“And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.” Numbers 13:32 and 14:6-7
Suggested Further Reading: Romans 2:17-24
Every unguarded word you use, every inconsistent act, puts a slur on Christ. The world, you know, does not find fault with you—they lay it all to your Master. If you make a slip tomorrow, they will not say, “That is John Smith’s human nature;” they will say, “That is John Smith’s religion.” They know better, but they will be sure to say it; they will be sure to put all the mischief at the door of Christ. Now, if you could bear the blame yourself you might bear it manfully; but do not allow Christ to bear the blame—do not suffer his reputation to be tarnished—do not permit his banner to be trampled in the dust. Then there is another consideration. You must remember, if you do wrong, the world will be quite sure to notice you. The world carries two bags: in the bag at the back they put all the Christian’s virtues—in the bag in front they put all our mistakes and sins. They never think of looking at the virtues of holy men; all the courage of martyrs, all the fidelity of confessors, and all the holiness of saints, is nothing to them; but our iniquities are ever before them. Please do recollect, that wherever you are, as a Christian, the eyes of the world are upon you; the Argus eyes of an evil generation follow you everywhere. If a church is blind the world is not. It is a common proverb, “As sound asleep as a church,” and a very true one, for most churches are sound asleep; but it would be a great falsehood if anyone were to say, “As sound asleep as the world,” for the world is never asleep. Sleeping is left to the church. And remember, too, that the world always wears magnifying glasses to look at Christians’ faults.
For meditation: Like Mary our souls and words may magnify the Lord (Luke 1:46), but does any area of our lives allow the unbelieving world to magnify our sins instead?
Sermon no. 197
6 June (1858)
Tag Archives: Jesus
John MacArthur – Receiving the Word in Purity
“Putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness . . . receive the word” (James 1:21).
You cannot receive God’s Word and harbor sin at the same time.
When the psalmist said, “I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Thy word” (Ps. 119:101), he was acknowledging a key principle of spiritual growth: you must set aside sin if you expect to benefit from God’s Word. Peter was expressing the same thought when he said, “Putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Pet. 2:1-2). Likewise, James admonished us to put off sin and receive the Word (James 1:21).
Neither James nor Peter were addressing unbelievers, because without Christ, people have no capacity to set sin aside or receive God’s Word. But we as Christians are characterized by our ability to do both, and must continually purify our lives through confession of sin, repentance, and right choices. That’s why Paul said, “Just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification” (Rom. 6:19).
The Greek word translated “putting aside” in James 1:21 originally meant taking off dirty, soiled clothes. “Filthiness” translates a Greek word that was used of moral vice as well as dirty clothes. Its root word was sometimes used of ear wax, which impedes a person’s hearing. Similarly, sin impedes reception of the Word. “Wickedness” speaks of any evil intent or desire. Together they stress the importance of setting aside all evil actions and intentions.
Simply stated, you should never presume on God’s grace by approaching His Word with unconfessed sin. David prayed, “Keep back Thy servant from presumptuous [deliberate] sins; let them not rule over me; then I shall be blameless” (Ps. 19:13). He wanted to be pure before the Lord. I pray that you share his desire and will always receive the Word in purity.
Suggestions for Prayer
Memorize Psalm 19:14. Make it your prayer as you study God’s Word.
For Further Study
Read Colossians 3:5-17.
- What does Paul admonish you to put off? Put on?
- Why is it important to heed his admonitions?
Joyce Meyer – Be Satisfied
The poor and afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise the Lord—they who [diligently] seek for, inquire of and for Him, and require Him [as their greatest need]. May your hearts be quickened now and forever! Psalm 22:26
Many people constantly seek the thrill of a new experience, but every new thing eventually becomes an old thing. Sooner or later, people have to be happy with old things too, or they will never reach God’s higher goal of contentment (see 1 Timothy 6:6).
In Philippians 4:11–12, Paul said that he had learned how to be content and satisfied to the point where he wasn’t disturbed or disquieted, no matter what state he was in. He could live in humble cir¬cumstances or enjoy plenty. He had learned that the secret of facing every situation, whether well fed or hungry, was to be content. Seek contentment in God today, and you will be satisfied.
Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Everything Is Possible
“Jesus looked at them intently, then said, ‘Without God, it is utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible'” (Mark 10:27).
“An hour in prayer can give the believer enough power to overcome the second most powerful force in the universe,” sagely declared an anonymous observer.
