Your Life’s Passion / ODB

 

Your Life’s Passion The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. . . . Flee from all this, and pursue righteousness. 1 Timothy 6:10-11 READ 1 TIMOTHY 6:6–12

One evening years ago, my wife and I were making our way down a mountain trail, accompanied by two friends. The trail was narrow and wound around a slope with a steep drop on one side and an unclimbable bank on the other. As we came around a bend, I saw a large bear moseying along, swinging his head from side to side, and quietly huffing. We were downwind, and he hadn’t detected our presence, but he would soon. Our friend began to rummage around in her jacket for a camera. “Oh, I must take a picture!” she said. I, being less comfortable with our odds, said, “No, we must get out of here.” So we backed up quietly until we were out of sight—and ran. That’s how we should feel about the dangerous passion to get rich. There’s nothing wrong with money; it’s just a medium of exchange. But those who desire to get rich “fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction,” Paul wrote (1 Timothy 6:9). Wealth is only a goad to get more. Instead, we should “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (v. 11). These traits grow in us as we pursue them and ask God to form them within us. This is how we secure the deep satisfaction we seek in God.  By David H. Roper God, I want to grow to become more Christlike. Help me cooperate with what You’re trying to teach me. What’s your passion in life? How might you pursue traits that will make you more like Jesus?

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT In 1 Timothy 6:6-7, the apostle Paul states, “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” His words are reminiscent of Job’s: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21). Yet these men differed in more than the suffering they endured, for Paul knew why he suffered whereas Job didn’t. Paul was “fight[ing] the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12), and he understood that trials and persecution often accompanied this spiritual battle. As 2 Corinthians 11 details, Paul’s life as an apostle included beatings, stoning, prison, hunger, thirst, and more. Yet Paul had “learned to be content whatever the circumstances . . . through him who [gave him] strength” (Philippians 4:11-13). Alyson Kieda

It’s Risky to Murmur Against God / Adrian Rogers

 It’s Risky to Murmur Against God         

Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.” Exodus 16:8

The Israelites had just come through the Red Sea, and they were dancing with joy and praising the Lord.

But just three days later, they were murmuring and complaining! Moses said to them, "Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord."

One of the greatest lessons you can ever learn is that when you murmur and complain, you’re really murmuring against God. Murmuring is no little sin. God lists it with idolatry and fornication (1 Corinthians 10:6-11).

They were being led of the Lord. Moses was there. The Word of God was there. Why did they murmur? It was a lack of faith, but it was also a lack of reason. Would God have brought them through the Red Sea just to let them die? If Jesus Christ died for you on that cross, do you think He saved you to abandon you? Their murmuring ultimately cost them dearly. An entire generation never entered the Promised Land. Are you willing to pay that price just so you can continue murmuring?

We murmur and don’t even realize it. Try this: put a loose rubber band around your wrist. Each time today you catch yourself thinking or expressing a complaint, snap the rubber band. By the end of the day, you may be surprised the level of murmuring in your thought life. Now take steps to counter it with praise for all you do have. Will you follow Him and let Him have His way, and not murmur or complain?

June 29 / C.S. Lewis

 The human spirit will not even begin to try and surrender self-will as long as all seem to be well with it. Now error and sin both have this property, that the deeper they are the less their victim suspects their existence; they are masked evil. Pain is unmasked, unmistakable evil; every man knows that something is wrong when he is being hurt…And pain is not only immediately recognizable evil, but evil impossible to ignore. We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities; and anyone who has watched gluttons shoveling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they were eating, will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

From The Problem of Pain
Compiled in The Business of Heaven

The Problem of Pain. Copyright © 1940, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Copyright restored © 1996 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. The Business of Heaven. Editing of this collection and preface by Walter Hooper. Copyright © 1984 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

What does it mean to be free in Christ? / Senior Living

 What does it mean to be free in Christ?

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1

A little boy had fallen ill and stayed home from school one afternoon. His mother was concerned he’d get behind, so she taught him the lesson for the day at home. The subject was prepositions, and the mother told the boy that it’s never okay to end a sentence with a preposition.

After the lesson was over, the boy thought he’d have some fun with his mom. So he came up with a sentence that ended with not one, but five prepositions. He yelled downstairs to his mom, “Mom, what did you bring that book I didn't want to be read to out of up for?!”

Many people think of rules like grammar as hard and fast – things that can never and should never be broken. But the truth is that we break them all the time when we talk to one another. We just have subconsciously agreed with others that some grammar rules can be broken every now and then.

But when it comes to God’s laws, we’re bound. In fact, if we fail to keep them at just one point, the Bible says we’re guilty of breaking all of them (James 2:10)!

