Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Harold J. Sala
ISBN 971-511-
Darlene,
who is not only my best friend,
but is also my constant encourager, companion,
prayer partner and soul mate.
Preface
TODAY COUNTS! It’s a gift from God. It’s the only part of
your life that you can do something about. Yesterday is past.
Tomorrow is unknown, but today counts! Have you consid-
ered the fact that today is the smallest division of God-given
time? Seconds, minutes, and even hours are man-made time
divisions, but the period of time from one day to the next—
today—is the shortest division on God’s clock.
What you do, what you dream about, what you think,
what you talk about today is important. Begin your day
with a fresh perspective and ponder on what God wants
you to accomplish, and how you can do it, and then take
on the day.
Every single day is a gift from God that must be grasped;
otherwise, this golden opportunity to make a difference, to
touch someone’s life, to tell someone, “I love you,” to be
more than you were yesterday is lost. Today has to be em-
braced or else the minutes slip by and today is lost in the
abyss of yesterday.
My friend Wayne Pederson used to sign his letters and
e-mails with the words, “Focus forward!” No more. He’s
changed the complimentary close to read, “Seize Today!”
He discovered that when he was always focused forward,
pushing to reach goals and objectives, he missed a lot of the
view on the journey. Wayne discovered that he was so fo-
cused on what he wanted to see happen in the future that he
was missing what was happening today. He confessed: “When
I go running,” he said, “instead of enjoying the fresh air, the
sights and the exercise, I find myself thinking, ‘I can’t wait
until this is over.’”
Waiting for a flight, he picked up a book at the airport
entitled The Present by Spencer Johnson. Says this popular
business-oriented author, “When you receive the present,
you no longer spend your time dreaming about being some-
where else. You’re intent only on what’s happening at that
moment. Being in the present means focusing on what is
happening right now.”
And when all of this came together, Wayne began to re-
alize that it was time to make some personal adjustments
and change his focus from forward to today! You can do the
same. Today counts—seize it!
My prayer is that God will use this to make a difference
in your life because today really matters!
I want to thank Luisa Ampil, my administrative assis-
tant, for her help in editing materials for this book, along
with Casey Anderson, Julie Field, and Bonnie Craddick.
Once more I am grateful to OMF Literature of our partner-
ship now spanning three decades of publishing.
A Prayer for Today
One particularly vivid scene in the Gospel I pray also for those
according to John is that of Jesus praying who will believe in
in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Gar- me through their
den of Gethsemane was actually an olive message, that all of
grove where a wine-press squeezed the them may be one,
sweet juice from the grapes. A place of soli- Father, just as you
are in me and
tude, this was where Jesus and the disciples
I am in you.
could come and pray without interruption.
In the prayer recorded in John 17, JOHN 17:20-21
Jesus focuses on the Church, His body.
Jesus said: “I have given them your word and the world has
hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I
am of the world.” He added, “My prayer is not that you
take them out of the world but that you protect them from
the evil one.” Jesus then prayed that they might be one,
even as He and the Father were one.
Who is my brother? Brothers and sisters have a common
parentage. In the household of faith, this means we are born
again of the Spirit of God, recognizing Jesus Christ as Lord
and the Savior of the world. We know that by grace through
faith we have received the gift of eternal life and that it is by
the grace of God that we came to Christ and were adopted
into His family.
Strange yet true is the fact that when the fire of perse-
cution burns, the shackles that have tied us to our
backgrounds—and, yes, churches—are consumed, and we
find a freedom to laugh, to cry, to pray, to rejoice, and to
praise the Almighty in ways we have never before known.
January
16
Keep Watch
After forty years, God finally told His Joshua told the people,
people it was time to cross the Jordan “Consecrate yourselves,
and take the land He had promised their for tomorrow the
fathers. Joshua—the one who had suc- LORD will do
ceeded Moses—told them, “Now then, amazing things
you and all these people, get ready to among you.”
cross the Jordan River.” Three days later, JOSHUA 3:5
the hour of march came. On the eve of
that momentous day, Joshua gave them further directions:
“Consecrate yourselves,” he said, “for tomorrow the LORD
will do amazing things among you”(Joshua 3:5).
With the passing of time a language changes. Catch
words, idioms, and certain phrases seem to lose their mean-
ing. It is also true that with the passing of time, some great
spiritual truths are lost. Perhaps that is what contributes to
our ignorance today of what Joshua meant when he said,
“Consecrate yourselves. . . . ”
Consecration is preparing yourself spiritually for some-
thing that God wants to do. It’s like transferring ownership
of your property to God Himself, realizing that He already
owns it and wants to use it for a joyous celebration.
There is value in stopping what you are doing for spiri-
tual reflection, inward purification and moral house cleaning.
There is no way of knowing whether any of the Israelites
regretted the decision to march across the Jordan, but for
those who did consecrate themselves to what was before
them, it was a joyful experience. They had transferred re-
sponsibility for what was ahead to Him who rolled back the
waters of the Jordan and went before them. Consecration
still precedes the awesome, wonderful things that God in-
tends for your tomorrow.
January
22
Entering into His Rest
There remains, then, There comes a point when you realize you
a Sabbath-rest are not in control, that the difficulties are
for the people more than you can handle, and that God
of God. is the only one who can handle your situ-
HEBREWS 4:9 ation. Only when you come to this point
are you a candidate for God’s grace and
help. Only then can you experience God’s rest—something
reserved only for God’s children.
Take the word rest, and form an acrostic with these
guidelines.
The R stands for relax. Cease from your own striving
and turn things over to the Lord.
The E stands for enter into His peace. Commit yourself
to what God tells you about yourself, about the circumstances
facing you, and about the future. Have the attitude of the
psalmist who said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.”
The S stands for step out in faith. Settle the issue of
whether or not you believe God is enough—big, powerful
and compassionate enough to do what He has promised in
His Word. What you do after that is either take a step of
faith, or turn and head back towards the Egypt of the world.
The T stands for trust. Realize that God is in control.
Faith has two components: belief, which is intellectual; and
trust, which is personal, experiential, and appropriational.
