Put God First / Oswald Chambers

 

Put God First Jesus did not commit Himself to them…for He knew what was in man. JOHN 2:24-25 Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God’s grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be— absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God. Put God’s Will First. “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:9). A person’s obedience is to what he sees to be a need— our Lord’s obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, “We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him.” But we must first make sure that God’s “needs” and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, “…tarry…until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the “needs” of God and His will. Once God’s “needs” in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His “needs” elsewhere. Put God’s Son First. “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me” (Matthew 18:5). God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a “Bethlehem.” Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God’s ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.”

Making Prayer a Priority / Charles Stanley

 

Making Prayer a Priority

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

In today’s passage, we are told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), but what does that mean? While God doesn’t expect us to go through life muttering prayers under our breath, we are called to be ever mindful of Him and quick to offer our petitions, praise, and gratitude throughout the day. And this will become a reality only when we make prayer a daily priority by setting aside time to be alone with the Lord, reading His Word and talking to Him. 

The purpose isn’t simply to bring Him a list of requests before quickly heading out the door. Any good relationship requires time and two-way communication. The goal is to have a conversation with God as we read His Word and respond in prayer. When this becomes a habit, our thoughts will more quickly and regularly turn to God in dependence, thankfulness, and worship. 

If you are struggling to be more consistent in prayer, ask the Lord for His help. Realize, however, that a habit of prayer will also require diligence on your part. You may have to get up earlier, but any sacrifice will be worth the effort because the outcome will be an intimate, satisfying relationship with your loving heavenly Father.

Are You a Closet Rebel? / Adrian Rogers

 Are You a Closet Rebel?              

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. 1 Samuel 15:23

There’s a classic story about a father who told his little four-year-old son to sit down, but the son didn’t sit down. The father said a second time, “Son, I said sit down.” The boy still didn’t sit down. Finally, the father took him by the shoulders and forcefully placed him in the chair. He said, “Now, Son, sit there!” The little boy answered, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but—” he added defiantly, “I’m standing up on the inside!”

A lot of us are in that mode. A rebellious spirit is not always discernible except to God and the person who has it.

Is there some area in your life where you’re “standing up on the inside”? If on the inside you still harbor a rebellious spirit, you are not really “obeying.”

Priorities / Chuck Swindoll

 Priorities

by Pastor Chuck SwindollScriptures: Matthew 6:33

Life is a lot like a coin; you can spend it any way you wish, but you can spend it only once. Choosing one thing over all the rest throughout life is a difficult thing to do. This is especially true when the choices are so many and the possibilities are so close.

To be completely truthful with you, however, we aren't left with numerous possibilities. Jesus Himself gave us the top priority: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matt. 6:33). He said, in effect, "This is your priority; this comes first." 

If I am to seek first in my life God's kingdom and God's righteousness, then whatever else I do ought to relate to that goal: where I work, with whom I spend my time, the one I marry, or the decision to remain single. Every decision I make ought to be filtered through the Matthew 6:33 filter: where I put my money, where and how I spend my time, what I buy, what I sell, what I give away. 

Living out the kingdom life means that everything must remain before the throne and under the authority of the ruler. Everything must be held loosely. 

What tangibles are you holding onto? What are you gripping tightly? Have they become your security? Are you a slave to some image? Some name you're trying to live up to? Some job? Some possession? Some person? Let me give you a tip. If you cannot let it go, it's a priority to you. It is impossible to be a slave to things or people and at the same time be a faithful servant of God. 

Life places before us hundreds of possibilities. Some are bad. Many are good. A few, the best. But each of us must decide, "What is my choice? What is my reason for living?" In other words, "What priority takes first place in my life?"

