May 7
The words of Isaiah 2:11, “The proud looks of man shall be brought low and the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day,” are sobering. We want to be proud of ourselves. We have been encouraged from our earliest childhood to make others proud of us.
These words seem to turn our pride on its head. These words convey the Lord’s total distain for our self esteem. Indeed, we live in an age where we esteem our perception of ourselves far more than we value our actual accomplishments! We want to be highly regarded, but we lack the initiative to pursue worthy goals.
We instill this false sense of “I’m OK, you’re OK” into our youth when we accord them a sense of self worth apart from accomplishment that produces form rather than substance when it comes to not only achievement but also to character. We elevate the shallow and superficial while relegating the essence of true worth to the ash heap.
The Word tells us that unless our sense of value is rooted in our knowledge of Christ, it is worthless. When we elevate ourselves for any reason other than to be lifted from the shame and deceit of sin to the devotion to Christ that makes us His co-heirs to eternity we are on a downward slide that will leave us broken and humbled before His glory.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
May 6
Some people find it most difficult to be humble. They are gifted with many physical attributes and abilities that cannot go unnoticed. They are surrounded by people who look up to them with great awe because they have attained the recognition that everyone yearns, deep within himself, to have.
How can one who has attained so much through his investment of his abilities and his drive toward the achievement of financial or political or relational goals then be humble when the fruit of those goals is being reaped and enjoyed? Within himself, no successful man has the capacity to be humble.
But if his eyes are focused on Jesus, he sees an inspiring example of humility in the face of greatness! In Philippians 2:5-8 we read, “Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus, Who though He was in the form of God and knew He was equal to God, took on the likeness of men and humbled Himself to endure the shameful death of the cross.”
The Author of life, the Creator of men, allowed Himself to be delivered unto death by the men His hand had fashioned! He allowed the hands He had created to nail His hands to the cross! He endured the shame of the cross so those He loved unto death would become the recipients of His unspeakable Gift of life! To be like Him, the greatest of men among us must first share His humility.
Some people find it most difficult to be humble. They are gifted with many physical attributes and abilities that cannot go unnoticed. They are surrounded by people who look up to them with great awe because they have attained the recognition that everyone yearns, deep within himself, to have.
How can one who has attained so much through his investment of his abilities and his drive toward the achievement of financial or political or relational goals then be humble when the fruit of those goals is being reaped and enjoyed? Within himself, no successful man has the capacity to be humble.
But if his eyes are focused on Jesus, he sees an inspiring example of humility in the face of greatness! In Philippians 2:5-8 we read, “Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus, Who though He was in the form of God and knew He was equal to God, took on the likeness of men and humbled Himself to endure the shameful death of the cross.”
The Author of life, the Creator of men, allowed Himself to be delivered unto death by the men His hand had fashioned! He allowed the hands He had created to nail His hands to the cross! He endured the shame of the cross so those He loved unto death would become the recipients of His unspeakable Gift of life! To be like Him, the greatest of men among us must first share His humility.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
May 5
Selfishness is not to be indulged in the life of a professor of Christ. The Word makes it clear that the believer is expected to die to himself that he may be fully alive in Christ. Paul, the great Apostle, knew this was required of him and he knew it would be required of those who would come after him.
In the letter he wrote to Titus, Paul stated this expectation very clearly. Paul was not one to mince words under any circumstances, but he certainly would not sugar coat something as essential to the practice of the pure faith as total devotion to the One whose Kingdom he served.
In Titus 3:8 Paul makes it very clear. He states, “This is a worthy and faithful saying and I would hope that you affirm it constantly! They who have believed the Word of God must be diligent to apply themselves to good works that are profitable to all men.”
When one has embraced Jesus as his own, when he has devoted his life to the furtherance of His Kingdom and His purposes, he must reorient the entire focus of his life. His endeavors are no longer to benefit merely himself! He is to be Kingdom-focused so the will of the Lord is ever foremost in all he is and does!
Selfishness is not to be indulged in the life of a professor of Christ. The Word makes it clear that the believer is expected to die to himself that he may be fully alive in Christ. Paul, the great Apostle, knew this was required of him and he knew it would be required of those who would come after him.
In the letter he wrote to Titus, Paul stated this expectation very clearly. Paul was not one to mince words under any circumstances, but he certainly would not sugar coat something as essential to the practice of the pure faith as total devotion to the One whose Kingdom he served.
