High Water Mark #RTTBROS #Nightlight

High Water Mark #RTTBROS #Nightlight 

Reaching Your High Water Mark

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." 2 Peter 3:18

If you've ever spent time around a reservoir or lake, you've probably noticed those distinct rings etched into the shoreline. Each ring tells a story of where the water once reached, but there's always one that stands out above the rest, the high water mark. It's a permanent reminder of that lake's greatest potential, when it was filled to capacity.

This idea came to me years ago while hunting near a lake, and it has always stuck with me. The water was probably twenty feet below that highest ring, and I found myself wondering what it looked like when the lake was at its fullest. Then it hit me, we all have spiritual high water marks in our lives too.

Maybe yours was during that mission trip when you felt so close to God you could hardly contain it. Or perhaps it was during a season of intense Bible study when Scripture seemed to come alive on every page. It might have been that period when your prayer life was so rich and meaningful that you actually looked forward to your quiet time each morning. Those were your high water marks, moments when your spiritual life was full to overflowing.

But here's what I've learned over the years. It's easy to live below our spiritual potential, looking back at those rings of past experiences instead of pressing forward to new levels of intimacy with Christ. We can get comfortable camping out at yesterday's high water mark instead of believing God for today's fullness.

The apostle Peter understood this. He knew that spiritual growth wasn't a one-time event but a lifelong journey. When he wrote "grow in grace," he used a word that means to keep on growing, to never stop increasing. It's like that reservoir during the spring runoff, constantly being filled by fresh streams flowing down from the mountains.

Friend, God doesn't want you living on spiritual memories. He wants today to be your new high water mark. He wants your walk with Him to be fuller, richer, and deeper than it's ever been before. Those past experiences weren't meant to be monuments to admire, they were meant to be foundations to build upon.

So let me ask you, are you living at your spiritual high water mark today, or are you camping out somewhere below it? Are you growing in grace and knowledge, or are you just maintaining? Remember, a reservoir that's not being filled is slowly evaporating. 

The good news is that God's supply never runs dry. His grace is new every morning, His mercies are fresh each day, and His desire is to fill you to overflowing. Don't settle for living below your potential when God wants to bring you to new heights in Him.

Let today be the day you stop looking back at where the water used to be and start believing God for where it can go. After all, your greatest days with the Lord aren't behind you, they're ahead of you.

#HighWaterMark #GrowInGrace #SpiritualGrowth

God's Perfect Timing #RTTBROS #Nightlight

God's Perfect Timing #RTTBROS #Nightlight 

God's Perfect Timing

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

There's an old saying that goes "too soon old and too late smart," and sometimes I think that applies to how we view God's timing in our lives. We want answers now, solutions yesterday, and miracles on our schedule. But God's providence, His loving care and guidance over our lives, operates on a different clock than ours.

Let me tell you about a young preacher named Charles Spurgeon. In 1856, when he was just twenty-two years old, he was preaching at the Surrey Music Hall in London to a crowd of over 10,000 people. Suddenly, someone in the balcony shouted "Fire!" There was no fire, but panic spread like wildfire. People stampede toward the exits, and seven people were killed in the crush, with dozens more injured.

Spurgeon was devastated. He blamed himself, fell into deep depression, and seriously considered quitting the ministry altogether. He couldn't understand why God would allow such a tragedy to happen during what should have been a time of great spiritual blessing. For weeks, he struggled with doubt and despair, wondering if God had abandoned him.

But here's the rest of the story. That terrible night became a turning point, not just for Spurgeon, but for thousands of lives. The incident made headlines across England and beyond, bringing Spurgeon's name and ministry to international attention. More importantly, it broke something in his heart that needed to be broken. The young preacher who had perhaps relied a bit too much on his own gifts and eloquence learned to depend completely on God's grace.

From that dark season came some of the most powerful preaching the world has ever heard. Spurgeon went on to become known as the "Prince of Preachers," leading thousands to Christ and establishing an orphanage, a college, and countless other ministries. He would later say that God used that heartbreaking night to teach him that true ministry flows not from human strength, but from divine grace.

You see, God's providence isn't always comfortable, and it rarely makes sense in the moment. Like a master weaver working on the back side of a tapestry, we see all the knots and loose threads and wonder what in the world He's doing. But God sees the finished picture, and He's working all things together for good.

