loving in the moment. Jesus himself said, greater love has no one than this to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Jesus laid down his life for us and we need to lay down our lives for him and focus on His kingdom. The most freeing thing we can do is to put ourselves last and put others first!
We need to let the dreams and desires that the Lord has put on our hearts fuel us and drive us to do kingdom work. But as we live our daily lives we need to live also in the moment, making the most out of every opportunity.
As we grow in our relationship with Christ we need to remember to share that light and disciple others so that they too can be a light in this world. God is constantly putting people and opportunities to glorify His holy name in front of us. We need to make sure that our eyes are fixed on Him, our minds are sober and alert so that those people and opportunities don’t pass us by!
Nick Lincoln
Hey Friends! I am Nick Lincoln a co-founder here at Abide and Seek. Besides writing articles to spread the light of Jesus throughout the world, I also enjoy playing music, working out, and spending quality time with my family and friends! My prayer is that by sharing my experiences and the struggles I have faced before coming to Christ, the world can see the life-changing power of a life lived in the light of Jesus Christ!