April 7
God’s Word is ‘yea and amen.’ God’s Word is unchanging. God’s Word is foundational to life. God’s Word is eternal. We yearn for something strong upon which to build our future. We work hard and strive diligently to achieve the goals that we believe will give us satisfaction and security.
But we know there are no guarantees in life. We may prepare ourselves thoroughly during our university years, work industriously during our productive decades, yet still fall short of the comfort and ease we hoped to take when the day of old age arrives. No guarantees.
Life’s curve balls come fast. Unless we’re up to the challenge of the game, it is possible to strike out. A reality of life is that there are few grand prize winners in life’s contests. But, though we may find ourselves to be less than we’d hoped in every area of endeavor, there is one in which we are assured total success.
Deuteronomy 29:29 assures, “The revealed things belong to us and to our children forever so we may follow all the words of this law.” The Lord makes great and precious promises to those who choose to follow Him and His promises are unwavering as long as we walk after Jesus in truth.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Family of the Redeemed
April 6
What does it take to become a member of a prestigious family? Certainly, the rare one among us might be born into a family of note. But there are not many of us whose surname is Rockefeller or Gates. A fortunate few might marry well and thereby become a member of a famous clan.
Most of us will, no matter how well-heeled we may become from a financial standpoint, remain among the obscure. Oh, we might be considered of some import among our immediate circle of family or friends or business associates, but beyond our neighborhood or our local community, few will know our name.
So, what does it take to become a part of God’s family of the redeemed? How can we assure a place for ourselves among those who will spend eternity in heaven? We can’t marry into heaven’s glory or work our way into the upper echelons of the eternal. We cannot earn God’s favor or a place by His Throne.
In Luke 8:21, Jesus offers the way to relationship. He says, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.” We hear God’s plan of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus and we receive Him as Savior to implement His plan to become God's own child--a member of the family of the redeemed.
What does it take to become a member of a prestigious family? Certainly, the rare one among us might be born into a family of note. But there are not many of us whose surname is Rockefeller or Gates. A fortunate few might marry well and thereby become a member of a famous clan.
Most of us will, no matter how well-heeled we may become from a financial standpoint, remain among the obscure. Oh, we might be considered of some import among our immediate circle of family or friends or business associates, but beyond our neighborhood or our local community, few will know our name.
So, what does it take to become a part of God’s family of the redeemed? How can we assure a place for ourselves among those who will spend eternity in heaven? We can’t marry into heaven’s glory or work our way into the upper echelons of the eternal. We cannot earn God’s favor or a place by His Throne.
In Luke 8:21, Jesus offers the way to relationship. He says, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.” We hear God’s plan of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus and we receive Him as Savior to implement His plan to become God's own child--a member of the family of the redeemed.
Monday, April 5, 2010
His Presence
April 5
Do you recall your first day of kindergarten? If you do, you may remember along with your colorful lunch box and shiny new shoes, a bit of apprehension that accompanied your first day of marching off to school. The little scholar in you was a wee bit intimidated by being away from Mommy for an entire morning!
And you’ve probably felt that same feeling of apprehension an additional time or two through your life. The interview for the job you so hoped to be offered, the steeling of yourself to ask the girl of your dreams for her hand in marriage, the struggle to face the diagnosis that might alter your life are a few of the major pivot points around which life can turn that stir up that old emotion.
The Lord knows there are transition points in life that can be good or bad on their face—but either way, they bring stress. We are creatures who like finding a comfort zone and settling into it. When we are required to step into the ‘unknown zone,’ He has a word to give us the peace we need whether to make a cross-country move or to face a life changing calamity.
That word of comfort is found in Joshua 1:9 where He said to His people when they faced a formidable foe, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your god is with you wherever you go.” There is no place, there is no circumstance when you will be abandoned by the God who loves you. His resources are always available to His child. His presence will always guard and guide you.
Do you recall your first day of kindergarten? If you do, you may remember along with your colorful lunch box and shiny new shoes, a bit of apprehension that accompanied your first day of marching off to school. The little scholar in you was a wee bit intimidated by being away from Mommy for an entire morning!
And you’ve probably felt that same feeling of apprehension an additional time or two through your life. The interview for the job you so hoped to be offered, the steeling of yourself to ask the girl of your dreams for her hand in marriage, the struggle to face the diagnosis that might alter your life are a few of the major pivot points around which life can turn that stir up that old emotion.
