I think all of us have heard the expression, “What a difference a day makes”. We’ve all heard things such as:

“Today is the 1^st day of the rest of your life.”

“Today is a good day to have a good day!”

We are often told by those we meet, “Have a great day!”

We are told to Seize the day!

Others quotes that I found online:

• Catherine Pulsifier said, “If we have the attitude that it’s going to be a great day, it usually is.”
• Another quote from an unknown source, “One day or day one.  You decide.”
• William Barclay said, “There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why.”
• Frosty Westering said, “We don’t “have” a great day, we “make it” a great day!”

I found another motivational proclamation online saying that, “When we roll out of bed each day, we should tell ourselves that today could be the day. It could be the day where everything changes in our lives for the better.”

In his book, Today Matters, John Maxwell explains that very few people understand how the way they live today will impact what happens to them tomorrow.

• He explains that growth comes from making decisions and following through on those decisions.
• He says “focus on today, because today is all you have.”
• Maybe this is why Benjamin Franklin said, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

I’ve been reading the book of Hebrews, and I was amazed how much it kept mentioning “Today”; and in the AMPC translation, it wasn’t today with a little “t”, but Today with a capital “T”.

Hebrews 3:7 – ⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice, AMPC

Hebrews 3:13 – ¹³ But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamor of his sin may play on him]. AMPC

Hebrews 3:15 – ¹⁵ Then while it is [still] called Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [in the desert, when the people provoked and irritated and embittered God against them].  AMPC

I want to say to you today, that “TODAY” is important to God, and one reason why is because we are not promised tomorrow.

James 4:14 tells us that “we do not know the least thing about what may happen tomorrow.” “That our lives are but a wisp of vapor.” So while it is still “today”, we need to make the most of what God has given to us.

Some might ask, “Well what has God given to me?”

In Hebrews we are told that the Lord God has extended the opportunity to all of humanity to enter His rest.

Hebrews 4:1-11 – Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [to distrust it], lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it.  ² For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with^]the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe).  ³ For we who have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on God) do enter that rest,^]in accordance with His declaration that those [who did not believe] should not enter when He said, As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest; and this He said although [His] works had been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the foundation of the world.  ⁴ For in a certain place He has said this about the seventh day: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.  ⁵ And [they forfeited their part in it, for] in this [passage] He said, They shall not enter My rest.  ⁶ Seeing then that the promise remains over [from past times] for some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were given the good news about it and the opportunity, failed to appropriate it and did not enter because of disobedience,  ⁷ Again He sets a definite day, [a new] Today, [and gives another opportunity of securing that rest] saying through David after so long a time in the words already quoted, Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts.  ⁸ [This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had given them rest, He [God] would not speak afterward about another day.  ⁹ So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the [true] people of God;  ¹⁰ For he who has once entered [God’s] rest also has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His own.  ¹¹ Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell].

So “Today” is important for both saint or sinner because “Today” we all have the opportunity to enter His rest.

For the born again believer, we have to daily crucify our flesh. The Bible says, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” We do not want to fall into temptation. So Today matters, where as a believer, we have to choose to give Him our day, each and every day, for the rest of our lives.

Because we can’t make today significant in our own strength and abilities. I’m talking about where our lives and the lives of others are transformed for His glory, but if we give Him today, and we choose to rest in Him, then He will make our day glorious. Our lives will be changed, and what happens within us will touch the lives of others.

As believers, we are called to be vessels of honor for His glory. So each and every day, even TODAY, we have a choice to make. Will we surrender to Him and what He wants for us for TODAY or will our wants and desires supersede His desires for TODAY?

The Lord stands ready “Today” to pour in the oil and wine. His desire is to pour it in, in such a measure, that we would not be able to contain it. His desires is that there would be “overflow”. More than enough for you, so that the “overflow”, (what is pouring out of you), touches the lives of those around you.

TODAY MATTERS!

For unbelievers “Today” MATTERS! For the Lord is calling all of humanity to Himself. He is not willing that any should perish. So for unbelievers, TODAY MATTERS! Because today can be a day for good or it can be a day for evil. It can be a day where everything changes. Where renewal and new life springs forth.

For unbelievers, His call each & every day is, “Choose you today whom you will serve.” When unbelievers answer the call, they enter His rest, and He then begins to do a work in them. Where their life is changed from glory to glory. Where they become more and more like Jesus.

The most important thing that you can do today is to make sure that you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then spend all of your tomorrows getting to know Him and His ways. Get to know Jesus!

Just because you enter His rest,…it doesn’t mean the work is finished. Salvation is only the beginning. He has only begun to do a work in us.

Paul prayed for the Philippians…

Philippians 1:6 – “I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Today matters. What you do with your day matters.

Because today, and each and every day, we should ask the Lord, “What are we going to do today, Lord?” “How can I bring increase to the Kingdom today, Lord?” And it really isn’t you that matters. It is about you submitting and allowing Him to use you and to move through you.

Notice that Paul prayed in Philippians 1:6 that the Lord would continue His work to bring the people to a level of maturity. If we are a babe in Christ, our today may mean we are feasting on the milk of His Word. But as we mature in Christ, it is expected that we begin to feast on the “meat of His Word”

Today matters!

In Hebrews 5 it is said that because they had become dull in their (spiritual) hearing and sluggish (even slothful in achieving spiritual insight). As saints that should have become mature.

It says (vs 12)“By this time, you ought to be teaching others, but actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God’s Word.  You have come to need milk, not solid food.”

Today matters! It matters what you do with your “Today”, even as a believer.

