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Benefits Of Friendship
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Feb 14, 2012 4:40 am
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Read: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. —Ecclesiastes 4:9
Bible in a year:
Numbers 31-33
Cicero was one of the greatest thinkers of the Roman Empire. He was a skilled orator, lawyer, politician, linguist, and writer. Still today he is quoted for his clear prose and practical wisdom.
For instance, of having friends he wrote: “Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.” He understood the double benefits of friendship along life’s journey.
Nearly a millennium earlier, King Solomon had written about the value of friends as well. In Ecclesiastes we read, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up” (4:9-10). Certainly a life without friends makes our sojourn lonely and hard to bear.
That famous Roman and that Jewish king were right: Friends are important. Friends serve as confidants, counselors, and burden-sharers.
Think about your friends. Have you been neglecting those God has provided to share your joys and sorrows? If so, seek out one of your friends for fellowship this week. Remember, “two are better than one,” because a friend can double our joy and divide our grief.
A friend is “trust,” a friend is “warmth,”
A friend is “always there”
To add to every happiness,
To lessen every care.
Friends are flowers in the garden of life.
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Wings Like A Dove
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Feb 13, 2012 4:46 am
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Read: Psalm 55:4-22
Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. —Psalm 55:6
Bible in a year:
Numbers 28-30
David sighed, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest” (Ps. 55:6). As for me, I’d build a cabin in the Sawtooths, or take a permanent post in a fire-lookout tower. When life weighs on me, I too yearn to fly away and be at rest.
David wrote freely about his circumstances: Violence, oppression, and strife surrounded him on all sides, stirred up by the disloyalty of an old friend (55:8-14). Fear and terror, pain and trembling, anxiety and restlessness overwhelmed him (vv.4-5). Is it any wonder he longed to fly away?
But escape was impossible. He could not evade his lot. He could only give his circumstances to God: “As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice” (vv.16-17).
Whatever our circumstances—a burdensome ministry, a difficult marriage, joblessness, or a deep loneliness—we can give them to God. He has lifted the burden of our sins; will He not lift the weight of our sorrows? We have trusted Him with our eternal souls; can we not entrust our present circumstances to Him? “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you” (55:22).
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.
Because God cares about us, we can leave our cares with Him.
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Flawed
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Feb 10, 2012 5:38 am
78 Views
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Flawed 10 Febrero 2012 8:34 am
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Read: Genesis 27:6-23
My strength is made perfect in weakness.
—2 Corinthians 12:9
Bible in a year:
Numbers 18-20
A well-known actor commented that he enjoyed playing “flawed” characters in movies because people could relate better to an imperfect character. Most of us would agree that it’s easier for us to understand people who aren’t perfect because we know that we are imperfect.
God included stories in the Bible of people who were deceitful, weak, unreliable, and angry. Take Jacob, for example, who deceived his father so that he would receive a blessing (Gen. 27:1-29). Then there was Gideon, who was so unsure of God that he asked Him twice for proof that He would be faithful to do what He said He would do (Judg. 6:39). And then there’s Peter, who for fear of his own safety, denied even knowing his friend and Lord (Mark 14:66-72).
But when we read the rest of their stories, we observe that these people were able, with God’s help, to overcome their shortcomings and ultimately be useful to Him. That happened when they depended not on themselves but on God.
Just like the people who lived thousands of years ago, each of us comes with flaws. But by God’s grace we can overcome those imperfections by embracing His “strength [which] is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
God’s strength is made perfect in weakness,
For when we are weak He is strong;
He gives us His grace and His power
To overcome in us what’s wrong.
It’s good to learn of our weakness
if it drives us to lean on God’s strength.
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Glorifying God In The Life And Death
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Feb 9, 2012 5:19 am
80 Views
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Read: John 21:12-19
This [Jesus] spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. —John 21:19
Bible in a year:
Numbers 15-17
It seems we most often think about how we can glorify God through our lives when we are active and strong. But I wonder if we should also consider how we might glorify God through our death.
