March 31
We tend to think we’re pretty good, that God ought to be pleased with us. We compare ourselves to reprobate individuals and we think the light of our integrity and honor shine like beacons compared to their evil deeds that are done in secret places of the dark. And if God compared us to them, we’d be right.
But, He doesn’t. Psalm 50:17-21 says, “You hate instruction and cast My words behind you…you consent with a thief and interact with adulterers. You speak evil and your tongue frames deceit; you slander your own family…I have kept silence and you thought I approved, but I will bring you low… if you do not repent and walk rightly before Me, praising Me.
God does not wink at our indiscretions. He does not condone our dalliances with the ways of wickedness. He maintains a standard that is above reproach, and although He knows we cannot attain it while we live in a tabernacle of flesh, He expects that we strive toward it. He knows our human effort is futile so He sent His Son to cover our sin with His shed blood.
How blessed we are that the Father who condemns our proclivity to walk at the precipitous edge of sin has also said in Psalm 50:23, “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me and to him that orders his conversation aright will I show God’s salvation.” When we praise Jesus for His sacrifice and eschew evil, His blood cleanses us from sin.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Fight the Good Fight!
March 30
“Fight the good fight of faith! Take hold of eternal life! You were called to it! You’ve received it! It’s yours!” I Timothy 6:12 stirs our deepest impulse to go forth, empowered by the Holy Spirit, overflowing with hope, exuding faith! It compels us to be strong in the inner man so we may conquer hearts for His glory!!
And once we have embraced all that commitment to Christ is meant to be in us, we will allow it to become all it is meant to be through us! The walk of faith, the fight for faith, the pursuit of faith are not just for ourselves. They are the crucial first step, but if we stop there, we have missed our commission.
When we have enlisted in the Lord’s army of believers, when we have dawned the accouterments of our warfare—salvation, truth, patience, humility, godliness, love—it is then that we must go forth, bearing the precious seed that has come to fruition within us!
As we use love and truth to conquer hearts, many who are lost and alone in life’s journey from dust to dust will see and understand and embrace the fullness of Christ’s gift to those who will but believe and receive. A heart will have been conquered for Jesus. A child will have been born into His Kingdom.
“Fight the good fight of faith! Take hold of eternal life! You were called to it! You’ve received it! It’s yours!” I Timothy 6:12 stirs our deepest impulse to go forth, empowered by the Holy Spirit, overflowing with hope, exuding faith! It compels us to be strong in the inner man so we may conquer hearts for His glory!!
And once we have embraced all that commitment to Christ is meant to be in us, we will allow it to become all it is meant to be through us! The walk of faith, the fight for faith, the pursuit of faith are not just for ourselves. They are the crucial first step, but if we stop there, we have missed our commission.
When we have enlisted in the Lord’s army of believers, when we have dawned the accouterments of our warfare—salvation, truth, patience, humility, godliness, love—it is then that we must go forth, bearing the precious seed that has come to fruition within us!
As we use love and truth to conquer hearts, many who are lost and alone in life’s journey from dust to dust will see and understand and embrace the fullness of Christ’s gift to those who will but believe and receive. A heart will have been conquered for Jesus. A child will have been born into His Kingdom.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Believer in Motion!
March 29
“Run from.” “Pursue.” In his first epistle, Timothy has the believer in motion! We are well exercised if we follow his counsel. I Timothy 6:10 admonishes us that the love of money, the pursuit of wealth can cost us dearly. Coveting wealth and the things it buys can cost us our faith and laden us with disappointment.
Temporal acquisitions afford a temporary satisfaction that comes with having the power to gain wealth through hard work or innovative thinking but the contentment it affords is short-lived. In I Timothy 6:11, we are shown a better way to spend our time and our energy.
“But thou, O man of God…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, humility…” for these are the things that truly satisfy and these are the things that comprise the eternal treasure we should desire to possess. Will this heavenly wealth come to us easily?
Not if Timothy is correct! He goes on to say in verse 12, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life to which you are called and for which you have made a good profession of faith…” To pursue temporal wealth is to leave earth impoverished. To pursue eternal wealth is to leave earth abounding in riches!
“Run from.” “Pursue.” In his first epistle, Timothy has the believer in motion! We are well exercised if we follow his counsel. I Timothy 6:10 admonishes us that the love of money, the pursuit of wealth can cost us dearly. Coveting wealth and the things it buys can cost us our faith and laden us with disappointment.