God’s Word gives us many “exceeding great and precious promises” that confirm the truth of this wise observation – and the truth of the scriptural promise that with God everything is possible. One of these precious promises declares, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31,KJV).
Sometimes renewed strength – spiritual strength, God’s strength – is all we need to face the problem or difficulty or testing or trial that confronts us.
In the gigantic tasks God has given us to do in the work of Campus Crusade for Christ, often it is the confirmed realization that with God everything is possible that keeps us going on, trusting God to do that which no man could possibly do.
God’s indwelling Holy Spirit, making possible the supernatural life, constantly empowers and enables us to reach out and attempt great and mighty things for God – always an outreach that involves the needs of others more than our own personal needs, as great as they may seem to be at times.
Bible Reading: Mark 10:23-27
TODAY’S ACTION POINT: “Dear Lord, give me a heart like Yours – one that reaches out to the ends of the earth, and the end of the block, with the good news of the gospel, always believing that nothing is impossible with Your help.”
Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – More Than Words
God created the Earth and the sky with His words. When creating light, again He used words. He created the plants, the animals, and even man and woman – all with words.
They were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.
Luke 4:32
Jesus, so like His Father, also had words that possessed authority. When He spoke, people listened. In the story surrounding today’s passage, the Son of God commanded a demon to leave the body of a man – and it obeyed. In John 4, Jesus spoke and healed an official’s son who was gravely ill, even though the boy was far away. When the disciples in their boat experienced a storm on the sea, Jesus “rebuked the wind and said…‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:39)
In Jesus’ time, people were astonished at the authority of His words. In modern times, many will marvel when His words come true. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3) Ask God for your fellow citizens to acknowledge the authority of Christ and His words. Pray for all people, including your national leaders, to be ready for His return.
Recommended Reading: John 14:1-14
Greg Laurie – Bond, James Bond
“God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.” —1 Corinthians 1:28
A 1964 Aston Martin sold a little while back.
It has a 282 horsepower engine and can go 145 miles per hour. The price? 4.6 million dollars!
Why so much? It was the car that James Bond drove in the films “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball.” It has some unusual options: guns that poke through the taillights, a license plate that rotates, and best of all, an ejector seat on the passenger side! Of course, none of those features actually work.
So why so much money for the car? Because James Bond, or more specifically Sean Connery, drove it in those classic films. You see, the value is not so much in the car itself, but in the one who used it.
The same goes for you. Your “value” in God’s eyes has nothing to do with your own merit, or talents, or resources. Your worth comes from the fact that Jesus Christ is living inside you, which makes you infinitely more valuable than an Aston Martin!
An honest assessment of the 12 men that Jesus called to be His disciples shows us that they were far from perfect. In fact, they had many flaws—just like you and me. That is not to say these were not dedicated, gifted men. But Jesus did not call them because they were great; rather their “greatness” was the result of the call of Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 1:26–28, Paul reminds us, “Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of ‘the brightest and the best’ among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these ‘nobodies’ to expose the hollow pretensions of the ‘somebodies’?” (MSG).
The disciples’ greatness was not because of who they were as individuals; it was because of the One who called and used them.
Night Light for Couples – Two Hundred Laughs
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22
It’s been said that the average child laughs two hundred times a day, while the typical adult laughs only four times every twenty‐four hours. So what has happened to us grown‐ups? Maybe it has something to do with those grueling hours at the office, long lines at the grocery store, and piles of bills on the kitchen counter.
Of course, life can be very difficult, and some people face serious obstacles and hardships. But many of us frown or complain over relatively minor inconveniences. I (jcd) knew a woman who made herself and her husband miserable just because she had one more child than she had bedrooms in which to put them. Too many irritations come from a complete inability to appreciate the humor and blessings that exist around us. When your husband forgets to take the kids to their dentist appointment, or your wife accidentally gives away your favorite sweatshirt, or your toddler draws his version of the Mona Lisa on the living room wall—wouldn’t it be easier on everyone if you looked on the funny side of the situation?
Kevin Jones, dealing with increasing paralysis from Lou Gehrig’s disease, was asked to describe the worst thing about his condition. He replied, “My wife’s driving! She has to take me everywhere.”
No matter what you’re facing, a smile can only make it better.
Just between us…
- How often do you laugh each day?
- Do we keep our heavenly destination in mind when adversity strikes?
- How could we add humor to the next difficult situation we face?
Dear God, when problems threaten to affect how we treat each other, help us to see them in the perspective of Your unfailing goodness. Amen.
