Do It Now! / Oswald Chambers

 

Do It Now! Agree with your adversary quickly… MATTHEW 5:25 In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. If you don’t, an inevitable process will begin to work ‘till you have paid the last penny’ (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.” God’s laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being. Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing. But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him. From our Lord’s standpoint it doesn’t matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don’t cheat someone else. Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ’s standpoint? Do it quickly— bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don’t, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19-21). “Agree with your adversary quickly….” Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly— make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person— do it now!

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. from Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

The Decisions That Lead to Contentment / Charles Stanley

 

The Decisions That Lead to Contentment

Romans 8:28-39

Think about a circumstance in your life that you’d change if you could. Whether it’s a hardship or unfulfilled desire, in order to be content, you must accept that the situation has been allowed by God, even if He didn’t cause it. 

When I face such things in my life, I often pray, “Lord, I choose to accept this as though it’s coming from You. I’m choosing to look to You.” Then I can rest in the knowledge that I’m His child. Instead of feeling like a victim of my circumstance, I know I’m cared for and guided by my sovereign Father. 

I’ve also found it helps when we fully submit ourselves to God. This doesn’t mean approaching God insincerely and saying, “Well, Lord, I just want to thank You for this!” Be honest and admit, “This is painful and I don’t like it. But I choose to submit to You because You are trustworthy and loving. I choose to draw from Your strength for everything I need.” My friend, if you do this, your concerns will lose their power. 

Do you believe Romans 8:28? If you do, you can entrust yourself to the Lord, knowing that He has your best interest at heart, will take care of you, and won’t ever leave your side. When you embrace these truths, you’re on your way to contentment in Jesus.

When God’s Ways Are Foggy, Can You Trust and Obey? / Adrian Rogers

 When God’s Ways Are Foggy, Can You Trust and Obey?

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? Isaiah 40:13

How often do we like to tell God how He ought to do things? Do you hear yourself doing that in prayer? I can imagine those early disciples when Saul was making havoc of the church, hauling Christians off to prison and death. I imagine many were praying, “Oh, God! Do something about Saul! Strike him dead!” But God didn't want to strike him dead. God struck him alive! And aren't you glad He did?

Out in the wilderness, when those poisonous snakes entered the Israelite camp, people were crying, “God! God! Kill these snakes!” But God didn't kill the snakes. Instead, He had a bronze serpent placed high on a pole and had Moses tell the people that if they would look upon the brazen serpent Moses lifted up, they would be healed. None of them would have thought of that, but God raised up a solution that was also a foreshadowing of His Son on a cross. Everyone who looks to Jesus, lifted high upon the cross, finds the cure for their sin and can be saved.

Never substitute your human reasoning for obedience. The Bible is not primarily a book to be explained; it is first and foremost a book to be believed and obeyed. Whether you understand it or not, when God says it, you just simply obey it.

Isn't it strange how God works? Understand that our ways and God's ways are so different. Don’t believe your way is better. In humility, say to God, “I will trust You, Father, and I will obey.”

For Generating a Gentle Spirit / Chuck Swindoll

 For Generating a Gentle Spirit

by Pastor Chuck SwindollScriptures: Galatians 5:25–6:2

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 5:25–6:2)

We are very thankful, Father, that in the process of our spiritual growth You remind us of the importance of gentleness: Your Word not only instructs us in what we're to do, it also shows us how to do it. We remember what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians . . . he gently dealt with them as a mother with a nursing child. Help us, Father, to have that kind of gracious, gentle spirit—especially those of us who tend to be impatient with others who are not as quick on their feet . . . or those of us who are healthy and lack compassion for others who are not as strong . . . or those of us who find delight in accomplishments but lack empathy for others who are not as productive. It's so easy for all of us—if not verbally, at least in our minds—to compete, to look down on others, to complain and to compare. May we, through Your Spirit's power, become more like our gentle Savior, who promised, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Like our Master and Lord, may our encounters with others be easy and bring light. Meet our needs in a very special way, especially our need for a gentle and quiet spirit.

In the name of Your gracious Son. Amen.