Secret Giver / ODB

 

Secret Giver Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Matthew 6:1 READ MATTHEW 6:1–4

For Christopher, a physically disabled veteran, everyday activities had become more challenging, took longer to finish, and increased his pain. Still, he did his best to serve his wife and child. Passersby would see him using a push-mower to cut his lawn every week. One day, Christopher received a letter—and an expensive riding lawnmower—from an anonymous donor. The secret giver’s satisfaction came through the privilege of helping someone in need. Jesus doesn’t say that all our giving should be in secret, but He does remind us to check our motives when we give (Matthew 6:1). He also said: “When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others” (v. 2). While God expects us to be openhanded givers, He encourages us to avoid doing good deeds in front of people for the purpose of receiving accolades or special recognition (v. 3). When we realize everything we have comes from God, we can be secret givers who don’t need to pat our own backs or gain the admiration of others. Our all-knowing Giver of all good things delights in the genuine generosity of His people. Nothing beats the reward of His approval.  By Xochitl Dixon Loving God, please bless me with opportunities to give as selflessly and sacrificially as You have given to me. How has God helped you through someone else’s secret giving? Who can you help with an anonymous gift today?

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Having dealt with the burdensome teachings of the Pharisees (Matthew 5:21-48), Jesus now deals with their hypocritical piety. He discusses three acts of piety common in all religions that were meticulously observed by every devout Jew—almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (6:1-18). Almsgiving, or giving to the poor, was commanded in the Law (Deuteronomy 15:7-11). And the book of Proverbs says that those who help the poor are blessed (Proverbs 14:21; 19:17). However, Jesus warns not to use this duty as a platform to earn human praise (Matthew 6:1-2). God isn’t pleased with a showcased or theatrical display of pride and self-glorification. Giving should be done “in secret”—only witnessed by God. Then God “who sees what is done in secret” will reward us (v. 4). Read Compassion: Learning to Love Like Jesus. K. T. Sim

Salvation is Free / Billy Graham

 

Salvation is Free

Salvation is free! God puts no price tag on the Gift of gifts—it’s free! Preachers are not salesmen, for they have nothing to sell. They are bearers of Good News—the good tidings that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Money can’t buy it. Man’s righteousness can’t earn it. Social prestige can’t help you acquire it. Morality can’t purchase it. It is, as Isaiah said, “without money and without price.” 

God is not a bargaining God. You cannot barter with Him. You must do business with Him on His own terms. He holds in His omnipotent hand the priceless, precious, eternal gift of salvation, and He bids you to take it without money and without price. The best things in life are free, are they not? The air we breathe is not sold by the cubic foot. The water which flows crystal clear from the mountain stream is free for the taking. Love is free, faith is free, hope is free.

Daily Prayer

Even though my salvation was obtained only through the costliest sacrifice ever made, You freely gave it to me. Lord, I praise You for this gift so lovingly given.

“and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:24‬

Courage and Triumph / Alistair Begg

 

Courage and Triumph 

And the king crossed the brook Kidron. 

2 Samuel 15:23

David passed that gloomy brook when fleeing with his sorry company from his traitorous son. The man after God’s own heart was not exempt from trouble; in fact, his life was full of it. He was both the Lord’s Anointed and the Lord’s Afflicted. Why then should we expect to escape? At sorrow’s gates the noblest of our race have waited with ashes on their heads. Why then should we complain as though some strange thing had happened unto us?

The King of kings Himself was not favored with a more cheerful or royal road. He passed over the filthy ditch of Kidron, through which the filth of Jerusalem flowed. God had one Son without sin, but not a single child without the rod. It is a great joy to believe that Jesus has been tempted in all points just as we are.

What is our Kidron this morning? Is it a faithless friend, a sad bereavement, a slanderous reproach, a dark foreboding? The King has passed over all these. Is it bodily pain, poverty, persecution, or contempt? Over each of these Kidrons the King has gone before us. “In all their affliction he was afflicted.”1 The idea that trials are an unusual experience should be banished at once and forever, for He who is the Head of all saints knows by experience the grief that we consider so peculiar. All the citizens of Zion must be free of the Honorable Company of Mourners, of which the Prince Immanuel is Head and Captain.