From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
Discovering God’s Design – In Celebration of Human Life
Psalm 139:1–16
Psalm 139 is the Bible’s celebration of God’s creation and providence as they pertain to human life. Like the psalmist, author Walter Wangerin Jr. reflects on the marvel God works in utero between conception and birth:
Are children a gift to their elders? No—not till children are grown and their elders are older indeed. Then they are the gift of the [fifth] commandment, honoring hoary heads which have begun to feel past honor. But until then, it is we who are given, by God’s parental mercy, to the children! And it is we who must give to the children—by lovely laughter, by laughter utterly free, and by the sheer joy from which such laughter springs—the lasting memory: You are, you are, you are, my child, a marvelous work of God!
And in his heartrending words to a child who has been ravaged by physical and sexual abuse, Wangerin clearly has this psalm in mind:
You, child: you are as soft as the blue sky. Touch your cheek. Do you feel the weft of life there? Yes: God wove you more lovely than wool of the clouds, smoother than petals of lily, sweeter than amber honey, brighter than morning, kinder than daylight, as gentle as the eve. Listen to me! You are beautiful. You are beautiful. If you think you’re ugly, you’ve let a fool define you. Don’t! Touch your throat. It is a column of wind and words. Stroke your forehead. Thought moves through its caverns. Imagination lives in there. You are the handiwork of the Creator. You are his best art, his poem, his portrait, his image, his face—and his child.
God caused the stars to be, and then bent low to make you.
God wrapped himself in space as in an apron, then contemplated the intricacy of your hands; he troweled the curve of your brow; he fashioned the tug of your mouth and the turn of your tongue; he jeweled your eye; he carved your bones as surely as he did the mountains …
You are not an accident. You were planned. You are the cunning intention of almighty God. Well, then, shall you think ill of yourself? NO! You shall think as well of yourself as you do of any marvel of the Deity.
Please, my sister, do not allow a sinner to steal you from yourself. You are too rare. No matter what filth has befouled you, your soul is unique in the cosmos. There is none like you. Whatever thing you admire—a leaf, a little cup, a sunset—you are more beautiful.
Sleep peacefully, you. God loves you. And so do I. And so ought you in the morning light, when the dew is a haze of blue innocence. But sleep now, child, in perfect peace. You are God’s—and he spreads his wings above you now.
Think About It
- In what ways are you a gift to children?
- What does it mean to you to know that God has woven you together, that he knows you intimately and loves you?
- How can you share the love of God with others who need to know that they are perfectly formed and made by him?
Pray About It
Lord, you have made me perfect just the way I am. I praise you for your work. I rejoice in the love and care that brought me into being. Help the knowledge of this depth of love to sink into my soul.
Streams in the Desert for Kids – Facts vs. Feelings
Hebrews 10:38
Suppose you were invited to stay in a palace for a week. You could take dips in the swimming pool, eat from a gigantic refrigerator, and sleep in king-sized featherbeds. You could do whatever you wanted in this palace, but for seven days you would be by yourself. “No problem,” you might say. “I’m tired of sharing a room anyway.” The first couple of days you might really enjoy the new place. But by day three or four, you might start to notice the silence. Without anyone to talk to or share with, the loneliness might become the only thing you could think about.
The facts of the situation didn’t change, did they? The palace was the same. The arrangement was the same. Only your feelings changed. The problem when we rely on our feelings about God is that some days we’ll feel secure in his presence and some days we’ll feel like he’s nowhere to be found. But has God changed? The Bible says no. Does God decide the days he’ll be with us and the days he won’t? The Bible says no.
In the face of problems and fears, if it seems like God isn’t there, acknowledge your feelings and then look up the facts. The facts—God’s Word—will bolster your faith and give you something solid to hang on to.
Dear Lord, Help me to walk by faith, not by feelings. Amen.
Charles Stanley – The Good Shepherd
Psalm 103:19-22
Oftentimes in Scripture, God is portrayed in ways that are easy for us to understand. One of the best-known and favorite passages in the Bible is Psalm 23, which begins, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Here, David offers a touching and poignant representation of God by describing Him as a shepherd.
In ancient times, shepherds had a special relationship with their flocks. They spent each day with the animals, guiding their paths, protecting them from danger, and corralling those that went astray. To the sheep, the shepherd was a constant companion, to the extent that the animals actually grew to recognize his voice and, therefore, to respond only to his call.
