Devotions For Your Day

Time Keeps On Slipping, Slipping, Slipping Into The Future.

~ Pat Vick ~ Leave a comment

I had been out of the office for two weeks due to various travels. When I sat down at my desk, I noticed my calendar still showed March even though it was now April 1st. As I tore the top sheet of paper off, I thought how fast time passes these days.

Time. It’s wrapping up quickly. Truly. Even as I continue working on this one article, another two months have come and gone. I’m tempted to take another photo of my office calendar, but the original one confirms the point I’m attempting to convey. Time doesn’t stop for any one person or generation. It just keeps rolling forward until, one day known to God, it will be no more.

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

Each of us is only allotted a certain number of days. Unfortunately, we don’t get to know that number. In an age where medical knowledge has increased exponentially, it isn’t uncommon for people to live to one hundred years or more. Still, every day we hear of people who die suddenly in accidents or a disease that lurked in their bodies, unseen. Sometimes people die for no apparent reason.

Scripture tells us that we are allotted 70 years, and if we live to 80, those extra years are likely to be full of sorrow. This allotment of years is a general lifespan, but truly, life and death are in God’s hands, not ours.

“For all our days are passed away in thy wrath:
we spend our years as a tale that is told.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten;
and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
yet is their strength labour and sorrow;
for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Who knoweth the power of thine anger?
even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm 90:9-12)

To a child, 70 to 80 years seems like an eternity. Those of us who have more decades behind us than before us realize how fast those years pass. Time is a tool that we have to serve God with. We can  let it pass without observation, letting decades pile up behind us, or we can be mindful of its passing, and harness it for a purpose.

“Time is a tool that we have to serve God with. We can let it pass without observation, letting decades pile up behind us, or we can be mindful of its passing, and harness it for a purpose.” -Pat Vick Click To Tweet

HOW ARE YOU SPENDING YOUR ALLOTMENT OF  DAYS?

Are you using your allotted days for God’s glory, or your own? For God’s purpose, or your own? Are you spending your days seeking only happiness, or to be beneficial to the Kingdom of God? Are you concerned about experiencing and accumulating, or pursuing your God-given Calling? Have you deadened your conscience with substances and thrills in order to quiet the small, still voice of God’s Spirit beckoning you to a life of purpose? When you come to the end of your days, which could be any day now, will you be embarrassed by how much more you could have done for God?

TICK TOCK SAYS THE CLOCK

It’s so easy to get caught up in living day to day that we forget the passing of time. Likewise, it’s very easy to get caught up in living in the flesh that we forget about eternity. However, just because we go about our days with no thought for what comes afterward, doesn’t mean it’s not coming. Every time you see a new calendar page, or hear the tick tock of a clock, let it remind you to use your days wisely, because the day is coming quickly when you’ll have to give account for what you did with each of them.

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” (Revelation 20:11-12)

I Have An Idea! What If You…?

~ Pat Vick ~ Leave a comment

What if you minimized, or even excluded, everything in your life that distracts you from your true calling?

What if you began to focus all your time and attention on what will last for Eternity?

What if you severed relationships that were harmful to your spiritual health?

What if you spent time every single day talking to the Lord about His will for your life?

What if you actually asked Him to guide your decisions throughout the day?

What if you realized that what the world calls success is only temporary?

What if you began to purposefully align your thoughts with the Word of God?

What if you stopped allowing people who don’t live according to God’s plan to guide your life choices?

What if you started digging into the Word of God for yourself, and learned what He says is required for salvation?

What if you began to care more about what God desires for your life than family, friends or co-workers?

What if you got up every morning and decided, “I’m going to live for God today?”

What if you repented of the sins that are separating you from God?

What if you asked a Man or Woman of God to baptize you in Jesus’ name?

What if you asked the Lord to fill you with the Holy Ghost, evidenced by speaking in other tongues, just like the Bible describes?

What if you chose to sanctify yourself unto the Lord, and live a Holy lifestyle?

What if you stepped out in faith and did the thing God is asking you to do?

What if you did what you know is right so that you could lay your head down at night and sleep peacefully without fear of not waking up?

What if you lived in a way that caused you to be excited about going to Heaven?

What if you decided to be a true Christian?

”And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

What Do You Need To Release So That You Can Be More For Jesus?