Maybe you're in one of those seasons right now where nothing makes sense. Bills are piling up, relationships are strained, health is failing, or dreams are crumbling. You're wondering, like that young Spurgeon, if God has forgotten about you or if He's even paying attention.

Let me remind you of something: God is never late, never early, and never absent. His timing is perfect, even when it doesn't feel perfect to us. Sometimes He's preparing us for something greater than we could imagine. Sometimes He's protecting us from something we can't see. And sometimes He's simply reminding us that we're not in control, but He is, and that's actually the best news we could hear.

Today, whatever you're facing, remember that you serve a God who knows the end from the beginning. He's writing your story, and He doesn't make mistakes. Trust His timing, even when you can't see His plan. After all, history is just HIS story, and you're an important part of it.

Prayer: Father, help me to trust Your perfect timing today. When I can't see the path ahead, remind me that You can. When I'm tempted to take control, help me to rest in Your providence. Thank You that You're working all things together for good. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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Our Forerunner #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Our Forerunner  #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Christ Our Forerunner

The Harbor Pilot

In the ancient harbor of Alexandria, when great ships approached the treacherous waters near the port, small pilot vessels called prodromos would sail out ahead of them. These swift little ships knew every hidden reef, every shifting sandbar, every safe channel through the dangerous shallows. They would guide the larger vessels safely home, having run before them to show the way.

How beautifully this pictures our Lord Jesus Christ, who has gone before us as our prodromos, our forerunner.

The Advance Guard

The Roman legions had an elite unit called the prodromoi,  advance scouts who rode ahead of the main army. They cleared obstacles, secured safe passage, and prepared camps for those who would follow. These brave soldiers faced the unknown dangers first, ensuring a safe path for their comrades.

Christ Jesus is our divine prodromos our heavenly advance guard who has gone before us into glory.

The Promise in Scripture

"Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."
Hebrews 6:19-20 (KJV)

The word "forerunner" here is the Greek prodromos, the same word used for those harbor pilots and military scouts. Jesus has entered the heavenly sanctuary not for Himself alone, but "for us" - as our representative and pathfinder.

As Night Falls

As darkness settles around us tonight, we can rest in this blessed truth: wherever we are going, Jesus has already been there. Every trial we may face tomorrow, He has already conquered. Every fear that troubles our heart, He has already overcome.

Like those pilot ships that safely guided vessels through Alexandria's harbor, our Lord Jesus guides us through the treacherous waters of this life toward our eternal home.

Like those Roman scouts who prepared the way for their army, Christ has prepared a place for us in His Father's house, securing our eternal dwelling.

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
-John 14:2-3 (KJV)

Prayer

Lord Jesus, our faithful forerunner, as this day ends and darkness falls, I thank You that You have gone before me into every tomorrow. You have prepared the way, cleared the path, and secured my eternal destination. Let me rest tonight in the confidence that my anchor holds within the veil, where You have entered as my representative. Guide me as surely as those ancient pilots guided ships to safe harbor. In Your precious name, Amen.

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

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The Prepared Path #RTTBROS #Nightlight

The Prepared Path #RTTBROS #Nightlight 

You know, there's a story about a young woman named Amy Carmichael that has always stuck with me. Back in 1895, she was praying about whether God wanted her to go to Japan as a missionary. She was walking through a garden when she came across a sundial with these words carved into it: "I will make all thy ways prosperous." It was from Joshua 1:8, and she knew in that moment God was calling her to the mission field. What she didn't know was that God wasn't calling her to Japan at all, but to India, where she would rescue thousands of children from temple prostitution and spend fifty-five years without a furlough.

Amy thought she knew where God was leading, but He had a different path prepared, a better path.

Listen to what God told Joshua: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Joshua 1:8).

Now, I've learned something in my years of walking with the Lord, God's idea of prosperity and success isn't always what we think it should be. Amy Carmichael never got rich, never got famous in her lifetime, never even got to come home. But she prospered in ways that mattered eternally. She saved lives, she served faithfully, and she finished strong.

