Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment “as to the Lord.” It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.
From The Weight of Glory
Compiled in Words to Live By
“You shall not steal.”—Exodus 20:15
There is so much stealing in our culture today that we have almost become accustomed to it. In fact, I read about a study that was done on stealing in which people were asked why they didn’t steal. The number one reason given by those polled was the fear of getting caught. The next most common reason was concern that the other person might try to get even. The third most-cited reason was that the item might not be needed. What apparently didn’t occur to anyone was the fact that stealing is a sin.
Here is what God says about stealing: “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need” (Ephesians 4:28).
In the above verse we find three simple principles about how to live our lives as Christians.
First, if you have stolen, steal no longer. Don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you. Don’t illegally download stuff. Don’t take things that are not yours. If you have taken something, give it back or make restitution.
Second, be useful. Get out and work. Get a job. The apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” The government doesn’t owe you anything. Don’t leech off people. Go out and be responsible and look for a job.
Third, be useful. Find work wherever you can find it. Do something. Make an effort. Sometimes people who are out of work will say, “I am praying the Lord will provide.” That’s good to pray. But have they submitted your resume anywhere? Have they applied for any jobs? Keep praying. But start looking too.
“You must not commit adultery.”—Exodus 20:14
What trouble the sin of adultery has brought upon the human race. Think of how different our world would be if we would just keep this single commandment. Think of how different the lives of so many people would have been if they had not committed this sin. How many divorces would have been avoided? How many families would still be together? How many fathers would still be at home to raise their children?
Adultery is being unfaithful to your spouse. If you are single, having sex before marriage is called fornication. What does God say about adultery and fornication? Hebrews 13:4 “God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.”
When a man and woman come together sexually, they enter a state of oneness. In fact, 1 Corinthians 6:15–16 says, “Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, ‘The two are united into one.’ ”
Understand, God has given us a sexual drive just as surely as He created the family and brought a man and a woman together. Sometimes we forget that God thought up sex. He invented it. But sometimes the Christian view of sex is mischaracterized. Some assert that Christians believe sex is only for procreation. We do believe it is for that, but God has given it to us for pleasure as well. He has given it to us for fulfillment. It is something that He can really bless. But there is only one place God will bless it, and that is in a marriage relationship.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. —Ephesians 4:31
Many of us would never murder a person, but we may wish someone were dead. Have you ever hated anyone? Let me rephrase the question: Have you ever driven on a freeway anywhere in Southern California?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” (Matthew 5:21–22).
We also read in 1 John 3:15, “Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.” The word used here for hate means “to habitually despise.” It is not just a transient emotion of the affections but a deep-rooted loathing.
We all lose our temper at times. I don’t think the Bible is saying that if you get angry and honk at someone, then you are a murderer. No, you are just a honker, and maybe you shouldn’t have lost your temper. The hatred the Bible is speaking of here is a deep-rooted loathing. It’s an attitude that says, “I hate your guts. When you walk into a room, I just seethe. I boil. I would like to see you destroyed. I sit around and think of ways that I could hurt you.”
Guess what? That is like murdering a person, and that is a sin before God.
So even if we have never committed the physical act of murder, the reality is that we still can be murderers in our hearts.
“You shall not murder.”—Exodus 20:13
We live in a violent and murderous culture today, a culture that is awash in fighting and killing, a culture where nearly two million people are violent crime victims each year. Yet the sixth commandment says, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13).
ll murder is wrong, but all killing isn’t necessarily wrong. That is an important distinction to make. All murder is killing, but all killing is not necessarily murder. We are never to take the life of another human being for no justifiable reason. But the Bible does not condemn all killing. If you study Numbers 35, you will see that God established a difference between killing and murder.
So when is killing right? One example is self-defense. You have the right to defend yourself. A country also has a right, and really the responsibility, to defend itself. God has even established authority, such as the military and the police. Romans 13 says, “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (verses 3-4).
When Paul made that statement, the authority was the Roman government. Was the Roman government a pure, moral, godly force on the earth? Hardly. But even with the problems of the Roman government and the Caesars, Paul recognized that God is ultimately in control.