In Titus 3:8 Paul makes it very clear. He states, “This is a worthy and faithful saying and I would hope that you affirm it constantly! They who have believed the Word of God must be diligent to apply themselves to good works that are profitable to all men.”
When one has embraced Jesus as his own, when he has devoted his life to the furtherance of His Kingdom and His purposes, he must reorient the entire focus of his life. His endeavors are no longer to benefit merely himself! He is to be Kingdom-focused so the will of the Lord is ever foremost in all he is and does!
Monday, May 4, 2009
May 4
The Lord has high expectations for His redeemed ones. He does not expect that they shall live their lives “as usual.” If there were a literal yardstick by which to measure lives ‘before’ and ‘after’ acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord, that measuring device should register an enormous difference in professors of Christ!
They do not simply become better at what they have been; they become reflections of Jesus’ light and life and love to all mankind. It becomes the driving force of their lives to reveal to others the matchless Truth, the unspeakable Gift that they have themselves received.
It becomes their goal to follow the scriptural admonition in Galatians 5:13, 14 which says, “Brothers, you have been called to liberty, but your liberty is not given that you may use it to indulge your flesh—it is given that you might love and serve one another! For the law is fulfilled in loving your neighbor as yourself.”
The Lord expects that once His love and salvation have been recognized and received, the believer will devote himself to sharing that ‘good news’ with others. The believer who has been delivered from the cruel grip of sin and from its resultant punishment now devotes himself to sharing the Christ who saved him with everyone whose life touches his.
The Lord has high expectations for His redeemed ones. He does not expect that they shall live their lives “as usual.” If there were a literal yardstick by which to measure lives ‘before’ and ‘after’ acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord, that measuring device should register an enormous difference in professors of Christ!
They do not simply become better at what they have been; they become reflections of Jesus’ light and life and love to all mankind. It becomes the driving force of their lives to reveal to others the matchless Truth, the unspeakable Gift that they have themselves received.
It becomes their goal to follow the scriptural admonition in Galatians 5:13, 14 which says, “Brothers, you have been called to liberty, but your liberty is not given that you may use it to indulge your flesh—it is given that you might love and serve one another! For the law is fulfilled in loving your neighbor as yourself.”
The Lord expects that once His love and salvation have been recognized and received, the believer will devote himself to sharing that ‘good news’ with others. The believer who has been delivered from the cruel grip of sin and from its resultant punishment now devotes himself to sharing the Christ who saved him with everyone whose life touches his.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
May 3
Jesus is coming back. No matter how the scoffers may mock this promise, it is true. No matter how many years, decades, centuries, millennia, may pass until its fulfillment, the Word of the Lord is “yea and amen,” and nothing shall prevent His return.
How shall we be found at His coming? Will we who have professed faith in Him be found faithful? Will we “be about our Father’s business” when Jesus’ feet again touch earth? Or will we be living the same way as those who think the promise of His return is a fairy tale?
If we indeed embrace His return as being an irrefutable truth, that belief should govern the entirety of our lives, for souls hang in the balance. If we are not faithful to tell them, how will they know they have a Savior who has purchased their deliverance from the wage of sin that all must pay?
In Matthew 16:27 we are told, “The Son of Man shall come in the glory of His father with His angels and He will reward every man in accordance with what he has done.” Whether He comes for us individually or en masse, His return will result in our recognition of the wonder of His glorious truth!
Jesus is coming back. No matter how the scoffers may mock this promise, it is true. No matter how many years, decades, centuries, millennia, may pass until its fulfillment, the Word of the Lord is “yea and amen,” and nothing shall prevent His return.
How shall we be found at His coming? Will we who have professed faith in Him be found faithful? Will we “be about our Father’s business” when Jesus’ feet again touch earth? Or will we be living the same way as those who think the promise of His return is a fairy tale?
If we indeed embrace His return as being an irrefutable truth, that belief should govern the entirety of our lives, for souls hang in the balance. If we are not faithful to tell them, how will they know they have a Savior who has purchased their deliverance from the wage of sin that all must pay?
