BEYOND TIME
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Posted:Sep 14, 2016 4:48 am
Last Updated:Sep 14, 2016 4:49 am 14879 Views
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Read: John 6:53–69
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 19–21; 2 Corinthians 7
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68–69
During 2016, theater companies in Britain and around the world have staged special productions to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. Concerts, lectures, and festivals have drawn crowds who celebrate the enduring work of the man widely considered to be the greatest playwright in the English language. Ben Jonson, one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, wrote of him, “He was not of an age, but for all time.”
While the influence of some artists, writers, and thinkers may last for centuries, Jesus Christ is the only person whose life and work will endure beyond time. He claimed to be “the bread that came down from heaven . . . whoever feeds on this bread will live forever” v. 58.
Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of eternal life.
When many people who heard Jesus’s teaching were offended by His words and stopped following Him (John 6:61–66), the Lord asked His disciples if they also wanted to leave
(v. 67). Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God” (vv. 68–69).
When we invite Jesus to come into our lives as our Lord and Savior, we join His first disciples and all those who have followed Him in a new life that will last forever—beyond time.
Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of eternal life in fellowship with You today and forever.
Jesus is the of God, the Man beyond time, who gives us eternal life.
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READY FOR A CHANGE?
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Posted:Sep 13, 2016 12:32 am
Last Updated:Sep 13, 2016 12:32 am 14939 Views
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Read: Galatians 5:16–25
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 16–18; 2 Corinthians 6
But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . self-control. Galatians 5:22–23
Self-control is probably one of the hardest things to master. How often have we been defeated by a bad habit, a lousy attitude, or a wrong mindset? We make promises to improve. We ask someone to hold us accountable. But deep inside, we know that we don’t have the will or the ability to change. We can talk, we can plan, we can read self-help books, but we still find it difficult to overcome and control many of the things that are inside us!
Thankfully, God knows our weakness, and He also knows the remedy! The Bible says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23). The only way to gain self-control is by allowing the Holy Spirit to control us.
God is not nearly as concerned with our ability as He is with our surrender.
In other words, our key focus is not effort but surrender—to live moment by moment submissively trusting in the Lord rather than in self. Paul says this is what it means to “walk by the Spirit” (v. 16).
Are you ready for a change? You can change, for God is in you. As you surrender control to Him, He will help you bear the fruit of His likeness.
I am in need, Lord, of Your power so that I might change and grow. I surrender myself to You. Please help me to understand how to be submissive to You that I might be filled with Your Spirit.
God is not nearly as concerned with our ability as He is with our surrender.
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READY FOR THE WEDDING
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Posted:Sep 12, 2016 4:55 am
Last Updated:Sep 12, 2016 4:56 am 14932 Views
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Read: Matthew 25:1–13
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 13–15; 2 Corinthians 5
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Matthew 25:13
“I’m hungry,” said my eight-year-old . “I’m sorry,” I said, “I don’t have anything for you. Let’s play tic-tac-toe.” We had been waiting over an hour for the bride to arrive at the church for what was supposed to be a noon wedding. As I wondered how much longer it would be, I hoped I could occupy my until the wedding started.
As we waited, I felt like we were enacting a parable. Although the vicarage where we live is a stone’s throw from the church, I knew if I went to fetch some crackers, the bride could come at any moment and I would miss her entrance. As I employed many distraction techniques with my hungry , I also thought about Jesus’s parable about the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1–13). Five came prepared with enough oil for their lamps to stay lit as they waited for the bridegroom, but five did not. Just as it was too late for me to dash back to the vicarage, so it was too late for the young women to go and buy more oil for their lamps.
What does waiting for Jesus’s return look like in your life?
Jesus told this parable to emphasize that we need to be prepared, for when He comes again we will give an account over the state of our hearts. Are we waiting and ready?
What does waiting for Jesus’s return look like in your life? Have you left something undone that you could attend to today?
We need to be ready for Christ to come again.
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WHAT MATTERS MOST
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Posted:Sep 9, 2016 4:05 am
Last Updated:Sep 9, 2016 4:05 am 14722 Views
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Read: 1 John 4.7–19
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 6–7; 2 Corinthians 2
He sent his one and only into the world that we might live through him.
1 John 4:9
As Jesus’s beloved disciple John grew older, his teaching became increasingly narrowed, focusing entirely on the love of God in his three letters. In the book Knowing the Truth of God’s Love, Peter Kreeft cites an old legend which says that one of John’s young disciples once came to him complaining, “Why don’t you talk about anything else?” John replied, “Because there isn’t anything else.”
