Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.—1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)
Mother Teresa said, “When you know how much God is in love with you then you can only live your life radiating that love.” Love is the essence of God’s character. In this season of giving and receiving, focus on loving deeply and authentically. When we live in love, we reflect His heart.
Lord, help me to show deep and genuine care for those around me. Inspire me to embody Your love in all I do.
You are precious and honored in my sight. Isaiah 43:4
Today’s Scripture
Isaiah 43:1-7
Listen to Today’s Devotional
Today’s Devotional
The painting hung on the wall of a home for years, unnoticed and forgotten, until one day it fell. When it was taken to an art restorer for repairs, he discovered it was a long-lost Rembrandt masterpiece titled The Adoration of the Magi. It had been thought that only copies of the work remained, but here was the original. Suddenly the painting’s value skyrocketed to hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Bible paints another picture of underestimated value and forgotten worth. Isaiah the prophet, inspired by the Holy Spirit, told God’s people that even though they would be taken away to a foreign land where they would suffer and be devalued, He would still be with them: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine,” He assured them (Isaiah 43:1). Though they would “pass through the waters” and “walk through the fire” (v. 2), His faithfulness to them would not change. With words that point to His coming kingdom in Christ, God promised that He would one day restore “everyone who is called by my name” (v. 7) and bring them home to Him.
God will one day gather all who are His because they “are precious and honored in [His] sight” (v. 4), each one an original! Our Creator values us because of His infinite kindness and mercy. The world may overlook us, but He never will.
Reflect & Pray
How does God’s kindness in Christ show that you are precious to Him? How much is He worth to you?
Saving God, how amazing is Your perfect love, that You would give Yourself for me!
Learn more here about having a personal relationship with God.
Today’s Insights
God disciplined His covenant people because of their unrepentant unfaithfulness and exiled them to Babylon for seventy years (Isaiah 39:6-7). But He wouldn’t forget His covenant or abandon His chosen people. In Isaiah 40-66, the prophet speaks of the return from exile and Judah’s future restoration. In chapter 43, God promised He’d bring them back to the promised land. They were disciplined, not abandoned, for He said, “I am with you” (v. 5). He reminded them that He’s still their God—their creator, redeemer, protector, and savior (vv. 7-15). As God’s people, we need not be afraid of the trials we face or the uncertainties of our future. Because we belong to Him, we can be assured of His unfailing love (vv. 1-3). He tells us, “You are precious and honored in my sight” (v. 4). He loves us and won’t forget us.
Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
Psalm 5:12 (NIV)
There are days when we feel great about ourselves and everything around us, confident that we could conquer the world. Then there are days when we feel defeated before we even get out of bed. We must remember that feelings are fickle, but God’s truth is unchanging. One of the truths that will help us find stability when our emotions are up and down is the fact that God has given us favor. This means He blesses us in ways we may not expect, He gives us opportunities we may think we don’t deserve or haven’t earned, and He makes things that should have been difficult for us, easy by His grace.
We know we have God’s favor because today’s scripture says He surrounds the righteous with favor “as with a shield.” You may not always feel righteous, but as a believer in Jesus, you are. He has made you righteous through His death on the cross, where He took your sins (past, present, and future) and provided cleansing and forgiveness.
Even though the Bible says we have God’s favor, often we do not act as though we do. One reason we don’t tap into God’s blessings is that we don’t believe we deserve them. Another reason is that we haven’t been taught that God’s blessings can be ours. Consequently, we haven’t activated our faith in this area. So, we wander through life, taking whatever the devil throws at us without ever resisting him and claiming what is rightfully ours.
Let’s receive by faith the favor with which God has blessed us, expecting it everywhere we go, with everyone we meet.
Prayer of the Day: Thank You, Jesus, for making me righteous and for the favor of God that rests on my life. Help me believe it and receive it.
“Ahmed was driven by his sentiment, conscience, and humanity.” This is how the father of a “hero” who responded to the Hanukkah massacre in Australia explained his son’s actions.
Ahmed al Ahmed’s father told the BBC that his son “saw the victims, the blood, women and children lying on the street, and then acted.” Video shows Ahmed running at the gunman, seizing his weapon, turning the gun around on him, and forcing his retreat. Ahmed was then shot multiple times and has undergone surgery for his wounds.