It’s turning off the light at night as you say, “Lord, please
take over the night shift. There’s no sense in both of us stay-
ing awake worrying about this.”
January
23
One of Those Days
Where do you find God? Some search for You will seek me
Him in nature, but that’s akin to study- and find me
ing the footprints of someone who walked when you seek me
in the snow or sand. Others look within with all your heart.
themselves, thinking that by solitude or JEREMIAH 29:13
reflection, they will discover His presence
within. But there is a better way.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with
all your heart” was the promise that God gave through
Jeremiah a long time ago (Jeremiah 29:12). But where is the
best place to start if you are serious about knowing God?
STEP 1: Go to the record. Read what God has revealed
about Himself in His Word, the Bible. Don’t just rely on
what you hear others tell about Him.
STEP 2: Converse with God through prayer. At the begin-
ning of your search, say something like, “God, reveal Yourself
to me and open my eyes so that I may see You. Open my
ears so that I may hear Your voice—not the voice of some-
one else telling me who You are.”
STEP 3: Get acquainted with those who really know God.
Godly men and women who have walked with the Lord can
enrich your life through their personal experience.
God wants a relationship with you far more than you
want a relationship with Him. He has proven that by send-
ing His Son to introduce us to Him. God’s promise is still
true. Remember that He said, “And you will seek me and
find me, when you search for me with all your heart.”
January
26
When You Rebel
Against the Lord
Again, I tell you When the disciples came to Jesus with the
that if two of you request, “Lord, teach us to pray,” they ut-
on earth agree about tered one of the deepest and most
anything you ask for, significant cries. But, for most of us who
it will be done for consider ourselves to be God’s children,
you by my Father
prayer is little more than token recogni-
in heaven.
tion of God. It is like sending SOS signals
MATTHEW 18:19 when we are in trouble, or a heart cry let-
ting God know that we would like Him
to rescue us or give us what we think we deserve.
One fundamental failure is that when people are sup-
posed to come together for prayer, they talk . . . and talk
some more. They talk about what they need to pray about;
but watch the hour pass by quickly and notice that prayer is
usually a postscript to the meeting!
Yes, you can pray alone, and there are some things that
need to be settled just between you and God. Jesus had times
of solitude for personal prayer, yet there is something pow-
erful, energizing, and homogenizing about praying together
with others. Jesus recognized this because He said, “For where
two or three come together in my name, there am I with
them”(Matthew 18:20).
Nothing brings people together more than does prayer,
or causes them to lose sight of their own personal agenda or
forget petty differences. You might not have a prayer meet-
ing in your church but why not have one in your home? Lay
some ground rules on what you will talk about, but focus on
prayer, not conversation. Meet with a group of other women,
or start a group for men who meet early in the morning. But
whatever you do, realize that where there are two or three,
the very presence of Jesus Christ Himself is in your midst.
January
29
A God Who Says “NO”
When You Want a “YES”
Answer
“O God, our help in ages past, our hope Though he slay me,
for years to come” so sang generations of yet will I hope
men and women who endured all kinds in him; I will
of tough times. Today, however, our gen- surely defend my
eration is not so confident that God is ways to his face.
our hope for years to come. When they JOB 13:15
expect God to say “Yes” and He says “No,”
they are thrown into deep distress. They quickly lose hope.
The Bible speaks of hope for some 158 times. Women
who were barren talked about the hope of having children.
Men and women in prison talked about the hope of deliver-
ance. The Apostle Paul talked about Abraham, whom God
promised will have an heir born to his wife, even while she
was long past the age of childbearing. Others, facing death,
talked of the hope of deliverance.
But the hope that this book offers is linked to the reality
of a God who is there. He is a God who cares and loves you
enough to say “No!” when you want a “Yes” answer shouted
loudly from heaven. The lesson we can learn from these
people who have been in difficult situations is that there is
hope, and there is an antidote to the despair which drives so
many of our contemporaries to drugs, alcohol, depression,
and even suicide.
Sometimes you have to tell your emotions and feelings
where to get off and hold on to what you know to be true—
that God is a good God and that He hasn’t forsaken you or
forgotten you, or singled you out for punishment simply
because He said “No!” Realize that God is the source of our
hope, and that He alone can drive back the despair and hope-
lessness of a broken, imperfect world.
January
30
When You are
Running Out of Gas
Love never fails. Agape love never fails, writes Paul to the
But where there Corinthians. And when Paul said that, he
are prophecies, used a word that triggered an image to
they will cease; the Corinthians. Corinth was a Greek city
where there are
with an open air amphitheater that had
tongues, they will
remarkable acoustics. It was the center for
be stilled; where there
entertainment.
is knowledge,
In ancient days, the actor memorized
it will pass away.
his lines—several hours’ worth of them.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:8 Sometimes an actor would forget his lines
Grow in the grace When Peter came to the end of the second
and knowledge of book that bears his name, he gave some prac-
our Lord and tical advice. “Be on your guard… grow in
Savior Jesus the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Christ. Savior Jesus Christ.” That was the advice of
2 PETER 3:18 a fisherman who knew that he had to de-
fend his fishing grounds yet he couldn’t
spend all of his time keeping others out of what he felt be-
longed to him.
Some folks spend so much time guarding things, they
never have time to grow anything. How do you know that
you are growing in grace as opposed to just getting on with
your life? Growth in grace is reflected in the following:
You accept circumstances, understanding that God can bring
order out of chaos. No, it doesn’t mean you like these circum-
stances but you refuse to fight fire with fire, preferring to let
God deal with some issues.
You come to understand that God is sufficient to meet your
needs. You will never test the resources and grace of God
unless you hit the bottom. “My grace is sufficient for you,”
God told Paul.
You cultivate a voice of praise instead of profaning the cir-
cumstances. This is what Paul meant when he wrote, “Give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in
Christ Jesus”(1 Thessalonians 5:18).
You have a desire to do the will of God, no matter what
others do. When you say, “Lord, I put this in Your hands;
You deal with it,” you are growing in God’s grace.
Finally, growth in grace is characterized by a willingness
to wait on the Lord, knowing that His timetable is different
from yours.
February
23
Wisdom Cries in the Streets
For the word of God Genya Gvozdenko lived in the Russian vil-
is living and active. lage of Chuguyevka where he taught school
Sharper than any and spent his spare time working in his
double-edged sword, garden. Shortly after Perestroika began to
it penetrates even to change the face of Communism, Genya
dividing soul and went to market one day to find a salesman
spirit, joints and with Bibles. Although he had heard about
marrow; it judges the Bible, he had never seen or held one.
the thoughts and Curiously he picked up the book and
attitudes of
leafed through it.
the heart.
Seeing that he was interested in it, the un-
HEBREWS 4:12 known missionary who had set up a display
agreed to let the schoolteacher take it home
and return it the next day. Genya showed the book to his
wife, then sat down and started reading. He read all night,
and by the time daylight had pierced the eastern sky, the light
of God’s love had penetrated his heart. He decided then that
he wanted to know more about God.
Returning the book, Genya asked where he could learn
more about this book and the God who says He loves us.
The missionary told him about a fledgling new Christian
school in Donetsk, Ukraine, some thirty kilometers west of
the Russian border.
Making the decision to go to the school, Genya gave up
his job, sold his cow, and bought train tickets for the long
journey that took eight days and nights. Finally, arriving in
Donetsk, he made his way to the school that had not ex-
pected the schoolteacher and his family. Three years later,
Genya and Lena have returned to the village from whence
they came and have planted an evangelical church.
February
25
When I’m Too Weak To Walk
But when they “Worry,” said E. Stanley Jones, “is the in-
arrest you, do not terest we pay on tomorrow’s troubles.” But
worry about what to it is more than that. Worry begins as a
say or how to say it. trickle, then erodes your energy and pro-
At that time you will
ductivity, draining you of all creative
be given what to say.
abilities and possibilities.
MATTHEW 10:19 In some cases, part of the solution is
revamping your lifestyle, but in other situ-
ations like raising five kids without a husband—you can’t
quit or walk out. You’ve got to move on.
Most of our worries cluster around two major fears:
What could happen and what has happened. In the days
when he was a circuit-riding lawyer, Abraham Lincoln,
accompanied by several colleagues, crossed several rivers
swollen by spring rains. Ahead, though, was the big one—
the Fox River, and it worried them. “If we are having trouble
getting across these, how are we going to get across that
one?” they reasoned.
That evening they stopped at the log cabin of a settler.
The man had crossed the dangerous Fox River many times.
Learning this, Lincoln’s group probed the man about the river.
“I know all about the Fox River,” he told them, adding,
“I have crossed it often and understand it well. But I have
one fixed rule with regard to the Fox River: I never cross it till
I reach it.”
When you are where God wants you to be and you know
that He is your Shepherd who will take you across the river
and through the dark valley, you can let Him take the night
shift, and go to sleep. Make it a practice to never cross the
river until you get there.
March
3
Surrender
Let him who boasts “How would you define God?” was the
boast about this: question a middle-aged businesswoman
that he understands asked. Her lips were quivering as she asked
and knows me . . . the question that told me a volcano of
declares the LORD. emotions was the driving force of her ques-
JEREMIAH 9:24 tion. “She’s been through a lot,” her friends
later explained without providing details.
“I wouldn’t want to attempt to define
God,” I explained, adding, “You experience God.” The mo-
ment you say, “God is . . . ” and finish the sentence, you
have drawn a box around God and your definition attempts
to confine Him to what you have said.
The Bible, which tells us more about God than any book
in the world, doesn’t make a single attempt to define God.
It begins assuming His existence and also says that we are
dependent upon Him just as a newborn is upon his mother.
The first verse of our English Bibles reads, “In the begin-
ning, God . . .” but actually the Hebrew text says more
precisely, “In beginning, God. . . . ”
The good news is that you can experience God because He
is a person with every attribute of personality. He hears, He
feels, He speaks, He loves, He understands, and He cares.
He cares for you far more than you realize. “Taste and see
that the LORD is good,” is the invitation of the psalmist (Psalm
34:8). Long ago God spoke through Isaiah and said, “You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your
heart”(Jeremiah 29:13).
Where is the place to begin when you want to find God?
Start where you are and turn to the pages of His Word, the
Bible.
March
5
Knowing God
Is the Bible really true? The issue is not so The grass withers
much whether the Bible is true, but and the flowers fall,
whether or not we are willing to accept but the word
the implication of what it says. In simple of our God
terms, it is a lot easier to hide behind an stands forever.
intellectual smokescreen than recognize ISAIAH 40:8
there are personal implications attached
to what the Bible says.
First, the Bible doesn’t mince words regarding what is
moral or immoral, what is ethical or unethical. God gave
Moses Ten Commandments, not ten suggestions. He said you
have no right to another man’s wife. You have no right to
take another man’s life. God says, don’t lie; tell the truth.
Don’t steal, and neither have you any business lusting after
what belongs to your neighbor. It says the family is the basis
of society and civilization, that homosexuality is an offense
to God, and that wrongdoing will be punished. The Bible
tells us not only what not to do but what to do!
There is also the issue of accountability. “All we like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”(Isaiah
53:6 NKJV ). But the Bible also says there is a Shepherd
who not only lovingly seeks the lost sheep, striving to bring
him back to the fold, but ultimately becomes his judge if
His love and mercy are spurned.
Friend, have you settled that question, “Is the Bible re-
ally true?” It’s not a matter of intellectual curiosity; it’s a
matter of life and death. When you are convinced, you will
far more readily follow its guidelines for living. As Jesus said,
“Your Word is truth”(John 17:17).
March
8
Maximizing Your Strengths
Revive us, Long ago the psalmist prayed, “Will you not
and we will call revive us again, that your people may rejoice
on your name. in you?”(Psalm 85:6). But what are we re-
PSALM 80:18 ally talking about when we use the term
“revival”? In a spiritual sense, revival means
coming to life, a spiritual awakening, as the mighty Spirit of
God brings new life to His Body the Church and to us as
individuals.
