God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.—2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)
How do you respond to emergencies? Is your gut reaction to panic? The more you commit to spending devotional time with God, the more likely you are to stay calm during a crisis. You will keep a level head and feel His strength, rather than your fear.
Lord, the more time I spend with You, the more likely I am to respond to fearful situations with Your power and love.
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. ––1 John 3:18
I met Malik at church and he wanted to talk about his marriage. He told me he’d been married 11 years, and that he and his wife had three kids ages 1, 4, and 6. Malik was great at his job, was a good provider as they’d made the decision that Alissa, his wife, would take a break from her sales job to stay home with the kids.
It wasn’t that Malik didn’t love Alissa, or even that he wanted to cheat on her. He was just … tired. Tired of the day in and day out of going to work, coming home to semi-chaos (even though Alissa was a great mom), and the whole … routine. I could tell he felt guilty about how he felt. He wasn’t giving up on his life or his wife, but he was struggling to stay engaged as a husband and father.
This reminded me of the novel The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham. In the story English bacteriologist Walter Fane and his wife, Kitty, move to a remote region of 1920s China to combat a cholera outbreak. The wife is drifting in the midst of a life crisis and on the heels of an affair, unsure of her love for Walter.
Toward the end of the novel, when Kitty realizes that she actually does love her husband, and in response to Kitty’s claim that sticking with her husband has to do with duty, the mother superior of the local French convent says,
“Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty; the only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one, then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understanding.”
Like the lines from Maugham’s powerful novel, I do believe that when love and duty are one, then grace is in us and we will enjoy a happiness that passes all understanding. I encouraged Malik to see his wife as God sees her—in all her glory. The more we can see our loved ones through God’s eyes, the more we find that grace which emerges when love and duty converge.
Father, help me see my loved ones as You do, and help me love them in the spirit of Christ.
Bible in a Year :
“Although you wash yourself . . . , the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
Today’s Scripture & Insight :
Jeremiah 2:1-5, 21-22
“Are. You. Kidding?!” I yelled, digging through our dryer looking for my shirt. I found it. And . . . something else.
My white shirt had an ink spot on it. In fact, it looked like a jaguar pelt: ink splotches coated everything. I clearly hadn’t checked my pockets, and a leaky pen had stained the entire load.
Scripture often uses the word stain to describe sin. A stain permeates the fabric of something, ruining it. And that’s how God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, described sin, reminding His people that its stain was beyond their ability to cleanse: “Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me” (Jeremiah 2:22).
Thankfully, sin doesn’t get the last word. In Isaiah 1:18, we hear God’s promise that He can cleanse us from sin’s stain: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
I couldn’t get the ink stain out of my shirt. Neither can I undo the stain of my sin. Thankfully, God cleanses us in Christ, just as 1 John 1:9 promises: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
By: Adam Holz
Reflect & Pray
What has it looked like in your life to experience forgiveness and cleansing from sin? What “stain” might you need to bring to God?
Father, please help me to cling to the promise that in Christ there’s forgiveness and purity as I’m washed white as snow in Your sight.
Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds.
Psalm 7:9 (NKJV)
Have you ever gone to the furniture store to buy a chair without sitting on it? Have you ever purchased a car without test-driving it? Of course not, and God also tests us to reveal the quality of our faith.
No matter what we think of ourselves, we find out what we are truly like in times of difficulty. Good times don’t bring out the worst in us, but hard times do. That’s why God says these difficult times can actually be good for us. They allow us to see what is in our character that needs to be changed.
As we choose to learn to trust God during challenging times instead of getting upset, we experience His faithfulness, which, in turn, increases our faith for the next time we need it. The more we use our muscles, the more they grow—it’s the same way with our faith in God.
Prayer of the Day: Lord, I know You love me and that this test—the challenge I am facing right now—will only strengthen my faith. Help me to lean into You and trust You completely. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
A lesson in gratitude from athletes running the good race
The 2024 Summer Olympics officially begin today and will continue until the closing ceremonies on August 11. That said, the first round of the games actually started on Wednesday, with preliminary rounds in archery, soccer, handball, and rugby. If that news comes as a surprise, you can find a full schedule here to ensure you don’t miss your favorite events going forward.
