RIVER TREE
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Posted:Feb 20, 2017 4:47 am
Last Updated:Mar 1, 2017 4:52 am 14914 Views
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Read: Jeremiah 17:5–10
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 26–27; Mark 2
They will be like a tree planted by the water. Jeremiah 17.8
This was a tree to be envied. Growing on riverfront property, it didn’t have to worry about weather reports, withering temperatures, or an uncertain future. Nourished and cooled by the river, it spent its days lifting its branches to the sun, holding the earth with its roots, cleaning the air with its leaves, and offering shade to all who needed refuge from the sun.
By contrast, the prophet Jeremiah pointed to a shrub (Jer. 17:6). When the rains stopped and the summer sun turned the ground to dust, the bush shriveled into itself, offering no shade or fruit to anyone.
God, you alone can be trusted—even when it seems like You are nowhere to be seen.
Why would the prophet compare a flourishing tree to a withering bush? He wanted his people to recall what had happened since their miraculous rescue from the slave yards of Egypt. For forty years in a wilderness, they lived like a tree planted by a river (2:4–6). Yet in the prosperity of their promised land they had forgotten their own story; they were relying on themselves and on gods of their own making
(vv. 7–8 even to the point of going back to Egypt looking for help (42:14).
So God, through Jeremiah, lovingly urged the forgetful of Israel, and He urges us, to hope and trust in the Lord and to be like the tree—not the bush.
Father, in so many ways You have taught us that You alone can be trusted—even when it seems like You are nowhere to be seen. Please help us to recall today what You have already shown us along the way.
Let’s remember in good times what we have learned in days of trouble.
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SEEING TO TOMORROW
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Posted:Feb 17, 2017 5:14 am
Last Updated:Mar 1, 2017 4:53 am 17469 Views
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Read: 2 Corinthians 5:1–9
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 21–22; Matthew 28
We live by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5.7
I enjoy gazing up at a cloudless blue sky. The sky is a beautiful part of our great Creator’s masterpiece, given for us to enjoy. Imagine how much pilots must love the view. They use several aeronautical terms to describe a perfect sky for flying, but my favorite is, “You can see to tomorrow.”
“Seeing to tomorrow” is beyond our view. Sometimes we even struggle to see or understand what life is throwing at us today. The Bible tells us, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
We live by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5.7
But our limited visibility is not cause for despair. Just the opposite. We trust in the God who sees all of our tomorrows perfectly—and who knows what we need as we face the challenges ahead. The apostle Paul knew this. That’s why Paul encourages us with hopeful words, “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5.7).
When we trust God with our day as well as our unseen tomorrows, we don’t need to worry about anything life throws at us. We walk with Him and He knows what is ahead; He is strong enough and wise enough to handle it.
Lord, I know I can trust You for today and tomorrow because You are kind, good, loving, wise, and powerful. Teach me not to worry.
God sees the beginning to the end.
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THE JUNKYARD GENIUS
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Posted:Feb 16, 2017 3:46 am
Last Updated:Mar 1, 2017 4:54 am 18191 Views
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Read: John 9:1–11
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 19–20; Matthew 27:51–66
One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see! John 9:25
Noah Purifoy began his work as an “assemblage” artist with three tons of rubble salvaged from the 1965 riots in the Watts area of Los Angeles. From broken bicycle wheels and bowling balls to discarded tires and damaged TV sets—things no longer usable—he and a colleague created sculptures that conveyed a powerful message about people being treated as “throw-aways” in modern society. One journalist referred to Mr. Purifoy as “the junkyard genius.”
In Jesus’s time, many people considered those with diseases and physical problems as sinners being punished by God. They were shunned and ignored. But when Jesus and His disciples encountered a man born blind, the Lord said his condition was not the result of sin, but an occasion to see the power of God. “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). When the blind man followed Jesus’s instructions, he was able to see.
God takes our broken lives and shapes us into His new creations.
When the religious authorities questioned the man, he replied simply, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (v. 25).
Jesus is still the greatest “junkyard genius” in our world. We are all damaged by sin, but He takes our broken lives and shapes us into His new creations.
Lord, I thank You today for Your amazing grace!
Jesus is the restorer of life.
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LITTLE LIES AND KITTENS
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Posted:Feb 15, 2017 2:56 am
Last Updated:Feb 15, 2017 2:56 am 18571 Views
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Read: Romans 5:12–21
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 17–18; Matthew 27:27–50
Just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead. Romans 5:21
Mom noticed four-year-old Elias as he scurried away from the newborn kittens. She had told him not to touch them. “Did you touch the kitties, Elias?” she asked.
“No!” he said earnestly. So Mom had another question: “Were they soft?”