Our spiritual heath is more important that our physical health. If we don’t feed our spirit man, if we don’t work on our relationship with the Lord daily, the Bible says we can become sluggish and dull in our hearing. Where we can no longer hear Him (remember there are many voices in this world, but only One that we should be listening to).

If we allow ourselves to become dull in our hearing our spiritual growth stops. We are no longer maturing, but instead we are regressing and going backwards where we have to be retrained like a child all over again.

Hebrews 5:14 – But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law. (talked about discernment last week)

In Matthew 6:11 the Lord told us to pray like this: “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Today matters!!!  Because if we are walking with the Lord, and we are submitting to Him each and every day of our lives, the bread He has for us today will not be the same bread He had for us yesterday. We need fresh manna, and as believers, every day He has offered and extended an invitation to us to come and dine at the King’s table.

Today matters because at His table He does not serve leftovers. He does not serve microwaveable dinners or fast food. He doesn’t serve a generic brand where you have no idea where it actually came from either. But at the King’s Table, He serves delicacies; only the finest of things for His children because He alone knows what we need. It is our inheritance to be able to eat from the King’s Table. It is our birth rite as a child of the King.

We have all heard those motivation lines like “Have a great day” Those words take on a new meaning when you are talking about spending the day with Jesus. They take on a new meaning when you talk about dining at the King’s Table. They take on a new meaning when you realize that He has empowered us to hear His voice, (the voice of Holy Spirit). And how wonderful and meaningful your Today can be when you not only hear Holy Spirit, but you listen to His voice and do all that is required of you.

Remember the words I spoke earlier where we should tell ourselves every morning when we get up that “Today could be the day”? I’d like to tweak that a little bit and say “Every morning when your feet hit the floor, tell yourself TODAY is the day!” Remember that your words carry power to shift your mood and mindset. They have the power to change the atmosphere around you as well.

This is why one of my favorite verses to start the day with is Psalm 118:24 – “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Not tomorrow is the day, or one day next week, BUT TODAY, “this day”. Think about today being distinct from yesterday or tomorrow. We may have failed yesterday, but if we have repented; remember we have an advocate with the Father. One that is faithful to forgive us of our sins. If we have done this, “our today is fresh and new.” It is a new beginning.

Today stands alone, – all by itself.

God meant every day to be special. He is our Father and we are His children. He created us to be His family. He desires that we walk with Him and talk with Him. That we would be able to enter His rest and abide in Him.

But remember this, God is not in time, but He lives in eternity. However, He has placed you in time – For such a time as this. Your Today matters!!!

Psalm 139:16 – ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.  AMPC

This scripture tells us that “all the days of our life were written”, your works, your deeds. Those things that you accomplish on this earth are recorded. Today matters! Make today matter and enter His rest.

Hebrews 13:8 – ⁸ Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages).

He has not and will not ever change. As He was in the past, He will be in the present, and He will be the same forevermore. Knowing this, it makes it all the more reassuring that as we rest in Him, He will take care of us because He is faithful, and He doesn’t change. Not yesterday, NOT TODAY, and not even tomorrow but forever and ever.

In Luke 19 we find that for Zacchaeus, he must have heard about Jesus. Because we are told that he wanted to see Jesus so much that he ran ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree. The scripture says, “In order to see Him, for He was about to pass that way.”

⁵ And when Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.

Because Zacchaeus had the zeal to see Jesus that day his day was changed. It was transformed and he was transformed; and not only him, but his household was transformed as well.

If you want the blessings of the Lord to rest upon your life and your household, make it your one desire each and every day to have the zeal to see Jesus; where it remains in your heart. Also do whatever is necessary, make it your one aim (goal), to seek His presence, hear His voice and allow Him to come into your house and abide with you there. With you and with your family. Because this is one of the greatest desires of the Lord. That we would have it in our heart to commune and fellowship with Him because He longs to do the same with us.

Bobby Connor said the Lord told Him that prayer is an audience with the King.

When we start our day with prayer and seek His face, we will be much like Zacchaeus; where we will grab the attention of the Lord.

TODAY could be your day for a divine encounter with Jesus. He is closer than you think, and He desires to make Himself so very real to you. You never know when today is going to be different than your yesterdays. You never know when the Lord is going to show up in a way in your life unlike any way He ever has before. Because if you will hold and treasure each day as special then you can expect that times of promotion are coming. Times of increase and special provision and gifting is coming to you and to those who are looking for Him and expecting Him.

Today is what really matters because we learn from our past, and we all hope for a brighter future. But today, and what we do with today, has the power to shape our future for the better or the worse. For the better if we look to Jesus or for the worse if we continue to embrace the world and all it has to offer. Today Matters!

When I prepared this message in October 2021, I heard the Lord say the following: The Lord is calling His people in this hour to walk closer to Him.  The times we have been experiencing have pulled many of God’s people down; some in a direction that He never intended for them to take.  But the Lord says that TODAY divine intervention is coming.  The Lord says that He is about to intervene in the affairs of man in ways that will rock this world; it will affect man’s way of thinking – the world’s view of Who He really is.  So make you today matter.  Look to Him, the Author and the Finisher of your faith.  He is not done with you.  He has only begun and great works of power are about to be released upon God’s people, for those that are truly seeking Him, they will find Him and maturity will now come quickly to the sons and the daughters of the Most High saith the Lord.  For I have saved the best wine for last, and these days, the Today that you are living in, My people will experience My glory in ways they have never imagined.  So suit up saith the Lord.  Put on your robes of righteousness and stand with me and see the transformation come that I have so longed to bring upon all of humanity saith the Lord.