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K-love Digger Deeper

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SPEAK LIFE

A BREATH OF REFRESHING AIR by Jeff Schreve

For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother. Philemon 1:7

Have you noticed how many people are walking around stressed, depressed and burdened down? Lots of folks you and I rub shoulders with every day are facing the turmoil of rumored lay-offs, dreaded disease, marital problems, blended family strife, financial hardship, spiritual doubts, emotional disillusionment, and the list goes on. No one ever said life was easy, because it certainly isn’t. And many are cracking under the weight of it.

Maybe you are reading this thinking, “Pastor Jeff just described me. I am so stressed and burdened right now… and I don’t know what to do.” Well, Jesus gives a great invitation to those of us who are worried, worn out and beaten down: “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

The Greek word for rest, “anapauo” is the same word translated as “refreshed” in Philemon 1:7 . Interesting. You see, the Lord wants to give you rest from your weariness and He wants to refresh your soul and give you a new lease on life. He is truly a wonderful Savior.

GIVE ME A WORD FOR THE WEARY

PARTNERING WITH JESUS

In addition, the Lord wants to use you as an ambassador of rest and refreshment to weary, worried souls. He wants to lift your spirits so you can lift the spirits of others.

Philemon was a person like that. He had been saved and changed by God’s amazing grace. The Holy Spirit was at work within him, and all could tell. Paul had great love and admiration for Philemon because everywhere he went, he was refreshing and encouraging heavy hearts. He was letting the Lord shine through him and was making such a difference as he cast his own burden on the Lord and partnered with Jesus to lift the burdens of others.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Are you like Philemon? Do you cast your burdens on Jesus and let Him use you to help unburden others? You would be amazed at the impact you could have if you would simply ask God to make you sensitive to the hurts and cares of people and the opportunity you have to refresh their hearts with a word of hope and compassion.

Isaiah 50:4 says, The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.

Recently, my wife talked to a friend who is going through terrible, ongoing bouts with vertigo. God gave Debbie a word to give to her and it made such a difference. After talking to Debbie for a few minutes, she really did feel encouraged and refreshed in her faith. How cool is that?

Will you pray, “God, please give me a sensitivity to see burdened people as You see them. Give me a word for the weary one that would encourage, refresh and bring renewed hope to that discouraged soul. I want to be a breath of refreshing air. Use me, Jesus, to make a difference today.”
By
Jeff Schreve

 

Today’s 5/19/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

Isaiah 6:1–7

When the prophet Isaiah had a vision of the glorious and awesome Creator of the universe, he was overwhelmed both by the holiness of God and by his own sudden awareness of the depth of his sin. Read this observation by R. C. Sproul as he comments on Isaiah’s encounter with the holiness of God: “To be undone means to come apart at the seams, to be unraveled. What Isaiah was expressing is what modern psychologists describe as the experience of personal disintegration. To disintegrate means exactly what the word suggests, ‘dis integrate.’ To integrate something is to put pieces together in a unified whole . . . The word integrity . . . [suggests] a person whose life is whole or wholesome. In modern slang we say, ‘He’s got it all together.’ ”*

In the face of God’s perfect integration, Isaiah saw his deep need for personal reconstruction. Isaiah realized the depth of his own sin in the process of catching a glimpse of God’s perfect holiness, and he acknowledged those areas in which he had turned from his commitments as a priest and a prophet. But his commitment and his life as a faithful prophet demonstrate for all leaders the possibility of framing a life of integrity with God’s help.

* Sproul, One Holy Passion

Taken from NIV Leadership Bible

johnpiper

The Light Beyond the Light

If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:1–2)

Jesus Christ is refreshing. Flight from him into Christless leisure makes the soul parched.

At first it may feel like freedom and fun to skimp on prayer and neglect the Word. But then we pay: shallowness, powerlessness, vulnerability to sin, preoccupation with trifles, superficial relationships, and a frightening loss of interest in worship and the things of the Spirit.

Don’t let summer make your soul shrivel. God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute.

If the mailman brings you a love letter from your fiancé, don’t fall in love with the mailman. Don’t fall in love with the video preview, and find yourself unable to love the coming reality.

Jesus Christ is the refreshing center of summer. He is pre–eminent in all things (Colossians 1:18), including vacations and picnics and softball and long walks and cookouts. He invites us this summer: “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy–laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).

Do we want it? That is the question. Christ gives himself to us in proportion to how much we want his refreshment. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Peter’s word to us about this is: “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Repentance is not just turning away from sin, but also turning toward the Lord with hearts open and expectant and submissive.

What sort of summer mindset is this? It is the mindset of Colossians 3:1–2, “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

It is God’s earth! It is a video preview to the reality of what the eternal summer will be like when “The city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23).

The summer sun is a mere pointer to the sun that will be. The glory of God. Summer is for seeing and showing that. Do you want to have eyes to see? Lord, let us see the light beyond the light.

Gods story

Genesis 39:1-18

Potiphar, an Egyptian officer, buys Joseph as a slave and notices his exemplary work—as does Potiphar’s wife.

Flirt or Flight

Read

Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.

But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”

She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
(Genesis 39:6-12)

Reflect

Ancient Egypt was a land of great contrasts. People were either rich beyond measure or poverty-stricken. There wasn’t much middle ground. Joseph found himself serving Potiphar, an extremely rich officer in Pharaoh’s service. Rich families like Potiphar’s had elaborate homes two or three stories tall with beautiful gardens and balconies. They enjoyed live entertainment at home as they ate delicious fruit from expensive bowls. They surrounded themselves with alabaster vases, paintings, beautiful rugs, and hand-carved chairs. Dinner was served on golden tableware, and the rooms were lighted with gold lampstands. Servants, like Joseph, worked on the first floor, while the family occupied the upper stories.

Potiphar’s wife failed to seduce Joseph, who resisted this temptation by saying it would be a sin against God. Joseph didn’t say, “I’d be hurting you,” or “I’d be sinning against Potiphar,” or “I’d be sinning against myself.” Under pressure, such excuses are easily rationalized away. Remember that sexual sin is not just between two consenting adults. It is an act of disobedience to God.

Respond

Joseph avoided Potiphar’s wife as much as possible. He refused her advances and finally ran from her. Sometimes merely trying to avoid temptation is not enough. We must turn and run from it, especially when the temptation seems very strong. What temptation do you need to run from?

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Streams in the Desert – May 19

And it came to pass, before he had done speaking…and he said, Blessed be Jehovah…who hath not forsaken his lovingkindness and his truth” (Gen. 24:15, 27).

Every right prayer is answered before the prayer itself is finished–before we have “done speaking.” This is because God has pledged His Word to us that whatsoever we ask in Christ’s name (that is, in oneness with Christ and His will) and in faith, shall be done.

