CARELESS WORDS
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Posted:Jan 25, 2016 2:08 am
Last Updated:May 4, 2024 1:21 pm 16908 Views
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Read: James 3:1-12
Bible in a Year: Exodus 12–13; Matthew 16
The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.
James 3:5
My has had a lot of ill health recently, and her husband has been wonderfully caring and supportive. “You have a real treasure there!” I said.
“You didn’t think that when I first knew him,” she said with a grin.
She was quite right. When Icilda and Philip got engaged, I was concerned. They were such different personalities. We have a large and noisy family, and Philip is more reserved. And I had shared my misgivings with my quite bluntly.
I was horrified to realize that the critical things I said so casually 15 years ago had stayed in her memory and could possibly have destroyed a relationship that has proved to be so right and happy. It reminded me how much we need to guard what we say to others. So many of us are quick to point out what we consider to be weaknesses in family, friends, or work colleagues, or to focus on their mistakes rather than their successes. “The tongue is a small part of the body,” says James (3:5), yet the words it shapes can either destroy relationships or bring peace and harmony to a situation in the workplace, the church, or the family.
Perhaps we should make David’s prayer our own as we start each day: “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps. 141:3).
Father, please curb my careless speech and put a guard on my tongue today and every day.
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
Proverbs 25:11
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A PRISONER NO MORE
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Posted:Jan 22, 2016 5:32 am
Last Updated:Jan 25, 2016 2:08 am 16954 Views
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Read: Romans 7:15-25
Bible in a Year: Exodus 4–6; Matthew 14:22-36
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Romans 7:15
A middle-aged man approached me after I led a workshop at his place of employment and asked this question: “I’ve been a Christian nearly my whole life, but I’m constantly disappointed in myself. Why is it that I always seem to keep doing the things I wish I didn’t do and never seem to do the things I know I should? Isn’t God getting tired of me?” Two men standing next to me also seemed eager to hear the response.
That’s a common struggle that even the apostle Paul experienced. “I do not understand what I do,” he said, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Rom. 7:15). But here’s some good news: We don’t have to stay in that trap of discouragement. To paraphrase Paul as he writes in Romans 8, the key is to stop focusing on the law and start focusing on Jesus. We can’t do anything about our sinfulness in our own strength. The answer is not “try harder to be good at keeping the rules.” Instead, we must focus on the One who shows us mercy and cooperate with the Spirit who changes us.
Focus on the One who shows us mercy & cooperate with the Spirit who changes us.
When we focus on the law, we are constantly reminded that we’ll never be good enough to deserve God’s grace. But when we focus on Jesus, we become more like Him.
I sometimes get caught in the cycle of trying harder to be good, failing, getting discouraged, and giving up. Help me, Lord, to depend on Your grace and to draw near to You so that You can change my heart.
Focus on Jesus.
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WELCOME HOME!
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Posted:Jan 21, 2016 3:29 am
Last Updated:Jan 22, 2016 5:32 am 16756 Views
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Read: Luke 15:11-24
the Bible in a Year: Exodus 1–3; Matthew 14:1-21
While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him.
Luke 15:20
When we were going through a particularly challenging time with our , a friend pulled me aside after a church meeting. “I want you to know that I pray for you and your every day,” he said. Then he added: “I feel so guilty.”
“Why?” I asked. “Because I’ve never had to deal with prodigal ,” he said. “My pretty much played by the rules. But it wasn’t because of anything I did or didn’t do. ,” he shrugged, “make their own choices.”
I wanted to hug him. His compassion was a reminder, a gift from God, communicating to me the Father’s understanding for my struggle with my .
No one understands the struggle with prodigals better than our heavenly Father. The story of the prodigal in Luke 15 is our story and God’s. Jesus told it on behalf of all sinners who so desperately need to come home to their Creator and discover the warmth of a loving relationship with Him.
Jesus is God in the flesh seeing us in the distance and looking on us with compassion. He is God running to us and throwing His arms around us. He is heaven’s kiss welcoming the repentant sinner home (v. 20).
God hasn’t just left the porch light on for us. He’s out on the front porch watching, waiting, calling us home.
We ask again today, Lord, that our prodigals would come home.
Our loved ones may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons—but they are helpless against our prayers.
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REAL PEOPLE, REAL GOD
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Posted:Jan 20, 2016 4:15 am
Last Updated:Jan 21, 2016 3:29 am 17254 Views
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Read: Philippians 3:17-21 |
Bible in a Year: Genesis 49–50; Matthew 13:31-34
Join together in following my example.