The Secret of Contentment / ODB

 

The Secret of Contentment I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. Philippians 4:12 READ Philippians 4:10–13 When Joni Eareckson Tada returned home after suffering a swimming accident that left her a quadriplegic, her life was vastly different. Now doorways were too narrow for her wheelchair and sinks were too high. Someone had to feed her, until she decided to relearn how to feed herself. Lifting the special spoon to her mouth from her arm splint the first time, she felt humiliated as she smeared applesauce on her clothes. But she pressed on. As she says, “My secret was learning to lean on Jesus and say, ‘Oh God, help me with this!’ ” Today she manages a spoon very well. Joni says her confinement made her look at another captive—the apostle Paul, who was imprisoned in a Roman jail—and his letter to the Philippians. Joni strives for what Paul achieved: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). Note that Paul had to learn to be at peace; he wasn’t naturally peaceful. How did he find contentment? Through trusting in Christ: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (v. 13). We all face different challenges throughout our days; and we all can look to Jesus moment by moment for help, strength, and peace. He will help us to hold back from snapping at our loved ones; He will give us the courage to do the next hard thing. Look to Him and find contentment. By Amy Boucher Pye How has leaning on Jesus helped you to find peace? In what areas of your life are you struggling right now? How could you commit them to God? Saving Christ, thank You for giving me courage and hope. When I feel weak, help me to find strength in You.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Paul’s letter to the Philippian believers is one of his Prison Epistles, so called because they were composed during his time of incarceration by the Roman authorities. It’s from his imprisonment that Paul discusses the “secret of being content” (4:12). There’s an interesting split between how Paul describes his circumstances and his response to them. He “knows” what his circumstances are: he’s experienced plenty, want, and hunger. But his response of contentment has been “learned” (v. 11). In other words, his contentment wasn’t a natural response to his difficult circumstances. He had to experience hardship and, by God’s strength, learn how to respond (v. 13). J.R. Hudberg

Be on Your Guard by Laura MacCorkle

Be on Your Guard
by Laura MacCorkle

Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 2 Peter 3:17, NIV

Who of us doesn’t remember a film, television show, book or play with some swordsman in chainmail declaring, “On guard!” before engaging in a duel with someone else?

In that type of adversarial situation, the warning is said to alert the other party that “I’m armed, so prepare to defend yourself.” And in light of the current belief battles going on today within evangelical Christianity, that meaning has been front and center in my head and heart—especially after reading through today’s verse in 2 Peter.

I did a little further study and found what I read in the New Testament portion of The Bible Knowledge Commentary to be quite helpful in understanding this passage:

If [Peter’s] readers were not careful, they could be carried away by the error of lawless men … The verb “carried away” emphasizes a group or corporate movement. False teachers are not satisfied with ambushing one or two, now and then, here and there; they want to sweep large groups of people away from the correct doctrine of Christ. Those who keep company with such people are in danger of being led astray.

I don’t need or want to name prominent names or cite recent book titles or the like within the Christian bubble, as I’m sure that one or many have already come to your mind by this point in today’s devotional. Sadly, false teaching is everywhere these days and only seems to be gaining momentum as we head further into the twenty-first century.

It’s alarming, for sure, to hear those who are in pastoral, shepherding or leadership positions mishandle God’s Word or imply that there is suddenly a new “change” in the meaning of scriptural doctrines that trained theologians and Bible scholars have agreed upon for centuries prior.

But Truth is supposedly relative in the world where we now live, isn’t it? What’s true for you may not be true for me and so forth. Right? So how do we arm ourselves and follow Peter’s instruction to “be on your guard” as believers?

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

First, there’s grace. Unmerited favor from God. How do we grow in that? By reminding ourselves continually of what God did for each and every one of us. If we don’t understand grace, then we will never know who God is, what he stands for and what a right relationship with him looks like. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). When we get that, in turn, our lives will be lived from a place of humility and in testimony of what God has done through us.

And then there’s knowledge. We will only grow spiritually and know God as much as we can in this life if we know the Word. And that doesn’t begin and end only with what someone says the Bible says (which isn’t bad in and of itself). But it means reading the Bible for yourself on a continuing basis, so that it will take root in your heart and inform your thinking and your actions. There is no better way to mature in the Lord and know Truth (and be corrected in your thinking, if it’s “stinking”) than to spend time getting to know God through the Word.

No one else can have your spiritual relationship for you. And anyone who leads you away from Truth is leading you away from a secure position. So be on your guard. And get in there, dig deep and know His unchanging truth.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Are you ready to confront false teaching and see through the devil’s schemes to trick and deceive—even in Christian circles? Always consider the source and always measure what you hear or read against God’s Word.

Further Reading:

Matthew 7:15-20, NIV
Ephesians 6:10-18, NIV
2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV

1 John 4:1-6, NIV 

Christ’s Generosity / Alistair Begg

 

Christ’s Generosity 

The glory that you have given me I have given to them. 