New South Wales Premiere Chris Minns said of Ahmed, “His incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk.” He added, “There is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for Ahmed’s selfless courage.” President Trump agreed, calling Ahmed “a very, very brave person” who “saved a lot of lives.”
Ironically, the people saved by Ahmed’s courage will likely go the rest of their lives without knowing it. Unless they could somehow know what the shooter would have done apart from Ahmed’s intervention, they cannot know that they would have been injured or killed if he had not acted with such selfless courage.
By contrast, Larisa Kleytman will go the rest of her life knowing that she was spared by the selfless courage of her husband. Alex Kleytman was a Holocaust survivor. He and his wife of five decades were visiting Sydney’s Bondi Beach to celebrate Hanukkah when the shooting erupted, and he was shot to death as he shielded his wife. “I think he was shot because he raised himself up to protect me,” Larisa said.
A threat that threatens us all
If you’re not Jewish, you may be thinking that such heroism, while obviously commendable, is less than relevant to you personally. The rise of antisemitism in Australia, while horrific and tragic, can feel remote to non-Jews in America.
But know this: to an Islamist, every person who lives in a nation perceived to support Israel is a potential victim of Islamist terrorism.
As I explained in my book Radical Islam: What You Need to Know and on our website, jihadists believe that the West has been attacking Islam since the Crusades and especially by supporting Israel, a nation seen as “stealing” its land from its rightful Palestinian owners. They also believe that because the West is comprised of democracies where the people elect their leaders and support their military, we are all complicit in this “attack” on Islam.
Since the Qur’an requires Muslims to defend Islam (cf. Surah 2:190), jihadists believe they are required to attack those in the West in order to defend the Muslim faith and people. As a result, what happened in Israel on October 7 and in Australia on December 14 could happen where you and I live today.
The year began with jihadist terrorism when an attacker displaying an Islamic State flag rammed his vehicle into a crowd in New Orleans last New Year’s Day, killing at least fifteen people. It is ending on the same tragic theme:
This is a threat that threatens us all.
What Christians can do that no one else can
Responding to this burgeoning danger will require courage.
You and I may not be required to attack an attacker to wrest their rifle from them or shield a loved one and die in their place. But we have platforms of influence we can use to condemn the scourge of antisemitism rising in our time. We can support our Jewish friends with our personal encouragement and engagement. We can befriend local Jewish leaders and congregations and encourage our churches and other networks to do the same.
These are all steps anyone can take who has the character and courage to do so.
In addition, however, Christians can respond to this threat as no one else can.
The Apostle Paul described his former life: “I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:9). Specifically, he was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” when he sought the authority to arrest Christians in Damascus and “bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1–2). In this way, being “exceedingly enraged against them” (Acts 26:11 NKJV), he said, “I persecuted this Way to the death” (Acts 22:4).
But you know what happened to him on the road to Damascus. Now we can pray for our Lord to do the same in the hearts of jihadists around the world. Such intercession is a response no one else can or will make.
The next time we hear about a jihadist attack
What Jesus did to transform Saul of Tarsus, he can do to transform any jihadist terrorist anywhere in the world.
He is already appearing to Muslims around the globe in visions and dreams, sparking a remarkable spiritual awakening in the Islamic world. As the noted author and Middle East expert Joel Rosenberg reports, more Muslims have come to faith in Christ in the last half-century than in the last fourteen centuries combined. My dear friends Tom and JoAnn Doyle have documented this movement and experience it regularly in their miraculous ministry.
So, the next time we hear about an Islamist attack, let’s intercede for the victims, of course. But let’s also stop to pray for the attacker to come to Christ. Let’s pray for Jesus to reveal himself to this person in dreams and through believers. Let’s pray for Christians in the Muslim world to use their influence to demonstrate the “fruit of the Spirit” and otherwise manifest the presence of Christ.
And let’s pray for God to redeem the global crisis of antisemitism and jihadist terrorism by bringing millions to faith in his Son.
If Jesus could come at Christmas, I believe he can come again into any heart and life.
Do you agree?
Quote for the day:
“To have courage for whatever comes in life, everything lies in that.” —St. Teresa of Avila
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by John D. Morris, Ph.D.
“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5)
Jeremiah provides for us a striking contrast between the self-assured humanist and the one who has placed his trust in God. The man who looks to his own abilities or those of others to save him in time of trouble is “cursed.” His existence will be one of futility, just as is that of a parched desert plant (v. 6). Why? Because his “heart departeth from the LORD” (v. 5), the source of strength and salvation.