Although David was abased, yet he returned in triumph to his city, and David’s Lord rose victorious from the grave; so let us then be of good courage, for we also shall win the day. We will joyfully draw water out of the wells of salvation, even though we are presently faced with the harmful streams of sin and sorrow. Courage, soldiers of the Cross, the King himself triumphed after going over Kidron, and so will you.

1) Isaiah 63:9

May 31 / Wisdom from the Psalms

 Psalms 69:4

They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of min head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

Being king isn't easy. Either people love you or they hate you. The same is true of every position of power and authority. Presidents, deans, prime ministers-the list can go on and on-all these people have to face the passions of the people they lead. Even God, Himself, has to face such problems. God is not loved by everyone. There are those who, for whatever reason, have chosen to reject God. There are those who curse Him as regularly as we praise Him. We are the subjects of the greatest sovereign in creation. Our Lord rules us with justice and love. We might not agree with everything He does or everything He calls us to do, but we owe Him our allegiance and loyalty. Be loyal to the Lord, and He will rule over you justly and with compassion.

Prayer: It is easy to bow down befo re a ruler of such love and grace, Lord. In every age, You have ruled fairly. I pray for all those who do not know Your greatness and Your goodness. Break through with Your light into their lives. Amen.

Refreshed by Prayer / David Jeremiah

Refreshed by Prayer Now it came to pass in those days that [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. Luke 6:12 Life is marked by events, and our life is lived either in anticipation of those events (looking to the future) or in reflection upon them (looking to the past). In either situation, stress is a possibility. We may be concerned about what is coming, or we may be exhausted by what has happened.

Recommended Reading: Acts 1: 12 – 14

Prayer can be a sure way of relieving stress. David poured out his heart to God as his circumstances dictated. When Jesus was faced with choosing twelve disciples to follow Him, He spent the night resting in God’s presence and in prayer (Luke 6:12-16). When those same disciples experienced the ascension of Jesus into heaven, the culmination of the forty days following Jesus’ resurrection, they gathered in a room in Jerusalem to pray (Acts 1:12-14). The previous forty days, as well as the day of the Ascension, were no doubt taxing. They found refreshment together through prayer to God. Whenever life drains you of strength, let God be your source for refreshment (Psalm 23:1-3). Make prayer your first choice when it comes to unburdening your soul. The hotter the time of trouble, the greater the dews of refreshing from God.  John Trapp

 

How to look past spiritual distractions / Senior Living

 How to look past spiritual distractions

Hebrews 12:2

It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters Golf Tournament. Arnold Palmer had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. He looked to be in good shape. As he approached his ball for the second shot, a friend stuck out his hand and said, “Congratulations!”

Palmer says, “As soon as I (shook his hand), I knew I had lost my focus.” Over the next two shots, he hit one in the sand trap, then again over the edge of the green. Finally, he missed a putt and lost the Masters.

Arnold Palmer learned a very hard lesson that day: Never take your eye off the goal. This is as true in golf as it is in the spiritual life. Satan will try to pat you on the back and tell you you’re good enough without Jesus or you’ve done enough to earn salvation. But it’s then we must keep our eyes on the prize and not allow ourselves to be distracted from following Jesus!

Don’t believe the lie that you can live the spiritual life on your own. You need Jesus. He is the prize. Keep your eyes on Him and don’t let anyone or anything distract you from the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith!

Prayer Challenge

Ask God to help you maintain your focus on Jesus when Satan tempts you to think you can do it all by yourself!

Questions for Thought

Why do you think it can be tempting to believe we can attain salvation without Jesus?

How can keeping Jesus the focus of your faith help you when Satan tries to tempt you?

