“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” (Psalm 23:1-2)
One spring afternoon, a tourist named Peter was riding a bus through the countryside in Scotland. Up and down the steep green hills, woolly sheep and their little lambs grazed. Many of the lambs were playing. Peter smiled as he watched them leaping and kicking the air with their tiny hooves.
Another passenger on the bus pointed out a circle of large, weathered stones on the side of a hill. “Look, a sheepfold!” he said. A kind shepherd had built that sheepfold long ago. He wanted his lambs to have a safe place to sleep at night, a place where he could watch over them.
God’s Word tells us that He is our Shepherd. Every person who places his trust in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is one of His sheep. Our good Shepherd cares for us always. He watches over us day and night. He promises to give us everything that we really need to be happy and content. What more could a sheep want?
God is our Shepherd Who cares for us and gives us everything that we need.
My Response: » Am I discontent, or am I trusting God to take good care of me?
“He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” (Psalm 147:4)
Molly loved to visit her grandma on her farm in Missouri. Because Grandma lived so far away from all the city lights, Molly could see many more stars there than she could at her house in the city. She would lie in the grass on a summer night, just staring into the sky. It seemed like the longer she looked, the more stars there were. Millions and billions and trillions of stars.
The Scripture says that God, the Creator, knows the number of the stars. And not only that, but He also knows all of their millions and billions and trillions of names! His knowledge of His creation is infinite.
The God who created each of the stars created you, too. He knows your name, too. And He knows you – from the inside out. He knows all of your thoughts, good and bad. He knows your fears and your desires. He knows what makes you cry. He knows what you love most. He knows things about you that you don’t even know yourself! He knows all this – and He loves you.
God’s knowledge of His creation is both infinite and personal.
My Response: » Am I willing to ask God to show me things about myself that need to change?
“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)
“Pretend I’m there and behave accordingly!”
Those were the words of a note Annie received in sixth grade. Her mom had gone on a long trip and had left that note to remind her that – even though she was gone – she expected Annie to act the same way she would have if her mom were still there.
Pretending her mom was watching her made Annie act differently. Sbe did her homework. She practiced the piano. She obeyed her teacher. She cleaned her room. She knew if Mom found out that she did wrong, she was in big trouble.
Did you know that God is always watching? He doesn’t go on vacation, and He never sleeps. He is in the United States of America, and He is in Africa, and He is in church, and He is in your bedroom – all at the same time. God is omnipresent – everywhere at one time. His eyes are everywhere, seeing the good and seeing the bad.
David, one of the many men God used to write down His words, said in Psalm 139: 7, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” In other words – is there any place where we can hide from God? David’s answer: no.
A child of God cannot hide from Him. God is watching us when we are scared. He protects us when we are in trouble. He holds our hand when we need help. He hears us when we cry. He is happy when we rejoice. He also knows when we sin, and He loves us too much to let us get away with it.
Know that God is there – and behave accordingly!
God is everywhere, seeing everything.
My Response: » Will I behave differently today if I remember that God is always watching?
“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)
“Pretend I’m there and behave accordingly!”
Those were the words of a note Annie received in sixth grade. Her mom had gone on a long trip and had left that note to remind her that – even though she was gone – she expected Annie to act the same way she would have if her mom were still there.
Pretending her mom was watching her made Annie act differently. Sbe did her homework. She practiced the piano. She obeyed her teacher. She cleaned her room. She knew if Mom found out that she did wrong, she was in big trouble.
Did you know that God is always watching? He doesn’t go on vacation, and He never sleeps. He is in the United States of America, and He is in Africa, and He is in church, and He is in your bedroom – all at the same time. God is omnipresent – everywhere at one time. His eyes are everywhere, seeing the good and seeing the bad.
David, one of the many men God used to write down His words, said in Psalm 139: 7, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” In other words – is there any place where we can hide from God? David’s answer: no.
A child of God cannot hide from Him. God is watching us when we are scared. He protects us when we are in trouble. He holds our hand when we need help. He hears us when we cry. He is happy when we rejoice. He also knows when we sin, and He loves us too much to let us get away with it.
Know that God is there – and behave accordingly!
God is everywhere, seeing everything.