Jeremiah uses a play on words here. The words for “man” in our text are different: the first means “warrior” or “strong man,” and the second a “normal man.” The warrior who should be strong is cursed because he trusts in one who is weak: in this case, in any other man’s wisdom or might or even his own strength, when overestimated. What sense is there in that?
In contrast, “blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD” (v. 7). “He shall be as a tree planted by the waters . . . and shall not be careful [i.e., anxious] in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit” (v. 8). Why? Because his “hope the LORD is” (v. 7). We see this man—one who might be considered strong—trusting solely in the true “strong man,” the Lord.
It is a tragic fact that even many Christians fall into the mindset of the autonomous humanist and attempt to live their lives (even “the Christian life”) under their own power. Do we trust in our own feeble power or in the Lord? Every heart, whether humanist or Christian, “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (v. 9). Make no mistake! “I the LORD search the heart” (v. 10); He knows our inner motives. Let us recommit ourselves to trust in the Lord and make Him our hope. JDM
The gospel of God creates a sense of needing the gospel. Paul says, “If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled”—to whom? To those who behave immorally? No—“to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4). By “unbelievers,” Paul means those who haven’t had the life of God created in them through personal redemption. As redemption creates the life of God in a human soul, it also creates the things belonging to that life, including a sense of needing the Lord. It is God who creates the need of which no human being is conscious until God manifests himself; nothing can satisfy the need but that which created the need. This is the meaning of redemption: it both creates and satisfies.
The majority of people have no sense of needing the gospel because they have morality and self–sufficiency well within their grasp. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). This is true, but God can’t give until we ask, and we won’t ask if we don’t feel a need. It isn’t that God withholds; this is simply how he has constituted things on the basis of the redemption. Through our asking, God sets a process in motion by which he creates what doesn’t exist until we ask. The inner reality of redemption is that it creates all the time.
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). We preach our own experiences, and people are interested, but no sense of need is awakened. But when Jesus Christ is lifted up, the Spirit of God will create a conscious need of him. Behind the preaching of the gospel is the creative redemption of God at work in people’s souls. Personal testimony is never what saves: “The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life” (John 6:63).
Wisdom from Oswald
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6).The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L
Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.
—Proverbs 10:12
To hate, to discriminate against those who look different, who talk different, who have different national backgrounds, or who act differently from the dominant group, is a universal trait of human nature. I say that there is only one possible solution and that is a vital experience with Christ on the part of all races. In Christ the middle wall of partition is broken down, the Bible says. There is no Jew or Gentile, or black or white or yellow or red. We could be one great brotherhood in Christ. However, until we come to recognize Him as the Prince of Peace, and receive His love in our hearts, the racial tensions will increase.
Prayer for the day
I pray for Your love, Lord Jesus, to conquer hate or prejudice—whenever these ugly transgressions seep into my heart.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”—Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
As you prepare for Jesus’s coming, consider this: Each and every day, Jesus is planning your future and preparing blessings for you. Some gifts help you grow in faith. Others are signs of His presence to reassure you that you are not alone and that because of your faith, anything is possible.
Heavenly Father, I am in awe of Your limitless wonders. I celebrate You, my glorious God.
Go and do likewise. Luke 10:37
Today’s Scripture
Luke 10:25-34, 36-37
Listen to Today’s Devotional
Today’s Devotional
From her hospital bed, Marie Coble lit up when she saw the delivery driver whose help had likely saved her life. She’d fallen in her driveway and hit her head, causing a brain bleed. Seeing her injury, Raheem Cooper helped her while calling paramedics. Invited by family to visit her in the hospital, Raheem often brings sweet treats she enjoys to assist her recovery.
Their story brings to mind the parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable is Jesus’ reply to an expert’s question on what he must do to inherit eternal life. Do “what is written in the law,” Jesus said (Luke 10:26), including “love your neighbor as yourself” (v. 27). But the expert persisted, asking, “Who is my neighbor?” (v. 29).
Christ’s answer describes a man attacked by robbers, left half dead, and then ignored by two people—a priest and a Levite—who passed him by. “But a Samaritan . . . took pity on him,” “bandaged his wounds, . . . and took care of him” (vv. 33-34). Seeing the hurting man in need, the Samaritan’s help was active, urgent, and without bias—looking past race or creed to assist someone he could’ve ignored.