The Lord knows there are transition points in life that can be good or bad on their face—but either way, they bring stress. We are creatures who like finding a comfort zone and settling into it. When we are required to step into the ‘unknown zone,’ He has a word to give us the peace we need whether to make a cross-country move or to face a life changing calamity.
That word of comfort is found in Joshua 1:9 where He said to His people when they faced a formidable foe, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your god is with you wherever you go.” There is no place, there is no circumstance when you will be abandoned by the God who loves you. His resources are always available to His child. His presence will always guard and guide you.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Song of Salvation--"He Is Risen"
April 4
Believers in Christ have an amazing opportunity to reach the lost, to give them the chance to receive the Lord of Creation into their hearts, to walk with Him, to commune with Him, to dwell with Him for time and for eternity. The Jesus we serve requires nothing of us. No payment is demanded, no stipulations are made. All this is His free gift to us—II Corinthians 9:15.
He asks nothing of us but that we receive His free gift. When we have gone to the altar and laid our sins at His feet, when we have received the cleansing His shed blood has supplied to us, when we are born again—when we are newly adopted into the family of our heavenly Father, there is one thing we can do.
It is not a weighty burden that He places upon us; He merely asks us to sing! If we have the joy of salvation, the best way we have of gaining the interest of those who do not believe is by our joy. The attention that is drawn to the one who is light of heart, joyful even when tried, is without equal through any other means!
Psalm 40:3 says, “He has put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” Those who knew us before our salvation—our tendency to fear, to distrust, to worry—will see the difference Jesus makes in us—and they will want to share in the transformation!
Believers in Christ have an amazing opportunity to reach the lost, to give them the chance to receive the Lord of Creation into their hearts, to walk with Him, to commune with Him, to dwell with Him for time and for eternity. The Jesus we serve requires nothing of us. No payment is demanded, no stipulations are made. All this is His free gift to us—II Corinthians 9:15.
He asks nothing of us but that we receive His free gift. When we have gone to the altar and laid our sins at His feet, when we have received the cleansing His shed blood has supplied to us, when we are born again—when we are newly adopted into the family of our heavenly Father, there is one thing we can do.
It is not a weighty burden that He places upon us; He merely asks us to sing! If we have the joy of salvation, the best way we have of gaining the interest of those who do not believe is by our joy. The attention that is drawn to the one who is light of heart, joyful even when tried, is without equal through any other means!
Psalm 40:3 says, “He has put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” Those who knew us before our salvation—our tendency to fear, to distrust, to worry—will see the difference Jesus makes in us—and they will want to share in the transformation!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Momentary Affliction
April 3
What does God think of our suffering? He gives every indication that He desires to help us through it. Jeremiah 33:3 sums up His position succinctly and wonderfully. Here He says, “Call unto Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you cannot imagine.”
God wants us to be blessed. A rather folksy way church people have of stating that truth is that He wants to, “bless your socks off.” Those who believe in and anticipate the miraculous intervention of our awesome God into our circumstances believe He is unchanging.
We believe that the miracles He performed through the pages of the Old and New Testaments are patterns for us today. We saw Moses part the Red Sea, we saw the Heavenly Host defend Elijah from an attacking army, we saw what Jesus did when people placed their needs at His feet and we are encouraged to believe that it is His will to operate in the same miraculous realm today.
Yet—when He does not choose to reveal His power through the extraordinary methods He can use if He so desires, He has another assurance for those who believe. II Corinthians 4:17 says, “Our momentary affliction will produce in us an eternal weight of glory.” No matter what we go through here, it will be overcome when we arrive at our glorious eternal home.
What does God think of our suffering? He gives every indication that He desires to help us through it. Jeremiah 33:3 sums up His position succinctly and wonderfully. Here He says, “Call unto Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you cannot imagine.”
God wants us to be blessed. A rather folksy way church people have of stating that truth is that He wants to, “bless your socks off.” Those who believe in and anticipate the miraculous intervention of our awesome God into our circumstances believe He is unchanging.
We believe that the miracles He performed through the pages of the Old and New Testaments are patterns for us today. We saw Moses part the Red Sea, we saw the Heavenly Host defend Elijah from an attacking army, we saw what Jesus did when people placed their needs at His feet and we are encouraged to believe that it is His will to operate in the same miraculous realm today.
Yet—when He does not choose to reveal His power through the extraordinary methods He can use if He so desires, He has another assurance for those who believe. II Corinthians 4:17 says, “Our momentary affliction will produce in us an eternal weight of glory.” No matter what we go through here, it will be overcome when we arrive at our glorious eternal home.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Too Wonderful for Words
April 2
Trusting the Lord in time, while we are finite in our understanding and limited in our spiritual scope and vision requires obedience to the Lord and willingness to step out in faith when doing so seems foolish in the eyes of our peers. No one wants to be the ‘odd’ guy who’s ridiculed behind his back.
Remember Gideon, when the Lord appeared to him in Judges 6:12 and addressed him as “…thou mighty man of valor,” responded in vs. 15 with the equivalent of, “Who, me?” This farmer couldn’t fathom that he was being addressed by the Living God and given the directive to defeat the foe of Israel.
And we still react in the same way when we contemplate the promises in the Bible that seem too wonderful for words. Though we are emboldened to reach out for salvation by the desperation of our plight when we recognize our total inability to satisfy the expectations of a holy God, we often stop there.
We are unable to grasp the notion that we can pray for healing, for deliverance, for blessings—for ourselves and for others—and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to see divine answers to our prayers. We must accept, as did Gideon, that indeed a small army of believers can transform the world! (Judges 7:7)
Trusting the Lord in time, while we are finite in our understanding and limited in our spiritual scope and vision requires obedience to the Lord and willingness to step out in faith when doing so seems foolish in the eyes of our peers. No one wants to be the ‘odd’ guy who’s ridiculed behind his back.
Remember Gideon, when the Lord appeared to him in Judges 6:12 and addressed him as “…thou mighty man of valor,” responded in vs. 15 with the equivalent of, “Who, me?” This farmer couldn’t fathom that he was being addressed by the Living God and given the directive to defeat the foe of Israel.
And we still react in the same way when we contemplate the promises in the Bible that seem too wonderful for words. Though we are emboldened to reach out for salvation by the desperation of our plight when we recognize our total inability to satisfy the expectations of a holy God, we often stop there.
We are unable to grasp the notion that we can pray for healing, for deliverance, for blessings—for ourselves and for others—and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to see divine answers to our prayers. We must accept, as did Gideon, that indeed a small army of believers can transform the world! (Judges 7:7)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
100%
April 1
God expects 100% faith from people who profess to believe in Him. Ultimately, we each will arrive at that pinnacle of belief as we mature in faith. The Word says in fact that our accepting of Christ as our Savior and Lord sets us on a path that will lead us to be like Him, “for we shall see Him as He is” I John 3:2.
That process begins in time but ends in eternity, for the passage tells us that our perfection in Christ will be accomplished, “…when He shall appear…” Those who love Him await that glorious day with great expectation! Finally, all hatred, all sorrow,
all pain, all death will be gone and joy and truth—Christ--shall reign!
Though we cannot attain unto that state of perfection while inhabiting our tabernacle of flesh, we can begin to aspire to the level of faith and commitment that will be perfected when He returns. Proverbs 3:5 gives us an insight into how we might begin the process that will be accomplished in heaven.
Here it states, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” That path leads to perfect wisdom, perfect joy, perfect love—and to the 100% faith that He knows we’ll achieve when we see Jesus in glory.
God expects 100% faith from people who profess to believe in Him. Ultimately, we each will arrive at that pinnacle of belief as we mature in faith. The Word says in fact that our accepting of Christ as our Savior and Lord sets us on a path that will lead us to be like Him, “for we shall see Him as He is” I John 3:2.
That process begins in time but ends in eternity, for the passage tells us that our perfection in Christ will be accomplished, “…when He shall appear…” Those who love Him await that glorious day with great expectation! Finally, all hatred, all sorrow,
all pain, all death will be gone and joy and truth—Christ--shall reign!
Though we cannot attain unto that state of perfection while inhabiting our tabernacle of flesh, we can begin to aspire to the level of faith and commitment that will be perfected when He returns. Proverbs 3:5 gives us an insight into how we might begin the process that will be accomplished in heaven.
Here it states, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” That path leads to perfect wisdom, perfect joy, perfect love—and to the 100% faith that He knows we’ll achieve when we see Jesus in glory.
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