As is often the case with the Olympics, though, the spectacle that surrounds the games is often as big of a story as the events themselves.
Canada’s women’s soccer team won gold in the 2020 Olympics but enters this year as the number eight team in the world. Perhaps that pressure to repeat could explain at least part of why one of their staff felt the need to use a drone to spy on an upcoming opponent: 28th-ranked New Zealand. After getting caught, Canada’s coach chose to sit out the game while team officials sent an assistant coach and the drone’s operator home. Canada went on to win the match 2–1.
Outside of the competitions, one of the more interesting parts of the buildup to the games is often seeing who gets the honor of carrying the Olympic torch. While that privilege often goes to former athletes and prominent figures from the host country, American rapper Snoop Dogg will be among those carrying the flame on its final stretch before entering the stadium this year. He will also contribute to NBC’s coverage of the games, and his commentary at previous events has many—myself among them—genuinely excited to see how he adds to the experience.
While the world will be focused on France for the next few weeks, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced this week that Salt Lake City will host the Winter Olympics in 2034. Recent hosts have been chosen through a bidding process, often committing billions of dollars in new construction and event costs. However, the IOC altered its approach with the more recent selections to prioritize cities that are already equipped with most of what they will need to host the games, citing climate change, rising costs, and infrastructure challenges as reasons for the shift.
But though the Olympics will be entertaining—and the chance to root for your country always adds a level of intrigue to even the most obscure events—a recent article by Brad East on the relationship between God and the games is what’s most on my mind as the opening ceremonies draw near.
Why athletes thank God
As East notes, “The opening ceremonies of the Olympics are extravagant celebrations of national glories and global unity. But if you watch past this week’s opener to the Games themselves, you’ll notice an unusual pattern: Athletes are always talking about God.”
He goes on to add, “If you caught last month’s Olympic trials, you’ll have noticed the same thing. Athletes of every kind continuously gave God the credit, often in explicitly Christian terms. It was almost like a competition within the competition to see who could outdo the others in redirecting praise heavenward.”
And while, to some extent, that shouldn’t be surprising given the number of Christians competing, what East described that most caught my attention is the way the chaotic and unpredictable nature of athletic competition lends itself to a religious perspective in ways many other walks of life do not.
For example, if you or I wake up one morning with a stiff back or twist an ankle walking down the stairs, it’s typically little more than an inconvenience. However, if an athlete’s body fails them at the wrong time, it can mean years—or, for many Olympians, a lifetime—of work has gone to waste. As such, the idea that God can bring an element of order to the chaos is appealing to many.
And should all of their training and dedication result in victory, athletes are often quick to remember the Lord and respond with gratitude. And therein lies the lesson for us today.
Giving thanks to glorify God
You see, it would be easy to look at an athlete who has just achieved a lifelong dream and think that they have every reason to be grateful. After all, they do. However, gratitude, properly understood, should not be based on our circumstances or outcomes (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
The truth is that all of us have gifts and a purpose that more than warrants a sense of gratitude toward the one who bestowed both upon us.
As Mark Legg writes in his article on the Olympics, “The Bible speaks of natural gifting and other blessings in terms of stewardship. Whether you were born with wealth, charisma, or athletic ability, God is the ultimate source and rightful ruler of your gifts (Matthew 25:14–30).”
Our job is to use those gifts in ways that bring glory to God, and that gets much easier to do when we understand the absolute privilege it is to partner with the Creator of all things in stewarding his creation.
So, as we finish up for today, take a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of any ways in which you’ve taken your gifts for granted. Then show God you’re sorry by thanking him for that gifting and asking him to help you understand how he would have you use your abilities going forward.
While there’s nothing wrong with the joy of victory, the blessing of knowing your life has a purpose and a meaning that extends beyond the present moment is infinitely better.
Have you thanked God for that purpose yet today?
Friday news to know:
*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.