Thus, Jesus asked, “Which of these three was a neighbor to the man?” “The one who had mercy on him,” the expert said. Said Jesus, “Go and do likewise” (vv. 36-37). In Christ, we too can find the compassion to help a hurting person instead of passing by. It’s a lesson for all in sharing Jesus’ love.
Reflect & Pray
How do you need mercy? How can you show mercy?
Dear Father, may I look beyond differences to share Jesus’ mercy with others.
To learn more about mercy, read Living Justly, Loving Mercy.
Today’s Insights
The key to understanding the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) lies in knowing how first-century Israel answered the question, “Who is my neighbor?” (v. 29). They’d distorted the command “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) into “love your neighbor and hate your enemy” (Matthew 5:43). The Jews defined a neighbor as a fellow Israelite, for gentiles were accursed. For the Pharisees (experts in the law), it referred to a fellow Pharisee, for those who knew nothing of the law were accursed (John 7:49). Jesus turned this thinking upside down by making a hated Samaritan (people of mixed race whom the Jews viewed as heretics) the hero of the story. The Spirit can help us today to show compassion to others instead of simply passing by.
He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver…
Malachi 3:3 (AMPC)
Looking back over the years, I can see that I have been on a fascinating journey with God. He has definitely changed me and is still changing me daily. I had many problems in my soul (my mind, will, and emotions) and in my circumstances at the time I received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Little did I realize what was about to take place in my life. I was asking God for change, but I was totally unaware that what needed to be changed in my life was me!
God began a process in me—slowly, steadily, and always at a pace I could endure. As a Refiner, He sits over the fires that burn in our lives to make sure they never get too hot and that they never die out. Only when He can look at us and see His own reflection is it safe to turn the fire off, and even then we continue to need a few alterations at times.
When God was dealing with me about patience, I faced many circumstances in which I could either be patient or behave badly. Quite often, I behaved badly, but the Holy Spirit kept convincing me, teaching me, and giving me a desire to live for God’s glory. Gradually, little by little, I changed in one area, then in another. I usually got to rest a bit in between battles and often thought that perhaps I had finally graduated, only to discover something else I needed to learn. This is the way it works as the Holy Spirit changes us. Keep your heart open to His leadership; keep your ears open to His voice; obey what He speaks to you—and soon, you’ll find yourself changing more and more into the person He created you to be.
Prayer of the Day: Lord, thank You for patiently refining me. Help me trust the process, knowing every challenge brings me closer to Your image and strengthens my faith. Keep changing me for Your glory, amen.
Iconic actor and director Rob Reiner first came to fame for his role as Archie Bunker’s liberal son-in-law “Meathead” in All In the Family. Beginning in the 1980s, he established himself as a director of numerous successful Hollywood films, including This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, and The American President.
This morning, news began breaking that he and his wife, Michele, had been found dead in their Los Angeles home. The couple was found stabbed to death Sunday in an apparent homicide, according to police.
Now we are learning that their son, Nick Reiner, was arrested Sunday night in connection with the deaths of his parents. He is being held in a jail in Los Angeles County on $4 million bail. At this writing, no information about criminal charges has been made available. However, People magazine is reporting that the Reiners were killed by their son, though police have not confirmed this account.
Nick Reiner, age thirty-two, has spoken openly over the years about his struggles with drug abuse and bouts of homelessness. He and his father worked together on a movie, Being Charlie, which was loosely inspired by his early life. Rob Reiner directed, while his son wrote the screenplay alongside a person he met in rehab.
Why I disagreed with Rob Reiner
My wife and I happened to watch When Harry Met Sally again the other night. Afterwards, we discussed how effectively the movie normalizes sex outside of marriage.
The two characters, played so winsomely by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, sleep with any number of people while never marrying any of them (except each other at the end of the movie, of course). Rob Reiner’s film is so humorous and likable that you find yourself glad for the couple when they find happiness in their unbiblical relationship.
I disagreed with Mr. Reiner on numerous cultural and moral issues. He was a well-known advocate for same-sex marriage, for example, among other liberal causes. And many of his movies portrayed sexual immorality in ways that normalized and popularized it.
In addition, he made clear that he didn’t “believe in organized religion,” though he appreciated “a lot of the concepts of Buddhism.” He explained:
I’m not practicing anything, but those things make sense because it’s all about how you find spirituality inside you and how you treat others. It’s all about finding meaning. That’s what life is all about.