In Matthew 16:27 we are told, “The Son of Man shall come in the glory of His father with His angels and He will reward every man in accordance with what he has done.” Whether He comes for us individually or en masse, His return will result in our recognition of the wonder of His glorious truth!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
May 2
There is no length to which the Holy One who inhabits eternity will not go in order to bless and guard and keep His children. It is His good pleasure to show Himself strong in the behalf of those who love Him. Though they may go through trial, He is with them to glorify Himself in and to deliver them out of their trouble.
He states His intention very clearly in Psalm 17:7, 8 where we read, “Show Your marvelous loving kindness, O Lord who saves by His right hand those who take refuge in Your name. You guard them from their enemies. You keep them as the apple of Your eye.
As the entire structure of the face is employed to guard the pupil of the eye, from the eyelids, eyebrows and eyelashes to the forehead and cheek bones and bridge of the nose, so the resources of Heaven are arrayed in the defense of the child of God who trusts in the integrity of His name, in the infallibility of His promises.
Our God is faithful and true. He has stated His power and His intention to preserve His own in trouble, to guard them against their enemies, to deliver them in battle and to glorify Himself in all that touches their lives. If He has His angels camped round about those who fear Him and His Holy Spirit within them, what need have they to ever fear!
There is no length to which the Holy One who inhabits eternity will not go in order to bless and guard and keep His children. It is His good pleasure to show Himself strong in the behalf of those who love Him. Though they may go through trial, He is with them to glorify Himself in and to deliver them out of their trouble.
He states His intention very clearly in Psalm 17:7, 8 where we read, “Show Your marvelous loving kindness, O Lord who saves by His right hand those who take refuge in Your name. You guard them from their enemies. You keep them as the apple of Your eye.
As the entire structure of the face is employed to guard the pupil of the eye, from the eyelids, eyebrows and eyelashes to the forehead and cheek bones and bridge of the nose, so the resources of Heaven are arrayed in the defense of the child of God who trusts in the integrity of His name, in the infallibility of His promises.
Our God is faithful and true. He has stated His power and His intention to preserve His own in trouble, to guard them against their enemies, to deliver them in battle and to glorify Himself in all that touches their lives. If He has His angels camped round about those who fear Him and His Holy Spirit within them, what need have they to ever fear!
Friday, May 1, 2009
May 1
In Psalm 34:10 the Word gives us an insight into the heart of God that is at once motivating and inspiring. Here it says, “They that seek the Lord shall lack no good thing.” The great God of all that is, of all that is seen and all that is unseen loves us so much that He assures a reward to those who are willing to seek Him.
This offer should have great appeal to us for we are the species that pursues knowledge in order to gain power, that pursues position to gain influence that pursues wealth to gain pleasure. We understand the concept of investment and dividends.
We are willing to risk it all if there is the potential to realize a gain. We’ll even buy a lottery ticket with the hope of cashing in although we realize that our chance of winning is slim to none. Should we not, then, be inspired to employ this simple investment of ourselves into an opportunity to reap good things that far exceeds any other! Into the investment of self that cannot fail!
We have the promise of the One who cannot lie that if we will but seek Him—through the reading of His Word the Bible, through prayer, through the surrender of ourselves to the indwelling of His Holy Spirit—we shall be supplied with every good thing. Should we not then be motivated to seek after Him so we may realize His promise of what He knows is good for us!
In Psalm 34:10 the Word gives us an insight into the heart of God that is at once motivating and inspiring. Here it says, “They that seek the Lord shall lack no good thing.” The great God of all that is, of all that is seen and all that is unseen loves us so much that He assures a reward to those who are willing to seek Him.
This offer should have great appeal to us for we are the species that pursues knowledge in order to gain power, that pursues position to gain influence that pursues wealth to gain pleasure. We understand the concept of investment and dividends.
We are willing to risk it all if there is the potential to realize a gain. We’ll even buy a lottery ticket with the hope of cashing in although we realize that our chance of winning is slim to none. Should we not, then, be inspired to employ this simple investment of ourselves into an opportunity to reap good things that far exceeds any other! Into the investment of self that cannot fail!
We have the promise of the One who cannot lie that if we will but seek Him—through the reading of His Word the Bible, through prayer, through the surrender of ourselves to the indwelling of His Holy Spirit—we shall be supplied with every good thing. Should we not then be motivated to seek after Him so we may realize His promise of what He knows is good for us!
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