There is a place for authority, for the military and the police. It doesn’t mean they always do the right thing. But God has established the authority.
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” —Proverbs 14:34
Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political thinker and historian wrote a book entitled Democracy in America. This book was published after his extensive travels in our country when it was still young.
He made the statement about the greatness of America that bears remembering:
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
That’s right, our greatness has come from our goodness—from our belief in God’s Word, which gives us the moral compass we need, so we can know right from wrong and good from evil.
In the classic song, “America the Beautiful,” we sing the words, “America, America, God shed His grace on thee.” And that is so true. God has been gracious to our country, and I pray that we will turn back to Him like never before. I pray it does not take a national crisis to get our attention.
How we need God in America today. And let’s also not forget the Word of God that says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
So today, as you enjoy the fireworks and barbeques, remember the Lord who has blessed this nation in an extraordinary way. And remember to give Him thanks!
“I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior.”—Isaiah 43:11
As children are growing up, they will hear their parents say things they don’t like, such as when Mom or Dad says, “Do you think that I have a money tree somewhere?” or “You don’t know the sacrifices I had to make when I was your age!” Then there is my favorite parental saying: “Because I said so!”
Kids today may vow to never say that to their children, but when they’re adults and their children keep pressing them, they may find themselves blurting out, “Because I said so!” (Then they’ll think, I can’t believe I just said that!)
Sometimes we may look at God’s laws, standards, and absolutes and say, “I struggle with that. I don’t know about that. How can I know it’s true?”
Meanwhile God is saying to us, “Because I said so. Really, you know it is true because I said so.”
God is the source of truth. God is truth. So if God says it is true, then it is true. You may or may not agree with it. You may not fully understand it. But that doesn’t change what it is.
I have seen a lot of drama played out in real time in many lives. I have seen what happens to men and women who get married, work on having a strong marriage, stay married, and raise their children in the way of the Lord. Of course every family has its challenges. And every family has its tragedies. But I’ve seen in the long run how it works when we pass on these biblical truths from generation to generation.
I have also seen what happens when couples get divorced, get remarried, and get divorced again. I’ve seen how problems get passed from generation to generation.
So let’s just take God at His Word.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”—Exodus 20:12
Few things in life can bring us as much pleasure or pain as our families. When things are working well in the family, it’s great. When things are not going so well, it’s tough. Parents have tension with children. Children have tension with parents. Husbands have tension with wives. Wives have tension with husbands. Then there are the in-laws. Families are complex. But God established the family.
In the Ten Commandments, before a word is said about how we treat one another, God starts with the family: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).
In Genesis we have God bringing Adam and Eve together. He started with the family. He created the family. And He—and He alone—defines the family. God loves the family.
There is only one picture that God gives to a lost world to show His love for the church and the church’s love for Him. That is marriage. He says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25), and “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (verse 22).
Effectively, here is what God is saying: “Look at this Christian couple right here. See the way that husband loves his wife? That is how I love this church, My people. See how that wife loves her husband? That is how My church loves Me.”
Because of that, when a Christian family starts to unravel and when Christian people get divorced, that is devastating in many ways to the testimony of believers in a given community.
It has been said that a family can survive without a nation, but a nation cannot survive without the family.
For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.—James 2:10
The Ten Commandments were not given to make us holy; they were given to show us that we are not holy. The commandments were given to show us that we need Jesus. The Bible says they are like a schoolmaster (kind of an old King James word). The idea is that of a disciplinarian. The commandments were given to say, in essence, “You can’t do this on your own.”
They are like a moral mirror. When you look at them, you say, “Uh-oh. I’m not measuring up.” Every one of us has broken the commandments.
Someone may say, “Yeah, that might be true, but I haven’t broken that many. I’ve only broken a couple of them.”
Maybe. Or maybe not. The Bible says, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws” (James 2:10). If you have broken even one commandment, it’s enough to keep you from God and to separate you from Him.