At the same time, I am of course horrified by the news of his death and that of his wife. If their son does turn out to be involved in their murder, this will be an even more tragic story.
And I’ve been thinking about my reaction to the news of his death. Upon reflection, I believe there is a factor here that transcends Mr. Reiner and the news of the day, whatever it is.
“Jesus shows his love for us”
Jesus loved the “rich young ruler,” even knowing that the man would reject his invitation to discipleship (Mark 10:17–22). He grieved for Jerusalem, even though (and because) it would reject him as the Messiah (Luke 19:41–44). He loved his disciples “to the end” (John 13:1), even though they would abandon him in the Garden of Gethsemane and (except for John) forsake him at the cross. He loved those who crucified him as he prayed for their forgiveness (Luke 23:34).
Jesus described John and his brother James as “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17), perhaps presaging the time the two were angered by the Samaritan rejection of Jesus and asked, “Do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). On the way to Jerusalem, the brothers’ mother asked Jesus to seat them in places of honor in his kingdom (Matthew 20:20–23). And yet John was his “beloved” disciple (John 21:20).
The Bible teaches, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus’ love for us is so unconditional and absolute that nothing can “separate us” from it (Romans 8:35). The more we reject him, the more we need him. The sicker the patient, the more urgent and necessary the physician.
Here’s my point: Jesus’ followers can experience and manifest this same unconditional love for those who do not agree with our biblical faith. In fact, we should. And we must.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory”
It is not unusual in religious history for gods to appear as human. It was standard in Roman mythology, for example, for various deities to take on human form to interact with us. It was also typical for humans to be deified after their death, as with ancient Egyptian beliefs regarding the pharaohs.
But here is what Christianity surprisingly claims: our God can live in us. Just as Jesus came to live in Mary prior to Christmas, so his Spirit comes to live in every person who makes Christ their Lord (1 Corinthians 3:16). Paul testified, “God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27, my emphasis).
Now add this amazing fact: Not only does Jesus live in Christians, but he also works to make Christians more like Christ. His Spirit manifests his character, including his “love” for all people (Galatians 5:22). Thus, we see Peter and John ministering to a crippled beggar (Acts 3), Philip caring about the hated Samaritans (Acts 8:4–8), and Paul, the former Pharisee, devoting his life to reaching Gentiles (cf. Acts 9:15).
Jesus’ compassion changed the world. Through us, it still can.
“See how they love one another”
One of the best ways we can measure the degree to which we are following Jesus and are submitted to his Spirit is by measuring the degree to which we love people who do not love us. How we treat those we don’t have to treat well is a basic measure of character. But how we love those who reject our love and our Lord is a measure of Christlikeness.
Jesus was clear on this: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44–45). The more we love those who do not love us, the more we display the family traits of our Father.
And the more we draw others to him.
The early apologist Tertullian (AD 160–240) said of his fellow believers:
We don’t take the gifts and spend them on feasts, drinking-bouts, or fancy restaurants. Instead we use them to support and bury poor people, to supply the needs of boys and girls who have no means and no parents. We support the elderly confined now to their homes. We also help those who have suffered shipwreck. And if there happen to be any in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons—for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God’s Church—they then become the nurselings of the confession we hold [as we take them in to help them].
Primarily it is the acts of love that are so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. “See,” they say, “how they love one another” (Apology, chapter 39).
Who will say the same of you today?
by Henry M. Morris III, D.Min.
“Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law. Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.” (Psalm 119:153–154)
Much of the Old Testament records God’s intervention into the affairs of men, often in huge victories on the battlefield. The great military king David wrote frequently of his deliverance amid slaughter, and certainly there is an overtone of physical deliverance felt in these verses.
The key to this prayer, however, is in verse 158: “I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.” Although the psalmist spoke of his many “persecutors and . . . enemies” (v. 157), his desire was fixed directly on the faithfulness of God’s promises. Note the constant reliance on the truth of what God has said.
Hearts not stirred with the Holy Spirit’s indignation at the wicked culture and flagrant violators of God’s Word should “give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10). Those who love God’s holiness also love God’s Word. HMM III
Put on the full armor of God. . . And always keep on praying. — Ephesians 6:13,18
You have to wrestle against the things that prevent you from getting to God, and you have to wrestle in prayer for other souls. But never say that you wrestle with God in prayer; this idea is scripturally unfounded. Attempt to wrestle with God, and you will be crippled for the rest of your life.