Quote of the day:
“God gave you a gift of 84,600 seconds today. Have you used one of them to say thank you?” —William Arthur Ward
by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18)
The “vision” mentioned in this familiar verse is more than just a noble goal; it means a literal revelation from God to His people. It was first used in the sad testimony of 1 Samuel 3:1: “And the word of the LORD was precious [that is, ‘rare and costly’] in those days; there was no open vision.” This was just before the capture of the Ark by the Philistines and the death of the inept prophet Eli.
The word used for “perish” here means “exposed and helpless,” and the glory soon departed from Israel once they had forsaken God’s leadership (1 Samuel 4:21). Our own nation was also founded on God’s written Word (the modern equivalent of the divine “vision”), but the Word has now been almost forgotten, at least in our schools and other public institutions as well as in the daily lives of most of our people. Consequently, “the people” are indeed largely exposed and helpless before the attacks of the wicked one. The terrible warning of Psalm 9:17 hangs over our nation: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
There is an encouraging exhortation to the believer, however, even if he lives in an apostate nation: “He that keepeth the law, happy is he.” To keep the law means not merely to obey God’s commands, but more precisely, to guard His Word! Even if all around us are neglecting or even ridiculing and seeking to destroy the Scriptures, we must defend and obey and proclaim their eternal truth and authority. Even if this should entail opposition and persecution, God assures us that here is the way of blessing and true happiness. “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:7). The people who lose God’s Word will perish, but “happy is that people, whose God is the LORD” (Psalm 144:15). HMM
Out of the heart come evil thoughts. —Matthew 15:19
We begin by trusting our ignorance and calling it innocence, by trusting our innocence and calling it purity. When we hear Jesus declare that “out of the heart come evil thoughts,” we shrink and say, “But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart.” We resent what Jesus Christ reveals.
Either Jesus Christ is the supreme authority on the human heart, or he isn’t worth paying any attention to. Am I prepared to trust his diagnosis? If instead I choose to trust my innocence, eventually I will come to a place where, with a shuddering awakening, I discover that what Jesus Christ says is true. Then I’ll be appalled at the potential for evil and wrong inside me. As long as I remain under the refuge of innocence, I’m living in a fool’s paradise. If I’ve never been a cheat or a menace, the reason is a mixture of cowardice and the pressures of human society. When I am undressed before God, I find that Jesus Christ is right in his diagnosis.
The only thing that safeguards the human heart is the redemption of Jesus Christ. If I will hand myself over to him, I never need to experience the terrible possibilities that lie within my heart. Purity is too deep down for me to get to on my own, but when God comes in, he brings into the center of my personal life the very same Spirit who was manifested in the life of my Lord: the Holy Spirit. From then on, the spotless purity of Jesus Christ is mine.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.The Place of Help, 1005 R
. . . willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
—2 Corinthians 5:8
A little boy was riding alone on a train on a hot day when the travelers were extremely uncomfortable; and the scenery was not too interesting as they passed through the desert of Arizona. A lady sitting beside the boy asked him, “Are you tired of the long ride?” The little boy smiled and said, “I’m a little tired, but I don’t mind it much. You see, my father is going to meet me when I get to Los Angeles.” Sometimes we get a little tired of the burdens of life, but it is exhilarating to know that Jesus Christ will meet us at the end of life’s journey. The joy of being with Him forever is beyond the ability of any writer to describe.
Read 5 Answers from Billy Graham on Heaven.
Lea este devocional en español en es.billygraham.org.
Prayer for the day
To think You will be waiting for me at the end of this earthly journey! I am filled with unspeakable joy, Lord Jesus.
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.—Matthew 12:35 (KJV)
Jesus taught that your words mirror your true spiritual condition. When you have nurtured your faith, your words are good treasure. Conversely, your words can be evil if your focus is on anger, bitterness and resentment. Your outlook and disposition reflect whatever you have stored in your heart.