In Psalm 23, David acknowledges his position as a wandering sheep under the direction of the Great Shepherd. As such, he rejoices because he’s part of the Lord’s “flock” and God is such a gracious, loving Guide.
Because of his assurance of God’s protection and guidance, David was able to boldly exclaim, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me” (v. 4). This is truly a remarkable statement, because it reveals that while David was aware he would face hard times, he was able to rest in the confidence that God would safely see him through the ordeal.
Just as a shepherd knows his flock, God knows you. Thank Him today for allowing you to graze in the pasture of His blessings.
Bible in One Year: Job 17-21
Our Daily Bread — What We Do
Read: Philippians 3:7-17
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 23-24; John 15
One thing I do . . . I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:13-14
When Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert died, a fellow journalist wrote of him: “With all his notoriety, honors, and celebrity, all his exclusive interviews and star-dusted encounters with movie greats, Ebert never forgot the essence of what we do—review movies. And he reviewed them with an infectious zeal and probing intellect” (Dennis King, The Oklahoman).
The apostle Paul never forgot the essence of what God wanted him to be and do. Focus and enthusiasm were at the heart of his relationship with Christ. Whether he was reasoning with philosophers in Athens, experiencing shipwreck in the Mediterranean, or being chained to a Roman soldier in prison, he focused on his calling to know “Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings” and to teach about Him (Phil. 3:10).
While he was in prison, Paul wrote, “I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:13-14). Whatever his circumstances, Paul continually pressed forward in his calling as a disciple of Christ.
May we always remember the essence, the heart, of who we are called to be and what we are called to do as followers of Jesus. —David C. McCasland
Father, may I be willing to do what I can with all that I have, wherever I am.
Paul was in earnest over one thing only, and that was his relationship to Jesus Christ. Oswald Chambers
INSIGHT: In the verses preceding today’s reading (see vv. 4-6), Paul describes his credentials—his “confidence in the flesh”—including his religious upbringing, his ethnic heritage, his zeal, and a lifetime of devotion to the law of Moses. However, all of this is nothing compared to knowing Christ and receiving the gift of salvation (vv. 7-8).
Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The Opposite of Presence
In a poem titled “Moments of Joy” Denise Levertov tells the story of an old scholar who takes a room on the next street down from his grown children—”the better to concentrate on his unending work, his word, his world.” And though he comes and goes while they sleep, his children feel bereft. They want him nearer. But at times it happens that a son or daughter wakes in the dark and finds him sitting at the foot of the bed, or in the old rocker—”sleepless in his old coat, gazing into invisible distance, but clearly there to protect as he had always done.” The child springs up and flings her arms about him, pressing a cheek to his temple and taking him by surprise: “Abba!” the child exclaims, and Levertov concludes:
“And the old scholar, the father,
is deeply glad to be found.
That’s how it is, Lord, sometimes;
You seek, and I find.”(1)
Though many would like to say that the majority of our lives have been spent searching for God, perhaps it is more accurate to say that we have been sought. Even so, like the children in Levertov’s poem, time and again I know I find myself bereft of God’s presence. Sometimes it just feels like I am sitting in the dark.
One of my seminary professors once told me that God’s presence is not the opposite of God’s absence. At first glance this didn’t seem the least bit encouraging. And yet, maybe I have seen this notion lived out after all. For even when I am most stirred by God’s nearness—when God’s presence seems an undeniable truth—am I not also simultaneously stung by the ache of longing to be nearer or the reality of not quite yet being at home? Even in our best encounters with God, presence and absence remain intertwined. What might this then mean for the moments when I am feeling tormented by God’s absence?
The Christian scriptures seem to suggest of the dark what children learn of their parents. Namely, the dark does not imply the absence of a caring person. “Though an army besiege me,” said David, “my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.” David’s confidence was not in the absence of darkness, but in the knowledge of the one who watched over him in the dark. “I am still confident of this,” he concludes. “I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”(2)
Though we might struggle when God seems far off, perhaps it need not be without hope. When the land was dark with the death of Christ weighing on its shoulders, God exhaustively sought despairing hearts in the thick of that darkness. And the risen Christ is still today the certainty of God’s nearness and the promise of his care in the dark. “Thus,” writes Os Guinness, “Christians do not say to God, ‘I do not understand you at all, but I trust you anyway.’ That would be suicidal. Rather, they say, ‘Father, I do not understand you, but I trust you’—or more accurately, ‘I do not understand you in this situation, but I understand why I trust you anyway.’ It is therefore reasonable to trust even when we do not understand. We may be in the dark about what God is doing, but we are not in the dark about God.”(3)
Perhaps you have spent much of life bewailing the one who stood silent as you cried, disoriented in the dark and desperately reaching for something to make it better. What if God was there all along? Perhaps there is reason to be awed by the God who says, “Follow me!” and expects us to trust that we won’t be left or forsaken. Perhaps we should fear the one who won’t let go, whose persistence we might even find exhausting and whose faith in us we find terrifying. Perhaps there reason to be humbled by the God who refuses to leave despite the words we shout in unawareness and our unrelenting waywardness. And perhaps we do better to marvel at the God whose hand we can see clearly through the blinding pain of life. Though uncertainty may surround us and the darkness bid us to see that no Father is there, perhaps we can trust Him nonetheless.
Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.
(1)Denise Levertov, This Great Unknowing: Last Poems (New York: New Directions, 1999), 60.
(2) Psalm 27:3-13.
(3) Os Gunness, Unspeakable (New York: Harper Collins, 2005), 150.
Alistair Begg – Closed In
And the Lord shut him in. Genesis 7:16
Noah was shut in away from all the world by the hand of divine love. The door of God’s electing purpose separates us from the world, which lies in the wicked one. We are not of the world even as our Lord Jesus was not of the world. Into the sin, the folly, the pursuits of the crowd we cannot enter; we cannot play in the streets of Vanity Fair with the children of darkness, for our heavenly Father has shut us in.
Noah was shut in with his God. “Come into the ark,” was the Lord’s invitation, by which He clearly showed that He Himself intended to dwell in the ark with Noah and his family. In this manner all the chosen live in God and God in them. Happy people to be enclosed in the same circle that contains God in the Trinity of His persons–Father, Son, and Spirit. Let us never be inattentive to that gracious call, “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by.”
Noah was so shut in that no evil could reach him. Floods simply lifted toward heaven, and winds helped him on his way. Outside the ark all was ruin, but inside all was rest and peace. Without Christ we perish, but in Christ Jesus there is perfect safety.
Noah was so shut in that he could not even desire to come out, and those who are in Christ Jesus are in Him forever. They are there forever because eternal faithfulness has shut them in, and infernal malice cannot drag them out. God closes, and no man opens; and when in the last days as Master of the house He shall rise and close the door, it will be futile for mere professors to knock and cry, “Lord, Lord open for us,” for that same door which closes in the wise virgins will shut out the foolish forever. Lord, close me in by Your grace.
Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.
Charles Spurgeon – The believer’s challenge
“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:34
Suggested Further Reading: Romans 6:1-11
Christ was in his death the hostage of the people of God. He was the representative of all the elect. When Christ was bound to the tree, I see my own sin bound there; when he died every believer virtually died in him; when he was buried we were buried in him, and when he was in the tomb, he was, as it were, God’s hostage for all his church, for all that ever should believe on him. Now, as long as he was in prison, although there might be ground of hope, it was but as light sown for the righteous; but when the hostage came out, behold the first fruit of the harvest! When God said, “Let my Anointed go free, I am satisfied and content in him,” then every elect vessel went free in him; then every child of God was released from imprisonment no more to die, not to know bondage or fetter for ever. I do see ground for hope when Christ is bound, for he is bound for me; I do see reason for rejoicing when he dies, for he dies for me, and in my room and stead; I do see a theme for solid satisfaction in his burial, for he is buried for me; but when he comes out of the grave, having swallowed up death in victory, my hope bursts into joyous song. He lives , and because he lives I shall live also. He is delivered and I am delivered too. Death has no more dominion over him and no more dominion over me; his deliverance is mine, his freedom mine for ever. Again, I repeat it, the believer should take strong draughts of consolation here. Christ is risen from the dead, how can we be condemned?
For meditation: The reality of having been united with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection should be acted out in believer’s baptism; but it should also be acted out in believer’s daily living (1 Peter 3:21-4: 2).
Sermon no. 256
5 June (1859)
John MacArthur – Be Slow to Anger
“Let everyone be . . . slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).
If you resent God’s Word, you cannot grow in righteousness.
Have you ever started reading your Bible, thinking everything was fine between you and the Lord, only to have the Word suddenly cut deep into your soul to expose some sin you had neglected or tried to hide? That commonly happens because God seeks to purge sin in His children. The Holy Spirit uses the Word to penetrate the hidden recesses of the heart to do His convicting and purifying work. How you respond to that process is an indicator of the genuineness of your faith.