Philippians 3:17
Several years ago I received a letter from an Our Daily Bread reader after I had written about a family tragedy. “When you told about your tragedy,” this person wrote, “I realized that the writers were real people with real problems.” How true that is! I look across the list of men and women who pen these articles, and I see cancer and wayward and unfulfilled dreams and many other kinds of loss. We are indeed just regular, real people writing about a real God who understands our real problems.
The apostle Paul stands out in the Real People Hall of Fame. He had physical problems. He had legal issues. He had interpersonal relationship struggles to deal with. And in all of this messy reality, he was setting an example for us. In Philippians 3:17, he said, “Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.”
God welcomes all people to come to Him for salvation.
Those around us who need the gospel—who need Jesus—are looking for believable people who can point them to our perfect Savior. And that means we must be real.
You, Lord, are perfection. Yet You welcome us imperfect people to come to You for salvation. You sent Your perfect to earth to die for us. Help us to be real and genuine as we seek to point people to You.
If we are true to God, we will not be false to people.
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YOU FIRST!
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Posted:Jan 19, 2016 3:55 am
Last Updated:Jan 21, 2016 5:52 am 17555 Views
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Read: Philippians 2:1-11
Bible in a Year: Genesis 46–48; Matthew 13:1-30
[Jesus] humbled himself.
Philippians 2:8
Tibetan-born Sherpa Nawang Gombu and American Jim Whittaker reached the top of Mount Everest on May 1, 1963. As they approached the peak, each considered the honor of being the first of the two to step to the summit. Whittaker motioned for Gombu to move ahead, but Gombu declined with a smile, saying, “You first, Big Jim!” Finally, they decided to step to the summit at the same time.
Paul encouraged the Philippian believers to demonstrate this kind of humility. He said, “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4 nkjv). Selfishness and superiority can divide people, but humility unites us, since it is the quality of “being one in spirit and of one mind” (v. 2).
Practicing humility helps us to become more like Jesus.
When quarrels and disagreements occur, we can often diffuse them by giving up our right to be right. Humility calls us to show grace and gentleness when we would rather insist on our own way. “In humility value others above yourselves” (v. 3).
Practicing humility helps us to become more like Jesus who, for our sake, “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death” vv. 7-8. Following in Jesus’ footsteps means backing away from what is best for us and doing what is best for others.
Jesus, You gave up Your life for me. Help me to see each sacrifice I make as a reflection of Your humility. In putting others first, let me honor You.
Humility promotes unity.
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MINISTER OF RECONCILIATION
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Posted:Jan 18, 2016 4:40 am
Last Updated:Jan 20, 2016 4:15 am 16717 Views
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Read: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Bible in a Year: Genesis 43–45; Matthew 12:24-50
While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his .
Romans 5:10
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached on a Sunday morning in 1957, he fought the temptation to retaliate against a society steeped in racism.
“How do you go about loving your enemies?” he asked the Dexter Avenue Baptist congregation in Montgomery, Alabama. “Begin with yourself. . . . When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it.”
Quoting from the words of Jesus, King said: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you . . . ; that ye may be the of your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:44-45
As we consider those who harm us, we are wise to remember our former status as enemies of God (see Rom. 5:10). But “[God] reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,” wrote Paul 2 Cor. 5:18. Now we have a holy obligation. “He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (v. 19). We are to take that message to the world.
Racial and political tensions are nothing new. But the business of the church is never to feed divisiveness. We should not attack those unlike us or those who hold different opinions or even those who seek our destruction. Ours is a “ministry of reconciliation” that imitates the selfless servant-heart of Jesus.
In Christ there is no east or west, in Him no south or north, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.
Hate destroys the hater as well as the hated. Martin Luther King Jr.
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WHAT'S IN THE BANK?
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Posted:Jan 15, 2016 4:18 am
Last Updated:Jan 18, 2016 4:40 am 13951 Views
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Read: Ephesians 2:4-7
Bible in a Year: Genesis 36–38; Matthew 10:21-42
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:16
In the winter of 2009, a large passenger plane made an emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River. The pilot, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who landed the plane safely with no casualties, was later asked about those moments in the air when he was faced with a life-or-death decision. “One way of looking at this,” he said, “might be that for 42 years I’ve been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education, and training. And on [that day] the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.”
Most of us will at some time face a crisis. Perhaps it will be a job termination or the results of a medical test, or the loss of a precious family member or friend. It is in those times that we must dig down deep into the reserves of our spiritual bank account.