Lord, help me hold on to good treasure so that I speak out of the abundance of my heart.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit … ––Ephesians 1:13
The flipside of feeling disqualified is feeling unqualified. My friend had a Scottish grandmother who was 4’11” and tough as nails and lived to be 103. She used to say, “Don’t let them see you sweat.” The sentiment can be helpful—basically, it’s kind of a “fake it till you make it” saying. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a tough, get-it-done mindset. In fact, it’s really important––toughness, ingenuity, and that mentality that says never give up.
The problem, however, is that the “bootstrap mentality” can also lead us straight into works-based faith. When we slip down that slope, we fall right into the devil’s pit of performance. Most of us have been there (personally, I never want to go back). Once in that performance pit, it’s hard to get out. We spend our time worried about how well we are doing at (fill in the blank): work, marriage, fatherhood, friendships, our faith. Results trump relationships. It’s back to the income and employment mentality, rather than outcome and deployment. It’s subtle—our faith life can slowly slide toward aspirational goals based on outer metrics rather than on relational goals based on faith and intimacy with the Father.
For God’s man, it’s a fixed game. A sucker’s con. We can never be as good as we want to be, and we can never succeed in all the things at the level we want to achieve. It’s a rat race on steroids. And when we can’t achieve what’s impossible anyway (i.e., there’s always someone better, faster, smarter, richer), our self-esteem can take a nose dive. Then we fall into imposter syndrome—like any day now the leaders at your work place are going to haul you into a dark room, shine a spotlight on you, and say, “Who are you, and who let you in here?”
In no way I am saying self-confidence is a bad thing—it just needs to be built upon the right foundation. Is yours built on the world’s shifting sands, or on the Rock? In Jesus, we are qualified—literally. He died, went to the cross, and rose again in order for Him to certify us as children of God. Gideon hid in a wine press so the Midianites might not notice him. (Who threshes wheat in a wine press?!) In that dark hiding place God called Him out of fear and said: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:12) How God sees us is how reality works—not how we feel about ourselves. That’s deception. Don’t swallow the enemy’s lie.
Father, thank You for qualifying me to be Your child so I can serve You!
Bible in a Year :
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
Today’s Scripture & Insight :
Hebrews 13:5-8
Thousands of people prayed for pastor Ed Dobson when he was diagnosed with ALS in 2000. Many believed that when they prayed in faith for healing, God would answer immediately. After twelve years of struggling with the disease that caused Ed’s muscles to atrophy little by little (and three years before he died), someone asked him why he thought God hadn’t healed him yet. “There’s no good answer, so I don’t ask,” he replied. His wife, Lorna, added, “If you’re always obsessed about having to have answers, you can’t really live.”
Can you hear the respect for God in Ed and Lorna’s words? They knew that His wisdom is above their own. Yet Ed admitted, “I find it nearly impossible not to worry about tomorrow.” He understood that the disease would cause increasing disability, and he didn’t know what new problem the next day might bring.
To help himself focus on the present, Ed placed these verses in his car, on the bathroom mirror, and next to his bed: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). Whenever he started to worry, he would repeat the verses to help him refocus his thoughts on the truth.
No one knows what the next day will bring. Maybe Ed’s practice could help us turn our worries into opportunities to trust.
By: Anne Cetas
Reflect & Pray
What Scriptures help you to focus on today and not worry about tomorrow? Where might you place them to help your faith grow?
Help me to remember, Father, that You’re God, and I am not. Please teach me to trust You.
I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].
Philippians 4:13 (AMPC)
One thought that has the power to transform your life is simple: I can do whatever I need to do in life through Christ. In other words, I can handle whatever life hands me. I wonder—do you believe you can do whatever you need to do in life? Or are there certain things that trigger dread, fear, or cause you to say, “I could never do that!” when you think about them?
Whether it’s suddenly losing a loved one, facing a serious unexpected illness, having your adult child with two toddlers move into your clean and quiet house after you’ve had an “empty nest” for years, going on a strict diet because your life depends on it, putting yourself on a budget to avoid foreclosure on your home, or suddenly having to care for a disabled elderly parent—most people have some kind of circumstance that truly seems impossible to them, something they aren’t sure they can or could handle.