After Peter denied Jesus three times (John 18:15-27), the Lord gave him an opportunity to reaffirm his love (21:15-17). Three times, Jesus asked, “Peter, do you love Me?” Then in a surprising change of subject, Jesus said: “‘When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.’ This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me’” (vv.18-19). Jesus told Peter that others would take him where he didn’t want to go, yet by that unchosen way of dying, he would glorify God.
Paul said that it was his “earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil. 1:20).
We can bring honor and glory to God as we live—and as we die.
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Just Because He's Good
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Feb 8, 2012 5:29 am
99 Views
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Read: Psalm 100
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! —Psalm 136:1
Bible in a year:
Numbers 11-14
Joel and Lauren decided to move from Washington State back home to Michigan. Wanting to make one last special memory, they bought coffee from their favorite cafe and then stopped at their favorite bookstore. There they picked up two bumper stickers with a favorite motto of the town they were saying goodbye to: “It’s an Edmonds kind of day.”
After 2 weeks and a 3,000-mile drive, they entered Michigan. Hungry and wanting to celebrate their arrival, they stopped and asked about where to find a restaurant. Although they had to backtrack a few miles, they found a quaint little cafe. Emma, their waitress, excited to learn they were from her home state of Washington, asked, “What city?” “Edmonds,” they replied. “That’s where I’m from!” she said. Wanting to share the joy, Joel got their extra bumper sticker from the car and handed it to her. Amazingly, the sticker was from her mother’s store! It had gone from her mom’s hands to theirs, across 3,000 miles, to her hands.
Mere coincidence? Or were these experiences good gifts orchestrated by a good God who loves to encourage His children? Proverbs tells us, “A man’s steps are directed by the Lord” (20:24). In response, let’s “bless His name. For the Lord is good” (Ps. 100:4-5).
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Great Is Your Reward
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Feb 7, 2012 4:31 am
102 Views
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Read: Matthew 6:1-6,16-18
Your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. —Matthew 6:4
Bible in a year:
Numbers 7-10
Many businesses have “points programs” that offer rewards to loyal customers. You can stack up these rewards by using their companies’ services, like eating at local restaurants, staying at certain hotels, or flying on particular airlines. Choosing to spend your money this way makes a lot of sense.
God has a rewards program as well. Jesus often spoke of His desire to reward us for loyally serving Him. When we are persecuted for His sake, for example, He says to “rejoice . . . for great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:12). In contrast to the Pharisees’ pious habit of giving, praying, and fasting in public, Jesus instructed us to do these things privately, because “your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly” 6.4,6,18. When it comes to living for Jesus, faithfulness never ultimately puts your life in a deficit position, regardless of what it costs.
But we don’t serve Jesus for the rewards. When He died for us on the cross, He did far more for us than we deserve. Loyalty to Him is an act of worship that expresses our loving gratitude for His love toward us. In return, He delights to encourage us with the assurance that ultimately His rewards will outweigh whatever we have given up for Him.
Live for Jesus—regardless of the cost.
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Consider The Source
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Feb 6, 2012 3:33 am
153 Views
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Read: James 1:12-18
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. —James 1:17
Bible in a year:
Numbers 4-6
I love cinnamon. I love cinnamon rolls, cinnamon graham crackers, cinnamon candies, cinnamon toast, cinnamon apples, and cinnamon pretzels. Cinnamon is one of those spices that makes other things taste better. However, it never crossed my mind to think about where cinnamon comes from. Then, on a recent trip to Sri Lanka, I learned that 90 percent of all the cinnamon in the world comes from that island nation located in the Indian Ocean. For all of the cinnamon I’ve enjoyed over the years, I never stopped to consider its source.
Sadly, my walk with Christ is sometimes like that. God has blessed me with a wonderful wife, five children, and grandchildren who are more fun than a barrel of monkeys. In the midst of my enjoyment of them, however, I sometimes fail to consider the source of those blessings—what the hymnwriter called the “fount of every blessing.” James put it like this: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (1:17).
How ungrateful we would be to enjoy the rich blessings of life without thanking the Father who is the source of all of creation.
Dear Lord, from whom all blessings flow,
Most precious gifts dost Thou bestow;
So truly faithful may I be
As Thou art gracious unto me.
Gratitude is a God-honoring attitude.