Temporal acquisitions afford a temporary satisfaction that comes with having the power to gain wealth through hard work or innovative thinking but the contentment it affords is short-lived. In I Timothy 6:11, we are shown a better way to spend our time and our energy.
“But thou, O man of God…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, humility…” for these are the things that truly satisfy and these are the things that comprise the eternal treasure we should desire to possess. Will this heavenly wealth come to us easily?
Not if Timothy is correct! He goes on to say in verse 12, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life to which you are called and for which you have made a good profession of faith…” To pursue temporal wealth is to leave earth impoverished. To pursue eternal wealth is to leave earth abounding in riches!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Time to Enter His Rest
March 28
To each of us is allotted a span of moments and days and months and years that we are to configure into a life. We endeavor to make our lives into worthy reflections of our abilities, our interests, our hopes, our dreams and our loves. We mold our lives into a pattern unique to ourselves—beautiful in our way.
It would be difficult to recognize by the normality of our day-to-day activities that looming before each of us is the reality of hell to fear and heaven to lose. We focus on the ordinary responsibilities that fill our hours without a thought that the moment we breathe our last becomes the moment none of it matters in the least.
We avoid the thought of our own mortality. We defer the soul searching that each of us should do regarding eternity and where we will spend it. But the living Word of our Savior Jesus Christ admonishes that we confront that necessity and that we settle it to our eternal advantage. The Lord who loves us does not want us to be lost.
Hebrews 4:1 says, “While the promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear so that none shall miss it.” There is a limit imposed upon our opportunity to avail ourselves of life’s only truly important invitation. II Corinthians 6:2 tells us, “Behold now is the accepted time; today is the day of salvation.” Don’t let your opportunity for heaven be lost in the busy-ness of life’s mundane pursuits.
To each of us is allotted a span of moments and days and months and years that we are to configure into a life. We endeavor to make our lives into worthy reflections of our abilities, our interests, our hopes, our dreams and our loves. We mold our lives into a pattern unique to ourselves—beautiful in our way.
It would be difficult to recognize by the normality of our day-to-day activities that looming before each of us is the reality of hell to fear and heaven to lose. We focus on the ordinary responsibilities that fill our hours without a thought that the moment we breathe our last becomes the moment none of it matters in the least.
We avoid the thought of our own mortality. We defer the soul searching that each of us should do regarding eternity and where we will spend it. But the living Word of our Savior Jesus Christ admonishes that we confront that necessity and that we settle it to our eternal advantage. The Lord who loves us does not want us to be lost.
Hebrews 4:1 says, “While the promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear so that none shall miss it.” There is a limit imposed upon our opportunity to avail ourselves of life’s only truly important invitation. II Corinthians 6:2 tells us, “Behold now is the accepted time; today is the day of salvation.” Don’t let your opportunity for heaven be lost in the busy-ness of life’s mundane pursuits.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Strength and Light from His Holy Spirit
March 27
The evil one fully intends that mankind be conquered and placed under his control. The means he uses toward that end may vary from culture to culture, and even from individual to individual, but his goal remains—the subjugation of every living soul to his ruthless lordship.
There is no one who is more aware of the schemes and the intent to fulfill them that the enemy of the soul of man has toward humanity than is the Father who dwells in heavenly places. It is He alone who keeps the most precious of His creatures from the despotic hand of the enemy’s cruel subjugation.
What role do we play in this on-going conflagration between the Lord who loves us and the evil one who seeks our relegation to the plane of slaves to sin? Is there any weapon fashioned that mere mortals may wield in our own defense against such a formidable and determined foe? Is there any resistance to his wiles that is capable of preventing our undoing?
In I John 4:1 the beloved Apostle says, “…do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits to determine if they are from God.” When we are bathed in the blood of Jesus, we are given the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. If we are sensitive to His leading, He will keep us from succumbing to the continual effort of the enemy to deceive and destroy our eternal soul.
The evil one fully intends that mankind be conquered and placed under his control. The means he uses toward that end may vary from culture to culture, and even from individual to individual, but his goal remains—the subjugation of every living soul to his ruthless lordship.
There is no one who is more aware of the schemes and the intent to fulfill them that the enemy of the soul of man has toward humanity than is the Father who dwells in heavenly places. It is He alone who keeps the most precious of His creatures from the despotic hand of the enemy’s cruel subjugation.
What role do we play in this on-going conflagration between the Lord who loves us and the evil one who seeks our relegation to the plane of slaves to sin? Is there any weapon fashioned that mere mortals may wield in our own defense against such a formidable and determined foe? Is there any resistance to his wiles that is capable of preventing our undoing?
In I John 4:1 the beloved Apostle says, “…do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits to determine if they are from God.” When we are bathed in the blood of Jesus, we are given the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. If we are sensitive to His leading, He will keep us from succumbing to the continual effort of the enemy to deceive and destroy our eternal soul.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Grace
March 26
Our propensity for falling short of our desired goal is substantial. We have the capacity to disappoint ourselves at virtually every turn. When we let others down, there are often severe consequences to our falling short of their expectations of us.
The boss who finds us wanting will not long suffer our presence in his organization. The friend who finds us undependable will look elsewhere for companionship. There is only One who accepts us with all our failures and remains constant in His love for us.
John 1:16 states this remarkable truth beautifully. Here we are told, “Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness.” When we disappoint ourselves by our spiritual shortcomings, when we know we have not evidenced the reality that we are temples where the Holy Spirit dwells, even then, we may rest in the assurance that His grace covers us.
The Bible has assured us that the Lord Jesus loved us “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8). If He died for us when we were at our worst, can we not accept the glorious reality of His love for us that transcends our foibles and helps us to strive toward the goal of Christ-likeness that we so profoundly desire? May we not trust that our sins remain under the blood in spite of ourselves?
Our propensity for falling short of our desired goal is substantial. We have the capacity to disappoint ourselves at virtually every turn. When we let others down, there are often severe consequences to our falling short of their expectations of us.
The boss who finds us wanting will not long suffer our presence in his organization. The friend who finds us undependable will look elsewhere for companionship. There is only One who accepts us with all our failures and remains constant in His love for us.
John 1:16 states this remarkable truth beautifully. Here we are told, “Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness.” When we disappoint ourselves by our spiritual shortcomings, when we know we have not evidenced the reality that we are temples where the Holy Spirit dwells, even then, we may rest in the assurance that His grace covers us.
The Bible has assured us that the Lord Jesus loved us “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8). If He died for us when we were at our worst, can we not accept the glorious reality of His love for us that transcends our foibles and helps us to strive toward the goal of Christ-likeness that we so profoundly desire? May we not trust that our sins remain under the blood in spite of ourselves?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
No Vain Puff
March 25
Some startling claims are made in the advertising world. From toothpaste that will whiten your teeth to an irresistible brightness, to automobiles that will out-perform all their competition, the consumer must beware of the ‘trade puffs’ that companies feel are justified in promoting their products.
There is One, however whose claims are not exaggerated. In fact, He is so amazing that there are not words within the lexicon of human language to convey His wonders to His creatures. Among the most astounding assertions the Bible conveys to us about God is that He loves us.
God, the Mighty One, the Majesty on high, feels so tenderly inclined toward man that He sent His only Son to die for our sins, to redeem us from destruction and to assure a place for us in His eternal home. I Corinthians 13:7, 8 states the scope of that love in terms that are at once easily understood while virtually incomprehensible.
This glorious passage states regarding the love of God that, “It always protects, always trusts, always perseveres. Love never fails.” When we are assailed by the circumstances of life, we are guarded from their onslaught. Because His love for us perseveres, we may trust in its efficacy. The promise that He will not fail us, will not remove His hedge of love from around us, is no vain puff.
Some startling claims are made in the advertising world. From toothpaste that will whiten your teeth to an irresistible brightness, to automobiles that will out-perform all their competition, the consumer must beware of the ‘trade puffs’ that companies feel are justified in promoting their products.
There is One, however whose claims are not exaggerated. In fact, He is so amazing that there are not words within the lexicon of human language to convey His wonders to His creatures. Among the most astounding assertions the Bible conveys to us about God is that He loves us.
God, the Mighty One, the Majesty on high, feels so tenderly inclined toward man that He sent His only Son to die for our sins, to redeem us from destruction and to assure a place for us in His eternal home. I Corinthians 13:7, 8 states the scope of that love in terms that are at once easily understood while virtually incomprehensible.
This glorious passage states regarding the love of God that, “It always protects, always trusts, always perseveres. Love never fails.” When we are assailed by the circumstances of life, we are guarded from their onslaught. Because His love for us perseveres, we may trust in its efficacy. The promise that He will not fail us, will not remove His hedge of love from around us, is no vain puff.
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