Our Daily Bread — Love That Forgives

Bible in a Year:

Bear with each other and forgive one another.

Colossians 3:13

Today’s Scripture & Insight:

Colossians 3:12–14

Eighty years of marriage! My husband’s great-uncle Pete and great-aunt Ruth celebrated this remarkable milestone on May 31, 2021. After a chance meeting in 1941 when Ruth was still in high school, the young couple were so eager to get married that they eloped the day after Ruth graduated. Pete and Ruth believe God brought them together and has guided them all these years.

Reflecting on eight decades of marriage, Pete and Ruth both agree that one key to sustaining their relationship has been the decision to choose forgiveness. Anyone in a healthy relationship understands that we all regularly need forgiveness for the ways we hurt each other, whether through an unkind word, a broken promise, or a forgotten task.

In a section of Scripture written to help believers in Jesus live together in unity, Paul refers to the essential role forgiveness plays. After urging his readers to choose “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12), Paul adds the encouragement to “forgive one another if any of you has a grievance” (v. 13). Most importantly, all their interactions with each were to be guided by love (v. 14).

Relationships that model the characteristics outlined by Paul are a blessing. May God help all of us work to cultivate healthy relationships characterized by love and forgiveness.

By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced healing through forgiving or being forgiven? How are relationships strengthened through practicing both forgiveness and accountability?

Jesus, help me to forgive others just as You’ve forgiven me.

http://www.odb.org

Grace to You; John MacArthur – Maintaining a Clear Perspective

“I pray that . . . you may know . . . what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18).

How you perceive your spiritual resources dictates how you live.

Throughout Ephesians 1 Paul is clearly struck with the magnificence of our inheritance in Christ. Here he prays that we will know the riches of its glory.

Some commentators see “His inheritance” as a reference to believers, who are God’s inheritance or special possession (v. 14). That view stresses the value God places on us as believers, as demonstrated in Christ’s death, the forgiveness of our sins, and the abundant grace that He lavishes on us (vv. 7-8).

Others see it as referring to the believer’s inheritance, which Paul calls “His inheritance” because God is its source. Just as “His calling” (v. 18) issued from Him and was received by believers, so His inheritance issues from Him.

Both views are theologically sound but the second seems more consistent with Paul’s emphasis in verses 11 and 14. In either case Paul’s point is clear: redemption and its accompanying blessings are so profound that we must have supernatural help to understand them. That’s why he prayed for our enlightenment (v. 18).

Such enlightenment is crucial because how you perceive your spiritual resources dictates how you live. If, for example, you realize you have every resource for godly living (Eph. 1:3), you are less likely to succumb to temptation. Knowing God has given you His very best in Christ (Rom. 8:31) assures you that He won’t withhold lesser things, so you’ll not tend to worry about earthly needs. Understanding that you have already received “grace upon grace” (John 1:16), abundant life (John 10:10), and “everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3) gives you confidence that God’s future grace and resources will be more than sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9).

Let that motivate you to praise your rich and glorious God for His rich and glorious inheritance!

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Thank God for the privilege of being His child.
  • Memorize Ephesians 1:3 and 2 Peter 1:3 and recite them often as anthems of praise for the Lord’s abundant grace.

For Further Study

Read 2 Corinthians 11-12.

  • What kinds of trials did Paul face?
  • How did God respond to Paul’s prayer to remove his “thorn in the flesh”?
  • How might Paul’s response influence you when you face difficulties?

From Drawing Near by John MacArthur 

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer – No Regrets

For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].

— 2 Corinthians 7:10 (AMPC)

Regret is ruining the lives of countless people by stealing their joy. Certainly, you have things you wish you had done differently. But there is no sense becoming burdened with regret over something you have no power to change at the present time. You need to understand this is the way the devil works. God will warn you so you can change your mind before you make a mistake. Satan waits until it’s too late, when you can no longer do anything about it, and then tries to heap regret and condemnation on you. Don’t allow Satan to steal from you any longer. Ask God for forgiveness, learn from your mistakes, and leave your regrets in the past!

Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for showing me ways to avoid living in regret. In Your name, Father, I bind Satan and refuse to allow him to heap condemnation on me. I ask forgiveness for my mistakes and choose to leave them in the past. Please help me move on, amen.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – He Will Carry You

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

The story is told of a pastor who was moving his study to his new home—and therefore had to relocate his library of hundreds of books. But he was not without help. He had brought his four-year-old son along with him to carry some materials up the stairs. Not wanting to overtax the boy’s small frame, this father had given his son a sheaf of papers and a couple of magazines to bring up. But as the pastor was coming back down the stairs, having just deposited a tall stack in the study, he heard his boy crying halfway up the stairs.

He rushed over to his little boy and found him struggling with a huge, oversized concordance. The father said to the son, “I never gave you this to struggle with. I never meant for you to carry such a heavy thing by yourself!” He then picked up his boy, picked up his boy’s problem, and carried them both up the stairs.

