THE POWER OF EMPATHY
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Posted:Nov 29, 2017 5:22 am
Last Updated:May 19, 2024 9:46 pm 18716 Views
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Read: Hebrews 2:14–18; 13:1–3
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 35–36; 2 Peter 1
Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison.
Hebrews 13:3
Put on the R70i Age Suit and you immediately feel forty years older as you experience impaired vision, hearing loss, and reduced mobility. The Age Suit was designed to help caregivers better understand their patients. Wall Street Journal correspondent Geoffrey Fowler wore one and wrote, “The unforgettable, and at times distressing, experience shed light not just on aging, but also how virtual reality equipment can teach empathy and shape our perceptions of the world around us.”
Empathy is the power to understand and share the feelings of another. During a time of severe persecution against the followers of Jesus, the writer of Hebrews urged fellow believers to “continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” (13:3).
Jesus calls us to stand with others as if we were in their place.
This is exactly what our Savior has done for us. Jesus was made like us, “fully human in every way . . . that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (2:17–18.
Christ the Lord, who became like us, calls us to stand with others “as if [we] were together with them” during their time of need.
Lord Jesus, we marvel at Your willingness to share our flesh and blood in order to purchase our salvation. Give us grace to stand with others who are in need today.
Jesus calls us to stand with others as if we were in their place.
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OUR POWERFUL GOD
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Posted:Nov 28, 2017 5:02 am
Last Updated:May 19, 2024 9:46 pm 18507 Views
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Read: Amos 4:12–13
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 33–34; 1 Peter 5
[He] who creates the wind, . . . the Lord God Almighty is his name. Amos 4:13
One day by the seaside, I delighted in watching some kite surfers as they bounced along the water, moved by the force of the wind. When one came to shore, I asked him if the experience was as difficult as it looked. “No,” he said, “It’s actually easier than regular surfing because you harness the power of the wind.”
Afterward as I walked by the sea, thinking about the wind’s ability not only to propel the surfers but also to whip my hair into my face, I paused to wonder at our God the Creator. As we see in the Old Testament book of Amos, He who “forms the mountains” and “creates the wind” can turn “dawn to darkness” (v. 13).
God through His love created the world. Praise Him!
Through this prophet, the Lord reminded His people of His power as He called them back to Himself. Because they had not obeyed Him, He said He would reveal Himself to them (v. 13). Although we see His judgment here, we know from elsewhere in the Bible of His sacrificial love in sending His to save us
(see John 3:16).
The power of the wind on this breezy day in the South of England reminded me of the sheer immensity of the Lord. If you feel the wind today, why not stop and ponder our all-powerful God?
Father, thank You for Your power and love. Help us to daily rely on You.
God through His love created the world. Praise Him!
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KNOWING BETTER
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Posted:Nov 27, 2017 5:52 am
Last Updated:Nov 29, 2017 5:22 am 18584 Views
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Read: 2 Kings 22:1–4, 8–13
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 30–32; 1 Peter 4
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.
2 Kings 22:11
When we brought our adoptive home from overseas, I was eager to shower him with love and provide what he had lacked over the preceding months, especially quality food, since he had a nutritional deficit. But despite our best efforts, including consulting specialists, he grew very little. After nearly three years, we learned he had some severe food intolerances. After removing those items from his diet, he grew five inches in just a few months. While I grieved at how long I’d unwittingly fed him foods that impaired his growth, I rejoiced at this surge in his health!
I suspect Josiah felt similarly when the Book of the Law was discovered after having been lost in the temple for years. Just as I grieved having unintentionally hindered my ’s growth, Josiah grieved having ignorantly missed God’s fullest and best intentions for His people (2 Kings 22:11). Although he is commended for doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord (v. 2), he learned better how to honor God after finding the Law. With his newfound knowledge, he led the people to worship again as God had instructed them (23:22–23).
God gives us a new start.
As we learn through the Bible how to honor Him, we may grieve the ways we’ve fallen short of God’s will for us. Yet we can be comforted that He heals and restores us, and leads us gently into deeper understanding.
Thank You, God, for showing me how to live in a way that pleases You. I’m sorry for the ways I’ve not done that in the past. Help me to honor and obey You now.
God gives us a new start.
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THE HEART´S TRUE HOME
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Posted:Nov 24, 2017 5:44 am
Last Updated:May 19, 2024 9:46 pm 18418 Views
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Read: Ecclesiastes 3:10–11
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 22–23; 1 Peter 1
[God] has . . . set eternity in the human heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11
We had a West Highland Terrier for a number of years. “Westies” are tough little dogs, bred to tunnel into badger holes and engage the “enemy” in its lair. Our Westie was many generations removed from her origins, but she still retained that instinct, put into her through years of breeding. On one occasion she became obsessed by some “critter” under a rock in our backyard. Nothing could dissuade her. She dug and dug until she tunneled several feet under the rock.
Now consider this question: Why do we as humans pursue, pursue, pursue? Why must we climb unclimbed mountains, ski near-vertical slopes? Run the most difficult and dangerous rapids, challenge the forces of nature? Part of it is a desire for adventure and enjoyment, but it’s much more. It’s an instinct for God that has been implanted in us. We cannot not want to find God.
Beneath all our longings is a deep desire for God.
We don’t know that, of course. We only know that we long for something. “You don’t know what it is you want,” Mark Twain said, “but you want it so much you could almost die.”
God is our heart’s true home. As church father Augustine said in that most famous quotation: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
And what is the heart? A deep void within us that only God can fill.
Help me, Lord, to recognize my deep longing for You. Then fill me with the knowledge of You. Draw me near.
Beneath all our longings is a deep desire for God.
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HARVEST AND THANKSGIVING
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Posted:Nov 23, 2017 7:57 am
Last Updated:May 19, 2024 9:46 pm 18453 Views
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Read: Genesis 8:15–9:3
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 20–21; James 5
Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Exodus 23:16
Several thousand years ago, God spoke directly to Moses and instituted a new festival for His people. In Exodus 23:16, according to Moses’s record, God said, “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.”
Today countries around the world do something similar by celebrating the land’s bounty. In Ghana, the people celebrate the Yam Festival as a harvest event. In Brazil, Dia de Acao de Gracas is a time to be grateful for the crops that yielded their food. In China, there is the Mid-Autumn (Moon) Festival. In the United States and Canada: Thanksgiving.
Gratitude is the memory of a glad heart.
To understand the fitting goal of a harvest celebration, we visit Noah right after the flood. God reminded Noah and his family—and us—of His provision for our flourishing existence on the earth. Earth would have seasons, daylight and darkness and “seedtime and harvest” (Gen. 8:22). Our gratitude for the harvest, which sustains us, goes to God alone.
No matter where you live or how you celebrate your land’s bounty, take time today to express gratitude to God—for we would have no harvest to celebrate without His grand creative design.
Dear Creator God, thank You so much for the wondrous way You fashioned this world—with seasons, with harvest-time, with everything we need to exist. Please accept our gratitude.
Gratitude is the memory of a glad heart
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MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE!!
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Posted:Nov 22, 2017 5:27 am
Last Updated:Nov 23, 2017 7:59 am 18508 Views
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Read: Psalm 98
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 18–19; James 4
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.
Psalm 98:4
Back when I was searching for a church to attend regularly, a friend invited me to a service at her church. The worship leaders led the congregation in a song I particularly loved. So I sang with gusto, remembering my college choir director’s advice to “Project!”
After the song, my friend’s husband turned to me and said, “You really sang loud.” This remark was not intended as a compliment! After that, I self-consciously monitored my singing, making sure I sang softer than those around me and always wondering if the people around me judged my singing.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.
Psalm 98:4
But one Sunday, I noticed the singing of a woman in the pew beside me. She seemed to sing with adoration, without a trace of self-consciousness. Her worship reminded me of the enthusiastic, spontaneous worship that David demonstrated in his life. In Psalm 98, in fact, David suggests that “all the earth” should “burst into jubilant song” in worship (v. 4).
Verse one of Psalm 98 tells us why we should worship joyfully, reminding us that “[God] has done marvelous things.” Throughout the psalm, David recounts these marvelous things: God’s faithfulness and justice to all nations, His mercy, and salvation. Dwelling on who God is and what He’s done can fill our hearts with praise.
What “marvelous things” has God done in your life? Thanksgiving is the perfect time to recall His wondrous works and give God thanks. Lift your voice and sing!
Lord, thank You for who You are and for what You’ve done.
Worship takes the focus off us and places it where it
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HELICOPTER SEEDS
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Posted:Nov 21, 2017 2:25 am
Last Updated:Nov 22, 2017 5:28 am 18689 Views
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Read: John 12:23–33
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 16–17; James 3
Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24
When our were young, they loved trying to catch the “helicopter seeds” that fell from our neighbor’s silver maple trees. Each seed resembles a wing. In late spring they twirl to the ground like a helicopter’s rotor blades. The seeds’ purpose is not to fly, but to fall to earth and grow into trees.
Before Jesus was crucified, He told His followers, “The hour has come for the of Man to be glorified. . . . nless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:23–24).
Lord Jesus, we are amazed by Your love. Give us grace to serve You today as we long to do.
While Jesus’s disciples wanted Him to be honored as the Messiah, He came to give His life so we could be forgiven and transformed through faith in Him. As Jesus’s followers, we hear His words, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me” (vv. 25–26).
Helicopter seeds can point us to the miracle of Jesus, the Savior, who died that we might live for Him.
Lord Jesus, we are amazed by Your love. Give us grace to serve You today as we long to do.
Jesus calls us to give our lives in serving Him.
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TAKE A NUMBER
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Posted:Nov 20, 2017 5:05 am
Last Updated:Nov 21, 2017 2:25 am 18815 Views
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Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 14–15; James 2
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. John 14:27
We have an ancient cherry tree in our backyard that had seen better days and looked like it was dying, so I called in an arborist. He checked it out and declared that it was “unduly stressed” and needed immediate attention. “Take a number,” my wife, Carolyn, muttered to the tree as she walked away. It had been one of those weeks.
Indeed, we all have anxious weeks—filled with worries over the direction our culture is drifting or concerns for our , our marriages, our businesses, our finances, our personal health and well-being. Nevertheless, Jesus has assured us that despite disturbing circumstances we can be at peace. He said, “My peace I give to you” (John 14:27).
In the midst of troubles, peace can be found in Jesus.
Jesus’s days were filled with distress and disorder: He was beleaguered by His enemies and misunderstood by His family and friends. He often had no place to lay His head. Yet there was no trace of anxiety or fretfulness in His manner. He possessed an inner calm, a quiet tranquility. This is the peace He has given us—freedom from anxiety concerning the past, present, and future. The peace He exhibited; His peace.
In any circumstances, no matter how dire or trivial, we can turn to Jesus in prayer. There in His presence we can make our worries and fears known to Him. Then, Paul assures us, the peace of God will come to “guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4.7. Even if we’ve had “one of those weeks,” we can have His peace.
Dear Lord, thank You that I can come to You with every care and Your peace will guard my mind.
In the midst of troubles, peace can be found in Jesus.
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SERVE AND BE SERVED
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Posted:Nov 17, 2017 3:41 am
Last Updated:Nov 21, 2017 2:30 am 19559 Views
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Read: Philippians 4:10–19
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 5–7; Hebrews 12
You were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. Philippians 4:10
Marilyn had been ill for many weeks, and many people had encouraged her through this difficult time. How will I ever repay all their kindnesses? she worried. Then one day she read the words of a written prayer: “Pray that [others] will develop humility, allowing them not only to serve, but also to be served.” Marilyn suddenly realized there was no need to balance any scale, but just to be thankful and allow others to experience the joy of serving.
In Philippians 4, the apostle Paul expressed his gratitude for all those who shared “in [his] troubles” (v. 14). He depended on people to support him as he preached and taught the gospel. He understood that the gifts provided for him when he was in need were simply an extension of people’s love for God: “[Your gifts] are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God” (v. 18.
Dear Lord, thank You for caring for us through Your people. May we graciously give and receive help.
It may not be easy to be the one on the receiving end—especially if you’ve usually been the first one to help other people. But with humility, we can allow God to gently care for us by a variety of means when we need help.
Paul wrote, “My God will meet all your needs” (v. 19). It was something he had learned during a life of trials. God is faithful and His provision for us has no limits.
Dear Lord, thank You for caring for us through Your people. May we graciously give and receive help.
Receive love. Give love. Repeat.
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HOW MUCH MORE!!
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Posted:Nov 15, 2017 5:22 am
Last Updated:Nov 21, 2017 2:32 am 20005 Views
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Read: Luke 11:5–13
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 1–2; Hebrews 11:1–19
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your , how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13
In October 1915, during World War I, Oswald Chambers arrived at Zeitoun Camp, a military training center near Cairo, Egypt, to serve as a YMCA chaplain to British Commonwealth soldiers. When he announced a weeknight religious service, 400 men packed the large YMCA hut to hear Chambers’s talk titled, “What Is the Good of Prayer?” Later, when he spoke individually with men who were trying to find God in the midst of war, Oswald often quoted Luke 11:13, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your , how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The free gift of God through His , Jesus, is forgiveness, hope, and His living presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit. “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (v. 10).
God’s gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives is available to each of us today.
On November 15, 1917, Oswald Chambers died unexpectedly from a ruptured appendix. To honor him, a soldier led to faith in Christ by Oswald purchased a marble carving of a Bible with the message of Luke 11:13 on its open page and placed it beside his grave: “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” This amazing gift from God is available to each of us today.
Father, You are the giver of all good gifts. We thank You for the great gift of the Holy Spirit who lives in us and guides us in Your truth today.
God’s gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives is available to each of us today.
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