2 A.M.Friends
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Posted:Sep 18, 2015 5:13 am
Last Updated:Sep 21, 2015 7:14 am 19983 Views
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Read: Colossians 4:2-15
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 30–31; 2 Corinthians 11:1-15
He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Colossians 4:12
A friend told me about a group of people who share a strong bond of faith in Christ. One of them, a 93-year-old woman, said, “I feel like I can call any of you at 2 a.m., and I don’t even have to apologize if I feel the need for any type of assistance.” Whether the need is prayer, practical help, or someone to be there during a time of need, these friends are unconditionally committed to each other.
The same sense of commitment shines through Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Colossae. Writing from prison in Rome, Paul says he is sending Tychicus and Onesimus to encourage them (Col. 4.7-9). Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus send their greetings (vv.10-11). And Epaphras is “always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (v. 12). These are bold assurances of practical help and deep-seated love.
Are you part of a “2 a.m. group”? If so, give thanks for the faithfulness of friends. If not, ask the Lord to connect you with another person with whom you can share a commitment to pray and care. I suspect it will soon grow to include others. Share the love of Christ with one another.
Anything. Anytime. Anywhere. All in Jesus’ name!
Jesus, thank You for friends who demonstrate Your love to me. Help me to do the same for them and those around me. Most of all, thank You for being the friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Jesus
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Doesn't God Care?
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Posted:Sep 17, 2015 3:55 am
Last Updated:Sep 18, 2015 5:13 am 19907 Views
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Read: Habakkuk 1:1-11
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 27–29; 2 Corinthians 10
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8
Why does the intoxicated driver escape an accident unharmed while his sober victim is seriously injured? Why do bad people prosper while good people suffer? How often have you been so confused by things going on in your life that you have cried out, “Doesn’t God care?”
Habakkuk struggled with this same question as he saw the distressing situation in Judah where wickedness and injustice were running rampant (Hab. 1:1-4). His confusion drove him to ask God when He would act to fix the situation. God’s reply was nothing short of perplexing.
When we don’t understand God’s ways, we can trust His unchanging character.
God said that He would use the Chaldeans as the means of Judah’s correction. The Chaldeans were notorious for their cruelty (v. 7). They were bent on violence (v. 9) and worshiped nothing but their military prowess and false gods (vv. 10-11).
In moments when we don’t understand God’s ways, we need to trust His unchanging character. That’s exactly what Habakkuk did. He believed that God is a God of justice, mercy, and truth
(Ps. 89:14). In the process, he learned to look at his circumstances from the framework of God’s character instead of looking at God’s character from the context of his own circumstances. He concluded, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Hab. 3:19).
Lord, it is easy to let my circumstances change how I understand You. Help me to remember that You are good and faithful, even though I can’t see everything and may not understand how You are working.
Our situation may look very different from God’s point of view.
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Feeling Forsaken
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Posted:Sep 16, 2015 4:48 am
Last Updated:Sep 16, 2015 4:55 am 19542 Views
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Read: Psalm 22:1-21
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 25–26; 2 Corinthians 9
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:46
In his book The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis records an imaginary conversation between a senior devil and a junior devil as they discuss how to properly tempt a Christian. The two devils desired to destroy the believer’s faith in God. “Be not deceived,” the senior devil says to the junior. “Our cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human . . . looks round upon a universe in which every trace of [God] seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”
The Bible gives us many examples of people who acted with faith despite their feelings of abandonment. Abram felt that God’s promise of an heir had gone unheeded (Gen. 15:2-3). The psalmist felt ignored in his trouble (Ps. 10:1). Job’s troubles were so great that he thought God might even kill him (Job 13:15). And Jesus from the cross cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Yet in each instance God was shown to be faithful (Gen. 21:1-7; Ps. 10:16-18;
38:1–42:17; Matt. 28:9-20).
Although Satan may try to tempt you to think you are forsaken, God is always near. He never forsakes His own. “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ ” (Heb. 13:5). We may boldly say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid” (v. 6).
Lord, although clouds and darkness sometimes shroud me, I know that You are close by my side. Thank You.
God is always near in spite of our fears.
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God's Compass
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Posted:Sep 15, 2015 4:55 am
Last Updated:Sep 16, 2015 4:49 am 19321 Views
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Read: Psalm 119:105-112
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 22–24; 2 Corinthians 8
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105
During World War II, small compasses saved the lives of 27 sailors 300 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Waldemar Semenov, a retired merchant seaman, was serving as a junior engineer aboard the SS Alcoa Guide when a German submarine surfaced and opened fire on the ship. The ship was hit, caught fire, and began to sink. Semenov and his crew lowered compass-equipped lifeboats into the water and used the compasses to guide them toward the shipping lanes closer to shore. After three days, the men were rescued.
