1 Timothy 1:3-7

God gave every person the capacity to discern right from wrong. For each person, this gift–known as a conscience–is programmed with a distinct belief set and, therefore, functions differently from everyone else’s. From the moment we begin processing instructions and warnings, our conscience is developing a code of conduct by which we will live.

Whether the authority figures in your life offered sound life principles and fair consequences or provided little guidance of real value, your conscience collected the data. As children grow to adulthood, they pay attention to the words and actions of others. Both positive and negative results are added to the program. People who disappoint us teach just as much as those who impress. The programming continues throughout life, so every situation we encounter has the capacity to affect our decisions and actions.

The conscience is a flexible tool; it can absorb new data and adjust a person’s values and perspective. That’s good news for those who begin with poor programming but find valuable biblical guidance later on. Yet flexibility is potentially bad news for those who expose themselves repeatedly to falsehood and vain philosophies. If they ignore wisdom and truth, they will assimilate the deceptive viewpoints of modern culture.

The conscience isn’t a wholly reliable resource, but it’s a tool of the One who is completely trustworthy. The Holy Spirit works in conjunction with our inborn moral compass. He gives direction when the conscience blares a warning and interprets God’s Word when the conscience is hurting.

Morning “Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.” /

Lamentations 3:41  

The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson

for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favours without constraining

us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is

an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, a revelation of hidden

poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of

human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty

in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor

in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to

do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God,

it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust. Prayer is in

itself, apart from the answer which it brings, a great benefit to the

Christian. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for

the great race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labour of prayer.

Prayer plumes the wings of God’s young eaglets, that they may learn to mount

above the clouds. Prayer girds the loins of God’s warriors, and sends them

forth to combat with their sinews braced and their muscles firm. An earnest

pleader cometh out of his closet, even as the sun ariseth from the chambers of

the east, rejoicing like a strong man to run his race. Prayer is that uplifted

hand of Moses which routs the Amalekites more than the sword of Joshua; it is

the arrow shot from the chamber of the prophet foreboding defeat to the

Syrians. Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly

into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know

not what prayer cannot do! We thank thee, great God, for the mercy-seat, a

choice proof of thy marvellous lovingkindness. Help us to use it aright

throughout this day!

 

Evening “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called.” / Romans 8:30

 In the second epistle to Timothy, first chapter, and ninth verse, are these

words–“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling.” Now, here is a

touchstone by which we may try our calling. It is “an holy calling, not

according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.” This

calling forbids all trust in our own doings, and conducts us to Christ alone

for salvation, but it afterwards purges us from dead works to serve the living

and true God. As he that hath called you is holy, so must you be holy. If you

are living in sin, you are not called, but if you are truly Christ’s, you can

say, “Nothing pains me so much as sin; I desire to be rid of it; Lord, help me

to be holy.” Is this the panting of thy heart? Is this the tenor of thy life

towards God, and his divine will? Again, in Philippians, 3:13, 14, we are told

of “The high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Is then your calling a high

calling? Has it ennobled your heart, and set it upon heavenly things? Has it

elevated your hopes, your tastes, your desires? Has it upraised the constant

tenor of your life, so that you spend it with God and for God? Another test we

find in Hebrews 3:1–“Partakers of the heavenly calling.” Heavenly calling

means a call from heaven. If man alone call thee, thou art uncalled. Is thy

calling of God? Is it a call to heaven as well as from heaven? Unless thou art

a stranger here, and heaven thy home, thou hast not been called with a

heavenly calling; for those who have been so called, declare that they look

for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and they

themselves are strangers and pilgrims upon the earth. Is thy calling thus

holy, high, heavenly? Then, beloved, thou hast been called of God, for such is

the calling wherewith God doth call his people.

 Sometimes I get the feeling from our media that there is a serious effort underway to keep us all anxious, in a state of informed concern, and always on the alert against—well, everything. Rather than a balanced, more general, and necessary exhortation to be cautious, we seem to manufacture fear. We take the advent of 24/7 news, a proliferation of “experts,” and a deluge of “the latest studies,” and out comes an overdose of worry or outright fear.