May 31 / Daily Blessings

 Daily Blessings

“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh—and these are contrary the one to the other—so that you cannot do the things that you would.” - Gal 5:17

The Holy Spirit is especially tender of his own work upon the soul. He originally formed it—it is his own spiritual offspring; and as a mother watches over her babe, so the blessed Spirit watches over the spirit of his own creating. It is the counterpart of himself, for it is the spirit that he has raised up in the soul by his own almighty power. He, therefore, acts upon it, breathes into it fresh life and power, and communicates grace out of the inexhaustible fullness of the Son of God, thus enabling the spirit to breathe and act, struggle and fight against the flesh, so that the latter cannot have all its own way, but must submit and yield. For the spirit can fight as well as the flesh; can act as well as the flesh; and can desire good as well as the flesh can desire evil.

What a mercy for us it is that there are those heavenly breathings in our soul, of the spirit against the flesh, cryings out to God against it; and that the spirit within us thus takes hold of the arm of Omnipotence outside us, seeks help from the Lord God Almighty, and by strength thus communicated fights against the flesh, and gains at times a most blessed victory over it. For what can the flesh do against the spirit when animated by divine power? What are sin, Satan, and the world when they have to oppose a Triune God in arms? This makes the victory sure, that our friends are stronger than our foes, and the work of God upon our soul greater than anything sin, Satan, or the world can bring against it. This made the Apostle say, after he had been describing the inward conflict, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 7:25). And when he had enumerated the opposition that the Christian has to endure on every side, he cries out, as if in holy triumph, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

Character with Age / Streams

 Character with Age

Like a shock of corn fully ripe - Job 5:26

A gentleman, writing about the breaking up of old ships, recently said that it is not the age alone which improves the quality of the fiber in the wood of an old vessel, but the straining and wrenching of the vessel by the sea, the chemical action of the bilge water, and of many kinds of cargoes.

Some planks and veneers made from an oak beam which had been part of a ship eighty years old were exhibited a few years ago at a fashionable furniture store on Broadway, New York, and attracted general notice for the exquisite coloring and beautiful grain.

Equally striking were some beams of mahogany taken from a bark which sailed the seas sixty years ago. The years and the traffic had contracted the pores and deepened the color, until it looked as superb in its chromatic intensity as an antique Chinese vase. It was made into a cabinet, and has today a place of honor in the drawing-room of a wealthy New York family.

So there is a vast difference between the quality of old people who have lived flabby, self-indulgent, useless lives, and the fiber of those who have sailed all seas and carried all cargoes as the servants of God and the helpers of their fellow men.

Not only the wrenching and straining of life, but also something of the sweetness of the cargoes carried get into the very pores and fiber of character. —Louis Albert Banks

When the sun goes below the horizon he is not set; the heavens glow for a full hour after his departure. And when a great and good man sets, the sky of this world is luminous long after he is out of sight. Such a man cannot die out of this world. When he goes he leaves behind him much of himself. Being dead, he speaks. —Beecher

When Victor Hugo was past eighty years of age he gave expression to his religious faith in these sublime sentences: "I feel in myself the future life. I am like a forest which has been more than once cut down. The new shoots are livelier than ever. I am rising toward the sky. The sunshine is on my head. The earth gives me its generous sap, but Heaven lights me with its unknown worlds.

“You say the soul is nothing but the resultant of the bodily powers. Why, then, is my soul more luminous when my bodily powers begin to fail? Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. I breathe at this hour the fragrance of the lilacs, the violets, and the roses as at twenty years. The nearer I approach the end the plainer I hear around me the immortal symphonies of the worlds which invite me. It is marvelous, yet simple.”

It Starts with Us / Greg Laurie

 It Starts with Us

“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (James 4:6 NKJV).

Conquered by the Roman Empire, the Jewish people were under Roman control. And they didn’t like it one bit. They wanted the Romans out, and they thought Jesus the Messiah would overthrow the power of Rome.

They expected Him to establish His earthly kingdom then and there. In fact, Luke 19:11 tells us, “He [Jesus] spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately” (NKJV).