“Anger” in James 1:19-20 refers to a negative response to that process. It is a deep internal resentment accompanied by an attitude of rejection. Sometimes that resentment can be subtle. Paul described those who “will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2 Tim. 4:3). They’re the people who drift from church to church in search of someone who will tell them what they want to hear—or a congregation that wants a pastor who will make them feel good about themselves instead of preaching the Word and setting a high standard of holiness.
Sometimes resentment toward the Word ceases to be subtle and turns to open hostility. That happened when the crowd Stephen confronted covered their ears, drove him out of the city, and stoned him to death (Acts 7:57-60). Countless others throughout history have felt the fatal blows of those whose resentment of God’s truth turned to hatred for His people.
Receiving the Word includes being quick to hear what it says and slow to anger when it disagrees with your opinions or confronts your sin. Is that your attitude? Do you welcome its reproof and heed its warnings, or do you secretly resent it? When a Christian brother or sister confronts a sin in your life, do you accept or reject their counsel?
Suggestions for Prayer
Thank God for the power of His Word to convict you and drive you to repentance. Welcome its correction with humility and thanksgiving.
For Further Study
Read 2 Timothy 4:1-5, noting the charge Paul gave to Timothy and his reason for giving it.
Joyce Meyer – Believe the Best
A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7–8 NIV 1984
We can quickly ruin a day with wrong thinking. Friendships are destroyed because of wrong thinking. Business deals go wrong. Marriages fail. It’s so easy to concentrate on everything that is wrong with your spouse instead of what is right, and soon you want to get away from the person you are married to, when what you really want to escape is your own negative mind.
Replace suspicion and fear with trust. Trust breeds trust. Trusting others, and especially trusting God, helps keep us healthy. When we trust, we are relaxed and at rest.
This is good-old common sense. Consider the following case: You are walking down an unfamiliar street and a man comes out of his house with his pit bull growling on a leash and mutters, “What are you doing in my yard?” You think, Who is this nutcase? and act angry and suspicious right back. His unfriendliness boomerangs back to him (and probably makes him more unfriendly still). On the other hand, if you are somehow able to look beyond his suspiciousness (maybe he was recently robbed?) and act extremely friendly and relaxed toward him, more often than not he will relax, too, and you’ll have a friendly interaction that improves his day and yours.
Call this the “boomerang effect.” Or follow the Bible and call it “reaping what you sow.” Whatever you call it, the saying is true: you get what you give.
Trust in Him Consider all the relationships in your life—where can you replace suspicion with trust?
Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Most Vital Food
“Your words are what sustain me; they are food to my hungry soul. They bring joy to my sorrowing heart and delight me. How proud I am to bear Your name, O Lord” (Jeremiah 15:16).
In my earlier years – as perhaps was true of yours – one thing that seemed to sustain me more than anything else was food: three square meals a day, and sometimes something in between. Food is still vital – I would not understate its value – but I have found something far more vital to my happiness and success as a believer in Christ.
Now, I can truly say with the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, that the very words of God are what really sustain me. They are food to my hungry soul. And they accomplish immeasurable good in my life, and thus in the lives of thousands of people whom I am privileged to meet throughout the world.
God’s Word brings joy to my sorrowing heart. Why? Because it has an answer – the answer – to every need, every burden, every problem I will face this day, and in the days to come. Furthermore, it will provide the answers for others whom I contact.
God’s Word truly delights me, as it did Jeremiah. When I need encouragement, I turn to the Psalms. When I need practical wisdom for daily decisions, I turn to the Proverbs of Solomon. And so on with every kind of need I face.
All of this being true – God’s Word sustaining me, being food to my hungry soul, bringing joy to my sorrowing heart, and delighting me – “How proud I am to bear your name, O Lord!”
Bible Reading: Jeremiah 15:15-21
TODAY’S ACTION POINT: My spiritual food must take priority over all other considerations in my life.
Presidential Prayer Team; H.L.M.- People Planters
In biblical days, seed was sown by hand. As the farmer walked across the field, he threw handfuls of seed onto the ground from a large bag slung across his shoulders. The plants did not grow in neat rows as accomplished by today’s modern machinery. The farmer tossed the tiny seeds liberally and enough fell on fertile ground to ensure the harvest. However, that meant some scattered among the rocks and thorns or were carried off by the wind.
The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.