My Response: » Will I behave differently today if I remember that God is always watching?
“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.” (Psalm 68:19)
In Amy’s family, when someone is grumpy or complaining, another family member will suggest playing “the thankfulness game.” When playing this simple game, each family member takes turns naming one thing he or she is thankful for. Amy’s family always starts with the big things: “I’m thankful for my salvation,” for example, or “I’m thankful to have parents.” The only rule of the game is that everyone has to say something new; no one is allowed to name something someone else has already said.
After Amy and her family think they’ve run out of new ideas, they start thinking of silly things. They say things like this: “I’m thankful I don’t have fleas,” or “I’m thankful for toothpaste.” By the end of the game, not only is Amy’s family laughing, but everyone is thinking about the enormous number of ways God has loaded them with blessings – from the smallest things in life (things they take for granted), to the greatest blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ. God is a generous God. He doesn’t give His children just a few pleasures in life. He loads them with benefits every day.
So when you’re feeling grumpy or full of complaints, take out a piece of paper and start writing a list of one hundred things you’re thankful for. It won’t be long before you realize that God has loaded you with benefits.
God loads His children with benefits.
My Response: » Do I have a complaining spirit or do I realize that God has loaded me with benefits?
“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense” (Psalm 141:2a).
Are there certain smells that you like? Some people love to smell pine trees or old books. Others like to smell cookies baking or different kinds of flowers – roses, lilacs, hyacinths, gardenias. People like pleasant smells, smells that remind them of loved ones or favorite places.
Prayer can be like a sweet, pleasant smell to God. The Bible compares prayer to incense, a very pleasing fragrance. Did you know that your prayer is like the act of offering up a sweet perfume to God? God loves for you to pray. He wants you to bring all of your concerns to Him – big and small. When you pray, you are showing God that you trust Him and need Him to help you. You are showing Him that you love Him enough to spend time talking to Him.
God’s children bring glory to Him when they express their love and trust in Him. And they can express that love and trust through praying. Praying is like giving God a breath of a wonderful, sweet scent that He loves.
God loves for His children to pray, because when they pray they show Him that they love and trust Him.
My Response: » Do I take some time each day to pray to God?
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom,…yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
A young missionary in China named Hudson Taylor was writing a letter home to his sister Amelia. What happy news could he share? Many of the Chinese people were dying from famine. He had very little money. The other missionaries did not like the way he dressed as the Chinese did. And the girl he loved and wanted to marry had just told him that she would not marry him. Hudson had every reason to be sad. His eyes moved to the Bible beside him on his desk. What had he read that very day about God’s love? He picked up his pen and wrote, “The love of God never changes. Can we ever love Jesus as much as He loves us?”
What would it take to make you happy? Another new toy? A room all to yourself? An “A” on your math paper? Having a certain person for your best friend? Only knowing God and His love for you can make you happy deep down in your heart. Only He can give you happiness that lasts, even when things go wrong.
Knowing God is the only thing that will make you truly happy.
My Response: » Am I getting to know God through His Word? » Do I find my happiness in God?
“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” (Psalm 56:3)
Like many people, Maggie was afraid of the dark. She was afraid of the scary things she couldn’t see in the dark. Maggie shared a bedroom with her sister Kathi, and she made Kathi promise not to go to sleep until after she had fallen asleep so that Kathi could protect her from all of the “scary things” in the room.
For the times that Maggie’s fears were very strong, her mother told her to quote Bible verses and pray. Maggie’s mom said that the Lord promised in His Word that He would calm all of Maggie’s fears. Psalms 56:3 says, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Maggie’s mom explained that God did not want her to be afraid; instead He wanted her to trust Him with all her fears. Maggie followed her mom’s advice and began to see how the Lord was more powerful than anything real or imagined. As she quoted verses, she was reminded of God’s control over everything. As a result, she started being less and less afraid of the dark.
The Lord promises us in His Word that He will comfort us when we are afraid. Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed for I am thy God.” Whether it is something small, like being afraid of the dark, or something large, the Lord asks us to trust Him to comfort us in the midst of our fears.
God’s Word is able to comfort His children when they are afraid.