John 17:22

Behold the superlative generosity of the Lord Jesus, for He has given us His all. Although a tithe of His possessions would have made a universe of angels, rich beyond all thought, yet He was not content until He had given us all that He had. It would have been surprising grace if He had allowed us to eat the crumbs of His abundance beneath the table of His mercy; but He will do nothing by half measures. He makes us sit with Him and share the feast.

If He had given us some small donation from His royal treasure, we would have had cause to love Him eternally; but in fact He wants His bride to be as rich as Himself, and He will not have a glory or a grace in which she will not share. He has not been content with less than making us joint-heirs with Himself, so that we might have equal possessions. He has emptied all His riches into the members of the church and has shared everything with His redeemed. There is not one room in His house the key of which He will keep from His people. He gives them complete freedom to take all that He has to enjoy as their own; He loves to see them enjoy His treasure and take as much as they can possibly carry.

The limitless fullness of His all-sufficiency is as free to the believer as the air he breathes. Christ has put the cup of His love and grace to the believer’s lip and invites him to drink of it forever; if he could empty it, he is welcome to do so, but as he cannot exhaust it, he is invited to drink abundantly, for it is all his own. What truer proof of fellowship can heaven or earth provide?

When I stand before the throne
Dressed in beauty not my own;
When I see Thee as Thou art,
Love Thee with unsinning heart;
Then, Lord, shall I fully know—
Not till then—how much I owe.

How to Learn Scripture with the Right Motives / Senior Living

 How to Learn Scripture with the Right Motives

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. - Psalms 119:11

A story is told of a village church in Kalonovka, Russia, where attendance at Sunday school picked up after the priest started handing out candy to the peasant children. One of the most faithful was a pug-nosed, pugnacious lad who recited his Scriptures with proper piety, pocketed his reward, then fled into the fields to munch on it.

The priest took a liking to the boy and persuaded him to attend church school by offering other incentives. There, the priest managed to teach the boy the four Gospels. In fact, this little boy won a special prize for learning all four by heart and reciting them nonstop in church!

Fast forward 60 years, and the boy still loved to recite Scriptures, but in a context that would horrify the old priest. For the prized pupil who memorized so much of the Bible is Nikita Khrushchev, the former Communist czar. The same little lad who nimbly mouthed God’s Word as a child later declared God to be nonexistent.

Khrushchev memorized the Scripture for the rewards rather than for the meaning it had for his life. Artificial motivation will produce artificial results. So as you learn the Word of God, keep your motives pure and make it an exercise of both your heart and your mind!

Prayer Challenge

Ask God to keep your motives pure when it comes to learning His Word. Pray that He would help you absorb it into your heart as well as your mind!

Jun 30 / Wisdom from the Psalms

 Psalms 81:2

Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

Beth was different when she was singing. Somehow the pressures of the world disappeared when the music filled her head and heart. Her whole life felt somehow lighter, brighter, when she lifted her voice in praise through song. Music was the best expression of who she was and what she believed. Music made God real to Beth. 

Music is a universal language. Every culture has its music, and it is revered as one of the finest arts. Music brings people together and can move us closer to God. God loves music and the spirit from which music springs. The quality is not nearly as important as the intention of the heart. Sing out to God, and He will bless you richly. 

Prayer: Music touches my heart in a special way, Lord. Speak to me through the beauty of music. Touch me day by day. Amen.

Speak Out! Don’t Quit! / David Jeremiah

 

Speak Out! Don’t Quit! Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” Acts 18:9-10   We think of Paul as a superhero who wasn’t fazed by suffering, danger, or rejection. But if we could join him in Corinth, we might have found him near the end of his resources. In Acts 16 and 17, he was flogged in Philippi and run out of Thessalonica like a scoundrel. In Athens, few responded to his message. Going on to Corinth in chapter 18, he got a job making tents. When he tried to evangelize, he found rejection.

Recommended Reading: Acts 18: 1 – 11

That’s when the Lord said: “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t quit! For I am with you and no one can harm you. Many people here in this city belong to me” (Acts 18:9-10, TLB). Many souls in Corinth were ready to hear and respond to Paul’s Gospel. He stayed there a year and a half. Through whatever challenges we face, the Comforter will always be at our side, saying: “Don’t be afraid. Don’t quit. I’m beside you and will bless your efforts.”   God has use for the heart that no difficulties can deter. V. Raymond Edman

The Importance of Persistent Prayer / Greg Laurie

 The Importance of Persistent Prayer

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9 NKJV).