The fact of the matter is, while some situations may be intensely undesirable or difficult for you, you can do whatever you need to do in life. I know this because God tells us in His Word that we have the strength to do all things because Christ empowers us to do so. He doesn’t say everything will be easy for us, He doesn’t promise we will enjoy every little thing we do, but we can enjoy life in the midst of doing them.
We must understand that Philippians 4:13 does not say we can do anything we want to do because we are strong enough, smart enough, or hardworking enough. No, in fact, it leaves no room at all for human effort or striving of any kind. The secret to being able to do what we need to do is realizing that we cannot do it alone; we can only do it in Christ.
Prayer of the Day: Lord, please help me to trust that I can handle anything life throws at me through Christ’s strength. Help me to always remember that I am never alone during hard times, because You are always with me, amen.
How to win the most critical battle of our time
It has been famously said, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” This is one of the latter.
It was just last Sunday when President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, explaining in an Oval Office address last night that he had decided to “pass the torch to a new generation.” By Monday evening, Vice President Kamala Harris had secured enough delegates to win their party’s nomination. By Tuesday, Democrats had raised more than $250 million.
In the midst of such unprecedented political news, you might have overlooked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s record fourth address to a joint meeting of Congress yesterday afternoon. He forcefully portrayed the Gaza war as a “clash between barbarism and civilization” and claimed, “Our enemies are your enemies. Our fight is your fight. And our victory will be your victory.”
Thousands of protesters against the war in Gaza converged on Washington to condemn his visit, while roughly half of House and Senate Democrats skipped his address. Mr. Netanyahu will meet today with President Biden and Vice President Harris, and tomorrow with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
A war with Hezbollah would dwarf the Gaza conflict
Mr. Netanyahu’s visit comes at a fraught time for Israel:
As I have written often, these conflicts are ideological and spiritual at their core. Israel claims land given by God to Abraham’s Jewish descendants (cf. Genesis 12:1–3), while Muslims are equally convinced that Allah intended this land for Ishmael’s Arab descendants and that the Jews have stolen it. The leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah see this “theft” as an attack on Islam, requiring a response that would annihilate the Jewish state.
Like Israel, Christians are locked in a spiritual battle with an enemy who seeks to destroy us.
Scripture warns us: “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He is “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44) who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). He attacks our Father by attacking his children (cf. Luke 22:31).
We are therefore told:
We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
We cannot win this battle on our own—we need a power greater than the power that opposes us.
Here’s the good news: that power is not only for us and with us—he lives in us.
Imagine two billion Christs in the world
I have been focusing this week on the fact that Jesus lives in every Christian by his indwelling Spirit (Colossians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 3:16) and now wants to continue his ministry through us. Dr. Mark Turman, executive director of Denison Forum, responded to my article yesterday:
All people want to live eternally and with eternal significance now. God has put “eternity in our hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Only God and that which is filled with the essence of God endures and flourishes eternally. All truth is God’s truth; therefore, truth flourishes now and eternally. God is love; therefore, all that is truly loving flourishes eternally. People can by faith and grace be crucified to sin and filled with the fullness of Christ; therefore, those who have Christ in them (imparted not imitated) have “the hope of glory” and will flourish now and eternally.
Mark is right, both theologically and practically:
Imagine two billion Christs in the world. When Jesus said we would do “greater things” than he did (John 14:12), this was his vision.
Three transforming questions
So, let’s ask three transforming questions:
Scripture teaches that “Christ in you” is “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
For whose “glory” will you “hope” today?
Thursday news to know:
*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.
Quote for the day:
“I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help him to do his work through me.” —Hudson Taylor
by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.
“And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD commanded to Israel.” (Nehemiah 8:1)
That was an amazing congregation there in the street of Jerusalem that came together that day just to hear Ezra read the Bible and explain its teachings. Nehemiah’s previous chapter had just enumerated over 42,000 people who had returned from Babylon to rebuild the city.
Even if “all the people” is not meant to be understood literally but representatively, this was still a very large assemblage. It even included all but the smallest children (Nehemiah 8:2), and they all stood up (!) throughout the reading and exposition (Nehemiah 8:5-7), from morning to noon (Nehemiah 8:3).