When Jesus sent out the twelve He gave them authority
over the spirit world and the physical world as well. He said,
“As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is
near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have
leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely
give”(Matthew 10:7-8). When the twelve hit the streets,
people knew something important was happening. They
didn’t have to put on a show to get a crowd.
Today, though, almost every advance of the church can
be explained in human terms: good promotion; great mu-
sic; terrific entertainment; exciting, feel-good motivational
messages (once called sermons), dynamic personalities and
expansive buildings (sometimes with gyms, bookstores, and
restaurants). The result: a rather spiritually impotent church
whose growth comes from within.
Instead of pointing your finger at your church, ask your-
self, “Do I personally need to be revived? Has my spiritual
life become mechanical, routine and humdrum? Do I desire
a deeper, more intimate relationship with God’s Son?” And
when you answer in the affirmative, you have declared your-
self to be a candidate for spiritual renewal that is the key to
coming alive once again.
March
13
Revivals Happen
Ezekiel was a priest who had been carried If my people, who are
away by King Nebuchadnezzar and forced called by my name,
to settle in Babylon. As this man grew will humble
older, he grew both hungry for God and themselves and pray
longing for his homeland. and seek my face and
God revealed Himself to Ezekiel and turn from their
wicked ways, then
told Him of great things that were in the
will I hear from
future for Israel. Ezekiel had a vision in
heaven and will
which he visualized Israel as a valley of dead
forgive their sin and
bones. Then God asked, “Son of man, can
will heal their land.
these bones live?”(Ezekiel 37:3). Talk about
having to answer the Teacher! What do you 2 CHRONICLES 7:14
say when God asks you a question? Ezekiel
answered, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know!”
Then God told him to prophesy that breath would enter
them, tendons would be attached, then flesh, then life. Re-
creation! It was a picture of Israel’s restoration. It is also a
picture of what God does individually and corporately when
He chooses to revive His people.
“My spiritual life is like that!” you may complain. But do
you hear the still voice of God asking, “Can these bones live?”
Churches are people who have deep needs. Some are “old-
timers” while others are a younger crowd. Many are “The
walking wounded” who come hoping for life. At times those
of us who have been there for a long time are more like the
valley of dry bones—the “used-to-be-on-fire” crowd, criti-
cal of the young prone to give advice than help.
When fire comes, everything feels the flame. So why not
ask God to start the revival of dry bones with you? “Yes,
Lord, send a work of Your Spirit starting with me.”
March
14
Steps to Spiritual Renewal
For dead men Your doctor tells you, “Put your house in
cannot praise you. order; you’re going to die!” Then some-
They cannot be one says, “Hold it! You’ve got fifteen years
filled with hope to go!” How would you feel? Joyful! Sud-
and joy. The living, denly your life would take on new
only the living, meaning. You would focus—not on your
can praise you
past—but how you want to use your re-
as I do today.
maining years, right?
One generation
That’s essentially what happened to
makes known
Hezekiah whose story of sickness and re-
your faithfulness
covery is told in Isaiah 38. He went
to the next.
home, turned his face to the wall, and
ISAIAH 38:18-19 TLB wept bitterly.
He also prayed, pointing out that he had faithfully served
God. Then God said, “I have heard your prayers and seen
your tears.” Thus God gave Hezekiah another fifteen years.
In gratitude Hezekiah made some vows.
First, he vowed to walk humbly before God.
Then he also vowed to focus on praise and thanksgiving.
He said, “The living, the living—they praise you, as I am
doing today; fathers tell their children about your
faithfulness”(Isaiah 38:19). He also intended to spend the
rest of his life glorifying God.
God kept His end of the bargain and the king lived for
fifteen years. But when the crisis passed and life assumed a
normal pattern of things, what the king intended to do was
soon forgotten. According to Isaiah, pride in his accomplish-
ments soon pushed aside the vow of humility and the desire
to praise and glorify God for what He had done.
How much time do you have? Only today is the correct
answer. Who knows what tomorrow may hold? Today is the
day to put your house in order.
March
17
When You are Confronted
with a Catch-22 Situation
It’s a catch-22 situation, one where you From the end of the
can’t win. That expression “catch-22” was earth will I cry unto
made famous by the book, Catch-22. This thee, when my heart
novel was inspired by the war experiences is overwhelmed:
of Joseph Heller who was flying over lead me to the rock
France in World War II when shrapnel that is higher
hit his B-25 bomber plane. Up to that than I.
time, he had been fearless, but no longer. PSALM 61:2 KJV
He wanted out.
In the 1961 novel, the main character John Yossarian
decides he doesn’t want to fly any more dangerous missions
so he invents a mysterious liver ailment, sabotages his plane,
and tries to get himself declared insane.
Here’s the predicament: Yossarian learns that in the mili-
tary, anyone who is insane has to be excused from flying
dangerous missions, but the catch is that he must ask to be
excused. But “anyone who is smart enough to show ‘rational
fear in the face of clear and present danger’ obviously is not
insane and must continue to fly.”
Catch-22 situations are grim apart from the one who
can eliminate the hopeless future. It is God. When
Jehoshaphat faced a catch-22 situation, he cried out, “We
have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you”
(2 Chronicles 20:12). God is always enough.
There were lots of times when David faced catch-22 situ-
ations, but he learned that God makes a difference. He cried
out, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when
my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher
than I”(Psalm 61:2 KJV ).
March
18
Whatever You Do
Commit to the LORD Four times in the Bible you find the
whatever you do, phrase “whatever you do” and what fol-
and your plans lows emphasizes a relationship between
will succeed. you and God. The first is “Commit to
PROVERBS 16:3 the LORD whatever you do and your plans
will succeed”(Proverbs 16:3). In this same
context, the writer says that you may have a plan but God
determines what happens. That first “whatever you do” forges
a link between your efforts, God and success.
The second whatever you do is found in Paul’s letter to
the Corinthians where he wrote, “So whether you eat or
drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1
Corinthians 10:31). Paul’s advice to these new converts who
had grown up in a morally perverse society: Whatever you
do, whether it is what you say or what your actions are, strive
to glorify God—not yourself. When you live a life of integ-
rity, your example is going to run counter to your culture.