~ Pat Vick ~ Leave a comment

We are living in a unique time. There are so many frustrations, and yet so many opportunities. Everywhere we look, there is another opportunity to serve the Lord in a deeper way. It really depends on what we allow to hold our time and attention.

LEARN TO LET GO

I’ve made a few adjustments lately that I hope will help me to focus on things that are more important. You may think they are very small things that aren’t even worth mentioning. I agree that they are small, but definitely not insignifanct.

I let two hobbies go recently. I really enjoyed doing both of them. One was Book Folding. It involves folding the pages of a book into designs. The first time I ever saw a book folding project, I knew I wanted to do it for myself. I did finish several projects, but as time went on, I spent more time thinking about the projects I needed to finish, rather than actually doing them.

Because thinking about doing the Book Folding projects was stressing me, I decided to give this hobby to my daughter-in-law. I gave her all the patterns that I had, and freed my mind from having to think about future Book Folding projects.

I also love working puzzles. Actually, I love the idea of working puzzles because my mother always worked puzzles. The thought of working puzzles made me feel close to my mom. In reality, however, I spent more time thinking about making the time to work puzzles than I ever actually worked puzzles. It became stressful clutter in my mind. I made the decision to put away my unworked puzzles. Perhaps I’ll bring them back out in a later season of my life, but for the season I’m in, they only caused me frustration.

DECIDE WHO YOU WANT TO BE

As I said at the beginning, there are so many opportunities to serve the Lord in a deeper way. We have to choose to let some things go, so that we can pursue more meaningful ministries and pastimes. The world will tell you that you can have it all, and do it all. The truth is that you can have and do a lot, but the more you choose to allow into your life, the less you will be able to do any of them really well.

I’ve decided that I’m going to be a Reader, Writer and Bible Teacher. These are ministries. I am  also going to be a chicken herder and a beekeeper. These are hobbies. All of this, along with being a Wife, Mother, Memaw and Pastor’s Wife makes for a very full life. That is why a few things had to go.

I encourage you to take inventory of your own life. Who do you want to be? How do you want your life to look? What possessions, ministries, hobbies, relationships and thought processes are truly important to the person God has called you to be? What things need to be released so that you can pursue your best life for Jesus?

”A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;” (Ecclesiastes 3:6)

God Knows. Let That Be Enough.

~ Pat Vick ~ Leave a comment

A year ago today, my youngest son and his wife were in Bangladesh on a mission trip. It was definitely a high point in their life and walk with God. I was so vey proud of them, and thankful for their opportunity to be a part of something so powerful and eternal.

Caleb came home from that trip with the flu. He flew the 17-18 hours from Dubai sicker than he had ever been in his life. The next morning, when he asked to be taken to the doctor, we knew he was seriously sick. He was treated for the flu, and all seemed well.

Soon enough, Covid arrived, and the lockdowns began. Still, our family was together and healthy way out on our farm. It’s amazing how things can change so suddenly. One day we were fine. Then next day Caleb couldn’t breathe without severe pain. From emergency room to Vanderbilt ICU in a blink.

Pneumonia had been growing undetected in his lung for a couple of months since he had the flu. He had to have surgery to drain the fluid from his chest cavity. Over 2 liters of fluid. Alone. All we could do was pray. The Lord was so merciful to bring him home to us.

More Covid. More lockdowns. Online Church. All travel plans cancelled. Family members with Covid. Powerful men and women of God being taken home to their reward. People we never thought we’d have to go through life without. Gone into their eternity.

Breathe.

Riots. Bizarre election. The country has gone mad.

My mother-in-love contracts Covid. No underlying health issues. We had to say goodbye in the wee hours of December 26th. Never expected it. Would have never dreamed we’d be here without her so soon.

Still, God is good. He is faithful. He knows the future, and the past because He’s already there. If we had known a year ago what our family would have to endure over the next twelve months, it would have shaken us to our core. We might have failed God had we known. I’d like to think we would have stood strong, but only He actually knows for certain.

Sometimes when we want to know what’s coming, it’s best just to know that He knows, and let that be enough.

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” (Psalm 27:13-14)

Everyone Dies. How Does This Make You Feel?

~ Pat Vick ~ Leave a comment


“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15)

Everyone dies. This statement brings me comfort. It should bring you comfort, as well. If it doesn’t, there is a deep spiritual reason as to why not.