Presumably all they had was the Pentateuch (tradition says that Ezra, who was doing the reading, eventually compiled the rest of the books with it into the Old Testament canon), but this was enough, and “all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law” (Nehemiah 8:9). Ezra not only read the actual words but also “gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8). He further explained that, although they had been guilty in breaking God’s laws, they had been redeemed, and God was fulfilling all His gracious promises in restoring them to their land. Thus, they had joy as well as grief over their sins.
So should it be today. That is, when God’s Word is simply read and explained, that should be enough to generate both sadness and repentance over sin and also true joy in salvation. Then, as it was to the returning Jewish exiles long ago, “the joy of the LORD” becomes our “strength” for true worship and obedience (Nehemiah 8:10). HMM
Blessed are… —Matthew 5:3
When we first encounter the statements of Jesus, they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling. They sink, unnoticed, into our unconscious minds. Take the Beatitudes, the teachings which open the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit. . . . Blessed are the meek . . .” (Matthew 5:3, 5). At first these seem like nothing more than nice principles: mild and beautiful. We like them, but we aren’t roused by them, because we find them completely impractical. Unworldly, daydreamy people might be able to apply them, we think, but for those who live in the workaday world, they have no value.
We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the dynamite of the Holy Spirit; they explode when the circumstances of our lives align. We’ll be going steadily along, when suddenly the Spirit will cause us to remember one of the Beatitudes. We see how startling a statement it truly is, and what obeying it would mean. Then we have to decide if we’re willing to accept the tremendous upheaval of our circumstances that will occur if we do what the Spirit is telling us to do.
We don’t need to be born again to apply the Beatitudes literally; a literal interpretation is child’s play. Obeying the Spirit of God as he applies the Beatitudes to our specific circumstances is the hard work of the disciple. Jesus’s statements are entirely at odds with our natural way of looking at things. When we first begin to obey his words, it produces astonishing discomfort.
The Sermon on the Mount isn’t a set of rules and regulations. It’s a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting his way with us. We can’t rush our understanding; we have to follow the Spirit as he applies Jesus’s teachings to our circumstances, allowing him to slowly form our walk with him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.Biblical Psychology, 199 R
In the marriage ceremony, after the vows are said, the minister solemnly and reverently remarks, “What God hath joined together let no man put asunder.” Is not God the third part in a marriage? Should He not be taken into account in the marriage, and in the home that emerges from that marriage? If God joins the couple together at the outset, should not His presence be recognized in the home continually? Many homes are on the rocks today because God has been left out of the domestic picture.
With the clash of personalities in a domestic pattern, there must be an integrating force, and the living God is that Force! Many couples think that if they have a better home, get a better job, or live in a different neighborhood, their domestic life will be happier. No! The secret of domestic happiness is to let God, the party of the third part in the marriage contract, have His rightful place in the home. Make peace with Him, and then you can be a real peacemaker in the home.
Have you made peace with God? You can do that now.
No one is perfect. Here are 8 ways to appreciate an imperfect spouse.
Lea este devocional en español en es.billygraham.org.
Prayer for the day
In my relationships with those I love, help me to be a peacemaker, Lord. May I always look to You, the Prince of Peace.
Billy Graham – Sanctity of Marriage
A time is coming and, in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.—John 16:32 (NIV)
Are you comfortable doing things alone? This verse reminds us that fear should not stop you from experiencing life to the fullest. If you want to do something—rather than waiting to find someone who will go with you—recognize that any adventure can be possible with God as your companion.
Lord, thank You for being my closest friend—or encouraging me to explore new places and things and for going with me when I fear going alone.
Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” ––Exodus 4:10-12
In the Old Testament, lots of seeming “losers” (as the world would define them) find themselves in God’s spotlight. It’s theorized that Moses had a speech impediment that caused Aaron to speak for him. Jacob was a mama’s boy, hanging around the tents and cooking for his family. (Not uncommon male tasks today, but then? No.)