The people failed to understand the prophecies in Scripture, which said that before the Messiah would come and rule the earth, He first would come and die for the sins of the world. Before He would sit on the throne, He would go to the cross.

So Jesus wasn’t coming to overthrow Rome; He was coming to establish His kingdom in human hearts by dying for us on the cross.

This reminds us that when God wants to send a spiritual awakening to a nation, it starts first with His people.

God said, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV).

Notice that God didn’t say, “If the government will humble themselves . . .” or “If Hollywood will humble themselves. . . .” Rather, God said, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves. . . .”

Under George Washington’s leadership during the Revolutionary War, warships displayed flags with an image of a pine tree and the words “An Appeal to Heaven.” Washington understood that our only hope to become a nation was by the intervention of God.

In the same way, if we want to see God heal our nation today, we need to appeal to Heaven.

God Is Not Judge Judy by Kelly Givens

 God Is Not Judge Judy

by Kelly Givens

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” - James 3:17

Last month I found myself in a situation that needed a good dose of wisdom. I had to make a decision and felt unsure what course of action was best, so over those next few days I prayed for wisdom on what I should do. I also looked for verses in the Bible that talk about wisdom, and was surprised by what I found.

When I think of wisdom, usually the first thing that pops in my head is King Solomon and that poor baby. You probably know the story- God had given Solomon an incredible amount of wisdom, so much so that people from all over were coming to him with their questions and disputes. In this recorded case, two prostitutes came before the king, both claiming to be the mother of the same baby boy, both insisting that the other had stolen the infant after the death of the other’s child. This was obviously before DNA testing, so what could be done? Well, Solomon had a sword brought to him and decided to settle things by cutting the baby in half! Now, that doesn’t seem like a very compassionate king! It sounds more like something Judge Judy would do.

Judge Judy doesn't want to hear your sob story. Her Honor gets right to the facts, lays down her decision and moves on to the next case, end of story. I realized I was asking God to be the” Judge Judy” of my life- I would present my problem and “ask for wisdom,” but what I really wanted was for God to give me a definite answer that didn’t leave any lingering questions. Obviously, God is not Judge Judy, and this is not the kind of wisdom he gives. So how should we think of wisdom? Let’s go back to Solomon- who really wasn’t like Judge Judy at all.

While it may have seemed bizarre that Solomon was going to cut a baby in half, the king had wisely discerned that the true mother would care more about the safety of the child than her possession of him. And so it was- the mother cried out for the boy’s life to be spared, and Solomon declared her the rightful parent. In doing this, he spared both the child and the women further pain. But this is more than Solomon just being cunning or smart. There’s compassion to this decision too- an essential part of wisdom.

When Solomon asked God for wisdom, God didn’t just fill his head with the right answer to every problem that would ever come up. No- he filled him with “wisdom” as James describes it- he filled him full of consideration, peacefulness, mercy, goodness, impartiality and sincerity. King Solomon wasn’t wise because he knew the law book forwards and backwards, or because he was particularly clever or a good problem solver. He was wise because his decisions flowed from a heart and mind focused on values that are essential to the Kingdom of God. He didn’t bother punishing the one woman for stealing a baby or stoning both women for being prostitutes (which the law would have demanded). His wisdom was compassionate, merciful, and just: it was true wisdom from above.

Intersecting Faith and Life: What problems in your life are you seeking wisdom in? Approach those problems in light of James 3:17 and trust that God will equip you with the wisdom you need for the challenges you face.

Further Reading:
Psalm 37:30
James 1:5
1 Corinthians 1:19-29

Yes—But…! / Oswald Chambers

 Yes—But…!

Lord, I will follow You, but... LUKE 9:61

Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about…?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”

Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.

By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.

Sunday Reflection: Beauty in Weakness / Charles Stanley

 

Sunday Reflection: Beauty in Weakness

To get the most out of this devotion, set aside time to read the Scripture referenced throughout.