“He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched”
(Genesis 32:25). If God comes into your life in some way you don’t like, and you try, as Jacob did, to wrestle with him, you compel God to put your hip out of joint. You should wrestle; God doesn’t want you to hobble along weakly in his ways. Just make sure you’re wrestling the right things. Be someone who wrestles before God for other souls and against those things that would keep you from him, and you will be more than a conqueror through him (Romans 8:37).
Wrestling before God in prayer prevails in his kingdom, so long as the one praying is complete in Christ. If you ask me to pray for you and I’m not complete, my prayer counts for nothing. But if I’m complete in him, my prayer always prevails. I have to put on the full armor of God before I pray; prayer is effective only when there is completeness.
Always distinguish between God’s order and his permissive will. God’s order is unchangeable; the things he allows by his permissive will are what we have to wrestle against. God uses his permissive will providentially to turn us into his sons and daughters. Our reaction to the things he permits is what enables us to get at his order. He asks us to meet these things head–on, not to be like jellyfish, floating along and saying, “Oh, well, it’s the Lord’s will.” Beware of drifting lazily before God instead of putting up a glorious fight so that you may lay hold of his strength.
Wisdom from Oswald
The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t. Conformed to His Image, 357 R
God will tenderly comfort you when you undergo these same sufferings …
—2 Corinthians 1:7 (TLB)
This question, “Why must the righteous suffer?” is as old as time. There is only one place that we can find an answer, and that is in the Bible. You do not need to study the Scriptures long to learn why sinners meet reverses and anguish. They are apart from God. Their sorrow is the result of their sins. But why do Christians suffer?
Scripture teaches that many Christians suffer so that they may fellowship with others who are in affliction. Only those who have known sorrow and suffering can have fellowship with those in affliction. The Word of God also teaches that Christians suffer in order that they might glorify God in their lives. The Bible further teaches that Christians suffer in order that God might teach them lessons in prayer. Also, Christians suffer in order that God might bring them to repentance.
Prayer for the day
How tender is Your comfort, Lord. How loving Your chastening.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.—Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)
Faith is the gift of God. Lose yourself—all your fears and insecurities—in His great love. Know that He is helping and loving you, ready to guide you in every problem that you face. He will bring peace and calm to your troubled mind.
Almighty God, thank You for filling my life with Your greatness and glory.
I wrote you . . . to let you know the depth of my love for you. 2 Corinthians 2:4
Today’s Scripture
2 Corinthians 2:1-8
Listen to Today’s Devotional
Today’s Devotional
Hippocrates (ca. 460–375 bc) brought medicine out of the realm of the superstitious and into the light of testing and observation. But he didn’t lose sight of the patient’s humanity. “It is far more important to know what person the disease has,” he said, “than what disease the person has.”
The apostle Paul cared for a church with multiple problems, yet he saw the humanity of each member—including a man who’d committed a sin “that even pagans do not tolerate” (1 Corinthians 5:1). Paul dealt strongly with the “disease,” and the man repented. Now, as he wrote another letter to the church in Corinth, Paul had affirming instructions for all of them. He recognized that this man’s sin had affected everyone: “He has grieved all of you to some extent,” he said (2 Corinthians 2:5). But since the man had turned from his sin, Paul said, “Reaffirm your love for him” (v. 8).
His motivation was clear: “I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you” (v. 4). He knew them all. And he loved them.
Sin affects us all. Behind each sin is a human being. When we’ve been wronged, it may be difficult to work toward restoration, yet that’s what God calls us to do. Know the person. Then, in Christ’s strength, love them.
Reflect & Pray
How did Paul handle the sin in the Corinthian church? How does loving someone despite their sin differ from enablement?
Dear Father, please help me see others as You see them. Thank You for complete forgiveness of my sins.
To learn more about fellowship with others, read Why Christians Need Good Friendships.
Today’s Insights
Romans says that we all fall short of God’s holy standards: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23). Yet Jesus loves us so much that He died for us and freely forgives all who come to Him in sorrow for their sins (John 3:16; 1 John 1:9). In turn, believers in Christ are to strive to forgive others (Matthew 6:14; Ephesians 4:32). Paul says in Colossians, “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (3:12-13). When we’ve been wronged by others, working toward restoration can seem like a daunting task. As we seek God’s guidance, however, He’ll help us to take the necessary steps.