Nineteenth-century pastor and evangelist George Mueller cared for thousands of orphans in England and was known to be great man of faith. He decided to pray for five personal friends who did not yet know the Lord, and it wasn’t until five years later that the first of them came to faith.

After five years, two more became Christians. And after 25 years, the fourth came to Christ. Until he died, Mueller prayed for the last person who had not yet believed. And that friend finally came to know the Lord after his death. In total, George Mueller prayed for his five friends for more than 50 years.

Sometimes we pray for something that really seems like the will of God, but the Lord doesn’t give it to us when we ask. When nothing happens, we think that God has abandoned us. We want to know what went wrong.

But Jesus would say, “Keep at it. Keep praying, keep seeking, and keep knocking. Don’t give up. Apply yourself. Be persistent.”

Jesus told the story of a man who knocked on his neighbor's door late at night until he finally got a response. He said, “Though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:8-9 NKJV).

We, too, need to pray. And we need to keep praying.

Sometimes we’re surprised when God answers our prayers, aren’t we? We pray and pray, and when God answers our prayers, we say, “I can’t believe it!”

But we need to believe that God can answer our prayers. God has His timing. So don’t feel that He has let you down or abandoned you. Keep praying.

Copyright © 2021 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
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Love / NKJV 365

Love

John reminds the believers of the lavishness of God’s love that is theirs—a love their opponents know nothing about! Apart from such grace and love there would have been no “children of God.”

God loves the unloved and the unlovely. He loves us when we hate Him. He loves us when we ignore or are indifferent to Him. That’s what the love of God is like. It is primarily concerned with the others’ well-being despite negative reaction or response.

“Like Father, like son,” so they say. The children should take after the Father. Do we love others as we have been loved of God? Do we love the unlovely and lavish love on those who ignore us, hate us, and despise us? The Holy Spirit will scatter such love around our lives if only we will ask Him.

Jill P. Briscoe

Taken from Women of Faith Devotional Bible

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭3:1-3 

The Hands of Jesus / Billy Graham

 

The Hands of Jesus

During the war a church in Strasburg, Germany, was totally destroyed; but a statue of Christ which stood by the altar was almost unharmed. Only the hands of the statue were missing. When the church was rebuilt, a famous sculptor offered to make new hands; but, after considering the matter, the members decided to let it stand as it was—without hands. “For,” they said, “Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work on earth. If we don’t feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, entertain the stranger, visit the imprisoned, and clothe the naked, who will?” Christ is depending on us to do the very things which He did while upon earth. My friend, if the gospel we preach does not have a social application, if it will not work effectively in the work-a-day world, then it is not the Gospel of Christ.

Daily Prayer

I look at my hands, Lord Jesus, and ask You to use them this day. Make me conscious of the needs of those who hurt.

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25:35‬ 

June 30 / Daily Blessings

 Daily Blessings

“Perplexed, but not in despair.” - 2 Cor 4:8

Oh! what a mercy, amid every degree of inward or outward perplexity, to be out of the reach of Giant Despair; not to be shut up in the iron cage; not to be abandoned, as Judas or Ahithophel, to utter desperation and suicide, and, after a long life of profession, concerning faith to make dreadful shipwreck! Now the child of God, with all his doubts, fears, sinkings, misgivings, and trying perplexities is never really and truly in despair. He may tread so near the borders of that black country that it may almost be debatable land whether he is walking in despair or upon the borders of it; for I believe many children of God have at times come to the solemn conclusion that there is no hope for them, for they cannot see how they can be saved or have their aggravated sins pardoned.

And though this be not black despair, nor such utter, irremediable desperation as seized Saul and Judas, for there still is a “Who can tell?” yet it certainly is walking very near the borders of that dark and terrible land. I cannot tell, nor do I believe any can, how low a child of God may sink, or how long he may continue under the terrors of the Almighty; but we have the warrant of God’s word to believe that he is never given up to utter despair, for the Lord holds up his feet from falling into that terrible pit, and being cast into that sea to which there is neither bottom nor shore.

I Heard a Still Voice / Streams

 I Heard a Still Voice

There was silence, and I heard a still voice - Job 4:16

A score of years ago, a friend placed in my hand a book called True Peace. It was an old mediaeval message, and it had but one thought—that God was waiting in the depths of my being to talk to me if I would only get still enough to hear His voice.

I thought this would be a very easy matter, and so began to get still. But I had no sooner commenced than a perfect pandemonium of voices reached my ears, a thousand clamoring notes from without and within, until I could hear nothing but their noise and din.

Some were my own voices, my own questions, some my very prayers. Others were suggestions of the tempter and the voices from the world’s turmoil.

In every direction I was pulled and pushed and greeted with noisy acclamations and unspeakable unrest. It seemed necessary for me to listen to some of them and to answer some of them; but God said,

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Then came the conflict of thoughts for tomorrow, and its duties and cares; but God said, “Be still.”

And as I listened, and slowly learned to obey, and shut my ears to every sound, I found after a while that when the other voices ceased, or I ceased to hear them, there was a still small voice in the depths of my being that began to speak with an inexpressible tenderness, power and comfort.

As I listened, it became to me the voice of prayer, the voice of wisdom, the voice of duty, and I did not need to think so hard, or pray so hard, or trust so hard; but that “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit in my heart was God’s prayer in my secret soul, was God’s answer to all my questions, was God’s life and strength for soul and body, and became the substance of all knowledge, and all prayer and all blessing: for it was the living GOD Himself as my life, my all.

It is thus that our spirit drinks in the life of our risen Lord, and we go forth to life’s conflicts and duties like a flower that has drunk in, through the shades of night, the cool and crystal drops of dew. But as dew never falls on a stormy night, so the dews of His grace never come to the restless soul. —A. B. Simpson

The Collage of Humanity / Max Lucado

 

The Collage of Humanity

Click below to listen to today's devotional

THE COLLAGE OF HUMANITY - June 29, 2021

The reason God loves you is that he has chosen to love you. Others may abandon you, divorce you, and ignore you, but God will love you. These are his words: “I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved” (Romans 9:25 THE MESSAGE).

Let this love happen in your life, and prepare yourself for a new day. As God has his way with you, he will not let you live with your old hatred and prejudices. You’ll begin to see people in a different way. The neighbor down the street? He’s not a person who forgets to mow his lawn; he’s made in the image of God. God loves a diverse creation, and God’s love finds beauty in the collage of humanity. Life will become less a chore and more a stroll through God’s art gallery. This is how happiness happens.

The Strictest Discipline / Oswald Chambers

 

The Strictest Discipline If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. MATTHEW 5:30 Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that “if your right hand causes you to sin” in your walk with Him, then it is better to “cut it off.” There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then “cut it off.” The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind. When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, “What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!” There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else. The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but in Matthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own.

Drawing From the Source / Charles Stanley

 

Drawing From the Source

John 4:7-14

True contentment is determined by our attitude and responses rather than by our circumstances. And because Paul had learned this secret, he was able to experience joy and peace in any kind of situation. 

The apostle understood what it meant to live in Christ and to have Christ living in him (John 15:1-9; Gal. 5:22-23). He knew that the treasure he possessed within could never be stolen. And that gave Paul confidence in his identity as a child of God, with full access to the abundant life Jesus offers. 

I want to challenge you: This week, when something threatens to steal your contentment, choose to lean on God. When you find yourself becoming anxious or angry, stop and say, “Lord, You are my source. Provide me with the capacity to be kind, the forgiveness I need to extend, and the love I need to express.” 

Watch and see how God will quiet your spirit and provide confidence when you draw from Him as your source. You’ll be surprised at your own attitude: When you respond from within—rather than from the flesh—Jesus will lead you to genuine contentment. 

Good Night! / David Jeremiah

 

Good Night! I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8   Have trouble sleeping? You’re not alone. A recent study found 77 percent of Americans sleep fitfully. Nearly half of us say we’re losing sleep because of anxiety about what’s going on around us. Many have trouble sleeping because of concern about their loved ones or loneliness.[1]

Recommended Reading: Psalm 4

In her book, God’s Peace for When You Can’t Sleep, Christina Vinson suggests focusing our hearts and minds on God’s promises and on the sweetness of prayer as the day ends. “Take in a deep breath. Exhale the stress you are holding, and breathe in the peace of God, letting the promises of His Word flood your tired soul. And then, as you close your eyes and lay your head down, know that He is right there with you; He is your rock, your strength, your ever-present help in times of trouble, even in the quiet hours of the morning.” God’s eternal peace will cover all our troubles in this world and carry us into eternal peace.   Lord, You are the Giver of rest. Help me trust that You have everything under control, and that my job is not to juggle everything, but to hand all of my burdens over to You, the all-powerful, able, strong God. Christina Vinson