As God’s Word cannot fail, whenever we meet those simple conditions in prayer, the answer to our prayer has been granted and completed in Heaven as we pray, even though its showing forth on earth may not occur until long afterward.

So it is well to close every prayer with praise to God for the answer that He has already granted; He who never forsakes His loving-kindness and His truth. (See Daniel 9:20-27 and 10:12.)
–Messages for the Morning Watch

When we believe for a blessing, we must take the attitude of faith, and begin to act and pray as if we had the blessing.  We must treat God as if He had given us our request. We must lean our weight over upon Him for the thing that we have claimed, and just take it for granted that He gives it, and is going to continue to give it. This is the attitude of trust.

When the wife is married, she at once falls into a new attitude, and acts in accordance with the fact; and so when we take Christ as our Savior, as our Sanctifier, as our Healer, or as our Deliverer, He expects us to fall into the attitude of recognizing Him in the capacity that we have claimed, and expect Him to be to us all that we have trusted Him for.
–Selected

The thing I ask when God doth bid me pray,
Begins in that same act to come my way.”

Today’s 5/18/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

Integrity (Jeremiah 38:20)

King Zedekiah’s advisers were furious when Jeremiah told the king to surrender to the Babylonians and abandon their homeland without a fight. Zedekiah promised Jeremiah protection and pledged to keep their conversation secret. And the king stayed true to his word. Jeremiah returned the king’s favor, honoring his request not to speak about their conversation with the other advisers.

A man’s word is vital. It’s important for us to be able to rely on others and trust them to be men of their word. Follow the example of Jeremiah and Zedekiah, who, despite their difficult circumstances, acted with honor and integrity.

Reflect & Pray:

  • Why are honor and integrity so important to a father’s character?
  • When have you been caught compromising your integrity?
  • If you’ve been wronged in the past, what can you do to help restore trust with the person who hurt you?

Taken from NIV Busy Dad’s Bible

johnpiper

Why We Love God

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19).

Since loving God is the evidence that he loves you with electing love (Romans 8:28, etc.), the assurance that God loves you with electing love cannot be the ground of your love for him. Our love for him, which is the evidence of our election, is our spiritually apprehending the all–satisfying glory of this God.

It is not first gratitude for a benefit received, but recognition and delight that to receive him would produce overwhelming gratitude. This recognition and delight is, or should be, according to Scripture, attended immediately with the assurance that he does in fact give himself to us for eternal enjoyment.

The Gospel call (Christ died for sinners; believe on him and you will be saved) is a call not first to believe that he died for your sins but that, because he is the kind of God who redeems at such a cost and with such wisdom and holiness, he is worthy of trust and he is a truly satisfying repose for all my longings.

Believing (that is sensing, apprehending) this is then immediately attended with the confidence that we are saved and that he did die for us, since the promise of salvation is given to those who thus believe.

The core of Christian Hedonism is thus at the very heart of what saving faith is and what it means to truly “receive” Christ, or to love God.

Compare: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). This may mean that God’s love enables our love for him through the incarnation and atonement and work of the Holy Spirit, not that our motive to love is first his making much of us.

Or it may mean that in beholding and spiritually apprehending God to be the kind of God who loves sinners like us with such amazingly free grace and through such stunningly wise and sacrificial means of atonement, we are drawn out to delight in this God for who he is in himself, rather than taking the sentence to mean that we love him first because we find ourselves personally and particularly chosen by him.

Streams in the Desert – May 18

I was crushed…so much so that I despaired even of life, but that was to make me rely not on myself, but on the God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:8, 9).

“Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length;
Pressed so intensely it seems, beyond strength;
Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul,
Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll.
Pressure by foes, and a pressure from friends.
Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.

“Pressed into knowing no helper but God;
Pressed into loving the staff and the rod.
Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;
Pressed into faith for impossible things.
Pressed into living a life in the Lord,
Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured.”

The pressure of hard places makes us value life. Every time our life is given back to us from such a trial, it is like a new beginning, and we learn better how much it is worth, and make more of it for God and man. The pressure helps us to understand the trials of others, and fits us to help and sympathize with them.

There is a shallow, superficial nature, that gets hold of a theory or a promise lightly, and talks very glibly about the distrust of those who shrink from every trial; but the man or woman who has suffered much never does this, but is very tender and gentle, and knows what suffering really means. This is what Paul meant when he said, “Death works in you.”

Trials and hard places are needed to press us forward, even as the furnace fires in the hold of that mighty ship give force that moves the piston, drives the engine, and propels that great vessel across the sea in the face of the winds and waves.
–A. B. Simpson

Gods story

Genesis 37:18-36

Joseph’s brothers sell him to slave traders.

Betrayed Brother

Read

Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.
(Genesis 37:26-28)

Reflect

The brothers were worried about bearing the guilt of Joseph’s death. Judah suggested an option that was not right but would leave them innocent of murder. Although Joseph’s brothers didn’t kill him outright, they probably didn’t expect him to survive for long as a slave. They were quite willing to let cruel slave traders do their dirty work for them. Joseph faced a thirty-day journey through the desert, probably chained and on foot. He would be treated like baggage and, once in Egypt, would be sold as a piece of merchandise. His brothers thought they would never see him again. Sometimes we jump at a solution because it is the lesser of two evils but still is not the right action to take. When someone proposes a seemingly workable solution, first ask, “Is it right?”

Could jealousy ever make you feel like killing someone? Before saying, “Of course not,” look at this story. Ten men were willing to kill their younger brother over a robe and a few reported dreams. Their deep jealousy had grown into ugly rage, completely blinding them to what was right. Left unchecked, jealousy grows quickly and can lead us into more serious sins in attempts to lessen our jealousy. Joseph’s brothers thought their jealousy would be resolved by getting rid of Joseph. The longer you cultivate jealous feelings, the more difficult it is to uproot them. The time to deal with jealousy is when you notice yourself keeping score of others’ recognition, awards, and achievements.

Respond

Envy and jealousy can eat a person alive, destroy relationships, and lead to unthinkable acts. Ask God to help you keep your eyes on him and not worry about others’ achievements, honors, and possessions.

 

Today’s 5/17/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

Consider Solomon (1 Kings 10:26–11:3)

I believe Jesus calls all of us to let go of the desire to appear good, to give up the appearance of being good, so that we can listen to the word within us and move in the mystery of who we are. The preoccupation with projecting the perfect image . . . leads to self-consciousness, sticky pedestal behavior and bondage to human respect.

Taken from NIV Ragamuffin Bible

johnpiper

The Freest Love

Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it; yet the LORD set his heart in love upon your fathers and chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as at this day. (Deuteronomy 10:14–15)

God’s electing love is absolutely free. It is the gracious overflow of his boundless happiness guided by his infinite wisdom.

Deuteronomy 10:14–15 describes the delight God had in choosing Israel from all the peoples of the earth. Notice two things.

First, notice the contrast between verses 14 and 15. Why does Moses describe the election of Israel against the backdrop of God’s ownership of the whole universe? Why does he say in verse 14, “To God belongs everything in heaven and on earth” and then say in verse 15, “Yet he chose you for his people”?

The reason seems to be to get rid of any notion that God was somehow hedged in to choose this people. The point is to explode the myth that each people has its own god and this god has a right to his own people but no more.

The truth is that this is the only true God. He owns everything in the universe and can take any people he wants for his own special possession.

Thus the unspeakably wonderful truth for Israel is that he chose them. He did not have to. He had rights and privileges to choose absolutely any people on the face of the earth for his redeeming purposes.

Therefore, when he calls himself “their God” he does not mean that he is on a par with the gods of Egypt or the gods of Canaan. He owns those gods and their peoples. If it had pleased him, he could have chosen a totally different people to accomplish his purposes.

The point of putting verses 14 and 15 together in this way is to stress the freedom and the universal rights and authority of God.

The second thing to notice (in verse 15) is the way God exercises his sovereign freedom to “set his love upon the fathers.” “He delighted in your fathers to love them.” He freely chose to take pleasure in loving the fathers.

God’s love for the fathers of Israel was free and merciful and wasn’t constrained by anything that the fathers were in their Jewishness or in their virtue.

Gods story

Genesis 37:1-17

Jacob and his large family have settled in Canaan. Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son, has dreams that offend his brothers.

The Dreamer

Read

Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.
(Genesis 37:3-4)

Reflect

In Joseph’s day, everyone had a robe or cloak. Robes were used for warmth, to bundle up belongings for a trip, to wrap babies, to sit on, or even to serve as security for a loan. Most robes were knee length, short sleeved, and plain. In contrast, Joseph’s robe was probably of the kind worn by royalty—long sleeved, ankle length, and colorful. The robe became a symbol of Joseph’s favored status with his father, and it further strained Joseph’s relationship with his brothers.

Joseph’s brothers were already angry over the possibility of being ruled by their little brother. Joseph then fueled the fire with his boasting. No one enjoys a braggart—Joseph learned this the hard way. His brothers decided to kill him but then sold him into slavery instead. After several years of hardship, Joseph learned an important lesson: Because our talents and knowledge come from God, thanking him for them is much more appropriate than bragging about them. Later, Joseph gave God the credit (Genesis 41:16).

Respond

Favoritism in families may be difficult to avoid, but its divisive effects should be minimized. Parents may not be able to change their feelings toward a favorite child, but they can change their actions toward the others. And whether you are a parent or not, remember that humility goes much further than pride. Ask God to give you a humble spirit.

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Streams in the Desert – May 17

And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness…an angel of the Lord…saying….now come, I will send thee into Egypt” (Acts 7:30-34).

Often the Lord calls us aside from our work for a season, and bids us be still and learn ere we go forth again to minister. There is no time lost in such waiting hours.

Fleeing from his enemies, the ancient knight found that his horse needed to be re-shod. Prudence seemed to urge him on without delay, but higher wisdom taught him to halt a few minutes at the blacksmith’s forge by the way, to have the shoe replaced; and although he heard the feet of his pursuers galloping hard behind, yet he waited those minutes until his charger was refitted for his flight. And then, leaping into his saddle just as they appeared a hundred yards away, he dashed away from them with the fleetness of the wind, and knew that his halting had hastened his escape.

So often God bids us tarry ere we go, and fully recover ourselves for the next stage of the journey and work.
–Days of Heaven upon Earth

Waiting! Yes, patiently waiting!
Till next steps made plain shall be;
To hear, with the inner hearing,
The Voice that will call for me.

Waiting! Yes, hopefully waiting!
With hope that need not grow dim;
The Master is pledged to guide me,
And my eyes are unto Him.

Waiting! Expectantly waiting!
Perhaps it may be today
The Master will quickly open
The gate to my future way.

Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!
I know, though I’ve waited long,
That, while He withholds His purpose,
His waiting cannot be wrong.

Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!
The Master will not be late:
He knows that I am waiting
For Him to unlatch the gate.
–J. D. Smith

Today’s 5/16/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

Singleness of the Heart (Proverbs 11:3)

Some mistakenly associate the word integrity only with reputation—an external appearance. True integrity is a quality of character—an inward reality that refers to singleness of heart or mind, the development of a blameless character by adhering to an exemplary moral code. The Biblical model of integrity is marked by several distinct features:

The Hebrews understood that:

  • integrity of heart guides a person into right and rewarding situations (Pr 11:3);
  • integrity is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice (Pr 21:3); and
  • a person’s integrity silences critics (1Pe 2:13–17).

Integrity provides a mindset toward righteousness and an abiding intent to do the will of God and to walk in his ways.

Taken from The Woman’s Study Bible

johnpiper

What Is Meekness?

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

Meekness begins when we put our trust in God. Then, because we trust him, we commit our way to him. We roll onto him our anxieties, or frustrations, our plans, our relationships, our jobs, our health.

And then we wait patiently for the Lord. We trust his timing and his power and his grace to work things out in the best way for his glory and for our good.

The result of trusting God and the rolling of our anxieties onto God and waiting patiently for God is that we don’t give way to quick and fretful anger. But instead, we give place to wrath and hand our cause over to God and let him vindicate us if he chooses.

And then, as James says, in this quiet confidence we are slow to speak and quick to listen (James 1:19). We become reasonable and open to correction.

Meekness loves to learn. And it counts the blows of a friend as precious. And when it must say a critical word to a person caught in sin or error, it speaks from the deep conviction of its own fallibility and its own susceptibility to sin and its utter dependence on the grace of God.

The quietness and openness and vulnerability of meekness is a very beautiful and a very painful thing. It goes against all that we are by our sinful nature. It requires supernatural help.

If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, that is, if you trust him and commit your way to him and wait patiently for him, God has already begun to help you and will help you more.

And the primary way that he will help you is to assure your heart that you are a fellow heir of Jesus Christ and that the world and everything in it is yours.

Gods story

Genesis 35:1-15

Jacob and his family move from place to place in Canaan, finally arriving in Bethel, where God had first appeared to him.

Holding Close

Read

Now that Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again at Bethel. God blessed him, saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.” So God renamed him Israel.
(Genesis 35:9-10)

Reflect

God reminded Jacob of his new name, Israel, which means “one who struggles with God” (see Genesis 32:22-32). Jacob’s life was littered with difficulties and trials, but his new name reflected his desire to stay close to God despite life’s disappointments.

Many people believe that Jesus promises a problem-free life. Consequently, as life gets tough, they become disappointed and retreat from faith in God. Has God failed?

Jesus actually warned his followers that they would face hard times: “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.” But Jesus offered them hope, too: “Take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Instead of hoping for a problem-free life, followers of Jesus should hold on to God through life’s struggles. Problems and difficulties are painful but inevitable. Perhaps, as in Jacob’s case, they are actually struggles with God. These can be opportunities for growth. Troubles give us a chance to trust God. They are opportunities for faith. They are opportunities for God to work in your life.

Respond

What struggles are you facing today? If life is going well, how are you deepening your trust in God for when life brings new challenges? Whether life is easy or hard, how can you hold on to God?

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Streams in the Desert – May 16

Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days (Dan. 10:12, 13).

We have wonderful teaching here on prayer, and we are shown the direct hindrance from Satan.

Daniel had fasted and prayed twenty-one days, and had a very hard time in prayer. As far as we read the narrative, it was not because Daniel was not a good man, nor because his prayer was not right; but it was because of a special attack of Satan.

The Lord started a messenger to tell Daniel that his prayer was answered the moment Daniel began to pray; but an evil angel met the good angel and wrestled with him, hindering him. There was a conflict in the heavens; and Daniel seemed to go through an agony on earth the same as that which was going on in the heavens.

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers… against wicked spirits in high places” (Eph. 6:12, margin).

Satan delayed the answer three full weeks. Daniel nearly succumbed, and Satan would have been glad to kill him; but God will not suffer anything to come above that we “are able to bear.”

Many a Christian’s prayer is hindered by Satan; but you need not fear when your prayers and faith pile up; for after a while they will be like a flood, and will not only sweep the answer through, but will also bring some new accompanying blessing.
–Sermon

Hell does its worst with the saints. The rarest souls have been tested with high pressures and temperatures, but Heaven will not desert them.
–W. L. Watkinson

Today’s 5/15/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

God Will Honor Your Integrity (Psalm 37:18)

Maybe last month it was a relational disaster. This week it might be trouble at work. Next week could bring a health crisis. After awhile the unrelenting stream of tough times takes its toll.

“What’s the use?” we cry. “I try to do right, and for what? Life keeps beating me up. I can’t get ahead. I’m not sure it pays to try to live a godly life. I struggle as much or more than my neighbors who could care less about God!”

Troubles certainly have a way of wearing us down. And, if we’re not careful, they can erode even our bedrock convictions. The promise above is a good reminder of why we must be vigilant not to take ethical shortcuts.

Those who maintain their integrity, those who continue doing right—even when everything and everyone else is wrong—will one day receive the ultimate reward.

God’s Promise to Me

  • I will take care of my innocent children.
  • You will receive an eternal reward.

My Prayer to God

Life doesn’t seem fair at times, Lord. And integrity often seems like it doesn’t matter. But it does matter, God. You see everything. Nothing escapes your gaze. You promise to care for the pure and reward the faithful. Give me the spiritual tenacity to hang in there until the day when you exalt those who steadfastly trust in you.

Taken from Once a Day Bible Promises

johnpiper

Ideas Have Consequences

The aim of our instruction is love. (1 Timothy 1:5)

Victor Frankl was imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz and Dachau during the Second World War. As a Jewish professor of neurology and psychiatry he became world renowned for his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, which sold over eight million copies.

In it he unfolds the essence of his philosophy that came to be called Logotherapy — namely, that the most fundamental human motive is to find meaning in life. He observed in the horrors of the camps that man can endure almost any “how” of life if he has a “why.” But the quote that stirred me recently was this:

I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers. (“Victor Frankl at Ninety: An Interview,” in First Things, April 1995, p. 41.)

In other words, ideas have consequences that bless or destroy. People’s behavior — good and bad — does not come from nowhere. It comes from prevailing views of reality that take root in the mind and bring forth good or evil.

One of the ways that the Bible makes plain the truth that ideas have practical consequences is by saying things like, “Whatever was written beforehand was written . . . that you may have hope” (Romans 15:4). The ideas presented in the Scriptures produce the practical consequence of hope.

Again, Paul says, “The aim of our instruction is love” (1 Timothy 1:5). The imparting of ideas by “instruction” produces love.

Hope and love do not come from nowhere. They grow out of ideas — views of reality — revealed in the Scriptures.

Another way the Scriptures show us that ideas have consequences is by using the word “therefore” (1,039 times in the NASB). For example, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). “There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus“ (Romans 8:1). “Therefore, do not be anxious for tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34).

If we want to live in the power of these great practical “therefores,” we must be gripped by the ideas — the views of reality — that go before them and stand under them.

Gods story

Genesis 33:1-20

After wrestling with God all night, Jacob limps out to meet Esau. Instead of hatred and anger, Esau greets him with love and joy.

Glorious Reunion

Read

Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.

Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked, “Who are these people with you?”

“These are the children God has graciously given to me, your servant,” Jacob replied. Then the servant wives came forward with their children and bowed before him. Next came Leah with her children, and they bowed before him. Finally, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed before him.

“And what were all the flocks and herds I met as I came?” Esau asked.

Jacob replied, “They are a gift, my lord, to ensure your friendship.”

“My brother, I have plenty,” Esau answered. “Keep what you have for yourself.”

But Jacob insisted, “No, if I have found favor with you, please accept this gift from me. And what a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God! Please take this gift I have brought you, for God has been very gracious to me. I have more than enough.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau finally accepted the gift.
(Genesis 33:4-11)

Reflect

Why did Jacob send gifts ahead for Esau? In Bible times, gifts were given for several reasons. This may have been a bribe, an expression of affection, or the customary way of greeting someone before an important meeting. Such gifts were often related to a person’s occupation. This explains why Jacob sent sheep, goats, and cattle to Esau, who was a herdsman. In any case, Jacob was probably seeking Esau’s favor and good will.

Esau, who once had actually plotted Jacob’s death (Genesis 27:41), greeted his brother with a hug. Esau had forgiven Jacob. Time away from each other allowed the bitter wounds to heal. With the passing of time, each brother was able to see that their relationship was more important than their real estate.

Jacob must have been amazed to see Esau’s change of heart when the two brothers met again. We know how God changed Jacob, but he also must have been working on Esau’s heart. Esau was no longer bitter over losing his birthright and blessing; instead, he had forgiven his brother and was content with what he had.

Respond

Life can bring us some bad situations. We can feel cheated, as Esau did, but we don’t have to remain bitter. We can remove bitterness from our lives by honestly expressing our feelings to God, forgiving those who have wronged us, and being content with what we have. Who do you need to forgive? What glorious reunion could be in store?

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Streams in the Desert – May 15

But now, the sun cannot be looked at – it is bright in the skies – after a wind passed and swept the clouds away.—Job 37:21

The world owes much of its beauty to cloudland. The unchanging blue of the Italian sky hardly compensates for the changefulness and glory of the clouds. Earth would become a wilderness apart from their ministry. There are clouds in human life, shadowing, refreshing, and sometimes draping it in blackness of night; but there is never a cloud without its bright light. “I do set my bow in the cloud!”

If we could see the clouds from the other side where they lie in billowy glory, bathed in the light they intercept, like heaped ranges of Alps, we should be amazed at their splendid magnificence.

We look at their under side; but who shall describe the bright light that bathes their summits and searches their valleys and is reflected from every pinnacle of their expanse? Is not every drop drinking in health-giving qualities, which it will carry to the earth?

O child of God! If you could see your sorrows and troubles from the other side; if instead of looking up at them from earth, you would look down on them from the heavenly places where you sit with Christ; if you knew how they are reflecting in prismatic beauty before the gaze of Heaven, the bright light of Christ’s face, you would be content that they should cast their deep shadows over the mountain slopes of existence. Only remember that clouds are always moving and passing before God’s cleansing wind.
—Selected

“I cannot know why suddenly the storm
Should rage so fiercely round me in its wrath;
But this I know—God watches all my path,
And I can trust.

“I may not draw aside the mystic veil
That hides the unknown future from my sight,
Nor know if for me waits the dark or light;
But I can trust.

“I have no power to look across the tide,
To see while here the land beyond the river;
But this I , know—I shall be Gods forever;
So I can trust.”

Today’s 5/14/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

Living Upright (Proverbs 11:3)

When a family member has integrity, it is a gift to the rest of the home. Remove that integrity, and the feelings toward that family member will be changed.

Families that thrive are full of upright individuals who seek each other’s guidance and prosper together. What do you do to expose any areas in your family that lack integrity? In a healthy family, a lack of integrity will surface more quickly because the lack is not the norm. In an unhealthy family, it won’t be exposed as easily because it will be hidden among other issues. You need to look closely at each family member’s life and address areas where integrity is lacking. This effort may be uncomfortable, but it’s necessary to maintain integrity in the home.

If your child shows signs of lacking integrity, you need to confront this issue quickly and remind them of Proverbs 11:3. Help them to instill more integrity in their life.

Parenting Principle

Always live with integrity and you will always experience the guidance of God.

Points to Ponder

  • Is your family high in integrity? Are you?
  • Where does your family need help with integrity? How can you help?
  • Are you building barriers of protection around your family in this area? How?

Taken from Once a Day Nurturing Great Kids

 

johnpiper

At the Bottom of It All

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. (Ephesians 1:5)

The experience of Charles Spurgeon is not beyond the ability of any ordinary Christian.

Spurgeon (1834–1892) was a contemporary of George Mueller. He served the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London for over thirty years as the most famous pastor of his day.

His preaching was so powerful that people were converted to Christ every week. His sermons are still in print today and he is held up by many as a model soul–winner.

He recalls an experience when he was sixteen that shaped his life and ministry for the rest of his days.

When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this.

I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths [the doctrine of election] in my own soul — when they were, as John Bunyan says, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a babe into a man — that I had made progress in Scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, that clue to the truth of God.

One week–night, when I was sitting in the house of God, I was not thinking much about the preacher’s sermon, for I did not believe it.

The thought struck me, How did you come to be a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek the Lord? The truth flashed across my mind in a moment — I should not have sought Him unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek Him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures? I did read them, but what led me to do so?

Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that He was the Author of my faith, and so the whole doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, “I ascribe my change wholly to God.”

Gods story

Genesis 32:22-32

After strategizing and sending gifts to his brother, Jacob is left alone. During the night he wrestles with God and is forever changed.

In His Grip

Read

This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”

But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

“What is your name?” the man asked.

He replied, “Jacob.”

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said.

“Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
(Genesis 32:24-29)

Reflect

Jacob was alone—no family, friends, workers, or even animals—alone with his thoughts and fears. Imagine what he must have felt as he lay on the ground, looking at the stars. But often the best time to meet God is when we are alone and at the end of our resources.

Jacob had spent most of his life wrestling with people, but now he was wrestling with God. Jacob continued this wrestling match all night just to be blessed. He was persistent. God encourages persistence in all areas of our lives, including the spiritual. Strong character develops as you struggle through tough conditions. Where in your spiritual life do you need more persistence?

Eventually God overcame Jacob by weakening him. Then God blessed Jacob by giving him a new name: Israel—from the Hebrew word that means “to struggle.” Various translations of Jacob’s new name include “one who struggles with God,” “let God rule,” and “a God-mastered man.” In any case, Israel is a changed man.

God gave many people in the Bible new names (Abraham, Sarah, Peter). Their new names symbolized how God had changed their lives. Here we see how Jacob’s character had changed. Jacob, the ambitious deceiver, became Israel, the one who struggles with God and overcomes.

Respond

If God changed your name to reflect the kind of person he’s making you into, what would that name be? “Loyal one”? “Courageous”? “Focused on God”? Ask him to help you change in that direction.

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Streams in the Desert – May 14

In the selfsame day, as God had said unto him (Gen. 17:23).

Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Every time God calls us to any duty, He is offering to make a covenant with us; doing the duty is our part, and He will do His part in special blessing.

The only way we can obey is to obey “in the selfsame day,” as Abraham did. To be sure, we often postpone a duty and then later on do it as fully as we can. It is better to do this than not to do it at all. But it is then, at the best, only a crippled, disfigured, half-way sort of duty-doing; and a postponed duty never can bring the full blessing that God intended, and that it would have brought if done at the earliest possible moment.

It is a pity to rob ourselves, along with robbing God and others, by procrastination. “In the selfsame day” is the Genesis way of saying, “Do it now.”
–Messages for the Morning Watch

Luther says that “a true believer will crucify the question, ‘Why?’ He will obey without questioning.” I will not be one of those who, except they see signs and wonders, will in no wise believe. I will obey without questioning.

“Ours not to make reply,
Ours not to reason why,
Ours but to do and die.”
Obedience is the fruit of faith; patience, the bloom on the fruit.
–Christina Rossetti

 

Today’s 5/13/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

 

The Nature of a Woman (1 Peter 3:4)

Femininity is a reality of God’s design and making—his precious gift to every woman—and, in a very different way, his gracious gift to men as well. The difference between men and women is not a mere matter of biology. Throughout the millennia of human history, up until the past several decades, people took for granted that the differences were so obvious as to need no comment. Yet never as now have we more needed Paul’s reminder to the Roman Christians not to let the world squeeze us into its own mold but to let God remold our minds from within (Ro 12:2).

Surrender is a key ingredient in femininity. As a bride, a woman in marriage surrenders her independence, her name, her destiny, her will and ultimately, in the marriage chamber, her body, to the bridegroom. As a mother, she surrenders in a very real sense her life for the life of the child. As a single woman, she surrenders herself in a unique way for service to her Lord and for service to family and community.