The commandments were given to drive us into the open arms of Jesus. That’s why Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Have you ever been carrying around something that was very heavy and had someone say, “Here, let me take that from you”? That is what Jesus is saying. “Let Me lift that load. Let Me ease your pain. Let Me give you relief. Right now. Come to Me,” He says.
That is the message of what happened at the Cross. He died for our sins and paid the price for every wrong we have ever done. And if we will turn from our sins and believe in Him, then we will be forgiven.
And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.—Mark 6:31
The Sabbath is not a legalistic day that we as believers have to observe, but it is a great idea to take some time off and focus on the Lord. For many of us, that day is Sunday. I love to see Sunday set apart as the Lord’s Day, just like the early church did.
We should make our first priority to worship with God’s people. Maybe we will do some fun stuff afterward. But we shouldn’t let anything stop us from getting together and worshiping and putting the Lord first. I think God will honor that in our lives if we do.
Even Jesus took time off. In Mark we read,
Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. (6:30–32)
I love that. “Lord, this happened. That happened.”
“Have you guys had lunch yet?”
“We are too busy to eat.”
“Come on. Let’s get some lunch. Relax a little bit. You need to chill. You need to recharge. Come aside with Me.”
If we don’t come aside, then we will come apart. During the next 24 hours, your heart will beat 103,000 times, and your blood will travel 168 million miles. You will breathe 23,000 times and inhale 480 cubic feet of air. You will move 750 muscles and exercise 7 million brain cells. No wonder we all feel tired. We’re constantly going.
The principle of the Sabbath is taking time off, recharging, and focusing on the things of God.
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.—Hebrews 4:9–10
Of the Ten Commandments, there is probably more confusion about this one than about any other: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). So let’s understand what it is and what it isn’t.
This commandment originally was given to the Hebrew people for a day of Sabbath rest, which, by the way, is Saturday. This commandment to keep the Sabbath is the only command that is not repeated in the New Testament. It was given to the Jewish people but not to non-Jews.
Jesus never taught anyone to keep the Sabbath. In fact, He was repeatedly accused of breaking the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders came down on Jesus because He healed a man on the Sabbath day. Religion and rituals began to overtake the whole purpose of what the Sabbath was. Jesus told the Pharisees, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
The apostles never taught anyone to keep the Sabbath. The Jews met in their synagogue on Saturday. The early church, made up of Jews and Gentiles, met on the first day of the week, Sunday. Why did they meet on Sunday? That is the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It was a New Covenant.
Some have taken the Sabbath and have tried to turn it into a law that Christians should keep. But the Bible addresses this in Colossians 2:16–17, saying, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” The Sabbath was pointing to and was fulfilled in Jesus. One word could sum up our faith: done. It was done for us by Christ on the cross.
So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”—Exodus 8:28
It would have been tempting for Moses to compromise with Pharaoh. But God had told Moses to go three days’ journey into the wilderness (see Exodus 3:18), and Moses would accept nothing less. I love that. Moses was a stickler for details.
So many good believers have been brought down by the same strategy that Pharaoh used. “Oh man, pray for me. Intercede for me.”
It’s like when a Christian guy decides to do a little so-called missionary dating. He says to himself, “I will reach her for the Lord. We’ll talk. I’ll bring up my faith. I’ll get her to go to church with me.”
So they go out to dinner. He brings up his faith, and she doesn’t respond all that much. So he talks a little more about his faith the next time—and a little more the next time. Finally they agree to go to church together. But somehow dinner just went a little bit longer than they thought it would, and they don’t make it to church.
You don’t bring people to Christ by making concessions. If you come down to where they are, why would they want to go up to where you were? Stand your ground. Have some conviction.
Jesus said, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14). If God says something, He says it for a reason. He says what He means, and He means what He says. We need to do what He says as He says to do it.
Here is the bottom line: If you want to be a Christian, then be a Christian. If you don’t want to be a Christian, then don’t be a Christian. Either go for it or don’t go for it. Make a decision and do it.