My Response: » Do I ask for God’s comfort when I am afraid? Do I trust Him to be with me even during painful or scary times?
“He is the Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
Have you ever broken something like your mom’s good china or a special glass? Glass is fragile; it is easily broken. It’s the same way with trust. Trust in a friend can easily be broken. One of the quickest ways to lose a person’s trust is by lying. If a person lies to you, you never know when to believe him.
Lies are told in several different ways: telling a half-truth, sharing a story in a way that makes you look better than what actually happened, being one way with one person and another way with somebody else, or allowing a lie or rumor to continue when you know that it is not true. No matter what form it takes, a lie is a sin.
If God lied only once, we would never be able to trust Him or His Word. But God cannot lie. He does not have the ability to lie. We can trust God completely because He is a God of truth – everything He says is true; His words are reliable. What a comfort to know that all of God’s promises in His Word are true. If you are a child of God, one way to be like your Father is to be truthful.
You can trust God because He is a God of truth.
My Response: » Do I trust God’s Word? » Do I consistently speak the truth?
“And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.” (Luke 1:76-78)
Before opening gifts at Christmastime, many families have the tradition of reading the Christmas story as it is told in Matthew 1 or in Luke 2. But the first chapter of Luke is a very interesting introduction to Luke’s second chapter. In Luke 1, God records the story of how Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, was born. John was to come before Jesus (John was born six months before Jesus), and his purpose in life was to foretell (tell everyone ahead of time) that salvation was coming and that remission (forgiveness) of sins was coming – in the form of Jesus Christ Himself.
Zacharias, John’s father, was a priest. He knew very well that the sacrifical system that the Jews followed back then was supposed to be a picture of their faith in a coming Christ, a Messiah Who would come to bring them redemption, once and for all. John’s birth was a miracle, because both of his parents were very old – too old, humanly speaking, to have children. But Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit when John was born, and he prophesied what God had to say about John: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.” (Luke 1:76-78)
As John grew older, he began to preach the message he was born to preach. He told the people that God was sending His Messiah (the Christ, the Anointed One) to save repentant sinners. God used John to give the gift of the knowledge of salvation. He sent John ahead of Jesus to prepare the way for Jesus – to prepare the way of salvation.
People who listened to John and followed his teachings identified themselves with him by being baptized. Their baptism represented their belief that they needed to repent of their sins in preparation for the coming Christ, Who was going to bear those sins away (get rid of those sins) by His own righteousness. When Jesus came along and began His public ministry, the very first thing He did was to come to His cousin John and be baptized. Why did Jesus, Who lived a sinless life, want to be baptized with a baptism that showed His agreement that repentance of sins was necessary? Well, Jesus was going to take the sins of repentant sinners upon Himself. And He wanted His righteousness put on those sinners’ accounts. So He identified Himself with sinners by being baptized and agreeing publicly with John.
The people who listened to and followed John the Baptist still could not see the full picture of Who Christ was and why He came – but God used John to point the way. Here was the son of a priest who had been helping to sacrifice lambs in the temple for years. Here was John, preaching in the wilderness and pointing at Jesus Christ and saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world…. Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29b and 36)
When Zacharias prophesied over his newborn son, he spoke of God’s tender mercy as the reason why God had sent the knowledge of salvation and remission of sins. God’s whole plan of redemption is an amazing gift, and He mercifully sent messengers and prepared the way for Christ’s arrival. Because of John’s message, we can know better how to respond to Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sins.
In tender mercy, God sent John to prepare the way for Christ and publish the message of what Christ would do for His people.
My Response: » Have I ever thought much about John the Baptist being a part of God’s plan for salvation? » Have I repented of my sins and trusted in Christ as the One Who can bear them away? » Am I truly grateful to God for His merciful provision for the remission of sins?
“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” (2 Peter 1:3)
Do you think your mom has the ability to feed you every day at dinner? Does she ever tell you, “I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t get up the strength to feed you today”?
Does your mom ever send you to school without any clothes on because she just doesn’t want to buy you clothes? Of course not. Your mom wants you to get everything you need to live.