Then what is our hope? Christ. He took our sins upon Himself and gave us His righteousness. So when God looks at you, He doesn’t see where you’ve fallen short. He sees the goodness of Jesus through your faith in Him. Praise God that you can live in freedom, not under Law, because of Christ’s death for you!

Ask God to reaffirm in your heart the truth that you can live in freedom in Jesus Christ!

Questions for Thought:

Why do you think many people constantly slip back into the idea that they earn their salvation through their works?

How might your attitude change if you truly understood that God loves you not based on what you do, but who you are in Christ?

A Father’s Motivation of Love / NKJV 365

 

A Father’s Motivation of Love

We did nothing to motivate God to save us. His motivation was intrinsic. It came from within His nature. He saw our plight and felt compassion for us. Anyone who has stopped along the road to pick up a stray dog or move a fallen bird’s nest to a safe place has in a limited way mirrored the compassion expressed by God in salvation.

Paul explains this even further with his parenthetical remark, “By grace you have been saved.” The Greek form of the term grace implies that grace is the “instrument” used to accomplish salvation. In other words, if one were to ask God, “God, how did You save me?” He would answer, “Grace.”

Grace summarizes the entire salvation process. It encapsulates the sending of Christ, the offer of forgiveness, His crucifixion, His resurrection, and His ascension. Why grace? Because grace indicates unmerited favor; it suggests an undeserved expression of kindness and goodwill. The whole of salvation is just that — an undeserved gift. From start to finish, salvation is by grace. We have now answered two basic questions.

Q1: Why did God save us?

A1: He loved us.

Q2: How did God save us?

A2: By grace; by an undeserved series of events enacted for our benefit.

Paul answers yet another crucial question. He reveals the purpose of our salvation: so that we might be the eternal objects of God’s kindness.

This truth underscores the depth of the love that moved God to begin with. Unlike the nature lover who stops to rescue an injured bird, God’s love goes beyond pity. He did not save us just to keep us out of hell. He saved us to guarantee an eternal relationship with us, a relationship in which we would continue to be the recipients of His kindness.

God’s grace toward you did not stop with forgiveness. His grace will continue to be poured out on you forever! That was His purpose from the very beginning. Is there anything keeping you from accepting God’s free gift of salvation right now?

Taken from The NKJV Daily Bible

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:8-9‬ 

Refiner's Fire / Billy Graham

 

Refiner's Fire

Why do Christians suffer? Rest assured that there is a reason for Christian people being afflicted. One reason why God’s people suffer, according to the Bible, is that it is a disciplinary, chastening, and molding process. From the Scriptures we learn that the chastening of affliction is a step in the process of our full and complete development. Affliction can also be a means of refining and of purification. Many a life has come forth from the furnace of affliction more beautiful and more useful than before.

Daily Prayer

Lord, whatever I have to face, through it let me learn more of Your love and compassion.

“When he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.”

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭33:12

Asleep in Jesus / Alistair Egg

 

Asleep in Jesus 

Even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

1 Thessalonians 4:14

Let us not imagine that the soul sleeps in insensibility. “Today you will be with me in paradise” is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. They sleep in Jesus, but their souls are before the throne of God, praising Him day and night in His temple, singing hallelujahs to Him who washed them from their sins in His blood. The body sleeps in its lonely bed of earth, beneath the coverlet of grass.

But what is this sleep? The idea connected with sleep is “rest,” and that is the thought that the Spirit of God would convey to us. Sleep makes each night a sabbath for the day. Sleep shuts tight the door of the soul and bids all intruders wait for a while, that the life within may enter its summer garden of ease. The toil-worn believer quietly sleeps, as does the weary child when it slumbers on its mother’s breast.

Happy are they who die in the Lord; they rest from their labors, and their works follow them. Their quiet repose will never be broken until God shall rouse them to give them their full reward. Guarded by angelic watchers, curtained by eternal mysteries, they sleep on, the inheritors of glory, until the fullness of time shall bring the fullness of redemption.

What an awaking will be theirs! They were laid in their last resting place, weary and worn, but they will not rise in that condition. They went to their rest with furrowed brow and wasted features, but they wake up in beauty and glory. The shriveled seed, so devoid of form and beauty, rises from the dust a glorious flower. The winter of the grave gives way to the spring of redemption and the summer of glory. Blessed is death, since through the divine power it removes our working clothes and dresses us with the wedding garment of incorruption. Blessed are those who sleep in Jesus.

Down the Mountain / Greg Laurie

Down the Mountain

“The next day, after they had come down the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. A man in the crowd called out to him, ‘Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child’” (Luke 9:37-38 NLT).

Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain with Jesus, and there waiting for them was a demon-possessed child. But they were unable to do anything about it. Twenty-four hours after seeing the deity of Jesus, and they couldn’t help this poor boy.

Luke’s gospel tells us the child’s father approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. . . . I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it” (9:38-40 NLT).

Like those disciples, we can be on a mountaintop one moment and down in the pit the next. We leave a church service, get in the car, and start arguing or getting angry about something. Or we turn around and slander someone or gossip—immediately after we’ve just sung the praises of God with the same lips.

I don’t think we need more mountaintop experiences in our Christian lives. But I do think we need more day-to-day obedience as we walk by faith and not feeling.

The disciples couldn’t understand why the demon hadn’t come out of the child. But Jesus put His finger on it. It was because of their unbelief.

We can have the same problem. We have faith, and we believe God. But our faith is small. It’s weak and underdeveloped. Faith, however, grows through use. In fact, it’s a lot like muscle. It’s painful in the process of growing, but it gets stronger every day through rigorous training.

God will bring faith-stretching experiences into our lives, and sometimes it seems as though our faith has been stretched to the limit, and we can go no further. But afterward, we realize that we had more faith than we thought we had. And it’s during those difficult times that our theories become reality.

Copyright © 2021 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

 

In the Midst of Life Struggles: Look Up by Debbie McDaniel

 In the Midst of Life Struggles: Look Up

by Debbie McDaniel

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2

There’s so much in this life we can start to feel anxious about, even when we know God’s truth and believe that He’s in control. It can still be a daily battle in our hearts, in our minds.

When we just keep looking all around us, we can easily get defeated. Drained. Impatient. Cynical.

We may find ourselves wrestling with worry. Fear might creep in. We lose our focus because we're so distracted on all the things that can never really give us strength and hope anyway.

People won’t ever be the answer for our every need. Money, possessions, or success can’t ever satisfy the void deep inside that only God can fill. This world will never be free of all conflict. The government won’t ever fix all of our problems. It can’t. Because no matter who is President, no matter what we face in this life, God’s still on the throne.

5 Reminders of Hope from Psalm 121:

- "My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." v. 2 He's All-powerful. God is a mountain mover and Creator of heaven and earth. He's with us, always. He breathes help and strength into our souls, into our day.

- "He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber." v. 3 He won't allow us to fall. We may find ourselves on slippery slopes, or the path we're walking seems to be full of potholes and obstacles. But the God who knows all, knows our way. And even when we stumble, as our eyes are fixed on Him, He will keep our footsteps firm. For He watches over us and never sleeps or slumbers.

- "The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand." v. 5 He keeps us, safe, in His care. He protects us like the shade protects from the heat of the day. Why the "right hand?" Because it is known as the hand that works, so we can be assured that whatever He's given us to do in this life, His covering of protection rests over all of our work and efforts.

- "The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul." v. 7 He protects us from "all evil," not some, but "all." It does not have the final say over our lives. Fear of death, disease, and hardship has lost its sting, for our lives are hidden with Christ in God. No matter who or what we're rubbing shoulders with each day, God's power is greater than whatever darkness we might face. For He is the soul-keeper and He holds all of our tomorrows.

- "The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever." v. 8 He watches over us, constantly, His eyes are towards us. He cannot look away from those He loves. He watches our coming and our going, and all in between. He watches over our family and children, even when we cannot see. We do not have to worry, for He strongly supports those whose hearts are His.

Intersecting Faith & Life: It often comes down to a choice. Let’s choose, no matter what swirls around us, to set our eyes on God. For if He made all of heaven and earth, surely He has a Sovereign, incredible plan, for you and for me. He knows our way in this journey of life, and He’s a “with us” God. Keep remembering today: Look up. He alone is where our hope is found!

Further Reading:
Psalm 121:1-8
2 Chronicles 16:9
Matthew 28:20

June 29 / Wisdom from the Psalms

 Psalms 80:13

The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

Betty loved her flowers and plants. She spent hours pruning, planting, and paring. Her garden was her pride and joy. Betty invested so much of herself into her plants. For that reason, Betty was at war with the woodland animals that made their way into her yard. They would always get through the fences somehow and mutilate her beautiful garden. To Betty, the plants were beauty and joy, but to the animals, they were nothing more than lunch. 

We have the capacity to truly appreciate the beauty and splendor of God's creation. Why, then, do so many people trash God's gift as blindly as animals destroy a beautiful garden? Why don't we appreciate nature more, and respect it? The Lord gave us His ability to see the beauty in things. Let us use that gift, and protect and defend the wonders of the world in which we live.