As early as the 1600s, Japanese embroiderers reinforced garments with special stitching known as sashiko—a word meaning “little stabs.” The technique uses repeated lines or geometric shapes in white cotton thread on traditional indigo blue cloth. The process was used to cover holes or strengthen cloth that had seen better days, and it left the fabric thicker and stronger than before.

Sashiko is an apt metaphor for the believer’s life. When the Bible says, “We are the clay, and [God] our potter” (Isa. 64:8), it emphasizes His role in shaping our faith and character. Though we may continue to struggle with various frailties and challenges, Jesus—through the Holy Spirit—is in the process of remaking us in His image (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) and helping us be His hands and feet in the world. We can’t avoid darkness or pain in this life. But we can go to the Lord in our weakness, knowing that in Him we are made stronger and more beautiful, not in spite of our trials but because of them.

Think about it
• When we’re in the middle of hardship, it’s difficult to see how good could result. But can you think of a time you went through a trial and it ended up strengthening your faith? 

Only for the Lonely / Chuck Swindoll

 Only for the Lonely

by Pastor Chuck SwindollScriptures: 2 Timothy 4:9, 11, 16–17

Make every effort to come to me soon . . . . Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service . . . . At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.(2 Timothy 4:9, 11, 16–17)

Our Father, we acknowledge that we need You, and our need is not partial; it's total. It's not occasional; it's always—today especially. We pray for those who wrestle with the very real problem of loneliness. It's not dated; it surfaces regularly in every generation. We pray especially for those who are lonely because they are distant from You. We ask You to bring them to a knowledge of Your Son and keep them restless and sleepless and struggling until they have come to that place of faith in Your Son.

Thank You for meeting our every need. We pray that You will meet this one today wherever we find ourselves. And that You will show Yourself strong where we are weak, mighty where we are lacking. Meet the deep needs of our hearts, our Father, and enable us to get through the difficulty of loneliness by Your grace. In the name of Christ, our Lord, our Savior, our Master, and our God, we pray. Amen.

See also Psalm 25:16-17; 68:6; 107:4-6.

May 30 / Streams in the Desert

 Streams in the Desert

And no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth - Rev 14:3

There are songs which can only be learned in the valley. No art can teach them; no rules of voice can make them perfectly sung. Their music is in the heart. They are songs of memory, of personal experience. They bring out their burden from the shadow of the past; they mount on the wings of yesterday.

St. John says that even in Heaven there will be a song that can only be fully sung by the sons of earth—the strain of redemption. Doubtless it is a song of triumph, a hymn of victory to the Christ who made us free. But the sense of triumph must come from the memory of the chain.

No angel, no archangel can sing it so sweetly as I can. To sing it as I sing it, they must pass through my exile, and this they cannot do. None can learn it but the children of the Cross.

And so, my soul, thou art receiving a music lesson from thy Father. Thou art being educated for the choir invisible. There are parts of the symphony that none can take but thee.

There are chords too minor for the angels. There may be heights in the symphony which are beyond the scale—heights which angels alone can reach; but there are depths which belong to thee, and can only be touched by thee.

Thy Father is training thee for the part the angels cannot sing; and the school is sorrow. I have heard many say that He sends sorrow to prove thee; nay, He sends sorrow to educate thee, to train thee for the choir invisible.

In the night He is preparing thy song. In the valley He is tuning thy voice. In the cloud He is deepening thy chords. In the rain He is sweetening thy melody. In the cold He is moulding thy expression. In the transition from hope to fear He is perfecting thy lights.

Despise not thy school of sorrow, O my soul; it will give thee a unique part in the universal song. —George Matheson

“Is the midnight closing round you?  
Are the shadows dark and long?  
Ask Him to come close beside you,  
And He’ll give you a new, sweet song.  
He’ll give it and sing it with you;  
And when weakness lets it down,  
He’ll take up the broken cadence,  
And blend it with His own.  