Your mom might be able to give you everything you need for living life in the earthly sense (clothes to wear, medicine when you need it, a warm house, good home-cooked food). But God gives you everything you need for living life both in this world and in heaven. God is more powerful than anything or anyone – He made the universe, after all! He gives you everything you need to make it through this life – including your mom! He is the ultimate Provider of food, clothes, home, family, and so much more.
But God doesn’t stop at giving you things you need to live your physical life. He gives you things you need for your spiritual life too – strength, faithfulness, love, and grace – every day. How does God give you these wonderful gifts? By the knowledge of His Son, Jesus. Jesus knows what people need. He lived on Earth, too. But God’s gifts to you come when you know Who Jesus is and what He has done. It’s not just knowing about Jesus. It’s knowing Jesus.
Think of it this way: You know that people live down the street from you; that’s a clear fact. You probably don’t know every single person on your street. But you do know your mom. She’s the one that gives you all those good things. You know who she is and what she does. That’s the way you should know Jesus – as Someone Who can provide for you and Someone Who loves you with a love that never ends. God will provide everything you need to get through life, both physically and spiritually, as you come to know His Son more and more.
God provides physical and spiritual needs through Jesus.
My Response: » How does my mom provide for my needs? » How does God provide for my needs? » Am I taking time to thank God for providing my needs? » Am I taking time to learn more about Jesus today?
“There hath not failed one word of all his good promise.” (1 Kings 8:56b)
Kayla was sitting in the living room staring out the window when her grandfather came in.
“Why such a long face?” he asked. “It’s a beautiful day outside!”
Kayla frowned. “Yesterday, Dad promised to take me to the zoo today – but this morning he said he had to go to work instead. He broke his promise to me!”
Kayla’s grandfather took a Bible off of the coffee table and sat down on the couch next to her. “I’m sorry you’re disappointed. Your dad didn’t mean to fail you, but he had to go to work. We all get let down by other human beings. But there is One Who will never break a promise.”
Kayla sat up and listened closely. She couldn’t think of anyone who had never broken a promise! Her grandfather opened the Bible to 1 Kings 8. Then he told her about the temple that King Solomon built. When the temple was finished, Solomon prayed to God and thanked Him for keeping the promises He had made to His children.
“It was Solomon’s testimony,” Kayla’s grandfather told her. “He was talking about God when he said, ‘There hath not failed one word of all his good promise.'”
“What kinds of promises did God keep?” Kayla asked.
Her grandfather told her about God’s promise to Abraham – the promise that, even though he was an old man, he would have a son. And that through his son, Abraham’s family would grow to a number more than the number of stars in the sky. He also told her God’s promise to Moses that He would deliver Israel from Egypt and give them the promised land.
“The Bible is full of many more promises just as incredible!” her grandfather said. As he read the Bible to her, Kayla felt more and more amazed that all those promises could have come true.
“But what about you, Grandpa? Are you sure God kept all those promises? Are you sure He will keep promises to you?”
Her grandfather smiled and nodded. “My favorite of all the promises is the promise of eternal life for those who trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.” He turned in his Bible to the book of Hebrews, and pointed to chapter 10, verse 23 – “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).” Kayla’s grandfather leaned over and gave her a big hug. “We never have to doubt God’s promises. We can trust Him that He will never let us down.”
God will keep all of His promises.
My Response: » When I read promises in the Bible do I believe God will keep them? » Is there a promise I am afraid that God won’t keep?
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Who is the light of the world? In the Bible, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). But Jesus also tells His disciples, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).
How can both Jesus and His followers be the light of the world?
Think of a mirror. Have you ever held up a mirror and seen sunlight reflecting off of it? It seems as though a beam of light is coming straight out of the mirror. But the light does not really come from the mirror! It comes directly from the sun, and indirectly from the mirror. Sunlight merely bounces off of a mirror. On its own, the mirror would not be able to generate light, would it? The sun itself is the source of the light.
It is similar with Christians. Jesus is the ultimate Source of their “light.” On their own, Jesus’ followers could never produce that kind of light; but, as Christians become more like Jesus Christ, they shine their light by reflecting (showing) what Jesus is like. It is not a Christian’s goodness that shines, but the goodness of Jesus. The “light” comes directly from the Son, and only indirectly from the Son’s reflection in His people.