Prayer: Do not let me stomp through life like some wild an imal. Help me to see all creation as You see it. Fill me with the beauty of this world. Amen.

As I Have Loved You / Max Lucado

 

As I Have Loved You

Click below to listen to today's devotional

AS I HAVE LOVED YOU - June 28, 2021

The Greek word used for love—agape—denotes an unselfish affection. The final phrase is the essential one: “as I have loved you.” Have you let God love you? Please don’t hurry past the question.

We don’t love people because people are lovable. The truth is, people can be cranky, stubborn, selfish, and cruel. We love people for this reason: we have come to experience and believe the love that God has for us. We are beneficiaries of an unexpected, undeserved, yet undeniable gift — the love of God. And it is only by receiving our Father’s agape love that we can discover an agape love for others.

So be loved, and then love. Just as hurt people hurt people, loved people love people. So let God love you. This is how happiness happens.

Held by the Grip of God / Oswald Chambers

 

Held by the Grip of God I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. PHILIPPIANS 3:12 Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you “turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (Deuteronomy 5:32). We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has “laid hold of” us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought, “Well, I’m really not suited for this.” What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your own natural leanings or desires. Keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel. Every Christian must testify to the truth of God, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God’s hand on you— your life is in the grip of God for that very purpose. How many of us are held like that? Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness. There must be unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are— you are not some special being created in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace. “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do…I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word.

The Secret of Contentment / Charles Stanley

 

The Secret of Contentment

Does it surprise you that Paul wrote today’s passage when he was in prison? He didn’t know what his future held—whether he’d be freed or punished or killed—but he had learned to be content in all circumstances, good or bad. How many of us can make that claim? 

It’s not uncommon to feel discontentment when we cannot control our situation. And as long as our satisfaction depends on whether certain things work out, circumstances will continue to steal our peace. Paul was not saying that we’ll never experience anxiety or frustration again; rather, what matters is how we respond when those feelings grip us. 

This is something Paul had to learn. He endured tremendous suffering, from shipwrecks and hunger to unjust imprisonment and beatings (2 Corinthians 11:24-30). He knew as well as anyone that situations can be painful and seemingly hopeless. But he finally discovered that true contentment came from Jesus, not the situation he found himself in. 

How do you respond when circumstances are out of your control? Paul chose to give his anxieties to Jesus in exchange for peace that “surpasses all comprehension” (Phil. 4:7). That same peace is available to you and me.

God’s Protection / ODB

 

God’s Protection I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:7-8 READ PSALM 63

Needles, milk, mushrooms, elevators, births, bees, and bees in blenders—these are just a fraction of the many phobias attributed to Mr. Adrian Monk, detective and title character of the TV show Monk. But when he and longtime rival Harold Krenshaw find themselves locked in a car trunk, Monk has a breakthrough that allows him to cross off at least one fear from his list—claustrophobia. It’s while Monk and Harold are both panicking that the epiphany comes, abruptly interrupting Monk’s angst. “I think we’ve been looking at this the wrong way,” he tells Harold. “This trunk, these walls . . . they’re not closing in on us . . . they’re protecting us, really. They’re keeping the bad stuff out . . . germs, and snakes, and harmonicas.” Eyes widening, Harold sees what he means and whispers in wonder, “This trunk is our friend.” In Psalm 63, it’s almost as if David has a similar epiphany. Despite being in a “dry and parched land,” when David remembers God’s power, glory, and love (vv. 1-3), it’s as if the desert transforms into a place of God’s care and protection. Like a baby bird hiding in the shelter of a mother’s wings, David finds that when he clings to God, even in that barren place, he can feast “as with the richest of foods” (v. 5), finding nourishment and strength in a love that “is better than life” (v. 3).  By Monica La Rose Loving Creator, Sustainer, and Nourisher, thank You for the miraculous way Your love seeps into my heart in even the most difficult places, transforming them into the shelter of Your wings. When have you experienced God’s care for you while you were in a difficult place? In what current struggles might you learn to “sing in the shadow of [God’s] wings”?

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Readers of the book of Psalms will notice that the majority of the psalms (more than one hundred) include headers or superscriptions. While these aren’t part of the psalm itself, the information provided can often enhance one’s understanding of the psalm’s content. The header of Psalm 63 is a good example: “A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.” David, the Israelite king, is believed to be the author. The setting was when he was in the wilderness (v. 1) and a king (v. 11). Most likely, the occasion is when David fled to the wilderness from his rebellious son Absalom (2 Samuel 15:1-19:15). Though in the midst of an unimaginable situation, David expressed hope in God’s protection: “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me” (Psalm 63:7-8). Arthur Jackson