Here’s a quick hit list of what our culture would call “disqualified”: Abraham – liar/coward. Joseph – narcissistic (at least until he was imprisoned in Egypt). David – murderer. Noah – drunk. Elijah – suicidal. Rahab and Mary Magdalene – prostitutes. Samson – womanizer. Jonah – slacker. Gideon – coward. Paul – terrorizer (before His conversion). And so on.
Of course, we know that many of the folks above also make God’s hall of faith in
Hebrews 11. So what does that tell us as God’s men? First, our past doesn’t define who we are today. Second, when our past is submitted to God and we are forgiven and redeemed, He can use us. Third, though bad decisions can carry lifelong consequences, when we are surrendered to Christ, He takes those failures—and the lessons we learned from them—and can use them in mighty ways to help others. From tragedy to testimony.
In the quiet of deep evening—for me it’s around 4am when I get up for nature call—my past failings seem to organize a flash mob in my midbrain. And even if you’ve been growing in the Lord and in a great season, these doom waves can hit as suddenly and hard as an Arrakis sandstorm. Think you are alone in that? That’s just what the devil wants all of us to think: “Sure, you follow Jesus and do all these great things, but remember when you committed that sin?” Like a knock-off film, the circumstances shift a little, but the main plot is always the same. Satan’s hack script reads like this: 1. You really screwed up. 2. Don’t tell anybody because then you will lose status. 3. You’re such a loser and if people find out, they will reject you.
Lie. Lie. Lie. Look at the list above again. Here’s the takeaway: What you do doesn’t define who you are in God’s eyes. He loves you, period. No comma, semi-colon, or modifier. We are all “losers” in that we all fail. But as God’s men submitted to the cross of Christ, when we stay the course we are victors in His hall of faith.
Father, thank You for taking this “unlovable” person and giving me worth and freedom.
Bible in a Year :
He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.
Today’s Scripture & Insight :
Psalm 91:1-2, 14-16
After his wife died, Fred felt he could endure the pain as long as he had his Monday breakfasts with his buddies. His fellow retirees lifted his spirits. Whenever sadness came, Fred would think about the next time he’d enjoy their company again. Their corner table was his safe place from grief.
Over time, however, the gatherings ended. Some friends became ill; others passed away. The emptiness led Fred to seek solace in the God he’d met in his youth. “I have breakfast by myself now,” he says, “but I remember to hold on to the truth that Jesus is with me. And when I leave the diner, I don’t leave to face the rest of my days alone.”
Like the psalmist, Fred discovered the safety and comfort of God’s presence: “He is my refuge . . . in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:2). Fred came to know safety not as a physical place to hide, but as the steadfast presence of God that we can trust and rest in (v. 1). Both Fred and the psalmist found that they didn’t have to face difficult days alone. We too can be assured of God’s protection and help. When we turn to Him in trust, He promises to respond and be with us (vv. 14-16).
Do we have a safe place, a “corner table” we go to when life is hard? It won’t last but God will. He waits for us to go to Him, our true refuge.
By: Karen Huang
Reflect & Pray
When life is hard, what’s your safe place? How can you turn to and trust God as your refuge?
Dear God, You’re my safe place. Yours is the presence that will never leave me to fend for myself. Your help and protection surround me always.
And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (AMPC)
Transformation doesn’t happen overnight, and the process can seem very slow at times. But that doesn’t change the fact that one of the benefits of living in a relationship with Jesus is the freedom to forget the past and move ahead into what God has for us.
When you are tempted to condemn yourself over the progress you think you should be making, turn your focus back on Jesus and be thankful that He is doing His work in your life in His perfect timing. Remind yourself, “God loves me, and He has a good plan for my life. I haven’t arrived yet, but I’m okay and I’m on my way!” Remember that through faith you have been made right with God, and even though you have not arrived at perfection, you are making progress.
Prayer of the Day: Thank You, Father, that You are transforming my life in Your perfect timing. I trust You, and I choose not to feel condemned or frustrated anymore. You are at work in my life, and I am grateful for that.
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