When others see the good things Christians do – like being kind, loving, or patient – they should think of Jesus and praise God the Father. God should always get the glory for the good things we do, because all we do because of Christ reflects back to God and His glorious plans.
The goodness of Jesus should shine through Christians.
My Response: » Do I “shine my light” by doing good things that show others what Jesus is like? » Do I point to God and give Him glory by the good things I do?
“The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty.” (Numbers 14:18a)
This verse (Numbers 14:18) shows in one place how God can be so forgiving and yet still so holy. He will not let sin go by without dealing with it (“will by no means clear the guilty”), but He will deal forgiveness out to those guilty people who come to Him asking (“longsuffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression”).
Have you ever met an “unforgiving” person? When someone refuses to forgive something, we say that person is “holding a grudge.” God does not hold grudges. If you confess your sins, 1 John 1:9 promises that God is faithful and just to forgive them and to cleanse you from all your unrighteousness. If you are repenting of the things you have done against Him, God will not hold them against you. Instead, those things are covered by the righteousness of Christ.
How about you? Are you longsuffering and patient with other people? Do you “put up with” them, or do you choose to “hold a grudge” over them? Do you show mercy to your sister or brother? Do you forgive your friends when they do something wrong against you? Are you the kind of person who loves holiness but also loves to be merciful? It is hard for human beings to be like that!
Only God can be perfectly longsuffering. Only God can show mercy that great. Only God is powerful enough to forgive people who sin against Him. We can pray that God will help us have the strength and patience we need to forgive others. We can pray that God will help us be humble enough to ask Him to forgive our iniquity and clear us of our guilt.
God is merciful and powerful enough to make repentant sinners “not guilty.”
My Response: » Am I humble enough to confess my sins to God and ask for His forgiveness? » Can God forgive me and still be holy? How?
“Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” (Jeremiah 1:4-7)
Lucas and Aunt Jo were riding in the back seat of a taxi cab. This was Lucas’s first time ever to visit New York City, and he was really excited. This morning, Aunt Jo had taken him to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. In a book at a museum there, they had looked up the name of Lucas’s great-great-grandfather, who had come to America from Germany in 1906.
Lucas wondered if his great-great-grandfather had been able to speak English when he first moved to America. He wondered how long it had taken him to learn it. Lucas loved learning languages. He had been studying Spanish through a video class at home two days a week, and he was already able to say a few sentences.
The taxi-cab driver looked back at Lucas in the rearview mirror. From his brown eyes and dark complexion, Lucas wondered whether the taxi-cab driver was Latino, and if maybe he spoke Spanish. Maybe this man was an immigrant, too, like the ones Lucas had learned about at Ellis Island. Maybe this man would one day have great-great-grandchildren coming to visit New York City for the first time. In his mind, Lucas tried to come up with the right Spanish words he could say to ask the taxi-cab driver some questions, but he just couldn’t think of what to say or how to say it. Besides, he was not even sure whether the man would know Spanish!
Those of us who are trying to learn more and more about the world God put us in can find it overwhelming! There are so many people on the globe, and they are all kinds of people. They speak different languages. They have different hobbies and interests. They look very different from one another. They have different kinds of relationships with one another. They live in many different types of places. There is no way any human being alive today could know or talk to everybody on the planet today – not even with the help of modern technology.
But God can know. He created people. He invented their languages. He is able to understand all their cultural differences, and he knows the dreams and needs of each and every person alive. Not only that, but He knows the dreams and needs of every person who has already lived and died, and of every person who will ever live and die in the future! Do you think this is incredible? It would be unbelievable, if we were talking about just a human being. But this passage in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-7) teaches us that our Creator knows us more closely than any other person.
Lucas might wish he could talk to people who have already died and asked them questions – people like his own great-great-grandfather! Or Lucas might wish he knew even enough Spanish to be able to ask the taxi-cab driver where he had come from. Maybe Lucas would have liked to see all of New York City, to really learn it and know it “inside and out.” But Lucas could do none of those things. Why? Because he is only human. We can be thankful to know a God Who is great and good enough to understand everything about everyone.
Because He is God, God knows us and everything around us better than anyone.