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8.1
“Yes,” he volunteered, “and the black one mewed.”
With a , we smile at such duplicity. But Elias’s disobedience underscores our human condition. No one has to teach a four-year-old to lie. “For I was born a sinner,” wrote David in his classic confession, “yes, from the moment my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5 ). The apostle Paul said: “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” (Rom. 5:12 ). That depressing news applies equally to kings, four-year-olds, and you and me.
But there’s plenty of hope! “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were,” wrote Paul. “But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant” (Rom. 5:20 ).
God is not waiting for us to blow it so He can pounce on us. He is in the business of grace, forgiveness, and restoration. We need only recognize that our sin is neither cute nor excusable and come to Him in faith and repentance.
Father, be merciful to me, a sinner.
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8.1
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LOVE REVEALED
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Posted:Feb 14, 2017 3:29 am
Last Updated:Mar 1, 2017 4:54 am 19313 Views
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Read: 1 John 4:9–
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 15–16; Matthew 27:1–26
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9
When a series of pink “I love you” signs mysteriously appeared in the town of Welland, Ontario, local reporter Maryanne Firth decided to investigate. Her sleuthing turned up nothing. Weeks later, new signs appeared featuring the name of a local park along with a date and time.
Accompanied by a crowd of curious townspeople, Firth went to the park at the appointed time. There, she met a man wearing a suit who had cleverly concealed his face. Imagine her surprise when he handed her a bouquet and proposed marriage! The mystery man was Ryan St. Denis—her boyfriend. She happily accepted.
Dear God, help my life to demonstrate my love for You.
St. Denis’s expression of love toward his fiancée may seem a bit over-the-top, but God’s expression of love for us is nothing short of extravagant! “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9).
Jesus is not merely a token of love, like a rose passed from one person to another. He is the divine human who willingly gave up His life so that anyone who believes in Him for salvation can have an everlasting covenant relationship with God. Nothing can separate a Christian “from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Rom. 8.39).
Dear God, thank You for showing me, in the greatest way possible, that You love me. Help my life to demonstrate my love for You.
We know how much God loves us because He sent His to save us.
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THE DEATH OF DOUBT
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Posted:Feb 13, 2017 4:57 am
Last Updated:Feb 13, 2017 4:58 am 17151 Views
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Read: John 11:1–16
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 14; Matthew 26:51–75
Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. John 20:25
We know him as Doubting Thomas (see John 20:24–29), but the label isn’t entirely fair. After all, how many of us would have believed that our executed leader had been resurrected? We might just as well call him “Courageous Thomas.” After all, Thomas displayed impressive courage as Jesus moved purposefully into the events leading to His death.
At the death of Lazarus, Jesus had said, “Let us go back to Judea” (John 11.7, prompting a protest from the disciples. “Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” (v. 8. It was Thomas who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (v. 16).
Real doubt searches for the light; unbelief is content with the darkness.
Thomas’s intentions proved nobler than his actions. Upon Jesus’s arrest, Thomas fled with the rest (Matt. 26:56), leaving Peter and John to accompany Christ to the courtyard of the high priest. Only John followed Jesus all the way to the cross.
Despite having witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:38–44), Thomas still could not bring himself to believe that the crucified Lord had conquered death. Not until Thomas the doubter—the human—saw the risen Lord, could he exclaim, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28. Jesus’s response gave assurance to the doubter and immeasurable comfort to us: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”
(v. 29).
Father, teach us to act on what we do know about You and Your goodness, and trust You in faith for what we don’t know.
Real doubt searches for the light; unbelief is content with the darkness.
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LEANING ON JESUS
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Posted:Feb 10, 2017 4:04 am
Last Updated:Feb 10, 2017 4:05 am 17107 Views
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Read: John 13:12–26
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 8–10; Matthew 25:31–46
One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. John 13:23
Sometimes when I put my head on my pillow at night and pray, I imagine I’m leaning on Jesus. Whenever I do this, I remember something the Word of God tells us about the apostle John. John himself writes about how he was sitting beside Jesus at the Last Supper: “One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him” (John 13:23).
John used the term “the disciple whom Jesus loved” as a way of referring to himself without mentioning his own name. He is also depicting a typical banquet setting in first-century Israel, where the table was much lower than those we use today, about knee height. Reclining without chairs on a mat or cushions was the natural position for those around the table. John was sitting so close to the Lord that when he turned to ask him a question, he was “leaning back against Jesus” (John 13:25), with his head on his chest.
God, I cast all my cares on You and praise You because You are faithful.
John’s closeness to Jesus in that moment provides a helpful illustration for our lives with Him today. We may not be able to touch Jesus physically, but we can entrust the weightiest circumstances of our lives to Him. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28. How blessed we are to have a Savior whom we can trust to be faithful through every circumstance of our lives! Are you “leaning” on Him today?
Dear Lord Jesus, help me to lean on You today and to trust You as my source of strength and hope. I cast all my cares on You and praise You because You are faithful.
Jesus alone gives the rest we need.
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THE ADVOCATE
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Posted:Feb 9, 2017 4:59 am
Last Updated:Mar 1, 2017 4:55 am 18008 Views
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Read: 1 John 1:8–2:2
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 6–7; Matthew 25:1–30
If anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
1 John 2:1
From a Florida prison cell in June 1962, Clarence Earl Gideon wrote a note asking the United States Supreme Court to review his conviction for a crime he said he didn’t commit. He added that he didn’t have the means to hire a lawyer.
One year later, in the historic case of Gideon v. Wainright, the Supreme Court ruled that people who cannot afford the cost of their own defense must be given a public defender—an advocate—provided by the state. With this decision, and with the help of a court-appointed lawyer, Clarence Gideon was retried and acquitted.
Help us to know what it means to have the freedom of Your love and presence.
But what if we are not innocent? According to the apostle Paul, we are all guilty. But the court of heaven provides an Advocate who, at God’s expense, offers to defend and care for our soul (1 John 2:2). On behalf of His Father, Jesus comes to us offering a freedom that even prison inmates have described as better than anything they’ve experienced on the outside. It is a freedom of heart and mind.
Whether suffering for wrongs done by us or to us, we all can be represented by Jesus. By the highest of authority He responds to every request for mercy, forgiveness, and comfort.
Jesus, our Advocate, can turn a prison of lost hope, fear, or regret into the place of His presence.
Father in heaven, please help us to know what it means to have the freedom of Your love and presence. May we experience this freedom even in places that we have only seen as our confinement!
The one who died as our substitute now lives as our advocate.
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THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY.
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Posted:Feb 8, 2017 5:10 am
Last Updated:Feb 8, 2017 5:11 am 17969 Views
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Read: 1 Samuel 20:35–42
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 4–5; Matthew 24:29–51
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
A dear friend of mine sent me a text message that said, “I’m so glad we can tell each other the good, the bad, and the ugly!” We have been friends for many years, and we have learned to share our joys and our failures. We recognize we are far from perfect, so we share our struggles but we also rejoice in each other’s successes.
David and Jonathan had a solid friendship too, beginning with the good days of David’s victory over Goliath (1 Sam. 18.1–4). They shared their fears during the bad days of Jonathan’s father’s jealousy (18.6–11; 20:1–2). Finally, they suffered together during the ugly days of Saul’s plans to kill David (20:42).
Real friendships are a gift from God.
Good friends don’t abandon us when external circumstances change. They stay with us through the good and the bad days. Good friends also may point us to God in the ugly days, when we may feel tempted to walk away from our Lord.
Real friendships are a gift from God because they exemplify the perfect Friend, who remains loyal through the good, the bad, and the ugly days. As the Lord reminds us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).
Dear Lord, I thank You for the good friends You have placed in my life, but above all, I thank You for Your friendship.
A friend is the first person who comes in when the whole world has gone out.
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DOES IT SPARK JOY?
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Posted:Feb 7, 2017 4:30 am
Last Updated:Feb 7, 2017 4:31 am 18398 Views
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Read: Philippians 4:4–9
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 1–3; Matthew 24:1–28
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true . . . noble . . . right . . . pure . . . lovely . . . admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4.8
A young Japanese woman’s book on decluttering and organizing has sold two million copies worldwide. The heart of Marie Kondo’s message is helping people get rid of unneeded things in their homes and closets—things that weigh them down. “Hold up each item,” she says, “and ask, ‘Does it spark joy?’” If the answer is yes, keep it. If the answer is no, then give it away.
The apostle Paul urged the Christians in Philippi to pursue joy in their relationship with Christ. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). Instead of a life cluttered with anxiety, he urged them to pray about everything and let God’s peace guard their hearts and minds in Christ (vv. 6–7).
Let God’s peace guard your heart and mind in Christ. Philippians 4:6-7
Looking at our everyday tasks and responsibilities, we see that not all of them are enjoyable. But we can ask, “How can this spark joy in God’s heart and in my own?” A change in why we do things can bring a transformation in the way we feel about them.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true . . . noble . . . right . . . pure . . . lovely . . . admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (v. 8.
Paul’s parting words are food for thought and a recipe for joy.
Lord, show me how You want to spark joy in the tasks I face today.
A focus on the Lord is the beginning of joy.
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