SEEING WELL
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Posted:Nov 11, 2016 4:52 am
Last Updated:Nov 11, 2016 4:52 am 16237 Views
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Read: John 15:12–17
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 50; Hebrews 8
You are my friends if you do what I command. John 15:14
Raleigh looks like a powerful dog—he is large and muscular and has a thick coat of fur. And he weighs over 100 pounds! Despite his appearance, Raleigh connects well with people. His owner takes him to nursing homes and hospitals to bring people a smile.
Once, a four-year-old girl spotted Raleigh across a room. She wanted to pet him, but was afraid to get close. Eventually, her curiosity overcame her sense of caution and she spent several minutes talking to him and petting him. She discovered that he is a gentle creature, even though he is powerful.
You are my friends if you do what I command. John 15:14
The combination of these qualities reminds me of what we read about Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus was approachable—He welcomed little
(Matt. 19:13–15). He was kind to an adulterous woman in a desperate situation (John 8:1–11). Compassion motivated Him to teach crowds (Mark 6:34). At the same time, Jesus’s power was astounding. Heads turned and jaws dropped as He subdued demons, calmed violent storms, and resurrected dead people! (Mark 1:21–34; 4:35–41;
John 11).
The way we see Jesus determines how we relate to Him. If we focus only on His power, we may treat Him with the detached worship we’d give a comic book superhero. Yet, if we overemphasize His kindness, we risk treating Him too casually. The truth is that Jesus is both at once—great enough to deserve our obedience yet humble enough to call us friends.
Jesus, thank You for the privilege of knowing You. I acknowledge Your gentle power. I worship You as the of God—full of grace and glory.
What we think of Jesus shows in how we relate with Him.
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A NEW PURPOSE
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Posted:Nov 10, 2016 4:57 am
Last Updated:Nov 10, 2016 4:57 am 15998 Views
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Read: Mark 1:16–22
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 48–49; Hebrews 7
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Mark 1:17
Jacob Davis was a tailor with a problem. It was the height of the Gold Rush in the 1800s American West and the gold miners’ work pants kept wearing out. His solution? Davis went to a local dry goods company owned by Levi Strauss, purchased tent cloth, and made work pants from that heavy, sturdy material—and blue jeans were born. Today, denim jeans in a variety of forms (including Levi’s) are among the most popular clothing items in the world, and all because tent material was given a new purpose.
Simon and his friends were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. Then Jesus arrived and called them to follow Him. He gave them a new purpose. No longer would they fish for fish. As Jesus told them, “Come, follow me, . . . and I will send you out to fish for people” (Mark 1:17).
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Mark 1:17
With this new purpose set for their lives, these men were taught and trained by Jesus so that, after His ascension, they could be used by God to capture the hearts of people with the message of the cross and resurrection of Christ. Today, we follow in their steps as we share the good news of Christ’s love and salvation.
May our lives both declare and exhibit this love that can change the lives, purposes, and eternal destinies of others.
Help me, Lord, to represent You well so that others might be drawn to Your love and salvation.
With our new life in Christ we have been given a new purpose.
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SINGS AND FEELINGS
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Posted:Nov 9, 2016 1:47 am
Last Updated:Nov 9, 2016 1:47 am 15909 Views
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Read: Matthew 16:1–4
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 46–47; Hebrews 6
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105
A young man I know has a habit of asking God for signs. That’s not necessarily bad, but his prayers tend to seek confirmation of his feelings. For instance, he’ll pray, “God, if You want me to do X, then You please do Y, and I’ll know it’s okay.”
This has created a dilemma. Because of the way he prays and the way he thinks God is answering, he feels that he should get back with his ex-girlfriend. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she feels strongly that God doesn’t want that.
The best way to know God’s will is to say, “I will” to God.
The religious leaders of Jesus’s day demanded a sign from Him to prove the validity of His claims (Matt. 16:1). They weren’t seeking God’s guidance; they were challenging His divine authority. Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign” (v. 4). The Lord’s strong response wasn’t a blanket statement to prevent anyone from seeking God’s guidance. Rather, Jesus was accusing them of ignoring the clear prophecies in Scripture that indicated He was the Messiah.
God wants us to seek His guidance in prayer (James 1:5). He also gives us the guidance of the Spirit (John 14:26) and His Word (Ps. 119:105). He provides us with mentors and wise leaders. And He’s given us the example of Jesus Himself.
It’s wise to ask God for clear direction, but He may not always give it in ways that we expect or want. Perhaps the larger point of prayer is that we learn more about God’s nature and develop a relationship with our Father.
Lord, it is impossible for us to comprehend Your nature, and yet You welcome us to approach You in prayer. And so we seek Your guidance today and ask to know You in ways we haven’t seen before.
The best way to know God’s will is to say, “I will” to God.
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WE HAD NO IDEA
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Posted:Nov 8, 2016 1:54 am
Last Updated:Nov 8, 2016 1:54 am 15164 Views
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Read: Galatians 6:2–10
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 43–45; Hebrews 5
Carry each other’s burdens. Galatians 6:2
Volunteers from a local church spent a frigid evening distributing food to people in a low-income apartment complex. One woman who received the food was overjoyed. She showed them her bare cupboard and told them they were an answer to her prayers.
As the volunteers returned to the church, one woman began to cry. “When I was a little girl,” she said, “that lady was my Sunday school teacher. She’s in church every Sunday. We had no idea she was almost starving!”
Carry each other’s burdens. Galatians 6:2
Clearly, these were caring people who were seeking ways to carry the burdens of others, as Paul suggests in Galatians 6:2. Yet somehow they hadn’t noticed the needs of this woman—someone they saw every Sunday—and she hadn’t shared her needs. This can be a gentle reminder for all of us to be more aware of those around us and, as Paul said, to “do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (6:10).
People who worship together have the privilege of assisting one another so no one in the body of Christ goes without help. As we get to know each other and care for each other, perhaps we won’t ever have to say, “We had no idea.”
Dear Lord, help me to notice the needs of those around me and to do what I can to meet those needs in Your name.
Nothing costs as much as caring—except not caring.
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A DIFFICULT HILL
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Posted:Nov 7, 2016 3:47 am
Last Updated:Nov 7, 2016 3:47 am 14842 Views
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Read: Psalm 110
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 40–42; Hebrews 4
He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.
Psalm 110.7
High in a fold of Jughandle Peak in the mountains north of our home in Idaho lies a glacial lake. The route to the lake goes up a steep, exposed ridge through boulders and loose stones. It’s a strenuous ascent.
At the beginning of the climb, however, there is a brook—a spring that seeps out of soft, mossy earth and flows through a lush meadow. It’s a quiet place to drink deeply and prepare for the hard climb ahead.
Come to Him with all your weakness, weariness, helplessness, fear, and doubt.
In John Bunyan’s classic allegory of the Christian life, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian arrives at the foot of a steep ascent called the Hill Difficulty, “at the bottom of which was a spring . . . Christian now went to the spring and drank to refresh himself, and then began to go up the hill.”
Perhaps the difficult mountain you face is a rebellious or a serious medical diagnosis. The challenge seems more than you can endure.
Before you face your next major task, visit the spring of refreshment that is God Himself. Come to Him with all your weakness, weariness, helplessness, fear, and doubt. Then drink deeply of His power, strength, and wisdom. God knows all your circumstances and will supply a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation. He will lift up your head and give you strength to go on.
Father, at this moment I turn to You for strength in my weakness, energy for my weariness, and faith in my doubt.
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STRONG CONQUEROR
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Posted:Nov 4, 2016 3:46 am
Last Updated:Nov 4, 2016 3:47 am 14672 Views
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Read: John 18:10–14, 36–37
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 32–33; Hebrews 1
My kingdom is from another place. John 18.36
Most of us hope for good government. We vote, we serve, and we speak out for causes we believe are fair and just. But political solutions remain powerless to change the condition of our hearts.
Many of Jesus’s followers anticipated a Messiah who would bring a vigorous political response to Rome and its heavy-handed oppression. Peter was no exception. When Roman soldiers came to arrest Christ, Peter drew his sword and took a swing at the head of the high priest’s servant, lopping off his ear in the process.
Real restraint is not weakness, for it arises out of genuine strength.
Jesus halted Peter’s one-man war, saying, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” (John 18:11). Hours later, Jesus would tell Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders” (v. 36).
The Lord’s restraint in that moment, as His life hung in the balance, astonishes us when we ponder the scope of His mission. On a future day, He will lead the armies of heaven into battle. John wrote, “With justice he judges and wages war”
(Rev. 19:11).
But as He endured the ordeal of His arrest, trial, and crucifixion, Jesus kept His Father’s will in view. By embracing death on the cross, He set in motion a chain of events that truly transforms hearts. And in the process, our Strong Conqueror defeated death itself.
Father, how prone I am to reacting quickly rather than wisely. Show me Your will for my life so that I will purposefully choose the path You have for me.
Real restraint is not weakness, for it arises out of genuine strength.
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LEADING WITH LOVE
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Posted:Nov 3, 2016 3:14 am
Last Updated:Nov 3, 2016 3:14 am 14990 Views
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Read: Philemon 8–18
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 30–31; Philemon
I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. Philemon 9
In his book Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders explores the qualities and the importance of tact and diplomacy. “Combining these two words,” Sanders says, “the idea emerges of skill in reconciling opposing viewpoints without giving offense and without compromising principle.”
During Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, he became the spiritual mentor and close friend of a runaway slave named Onesimus, whose owner was Philemon. When Paul wrote to Philemon, a leader of the church in Colossae, asking him to receive Onesimus as a brother in Christ, he exemplified tact and diplomacy. “Although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. . . . [Onesimus] is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord” (Philem. 8–9, 16).
Leaders who serve will serve as good leaders.
Paul, a respected leader of the early church, often gave clear commands to the followers of Jesus. In this case, though, he appealed to Philemon on the basis of equality, friendship, and love. “I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary” (v. 14).
In all our relationships, may we seek to preserve harmony and principle in the spirit of love.
Father in heaven, in all our relationships, give us grace and wisdom to be wise leaders, parents, and friends.
Leaders who serve will serve as good leaders.
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WATCHFUL AND ALERT
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Posted:Nov 2, 2016 1:42 am
Last Updated:Nov 2, 2016 1:43 am 14585 Views
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Read: Genesis 3:1–7
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 27–29; Titus 3
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith. 1 Corinthians 16:13
My desk sits close to a window that opens into our neighborhood. From that vantage point I’m privileged to watch birds perch on the trees nearby. Some come to the window to eat insects trapped in the screen.
The birds check their immediate surroundings for any danger, listening attentively as they look about them. Only when they are satisfied that there is no danger do they settle down to feed. Even then, they pause every few seconds to scan the area.
The best way to escape temptation is to run to God.
The vigilance these birds demonstrate reminds me that the Bible teaches us to practice vigilance as Christians. Our world is full of temptations, and we need to remain constantly alert and not forget about the dangers. Like Adam and Eve, we easily get entangled in attractions that make the things of this world seem “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom” (Gen. 3:6).
“Be on your guard,” Paul admonished, “stand firm in the faith” (1 Cor. 16:13). And Peter cautioned, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8.
As we work for our own daily bread, are we alert to what could start consuming us? Are we watching for any hint of self-confidence or willfulness that could leave us wishing we had trusted our God?
Lord, keep us from the secret sins and selfish reactions we’re so naturally inclined toward. By Your grace, turn our temptations into moments of growth in Christlikeness.
The best way to escape temptation is to run to God.
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RUN TO ME
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Posted:Nov 1, 2016 5:24 am
Last Updated:Nov 1, 2016 5:24 am 13095 Views
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Read: Proverbs 18:4–12
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 24–26; Titus 2
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10
During a walk at a local park, my and I encountered a couple of unleashed dogs. Their owner didn’t seem to notice that one of them had begun to intimidate my . My tried to shoo the away, but the animal only became more intent on bothering him.
Eventually, my panicked. He bolted several yards into the distance, but the pursued him. The chase continued until I yelled, “Run to me!” My doubled back, calmed down, and the finally decided to make mischief somewhere else.
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10
There are moments in our lives when God calls to us and says, “Run to Me!” Something troubling is on our heels. The faster and farther we go, the more closely it pursues us. We can’t shake it. We’re too afraid to turn and confront the trouble on our own. But the reality is that we aren’t on our own. God is there, ready to help and comfort us. All we have to do is turn away from whatever scares us, and move in His direction. His Word says, “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Prov. 18:10).
Dear Jesus, You are the Prince of Peace. I need the kind of peace that only You can give. Help me to turn to You when I am troubled.
God is our refuge in times of trouble.
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IT NEVER RUNS OUT
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Posted:Oct 31, 2016 4:22 am
Last Updated:Oct 31, 2016 4:22 am 12184 Views
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Read: 1 Peter 1:3–9
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 22–23; Titus 1
He has given us new birth into . . . an inheritance that can never perish.
1 Peter 1:3–4
When I asked a friend who is about to retire what she feared about her next stage of life, she said, “I want to make sure I don’t run out of money.” The next day as I was talking to my financial counselor he gave me advice on how I might avoid running out of money. Indeed, we all want the security of knowing we’ll have the resources we need for the rest of our lives.
No financial plan can provide an absolute guarantee of earthly security. But there is a plan that extends far beyond this life and indefinitely into the future. The apostle Peter describes it like this: “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Peter 1:3–4).
He has given us new birth into an inheritance that can never perish. 1 Peter 1:3–4
When we place our faith in Jesus to forgive our sins we receive an eternal inheritance through God’s power. Because of this inheritance, we’ll live forever and never run short of what we need.
Planning for retirement is a good idea if we’re able to do so. But more important is having an eternal inheritance that never runs out—and that is available only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Dear God, I want that assurance of an eternal inheritance—the certainty of everlasting life with You. I put my faith in Jesus to forgive my sins and make me His . Thank You for saving me and reserving a place for me in Your eternal kingdom.
The promise of heaven is our eternal hope.
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