You see, God doesn't just know the path we're on, He's already prepared the path we need to be on. Sometimes that path takes us through valleys we never expected to walk, sometimes it leads us to mountaintops we never dreamed we'd climb. But here's what I've discovered, and this is important: when we're walking in His Word, meditating on His promises, doing what He's called us to do, we're going to find ourselves exactly where He wants us, even when it doesn't look like what we planned.

I think about all the times I thought I knew what God was doing in my life, only to find out later He was working something completely different, something better than I could have imagined. 

God's ways aren't our ways, friends. His thoughts aren't our thoughts. But when we trust His Word, when we meditate on it day and night, when we're determined to live it out no matter what, we can rest assured that He's making our way prosperous in the ways that really matter.

So today, wherever you find yourself on the journey, remember this: God has already been where you're going. He's prepared the path, He's provided what you'll need, and He's promised to be with you every step of the way. That's not just good news, that's great news.

Let's pray. Father, help us trust Your path even when we can't see around the bend. Help us find our prosperity in pleasing You and our success in serving You faithfully. Thank You for preparing the way ahead of us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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The Other Matrix #RTTBROS #Nightlight #eisenhower #timemanagementtips #Priorities

 Other Matrix #RTTBROS #Nightlight

 "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." - Psalm 90:12

General Dwight Eisenhower had a problem. As Supreme Allied Commander during World War II, he was drowning in decisions. Urgent telegrams, important strategic planning, critical supply issues, and countless other matters competed for his attention every single day. The weight of the free world, quite literally, rested on his shoulders.

It was during this pressure-cooker time that Eisenhower developed what we now call the Eisenhower Matrix, a simple but powerful tool for managing priorities. He divided all tasks into four categories: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important. This simple framework helped him focus on what truly mattered when the stakes couldn't have been higher.

You know, I think old Moses would have appreciated Eisenhower's wisdom. When Moses penned Psalm 90, he was dealing with his own overwhelming responsibilities, leading a nation through the wilderness for forty years. But in verse 12, Moses gives us perhaps the most practical piece of wisdom in all of Scripture: "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

When we truly number our days, like Moses asked God to teach us, we start to see life through Eisenhower's matrix. The urgent but unimportant things, those fires that demand our immediate attention but don't really matter in the long run, they start to lose their grip on us. We begin to focus on what's truly important, even if it's not screaming for our attention today.

I've learned this the hard way, friends. Too soon old and too late smart, as my grandfather used to say. I spent years putting out urgent fires while the truly important things, time with family, investing in relationships, seeking God's heart, those got pushed to the back burner.

But here's the beautiful thing about God's grace. When we ask Him to teach us to number our days, He doesn't just give us a math lesson. He gives us wisdom, the ability to see what really matters from His perspective. He helps us understand that people matter more than projects, that eternity matters more than the temporary.

Friends, we're all flying away sooner than we think. The question is, are we spending our numbered days on what truly matters? Today, let's ask God to teach us what Moses learned. Let's apply our hearts unto wisdom, focusing on what will matter not just today, but for eternity.

Because in the end, it's not how many days we had that matters, it's how we numbered the ones we were given.

Prayer: Father, teach us to number our days. Help us see through the clutter of urgent demands to focus on what truly matters. Give us wisdom to invest our limited time in things that will last for eternity. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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The Dyslexic's Discovery #greenscreen #nightlight #RTTBROS #Dyslexic #agathachristie

The Dyslexic's Discovery #RTTBROS #Nightlight 

The Dyslexic's Discovery: When Weakness Becomes Wonder

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In the rolling hills of Devon, England, a young girl sat frustrated at her school desk, tears threatening to spill as letters danced mockingly before her eyes. The words seemed to flip and twist, refusing to hold still long enough for her mind to grasp their meaning. Her teachers shook their heads in disappointment. Her classmates snickered. Reading aloud was agony, and writing felt like trying to capture lightning with her bare hands.

That little girl was Agatha Christie, and she was discovering what millions of dyslexic children know all too well, the crushing weight of being different in a world that demands conformity.

The Prison of Perceived Failure

Dyslexia wasn't even recognized as a learning difference in Christie's era; she was simply labeled as slow, lazy, or unintelligent. The very foundation of education—reading and writing, felt like an insurmountable mountain. While her peers effortlessly decoded words on pages, Agatha's brilliant mind was trapped behind what seemed like an impenetrable barrier.

How many of us carry similar wounds? Perhaps your "dyslexia" isn't with letters but with numbers, social situations, or physical coordination. Maybe you stutter when you speak, struggle with anxiety, or feel awkward in your own skin. The world has a way of making us feel broken, doesn't it? Like we're missing some essential piece that everyone else seems to possess naturally.

The Divine Paradox

But here's where God's economy differs radically from the world's accounting system. Paul discovered this truth when he pleaded with God to remove his "thorn in the flesh", some unnamed struggle that caused him constant difficulty. Instead of healing, God gave him something better: a revelation that would echo through the centuries.

"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

Perfect. Not adequate. Not acceptable. Perfect. The Greek word for perfect here means to complete, to bring to full development, to achieve the intended purpose. God wasn't just making the best of a bad situation, He was revealing that weakness is the precise condition where His power operates most effectively.

When Disadvantage Becomes Divine Advantage

Christie's dyslexia forced her to develop compensatory skills that would revolutionize mystery writing. Unable to rely on traditional reading and writing methods, she learned to:

Think in pictures and sounds rather than words, creating vivid mental movies of her stories

Develop exceptional memory to compensate for reading difficulties, allowing her to keep complex plot threads straight without extensive notes

Hear dialogue internally with perfect pitch, making her characters come alive through their voices

Approach problems from unique angles, since conventional thinking patterns weren't available to her

What appeared to be a devastating weakness became the foundation of her genius. Her brain, wired differently by necessity, created stories so intricate and compelling that she became the most widely published author in history, with over two billion books sold worldwide.

Agatha Christie's dyslexia wasn't overcome, it was transformed. Her weakness became her wonder, her struggle her strength, her disability her distinctive calling. The same God who worked that miracle in a confused little girl in Devon is ready to work a similar miracle in you.

Your weakness isn't your disqualification; it's your divine appointment. Your disadvantage isn't your downfall; it's your doorway to discovering that His grace truly is sufficient, and His strength truly is made perfect in the very places where you feel most inadequate.

The world may see limitation. God sees limitless possibility. And that makes all the difference.

"The very thing that makes life harder for you might be exactly what makes you irreplaceable to God's purposes."

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The Hidden Hook #RTTBROS #Nightlight

The Hidden Hook #RTTBROS #Nightlight 

 The Hidden Hook: Why Satan's Best Bait Comes with Invisible Consequences

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:14-15 KJV)

A wise pastor once asked his congregation a simple yet profound question: "Why do fishermen bait their hooks?" The answer, of course, is to hide the hook. If the fish could see the sharp metal beneath the enticing morsel, no amount of bait, no matter how appealing, would entice them to bite.

This illustration perfectly captures the nature of temptation in our spiritual lives. Satan doesn't present sin with a warning label or a list of consequences. Instead, he carefully conceals the "hook" of judgment and destruction beneath attractive bait.

David's Fatal Bite

Consider King David, who fell prey to this very strategy. When he gazed upon Bathsheba's beauty, he saw only the alluring bait. He couldn't see the hidden hook, the devastating consequences that would follow: the death of their child, violence in his household, rebellion from Absalom, and a lifetime of family turmoil.

David was drawn away and enticed by what he saw, but the hook was hidden beneath the surface.

Satan's Strategy

The enemy's strategy hasn't changed since Eden. He presents sin as immediately gratifying while hiding the long-term pain, seemingly harmless while concealing the spiritual damage. If we could see the full cost, the broken relationships, spiritual deadness, separation from God, we would flee like a fish from a visible hook.

Our Defense

How can we protect ourselves? God's Word serves as our spiritual eyes, helping us see beneath temptation's surface.

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119:11 KJV)

When we saturate our minds with Scripture, we learn to ask: What will this cost me spiritually? How will this affect my relationship with God? Is temporary pleasure worth permanent consequences?

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV)

God provides a way of escape from every temptation. Often, that escape is simply seeing the situation from His perspective rather than being blinded by the enemy's bait.

Don't let the enemy catch you with hidden hooks. Stay alert, stay in the Word, and remember, if it seems too good to be true, look for the hook.

#HiddenHook #TemptationTrap #SpiritualWarfare

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