Mark 4:26
Like seed, God’s kingdom contains within itself the power to grow. Yet Jesus used a parable in the Bible to illustrate that the Creator of the universe chooses to use people to do the planting. That means each believer has life-changing opportunities to sow spiritual seeds of God’s Word and the Lord is faithful to do the rest.
Prayer is a powerful way to produce fertile soil in the lives of others. Thank Him for the privilege to intercede for your nation. Ask God to surround local and national leaders with believers who will lead them to His love with their words and their actions. Pray for a mighty harvest in America!
Recommended Reading: Matthew 13:10-23
Night Light for Couples – What About Bob?
by Phil Callaway
Thanksgiving weekend began the way Bob and Audrey Meisner had planned. Piling a full‐size van high with mattresses, sleeping bags, and children, they drove a thousand miles through the flatlands of Manitoba to the in‐laws in Michigan. It was a beautiful trip. Patchwork prairies sprinkled with lakes stretched toward the horizon. Bare poplar branches held up their arms in surrender to winter. The children counted columns of Canadian geese deserting their homeland and heading for Florida. Neither Bob nor Audrey knew that the beauty of the first leg of their trip would stand in sharp contrast to the journey home.
The weekend was filled with relatives, turkey, and laughter. On Sunday night the Meisners said their good‐byes and headed for home. Leaving at 11:00 P.M., they drove through the night, arriving in Minneapolis about 8:30 the next morning. Though Mom and Dad were tired, the Mall of America beckoned, and it was many hours before they watched the skylines of the Twin Cities disappear in the rearview mirror as they drove toward the setting sun.
When Audrey offered to drive, Bob clambered into the back of the van, where he disappeared behind some sleeping bags and drifted off to sleep.
An hour and a half later, Audrey pulled into a rest stop as quietly as she could, hoping the family would sleep on. As she let the engine idle, she noticed how it seemed to be missing a cylinder, which made her think of Bob’s snoring coming from the back of the van.
After using the restroom, Audrey climbed back into the van, stirred some coffee, took a long sip, and pulled back onto the freeway. Two hours passed quickly as she tapped her fingers to a country gospel station and spun the dial, sampling talk shows. When she arrived in Fargo, North Dakota, the kids began to wake up. But not Bob. Wow, he’s tired, thought Audrey. Her seven‐year‐old appeared in the rearview mirror, rubbing his eyes.
“Go back to sleep, honey,” said his mom.
Suddenly, the peacefulness of the morning was shattered. “Where’s Daddy?” one of the kids asked.
“Very funny,” said Audrey, adjusting the mirror. “He’s back there sleeping… isn’t he?”
The children began pushing pillows aside, looking for Daddy. “Nope,” said her seven‐year‐old, “he’s not back here.”
“Do you think maybe he got raptured?” another child said. “You know, Mom, like you’ve been talking about when Jesus comes to get us?”
Audrey wasn’t laughing. Panic overtook her as she looked for the next exit. Should she turn around and go back? She had no idea where the rest area was. Was it two hours ago? Three?
Calm down, Audrey, she told herself. Then she prayed, Dear Lord, help me find Bob. And please keep him safe, wherever he is.
Pulling into a truck stop, she picked up a pay phone and called the police. “Um… I… uh… left my husband in Minnesota,” she told the officer. “At… well… at a rest stop.”
There was a moment of silence. “Sorry, could you repeat that?”
After a few minutes punctuated by desperation, Audrey was able to convince the man on the other end of the line that this was no joke— that she had left her husband, but not intentionally, although he might be thinking so.
“Tell you what,” said the officer. “You hang on. I’ll get all the numbers of the rest stops in that area. You don’t go anywhere now, ya hear?”
Audrey didn’t go anywhere.
After thanking the officer for his help, she started down the list. One number after another. Each phone call was met with surprise, but no success. Almost out of hope, she dialed the last number on the list. “Do you have a guy there who—?”
“Yaw, I shore do,” said a thick Norwegian accent. Moments later, Bob was on the phone.
“Honey, I’m so sorry,” said Audrey. “I didn’t mean to—” Audrey started to cry. And Bob started to laugh.
Two hours earlier he had climbed out of the van to use the restroom. But when he came back, the van was gone.
“Ha,” Bob had said. “Very funny.”
He had walked around the service area three times, expecting to find his family grinning around the next corner. But they were nowhere to be found.
“She wouldn’t leave me like this,” said Bob. “Would she?”