How often we struggle with so much that God never gave us to carry on our own! We decide that we’d rather worry about this or fret about that, when God is not asking us to bear any of our burdens alone. Our Father desires that we cast all our anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:7). Whether it is directly through the work of His Spirit or whether it is through the burden-sharing love of His people (Galatians 6:2), He wants to take you and your problems and carry both.

Picture that pastor picking up his son and his son’s burden. Isaiah presents us with just such a picture of our God: one who is not only willing but also fully able to help us in our time of need. We have no cause for worry, fear, or dismay. He has committed Himself to strengthen and uphold us. He promises, “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

What burdens are you carrying today? You have a God who is always near and infinitely strong. He will help you. He will carry you. All you have to do is ask Him.

GOING DEEPER

Isaiah 41:5-16

Topics: Character of God Christian Life Dependence on God

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, 

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God’s Spirit Helps Us Know God

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12)

Gordon’s best friend sometimes keeps secrets that he doesn’t want him to know. Gordon can’t read his mind, so he will never know those secrets. Nobody can know his friend’s mind except the friend himself (and God). Nobody knows God’s mind except for God.

So how are we ever supposed to know what God wants?

God has not given us the spirit of the world. If He gave us the spirit of the world we would never know what we need to know. God has given us the Spirit of God so we can know the mind of God. We will never know everything God knows, but we can know the things that are “given to us” from God. We can know everything we need to know.

God has given us knowledge about how to live, how to behave, how to treat our neighbors, and how to love each other. We can know how to help friends in need and how to respect our parents. God has “freely” given us all that knowledge.

God gave us the Spirit so we can know Him.

My Response:
» Do I act like I have the Spirit of God or the spirit of the world?

DDNI Featured News Article – Is transhumanism compatible with Christianity?

Last week 2,700 political and civil society leaders from 130 countries, including 52 heads of state, gathered in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF). Led by the infamous Klaus Shwab, the WEF agenda is pushing several controversial initiatives — from mandatory vaccine passports and universal surveillance to absolute control over the free flow of information. Ultimately, their solution for a world in crisis is to replace human-scale participation with a more manageable, editable version of future humanity. From their point of view, humanity is a problem that can finally be solved with innovative technology like biometric implants and personal avatars that would dominate our interaction with the world.

Their goals are best understood in their own words.

Dr. Yuval Noah Harari, Schwab’s top advisor, put it this way:

“We are no longer mysterious souls; humans are now hackable animals … replacing evolution by natural selection with intelligent design. Not the intelligent design of some God above the clouds, but the intelligent design of our clouds, the IBM cloud, the Microsoft clouds. These are the new driving forces of evolution … the idea that humans are spiritual beings having free will is over … through transhumanism, we become the Gods. It’s a religion coming from silicon valley.”

Ray Kurzweil, a heavyweight in the Davos crowd who heads up engineering at Google, predicted humans would be transformed into “Spiritual Machines” because they will “resurrect” our minds onto supercomputers, potentially extending our lifespan indefinitely. He predicted that technological advances could make our bodies incorruptible, preventing diseases and decay. People would acquire knowledge by uploading it to their brains stored on a supercomputer. Nanotechnology would allow us to remake Earth into a paradise and expand into space to inhabit other planets. This hybrid human creature would have limitless power.

According to the WEF, “The central premise of transhumanism, then, is that biological evolution will eventually be overtaken by advances in genetic, wearable, and implantable technologies that artificially expedite the evolutionary process.” The transhumanist declaration asserts, “We favor morphological freedom — the right to modify and enhance one’s body, cognition, and emotions.”

Juxtapose this agenda with what the Bible says, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1.7). So, does a believer have unlimited morphological freedom to change their biological sex or implant a chip to alter their lifespan? At what point would our participation in the transhumanist future violate the sovereignty of God? These are serious and important questions we all must ask ourselves.

We cannot naively assume this is only about improving the human condition when the result permanently alters what it means to be human. It’s them playing God with everything from saving the planet to creating a virtual village that uses an avatar instead of real people.

Regardless of whether this sounds like something made up for a science fiction movie, wealthy and powerful globalists are determined to make this the future of society and our human experience.

As Christians, we can accept medical or technological advances that improve the human experience, but is there a line we should not cross? The fundamental challenge arises when people or governments assume that humanity has unrestricted power to alter creation without needing God or setting up a false God that promises immortality. Since God gave mankind dominion over the Earth, there are spiritually acceptable means of improving the human condition through technology. However, that is not the same as saying humans are entirely free to change themselves in any way they choose. Ultimately, God is sovereign over us; we are not sovereign over ourselves. To assume we can re-create ourselves as some hybrid computer program is to usurp the prerogatives only God has.

