A REMOTE LOCATION
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Posted:Jun 22, 2016 3:38 am
Last Updated:Jun 23, 2016 6:33 am 14790 Views
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Read: Mark 8:1–13
Bible in a Year: Esther 6–8; Acts 6
My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
Tristan da Cunha Island is famous for its isolation. It is the most remote inhabited island in the world, thanks to the 288 people who call it home. The island is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, 1,750 miles from South Africa—the nearest mainland. Anyone who might want to drop by for a visit has to travel by boat for seven days because the island has no airstrip.
Jesus and His followers were in a somewhat remote area when He produced a miraculous meal for thousands of hungry people. Before His miracle, Jesus said to His disciples, “[These people] have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way” (Mark 8:2-3). Because they were in the countryside where food was not readily available, they had to depend fully on Jesus. They had nowhere else to turn.
God can certainly meet our needs, whatever our circumstances.
Sometimes God allows us to end up in desolate places where He is our only source of help. His ability to provide for us is not necessarily linked with our circumstances. If He created the entire world out of nothing, God can certainly meet our needs—whatever our circumstances—out of the riches of His glory, in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).
Dear God, thank You for all that You have provided through Your , Jesus Christ. You know what my needs are. Please reassure me of Your care and power.
We can trust God to do what we cannot do.
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A REMOTE LOCATION
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Posted:Jun 22, 2016 3:38 am
Last Updated:Jun 22, 2016 3:39 am 14706 Views
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Read: Mark 8:1–13
Bible in a Year: Esther 6–8; Acts 6
My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
Tristan da Cunha Island is famous for its isolation. It is the most remote inhabited island in the world, thanks to the 288 people who call it home. The island is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, 1,750 miles from South Africa—the nearest mainland. Anyone who might want to drop by for a visit has to travel by boat for seven days because the island has no airstrip.
Jesus and His followers were in a somewhat remote area when He produced a miraculous meal for thousands of hungry people. Before His miracle, Jesus said to His disciples, “[These people] have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way” (Mark 8:2-3). Because they were in the countryside where food was not readily available, they had to depend fully on Jesus. They had nowhere else to turn.
God can certainly meet our needs, whatever our circumstances.
Sometimes God allows us to end up in desolate places where He is our only source of help. His ability to provide for us is not necessarily linked with our circumstances. If He created the entire world out of nothing, God can certainly meet our needs—whatever our circumstances—out of the riches of His glory, in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).
Dear God, thank You for all that You have provided through Your , Jesus Christ. You know what my needs are. Please reassure me of Your care and power.
We can trust God to do what we cannot do.
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LEARNING TO LOVE
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Posted:Jun 21, 2016 5:17 am
Last Updated:Jun 22, 2016 11:15 am 14645 Views
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Read: 1 Corinthians 5-23
Bible in a Year: Esther 3–5; Acts 5:22–42
Follow the way of love. 1 Corinthians 14:1
Love does more than make “the world go round,” as an old song says. It also makes us immensely vulnerable. From time to time, we may say to ourselves: “Why love when others do not show appreciation?” or “Why love and open myself up to hurt?” But the apostle Paul gives a clear and simple reason to pursue love: “These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Follow the way of love”
(1 Cor. 13:13–14:1).
“Love is an activity, the essential activity of God himself,” writes Bible commentator C. K. Barrett, “and when men love either Him or their fellow-men, they are doing (however imperfectly) what God does.” And God is pleased when we act like Him.
Help me to love others the way Jesus showed us.
To begin following the way of love, think about how you might live out the characteristics listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7. For example, how can I show my the same patience God shows me? How can I show kindness and respect for my parents? What does it mean to look out for the interests of others when I am at work? When something good happens to my friend, do I rejoice with her or am I envious?
As we “follow the way of love,” we’ll find ourselves often turning to God, the source of love, and to Jesus, the greatest example of love. Only then will we gain a deeper knowledge of what true love is and find the strength to love others like God loves us.
God, thank You that You are love and that You love me so much. Help me to love others the way Jesus showed us so that the whole world will know I am Your .
Love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4.7
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HOO-AH!
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Posted:Jun 20, 2016 3:43 am
Last Updated:Jun 20, 2016 3:44 am 14796 Views
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Read: Psalm 68.7–10,19–20
Bible in a Year: Esther 1–2; Acts 5:1–21
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah. Psalm 68:19
The US Army's expression "hoo-ah" is a guttural response barked when troops voice approval. Its original meaning is lost to history, but some say it is derived from an old acronym HUA—Heard, Understood, and Acknowledged. I first heard the word in basic training.
Many years later it found its way into my vocabulary again when I began to meet on Wednesday mornings with a group of men to study the Scriptures. One morning one of the men—a former member of the 82nd Airborne Division—was reading one of the psalms and came to the notation selah that occurs throughout the psalms. Instead of reading “selah,” however, he growled hoo-ah, and that became our word for selah ever after.