And what might we find there? If we have enjoyed a deepening relationship with God, we’ve been making regular “deposits” of faith. We have experienced His grace (2 Cor. 8:9; Eph. 2:4-7). We trust the promise of Scripture that God is just and faithful (Deut. 32:4; 2
Thess. 3:3).
God’s love and grace are available when His need to make a “withdrawal” (Ps. 9:10; Heb. 4:16).
Great is Your faithfulness, O Lord God! Each day I see You provide for me and show me mercy. Thank You.
Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past strengthens us for the future.
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Saying Goodbye
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Posted:Jan 14, 2016 12:55 am
Last Updated:Jan 15, 2016 9:11 am 10898 Views
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Read: Luke 9:57-62
Bible in a Year: Genesis 33–35; Matthew 10:1-20
No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.
Luke 9:62
Saying goodbye is hard—to family and friends, to a favorite and familiar place, to an occupation or livelihood.
In Luke 9:57-62 our Lord describes the cost of being His disciple. A would-be follower says to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus responds, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (vv. 61-62). Is He asking His followers to say goodbye to everything and every relationship considered precious?
God wants what is best for us.
In the Chinese language there is no direct equivalent of the English word goodbye. The two Chinese characters used to translate this word really mean “see you again.” Becoming a disciple of Christ may sometimes mean others will reject us, but it does not mean we say goodbye to people in the sense that we are to forget all our past relationships. Saying goodbye means that God wants us to follow Him on His terms—wholeheartedly. Then we will see people again from the right perspective.
God wants the best for us, but we must allow Him to take priority over everything else.
Dear Lord, I want to follow You wholeheartedly. Help me not to place anything or anyone before You.
When we follow Jesus we get a new perspective.
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GATES OF PARADISE
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Posted:Jan 13, 2016 5:22 am
Last Updated:Jan 14, 2016 12:55 am 9205 Views
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Read: John 10:1-9
Bible in a Year: Genesis 31–32; Matthew 9:18-38
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.
John 10:9
Italian artist Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378–1455) spent years skillfully crafting images of Jesus’ life into the bronze doors of Italy’s Florence Baptistery. These bronze reliefs were so moving that Michelangelo called them the Gates of Paradise.
As an artistic treasure, the doors greet visitors with echoes of the gospel story. It was Jesus who said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9). On the night before His crucifixion, He told His disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6). Within a few hours Jesus would say to one of the criminals being crucified at His side, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Jesus is the way, the truth, & the life.
The apostle Peter a few weeks later boldly proclaimed to those who had called for Jesus’ death that “there is no other name under heaven . . . by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Years later, the apostle Paul wrote that there is only one mediator between God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5).
The gates of paradise are found in the Savior who offers everlasting life to all who believe and come to Him. Enter into the joy of His salvation.
I needed a mediator because of my sin. Thank You, Jesus, for being the way to the Father by Your death and resurrection. I will be forever grateful.
Jesus died in our place to give us His peace.
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HOLD ON!
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Posted:Jan 12, 2016 4:56 am
Last Updated:Jan 13, 2016 5:23 am 8450 Views
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Read: Revelation 3.7-13 |
Bible in a Year: Genesis 29–30; Matthew 9:1-17
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have.
Revelation 3:11
A cowboy friend of mine who grew up on a ranch in Texas has a number of colorful sayings. One of my favorites is “It don’t take much water to make good coffee.” And when someone ropes a steer too big to handle or is in some kind of trouble, my friend will shout, “Hold everything you’ve got!” meaning “Help is on the way! Don’t let go!”
In the book of Revelation we find letters to “the seven churches in the province of Asia” (chs. 2–3). These messages from God are filled with encouragement, rebuke, and challenge, and they speak to us today just as they did to the first-century recipients.
Holding on to God's promises in hard times strengthens our faith.
Twice in these letters we find the phrase, “Hold on to what you have.” The Lord told the church at Thyatira, “Hold on to what you have until I come” (2:25). And to the church in Philadelphia He said, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (3:11). In the midst of great trials and opposition, these believers clung to God’s promises and persevered in faith.
When our circumstances are harsh and sorrows outnumber joys, Jesus shouts to us, “Hold everything you’ve got! Help is on the way!” And with that promise, we can hold on in faith and rejoice.
Lord, we cling to Your promise, expect Your return, and hold on with confidence as we say, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
The promise of Christ’s return calls us to persevere in faith.
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