Clearly, there is a spiritual aspect to this challenge of the sovereignty of God over creation. Since the Garden, Satan has wanted to eliminate man’s obedience to God and His will for our lives. The enemy of mankind wants to convince us — whether it’s preventing aging, changing biological gender, or killing the unborn — that he can control these outcomes in a more desirable way. It is the perennial struggle of humanity constantly drawn to worship “other Gods” that Satan sets up for mankind. From the Tower of Babel to Nebuchadnezzar and Cesaer, man is repeatedly enticed into battle against the Lord, defiantly trying to break the shackles of his perceived oppressor. It happened to the Israelites for thousands of years, and it’s happening again — there’s nothing new under the sun.

“The kings of the Earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against His Anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they cry. ‘And free ourselves from this slavery.’ But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them” (Psalm 2:1-4).

By Hedieh Mirahmadi, Exclusive Columnist

https://www.christianpost.com/voices/is-transhumanism-compatible-with-christianity.html

Hedieh Mirahmadi was a devout Muslim for two decades working in the field of national security before she experienced the redemptive power of Jesus Christ and has a new passion for sharing the Gospel.  She dedicates herself full-time to Resurrect Ministry, an online resource that harnesses the power of the Internet to make salvation through Christ available to people of all nations, and her daily podcast LivingFearlessDevotional.com.

Hagee Ministries; John Hagee –  Daily Devotion

Proverbs 18:10

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

If there was ever a time in our modern society when we needed to hear from heaven, it is now. We need God to move on our behalf each and every day to keep watch over us and protect us, to lead us and guide us.

We need favor and blessing of God upon our lives and the lives of our family members. We need an infusion of the Holy Spirit in our households so that we may dwell in peace even when it seems that all hell is breaking loose.

Remember, our God is a strong tower! We can run to Him in the day of adversity and be saved. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. You have never faced an enemy that could not be defeated by the almighty God. When things appear grim and you are surrounded by adversity, look to the One who holds the world in the palm of His hand—who knows your every thought and counts your every tear—and rest assured that everything is going to be alright.

You may feel like the only one on the planet who is trying to live a righteous life, but stand firm, persuaded that the fight belongs to the Lord. He will protect and sustain you when you put your life in the His capable hands. Our God is an awesome God!

Today’s Blessing: 

Father, bless us and keep us. Help us to always celebrate the blessings that You have poured out in our lives, especially those wonderful individuals that we have given ourselves to in covenant relationship. Let us be committed to do the work that God has for us to do; that we can see the foundations of righteousness rebuilt in this nation, and the goodness, mercy, grace, power, and blessings of God poured out upon our children and our children’s children. In Your precious name, we pray and ask, Amen.

Today’s Bible Reading: 

Old Testament

Exodus 2:10-3:22

New Testament 

Matthew 17:10-27

Psalms & Proverbs

Psalm 22:1-18

Proverbs 5:7-14

https://www.jhm.org

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – The Shattered Mirror

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

 Recommended Reading: Romans 5:6-8

Dustin Stradley woke up on a jailhouse floor in an orange jumpsuit—with no idea how he had gotten there. His drinking was out of control. When he was released on bail, he went home and looked in the mirror. “I was disgusted with what I saw. And so, I…just punched the mirror and shattered the mirror and fell down and just started bawling, crying.”

Dustin’s dad gave him a Bible with a note saying, “This is God’s love letter,” and Dustin eventually gave his heart to Christ. “I realized God loved me, period. Even though I did all these things, God loved me exactly like I am. And He wants to have a relationship with me now.” [1]

God made us in His image, but we’ve all broken the mirror by our sins, addictions, and flaws. But God can restore us! His love for us enables us to love Him in return.

Choose to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength today.

God met me right there, and He’s doing the same thing for all of us. It’s not about earning more of God’s love. He loves you right now, exactly like you are.
Dustin Stradley

[1] Ed Heath, “God Loved Me First,” The 700 Club.

 Read-Thru-the-Bible: Exodus 35 – 37

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – The Crucified Life

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 

—Luke 14:27

Scripture:

Luke 14:27 

It can sound quite daunting and very unappealing to say, “I’m taking up the cross.”

If we hear someone say they’re living the crucified life, we might think, “I don’t want to hang out with that person. They’re not going to be any fun. They’re never going to laugh or want to do anything enjoyable. I don’t want to live like that. The crucified life sounds restrictive and oppressive.”

But that isn’t the way it is. In fact, it’s the very opposite of the truth.

Jesus said, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27 NKJV). A disciple must take up the cross and follow Jesus.

There are people today who say they are trying to find themselves. Some will abandon their spouses and children because they want to go find themselves.

Jesus also said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39 NKJV). Jesus was saying that if you want to find yourself, then lose yourself. If you want to find the purpose of life, meaning, and even personal happiness, then lose yourself.

You come to God and say, “Father, here is my life. Here are my plans, aspirations, and dreams, along with my weaknesses, shortcomings, and sins. I offer it all to You. I believe that Your plans are better than mine.”

Speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV).

God’s plans for us are good, so we can dedicate our lives to Him. If we will live the crucified life, if we will take up the cross, then we will find life.