Everyday I am told that education standards are falling, the economy is in shambles, crime is rising, my food is dangerous, predators are on the prowl in neighborhoods, my body is under assault from saturated fats, and I can’t trust my bankers, accountants, or politicians. There are religious fanatics on the loose and weapons of mass destruction waiting to get me. Gas prices are rising, work seems hard to get, and on top of it all, the poisoned environment is gearing up to offer a big time payback.

Now, I don’t know about you, but the constant immersion in such things, the saturation of space, and the occupation of time by these ideas, does not add to the balance of hope, expectation, joy, or comfort. Could it be that into this culture framed narrative, we can listen to a word from another century? Jesus, speaking to his disciples, once said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25). How on earth can we not worry?

Is this possible, is it practical, is it even real? We have whole industries, massive budgets, and multitudes of people, all whose business is marketing worry. Now I’m not exactly suggesting that there is some large scale conspiracy effort to manipulate us all. What I do mean, however, is that many of us live unreflective lives. We don’t pay much (or any) attention to the things that may deeply influence or affect us. For example, it is a necessary condition of a modern economy to keep us restless, dissatisfied, and always seeking, wanting, striving for things, experiences, stuff, education, honors, fun, or whatever. Yet, this perpetual stimulus, as Kenneth Gergen writes in The Saturated Self, indeed has fallout. It leads, he proposes, to a condition of “multiphrenia.”

We are all used to terms like ADD and many similar symptoms to describe our age. We are distracted, busy, under demand, and more often than not worn out or beaten down. So what can we do to combat these forces that deeply affect us? When I was a child in Scotland, I was taught a basic discipline essential to all children in areas where walking to school by busy roads was the norm. Where crossing roads and moving through traffic was inevitable, the key was learning to do it safely. Hence, we were taught: Stop! Look! Listen! These three words and practices were drummed into us. Let me draw on this.

Learning to stop is often the beginning point in our harassed lives. Simply stop and be still. Then, look. Look around, look within, evaluate, and discern. Next, listen. What do you hear, see, sense? Culture’s invasive power may be resisted by a simple set of steps that break the hold of intrusion and allow us to reestablish our focus (see Matthew 6:33). With a fresh resolve to live differently, listen carefully, and act intentionally, new life and will to live is unleashed. Socrates is identified as having observed that the unexamined life is not worth living. I think for many of us, this is the problem. We simply let life take over, circumstances dominate, and pressures define us. But a spirituality of resistance learns to say no. Writing in a time of great pressure, real danger, and many struggles, Paul said to the Philippians: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, and with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” What can we expect as the outcome? God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds.

There are indeed vested interests in the promotion of worry and the amplification of anxiety. But the Lord of history offers an alternative: Trust in Christ and be anxious for nothing!

Stuart McAllister is vice president of training and special projects at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

And those whom he predestined he also called.    Romans 8:30

In the second letter to Timothy, first chapter and ninth verse, we read these words: “who saved us and called us to a holy calling.” Now here is a touchstone by which we may test our calling. It is “a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace.” This calling forbids all trust in our own doings and turns us to Christ alone for salvation, but it afterwards purges us from dead works to serve the living and true God.

As He who called you is holy, so must you be holy. If you are living in sin, you are not called; but if you are truly Christ’s, you can say, “Nothing pains me so much as sin; I desire to be rid of it. Lord, help me to be holy.” Is this the longing of your heart? Is this the substance of your life toward God and His divine will? Again, in Philippians 3:13-14 we are told of “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Is your calling an upward call? Has it refined your heart and focused it upon heavenly things? Has it elevated your hopes, your tastes, your desires? Has it raised the constant tenor of your life, so that you spend it with God and for God?

We find another test in Hebrews 3:1—”you who share in a heavenly calling.” “Heavenly calling” means a call from heaven. If your call comes from man alone, you are uncalled. Is your calling from God? Is it a call to heaven as well as from heaven? Unless you are a stranger here, and heaven is your home, you have not been called with a heavenly calling, for those who have been called from heaven declare that they look for a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and they find themselves strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Is your calling holy, high, heavenly? Then, beloved, you have been called of God, for such is the calling by which God calls His people.

Family Reading Plan    Ezekiel 44   Psalm 98