My Response: » Do I get overwhelmed sometimes just thinking of all there must be that I do NOT know? » Who can I trust to know everything and everyone more closely than anyone else? » How can I show that I believe God is as great and good as He says He is in His Word?
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)
It was Billy’s turn to read his verse during morning devotions. The Phillips family was reading in the book of Matthew, chapter 5. Billy read verse 3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Dad,” he asked, “What does ‘blessed’ mean?”
“It means ‘happy’.”
Happy are the poor in spirit? That didn’t make much sense to Billy. “What would a poor person have to be happy about?” he asked.
His father answered thoughtfully. “The verse doesn’t just say a poor person is happy. It says those who are poor in spirit are happy because they will live in the kingdom of heaven.”
“Oh. But what does it mean for a person to be poor in spirit, then?”
“It means a person is not proud,” answered Billy’s dad. “There is an old saying about proud people that goes something like this, ‘He’s full of his wee self.’ A proud person is ‘filled up’ with himself. He doesn’t have room for others, especially not room for the Lord. All he thinks about is himself. All he cares about is himself.
Then Billy’s mother chimed in: “You know what it means to be poor, don’t you, Billy?”
“Sure I do, Mom. I think it would be hard to be both poor and happy at once. Being poor means you don’t have much of anything.”
“That’s right. In this case, unlike the case of the prideful person, a person who is poor in spirit doesn’t have much of himself. Instead, he has room in his life for the Lord and others. If we realize we are nothing great in ourselves and that we need Je-sus to forgive our sins and help us do what is right and make the right decisions in life, then we are people who are poor in spirit. The proud person doesn’t think that way. He thinks he is good enough by himself and doesn’t need God or anyone else. He has all he wants as long as he has his pride.”
Billy nodded his head slowly. “So…the person who doesn’t think he is good enough by himself is the one who will come to Jesus and get saved from his sins, and then he will know he is going to heaven. And that’s why he’s happy?” “Right,” said Dad. “On the other hand, a proud-hearted person doesn’t want to admit he needs the Lord. But the Lord is the only Way to go to heaven. So a proud person doesn’t have heaven to look forward to one day. After he dies, his pride and everything that used to make him happy will die, too. But a person who is poor in spirit can be happy now and happy for-ever in heaven.”
“Wow!” exclaimed Billy. “Sometimes it really is good to be ‘poor,’ isn’t it?”
“It sure is, Billy. It sure is.”
God blesses those who know they need Him.
My Response: » Am I poor in spirit? » Do I know I need Jesus to save me and help me live my life? » Am I able to be happy now, knowing I will live in heaven forever?
“And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.” (Deuteronomy 6:24)
Eileen’s class was getting ready to put on a play, and they had been working on the scenery for several days. The play was about the Pilgrims, and yesterday the students had painted a long strip of paper bright blue to represent the ocean. They had carefully carried the paper to the gym and laid it on the floor to dry. This morning, their teacher, Mrs. Grimes, told them they were all going to walk to the gym and check to see if the paint on their “ocean” had dried. If it had, they would carry it back to the classroom and practice for the play.
“Remember,” said Mrs. Grimes, “when we get to the gym – we’re going to walk.”
Eileen could hardly contain her excitement enough to stay quietly in line as they walked down the hall. She couldn’t wait to see how the “ocean” had turned out. As soon as her feet hit the gym floor, she gave up trying to walk. It wasn’t that she had forgotten Mrs. Grimes’s rule exactly, but it would be so much fun to run, and weren’t gym floors made for running anyway?
But Eileen had forgotten one thing – she didn’t have her gym shoes on. Splat! Her feet slipped out from under her, and she fell hard. She hit her chin on the floor, and blood started running from the cut.
Mrs. Grimes hurried over to help Eileen up. “See?” she said. “This is why I told you not to run. Let’s go get your cut cleaned up.”
Mrs. Grimes had made the rule about walking on the gym floor to keep her students safe. Eileen disobeyed because she didn’t like the rule. She thought the rule was meant to keep her from having fun. But as soon as she fell, she realized that the rule was good after all.