Every single morning God loads us up on His shoulders and carries us through the day.
No one knows for certain what selah actually means. Some say it is only a musical notation. It often appears after a truth that calls for a deep-seated, emotional response. In that sense hoo-ah works for me.
This morning I read Psalm 68:19: "Blessed be the Lord, who daily [day to day] loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah"
Imagine that! Every single morning God loads us up on His shoulders and carries us through the day. He is our salvation. Thus safe and secure in Him, we’ve no cause for worry or for fear. “Hoo-ah!” I say.
Day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here. Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear. Lina Sandell Berg
Worship is giving God the best that He has given you.
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MARATHON READING
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Posted:Jun 17, 2016 3:35 am
Last Updated:May 2, 2024 10:26 pm 14717 Views
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Read: Nehemiah 8:1–8
Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 7–9; Acts 3
They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. Nehemiah 8.8
When the sun came up on the first day of the seventh month in 444 bc, Ezra started reading the law of Moses (what we know as the first five books of the Bible). Standing on a platform in front of the people in Jerusalem, he read it straight through for the next six hours.
Men, women, and had gathered at the entrance to the city known as the Water Gate to observe the Festival of Trumpets—one of the feasts prescribed for them by God. As they listened, four reactions stand out.
Lord, thank You for this amazing book we call the Bible.
They stood up in reverence for the Book of the Law (Neh. 8:5). They praised God by lifting their hands and saying “Amen.” They bowed down in humble worship (v. 6). Then they listened carefully as the Scriptures were both read and explained to them (v. 8. What an amazing day as the book that “the Lord had commanded for Israel” (v. 1) was read aloud inside Jerusalem’s newly rebuilt walls!
Ezra’s marathon reading session can remind us that God’s words to us are still meant to be a source of praise, worship, and learning. When we open the Bible and learn more about Christ, let’s praise God, worship Him, and seek to discover what He is saying to us now.
Lord, thank You for this amazing book we call the Bible. Thank You for inspiring its creation by the writers You chose to pen its words. Thank You for preserving this book through the ages so we can learn Your people’s story and the good news of Your love.
The goal of Bible study is not just learning but living
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MARATHON READING
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Posted:Jun 17, 2016 3:35 am
Last Updated:Jun 17, 2016 3:35 am 14426 Views
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Read: Nehemiah 8:1–8
Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 7–9; Acts 3
They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. Nehemiah 8.8
When the sun came up on the first day of the seventh month in 444 bc, Ezra started reading the law of Moses (what we know as the first five books of the Bible). Standing on a platform in front of the people in Jerusalem, he read it straight through for the next six hours.
Men, women, and had gathered at the entrance to the city known as the Water Gate to observe the Festival of Trumpets—one of the feasts prescribed for them by God. As they listened, four reactions stand out.
Lord, thank You for this amazing book we call the Bible.
They stood up in reverence for the Book of the Law (Neh. 8:5). They praised God by lifting their hands and saying “Amen.” They bowed down in humble worship (v. 6). Then they listened carefully as the Scriptures were both read and explained to them (v. 8. What an amazing day as the book that “the Lord had commanded for Israel” (v. 1) was read aloud inside Jerusalem’s newly rebuilt walls!
Ezra’s marathon reading session can remind us that God’s words to us are still meant to be a source of praise, worship, and learning. When we open the Bible and learn more about Christ, let’s praise God, worship Him, and seek to discover what He is saying to us now.
Lord, thank You for this amazing book we call the Bible. Thank You for inspiring its creation by the writers You chose to pen its words. Thank You for preserving this book through the ages so we can learn Your people’s story and the good news of Your love.
The goal of Bible study is not just learning but living
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SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
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Posted:Jun 16, 2016 3:34 am
Last Updated:Jun 17, 2016 3:35 am 14237 Views
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Read: Judges 2.7–19
Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 4–6; Acts 2:22–47
Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies. Judges 2:18
Around our home, the words “some assembly required” have been the cause of great frustration (mine) and great humor (my family). When my wife and I first married, I attempted to make simple home repairs—with disastrous results. A repaired shower handle worked perfectly—if the plan was for the water to run between the walls. My fiascoes continued after we had , when I assured my wife, Cheryl, I “don’t need instructions” to put these “simple” toys together. Wrong!
Gradually, I learned my lesson and began to pay strict attention to the instructions and things went together as they should. Unfortunately, the longer things went well, the more confident I became, and soon I was again ignoring instructions with predictably disastrous results.
God has reasons for all of the instructions He’s given us.
The ancient Israelites struggled with a similar tendency: they would forget God, ignoring His instructions to avoid following after Baal and the other gods of the region (Judg. 2:12). This produced disastrous results, until God, in His mercy, raised up judges to rescue them and bring them back to Himself (v. 18.
God has reasons for all of the instructions He’s given us to keep our affections on Him. Only by a daily awareness of His loving presence can we resist the temptation to “construct” our lives our own way. What great gifts He has given us in His Word and His presence!
Lord, keep me close to You this day. Remind me of Your presence through Your Word and prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Our greatest privilege is to enjoy God’s presence.
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TRUE COMMUNICATION
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Posted:Jun 15, 2016 3:36 am
Last Updated:Jun 16, 2016 3:35 am 14242 Views
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Read: Acts 2:1–12
Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 1–3; Acts 2:1–21
A crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Acts 2:6
Walking in my North London neighborhood, I can hear snatches of conversation in many languages—Polish, Japanese, Hindi, Croatian, and Italian, to name a few. This diversity feels like a taste of heaven, yet I can’t understand what they’re saying. As I step into the Russian café or the Polish market and hear the different accents and sounds, I sometimes reflect on how wonderful it must have been on the day of Pentecost when people of many nations could understand what the disciples were saying.
On that day, pilgrims gathered together in Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of the harvest. The Holy Spirit rested on the believers so that when they spoke, the hearers (who had come from all over the known world) could understand them in their own languages (Acts 2:5–6). What a miracle that these strangers from different lands could understand the praises to God in their own tongues! Many were spurred on to find out more about Jesus.
Lord, give us eyes to see those around us as You see them.
We may not speak or understand many languages, but we know that the Holy Spirit equips us to connect with people in other ways. Amazingly, we are God’s hands and feet—and mouth—to further His mission. Today, how might we—with the Spirit’s help—reach out to someone unlike us?
Lord, give us eyes to see those around us as You see them. Give us ears to hear their stories; give us hearts to share Your love.
Love is the language everybody understands.
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GOD OF THE ORDINARY
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Posted:Jun 14, 2016 3:40 am
Last Updated:Jun 15, 2016 3:36 am 14463 Views
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Read: Genesis 12:1–4; 17:1–2
Bible in a Year: Ezra 9–10; Acts 3
He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
1 Corinthians 10:13
Hearing testimonies about how God did something spectacular in someone else’s life can challenge us. While we may rejoice to hear about answers to prayer, we may also wonder why God hasn’t done anything amazing for us lately.
It’s easy to think that if God showed up in astonishing ways for us like He did for Abraham, then we would be more inspired to be faithful servants of God. But then we remember that God showed up for Abraham every 12 to 14 years, and most of Abraham’s journey was rather ordinary (see Gen. 12:1–4; 15:1–6; 16:16–17:12).
Thank God for the amazing things He has done for us.
God’s work is usually done behind the scenes in the ordinary things of life. As 1 Corinthians 10 says, “He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out.” Every day God is busy shielding us from devastating onslaughts of Satan that would otherwise leave us helplessly defeated. And when temptation hits, He is making exit ramps for us so we can escape.
When we put our head on the pillow at night, we should pause to thank God for the amazing things He has done for us that day in the midst of our ordinary lives. So, instead of longing for Him to do something spectacular for you, thank Him! He already has.
Lord, help me to be constantly aware that Your power and presence are with me even in the ordinary times in my life. Thank You for Your amazing work on my behalf that I know nothing about.
God is always in control behind the scenes, even on “ordinary”
days
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REPEAT AFTER ME
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Posted:Jun 13, 2016 3:12 am
Last Updated:Jun 16, 2016 3:35 am 14358 Views
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Read: Psalm 141
Bible in a Year: Ezra 6–8; John 21
Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. Psalm 141:3
When Rebecca stood on stage to speak at a conference, her first sentence into the microphone echoed around the room. It was a bit unsettling for her to hear her own words come back at her, and she had to adjust to the faulty sound system and try to ignore the echo of every word she spoke.
Imagine what it would be like to hear everything we say repeated! It wouldn’t be so bad to hear ourselves repeat "I love you" or "I was wrong" or “Thank You, Lord” or "I'm praying for you." But not all of our words are beautiful or gentle or kind. What about those angry outbursts or demeaning comments that no one wants to hear once, let alone twice—those words that we would really rather take back?
He forgives us when we fail.
Like the psalmist David, we long to have the Lord’s control over our words. He prayed, "Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips” (Ps. 141:3 nlt). And thankfully, the Lord wants to do that. He can help us control what we say. He can guard our lips.
As we learn to adjust to our own sound system by paying careful attention to what we say and praying about the words we speak, the Lord will patiently teach us and even empower us to have self-control. And best of all, He forgives us when we fail and is pleased with our desire for His help.
Can you think of something you said recently that you would like to take back? Ask the Lord to help you become aware of careless words.
Part of self-control is mouth-control.
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