When Paul wrote to the Colossians, whose city was an
old but fading commercial center, he used that whatever you
do expression twice(Colossians 3:17; 3:23). He first urged
them to do whatever they did in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and to give thanks to Him no matter what the result.
Then he reminded them that they were really working for
God—not an employer.
Whatever you do includes everything you do—nothing
excepted. Sloppy work is no credit to those who claim to be
followers of Jesus Christ. The Bible makes it clear that what-
ever you do is a reflection on Him who called you to serve
Him, and when you do less than your best, you dishonor
your Father in Heaven.
March
19
Answering the
Forces of Culture
Can two walk Only a few weeks before her death at the
together, unless age of ninety-two, Audrey Duffield, my
they are agreed? mother-in-law, sat down and, with no par-
AMOS 3:3 NKJV ticular audience in mind, wrote the
following:
“Would you like to hear how one minister and his wife
settled problems peacefully and happily? We made one deci-
sion in our marriage that we followed for sixty-three years.
Guy and I decided that we would never make an important
decision regarding our life work until we were united in that
decision.
“The test came early in our ministry. A change of pastor-
ate was presented. Down to our knees we went in prayer.
And we came up divided. But there was no argument. I felt
Guy leaning one way and me the other. But I never said a
word. And I didn’t go around crying or pouting either. I just
felt the answer down in my heart and left it there.
“Weeks went by. Guy wavered, but for once, not me.
Finally one day Guy expressed his decision, ‘I feel the Lord
wants us to remain where we are.’ What did I say? ‘I could
have told you that three months ago!’ Never did we fail in
this lesson. Friends, you must be united in your decisions in
life, and God will bless.”
Years before, Amos asked the question, “Can two walk
together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3 NKJV ). The
answer is obvious. Waiting and praying until God brought a
kindred witness to their hearts was the way Guy and Audrey
Duffield handled disagreements for over six decades of mar-
riage. The principle still works for those who will follow it.
March
21
Unconventional Wisdom
Jesus reached out Long ago Isaiah wrote, “Surely the arm of
his hand and the LORD is not too short to save, nor his
touched the man. ear too dull to hear”(Isaiah 59:1). When
“I am willing,” someone reaches out with his hand to
he said. “Be clean!” touch you, how do you respond? Do you
And immediately pull back or respond to the warmth of a
the leprosy left him.
person’s hand? How you answer that ques-
LUKE 5:13 tion reveals a lot about your culture, but
more than that, about you as a person.
It reveals your security or your insecurity. How so? Well,
for starters, individuals who are paranoid don’t want to touch
or be touched. I remember once staying in the home of a
pastor whose wife had a phobia of germs. She would not
shake hands with anyone. How different is the reaction of
two young people in love whose hands seem to be joined in
a perpetual clasp.
Michelangelo’s image of God’s hand reaching for man is
comforting—to know that it was He who initiated the search,
sending His Son to touch our lives, to bring us back into
harmony with His plan and purpose. A study of those whom
Jesus touched reveals He freely touched the rejects of soci-
ety, and there was no thought of being defiled by reaching
out and touching someone. He was secure; He knew who
He was.
There is healing in a touch, so said the renowned author
and psychiatrist Dr. Karl Menninger. So let God touch your
life, and with His touch will come emotional and spiritual
healing, and the freedom that lets you reach out and touch
someone else. “Reach out and touch someone” was the ad-
vertising slogan of a phone company. That’s what you do
when God first touches you.
March
25
Understanding What
the Will of God is
At once they left Walking away from your nets when Jesus
their nets and calls you is never easy! Many people hear
followed him. His voice but their hands seem to be glued
MATTHEW 4:20 to their nets.
Matthew and Mark both describe the
day when Jesus Christ walked on the eastern shore of Gali-
lee and encountered Simon and Andrew. At that time, they
were preparing their nets for another day’s catch. But unlike
other casual meetings, an invisible line was drawn in the
sand of their lives. The invitation He extended demanded a
decision.
In describing the fishermen’s reaction, both Matthew and
Mark used a Greek word that means their hands “immedi-
ately” dropped the nets and followed Him. Do you have
trouble letting loose of the net, or more specifically, what it
represents—whatever it is that you hold onto that you know
you must release to follow Him?
Letting loose of your net is a decision and it isn’t your
gene pool or your biology that makes the decision. It is your
heart! The disciples gave up what had been their primary
concern in life for something far better.
Letting loose of the net is scary if you are not sure that
you can trust Him who calls you. But once you have taken
that step, you will never regret saying goodbye to what it
represents. If He who called you could take five loaves and a
few fish and feed a multitude, you need have no concern
about keeping the few fish your own nets would take. Never
look back, once you have dropped your net and taken the
first step.
March
27
What God Most Desires
Now to him who “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?”
is able to do Some three times, that question is asked
immeasurably more in Scripture. But how would you answer
than all we ask or it? Today we are faced with a quandary.
imagine, according Either we nod our heads and say, “Yes!
to his power that is God can do anything,” unsure of whether
at work within us.
we really believe this, or else we are con-
EPHESIANS 3:20 fronted with empty hands and hearts,
wondering why God didn’t step in and
reverse some troublesome situations confronting us.
For a moment, let’s look at God through the eyes of Paul.
He said first that God is able. At first glance, the verb is able
seems incomplete. You have to follow it with something.
You say, “My company is able to compete” or “That person
is able to make good on his word.” It is always followed by
something that qualifies the ability of someone or some-
thing to perform or do something.
Yet Paul was stressing the all-sufficiency of God Himself.
Unlike ourselves, God isn’t limited or restricted by time, space
and human limitations. That’s why He is God and we are
finite. We are limited by geography and space but God knows
no such limits. And certainly there is a limit to what the best
of us can do.
When Paul stressed God’s sufficiency, he said it is lim-
ited by only two things: what you ask for, and what you
envision or imagine, and that leaves out about nothing.