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. —Hebrews 3:12–13
Where is one of the easiest places to get a hardened heart? Any place where God’s people gather. It isn’t in a bar or around a bunch of people who are doing wicked things. No, the easiest place to get a hardened heart is where you hear the Word of God being taught. Knowledge brings responsibility. And the same sun that softens the wax hardens the clay. The same message that transforms one life can cause another to say, “I don’t believe.”
If you go to church or a Bible study week after week, hearing the Word of God but refusing to believe it, you can actually get an irreparably hardened heart. I am not saying that you shouldn’t go to church. But I am saying that you should go to church with the right heart, with an open heart. Otherwise, you could get a hardened heart. You could be judged by the very message that should have set you free.
That’s why preachers’ kids and others who were raised in the church are often some of the most notorious sinners. They’ve taken God’s Word for granted and hardened their hearts against it.
The J. B. Phillips translation of Hebrews 3:12–14 says, “You should therefore be most careful, my brothers, that there should not be in any of you that wickedness of heart which refuses to trust, and deserts the cause of the living God. Help each other to stand firm in the faith every day, while it is still called ‘today’, and beware that none of you becomes deaf and blind to God. For we continue to share in all that Christ has for us so long as we steadily maintain until the end the trust with which we began.”
May God help us to keep tender hearts.
“A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”—Matthew 16:4
There are people who know God is real. They know God is powerful. And they know God changes lives. But their hearts are so hard that they won’t believe in Him.
That was Pharaoh. We read again and again in Exodus that Pharaoh hardened his heart. Exodus 8:15 tells us, “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the LORD had said.” Later we read, “Now the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him’ ” (Exodus 10:1). That isn’t a contradiction; it’s just two sides of the same coin. It’s true that Pharaoh hardened his heart. But it is also true that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
Does that mean that Pharaoh had no choice in the matter? No. You see, God gives each one of us freewill. He will not violate that freewill, but once we have made our choice, God may, in effect, strengthen us in that choice.
The word hardened could be better translated “strengthen” or “stiffen,” and that is what was happening in Pharaoh’s case. He decided that he did not want to believe, and his heart got harder and harder and harder. Pharaoh had more than enough evidence to be convinced of the truth. Think about it: Pharaoh saw miracles—big miracles. Pharaoh heard the word of God. And that knowledge brought responsibility. To turn from the truth is to become entrenched in darkness more thoroughly than ever.
Sometimes we think, If I could just perform miracles, I know that all of my friends would believe in Jesus. They wouldn’t. Miracles won’t cause them to believe, but the message of the gospel will.
The thoughts and purposes of the [consistently] righteous are honest and reliable, but the counsels and designs of the wicked are treacherous. —Proverbs 12:5
Don’t be ashamed to back off if you get out in the middle of something and find that God is not in it. Just be secure enough to simply say, “I thought this was God, but it’s not, so I am not going to do it anymore.”
You can apologize to others if you caused them any trouble or confusion. But there is no shame in quickly admitting that you were wrong. It is more important not to perpetuate a mistake than it is to keep people from thinking you were wrong. Don’t be afraid to say, “I didn’t hear from God.” Honesty will keep your day going right, all day long.
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.”—Matthew 13:24–25
Christians should be aware that the Devil is an imitator. When he cannot stop a work of God, he will offer his cheap imitation. That way he minimizes the power and glory of God.
God has His genuine; the Devil has his imitations. God has love; the Devil has lust. God has true faith in Christ; the Devil has false religion. He offers just enough to keep people from the real truth. Those who buy into this will say, “I don’t really need to hear about Jesus. I am a religious person” or “I am a spiritual person.” They are satisfied with a cheap imitation instead of going after the real thing.
Jesus told a parable about a farmer who sowed wheat in a field, but at night, his enemy came in and sowed tares among the wheat. A tare, also known as the darnel seed, looks a lot like wheat initially. But as it grows, it actually will uproot the wheat.