Femininity receives. It takes what God gives. In other words, women are to receive the given as Mary did (Lk 1:38), not to insist upon the not-given, as Eve did (Ge 3:1–6). This does not imply that a woman should surrender to evils such as coercion or violent conquest.

The gentle and quiet spirit of which Peter speaks is the ornament of femininity (1Pe 3:4), which found its epitome in Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was willing to be a vessel, hidden, unknown, except as Somebody’s mother. This maternity is available to every woman who humbles herself before the Lord, not simply as a biological role but as an attitude of selflessness in her own heart and submission to the Lord.

The challenge of Biblical femininity for you is to be a woman, holy through and through, asking for nothing but what God wants to give you, receiving with both hands and with all your heart whatever that is. Femininity is a precious treasure to be guarded and nourished each and every day.

Taken from The Woman’s Study Bible

johnpiper

Why We Should Love Our Enemies

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” (Luke 6:27)

There are two main reasons why Christians should love their enemies and do good to them.

One is that it reveals something of the way God is. God is merciful.

  • “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
  • “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10).
  • “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

So when Christians live this way, we show something of what God is like.

The second reason is that the hearts of Christians are satisfied with God and are not driven by the craving for revenge or self-exaltation or money or earthly security.

God has become our all-satisfying treasure and so we don’t treat our adversaries out of our own sense of need and insecurity, but out of our own fullness with the satisfying glory of God.

Hebrews 10:34: “You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property [that is, without retaliation], since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” What takes away the compulsion of revenge is our deep confidence that this world is not our home, and that God is our utterly sure and all-satisfying reward.

So in both these reasons for loving our enemy we see the main thing: God is shown to be who he really is as a merciful God and as gloriously all-satisfying.

The ultimate reason for being merciful is to glorify God — to make him look great in the eyes of man.

Gods story

Genesis 32:3-21

Jacob is traveling home, where he knows he will eventually have to face Esau. As he nears Canaan, Jacob receives terrifying news: Esau is coming to meet him—and he’s bringing an army!

Confrontation Point

Read

Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac—O Lord, you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.’ And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.’ I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps! O Lord, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children. But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore—too many to count.’”
(Genesis 32:9-12)

Reflect

The last time Jacob had seen Esau, his older brother had been so angry at him for stealing the family blessing that he had vowed to kill Jacob as soon as their father, Isaac, died (Genesis 27:41). Jacob knew he had cheated his brother, and he remembered Esau’s parting words. So, fearing their reunion, Jacob sent messengers ahead with gifts, trying to buy Esau’s favor.

How would you feel if you knew you were about to meet the person you had cheated out of his most precious possession? Jacob had taken Esau’s birthright and his blessing (Genesis 25:33; 27:27-40). Now he was about to meet his brother for the first time in twenty years, and he was filled with fear. He collected his thoughts, however, and decided to pray. In this desperate prayer, Jacob reminded God of his promise to make his descendants “as numerous as the sands along the seashore” (Genesis 32:12), which would not be possible if he and his family were killed.

Respond

Are you facing conflict or a difficult circumstance? Do you fear a negative outcome? When we face conflict, we can either run about frantically or we can pause to pray. Stop right now and pray. Give it over to God and follow his guidance.

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Streams in the Desert – May 13

We know not what we should pray for as we ought (Rom. 8:26).

Much that perplexes us in our Christian experience is but the answer to our prayers. We pray for patience, and our Father sends those who tax us to the utmost; for “tribulation works patience.”

We pray for submission, and God sends sufferings; for “we learn obedience by the things we suffer.”

We pray for unselfishness, and God gives us opportunities to sacrifice ourselves by thinking on the things of others, and by laying down our lives for the brethren.

We pray for strength and humility, and some messenger of Satan torments us until we lie in the dust crying for its removal.

We pray, “Lord, increase our faith,” and money takes wings; or the children are alarmingly ill; or a servant comes who is careless, extravagant, untidy or slow, or some hitherto unknown trial calls for an increase of faith along a line where we have not needed to exercise much faith before.

We pray for the Lamb-life, and are given a portion of lowly service, or we are injured and must seek no redress; for “he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and… opened not his mouth.”

We pray for gentleness, and there comes a perfect storm of temptation to harshness and irritability. We pray for quietness, and every nerve is strung to the utmost tension, so that looking to Him we may learn that when He gives quietness, no one can make trouble.

We pray for love, and God sends peculiar suffering and puts us with apparently unlovely people, and lets them say things which rasp the nerves and lacerate the heart; for love suffers long and is kind, love is not impolite, love is not provoked. LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS, believes, hopes and endures, love never fails. We pray for likeness to Jesus, and the answer is, “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” “Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong?” “Are ye able?”

The way to peace and victory is to accept every circumstance, every trial, straight from the hand of a loving Father; and to live up in the heavenly places, above the clouds, in the very presence of the Throne, and to look down from the Glory upon our environment as lovingly and divinely appointed.
–Selected

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart,
The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;

But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.
I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
And all my little candle flames burned out;

But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;
But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice and Perfect peace I knew.

 

I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than all I asked or thought;
Giver of good, so answer each request
With Thine own giving, better than my best.

–Annie Johnson Flint

Today’s 5/12/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

Acts of Kindness (1 Chronicles 19:2)

Most of us remember where we were on September 11, 2001, when four commercial airliners became missiles in the hands of terrorists. We were at work, home or school when we got the urgent call, “Turn on the television!” We watched replays of the plane hitting Tower One of the World Trade Center in New York City. Time stood still as we watched another plane strike Tower Two. We willed the towers to stand . . . but they crumbled before our eyes. Even the seemingly impregnable Pentagon was a target. The horrifying marks of the crash site in a lonely Pennsylvania field pay homage to the passengers who bravely fought back. The death toll of this atrocity rose to almost 3,000 people.

America was stunned at this attack on its own soil. Some were amazed that people immediately responded with kindness and compassion. USA Today reported, “In New York, people literally took the shirts off their backs and bandaged the injured.” Furthermore, tens of thousands of people lined up to donate blood at hospitals and blood banks. Solemn candlelight vigils were held throughout the world. “Miss Manners,” Judith Martin, reported a shocking return to civility. “Please, please, let’s make it last,” she exhorted. But shouldn’t acts of kindness be our ordinary response, not an extraordinary reaction to a catastrophic event?

Nahash, the Ammonite king, had rendered some memorable service to King David. When he died, David responded by acting kindly toward Hanun, Nahash’s son. However, David’s kindness was misinterpreted. The men sent by David to express sympathy over Nahash’s death were humiliated and accused of spying. War ensued, though it was certainly not the intended outcome of David’s gesture.

Just as God unreservedly extends kindness to us, we are called to “clothe [ourselves] with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12). We are to reflect God’s kindness to others, regardless of how they choose to respond.