Yes, it’s true that the Bible gives us parameters of what to
pray for and how God answers but here He says, “Trust me.
See if I will not respond on your behalf. Reach out and ask
for a large measure, that your joy may be full.”
March
31
The Power That Works
Within Us
When a group of Bible students were re- But you will receive
citing the words of a creed they had power when the
learned, one girl stood and said, “I be- Holy Spirit comes
lieve in God the Father, Maker of heaven on you; and you
will be my witnesses
and Earth.” Another followed, “I believe
in Jerusalem, and in
in Jesus Christ, God’s Son who was cru-
all Judea and
cified, buried and rose again the third
Samaria, and to the
day.” There was a pause, then a girl’s voice
ends of the earth.
rang out, “I think the boy who believes
in the Holy Spirit is absent today!” ACTS 1:8
God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—we be-
lieve in all three, or so we say. Jesus told the disciples that if
He went to the Father, He would send the Spirit, who would
indwell and empower them, who would make their bodies
the temples of God, and who would be a force that gives
them inner strength and guides them into His will.
Writing to the Ephesians, Paul closed one of his prayers,
saying, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at
work within us”(Ephesians 3:20). If the Holy Spirit is God—
the power who works in us, using Paul’s terminology—why
are we so afraid of Him? That old King James term, “Holy
Ghost” conjured up images of spooks and goblins—an un-
fortunate translation. But then, there is also fear—stemming
from abuses that we have seen. The Holy Spirit is God—the
Third Person of the Trinity, and remind yourself of a great
truth that God never makes a fool of anyone. The Spirit of
God glorifies the Son as He quietly dwells within His chil-
dren, empowering, guiding and going beyond our human
limitation in accomplishing His will. Pray, “Come Holy Spirit
fill my heart with your overflowing presence today.”
April
LUKE 23:43
Jesus answered him, “I tell you
the truth, today you will be
with me in paradise.”
April
1
The Honeycomb Effect
Do the old questions never go away? “Let not the wise man
Almost every time I talk with someone bask in his wisdom,
who has had a misfortune, I am asked, nor the mighty man in
“How could a loving God do this?” his might, nor the rich
Most of our misconceptions are the man in his riches.
result of not really knowing and under- Let them boast in
standing God, so when things you think this alone: That they
shouldn’t happen do happen, you either truly know me….”
blame Him for what He isn’t responsible JEREMIAH 9:23-24 TLB
for or else blame yourself because you
reason that you are not good enough to get God’s attention.
When you are confronted with difficulties, instead of
turning on God, turn to Him and get to know Him. Under-
stand that God doesn’t arbitrarily command, “Go down there
and get that person who just got out of line.”
Some things happen because we live in a broken, imper-
fect and sinful world. Sometimes things happen because of
our human failure. We reap what we sow—the cause and
effect of life; but there are other things that happen, and
even if God should tell you the reason, explaining in great
detail why, you still wouldn’t understand. How much better
it is to learn that He is compassionate and caring. As a father
who sympathizes with his child, God knows and understands
and cares infinitely more than you think.
At some point in life, you cross a line—an invisible mark
in your spiritual walk—where you say, “I will serve Him
because He is God whether I understand or not, and leave
to His disposition what is beyond my comprehension.” Then
instead of thinking He is the cause of your problem, you
learn He is the solution to your pain and suffering.
April
12
Getting to Know Him
“Anyone who has How do you get to know the real Jesus? It
seen me has seen won’t be by watching TV documentaries
the Father.” or listening to lectures on history.
JOHN 14:9 Dr. Diane Komp, chief of pediatric
oncology at Yale University’s School of
medicine for many years, got to know Him by seeing the
stamp of the Almighty in the faces and experiences of dying
children. C. S. Lewis overcame his skepticism by studying
the New Testament, finally concluding that it made more
sense and was more rational to accept and believe the New
Testament record than to doubt it. Dr. C. E. M. Joad, the
agnostic psychology professor at the University of London,
got to know Him by theorizing that man’s horrible baseness
and inhumanity to his fellow man has to have its antithesis
or its opposite.
The best way to discover God is by going to the New
Testament, starting with the Gospel of John. Immerse your-
self in it. Pray as you read. Ask Him to touch your life. And
what should you expect when you start your search for God?
Paul had a “Damascus road” encounter as Jesus literally re-
vealed Himself, but you are more likely to experience what I
did years ago.
As a high school boy, very early before sunrise, I would
make my way to St. John’s Cathedral, slip in through the
back door and practice playing the organ. Never shall I for-
get the experience of watching the dark stained glass windows
as the sun slowly rose and illuminated the scenes from the
life of Jesus. Slowly the light drove away the darkness and I
beheld the beauty created in stained glass.
That’s the way it often is as the darkness faces, eventually
the Son rises in your heart and you know!
April
13
Overcoming Your
Fear of God
Jesus told the disciples that they were to But seek ye first
earnestly seek His Kingdom, and the the kingdom of God,
word He used translated “seek” is an in- and his righteousness;
teresting one. Two Greek words are both and all these things
translated as “to seek.” One word was shall be added
used, say of an athlete, who desperately unto you.
sought to win a race, or young person MATTHEW 6:33 KJV
who sought admission to a certain school.
The other word was used of a search for something that
at one time you possessed but for whatever reason you had
lost and badly wanted to regain. It was this word that Jesus
used. Was this a subtle reminder that God had created us for
fellowship, for intimacy with Himself—but with the pass-
ing of time we had turned our back on Him and gone our
own way? Perhaps.
Obviously, there can be no kingdom—visible or invis-
ible—unless there is a king, unless there is royalty. But the
kingdom that Jesus spoke of was God’s Kingdom, which He
had left to come to earth.
Paul said that eventually God would again send His Son
to establish His Kingdom on earth. He told Timothy “to
keep this command without spot or blame until the appear-
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in
his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of
kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who
lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can
see. To him be honor and might forever”(1 Timothy 6:14-16).