To pass the time, Bob washed people’s windshields and prayed that God would speak loudly to his wife, making his absence apparent. He even climbed in with a trucker who needed some spiritual encouragement. “You know,” the trucker told Bob, “this time with you was a divine appointment. I really needed this.”
“Dear God,” prayed Bob, “please, no more divine appointments tonight.”
Early the next morning, Bob watched the headlights of a familiar van pull into the rest stop. He stopped cleaning windshields and breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was a return trip for Audrey. But this time she honked the horn loudly, not caring whom she woke up.
“It’s the first time I ever left him,” she says, laughing now. “Believe me, it will be the last.”
“At first I wondered if the rapture had taken place,” Bob says. “Then it seemed like something out of a horror movie. But I thought, Well, make the most of it.”
Audrey learned a few things, too. “That night I realized the importance of casting all my cares on God. They are His, and He is completely trustworthy…. And I learned that it’s always a good idea to count bodies before you pull out onto the freeway.”
Looking ahead…
It happens to all of us. Just when life seems to be humming along smoothly, something as simple as a trip to the restroom turns into one little surprise after another.
There’s probably no way to avoid such unwanted twists of fate—but we can control our reaction to them. I’ve found that adversity in married life is easier to handle when I choose to face it with a smile instead of a frown. So the next time your spouse leaves you stranded by mistake, remember Bob Meisner. You can stew for hours sitting on the curb—or get up and wash a few windshields.
– James C Dobson
From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
Encouragement for Today – Why Did This Happen, God?
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV)
Has God ever hurt your feelings? I’ll be honest, sometimes I’ll read those verses from Philippians listed above and think to myself: This is a tough pill to swallow.
Content in any and every situation?
Really?
A few years ago my middle daughter was a state champion gymnast. To see her do gymnastics was like looking at God smile. She was beautiful, graceful and captivating to watch.
Then one night while practicing for one of the largest tournaments she’d ever competed in, she fell. It was a move she’d done hundreds of times with the greatest of ease. But this time something went terribly wrong and that one mistake destroyed her gymnastic dreams.
We spent a year going from doctor to doctor only to be told she’d never be able to support the weight of her body on her injured shoulder again.
I’ll be honest … this was a tough pill to swallow. Watching a 14-year-old girl wrestle with the fact that her dreams were stripped from her doesn’t exactly lend itself to feelings of contentment. Now, I know in the grand scheme of life, people face much worse situations. But in her world, this was huge.
It was so tempting to want to wallow in the “why” questions and tell God He’d hurt our feelings.
Why did this happen?
Why didn’t You stop this, God?
Why weren’t my prayers answered?
Have you ever been there? Have you ever had a big situation in your life where you just couldn’t process why God would allow this to happen? Or maybe even a small annoyance like losing your keys or having a flat tire on a morning you really needed to be somewhere.
It’s so tempting to wallow in the “why.”
Asking why is perfectly normal. Asking why isn’t unspiritual. However, if asking this question pushes us farther from God rather than drawing us closer to Him, it is the wrong question.
If asking the why question doesn’t offer hope, what will?
The what question.
In other words: “Now that this is my reality, what am I supposed to do with it?”
Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things” (NIV).
I like to call this verse, “Directions on Where to Park My Mind.”
And that’s exactly what Ashley had to do with her dashed gymnastics dreams. Instead of wallowing in why did this happen, I’ve had to help her say:
This is my reality, now what am I going to do with it?
What can I learn from this?
What part of this is for my protection?
What other opportunities could God be providing?
What maturity could God be building into me?
Switching from the why to the what questions paves the road to parking our minds in a much better place.
Is it always easy? No.
But is it a way to find a perspective beyond situations where we feel God has allowed something in our lives we don’t understand and we absolutely don’t like?
Yes it is, and I pray this helps you today.
Dear Lord, I want to process everything I face in life through the filter of Your love. I know You love me. But sometimes it’s just hard to understand the circumstances that come my way. I find myself consumed with trying to figure things out rather than looking for Your perspective and trusting You. Thank You for this new way to look at things. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Isaiah 55:8-9, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’” (NIV)
RELATED RESOURCES:
Give the gift of encouragement by writing a special note to a friend who may be going through a hard season right now. This “Live a Life of Love” gift set is so much more than a greeting card. It can be framed and treasured for years to come.
REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Spend some time today talking to God about the things that hurt you.
Pray and ask Him to help you turn your why questions into what questions.
LYSA TERKEURST
DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION 