Day 1 Psalm 31:7,8 I will rejoice and be glad for thy steadfast love, because thou hast seen my affliction, thou hast taken heed of my adversities…
Life can be filled with difficulties. This Psalm reminds us that as children of God we don’t have to let our “afflictions” (literally troubles) and adversities (difficulties and perplexing situations) get us down. When we believe strongly in His steadfast love us and entrust ourselves to His care and guidance, we will find that God is there for us.
Day 2 Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might… People who keep busy seldom find life boring or unfulfilling. They have learned the secret of finding fulfillment in finishing what they start no matter how important or insignificant it might have been.
Day 3 Philippians 4:13 I can do all things in Him who strengthens me
Jesus Christ is the most dynamic personality ever to have walked the face of the earth. To those who put their trust in him, he gives power that will transform their fears into courage, their weaknesses into strengths and the up’s and down’s of living into lessons in finding God’s direction for their lives.
Day 4 Colossians 3:23 Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men
Jesus life was packed with energy and enthusiasm. Part of Jesus’ success in dealing with people, staying the course during difficulties and his popularity among everyday people comes from the fact that he never did anything half-heartedly.
Day 5 Philippians 4:8k: think about these things…
The things we allow ourselves to think about determines to a large extent our happiness and peace of mind. Read this entire verse from your Bible and resolve to deliberately form the habit of thinking predominantly about “these things.”
Day 6 Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who is against us?
As a child of Almighty God, you need never feel defeated or overwhelmed again! When we make God our partner in every area of our lives, amazing things happen! No matter what you may be facing, entrust it and the outcome to His wisdom and guidance and never be afraid of being totally defeated again!
Day 7 James 5:13 Is there any afflicted among you? Let him pray
In the original text, the word “afflicted” means “undergoing hardship, suffering troubles”. God is vitally concerned about every area of our lives and He invites us to talk over every concern—be it family related, business related, personal or spiritual.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
April 19 through 25, 2010
Monday, John 20:19; If you’ve prayed about what you were contemplating (or doing) and it is right, good and beneficial, then be aware that the presence of the spirit of Jesus offers you the same confidence building assurance offered to the disciples. It is up to each of us to choose to trust Him. The doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Tuesday, John 20:31; Several years ago I met a remarkably successful man who said he found the missing link to happiness in his childhood faith! By applying the power of belief that he had used so successfully in his secular pursuits to his spiritual life and he said his life was transformed, “John 20:31 found me and I found real life, exciting and new when I began to really believe in Jesus and he came alive in me!” That through believing you may have life in his name.
Wednesday, John 21:2; In our scripture passage today we find three Disciples mentioned, Peter, Nathanael and Thomas. This is Nathaniel’s first appearance since the first chapter. He is an example of someone who was continually faithful, working behind the scenes doing what he could…but making a contribution, albeit not a flashy one. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas…Nathanael…and two other disciples
Thursday, John 21:12; Have you ever had an overwhelming feeling to telephone someone or to drop by to check on them and when you followed through on it you discovered that they were in need of encouragement or help in working through a problem? The disciples in today’s passage knew that the voice from the shore was speaking to them, about them, and their holy hunch was that it was the Lord’s voice. Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord
Friday, John 21:15; Something I discovered over forty years ago is that anytime I asked the Good Lord a question like Peters, his response has always been “What business is that of yours? Follow me and do what you’ve been called to do.” When Peter saw him (John), he said…”Lord, what about him?” Jesus said…”What is that to you? (You) Follow me.”
Saturday, John 24:21; John says he is simply testifying to what he knows firsthand. How has Jesus changed your life? How has your religious faith given you strength, courage and comfort? Why not simply try telling your story to a struggling individual this week? This is the disciple who is testifying to these things...
Sunday, John 21:25; John cautions against limiting the life and deeds of Jesus to just the things that he (or others) had written down. In other words, we shouldn’t put Jesus in a box and say “that’s all there is and there’s no more.” The same holds true in our prayer life and spiritual life because God often has ways of answering prayers and guiding our steps that are outside the box of our understanding. But there are also many other things that Jesus did (that aren’t written down)
Tuesday, John 20:31; Several years ago I met a remarkably successful man who said he found the missing link to happiness in his childhood faith! By applying the power of belief that he had used so successfully in his secular pursuits to his spiritual life and he said his life was transformed, “John 20:31 found me and I found real life, exciting and new when I began to really believe in Jesus and he came alive in me!” That through believing you may have life in his name.
Wednesday, John 21:2; In our scripture passage today we find three Disciples mentioned, Peter, Nathanael and Thomas. This is Nathaniel’s first appearance since the first chapter. He is an example of someone who was continually faithful, working behind the scenes doing what he could…but making a contribution, albeit not a flashy one. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas…Nathanael…and two other disciples
Thursday, John 21:12; Have you ever had an overwhelming feeling to telephone someone or to drop by to check on them and when you followed through on it you discovered that they were in need of encouragement or help in working through a problem? The disciples in today’s passage knew that the voice from the shore was speaking to them, about them, and their holy hunch was that it was the Lord’s voice. Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord
Friday, John 21:15; Something I discovered over forty years ago is that anytime I asked the Good Lord a question like Peters, his response has always been “What business is that of yours? Follow me and do what you’ve been called to do.” When Peter saw him (John), he said…”Lord, what about him?” Jesus said…”What is that to you? (You) Follow me.”
Saturday, John 24:21; John says he is simply testifying to what he knows firsthand. How has Jesus changed your life? How has your religious faith given you strength, courage and comfort? Why not simply try telling your story to a struggling individual this week? This is the disciple who is testifying to these things...
Sunday, John 21:25; John cautions against limiting the life and deeds of Jesus to just the things that he (or others) had written down. In other words, we shouldn’t put Jesus in a box and say “that’s all there is and there’s no more.” The same holds true in our prayer life and spiritual life because God often has ways of answering prayers and guiding our steps that are outside the box of our understanding. But there are also many other things that Jesus did (that aren’t written down)
Monday, April 12, 2010
April 12 through April 18, 2010
Monday: We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin—Romans 5:6. Several years ago I counseled a man with a bad temper who was otherwise a good Christian. His temper often led him to what we might call “spontaneous sins”—which he said he knew God understood because “I’m only human”. After he came to understand that his anger was the result of deep seated subconscious foundations that had shaped (enslaved) his personality for years he realized that he used anger as a means of feeling in control. Using this verse, I was able to help him see that in reality it was his decision to allow the old sin of anger to flare up. Once he surrendered his deep seated foundation of anger to God’s Holy Spirit and began exercising self-control he became a changed man. Later, he confessed that he had enjoyed using anger to control situations and people, had simply excused his continued sin with the rationalization that “I’m only human.”
Tuesday: Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions—Romans 6:12. When I was growing up this verse was one of the chief passages that served as the hinge upon which the gate to Sanctification swung open to us. These days, we don’t hear much about Sanctification. In her sermon entitled “Saved From What?” my daughter, Rev. Leah Hidde-Gregory summed up what this verse teaches us: “We are justified through Christ, and then we learn we don’t have to live with those sins through sanctification…In today’s society, we are too often told to settle for less than the ideal. We are told that striving for perfection (complete sanctification) will burn us out and that we need to accept our humanness, trust God to keep us out of hell and just try to master a few of our shortcomings. But when we are doing the work of God, when we are living under the salvation of God, when we truly believe that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, and when we know in our hearts that if God be for us, who can be against us. Then we cannot accept our humanness. We must be the divinely filled vessels God put us on this earth to be.”
Wednesday: No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God…as instruments of righteousness—Romans 6:13. The KJV uses the word Yield instead of present. As we use the word, yield means to give the right of way, but the Greek word (paristēmi) means to bring before, to present, to provide, to assist. Again, Paul uses the imperative “no longer”—referring to an action on our part—bring ourselves as offerings to be used for unchristian attitudes and actions, rather make the effort to always bring ourselves as offerings to be used by God as instruments for doing what is right. This means we must live constantly aware of the fact that everything we do, every decision we make, every reaction we have to situations leads us to doing what is right or what is wrong. Why would Paul use an emphatic imperative if we are unable to avoid “sinning everyday”?
Thursday: For sin shall have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means—Romans 6:14, 15. Remember our friend you met earlier with the anger problem? His initial reaction to our counseling sessions had been to declare, “I’m under grace and not law.” Apparently Paul ran into this same line of rationalization because he addresses it in the passage we are reflecting on today. His response to that argument is quit clear. The New American Standard translates Paul’s response to such an idea as “May it never be!” Grace is God’s undeserved love toward a sinful race that has been demonstrated in Christ Jesus to draw us back to our Heavenly Father. In this case, the object of both grace and law had the same purpose—to draw us back to God. Being “under grace” doesn’t refer to alleviating the obligation Paul spoke of in verses 12 and 13, rather it means that God’s approach to drawing a sinful race back home is now centered in his work of love demonstrated through Jesus and not in the words of antiquity.
Friday: When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness…but now that you have been freed from sin…the advantage you get is sanctification. —Romans 6:20,22. When my grandson, Will, starts kindergarten in a couple of years he will be free from knowing how to work fractions because he is a slave to his age in terms of knowledge. However, once “the grace” of education appears to him he will be freed from the slavery of his age and eventually become obligated to learn fractions. Paul is saying the same thing in this verse. Before the grace of God appeared to us (and we embraced it) we weren’t accountable for living right—had we been we would have been able to obtain our standing with God through our own works—and grace would have been unnecessary. He then reminds us by grace we have been freed from sin and that the “advantage” is “sanctification” (another term for holiness), whereby we are able to choose to overcome our sinful tendencies and by cooperating with the Holy Spirit “possess our selves in sanctification and honor” I Thessalonians 4:4).
Saturday: The end is eternal life—Romans 6:22c. Paul tells us that the final result (the meaning of the word “end” in the Greek text) of our following the path of sanctification (choosing to overcome sin and seeking to “love God with all our heart, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves”) is eternal life. One of the things that I had drilled into me as a child and later in my theological studies was that the word “eternal” refers not to a place or specific point in time, but to that which transcends time and space. I can go to the bank and purchase a $10,000 certificate of deposit that will yield a certain amount of interest when it matures. In other words, I can say that I have the $10,000 plus whatever the interest at maturity is as long as I meet the conditions of the bank (not to cash it in before the maturity date). It can be said that we have eternal life now, but to realize the promise of eternal life (glorification in the world to come), I must “grow in grace and knowledge” and “no longer present myself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but present myself to God…as an instrument of righteousness”
Sunday: So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus—Romans 6:11. The key to victorious living over sin and self is to stop thinking that the old way of life and its sins have any power over us. Stop thinking of ourselves as weak and lacking courage in the face of temptations and difficulties. Paul tells us to “consider” (meaning to think in this way) those days of weakness and having to sin as being dead and behind us. We are to think of ourselves as victors, not victims; as winners in the spiritual battle to possess our souls, not as weak, whiny wimps; as coworkers with God in our quest for sanctification, not as having to coexist with our “little” sins. To consider means to believe. When we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, the door opens to eternal life. But in order to fully know God’s peace, power and purpose in your life we must allow our belief to include the fact that we are dead to sin, that it has absolutely no power over us and that we can choose to follow the path of sanctification all through this life until our glorification in the world to come.
Tuesday: Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions—Romans 6:12. When I was growing up this verse was one of the chief passages that served as the hinge upon which the gate to Sanctification swung open to us. These days, we don’t hear much about Sanctification. In her sermon entitled “Saved From What?” my daughter, Rev. Leah Hidde-Gregory summed up what this verse teaches us: “We are justified through Christ, and then we learn we don’t have to live with those sins through sanctification…In today’s society, we are too often told to settle for less than the ideal. We are told that striving for perfection (complete sanctification) will burn us out and that we need to accept our humanness, trust God to keep us out of hell and just try to master a few of our shortcomings. But when we are doing the work of God, when we are living under the salvation of God, when we truly believe that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, and when we know in our hearts that if God be for us, who can be against us. Then we cannot accept our humanness. We must be the divinely filled vessels God put us on this earth to be.”
Wednesday: No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God…as instruments of righteousness—Romans 6:13. The KJV uses the word Yield instead of present. As we use the word, yield means to give the right of way, but the Greek word (paristēmi) means to bring before, to present, to provide, to assist. Again, Paul uses the imperative “no longer”—referring to an action on our part—bring ourselves as offerings to be used for unchristian attitudes and actions, rather make the effort to always bring ourselves as offerings to be used by God as instruments for doing what is right. This means we must live constantly aware of the fact that everything we do, every decision we make, every reaction we have to situations leads us to doing what is right or what is wrong. Why would Paul use an emphatic imperative if we are unable to avoid “sinning everyday”?
Thursday: For sin shall have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means—Romans 6:14, 15. Remember our friend you met earlier with the anger problem? His initial reaction to our counseling sessions had been to declare, “I’m under grace and not law.” Apparently Paul ran into this same line of rationalization because he addresses it in the passage we are reflecting on today. His response to that argument is quit clear. The New American Standard translates Paul’s response to such an idea as “May it never be!” Grace is God’s undeserved love toward a sinful race that has been demonstrated in Christ Jesus to draw us back to our Heavenly Father. In this case, the object of both grace and law had the same purpose—to draw us back to God. Being “under grace” doesn’t refer to alleviating the obligation Paul spoke of in verses 12 and 13, rather it means that God’s approach to drawing a sinful race back home is now centered in his work of love demonstrated through Jesus and not in the words of antiquity.
Friday: When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness…but now that you have been freed from sin…the advantage you get is sanctification. —Romans 6:20,22. When my grandson, Will, starts kindergarten in a couple of years he will be free from knowing how to work fractions because he is a slave to his age in terms of knowledge. However, once “the grace” of education appears to him he will be freed from the slavery of his age and eventually become obligated to learn fractions. Paul is saying the same thing in this verse. Before the grace of God appeared to us (and we embraced it) we weren’t accountable for living right—had we been we would have been able to obtain our standing with God through our own works—and grace would have been unnecessary. He then reminds us by grace we have been freed from sin and that the “advantage” is “sanctification” (another term for holiness), whereby we are able to choose to overcome our sinful tendencies and by cooperating with the Holy Spirit “possess our selves in sanctification and honor” I Thessalonians 4:4).
Saturday: The end is eternal life—Romans 6:22c. Paul tells us that the final result (the meaning of the word “end” in the Greek text) of our following the path of sanctification (choosing to overcome sin and seeking to “love God with all our heart, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves”) is eternal life. One of the things that I had drilled into me as a child and later in my theological studies was that the word “eternal” refers not to a place or specific point in time, but to that which transcends time and space. I can go to the bank and purchase a $10,000 certificate of deposit that will yield a certain amount of interest when it matures. In other words, I can say that I have the $10,000 plus whatever the interest at maturity is as long as I meet the conditions of the bank (not to cash it in before the maturity date). It can be said that we have eternal life now, but to realize the promise of eternal life (glorification in the world to come), I must “grow in grace and knowledge” and “no longer present myself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but present myself to God…as an instrument of righteousness”
Sunday: So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus—Romans 6:11. The key to victorious living over sin and self is to stop thinking that the old way of life and its sins have any power over us. Stop thinking of ourselves as weak and lacking courage in the face of temptations and difficulties. Paul tells us to “consider” (meaning to think in this way) those days of weakness and having to sin as being dead and behind us. We are to think of ourselves as victors, not victims; as winners in the spiritual battle to possess our souls, not as weak, whiny wimps; as coworkers with God in our quest for sanctification, not as having to coexist with our “little” sins. To consider means to believe. When we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, the door opens to eternal life. But in order to fully know God’s peace, power and purpose in your life we must allow our belief to include the fact that we are dead to sin, that it has absolutely no power over us and that we can choose to follow the path of sanctification all through this life until our glorification in the world to come.
Monday, February 22, 2010
February 22 through 28, 2010
Day One, That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit; John 3:6. Everyday of our lives we move in and out of various levels of conscious thought. Sometimes this transition is made because we deliberately want or need it to happen (i.e. when we are absorbed in thoughts about our favorite team only to have to quickly shift gears because a customer or client calls or walks in. We quickly focus our minds on the business at hand and the team fades into the background.) Specifically, this text is speaking of the new birth that is accomplished through the coming of the Holy Spirit, upon our sincere profession of faith into our lives to restore us to original righteousness and set us on the path of holiness. But in a broader context it reminds us that as children of God, we have a dual consciousness—we are conscious of the things born of this world that are needful to live, but we are also conscious of the things born of the Spirit that are needful for eternal life. It behooves us to live with an elevated spiritual consciousness, even as we go about pursing the things necessary for life on this side of the eternal divide.
Day Two, …doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God… Deuteronomy 13:18. Recently I heard what was told as a true story about a minister who visited a colleague’s church in New England. After touring a sanctuary filled with sunlight streaming through the beautiful stained glass windows that composed three sides of the building, they went outside. The pastor of the church pointed out the majestic spire rising far above the building’s roofline. A simple cross crowned the spire and a few feet below it were what appeared to be windows that had been covered with plywood. The visiting minister asked about the plywood. “There used to be stained glass that was lit from the inside at night. At the insistence of the people in the town and a few members, my predecessor allowed the elders to put the plywood over the windows.” “Why” asked the visiting minister, “would people object to lighted stain glass in the tower.” “Well, folks said it made them uneasy. You see, all four windows were depictions of the all-seeing eye of God watching us.” When I was growing up, I remember an old song that said something about “Watching you, watching you. There’s an all seeing eye watching you.” We don’t hear much about that anymore, maybe because it would make us uneasy. But when we do what is right in the sight of the Lord, the idea is sort of comforting, isn’t it?
Day Three, “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations3:24. In the preceding verses the writer of Lamentations tells us that his soul is bereft of peace, that he has forgotten what happiness is, that he tends to dwell on his affliction and his bitterness which causes him to feel depressed and weighted down. The writer isn’t some great sinner, rather he is a prophet whose predicament resulted from him having done what God led him to do. More than likely, he was like most of us—we figure that if we obey God then people will respond favorably and there will be a happy ending. But this is not always so, often our best efforts are met with indifference or hostility by those whose spiritual consciousness is buried deeply under layers of selfishness and rationalizations for a life-time of bad choices. Our text follows the writer’s frank admission of his disappointment, sorrow, frustration and depression. Notice that he lifts his thinking from how he feels to what he knows to the true “The Lord is my portion.” When we’ve done our best and things haven’t turned out as we think they should, we should remind ourselves that how we feel about the situation is not nearly as vital to our long-term mental and spiritual wellbeing as knowing that we live for a higher purpose that makes God our portion of happiness and contentment. When we consistently do this, we find hope for a better tomorrow and a brighter future rekindled.
Day Four, The Lord is my light and my salvation (deliverance)…The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1; Many behavioral psychologist tells us that people need to know the way to attain a sense of dignity (sense of self-worth), to have a sense that if things don’t work out there will be a way to salvage their dignity (willingness to take a risk), and the knowledge that there is a safe place to find protection and rest. This verse provides all three of these requirements. It tells us that the Good Lord provides light to show us not only who we really are (loved of God) but light to show us the way (a sense of direction); it also reveals that we can count on him to deliver us in difficult times, and that we have a safe place (his stronghold) when things aren’t working out as we had planned. With that assurance, shouldn’t we act with confidence in every area of our lives?
Day Five, Though a host encamp against me…though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. Psalm 27:3; Life can often bring not only hardships but a feeling that everyone and everything is against us. These situations can range from losing a job to being betrayed or forsaken by friends and even family. When those times come (and come they will) it is easy to just want to crawl up in a ball and give up hope. But the testimony of this Psalmist (and countless Christians through the ages) is that when we feel besieged by the problems of life or it seems that everyone is at war against us, we can be confident because of our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Day Six, I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Psalm 27:13; Over 36 years ago, I got my first position as a salesman, it was with a major insurance company. I wasn’t doing too well when my sales manager left to become General Agent for another company, after he got settled I was invited to become a member of his team. Although I didn’t stay in the insurance business very long, the fact that he believed in me helped me discover that I had what it took to succeed if I learned to believe in my own God given abilities and that God had good in store for me. Today’s text deals with believing in the ultimate good that will come to those who persevere through the bad times and learn the lessons of self-discipline. No matter how “badly” you may be doing remember that God believes in your capacity to handle it with his help, so join this Psalmist and affirm I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
Day Seven, Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yea, wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14; This verse contains a three step formula for overcoming any difficulty or solving any problem. It is one that is familiar to anyone who reads the Bible regularly, but it bears repeating so that it becomes an automatic response in times of trial or difficulty. We are to realize that God’s timing isn’t always our timing (he knows the right time to bring things together for our good), therefore we are to wait for God’s timing. In order to do this we need to be strong; waiting involves patience, which is a mental attitude. In order to be patient means we have to have a strong mental resolve that can overcome those thoughts of fear that might make us “leap before we look”. In order to bolster that resolve we need to allow ourselves to think courageous, faith-filled thoughts.
Day Two, …doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God… Deuteronomy 13:18. Recently I heard what was told as a true story about a minister who visited a colleague’s church in New England. After touring a sanctuary filled with sunlight streaming through the beautiful stained glass windows that composed three sides of the building, they went outside. The pastor of the church pointed out the majestic spire rising far above the building’s roofline. A simple cross crowned the spire and a few feet below it were what appeared to be windows that had been covered with plywood. The visiting minister asked about the plywood. “There used to be stained glass that was lit from the inside at night. At the insistence of the people in the town and a few members, my predecessor allowed the elders to put the plywood over the windows.” “Why” asked the visiting minister, “would people object to lighted stain glass in the tower.” “Well, folks said it made them uneasy. You see, all four windows were depictions of the all-seeing eye of God watching us.” When I was growing up, I remember an old song that said something about “Watching you, watching you. There’s an all seeing eye watching you.” We don’t hear much about that anymore, maybe because it would make us uneasy. But when we do what is right in the sight of the Lord, the idea is sort of comforting, isn’t it?
Day Three, “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations3:24. In the preceding verses the writer of Lamentations tells us that his soul is bereft of peace, that he has forgotten what happiness is, that he tends to dwell on his affliction and his bitterness which causes him to feel depressed and weighted down. The writer isn’t some great sinner, rather he is a prophet whose predicament resulted from him having done what God led him to do. More than likely, he was like most of us—we figure that if we obey God then people will respond favorably and there will be a happy ending. But this is not always so, often our best efforts are met with indifference or hostility by those whose spiritual consciousness is buried deeply under layers of selfishness and rationalizations for a life-time of bad choices. Our text follows the writer’s frank admission of his disappointment, sorrow, frustration and depression. Notice that he lifts his thinking from how he feels to what he knows to the true “The Lord is my portion.” When we’ve done our best and things haven’t turned out as we think they should, we should remind ourselves that how we feel about the situation is not nearly as vital to our long-term mental and spiritual wellbeing as knowing that we live for a higher purpose that makes God our portion of happiness and contentment. When we consistently do this, we find hope for a better tomorrow and a brighter future rekindled.
Day Four, The Lord is my light and my salvation (deliverance)…The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1; Many behavioral psychologist tells us that people need to know the way to attain a sense of dignity (sense of self-worth), to have a sense that if things don’t work out there will be a way to salvage their dignity (willingness to take a risk), and the knowledge that there is a safe place to find protection and rest. This verse provides all three of these requirements. It tells us that the Good Lord provides light to show us not only who we really are (loved of God) but light to show us the way (a sense of direction); it also reveals that we can count on him to deliver us in difficult times, and that we have a safe place (his stronghold) when things aren’t working out as we had planned. With that assurance, shouldn’t we act with confidence in every area of our lives?
Day Five, Though a host encamp against me…though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. Psalm 27:3; Life can often bring not only hardships but a feeling that everyone and everything is against us. These situations can range from losing a job to being betrayed or forsaken by friends and even family. When those times come (and come they will) it is easy to just want to crawl up in a ball and give up hope. But the testimony of this Psalmist (and countless Christians through the ages) is that when we feel besieged by the problems of life or it seems that everyone is at war against us, we can be confident because of our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Day Six, I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Psalm 27:13; Over 36 years ago, I got my first position as a salesman, it was with a major insurance company. I wasn’t doing too well when my sales manager left to become General Agent for another company, after he got settled I was invited to become a member of his team. Although I didn’t stay in the insurance business very long, the fact that he believed in me helped me discover that I had what it took to succeed if I learned to believe in my own God given abilities and that God had good in store for me. Today’s text deals with believing in the ultimate good that will come to those who persevere through the bad times and learn the lessons of self-discipline. No matter how “badly” you may be doing remember that God believes in your capacity to handle it with his help, so join this Psalmist and affirm I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
Day Seven, Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yea, wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14; This verse contains a three step formula for overcoming any difficulty or solving any problem. It is one that is familiar to anyone who reads the Bible regularly, but it bears repeating so that it becomes an automatic response in times of trial or difficulty. We are to realize that God’s timing isn’t always our timing (he knows the right time to bring things together for our good), therefore we are to wait for God’s timing. In order to do this we need to be strong; waiting involves patience, which is a mental attitude. In order to be patient means we have to have a strong mental resolve that can overcome those thoughts of fear that might make us “leap before we look”. In order to bolster that resolve we need to allow ourselves to think courageous, faith-filled thoughts.
Monday, February 15, 2010
February 15 through 21, 2010
Sunday was Valentine’s Day, so I thought we might spend some time this week on the subject of love.
Day One, For love is strong as death… Song of Solomon 8:6; Today’s text provides a clear idea of the effect of real, lasting love on people. The beginning of a successful marriage or the healing of a wounded one comes when we realize that real love means the death of a prior life, as well as our self interest and the birth of a new focus and direction. Successful marriages often require dying to old single friends in order to form new friendships with other couples (no more “my friends” and “your friends”, just OUR Friends). It means dying to always having your way (successful marriages require each party give in 60% of the time). It requires letting old hurts and wounds die so that love can continue to grow. It requires dying to one lifestyle in order that a new one can be born.
Day Two, Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. Song of Solomon 8:7; Several years ago I counseled with a couple who were having major marital problems. After listening to his litany of complaints, I asked, “Don, if she’s that bad why did you marry her in the first place?” I then rephrased everything bad he said about her in the most unflattering terms possible. He immediately became hostile and started defending his wife. This was a breakthrough moment for them as both discovered that in spite of the bad things that had happened in their marriage and the hurtful words and deeds, love was much deeper than the wounds they had inflicted on each other.
Day Three, Your head crowns you like (Mount) Carmel, your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses. Song of Solomon 7:5; One of the biggest killers of “love” in marriage is negative thinking. It is easy to focus on our partner’s shortcomings (having been married for over 35 years, I speak from experience). The husband leaves for work thinking “she burned the toast again, the house is a mess, she looks like she’s gained 10 pounds overnight…” The wife, who is running late trips over his underwear (which he thoughtfully left in the middle of the floor) and begins thinking “That moron can’t pick anything up, he doesn’t lift a finger to help me, didn’t even appreciate breakfast…” These thoughts set the theme for the way we think about each other all day long. Is it any wonder that by the end of the day the stage is set for an evening of either snipping at one another or icy silence? Countering negative thoughts immediately with positive ones can go a long way to creating a more peaceful, happy home life.4
Day Four, Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. First Corinthians 13:4-7; In it’s context, Paul is contrasting the type of love that should be found among Christians to the way certain people in the Corinthian church were acting toward one another. But beyond that is found a very sound definition of the type of love we should model before our family, coworkers and friends. In its essence, love is really a lifestyle that we choose to adopt. It is a manifestation of the image we hold of ourselves and mirrors our real personality to all around us. The lifestyle of love is one that doesn’t allow problems to cause us to quickly become angry or irritable, it doesn’t allow us to dwell on minor slights until we become resentful, nor does it always seek for the hidden agenda of others or personal advantage in the situations of life.
Day Five, The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Psalm 138:8; Everyone has some principle that dictates the way they prioritize activities, shapes their thinking and forms their values. As children of God our ultimate principle should be to live in awareness of God’s goodness and discover, develop and dedicate our natural abilities for His glory and not just our own benefit. When we live by this principle we find that circumstances evolve in ways that enable us to become instruments of His love, grace and salvation.
Day Six, They left everything and followed him. Luke
Monday, February 8, 2010
February 8 through 14, 2010
Day One Psalm 138:7, Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies…your right hand delivers me; Someone once said that faith begins when we understand our limitations and dare to move beyond them. To that we might add that trust begins when we place our lives in God’s hands and refuse to quit even though we understand that there are many events in life that are unfair, problems that are undeserved and that troubles come our way in spite of our best efforts.
Day Two, Exodus 2:24, God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant…; The most comforting thought we can hold when we are facing adversities is that Almighty God is mindful of what we are going through. It is easy to forget this fact when we are struggling under some burden, but we must keep reminding ourselves of it lest we become cynical and negative. And we must remember that God knows how much we can endure (often more than we think we are capable of). Like a good parent, our Heavenly Father wants us to become stronger, so he doesn’t always come flying to our rescue at the first hint of trouble. But come to our aid he will, and when he does it is always at the right time and in a way that will lead us into what is best for us. He will not forget us, nor will he forget the promises he has made in his word.
Day Three, Luke 5:8,10, Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man…Do not be afraid, from now on you will be…; The simple truth contained in today’s verses is that God often blesses us in spite of ourselves. When we receive a visitation of God’s goodness, grace and glory instead of assuming it was a result of how good we’ve been, wouldn’t a more appropriate response be that of Peter? When such a response is made we are then ready to hear what God has to say to us about what we can be.
Day Four, Isaiah 6:8, Here am I! Send me; Isaiah’s vision of the “Lord high and lifted up” evoked a realization of his own inadequacies, leading him to confess Woe is me! For I am lost…”. But God never leaves us with these feelings, once we come clean he cleans us up and offers us not only his companionship but an opportunity to more fully experience the fulfillment that comes from giving ourselves in service. When we experience the vision of God that leads us to realize that we are victims of our own “unclean lips” it is because God wants to give us the victory over our weaknesses and limitations. God doesn’t provide this vision and victory just to make us feel better, he does so to enable us to hear his voice asking Whom shall I send?. This week as we go about our daily lives, may we hear that voice and always be ready to respond Here am I! Send me.
Day Five, Psalm 138:1, I give thee thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing thy praise; Living in the 21st century can be both frustrating and complicated due to the countless demands of life from church activities, family, earning a living and dealing with everyday problems. It is easy to allow these things to become “little gods” in our lives. The writer of this Psalm seems to have discovered a simple secret for dealing with these little gods and keeping a sense of balance in his life. His secret was twofold. First he looked for reasons to be thankful no matter what demands were made on him. Second, when the little gods began to crowd out his commitment to his Heaven Father he affirmed his commitment to God.
Day Six, Psalm 138:3, On the day I called, you answered me, you increased the strength of my soul; Over the years, I’ve had many people tell me that God doesn’t answer their prayers. I always feel sorry for such people because they obviously don’t recall what they have prayed for or they are so self-absorbed that they don’t recognize that sometimes God doesn’t give us what we asked for, but what we need. The psalmist not only affirms that God answers prayer, but that he begins to answer immediately; and more importantly he testifies that the Good Lord gave him what he needed to solve the problem or face the test.
Day Seven, , Isaiah 6:3, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory; I have often heard the protestation “I don’t get anything out of church.” This avowal begs the question as to why people go to church. If it is to see our friends or catch up on the latest gossip, then we fail to get something out of attending if our friend is absent or there’s nothing new to talk about. Our verse for today should remind us of the reason we go to church—to catch a clear and fresh vision of God and realize how fortunate we are to have his love and awesome presence with us all the way.
Day Two, Exodus 2:24, God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant…; The most comforting thought we can hold when we are facing adversities is that Almighty God is mindful of what we are going through. It is easy to forget this fact when we are struggling under some burden, but we must keep reminding ourselves of it lest we become cynical and negative. And we must remember that God knows how much we can endure (often more than we think we are capable of). Like a good parent, our Heavenly Father wants us to become stronger, so he doesn’t always come flying to our rescue at the first hint of trouble. But come to our aid he will, and when he does it is always at the right time and in a way that will lead us into what is best for us. He will not forget us, nor will he forget the promises he has made in his word.
Day Three, Luke 5:8,10, Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man…Do not be afraid, from now on you will be…; The simple truth contained in today’s verses is that God often blesses us in spite of ourselves. When we receive a visitation of God’s goodness, grace and glory instead of assuming it was a result of how good we’ve been, wouldn’t a more appropriate response be that of Peter? When such a response is made we are then ready to hear what God has to say to us about what we can be.
Day Four, Isaiah 6:8, Here am I! Send me; Isaiah’s vision of the “Lord high and lifted up” evoked a realization of his own inadequacies, leading him to confess Woe is me! For I am lost…”. But God never leaves us with these feelings, once we come clean he cleans us up and offers us not only his companionship but an opportunity to more fully experience the fulfillment that comes from giving ourselves in service. When we experience the vision of God that leads us to realize that we are victims of our own “unclean lips” it is because God wants to give us the victory over our weaknesses and limitations. God doesn’t provide this vision and victory just to make us feel better, he does so to enable us to hear his voice asking Whom shall I send?. This week as we go about our daily lives, may we hear that voice and always be ready to respond Here am I! Send me.
Day Five, Psalm 138:1, I give thee thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing thy praise; Living in the 21st century can be both frustrating and complicated due to the countless demands of life from church activities, family, earning a living and dealing with everyday problems. It is easy to allow these things to become “little gods” in our lives. The writer of this Psalm seems to have discovered a simple secret for dealing with these little gods and keeping a sense of balance in his life. His secret was twofold. First he looked for reasons to be thankful no matter what demands were made on him. Second, when the little gods began to crowd out his commitment to his Heaven Father he affirmed his commitment to God.
Day Six, Psalm 138:3, On the day I called, you answered me, you increased the strength of my soul; Over the years, I’ve had many people tell me that God doesn’t answer their prayers. I always feel sorry for such people because they obviously don’t recall what they have prayed for or they are so self-absorbed that they don’t recognize that sometimes God doesn’t give us what we asked for, but what we need. The psalmist not only affirms that God answers prayer, but that he begins to answer immediately; and more importantly he testifies that the Good Lord gave him what he needed to solve the problem or face the test.
Day Seven, , Isaiah 6:3, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory; I have often heard the protestation “I don’t get anything out of church.” This avowal begs the question as to why people go to church. If it is to see our friends or catch up on the latest gossip, then we fail to get something out of attending if our friend is absent or there’s nothing new to talk about. Our verse for today should remind us of the reason we go to church—to catch a clear and fresh vision of God and realize how fortunate we are to have his love and awesome presence with us all the way.
Monday, February 1, 2010
February 1 through 7, 2010
Day One, Micah 7:7, As for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me; This verse offers us many things to reflect upon. It centers on the individual who is feeling pressured, afraid, alone, confused by conflicts and problems. But it moves beyond the “me” to the attitude and trust that this individual has developed. His attitude is that God is the ultimate source of his salvation (meaning deliverance) therefore he will look to Him. In my mind this means that he will pray and meditate about the things bothering him realizing that the Good Lord will provide the guidance, insight and mental toughness needed to handle what he is facing. But despite wanting immediate relief from his woes, he also realizes that God brings things together for the best outcome and this often takes time, therefore he adopts an attitude of waiting for God to work. Out of this positive attitude comes his assertion that “God will hear me.”
Day Two, Habakkuk 2:4, Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith. While these are the words of a prophet, this passage is not so much prophetic as it is common sense. All we need to do is look around and discover the truth of this saying. It may appear that those “whose soul is not upright” are succeeding but in most cases they ultimately fail, they may loose what they’ve acquired, or their reputation is ruined as skeletons come out of the closets. On the other hand, the person who lives right and tries to follow God’s ways in their career and personal lives, as well as their spiritual life rise above what most consider failure; their faith in God, His ultimate purposes for them and his Love toward them gives them power to keep prodding along until eventually they achieve the dream that God has given them.
Day Three, Jeremiah 1:11, The word of the Lord came to me and said…WHAT DO YOU SEE?; Not everyone is called to some lofty mission for God, but we are all called to take advantage of the opportunities to live out our faith in word and deed. The question that God posed to Jeremiah is the same question that should echo through our minds every hour of the day. When we live in an awareness of this question and open our mind’s eye in response to it then we will seldom find ourselves wondering how to serve God at any given time. The word of the Lord came to me and said…WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Day Four, Job 38:36, Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?; Many times we feel overwhelmed because of heavy schedules, pending problems and a myriad of routine things that need attention. I once asked a highly successful executive how he was able to move so confidently through his pressure packed daily schedule making decisions that literally affected the lives of hundreds of employees. His response was to take out his wallet and pull out a business card on which he had written the words of today’s text. “I could not do it on my own, if I tried I’d be a nervous wreck” he told me, “but by looking at this verse several times a day I’m reminded that there is One who will give me both the wisdom and understanding I need.”
Day Five, Daniel 11:32b, But the people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take (appropriate) action; In our hectic world it seems that almost everyday presents some ethical dilemma. We have all known people who have faced these dilemmas and failed to live up their better instincts because it was more convenient to take the easier road. Of course, nothing that starts out wrong ends up right, so eventually these lapses in ethical judgment end with personal or professional disaster. That’s why we should never become so short-sighted as to loose sight of the long-term effects of our decisions, nor should we compromise our core values for short-term gain. If our convictions are rooted in God and we remain loyal to those convictions no matter what then we are empowered both mentally and spiritually to take the appropriate actions that will lead to good outcomes.
Day Six; First Peter 4:10, Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received; One of the great things about the way the Good Lord made us is that each of us have certain abilities in which others lack proficiency. This is the principle that all of society revolves around, that we each have the ability to compensate for what others lack. People come together for the mutual benefit of each other as they apply their diverse gifts and abilities toward a common good. But for this principle to really work, whether in business, a marriage, society or the church we must be willing to use our gifts and abilities for other people and not just to further our own agenda
Day Seven, Genesis 24:12, Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham; Many times we disconnect ourselves from the characters we read about in the Bible because we elevate and spiritualize them to the point that they become more than mere mortals. When we do this, we miss the fact that just like us they didn’t always understand the situation they were in or that they experienced the same uncertainties and anxieties. Like us, most of the people in the Bible were just trying to do the best they could based on their understanding of their faith. Our text for today is the record of a man’s prayer who had been given a difficult, if not impossible assignment. But more than a historical record, it shows us how to approach every area of our lives.
Day Two, Habakkuk 2:4, Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith. While these are the words of a prophet, this passage is not so much prophetic as it is common sense. All we need to do is look around and discover the truth of this saying. It may appear that those “whose soul is not upright” are succeeding but in most cases they ultimately fail, they may loose what they’ve acquired, or their reputation is ruined as skeletons come out of the closets. On the other hand, the person who lives right and tries to follow God’s ways in their career and personal lives, as well as their spiritual life rise above what most consider failure; their faith in God, His ultimate purposes for them and his Love toward them gives them power to keep prodding along until eventually they achieve the dream that God has given them.
Day Three, Jeremiah 1:11, The word of the Lord came to me and said…WHAT DO YOU SEE?; Not everyone is called to some lofty mission for God, but we are all called to take advantage of the opportunities to live out our faith in word and deed. The question that God posed to Jeremiah is the same question that should echo through our minds every hour of the day. When we live in an awareness of this question and open our mind’s eye in response to it then we will seldom find ourselves wondering how to serve God at any given time. The word of the Lord came to me and said…WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Day Four, Job 38:36, Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?; Many times we feel overwhelmed because of heavy schedules, pending problems and a myriad of routine things that need attention. I once asked a highly successful executive how he was able to move so confidently through his pressure packed daily schedule making decisions that literally affected the lives of hundreds of employees. His response was to take out his wallet and pull out a business card on which he had written the words of today’s text. “I could not do it on my own, if I tried I’d be a nervous wreck” he told me, “but by looking at this verse several times a day I’m reminded that there is One who will give me both the wisdom and understanding I need.”
Day Five, Daniel 11:32b, But the people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take (appropriate) action; In our hectic world it seems that almost everyday presents some ethical dilemma. We have all known people who have faced these dilemmas and failed to live up their better instincts because it was more convenient to take the easier road. Of course, nothing that starts out wrong ends up right, so eventually these lapses in ethical judgment end with personal or professional disaster. That’s why we should never become so short-sighted as to loose sight of the long-term effects of our decisions, nor should we compromise our core values for short-term gain. If our convictions are rooted in God and we remain loyal to those convictions no matter what then we are empowered both mentally and spiritually to take the appropriate actions that will lead to good outcomes.
Day Six; First Peter 4:10, Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received; One of the great things about the way the Good Lord made us is that each of us have certain abilities in which others lack proficiency. This is the principle that all of society revolves around, that we each have the ability to compensate for what others lack. People come together for the mutual benefit of each other as they apply their diverse gifts and abilities toward a common good. But for this principle to really work, whether in business, a marriage, society or the church we must be willing to use our gifts and abilities for other people and not just to further our own agenda
Day Seven, Genesis 24:12, Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham; Many times we disconnect ourselves from the characters we read about in the Bible because we elevate and spiritualize them to the point that they become more than mere mortals. When we do this, we miss the fact that just like us they didn’t always understand the situation they were in or that they experienced the same uncertainties and anxieties. Like us, most of the people in the Bible were just trying to do the best they could based on their understanding of their faith. Our text for today is the record of a man’s prayer who had been given a difficult, if not impossible assignment. But more than a historical record, it shows us how to approach every area of our lives.
Monday, January 25, 2010
January 25 thru January 31, 2010
Day One, First Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up…; Even the most devout person can loose sight of the fact that they aren’t the only one in need of an encouraging word. A psychologist friend tells me that when he has a counselee who is discouraged, he often assigns him the task of finding someone else who is discouraged and building that person up. This, he says, does two things. First, it helps his counselee change the negative focus from his problems to finding creative and positive ways to help the other person. Second, it brings the counselee back in touch with what it means to be truly alive—giving of ourselves to help others.
Day Two, Psalm 37:7; While today’s text specifically refers to situations where we get upset because of other people’s conduct, the first part of the verse provides a general principle that is applicable to dealing with the everyday ups and downs of life. The value of learning to relax has been proven by medical research. Our text advises us to practice relaxation, we are to be still. That means to simple sit quietly momentarily emptying our minds of our frustrations, concerns and plans. But this text prescribes that the child of God take relaxing the mind a step further. We are to “be still before the Lord”. In other words, fill your mind with visions of God’s wonderful creation, thoughts about his goodness and blessings. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him.
Day Three, Exodus 33:14 My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest;
We all have dual identities because we are known by many different titles--father, mother, grandfather, business person, pastor, teacher, carpenter, shop worker, husband, wife, friend, acquaintance, the list is endless. This dual identity that we all live with means that at different times of the day we have a different level of consciousness. For example, when a businessman enters his office, his consciousness of his role as a father or deacon recedes into the background as his consciousness of his business and its affairs takes center-stage in his mind. If the telephone rings during a busy day and one of his grandchildren is on the line, for a few minutes his consciousness of being a grandfather emerges as business recedes. Each of us switch from level of consciousness to another many times during the day. But there is one level of consciousness that we need to cultivate and make sure we never allow it to recede so far back in our minds that we are ever without it hovering in the background. That is our consciousness that when we are spiritually attuned, God is with us and is willing to lead and guide us in all our decisions and affairs. When we take the time to raise our spiritual consciousness as we go through our busy day, we find it is less stressful and tiring.
Day Four, Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you; We all face times in our lives when it seems that the waters of trouble are about to overwhelm us and the flames of adversity lick at our very being. Some question why God would allow his children to face troubles and adversities. The difficulties of life come from various sources; sometimes God wants to show us a better way, at other times God lets us taste the consequences of our bad decisions before acting on our behalf, and then there are the times God allows us to face misfortunes because it can strengthen our faith and resolve as our minds work our way through them. Regardless of the source of life’s difficult days, we have this assurance God will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Day Five, Psalm 44:7,8 You have saved us from our foes…In God we have boasted continually…; How often do we take God’s goodness and actions on our behalf for granted? Have we not often simply considered ourselves lucky when a bad situation turned out right? Aren’t we all guilty at times of patting ourselves on the back when we emerge from some major crisis unscathed? In a sense, we all tend to disconnect our faith from our good fortune. Maybe it would do us all good to take more time to see the hand of God in the coincidences of life and learn to follow the Psalmist lead and boast in God continually.
Day Six, Romans 14:17, 18,For the kingdom of God is…righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. The word "serves" means we have a part to play, a job to do. Therefore we are to strive (work hard) to live right, not be ruled by our emotions, and be joyous individuals. When we do this, we not only have God’s approval, but people will be drawn to us because we exhibit the character traits that build trust and create goodwill.
Day Seven, Joshua 1:9 Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.; How we should approach life? We should approach it full of faith. When we approach life with a bedrock faith in God, in our God given abilities and in the rightness of what we are attempting to do then we have an inner strength of resolve that gives us courage and overcomes fear and disappointment as we climb our mountains or walk through our valleys.
Day Two, Psalm 37:7; While today’s text specifically refers to situations where we get upset because of other people’s conduct, the first part of the verse provides a general principle that is applicable to dealing with the everyday ups and downs of life. The value of learning to relax has been proven by medical research. Our text advises us to practice relaxation, we are to be still. That means to simple sit quietly momentarily emptying our minds of our frustrations, concerns and plans. But this text prescribes that the child of God take relaxing the mind a step further. We are to “be still before the Lord”. In other words, fill your mind with visions of God’s wonderful creation, thoughts about his goodness and blessings. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him.
Day Three, Exodus 33:14 My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest;
We all have dual identities because we are known by many different titles--father, mother, grandfather, business person, pastor, teacher, carpenter, shop worker, husband, wife, friend, acquaintance, the list is endless. This dual identity that we all live with means that at different times of the day we have a different level of consciousness. For example, when a businessman enters his office, his consciousness of his role as a father or deacon recedes into the background as his consciousness of his business and its affairs takes center-stage in his mind. If the telephone rings during a busy day and one of his grandchildren is on the line, for a few minutes his consciousness of being a grandfather emerges as business recedes. Each of us switch from level of consciousness to another many times during the day. But there is one level of consciousness that we need to cultivate and make sure we never allow it to recede so far back in our minds that we are ever without it hovering in the background. That is our consciousness that when we are spiritually attuned, God is with us and is willing to lead and guide us in all our decisions and affairs. When we take the time to raise our spiritual consciousness as we go through our busy day, we find it is less stressful and tiring.
Day Four, Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you; We all face times in our lives when it seems that the waters of trouble are about to overwhelm us and the flames of adversity lick at our very being. Some question why God would allow his children to face troubles and adversities. The difficulties of life come from various sources; sometimes God wants to show us a better way, at other times God lets us taste the consequences of our bad decisions before acting on our behalf, and then there are the times God allows us to face misfortunes because it can strengthen our faith and resolve as our minds work our way through them. Regardless of the source of life’s difficult days, we have this assurance God will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Day Five, Psalm 44:7,8 You have saved us from our foes…In God we have boasted continually…; How often do we take God’s goodness and actions on our behalf for granted? Have we not often simply considered ourselves lucky when a bad situation turned out right? Aren’t we all guilty at times of patting ourselves on the back when we emerge from some major crisis unscathed? In a sense, we all tend to disconnect our faith from our good fortune. Maybe it would do us all good to take more time to see the hand of God in the coincidences of life and learn to follow the Psalmist lead and boast in God continually.
Day Six, Romans 14:17, 18,For the kingdom of God is…righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. The word "serves" means we have a part to play, a job to do. Therefore we are to strive (work hard) to live right, not be ruled by our emotions, and be joyous individuals. When we do this, we not only have God’s approval, but people will be drawn to us because we exhibit the character traits that build trust and create goodwill.
Day Seven, Joshua 1:9 Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.; How we should approach life? We should approach it full of faith. When we approach life with a bedrock faith in God, in our God given abilities and in the rightness of what we are attempting to do then we have an inner strength of resolve that gives us courage and overcomes fear and disappointment as we climb our mountains or walk through our valleys.
Monday, January 11, 2010
January 11 through January 17, 2010
Day One, be renewed in your mental attitude, Ephesians 4:22,23 (Berkeley Version); One of the greatest lessons we need to learn about life is that who we are isn’t nearly as important as who we think we can become. That is the thrust of our scripture lesson today, you can become a new person but you must put forth the effort to do some renovations. Paul realized that while we are saved through Christ work, we have a personal responsibility as people created with free choices to move forward toward becoming more like Christ, so he tells us to be “renewed in the spirit of our mind.” The Greek word we translate “renew” means to renovate or remodel our way of thinking. The key to spiritual growth and victory (as well as every endeavor we undertake) is to renovate our attitude and remodel our thinking!
Day Two, As a man thinketh, so is he, Proverbs 23:7 (KJV); The Good Lord gave human beings the capacity to think. The thoughts we think are the gatekeepers of our soul because they determine how we view ourselves, our problems and our opportunities. The way we habitually think forms the convictions we have and our actions are based on them. In order to renovate our minds and fully experience the joy of being a child of God, we must daily fill our minds with big, powerful thoughts of faith and hope.
Day Three, The kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power. I Corinthians 4:20, Several years ago, I knew a man who had a vast knowledge of personal evangelism. He had attended seminars and training classes, he was even called upon by various churches to teach classes in “soul winning”. Imagine how surprised people were when they found out that he had never put any of his knowledge to practical use, he had never attempted personal evangelism except during training courses! Our text for today states that the kingdom of God depends on power, not on talk. It is easy to talk about lofty ideals and high and noble aspirations but unless we develop and use our mental and spiritual powers to make them into realities, we are failing to fully realize the kingdom of God in our lives.
Day Four, The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1; Fear is one of the most debilitating problems people face. Fear of the future, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of starting over, fear of attempting something bigger than themselves. Fear can paralyze our thoughts and our actions. Fear can cancel out faith and keep us from following what we believe deep down to be God’s plan for our lives. In cases such as this, fear is nothing more than normal caution that has been exaggerated by the mind as it magnifies the possible negative consequences. Negativity is in itself a form of darkness and Psalm 27:1 reminds us that Christ provides us with not only light to shine in the darkness, but the deliverance and place of security we need to move ahead boldly by faith.
Day Five, Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets, Luke 5:4,5; The difference between the success or failure of any endeavor often rests on which part of Peter’s response we choose to follow. How many times have we been discouraged by apparent lack of progress in some area of our lives (career, spiritual growth, personal improvement, family, etc) when we get an idea to try something a little different and we’ve elected to dismiss it rather than explore the possibilities? But we’ve also had experiences where we were discouraged, got an idea that gave us a new approach, decided to try it and had success. As we go through the day, God often leads us through insights and ideas. Naturally, we must be sure they conform to Christian standards, but once we’ve done that we need to be willing to say, “I’ve tried everything, but if you say so, I’ll give it one more try.” The results will amaze you.
Day Six, Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually, First Chronicles 16:11; This is a spiritual prescription for endless power, insight and peace. If taken as directed the user be able to offset the feelings of helplessness and fear that accompany so many of life’s problems and perturbing situations. When we continually have the strength of the Lord and his wonderful presence with us then nothing can get us down for extended periods. But we have a responsibility, we must seek for the Lord’s strength and presence, and we must continually seek it. We do this by living constantly in awareness of his presence and seeking his guidance in everything we do.
Day Seven, See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse…Deuteronomy 11:26; One of the most wonderful truths about God is that he ultimately has confidence in us to make right decisions. After the events around a certain tree in the Garden of Eden, God could have elected to turn human beings into robots who were incapable of making wrong choices. But he didn’t! God had enough confidence in our ability to think and reason that he left humankind with a free will. Yes, we often make bad choices, some of them lead us into trouble or even sin, yet we are capable of making good decisions and God believes that if we take the time to weigh our options we will see that just about every decision has within it a blessing and a curse. In order to make good choices we need to be aware of the blessing and curse contained in our every decision.
Day Two, As a man thinketh, so is he, Proverbs 23:7 (KJV); The Good Lord gave human beings the capacity to think. The thoughts we think are the gatekeepers of our soul because they determine how we view ourselves, our problems and our opportunities. The way we habitually think forms the convictions we have and our actions are based on them. In order to renovate our minds and fully experience the joy of being a child of God, we must daily fill our minds with big, powerful thoughts of faith and hope.
Day Three, The kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power. I Corinthians 4:20, Several years ago, I knew a man who had a vast knowledge of personal evangelism. He had attended seminars and training classes, he was even called upon by various churches to teach classes in “soul winning”. Imagine how surprised people were when they found out that he had never put any of his knowledge to practical use, he had never attempted personal evangelism except during training courses! Our text for today states that the kingdom of God depends on power, not on talk. It is easy to talk about lofty ideals and high and noble aspirations but unless we develop and use our mental and spiritual powers to make them into realities, we are failing to fully realize the kingdom of God in our lives.
Day Four, The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1; Fear is one of the most debilitating problems people face. Fear of the future, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of starting over, fear of attempting something bigger than themselves. Fear can paralyze our thoughts and our actions. Fear can cancel out faith and keep us from following what we believe deep down to be God’s plan for our lives. In cases such as this, fear is nothing more than normal caution that has been exaggerated by the mind as it magnifies the possible negative consequences. Negativity is in itself a form of darkness and Psalm 27:1 reminds us that Christ provides us with not only light to shine in the darkness, but the deliverance and place of security we need to move ahead boldly by faith.
Day Five, Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets, Luke 5:4,5; The difference between the success or failure of any endeavor often rests on which part of Peter’s response we choose to follow. How many times have we been discouraged by apparent lack of progress in some area of our lives (career, spiritual growth, personal improvement, family, etc) when we get an idea to try something a little different and we’ve elected to dismiss it rather than explore the possibilities? But we’ve also had experiences where we were discouraged, got an idea that gave us a new approach, decided to try it and had success. As we go through the day, God often leads us through insights and ideas. Naturally, we must be sure they conform to Christian standards, but once we’ve done that we need to be willing to say, “I’ve tried everything, but if you say so, I’ll give it one more try.” The results will amaze you.
Day Six, Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually, First Chronicles 16:11; This is a spiritual prescription for endless power, insight and peace. If taken as directed the user be able to offset the feelings of helplessness and fear that accompany so many of life’s problems and perturbing situations. When we continually have the strength of the Lord and his wonderful presence with us then nothing can get us down for extended periods. But we have a responsibility, we must seek for the Lord’s strength and presence, and we must continually seek it. We do this by living constantly in awareness of his presence and seeking his guidance in everything we do.