God tells us in His Word that His law is for our good. Think about the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Did God tell us to stay away from idols to keep us from having fun? Did he command us not to lie, steal, or murder to cause trouble for us? No, just the opposite is true. Obeying brings us good. Trouble and pain come to us when we break God’s laws. Keeping God’s commandments does not save us – only Jesus can do that. But after we are saved, obeying God’s commandments is the only way to ensure our happiness (Psalm 1:1-3). God’s laws are good, and they are given for our good.
God has given us commandments to follow for our own good.
My Response: » Do I believe that God’s commandments are loving? » Do I believe that He has given His commands for my good? » Am I trying hard to obey them with God’s help?
“God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)
“Please, try not to look at all the clutter around here!”
“Sorry – I didn’t have time to clean off my desk.”
“I can’t let you come in my room right now – it’s just such a mess!”
We all have been in situations where our living place was in such a mess that it would not have been polite to invite guests in. It is hard to have to say, “I can’t let you come in right now.” It is not fun to have to admit, “I’m just not ready for company today!” – how embarrassing!
Now, imagine how it would be to live in a room or stay in a whole house that did not have any light. If we cannot keep things neat and clean in the daylight or by the lamplight, then surely we could not keep things neat and clean in the dark! The place would soon become unlivable because of the mess that would start piling up. You might try to clean your bedroom in the dark, but you would not be able to see anything or do anything without breaking or bumping into something. You would probably hurt yourself just trying to get your room cleaned up!
If we want to be able to walk around and live properly in a bedroom, we need to have light enough to see where everything is and light enough to use what is in the room properly. If we want to clean up a mess, we have to have enough light to see the mess!
Have you ever compared your life to a messy house or bedroom? Sometimes our lives get busy and we stop paying attention to the sin problems that are piling up. These sins that we let go can come between us and God. We cannot enjoy fellowship with God if we have unconfessed unrighteousness in our hearts. We let our lives get cluttered and clogged with stuff that blocks our fellowship with God. Sometimes we do not even realize how “dirty” we have let our lives become. We cannot see how messy things are in our hearts!
How can we get a clear view of the mess our sins cause? The Bible teaches us that in order to walk (live) properly and be in close fellowship with God, we have to “walk in the light, as He is in the light.” What does that mean – to “walk in the light”? The Bible teaches in 1 John and other places that God is light. Do you walk with God? Do you acknowledge Him (honor and remember His presence) in everything you do? Do you remember that your sin is before Him and against Him, and do you ask His forgiveness when you sin? If you do these things, you are walking in righteousness and light. Everything is clean and clear.
On the other hand, those who reject Christ are without light. They hate light because it reveals all their evil doings. This is how it is for every person who does not have God in his life. He lives in spiritual darkness, and his life is just a mess! He cannot see how much sin has been piled high in his heart. He cannot see what a mess his life is becoming. He does not know what great fellowship with God that he is missing.
If we waited until our hearts were “ready for company,” we would never be ready for God to “visit” us. We cannot clean up our own mess before letting God in to see it. On our own, we could never get our lives cleaned up “enough” for God to be pleased with the results. To pass His inspection and to enjoy His company, we have to “receive” Him, let the “light” shine in, and let Him do a cleansing work in our hearts first. Through Christ’s righteousness, we can have light to keep on seeing our sin for what it is. We can keep on enjoying fellowship with Him as long as we walk in His light.
God gives the light we need to “see” the mess in our lives. Only through Him can we ever be “cleaned up” enough to fellowship with Him.
My Response: » Have I received God into my heart and life? » By God’s “light,” am I able to “see” the messiness that sin causes in my life? » How can I keep on walking “in the light”?
“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalm 107:1)
Thanksgiving might be your favorite holiday. Many American children love everything to do with Thanksgiving. Maybe when you think of Thanksgiving, you think of a banquet – turkey, sweet potatoes with marshmallows and brown sugar on top, mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh-baked dinner rolls and various vegetables. Of course, there are the pies, ice cream, and other desserts. Maybe you love the tradition of getting together with family and friends. Perhaps your loved ones come from a long way away to spend the holiday with you. Many families think of Thanksgiving as a time to play games, remember the past, play out-side and just enjoy being together again. For you, Thanksgiving might bring back many memories – good memories.
More than anything else, the observation of the Thanksgiving holiday ought to remind us of the God the pilgrims came to America to worship. These people left everything they knew and moved their families thousands of miles so that they could worship God the way they believed the Bible teaches. They were treated badly in their homelands because they would not give in to the way everyone else had decided religion should be done. They wanted to teach their children according to the doctrines of the Bible. They wanted to trust and obey God and His Word over the opinions of men and women. So they risked their lives to cross the ocean and come to America. God was that important to them.
Not everything went well once they reached America, either. There were difficulties they could never have imagined. Some of the natives were hostile and fought against them. The winters were very harsh, and sickness took some of their lives. But God, in His great kindness, provided for them. He provided relationships with some kind natives who helped them. They helped the pilgrims understand how to farm and taught them how to get along in this world that was so new to them. Surely, in many other ways God provided for them. The pilgrims were thankful for all these things.
All of us have many things for which we can be thankful. But it is God Himself Who ought to cause us to feel most grateful. He is the Giver of so many of our gifts. But we ought to love and praise the Giver more than we love and praise the gifts He has given us. God chose to be good to us and provide good things for us. He did so because He Himself is good. Even when we are not as good as we should be, God is still good. And all that is good comes from God. That’s what we are told in God’s Word, the Bible that the pilgrims held in such high honor. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
This Thanksgiving – and every day! – remember all the good things God has given you and your family. And remember what the psalmist did: “give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good!”
God is worthy of our thanks because He Himself is perfectly good and gives such good gifts.
My Response: » Do I have a thankful heart every day? » What am I most grateful to God for in my life? » How can I show every day that God’s goodness and greatness are worth my praise?
“Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.” (Psalm 31:2-3)
Have you ever met someone who was “in charge”? Sure, you have! We all know someone who is in charge of something, or in charge of someone else. To be “in charge” means to be responsible to take care of something.
If your parents put you “in charge” of the new pet puppy dog in your home, that means you have to feed the puppy, give him water, wash him, teach him to obey commands, and take him outside for walks. If the puppy has a clean, shiny coat, and if he is friendly and well-behaved, then people will tell you that you are doing a great job training him and taking care of him. On the other hand, if the puppy damages something very valuable, makes a mess, or bites someone’s hand – you might find yourself in a little trouble! Anything bad that the puppy does could be blamed on you! Your hard work and special care is reflected by your puppy’s behavior and appearance. But if you neglect (forget or ignore) your responsibilities with your puppy, his behavior and appearance will show that, too!
God is in charge of us – did you realize that? If you are God’s child, He has adopted you and brought you into His household. You bear His name now. Your appearance and your behavior ought to reflect Him – they ought to show to other people the good character your Heavenly Father has and the great works that He has done. If you act like an unbeliever, someone who doesn’t know or love God, then your life cannot reflect God’s character and works very well to other people.
Did you know that God is the perfect refuge (place to hide, place to find safety and comfort), and that He will lead you along and point you in he right direction when you are not sure what to do or where to go? That’s what King David believed in the Old Testament, and he was worshipping the same Heavenly Father that we know and love. Read Psalm 31:1-5. What can you learn about God from that part of Scripture?
God takes His responsibility for us seriously. He never messes up. He never does anything accidentally, and He is never surprised. He has a reputation to uphold. Unlike us, God is right to be concerned about His own reputation (His name, or His glory). Being the only perfect God, He has every right to care about His glory. God’s character is always holy and perfect, and He will be faithful for eternity. Because He is all these things (and more!), God cares a great deal about His glory – His good name – and those who bear His name are in His charge.
If you are trusting Him, God is in charge of you. He will lead you and He will guide you. He does that not just for your sake, but for His own name’s sake. He loves to give us the wisdom and guidance we need. He loves to help us and protect us. His care for us is one way He shows publicly what a great and good God He is.
God takes care of His own people, for His glory and for their good.
My Response: » Is it easy for me to forget Whose name I bear and Who is in charge of my life? » What do I do or say that reflects upon the glory (the good name) of my Heavenly Father? » What must I change so that my thinking and behavior line up with the Bible’s true teachings about God’s goodness and greatness?
DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION 