April 14
Abiding in Christ holds great promise. There is nothing else upon which we may spend ourselves in life that has the great reward that we are assured if we will remain faithful to Him. Of course that hope does not rest in our own integrity. It is secure because of His faithfulness.
We may trust completely in His promises and in the assurance we have that He who will not look upon sin is incapable of sin Himself. Because lying is counted among the worst of man’s character flaws, we may be sure that the Lord of the universe will not allow falsehood to be identified with His holy person.
In John 15:7 Jesus says, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you may ask whatever you want of Me and it will be done for you.” The scope of that promise is mind boggling! Even allowing for the fact that our God cannot answer a prayer that is in conflict with His immutable law, it is a remarkable assurance.
But if we have given our heart to Jesus, our heart will not allow us to desire something that is inconsistent with His revealed will. If we know the Word that sets us free, our prayers will be consistent with those that are affirmed by the Word—salvation for the lost, healing for the sick, truth for those in error.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
My Vindication Is with the Lord
April 13
Nobody wants to spin his wheels. There’s not much that can send our frustration threshold through the roof more quickly than the knowledge that we have spent ourselves upon a task or a relationship and the result has been that our effort has meant nothing.
As when we have invested our money in a stock, we have great hope that when we have invested our time and effort into an educational goal or a career plan or a relationship, the resultant interest accrued through the time and effort placed into it will eventually make the outcome a successful and profitable one.
Nothing dismays us to the level as does our misplaced effort. To spend ourselves in futile pursuits is to relegate us to disappointment, dejection, and despair. If we come face-to-face with the reality that our labor has been in vain, we will label ourselves as failures—a concept we endeavor to avoid at all cost. Yet in Isaiah 49:4the prophet comes to the conclusion that he has labored in vain but does not despair.
Isaiah says, “I have spent my strength for nothing but futility…” but he goes on to say, “…yet my vindication is with the Lord.” In the spiritual realm, the success of our endeavor is not always readily discernable. If we know the Lord has given us a task to perform in the behalf of His Kingdom, we must trust its outcome to Him, even if the results we see do not seem to substantiate our investment of time and labor.
Nobody wants to spin his wheels. There’s not much that can send our frustration threshold through the roof more quickly than the knowledge that we have spent ourselves upon a task or a relationship and the result has been that our effort has meant nothing.
As when we have invested our money in a stock, we have great hope that when we have invested our time and effort into an educational goal or a career plan or a relationship, the resultant interest accrued through the time and effort placed into it will eventually make the outcome a successful and profitable one.
Nothing dismays us to the level as does our misplaced effort. To spend ourselves in futile pursuits is to relegate us to disappointment, dejection, and despair. If we come face-to-face with the reality that our labor has been in vain, we will label ourselves as failures—a concept we endeavor to avoid at all cost. Yet in Isaiah 49:4the prophet comes to the conclusion that he has labored in vain but does not despair.
Isaiah says, “I have spent my strength for nothing but futility…” but he goes on to say, “…yet my vindication is with the Lord.” In the spiritual realm, the success of our endeavor is not always readily discernable. If we know the Lord has given us a task to perform in the behalf of His Kingdom, we must trust its outcome to Him, even if the results we see do not seem to substantiate our investment of time and labor.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Value the Power of Prayer
April 12
We live in an age when it is easy to become frustrated with what is transpiring in our nation and in the world. We seem to see a fulfillment of the scriptural warning that there was a time coming when “good will be called evil and evil will be called good” Isaiah 5:20.
We are aware that the verse clearly states that “woe” shall be upon such a people. Psalm 12:8 says, “The wicked will thrive on every hand when vile men are exalted.” Indeed, that prophecy seems to be coming to pass in our generation.
It would be easy to have abject distain for such leaders, but our God directs us to hate the sin but love the sinner. He admonishes us to pray for those in authority over us (I Timothy 2:2). He wants us to value the power of prayer and to apply it liberally to those whose actions and seeming lack of regard for Him and His law make them the neediest among us.
In Hebrews 12:15 He says, “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, many be defiled.” Our admonition is to pray His grace over those who evidence a lack of it. When we do, perhaps we shall bridge the gap between their fallacious deeds and the trouble they can cause –and the peace we desire to be our portion.
We live in an age when it is easy to become frustrated with what is transpiring in our nation and in the world. We seem to see a fulfillment of the scriptural warning that there was a time coming when “good will be called evil and evil will be called good” Isaiah 5:20.
We are aware that the verse clearly states that “woe” shall be upon such a people. Psalm 12:8 says, “The wicked will thrive on every hand when vile men are exalted.” Indeed, that prophecy seems to be coming to pass in our generation.
It would be easy to have abject distain for such leaders, but our God directs us to hate the sin but love the sinner. He admonishes us to pray for those in authority over us (I Timothy 2:2). He wants us to value the power of prayer and to apply it liberally to those whose actions and seeming lack of regard for Him and His law make them the neediest among us.
In Hebrews 12:15 He says, “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, many be defiled.” Our admonition is to pray His grace over those who evidence a lack of it. When we do, perhaps we shall bridge the gap between their fallacious deeds and the trouble they can cause –and the peace we desire to be our portion.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Rest Follows Work
April 11
Our country has taken a downhill turn toward socialism. Our leaders, who seem to live in a vacuum where values and morals and Constitutional law are concerned, have presumed ‘rights’ that our founders never dreamed would be assumed by those in power.
In so doing, they are flying in the face of not only those wise men who set up the greatest government that has ever existed on the planet but they have also stuck their finger in the eye of God and His law. God places a high premium on work. When the first arrivals at Jamestown set up a socialistic agenda, it failed.
When their leaders implemented the Biblical admonition, “He who will not work shall not eat” II Thessalonians 3:10, the colony not only survived, it prospered. A person who has a vested interest in the performance of a task will be much more likely to give himself to it than the one who simply reaps the benefit of the labor of others.
As we should individually labor for the good things of life, so should we labor for the good things of eternity. In the pursuit of the good, the Lord recognizes our need for rest. We must, according to Exodus 10:9, 10, “Labor six days … but the seventh day, the Sabbath, is unto the Lord your God.” His scheme of things is that rest follows work, not that rest supersedes work.
Our country has taken a downhill turn toward socialism. Our leaders, who seem to live in a vacuum where values and morals and Constitutional law are concerned, have presumed ‘rights’ that our founders never dreamed would be assumed by those in power.
In so doing, they are flying in the face of not only those wise men who set up the greatest government that has ever existed on the planet but they have also stuck their finger in the eye of God and His law. God places a high premium on work. When the first arrivals at Jamestown set up a socialistic agenda, it failed.
When their leaders implemented the Biblical admonition, “He who will not work shall not eat” II Thessalonians 3:10, the colony not only survived, it prospered. A person who has a vested interest in the performance of a task will be much more likely to give himself to it than the one who simply reaps the benefit of the labor of others.
As we should individually labor for the good things of life, so should we labor for the good things of eternity. In the pursuit of the good, the Lord recognizes our need for rest. We must, according to Exodus 10:9, 10, “Labor six days … but the seventh day, the Sabbath, is unto the Lord your God.” His scheme of things is that rest follows work, not that rest supersedes work.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Move Forward in His Light
April 10
Blindly moving forward is a potential recipe for disaster. Whether it’s a stormy night and your path is illumined only by the lightening or whether it’s a white out and you can’t see your hand in front of you, proceeding toward the destination you cannot see is dangerous and foolhardy.
Emotionally, that same truth holds. Someone you love shows himself to be uncaring, overbearing, untrustworthy—you name the character trait that sends up the red flag—yet you maintain your trust in that individual, knowing that further treachery must surely lie ahead for this star-crossed relationship.
Plodding forward in the darkness of foul weather or the foul presence of unaddressed human flaws will not lead to the desired destination but to disappointment and perhaps to destruction. The Word admonishes that we, “Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established” Proverbs 4:26.
The physical path we take must be lighted for our safety. The spiritual and emotional path we take must be illumined by the light and love and steadfastness of the Lord for our eternal well-being. Though a wrong turn on a treacherous road can lead to our injury or death, a wrong turn along the path of our heart’s journey through life can lead to our eternal destruction. Let Jesus be our Light!
Blindly moving forward is a potential recipe for disaster. Whether it’s a stormy night and your path is illumined only by the lightening or whether it’s a white out and you can’t see your hand in front of you, proceeding toward the destination you cannot see is dangerous and foolhardy.
Emotionally, that same truth holds. Someone you love shows himself to be uncaring, overbearing, untrustworthy—you name the character trait that sends up the red flag—yet you maintain your trust in that individual, knowing that further treachery must surely lie ahead for this star-crossed relationship.
Plodding forward in the darkness of foul weather or the foul presence of unaddressed human flaws will not lead to the desired destination but to disappointment and perhaps to destruction. The Word admonishes that we, “Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established” Proverbs 4:26.
The physical path we take must be lighted for our safety. The spiritual and emotional path we take must be illumined by the light and love and steadfastness of the Lord for our eternal well-being. Though a wrong turn on a treacherous road can lead to our injury or death, a wrong turn along the path of our heart’s journey through life can lead to our eternal destruction. Let Jesus be our Light!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Read YOUR Book of Remembrance
April 9
Some of us have a difficult time keeping track of things. If we’re a little ‘older,’ we assure ourselves our memory loss has nothing to do with the aging process—some of us have always been absent minded. But there are things we must keep track of if we are to be faithful to the Lord.
We are bombarded on every hand with reasons to allow faith to diminish in our lives. We encounter problems that are demanding of our time and of our attention, we have friends and associates whose lives evidence virtually insurmountable difficulties and our tendency is to focus on these problems.
What we should do is focus on the One who has the answer to all life’s problems. We must turn our eyes to Jesus when we are inundated with the cares of this world. Though we do, at those moments of trial and disconcertion, lift a hasty prayer heavenward, we reset our focus on the need and our own solution to it almost simultaneously. Malachi 3:16 has a better response to the challenges that beset us.
Here it says, “A book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared Yahweh and had high regard for His name.” Our God and Father has been faithful in the past. He has heard us when we’ve cried out His name at our moment of need. He has not changed. May we reflect upon His power and His faithfulness in our current distress, knowing with all the faith within us that He will be our Deliverer once again—no matter how many times we need Him to be!
Some of us have a difficult time keeping track of things. If we’re a little ‘older,’ we assure ourselves our memory loss has nothing to do with the aging process—some of us have always been absent minded. But there are things we must keep track of if we are to be faithful to the Lord.
We are bombarded on every hand with reasons to allow faith to diminish in our lives. We encounter problems that are demanding of our time and of our attention, we have friends and associates whose lives evidence virtually insurmountable difficulties and our tendency is to focus on these problems.
What we should do is focus on the One who has the answer to all life’s problems. We must turn our eyes to Jesus when we are inundated with the cares of this world. Though we do, at those moments of trial and disconcertion, lift a hasty prayer heavenward, we reset our focus on the need and our own solution to it almost simultaneously. Malachi 3:16 has a better response to the challenges that beset us.
Here it says, “A book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared Yahweh and had high regard for His name.” Our God and Father has been faithful in the past. He has heard us when we’ve cried out His name at our moment of need. He has not changed. May we reflect upon His power and His faithfulness in our current distress, knowing with all the faith within us that He will be our Deliverer once again—no matter how many times we need Him to be!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Receive Instruction
April 8
Kids avoid correction. There is something about youth that has the notion of its own infallibility and the belief extrapolated from that perception seems to be, ‘If I already know everything, there’s nothing I possibly need to learn from anyone.’ Parents are ‘tuned out’ because of this train of logic.
We who are of a certain age, who have been there and done that, recognize the syndrome when we see it in our youth, but we know they are not interested in hearing counsel from us that would prevent their fall into the pit of delusion and disappointment this perception digs for them.
The Lord knows there is a remnant of the child in us, even when we are well beyond the adolescent stage of defiance toward parental authority. As loving natural parents and teachers strive to steer young people away from the negative attitude that we know will be their undoing, so God tries to reveal the harm of that attitude if we continue to indulge it regarding His instruction.
In Proverbs 3:11, 12, we are admonished, “Do not despise the Lord’s instruction for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.” Rather than resist the correction of the Lord, we should open ourselves to appropriate and apply it so we will be able to glean the blessings beyond our grasp.
Kids avoid correction. There is something about youth that has the notion of its own infallibility and the belief extrapolated from that perception seems to be, ‘If I already know everything, there’s nothing I possibly need to learn from anyone.’ Parents are ‘tuned out’ because of this train of logic.
We who are of a certain age, who have been there and done that, recognize the syndrome when we see it in our youth, but we know they are not interested in hearing counsel from us that would prevent their fall into the pit of delusion and disappointment this perception digs for them.
The Lord knows there is a remnant of the child in us, even when we are well beyond the adolescent stage of defiance toward parental authority. As loving natural parents and teachers strive to steer young people away from the negative attitude that we know will be their undoing, so God tries to reveal the harm of that attitude if we continue to indulge it regarding His instruction.
In Proverbs 3:11, 12, we are admonished, “Do not despise the Lord’s instruction for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.” Rather than resist the correction of the Lord, we should open ourselves to appropriate and apply it so we will be able to glean the blessings beyond our grasp.
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