But meanwhile God rules and reigns in the hearts of His
subjects, who acknowledge the sovereign God who sent His
Son to our world to redeem us and to make us a part of the
Kingdom of God.
April
18
Grace and God’s Kingdom
Let all things be done After He had prayed all night, Jesus
decently and in order. called twelve men to follow Him.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:40 NKJV Then as the crowd pressed upon
them, Jesus had them sit down and
He taught them. He spoke of an invisible kingdom that God
Himself presided over, “The Kingdom of God.” As the people
listened, they weighed His words against the world they
knew—one ruled by the Romans assisted by the Jews whom
they considered to be traitors.
But Jesus soon made it clear that His kingdom was one
in the hearts of God’s children—one ruled by a different set
of rules than they knew. This is the Kingdom where you
treated enemies as friends, where you prayed for those who
persecute you, and where you gave your coat to a brother.
Not everyone, then or now, would be comfortable in such a
kingdom.
God’s Kingdom is a kingdom of peace. Five times the New
Testament describes God as the “God of peace.” Twice, writ-
ing to Roman Christians, Paul calls Him the “God of peace”
and then adds who “will soon crush Satan under his feet.”
Jesus, however, was telling those who came to hear Him
that in this world—one torn by hatred, strife, and bitter
rivalry—you can have an inner peace dwelling in your heart,
that you don’t have to render an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth.
How else is this invisible kingdom different? It’s not only
a kingdom of joy and peace, but it is also a kingdom of
harmony and order. Simply put, when you let God put the
broken, disordered pieces of your life back together, a pat-
tern of harmony emerges and a song of joyfulness resonates.
That’s what living in God’s Kingdom is about.
April
21
Righteousness and Love in
the Invisible Kingdom
Jesus told the crowd to seek first God’s On his robe and
Kingdom and His righteousness. He on his thigh he has
spoke of an invisible kingdom. God’s this name written:
Kingdom is a place of righteousness as op- KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OR
posed to a world where evil is present.
LORDS.
We’re not there yet. The battle for decency
goes on every day. REVELATION 19:16
Jesus taught that the problems of so-
ciety are really the problems of the heart. “For out of the
heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immoral-
ity, theft, false testimony, slander”(Matthew 15:19), said
Jesus.
“OK, we know it’s out there,” you say, “but how can we
disengage ourselves from it? How can we keep ourselves and
our kids from the moral pollution?”
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!” explained Paul in 2
Corinthians 5:17. God brings an internal transformation in
the lives of those who are citizens of God’s Kingdom. We
acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord and King of our lives
and that we are controlled not by our old natures that war
within, but by the Spirit of God who dwells within us.
The invisible kingdom is also a kingdom of love and that
those whose lives are touched by God are changed. It en-
ables them to love, whereas they would have hated, or at
least been indifferent to others.
Have you as a spiritual affirmation said, “Lord Jesus, I
want You to rule and reign in my heart and life. I crown You
as my King and place you over the kingdom of my life?”
When you do that, you indeed become a citizen of the invis-
ible kingdom, the Kingdom of God.
April
22
RAGE
A fool gives full vent “Rage” is the name of a card game, a foot-
to his anger, but a ball team, a rock group, a beverage but it
wise man keeps is also the term that we use to describe
himself under people who are out of control. People in
control. rage lose their equilibrium and, driven by
PROVERBS 29:11 an uncontrollable anger, do crazy and
often violent things that they would never
do if they thought twice. These acts of rage can put them in
prison for the rest of their lives.
Rage is uncontrolled anger. You find it on the road, in
the office, standing in line at the post office, in the gym or
hockey arena, and—sadly enough—also at home.
Psychologists are not certain why people are so angry to-
day. It might be because of living too close to each other;
too much violence on TV; changes in the way we think and
live; too much stress that elevates our blood pressure and
diminishes our patience.
Behavior can no more be legislated that we can pass laws
to have sunshine and blue sky, healthy bodies, and children
who laugh and play with each other. The reality is that indi-
viduals who allow themselves to get out of control can’t
manage themselves.
A child psychologist observed a father in a department
store who would turn to his five-year-old boy and say things
such as, “Easy, Albert, don’t let that get to you.” Or, “Take a
deep breath, old buddy.” Or, “Just relax. Don’t sweat it.”
Approaching the man, the child psychologist said, “I’m
impressed with the way you handle your son, Albert.” Where-
upon, the man turns to him and says, “Hey, Albert’s not his
name; it’s mine.”
That kind of restraint is the first step to handling the
problem of rage.
April
23
Road Rage
Then Peter said, After crossing the Red Sea, the people were
“Silver or gold I do without fresh water for three days and
not have, but what I then they came to a spring. “Wonderful!”
have I give you. In the people thought, but their elation soon
the name of Jesus turned to sorrow. They discovered the wa-
Christ of Nazareth, ter wasn’t fit to drink so they gave the
walk.” spring the name Marah, meaning “bitter”
ACTS 3:6 in Hebrew.
Then Moses prayed, and God told
him to cast a piece of wood into the water. “He threw it
into the water, and the water became sweet” reads Exodus
15:25. Then God spoke. He said, “If you listen carefully
to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in
his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all
his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I
brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals
you”(Exodus 15:26).
Did you notice that phrase, “I am the LORD who heals
you”? It says literally, I am Jehovah Rapha, meaning ‘God,
the one who heals you.’ When He was with us Jesus healed
the sick, the brokenhearted, the spiritual wrecks. He just
spoke the word and it happened. “Yes,” you say, “but He
was God.” The disciples also believed that God answered
prayer and healed the sick. Peter and John encountered a
cripple at the temple gate called Beautiful. Peter said, “Silver
or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk”(Acts 3:6).
One of the first New Testament books written says, “The
prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the
Lord will raise him up”(James 5:15). Our God is still Jeho-
vah Rapha to those who look to Him.
April
27
Jehovah Shalom
(God Our Peace)
For you have spent Your choices in life determine your des-
enough time in the tiny. Sometimes you can take your time
past doing what thinking about it; at other times, you must
pagans choose to decide immediately.
do—living in When Moses came to the fork in the
debauchery, lust, road, how did he decide? Why did he
drunkenness, orgies,
choose to take the less traveled path? We
carousing and
read from the New Testament, “By faith
detestable idolatry.