Don’t wait for a crisis to extend loving-kindness. Take the time to ponder who is suffering from a recent heartbreak. Maybe they could use a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. Who feels discouraged in your circle of friends? Maybe they need to hear an encouraging word. Who might feel alone? Perhaps you could pick up the phone to tell them that you care . . . and then leave the outcome to God.

Taken from NIV Women’s Devotional Bible

 

johnpiper

Go on to the Meal

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! (Psalm 34:8)

To you who say you have never tasted the glory of God, I say, you have tasted many of its appetizers.

Have you ever looked up? Have you ever been hugged? Have you ever sat in front of a warm fire? Have you ever walked in the woods, sat by a lake, lain in a summer hammock? Have you ever drunk your favorite drink on a hot day or eaten anything good?

Every desire is either a devout or a distorted enticement to the glory of heaven.

You say you haven’t tasted God’s glory. I say, you have tasted the appetizers. Go on to the meal.

You have seen the shadows; look at the substance. You have walked in the warm rays of the day; turn and look at the sun itself. You have heard echoes of God’s glory everywhere; tune your heart to the original music.

The best place to get your heart tuned is at the cross of Jesus Christ. “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

If you want the most concentrated display of the glory of God, look at Jesus in the Gospels, and look especially at the cross. This will focus your eyes and tune your heart and waken your taste buds so that you will see and hear and taste the glory of the true God everywhere.

That is what you were made for. I plead with you: don’t throw your life away. God made you to know his glory. Pursue that with all your heart and above all else.

Gods story

Genesis 31:1-42

God tells Jacob to return to his homeland. But when Laban finds the idols missing from his home, he chases down Jacob and his wives.

Get Out of Town

Read

So Jacob put his wives and children on camels, and he drove all his livestock in front of him. He packed all the belongings he had acquired in Paddan-aram and set out for the land of Canaan, where his father, Isaac, lived. At the time they left, Laban was some distance away, shearing his sheep. Rachel stole her father’s household idols and took them with her.
(Genesis 31:17-19)

Reflect

While Jacob was living with his father-in-law, he always did more than was expected of him. When his flocks were attacked, he took the losses rather than splitting them with Laban. He worked hard even after several pay cuts. His diligence eventually paid off; his flocks began to multiply.

Leaving home was not difficult for Rachel and Leah because their father had treated them as poorly as he had treated Jacob. According to custom, they were supposed to receive the benefits of the dowry Jacob paid for them, which was fourteen years of hard work. When Laban did not give them what was rightfully theirs, they knew they would never inherit anything from their father. Thus, they wholeheartedly approved of Jacob’s plan to take the wealth he had gained and leave.

Jacob certainly had a complicated relationship with his in-laws. Even though Jacob manipulated the breeding of the flocks (Genesis 30:37-43) and snuck away with his family while Laban was gone (Genesis 31:17-19), Jacob was nevertheless a hard worker who brought wealth to his dishonest father-in-law. More importantly, Jacob was beginning to realize that whatever blessings he received were the gift of God, who was watching over him in the midst of his family turmoil.

Respond

Some of life’s most challenging relationships can be with family members. What relative do you have a complicated relationship with? Ask God to show you what you can do to honor him and that person.

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Streams in the Desert – May 12

All things are possible to him that believes (Mark 9:23).

The “all things” do not always come simply for the asking, for the reason that God is ever seeking to teach us the way of faith, and in our training in the faith life there must be room for the trial of faith, the discipline of faith, the patience of faith, the courage of faith, and often many stages are passed before we really realize what is the end of faith, namely, the victory of faith.

Real moral fiber is developed through discipline of faith. You have made your request of God, but the answer does not come. What are you to do?

Keep on believing God’s Word; never be moved away from it by what you see or feel, and thus as you stand steady, enlarged power and experience is being developed. The fact of looking at the apparent contradiction as to God’s Word and being unmoved from your position of faith make you stronger on every other line.

Often God delays purposely, and the delay is just as much an answer to your prayer as is the fulfillment when it comes.

In the lives of all the great Bible characters, God worked thus. Abraham, Moses and Elijah were not great in the beginning, but were made great through the discipline of their faith, and only thus were they fitted for the positions to which God had called them.

For example, in the case of Joseph whom the Lord was training for the throne of Egypt, we read in the Psalms:

“The word of the Lord tried him.” It was not the prison life with its hard beds or poor food that tried him, but it was the word God had spoken into his heart in the early years concerning elevation and honor which were greater than his brethren were to receive; it was this which was ever before him, when every step in his career made it seem more and more impossible of fulfillment, until he was there imprisoned, and all in innocence, while others who were perhaps justly incarcerated, were released, and he was left to languish alone.

These were hours that tried his soul, but hours of spiritual growth and development, that, “when his word came” (the word of release), found him fitted for the delicate task of dealing with his wayward brethren, with a love and patience only surpassed by God Himself.

No amount of persecution tries like such experiences as these. When God has spoken of His purpose to do, and yet the days go on and He does not do it, that is truly hard; but it is a discipline of faith that will bring us into a knowledge of God which would otherwise be impossible.

Today’s 5/11/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

Rock Solid (Luke 6:47–48)

The futuristic Space Needle spikes from the Seattle skyline. Stretching approximately 605 feet into the sky, its spire pierces the clouds that often veil the earthquake-prone city. Although its height can seem frightening, especially when the Needle sways, it is actually safer than many tall buildings. The architects who designed the stunning structure kept one principle firmly in mind: the larger and higher the building, the stronger the base needs to be.

The Space Needle’s foundation is 30 feet deep, weighs 5,850 tons and contains 250 tons of reinforcing steel. The foundation is as heavy as the Needle, enabling the airy structure to withstand a wind velocity of 200 miles per hour. In 2001 it withstood an earthquake of 6.8 on the Richter scale. It is estimated that it can endure even greater shocks because the architects doubled the 1962 building code requirements.

Jesus, the master builder of strong, resilient women, likens our spiritual foundation to a building with a strong, immovable base. In his analogy, he tells of a wise builder who “laid the foundation on rock” (verse 48). We know that sooner or later, floods will come in one form or another: illness, financial problems, a relationship breakdown, societal calamities, terrorism or natural disasters. If we don’t take Jesus’ words to heart and put them into practice, we are on shaky ground. But if we build our spiritual lives on what he says, we can withstand anything that shakes us.

And what strong words had Jesus given his followers? Love your enemies and be good to them (see verses 27–36). Exchange kindness for anger, silence for gossip, a sweet spirit for bitterness. Don’t judge others but accept them as God has accepted you. Forgive, because you have been forgiven (see verse 37). Be generous, and generosity will come back to you when you most need it (see verse 38). Be more concerned with your own purity than about the purity of others (see verses 41–42). Care about the goodness of your heart because your words will reveal, no matter how good an actress you are, what’s really inside (see verses 44–45). The rock solid foundation isn’t an abstract notion. The “rocks,” ironically, are a soft heart and a gentle spirit. And those can only come from the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ.