You may ask, “How can the knowledge that everyone dies bring comfort? To me, it means that every single person who has ever lived (with the exception of Enoch and Elijah, but that’s for a different post) has passed through the doorway of death. From this life to the one that comes after. From this realm of existence to another which is just as real, but invisible to us at the moment.

To die is not to travel a path that no one has ever travelled before. On the contrary, it is a well-worn path which has been traversed by doctors, lawyers, presidents, kings, drunkards, drug addicts, worshipers, prayer warriors, sinners and saints, the very good and the very evil. All have passed through this door. So will I. So will you.

Knowing that I will one day pass through this doorway should not cause me to fear. It should give me solace in the fact that death is natural. It is part of living. We are born. We live. We die. Unfortunately, most of humanity spend so much of their time dreading dying, that they never truly live.

If I spend my allotted time so fearful of death, how can I make my life matter? It is the knowledge that I will one day die which causes me to pursue the most noble life possible. The realization that I only have so many decades, years, days, moments, breaths and heartbeats to make something valuable of my life keeps me hyper focused on the importance of every decision I make.

Everyone dies. Again, I point out that if this statement causes you undue anxiety, then something is off kilter between you and God. People who have a deep and abiding relationship with their Creator know that He is working all things for their good. We are assured in His Word that He has gone to prepare a place for us, so that He can bring us to live with Him and the saints of all the ages forever. We know that when the God of all glory came in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, that He gave Himself as the only perfect and pure sacrifice for our sins. We read that even though he died for our sins, He also was resurrected to immortality. So will we be if we are born again according to His Word, and abide in Him.

When Jesus died on the cross, He didn’t go to his death kicking and screaming in fear. On the contrary, He declared, “It is finished,” and gave up the ghost. (The Holy Ghost) He knew that He had accomplished everything He had come to do. He was ready to yield His flesh to the process of death, and walk through the doorway into the spiritual realm.

Everyone dies, but I will live forever. Yes, my body will die, but my spirit, the part of me that is conscious and aware, will go immediately to be in the presence of the Lord. At the rapture of the Church, my spirit will be joined to a new and immortal body, and I will live with Jesus and the saints of all the ages for all eternity.

Even though my flesh shrinks away from the thought of possible suffering, everyone dies, and I am comforted by that fact.

It’s Time To Close The Curtains

~ Pat Vick ~ Leave a comment


My little home library is a haven for me. It’s where I pray, study, write, and regularly get alone with God. It’s a peaceful, yet powerful place.

The wall in front of my desk has double windows. I often look out those windows to see the beauty of the day. Deer making their way through the field to drink in the lake. Geese meandering through the yard. Birds socializing at the feeder. Chickens strolling across my front porch, giving me “the eye” because I haven’t brought out any treats for them.

I thought all this was relaxation, but I realized it was actually distraction recently when a crew of yard workers arrived to refresh our shrub beds. They arrived very early one morning, and didn’t leave until very late in the evening. I spent that whole day trying to work in my library while they worked outside. Epic fail.

I told myself that would never happen again, and invested in curtains and a curtain rod right away. When I first hung the curtains, I was a bit sad that I couldn’t see the beautiful view in front of my house.

The next morning, however, was a different story. I came into my special place, and felt truly alone with God. There were no distractions. I could actually think, pray, study and create.

When God delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage by the hand of Moses, He gave them the plans for a place to meet with Him. The Tabernacle was a mobile church.

Surrounding the Tent of Meeting were curtains. Wouldn’t its purpose still be the same without all the curtains to deal with? Wouldn’t it function the same? Sure. The Tabernacle would still function, but the people wouldn’t.

God knew the worshippers would require something to block all of the desert distractions from view. In order to truly get alone with God, they needed curtains.

Many of the things that we feel like are pleasant and satisfying in our lives are only distractions. I can’t tell you what they are in your life. Only you can do that. I will tell you that if you’re not able to get alone with God regularly, and focus on Him, and Him alone, there’s a reason.

If you truly want to enhance your experience with God on a daily basis, begin by letting some other things go. Cut some things loose.

I encourage you to purchase a set of curtains. Hang them. Pull them closed, and it will become clear what has been distracting you from your time alone with God and His purpose for your life.

“Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.” (Exodus 26:1)