Day Seven, See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse…Deuteronomy 11:26; One of the most wonderful truths about God is that he ultimately has confidence in us to make right decisions. After the events around a certain tree in the Garden of Eden, God could have elected to turn human beings into robots who were incapable of making wrong choices. But he didn’t! God had enough confidence in our ability to think and reason that he left humankind with a free will. Yes, we often make bad choices, some of them lead us into trouble or even sin, yet we are capable of making good decisions and God believes that if we take the time to weigh our options we will see that just about every decision has within it a blessing and a curse. In order to make good choices we need to be aware of the blessing and curse contained in our every decision.
Monday, January 4, 2010
January 4 through 10, 2010
Day One: Mark 1:1, “The beginning…” I’ve been writing articles, columns, speeches, sermons, booklets, etc. for 45 years. Like most other people who are writers and speakers I know that figuring out how to start a talk or article is usually the hardest part. I usually know what I want to say, the idea of want to convey, the end I want to achieve. But those critical first few seconds or minutes cause me to often stare at a blank computer screen. The same holds true when we set a goal or decide to make a change. We know the outcome we want, but have trouble getting started. No doubt the writer of this, the oldest known gospel had the same problem. I can see this fellow, knowing what he wanted to say but puzzling over how to open his work. Finally, he simply wrote, “The beginning of...” In life, as in writing sometimes it is better to simply say, “The beginning of (my diet, my job search, etc) and get started. Someone has said that beginning is half the battle.
Day Two: Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the good news…” According to psychologist and sociologist people respond best to good news because it provides a ray of hope, encouragement and empowerment. Experts tell us that often the key to change management in businesses, churches and organizations is to present the change as being good news (it will make things easier, reduce expenses, increase security, etc). This same principle holds true in our personal lives. Always couch your goals and ambitions as being good news. How do you do that? By listing (and reviewing) all the good that achieving it will provide for you, your family or your career.
Day Three: Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Those who teach public speaking and/or writing usually advocate grabbing people’s attention as soon as possible. This can be done through a provocative statement that speaks to their interest, or by piquing their curiosity. It makes them want to read on or to listen. It also creates anticipation and often excitement about gaining new information (news teasers are a good example). This writer's audience had heard so many conflicting things about Jesus these words no doubt created this sense of interest and anticipation. What does that have to do with helping us toward our goals for the coming year? Simply this, be sure you are really interested in the “good news” about what you are trying to accomplish. You do this by making sure you are really sold on the benefits it will bring your life. Remind yourself everyday not only of that good news, but the ultimate reason of making the effort.
Day Four: Mark 1:2,3, “As it is written in the prophet Isaiah…” We all know that the past is prologue for the future. Industrial psychologist tell us that by linking new skills with things we have learned to do in the past people learn to master them much quicker. The same is true with trying to reach new objectives. If we can link them with similar goals that we have accomplished in the past then we find it easier to have the confidence to move forward because “I did that, so I can do this” becomes our mantra. Coupling that with power words of faith from the Bible empowers and inspires us. The writer of Mark used this concept when he linked his message with the trusted words of two prophets, Isaiah and Malachi.
Day Five: Mark 1:4, “John the Baptist appeared…” As children of Almighty God, we know, at least intellectually that when our goals are right our Heavenly Father brings things together at the right time, in the right place with the thing we need the most. In some cases it could be a person we meet who gives us the “right idea” or encouragement. At other times it might be something we “happened” to read. Or it could simply be that he gives us ideas (counsel) that guide our actions.
Day Six: Mark 1:5, “And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him…” A former associate minister to the late Dr. Charles Allen, the famous pastor of First United Methodist Church in Houston (at that time the largest church in that denomination) said that on many a Sunday morning Dr. Allen would sit in his study and ask, “What if nobody comes today?” No doubt John the Baptist felt that way each day. Just like many of us as we start moving toward what we know we should be doing we wonder whether all that we’ve done thus far will see results. It is our job to “follow” our God given dream, to pursue that goal that we feel God has put on our heart, when we do that results will come. True, they may not be in the form we expected but whatever the final result we can know that He will be glorified.
Day Seven: Mark 1:7, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming…I am not worthy to…untie the thong of his sandals.” My father was a minister for over 65 years. He loved to tell young ministers about his third sermon. It seems that his first two had gone really well (or at least the folks convinced him that he was another Billy Sunday or whoever back in his day). Anyway, he took the pulpit with the past compliments of people ringing in his mind…and to quote him, “fell flat on my face.” With head hung low he stepped down from the pulpit after the service. One of his mentors came up to him and said, “Bob, if you had gone into the pulpit the way you came out, you’d have done a great job.” It is easy to “believe our own press releases” when we start achieving our objectives. Every time I read is verse, I wonder if perhaps we was talking as much to himself as to the crowd—reminding himself of who he was and why he was doing what he was doing.
Day Two: Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the good news…” According to psychologist and sociologist people respond best to good news because it provides a ray of hope, encouragement and empowerment. Experts tell us that often the key to change management in businesses, churches and organizations is to present the change as being good news (it will make things easier, reduce expenses, increase security, etc). This same principle holds true in our personal lives. Always couch your goals and ambitions as being good news. How do you do that? By listing (and reviewing) all the good that achieving it will provide for you, your family or your career.
Day Three: Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Those who teach public speaking and/or writing usually advocate grabbing people’s attention as soon as possible. This can be done through a provocative statement that speaks to their interest, or by piquing their curiosity. It makes them want to read on or to listen. It also creates anticipation and often excitement about gaining new information (news teasers are a good example). This writer's audience had heard so many conflicting things about Jesus these words no doubt created this sense of interest and anticipation. What does that have to do with helping us toward our goals for the coming year? Simply this, be sure you are really interested in the “good news” about what you are trying to accomplish. You do this by making sure you are really sold on the benefits it will bring your life. Remind yourself everyday not only of that good news, but the ultimate reason of making the effort.
Day Four: Mark 1:2,3, “As it is written in the prophet Isaiah…” We all know that the past is prologue for the future. Industrial psychologist tell us that by linking new skills with things we have learned to do in the past people learn to master them much quicker. The same is true with trying to reach new objectives. If we can link them with similar goals that we have accomplished in the past then we find it easier to have the confidence to move forward because “I did that, so I can do this” becomes our mantra. Coupling that with power words of faith from the Bible empowers and inspires us. The writer of Mark used this concept when he linked his message with the trusted words of two prophets, Isaiah and Malachi.
Day Five: Mark 1:4, “John the Baptist appeared…” As children of Almighty God, we know, at least intellectually that when our goals are right our Heavenly Father brings things together at the right time, in the right place with the thing we need the most. In some cases it could be a person we meet who gives us the “right idea” or encouragement. At other times it might be something we “happened” to read. Or it could simply be that he gives us ideas (counsel) that guide our actions.
Day Six: Mark 1:5, “And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him…” A former associate minister to the late Dr. Charles Allen, the famous pastor of First United Methodist Church in Houston (at that time the largest church in that denomination) said that on many a Sunday morning Dr. Allen would sit in his study and ask, “What if nobody comes today?” No doubt John the Baptist felt that way each day. Just like many of us as we start moving toward what we know we should be doing we wonder whether all that we’ve done thus far will see results. It is our job to “follow” our God given dream, to pursue that goal that we feel God has put on our heart, when we do that results will come. True, they may not be in the form we expected but whatever the final result we can know that He will be glorified.
Day Seven: Mark 1:7, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming…I am not worthy to…untie the thong of his sandals.” My father was a minister for over 65 years. He loved to tell young ministers about his third sermon. It seems that his first two had gone really well (or at least the folks convinced him that he was another Billy Sunday or whoever back in his day). Anyway, he took the pulpit with the past compliments of people ringing in his mind…and to quote him, “fell flat on my face.” With head hung low he stepped down from the pulpit after the service. One of his mentors came up to him and said, “Bob, if you had gone into the pulpit the way you came out, you’d have done a great job.” It is easy to “believe our own press releases” when we start achieving our objectives. Every time I read is verse, I wonder if perhaps we was talking as much to himself as to the crowd—reminding himself of who he was and why he was doing what he was doing.
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