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:18-19 (NIV)
No one has to tell us to complain. It is a natural fruit of the flesh, but we frequently need to be reminded to give thanks. God answers prayers, but He doesn’t answer complaints. I believe that all complaining does is quench the Spirit, and to quench means to stop or to extinguish.
We are to do everything without grumbling or arguing, according to Philippians 2:14 (NIV). The next verse, Philippians 2:15, states that if we will eliminate these bad habits from our lives, we will be seen like stars shining out brightly in a warped and crooked generation (NIV). Everywhere I go, I hear people complaining, but when I meet someone who is thankful, I think, That person is probably a Christian.
Can you be inconvenienced without complaining? If any of us could make it through one entire day without complaining about anything at all, it might fall into the category of a miracle. Complaining seems to be our default setting for anything that is even mildly inconvenient.
I strongly believe that gratitude is a form of spiritual warfare. We can defeat Satan if we are thankful to God and say so, but we cannot defeat him with complaining and grumbling.
Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me replace every complaint with gratitude. Teach me to stay joyful and thankful in all things, knowing You’re working for my good even in inconvenience, amen.
by Michael J. Stamp
“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:7)
The scribes and Pharisees often plotted against Jesus. They sought to use the law of Moses to trap Him in a “no win” situation. On one such occasion, He was teaching at the crowded temple, and they brought to Him a woman who’d been caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses commanded she be stoned to death. Testing Him, they demanded that Jesus advise whether or not she should be stoned. If yes, then He’d appear cruel and unmerciful; if no, then He’d be contrary to the law.
But the scribes and Pharisees were dealing with the Son of God—the Savior of the world! “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17). Jesus answered them saying, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (our text). They had no counter to this surprising answer.
The accusers left the scene one by one until Jesus was left alone with the woman. He said to her, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” She answered, “No man, Lord.” With merciful kindness Jesus replied, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (8:11).
Consider this. When Jesus said, “He that is without sin among you,” He was referring to Himself! Only He had the right to stone the woman. Only He had the right to execute judgment on her, but He set that right aside and replaced it with mercy and forgiveness.
On the cross, Jesus was executed instead; the Lamb took her place. The One “that is without sin” took the full brunt of the law for her and for us. Jesus didn’t come to throw rocks at us. His goal is to save, not to condemn. MJS
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. — 2 Timothy 2:15
What we need today isn’t a new gospel; it’s men and women who can restate the gospel of the Son of God in terms that will reach the very heart of people’s problems. There’s nothing easy or automatic about becoming such a man or woman. If you wish to become a worker who, as Paul puts it, “correctly handles the word of truth,” you must “do your best”—that is, make a serious effort.
If you can’t clearly express your thoughts on a truth God has given you, struggle until you can. Otherwise, you’ll be unable to pass it on, and someone will be poorer for it all the days of his life. But when you put serious effort into reexpressing some truth of God for yourself, God will use that expression for someone else. Go through the winepress where God’s grapes are crushed, struggle to get at the expression you need, and a time will come when that expression will be the very wine of strength to another. If instead you say, “I’m not going to struggle to express this truth for myself; I’ll borrow what I say,” the expression will be not only of no use to you but of no use to anyone. Try to restate to yourself what you implicitly feel to be God’s truth, and you will give God a chance to pass it on to someone else through you.
Always make a practice of challenging your mind to think out what it accepts easily. Our position is not truly ours until we make it ours by suffering. The author who benefits you isn’t the one who tells you something you didn’t know before; it’s the one who gives expression to the truth that has been struggling for utterance inside you.
Wisdom from Oswald
God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances. Not Knowing Whither, 900 L
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers …
—1 Timothy 4:12
Lord Chesterton once said, “I believe in bedside repentance, but I do not want to depend upon it.” During a serious illness a person’s mind does not function normally. Getting right with God is something one should do in the bloom of health. However, as far as the Lord is concerned, “His ear is not heavy that He cannot hear, nor His arm shortened that He cannot save.” He loves us equally, in sickness or in health; while we are living, or while we are dying. In my experience, I have not known of too many people who found Christ on their deathbed. When we come to Christ in our youth, a life is saved. When we come in old age, a soul is salvaged and life eternal is assured; but the opportunity to live a life for Christ has been lost.
Prayer for the day
Lord God, burden my heart to reach out to the young persons starting their adventure in life—and the old persons dreading the end of their journey. Let me tell them the message of Your saving love.
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