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Pleading The Lord's Cause
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Feb 3, 2012 4:43 am
186 Views
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Read: Philippians 1:12-18
I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. —Philippians 1:17
Bible in a year:
Leviticus 20-23
Charles Finney, a 29-year-old lawyer, was concerned about his soul’s salvation. On October 10, 1821, he retreated to a wooded area near his home for a time of prayer. While there, he had a profound conversion experience. He wrote: “The Holy Spirit . . . seemed to go through me, body and soul. . . . Indeed it seemed to come in waves of liquid love.”
The next day, he met with a client who had come to him for legal representation. Finney told him: “I have a retainer from the Lord Jesus Christ to plead His cause and cannot plead yours.” He left his law practice and entered the ministry. Later, he would be used mightily of God to bring others to Christ.
The apostle Paul was also called to plead the Lord’s cause. He wrote, “I am appointed for the defense of the gospel” (Phil. 1:17). The word translated “defense” was used in the ancient world for an attorney pleading his case in a court of law. All believers are called to share the wonderful news of the saving grace of God. “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).
What a great privilege to be used of God to bring others to Christ!
Do we really care for those
Who live beneath God’s wrath?
The gospel must be shared with them,
To turn them from death’s path.
The good news of Christ is too good to keep to yourself.
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God's Plans, Not Ours
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Feb 2, 2012 6:03 am
187 Views
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Read: 1 Samuel 4:1-11
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
—Psalm 91:2
Bible in a year:
Leviticus 17-19
Everybody was wrong about the ark of the covenant (an item in the tabernacle that represented the throne of God). After losing a battle to the Philistines, Israel sent messengers to Shiloh to ask that the ark be hauled to Ebenezer, the site of their army camp.
When the ark arrived, the Israelites celebrated so loudly the enemy heard them all the way over in Aphek. The ark’s arrival caused the Philistines to fear and the Israelites to have courage.
They were both wrong. The Israelites took the ark into battle and were again clobbered by the Philistines, who captured the ark. Another mistake. The Philistines got sick and their false gods were destroyed.
We can understand the Philistines’ error—they were idol-worshipers. But the Israelites should have known better. They failed to consult God about using the ark. While they knew that the ark was earlier carried in battle (Josh. 6), they didn’t consider that God’s plan, not the ark’s involvement, allowed Israel to defeat Jericho.
No matter our resources, we will fail unless we use them according to God’s plan. Let’s study the Word, pray for God’s direction, and trust His leading (Ps. 91:2) before we step out in any venture of faith.
My times are in my Father’s hand;
How could I wish or ask for more?
For He who has my pathway planned
Will guide me till my journey’s o’er.
We see in part; God sees the whole.
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The Spirit OF Christmas
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Feb 1, 2012 2:39 am
187 Views
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Read: Luke 1:31-41
The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. —Luke 1:35
Bible in a year:
Leviticus 14-16
The acts of generosity and good will that flourish in December often fade quickly, causing many to say, “I wish we could keep the Christmas spirit all year long.” Why does it seem that kindness and compassion are chained to the calendar? Is there an ever-flowing fountain of compassion deeper than warm holiday feelings that pass with the season?
In the first two chapters of Luke, it is striking that the Holy Spirit is mentioned seven times. His work is cited in the lives of the unborn John the Baptist (1:15), Mary (1:35), Elizabeth (1:41), Zacharias (1:67), and Simeon (2:25-27). Here, in what we often call “the Christmas story,” there is no mention of people having something just come to mind or of feeling strangely moved. Instead, the Holy Spirit is identified as the One who guided Simeon, filled Zacharias and Elizabeth, and created the baby in Mary’s womb.
Do we, like them, recognize the Spirit’s voice in the midst of all others? Are we alert to His promptings and eager to obey? Will we allow His warmth and love to fill our hearts and flow through our hands?
Today, the presence and power of Christ remain with us through the Holy Spirit, who is the true, eternal Spirit of Christmas—all year long.
Let the fullness of Thy Spirit
Fall upon us here this hour.
How we need a new anointing
Of the Holy Ghost and power.
Jesus went away so the Spirit could come to stay
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