“And many a rapturous minstrel  
Among those sons of light,  
Will say of His sweetest music  
’I learned it in the night.’  
And many a rolling anthem,  
That fills the Father’s home,  
Sobbed out its first rehearsal,  
In the shade of a darkened room.”

Do You Wonder What God Wants You to Do? / Adrian Rogers

 Do You Wonder What God Wants You to Do?

…and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us… Hebrews 12:1

God has a plan for my life, and He has a plan for yours. It’s an individualized plan. Do you know it yet? More importantly, are you willing to do it?

If so, you need three things: discipline, direction, and determination.

The old King James says “run with patience” in Hebrews 12:1, but that’s not the best wording, for the word then did not mean “patience” as we think of it today. Instead, it meant endurance.

Are you up for this? Are you willing to develop endurance so you can run the race God has for your life? Are you on the racetrack? Listen, you're burning daylight if you're wandering around out there on the infield. You're wasting time if you're up there sitting in the grandstands. Time is short! And don’t care whether you’re nine or ninety, man or woman, rich or poor, God has a course for you. He has a race He wants you to run And the Bible says you’re to run the race that is set before you. But what is it He is setting before you?

Have you ever taken time to get alone with God about this? I’ve said before, God does business with people who mean business. Take out a blank sheet of paper. It represents your life from this day on. Say, “God, You fill it in. Whatever Your will is, I'll do it.” And sign your name at the bottom. The will of God—nothing more, nothing less, nothing else, nothing but!

Worth It, or Worthy? / ODB

 

Worth It, or Worthy? Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain. Revelation 5:12 READ REVELATION 5:6–12

Helen Roseveare, an English missionary physician in the African Congo, was taken prisoner by rebels during the Simba Rebellion in 1964. Beaten and abused by her captors, she suffered terribly. In the days that followed, she found herself asking, “Is it worth it?” As she began to ponder the cost of following Jesus, she sensed God speaking to her about it. Years later she explained to an interviewer, “When the awful moments came during the rebellion and the price seemed too high to pay, the Lord seemed to say to me, ‘Change the question. It’s not, ‘Is it worth it?’ It’s ‘Am I worthy?’ ” She concluded that in spite of the pain she had endured, “Always the answer is ‘Yes, He is worthy.’ ” Through God’s grace at work within her during her harrowing ordeal, Helen Roseveare decided that the Savior who had suffered even death for her was worthy to be followed no matter what she faced. Her words “He is worthy” echo the cries of those surrounding Jesus’ throne in the book of Revelation: “In a loud voice they were saying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’ ” (5:12). Our Savior suffered and bled and died for us, giving Himself entirely, so that we may freely receive eternal life and hope. His all deserves our all. He is worthy!  By James Banks You are always worthy to be worshiped, Jesus! Please help me to live today in Your presence with a grateful heart. How does Jesus’ death and resurrection prove He’s greater than any circumstance you face? In what ways will you tell Him He’s worthy today?

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Revelation, the last book of the Bible, alludes repeatedly to the misunderstood nature and ways of the King of kings. Almost thirty times in 5:6-22:3 “the revelation from Jesus Christ” (1:1) refers to the conquering “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (5:5) as “the Lamb” who has been slaughtered to take away the sin of the world (v. 6; see Isaiah 53:7-8; John 1:29). Jesus alone is portrayed as worthy to open the book of the future because He was slain (Revelation 4:1; 5:2-3, 9-10). He allowed the full force of evil to fall on Him to expose and conquer the lies of the serpent (12:9-10). Just as the Lamb of God was eternally destined to be misunderstood in self-sacrifice (Isaiah 53:4-6), those suffering the inevitable judgment and consequences of satanic rebellion will blame their fate on a God whose heart they still don’t understand (Revelation 6:16-17; Job 1-2). Mart DeHaan