God’s love is certainly at the heart of the mission and message of Jesus. In his earlier gospel account, John recorded the words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only , that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Thank You, O Lord, that Your love is rich and pure, measureless and strong!
The apostle Paul tells us that God’s love is at the core of how we live, and he reminds us that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39).
God’s love is so strong, available, and stabilizing that we can confidently step into each day knowing that the good things are gifts from His hand and the challenges can be faced in His strength. For all of life, His love is what matters most.
Thank You, O Lord, that Your love is rich and pure, measureless and strong!
God’s love stands when all else has fallen.
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EVERYTHING COMES FROM GOD
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Posted:Sep 8, 2016 4:39 am
Last Updated:Sep 8, 2016 4:39 am 14632 Views
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Read: 1 Chronicles 29:14–19
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 3–5; 2 Corinthians 1
All of it belongs to you. 1 Chronicles 29:16
I was 18 years old when I got my first fulltime job, and I learned an important lesson about the discipline of saving money. I worked and saved until I had enough money for a year of school. Then my mom had emergency surgery, and I realized I had the money in the bank to pay for her operation.
My love for my mother suddenly took precedence over my plans for the future. These words in the book Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot took on new meaning: “If we hold tightly to anything given to us, unwilling to let it go when the time comes to let it go or unwilling to allow it to be used as the Giver means it to be used, we stunt the growth of the soul. It is easy to make a mistake here, ‘If God gave it to me,’ we say, ‘it's mine. I can do what I want with it.’ No. The truth is that it is ours to thank Him for and ours to offer back to Him, . . . ours to let go of.”
Everything belongs to God.
I realized that the job I had received and the discipline of saving were gifts from God! I could give generously to my family because I was sure God was capable of seeing me through school another way, and He did.
Today, how might God want us to apply David's prayer from
1 Chronicles 29:14, “Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us”?
Lord, we know there is nothing that we have that we obtained on our own. It’s all Yours. Help us to have open hands for You
to give and take as You please. Increase our faith.
Everything belongs to God.
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SHE DID WHAT SHE COULD?
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Posted:Sep 7, 2016 3:40 am
Last Updated:Sep 7, 2016 3:41 am 14584 Views
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Read: Mark 14:3–9
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 1–2; 1 Corinthians 16
She did what she could. Mark 14.8
When her friends say thoughtless or outrageous things on social media, Charlotte chimes in with gentle but firm dissent. She respects the dignity of everyone, and her words are unfailingly positive.
A few years ago she became Facebook friends with a man who harbored anger toward Christians. He appreciated Charlotte’s rare honesty and grace. Over time his hostility melted. Then Charlotte suffered a bad fall. Now housebound, she fretted over what she could do. About that time her Facebook friend died and then this message arrived from his sister: “[Because of your witness] I know he’s now experiencing God’s complete and abiding love for him.”
How can you show God's love to others today?
During the week in which Christ would be killed, Mary of Bethany anointed Him with expensive perfume (John 12:3; Mark 14:3). Some of those present were appalled, but Jesus applauded her. “She has done a beautiful thing to me,” He said. “She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial”
(Mark 14:6–8.
“She did what she could.” Christ’s words take the pressure off. Our world is full of broken, hurting people. But we don’t have to worry about what we can’t do. Charlotte did what she could. So can we. The rest is in His capable hands.
Lord, help us not to define our self-worth by what we do for You, but by what You have done for us. Show us how we can show Your love to others.
Do thy duty, that is best; leave unto the Lord the rest.
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GRADED WITH GRACE
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Posted:Sep 6, 2016 3:46 am
Last Updated:Sep 6, 2016 3:47 am 14511 Views
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Read: Romans 5:6–15
Bible in a Year: Psalms 148–150; 1 Corinthians 15:29–58
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5.8
My ’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement as he showed me a paper he had brought home from school. It was a math test, marked with a red star and a grade of 100 percent. As we looked at the exam, he said he had three questions left to answer when the teacher said time was up. Puzzled, I asked how he could have received a perfect score. He replied, “My teacher gave me grace. She let me finish the test although I had run out of time.”
As my and I discussed the meaning of grace, I pointed out that God has given us more than we deserve through Christ. We deserve death because of our sin
(Rom. 3:23). Yet, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8. We were unworthy, yet Jesus—sinless and holy—gave up His life so we could escape the penalty for our sin and one day live forever in heaven.
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Eternal life is a gift from God. It’s not something we earn by working for it. We are saved by God’s grace, through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8–9).
Dear God, Your undeserved favor has made it possible for us to be saved from our sin. You have shown us amazing grace. Thank You for
the gift You gave. Use me to tell others about You and what You have done.
Grace and mercy are unearned blessings.