That is how the Devil works. He will put his plants in the church. They will talk like Christians. They will use phraseology that Christians use. And when they do something wicked, people will say, “I can’t believe that a Christian would do such a thing!” Here’s an idea. Maybe they actually were tares among the wheat. I am not saying that Christians are incapable of sinning. But I do think some people who attend church are tares among the wheat. They are imitations.
Case in point: Judas was a tare among the wheat as one of Jesus’ disciples. In fact, when Jesus said one of the Twelve would betray Him, no one knew He was referring to Judas. But Judas was an imitator. The Devil puts his fake versions out there, flooding the market with cheap substitutes.
Then Moses went back to the LORD and protested, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!” —Exodus 5:22–23
Sometimes we think that when we are in the will of God, it always will be smooth sailing. But I have found that the opposite is usually the case. When I am in the will of God, I brace myself for opposition. I almost see it as a confirmation that I am doing the will of God. In fact, if there is no opposition, I start to wonder what I am doing wrong.
When God sent Moses back to Egypt after 40 years in the desert, Moses probably was hoping that he could walk in, say what he had to say to Pharaoh, and hear him reply, “No problem. Go for it. Everything is good.”
But that isn’t what happened. Rather, Pharaoh answered, “And who is the LORD? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2).
Then Pharaoh made things worse. He told the Israelite foremen that obviously the people had too much time on their hands because they had this guy Moses coming in and asking for their release. He instructed them to no longer give them straw to hold their bricks together. They would have to get their own straw but still make their quota of bricks.
When the leaders of Israel found out, they said to Moses, “May the Lord judge and punish you for making us stink before Pharaoh and his officials. You have put a sword into their hands, an excuse to kill us!” (verse 21). Effectively it was a complete disaster.
Don’t be discouraged if you have tried to serve the Lord or do something for His glory and discovered that people are not supporting you—or are even harassing you. That is exactly what happened to Moses.
Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. —1 Corinthians 16:13
Happy Father’s Day! For Dad (or Mom), here is a prayer list you can use to pray for your kids!
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”—2 Corinthians 5:10
Did you know that Christians will be judged one day?
Don’t panic, this is not a judgment about whether or not we get into heaven. This is about the rewards you will receive.
Luke 14:14 says, “Then at the resurrection of the godly, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you” (NLT). And in Revelation 22:12, Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work (NKJV).
What exactly will be judged?
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” The “bad” spoken of is not something that is ethically or morally evil. The word for “bad” means “evil of another kind.” Another way to translate it is “good-for-nothingness.” Worthlessness. The wasting of one’s time, energy, and life. Are you wasting your life on nothingness?
It’s like a coke that has lost its carbonation. Or a decaf, low-fat latte. Why bother?
The quality of every man’s work will be tested: “Take particular care in picking your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely” (1 Corinthians 3:12–15 MSG).
At the judgment seat of Christ, each of us will have to give an account of what we did with the life, gifts, and calling that God gave to us. So what are you not doing that you should be doing?
Let’s use the gifts, talents, and resources that God has given us to do His work while we still have the opportunity.
God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.—James 1:12
It has been said that conversion has made our hearts a battlefield. It is true. When you believe in Jesus Christ, a battle begins in your heart. It is a battle between God and Satan. When you take that step and make a commitment to Lord, the Devil will want to pull you away from the commitment you have made.
So if you have found yourself being tempted a lot lately, then cheer up. It is actually an indication that you are living as a true Christian.
It is not a sin to be tempted. That is a strategy the Devil loves to use. He will tempt you, and then he will condemn you for being tempted. It is not a sin to be tempted; it is a sin when you give in to the temptation. It is not the bait that constitutes sin; it is the bite. If you refuse it and overcome it, God promises to bless you for it. We read in James, “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).
The bottom line is that you are under the control and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have God’s ID tag attached to you, and the Devil can no longer control you. He can no longer manipulate you. So he will try to draw you out. He will try to weaken your resolve. He will try to get you to compromise. He will try to take you one bite at a time. It’s a little bit here, a compromise there, a little lowering your guard in a certain area. And pretty soon, you will find yourself in a place where you never wanted to be.
DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION 