The Optimist Roundtable

By Martha Sykes

Each and every day of our lives is a gift from our Lord; given to us freely, do use as we wish. It has been said that, “Tomorrow is God’s secret, but today is yours to live. This is God’s today; live it for Him”.

We cannot see the future or comprehend everything that happens to us. God reminds us all the time that life can be short and when unexpected things happen, we have to trust in His plan. Every day is a gift and we are given that choice of whether to follow His kingdom or not, but if we do, everything else will come together for us. Our life should be full of love, faith, and hope. We need to love as God has loved us, have faith that Jesus will return and hope for eternal life with Christ. This is something that is promised to us through Jesus Christ. Eternal life that is free of pain, the suffering, the disappointments of our earthly life.

In the book of Ephesians, we find these words, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”. By His grace, we are forgiven, and accepted as a part of His family.
And the hope of all His people is that promise of eternity to be with Him.

I believe that scriptures all reflect the idea that we all should work in unity for Christ, that is people helping people, encouraging, one, another, needing and loving each other. In spite of all the advanced technology in our lives, people are very essential ingredient in our every day life. Without them, and if we didn’t support each other or help each other when needed, what would our world be like? And God is with us each step of the way in each of our lives, I’m sure there are people in our past to have made a difference in the direction that we took in life, whether it be your spiritual life, or every day lives. I know there are many people in my past, who have influenced me and has been an inspiration to me, and I am very thankful to God for their presence in my life. When we do believe and take that step to accept Jesus as our Savior, God begins to work on us inside, and it matters what we are to be in our spiritual journey. You see, once Jesus enters our hearts, we look at life with a different perspective. We develop a feeling of thankfulness, and we become more considerate, more compassionate, and the list goes on.

We become Christians through God’s grace, not as a result of anything done by us. We will endeavor to help and serve others with kindness, love and gentleness, and not just to please ourselves, but to honor our awesome God. Whatever we do, it is done for the love of our Lord and Savior, and for the good of His church.