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A BUBBLE BREAK
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Posted:Sep 5, 2016 2:08 am
Last Updated:Sep 5, 2016 2:08 am 14704 Views
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Read: 2 Corinthians 4.7–18 |
Bible in a Year: Psalms 146–147; 1 Corinthians 15:1–28
We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. 2 Corinthians 4:18
A young boy showered my husband, Carl, and me with bubbles as he came running by us on the Atlantic City boardwalk. It was a light and fun moment on a difficult day. We had come to the city to visit our brother-in-law in the hospital and to help Carl’s sister who was struggling and having trouble getting to her doctors’ appointments. So as we took a break and walked along the seaside boardwalk we were feeling a bit overwhelmed by the needs of our family.
Then came the bubbles. Just bubbles blown at us whimsically by a little boy in the ocean breeze—but they had a special significance to me. I love bubbles and keep a bottle in my office to use whenever I need the smile of a bubble break. Those bubbles and the vast Atlantic Ocean reminded me of what I can count on: God is always close. He is powerful. He always cares. And He can use even the smallest experiences, and briefest moments, to help us remember that His presence is like an ocean of grace in the middle of our heavy moments.
Jesus provides an oasis of grace in the desert of trials.
Maybe one day our troubles will seem like bubbles—momentary in light of eternity for “what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18
What gifts of grace has God given to you in a difficult time? How might you be a blessing to others?
Jesus provides an oasis of grace in the desert of trials.
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HOW TO CARVE A DUCK
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Posted:Sep 2, 2016 2:31 am
Last Updated:Sep 2, 2016 2:31 am 14627 Views
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Read: Psalm 138.7–8; Ephesians 2:6–10
Bible in a Year: Psalms 137–139; 1 Corinthians 13
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his .
Romans 8.29
My friend, Carolyn, and I met Phipps Festus Bourne in 1995 in his shop in Mabry Hill, Virginia. Bourne, who died in 2002, was a master wood carver whose carvings are almost exact replicas of real objects. “Carving a duck is simple,” he said. “You just look at a piece of wood, get in your head what a duck looks like, and then cut off everything that doesn’t look like it.”
So it is with God. He looks at you and me—blocks of rough wood—envisions the Christlike woman or man hidden beneath the bark, knots, and twigs and then begins to carve away everything that does not fit that image. We would be amazed if we could see how beautiful we are as finished “ducks.”
Growing in Christ comes from a deepening relationship with Him.
But first we must accept that we are a block of wood and allow the Artist to cut, shape, and sand us where He will. This means viewing our circumstances—pleasant or unpleasant—as God’s tools that shape us. He forms us, one part at a time, into the beautiful creature He envisioned in our ungainly lump of wood.
Sometimes the process is wonderful; sometimes it is painful. But in the end, all of God’s tools conform us “to the image of his ” (Rom. 8:29).
Do you long for that likeness? Put yourself in the Master Carver’s hands.
Father, You are the craftsman who shapes me. You are the one who knows what shape my life should take. Thank You for carving me into the image You have planned. Help me to trust that the pieces and parts that You shave from me are the right ones.
Growing in Christ comes from a deepening relationship with Him.
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BECAUSE YOU PRAYED
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Posted:Sep 1, 2016 1:10 am
Last Updated:Sep 1, 2016 1:11 am 14385 Views
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Read: Isaiah 3.79–22, 33
Bible in a Year: Psalms 135–136; 1 Corinthians 12
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
What do you do with your worries? Do you turn them inward, or turn them upward?
When the brutal Assyrian King Sennacherib was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, he sent a message to King Hezekiah saying that Judah would be no different from all the other nations he had conquered. Hezekiah took this message to the temple in Jerusalem, and “spread it out before the Lord” (Isa. 37.14). He then prayed and asked for help from Almighty God.
Prayer moves the hand that moves the world. E.M. Bounds
Soon afterward Isaiah the prophet delivered this message to Hezekiah from the Lord: “Because you prayed about King Sennacherib of Assyria, the Lord has spoken” (Isa. 37.21–22 nlt). Scripture tells us that Hezekiah’s prayer was answered that very night. God intervened miraculously, conquering the enemy forces outside the city gates. The Assyrian army didn’t even “shoot an arrow” (v. 33). Sennacherib would leave Jerusalem, never to return.
Three words in God’s message to Hezekiah—“Because you prayed”—show us the best place to go with our worries. Because Hezekiah turned to God, He rescued him and his people. When we turn our worries into prayer, we discover that God is faithful in unexpected ways!
Father, please help me to turn my worries into prayer. My problems are better in Your hands than in my own.
Prayer moves the hand that moves the world. E.M. Bounds
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