Taken from NIV Women’s Devotional Bible

johnpiper

A People for His Name

Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. (Acts 15:14)

It is scarcely possible to overemphasize the centrality of the fame of God in motivating the mission of the church.

When Peter had his world turned upside down by the vision of unclean animals in Acts 10, and by the lesson from God that he should evangelize Gentiles as well as Jews, he came back to Jerusalem and told the apostles that it was all owing to God’s zeal for his name. We know this because James summed up Peter’s speech like this: “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name” (Acts 15:14).

It’s not surprising that Peter would say that God’s purpose was to gather a people for his name; because the Lord Jesus had stung Peter some years earlier with an unforgettable lesson.

You recall that, after a rich young man turned away from Jesus and refused to follow him, Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you [unlike this rich fellow]. What then shall we have?” Jesus responded with a mild rebuke, which in effect said that there is no ultimate sacrifice when you live for the name of the Son of Man. “Every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).

The truth is plain: God is pursuing with omnipotent delight a worldwide purpose of gathering a people for his name from every tribe and language and nation (Revelation 5:9; 7:9). He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the fame of his name among the nations.

Therefore when we bring our affections in line with his, and, for the sake of his name, renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join his global purpose, God’s omnipotent commitment to his name is over us and we cannot lose, in spite of many tribulations (Acts 9:16; Romans 8:35–39).

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Streams in the Desert – May 11

We went through fire and through water: but thou brought us out into a wealthy place (Ps. 66:12).

Paradoxical though it be, only that man is at rest who attains it through conflict. This peace, born of conflict, is not like the deadly hush preceding the tempest, but the serene and pure-aired quiet that follows it.

It is not generally the prosperous one, who has never sorrowed, who is strong and at rest. His quality has never been tried, and he knows not how he can stand even a gentle shock. He is not the safest sailor who never saw a tempest; he will do for fair-weather service, but when the storm is rising, place at the important post the man who has fought out a gale, who has tested the ship, who knows her hulk sound, her rigging strong, and her anchor-flukes able to grasp and hold by the ribs of the world.

When first affliction comes upon us, how everything gives way! Our clinging, tendril hopes are snapped, and our heart lies prostrate like a vine that the storm has torn from its trellis; but when the first shock is past, and we are able to look up, and say, “It is the Lord,” faith lifts the shattered hopes once more, and binds them fast to the feet of God. Thus the end is confidence, safety, and peace.

–Selected

The adverse winds blew against my life;
My little ship with grief was tossed;
My plans were gone–heart full of strife,
And all my hope seemed to be lost–
“Then He arose”–one word of peace.
“There was a calm”–a sweet release.

A tempest great of doubt and fear
Possessed my mind; no light was there
To guide, or make my vision clear.
Dark night! ’twas more than I could bear–
“Then He arose,” I saw His face–
“There was a calm” filled with His grace.

My heart was sinking ‘neath the wave
Of deepening test and raging grief;
All seemed as lost, and none could save,
And nothing could bring me relief–
“Then He arose”–and spoke one word,
“There was a calm!” IT IS THE LORD.
–L. S. P.

 

Gods story

Genesis 29:31–30:24

Even though Jacob loves her, Rachel is discontent without a baby. When she sees her sister having children, Rachel refuses to wait any longer.

Baby Competition

Read

Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son. Rachel named him Dan, for she said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son.” Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. Rachel named him Naphtali, for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”

Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Soon Zilpah presented him with a son. Leah named him Gad, for she said, “How fortunate I am!” Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son. And Leah named him Asher, for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”
(Genesis 30:4-13)

Reflect

Rachel and Leah were competing in an arrogant contest. Racing to have more children, they both gave their servants to Jacob as concubines. This was an accepted custom of the day, but Jacob would have been wise to refuse. He was perpetuating bad relationships between the women. The fact that a custom is socially acceptable does not mean it is wise or beneficial.

There are many socially acceptable choices that have negative effects on others. Society often prioritizes a person’s freedom to choose above considering the impact those choices have on others. The choices of Jacob and his wives resulted in bitterness, anger, resentment, and jealousy among their sons. The rivalry and fighting between Leah’s sons and Rachel’s sons continued years later among the tribes that descended from them.

Respond

Think about how your choices might affect others. Will you help them or hurt them? Are you willing to give up some of your freedom to ensure that others do not suffer harm? Are you willing to go a step further and do something that will benefit them?

klove

DIGGING DEEPER 05/11/2015

Teaching Your Child to Honor

Excerpt from Motivate Your Child: Christian Parent’s Guide to Raising Kids Who Do What They Need to do Without Being Told By: Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN

To motivate children to develop new patterns, parents often have to stretch their kids beyond the tendency to be selfish by requiring that they look for ways to think of others. A great place to start is with God’s Word. God designed our world and knows what works most effectively. He has given us principles that will guide our thinking.

For example, Philippians 2:3–4 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” That’s a great family verse and can help get kids thinking of ways to contribute to the well-being of others.

Romans 12:10 is our favorite verse for this area of the conscience. “Honor one another above yourselves.” That verse is for all people, not just children. However, honor is one of the qualities learned at home. Eight times in the Bible it says, “Honor your father and mother.” In fact, according to Ephesians 6:1–3, there are two parts to a child’s job description, obedience and honor. God has created a conscience inside a child that can be trained with those two principles. As children learn obedience, they’re learning to do what’s right. As children learn honor, they’re learning to think about others.

STAND BEFORE CHRIST AND SHARE IN HIS MERCY

Hebrews 13:18 ties the concept of living honorably with the conscience. “We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.” The conscience God places inside a person provides an internal satisfaction when that individual does something kind for others. You feel good when you allow someone else to go first or have the best seat. In that moment you often feel a sense of greatness, having risen above the crowd.

That’s what Jesus was trying to teach his disciples when he said to them in Mark 10:42–44, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” In fact, when we consider others or serve others, we become like Jesus. That’s why he added in verse 45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Teresa needed to think about others, become more aware of how her actions were affecting others, and then make some significant changes in how she lived and operated.

Honor is a practical tool for conscience development, and teaching about honor can raise a child’s internal motivation in the area of thinking about others. We define honor in simple terms for children. As we see the concept taught in God’s Word, we say that honor is treating people as special, doing more than what’s expected, and having a good attitude. That’s a working definition of honor, helping children know how to put honor into practice. Even young children can memorize that definition.

But honor isn’t just for young children. We tell teens that God has hidden within honor the secret ingredients you’ll need to be successful in life. When you treat others as special, it often comes back to you. Let’s take that honor definition, look at its three parts, and discuss how to use it in family life.
By
Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller

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