The psalmist reminded God’s people that His Word was a trustworthy “compass.” He likened it to a lamp. In that day, the flickering light cast by an olive oil lamp was only bright enough to show a traveler his next step. To the psalmist, God’s Word was such a lamp, providing enough light to illuminate the path for those pursuing God (Ps. 119:105). When the psalmist was wandering in the dark on a chaotic path of life, he believed that God, through the guidance of His Word, would provide direction.
When we lose our bearings in life, we can trust our God who gives His trustworthy Word as our compass, using it to lead us into deeper fellowship with Him.
Heavenly Father, it is difficult to navigate life. I drift sometimes, but I will trust in You. Lead me and guide me by the faithfulness and reliability of Your Word.
God has given us His Word to help us know and follow Him.
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Words And Actions
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Posted:Sep 14, 2015 4:53 am
Last Updated:Sep 15, 2015 4:57 am 19194 Views
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Read: Matthew 21:28-32
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 19–21; 2 Corinthians 7
Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:18
The email from the student in my college writing class expressed urgency. It was the end of the semester, and he realized he needed a better grade to participate in sports. What could he do? He had missed some assignments, so I gave him two days to complete those papers and improve his grade. His response: “Thank you. I’ll do it.”
Two days—and the deadline—passed, and no papers appeared. He didn’t back up his words with action.
Jesus told about a young man who did something similar. The boy’s dad asked him to do some work in the vineyard. The said, “I will, sir” (Matt. 21:30). But he was all talk and no action.
In commenting on this parable, Matthew Henry concluded: “Buds and blossoms are not fruit.” The buds and blossoms of our words, which breed anticipation of what we might do, are empty without the fruit of our follow-through. Jesus’ main application was to religious leaders who spoke of obedience yet refused to follow through with repentance. But the words apply to us as well. It is in following God “with actions and in truth”
1 John 3:18—not in making empty promises—that we honor our Lord and Savior.
Our actions in obeying God show Him more love, honor, and praise than any empty words we might say to try to appear good.
Dear Father, help me to follow through on my promises to You and to all who depend on me. Especially help me to do Your will and not just talk about it.
Words are the blossoms, action the fruit.
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IN THE GARDEN
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Posted:Sep 11, 2015 5:54 am
Last Updated:Sep 14, 2015 4:53 am 18958 Views
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Read: Matthew 26:36-42
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 10–12; 2 Corinthians 4
My Father, . . . may your will be done. Matthew 26:42
My forefathers were pioneers in Michigan. They cleared the land, planted crops, and cultivated gardens to raise food for their families. This agrarian bent has been passed down through the generations. My dad grew up on a Michigan farm and loved gardening, which may explain why I love gardening and the smell of fertile soil. Cultivating plants that bear beautiful flowers and tending roses that fragrantly grace our yard with beauty are enjoyable pastimes for me. If it weren’t for the weeds it would be wonderful!
When I have to wrestle with the weeds, I am reminded of the garden of Eden; it was a perfect garden until Adam and Eve disobeyed God and thorns and thistles became a reality for them and every gardener since then (Gen. 3:17-18.
The Bible also mentions another garden—the garden of Gethsemane where Christ, in deep distress, pleaded with His Father to find another way to reverse sin’s consequences that were born in Eden. In Gethsemane, Jesus surrendered to His Father by uttering words of full obedience in the face of great pain: “Your will be done” (Matt. 26:42).
Because Jesus surrendered in that garden, we now harvest the benefits of His amazing grace. May this lead us to surrender to His weeding of sin from our lives.
Lord, thank You for the amazing price You paid to free me from sin. May the reality of the victory You won encourage me to reject the sin that entangles my ability to be fruitful for You.
Spiritual growth occurs when faith is cultivated.
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Holding Me Up
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Posted:Sep 10, 2015 3:33 am
Last Updated:Sep 10, 2015 3:33 am 18848 Views
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Read: Psalm 34:1-7
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 8–9; 2 Corinthians 3
I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13
After I no longer went on family road trips with my parents, it became a rare occasion to visit my grandparents who lived hundreds of miles away from us. So one year, I decided to fly to visit them in the small town of Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin, for a long weekend. As we drove to the airport for my return flight, Grandma, who had never flown, began to express her fears to me: “That was such a small plane you flew on . . . . There’s nothing really holding you up there, is there? . . . I would be so afraid to go up that high.”
By the time I boarded the small aircraft, I was as fearful as the first
I had flown. What exactly is holding up this plane, anyway?
Irrational fears, or even legitimate ones, don’t need to terrify us. David lived as a fugitive, afraid of King Saul who relentlessly pursued him because he was jealous of David’s popularity with the people. David found true solace and comfort only in his relationship with God. In
Psalm 34 he wrote: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears”
(v. 4).
Our Father in heaven is all-wise and all-loving. When fear starts to overwhelm us, we need to stop and remember that He is our God and He will always hold us up.
My fears sometimes overwhelm me, Father. Yet I know that You are here with me. May Your perfect love cast out my fear and still my troubled heart!
When we believe that God is good, we can learn to release our fears.
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A Fragrance And A Letter
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Posted:Sep 9, 2015 6:15 am
Last Updated:Sep 9, 2015 6:16 am 18635 Views
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Read: 2 Corinthians 2:14–3:3 |
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 6–7; 2 Corinthians 2
We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:15
Every time I get close to a rosebush or a bouquet of flowers, I’m unable to resist the temptation to pull a flower toward my nose to savor the fragrance. The sweet aroma lifts up my heart and triggers good feelings within me.
Writing to the Christians in Corinth centuries ago, the apostle Paul says that because we belong to Christ, God “uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Cor. 2:14). Through His strength we can live a victorious life, exchanging our selfishness for His love and kindness and proclaiming the goodness of His salvation. When we do this, we are indeed a sweet fragrance to God.
Paul then switches to a second image, describing Christians as a “letter from Christ” (3:3). The letter of our lives is not written with ordinary ink, but by the Spirit of God. God changes us by writing His Word on our hearts for others to read.
Both word pictures encourage us to allow the beauty of Christ to be seen in us so we can point people to Him. He is the One who, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:2, “loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Lord, let Your splendor fill my life, that I may draw people to You. Help me walk in the way that spreads the fragrance of Your love to others.
Our actions speak louder than our words.
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God's Plan
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Posted:Sep 8, 2015 7:57 am
Last Updated:May 7, 2024 6:27 pm 18619 Views
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Read: Joshua 5:13–6:2
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 3–5; 2 Corinthians 1
What do you want your servant to do? Joshua 5:14
An army officer may have an overall plan, but before each battle he has to receive and give out new instructions. Joshua, a leader of the Israelites, had to learn this lesson. After God’s people spent 40 years in the wilderness, God chose Joshua to lead them into the land He had promised to them.
The first stronghold they faced was the city of Jericho. Before the battle, Joshua saw the “commander of the Lord’s army” (probably the Lord Himself) standing opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. Joshua fell on his face and worshiped. In other words, he recognized God’s greatness and his own smallness. Then he asked, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” (Josh. 5:14). Joshua experienced victory at Jericho because he followed the Lord’s instructions.
Recognizing God's greatness & our own smallness makes us more dependent on Him.
On another occasion, however, Joshua and his people “did not inquire of the Lord” (9:14). As a result, they were deceived into making a peace treaty with the people of Gibeon, enemies in the land of Canaan. This displeased the Lord (vv. 3-26).
We too are dependent on the Lord as we face life’s struggles. He longs for us to come near to Him today in humility. And He’ll be there again for us tomorrow.
In what area do you need God’s guidance today? Ask God to lead the way.
Spiritual victory comes to those who humble themselves and seek God’s will.
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Ripples Of Hope
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Posted:Sep 7, 2015 2:19 am
Last Updated:Sep 8, 2015 7:58 am 18534 Views
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Read: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 1–2; 1 Corinthians 16
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:3
In 1966, U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy made an influential visit to South Africa. There he offered words of hope to opponents of apartheid in his famous “Ripple of Hope” speech at the University of Cape Town. In his speech, he declared, “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
At times in this world, hope seems scarce. Yet there is an ultimate hope readily available for the follower of Christ. Peter wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
Jesus can infuse #hope into the most hopeless of situations.
Through the certainty of Christ’s resurrection, the of God has a hope that is more than a ripple. It is an overwhelming current of confidence in the faithfulness of the One who conquered death for us. Jesus, in His victory over death—our greatest enemy—can infuse hope into the most hopeless of situations.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
In Christ the hopeless find hope.
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