Moses, when he had grown up, refused
1 PETER 4:3 to be known as the son of Pharoah’s
daughter. He chose to be mistreated along
with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a short time.”
Moses, having been grounded in his faith by parents who
loved God, knew his was the hard path, the difficult but
right choice, which God would ultimately reward. When
you have settled some issues in your mind ahead of time,
making the decision wouldn’t be hard.
“If any of you lacks wisdom,” says James 1:5, “he should
ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to him.” That means pray, and as an
acknowledged condition, when you pray be willing to say,
“Yes, that’s what I will choose to do.” Courage and strength
come to the one who has made up his mind ahead of time
that he will do God’s will.
It’s the little everyday decisions to do right that give you
the strength that Esther had, laying her life on the line, say-
ing, “If I perish, I perish!” The good news is that victory is
on the side of those who cast their lot for God. Better to lose
in the cause that will ultimately win than to win in the cause
that will ultimately fail.
May
7
The Pit You are in
Long ago David said that God had lifted He lifted me out of
him out of the slimy pit, out of the mud the slimy pit, out of
and mire, and set his feet on the solid rock. the mud and mire;
Was David using a figure of speech? We he set my feet on a
say, “This is the pits” or “she is in the pit rock and gave me a
of depression.” Or maybe something hap- firm place to stand.
pened, such as a car accident or a disaster. PSALM 40:2
Suddenly, you find yourself in deep pit.
Another category is the pit that we dig for ourselves and
then make ourselves prisoners in them—the muck and mire
that can lead to habits. Drugs, alcohol, sexual addictions and
other destructive habits become a prison that holds you as
any maximum security prison in the world.
When you are in a slimy pit, it doesn’t matter whether
you fell into it, were shoved into it, or dug it yourself. The
bottom line is you became ensnared in the muck.
Here’s what David said of his experience: “He lifted me
out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet
on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand” (Psalm 40:2).
Sometimes God lets you wait just long enough when you
call on Him for deliverance so that you know it was He—
not your clever ingenuity, not your dad’s money or influence
or connections, not a government dole-out or inside pull—
that lifted you from the miry clay and plant your feet on the
solid rock! No dungeon is ever so deep that it shuts out the
presence of God.
May
8
I Believe
Then Moses and the The one who never sings is one who stifles
Israelites sang this the music of the soul. No language is
song to the LORD: more universal than that of music.
“I will sing to the Whether it is a cowboy with his guitar,
LORD, for he is highly the sheepherder who sits on the back of
exalted. . . . The the old pickup playing his harmonica, or
LORD is my strength
a great symphony that thunders the 1812
and my song; he has
Overture, music has a way of purging our
become my salvation.
emotions and expressing our hopes, fears
He is my God, and I
and loves.
will praise him,
Musicians who sang or played instru-
my father’s God,
and I will exalt him.”
ments always preceded the Ark of the
Covenant in ancient Israel. The Old Tes-
EXODUS 15:1-2
tament admonishes, “Sing to the LORD a
new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel
rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their
King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music
to him with tambourine and harp” (Psalm 149:1-3).
The book of James asks, “Is anyone happy? Let him sing
songs of praise” (James 5:13). Paul links singing with the
outworking of God’s Spirit in the believer’s life. He says, “Do
not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead,
be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your
heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18-19).
So you can’t carry a tune. That shouldn’t stop you from
letting a melody rise from your soul. No matter how you
sound, use your voice and breath to praise God in song and
to express the music He put in your soul. Yes, praise Him in
joyful song.
May
11
Why has the Music Stopped?
I will sing to the The psalmist wrote that when Israel went
LORD all my life; into captivity in Babylon, “There on the
I will sing praise poplars we hung our harps” (Psalm 137:2).
to my God as long In other words, the music stopped, but
as I live. when they returned to their land, the
PSALM 104:33 harps were brought down and the music
started again.
You don’t need a harp or a minus-one accompaniment
to sing but you do need to have a melody in your heart.
When you least feel like singing, God can bring a beautiful
melody out of the darkness that has filled your life.
So should you sing even when you don’t feel like it? I
would answer, “Yes. Through song your feelings reconnect
with God. You gradually realize that life is going to go on,
and when it ceases there will still be a melody in heaven.”
Jeremiah, who spent much of his time in prison or in
dismal circumstances, urged, “Sing to the LORD! Give praise
to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands
of the wicked” (Jeremiah 20:13). Not only does God urge us
to sing, He commands it. “Sing to the LORD with thanksgiv-
ing; make music to our God on the harp” (Psalm 147:7).
I’m not sure how strongly Paul and Barnabas felt like
singing after they had been beaten and thrown into prison,
but sing they did, and the joy of heaven drove back the gloom.
Sing a song in the night of your life, and let the music
flow out of your heart and soul. Don’t worry about how you
sound; worry if there is no sound. Music is the language of
your soul that God invented and understands.
May
13
Once I was Young
David, the shepherd who became the King I was young and
of Israel, once wrote, “I was young and now now I am old,
I am old, yet I have never seen the righ- yet I have never seen
teous forsaken or their children begging the righteous forsaken
bread” (Psalm 37:25). Was David ever or their children
tempted to give up on the Lord? For seven begging bread.
long years he lived in exile, fearing that Saul PSALM 37:25
or one of his zealous soldiers would take
his life.
On one occasion, the enemy raided David’s camp, tak-
ing the wives and children of those who fought with him.
During this time, David had every right to be discouraged,
yet instead of turning away from the Lord, he turned to the
Lord as a refuge and help to whom he could run to in times
of trouble.
God operates on a different timetable than we do. In
our impatience, we sometimes think that God has ignored
us or is powerless to give us what we ask for when He is
fully aware and is working out the whole situation.
If you really believe that God has His payday, it relieves
you of the responsibility of exacting vengeance on your en-
emies, allowing God to deal with wrongdoing.
The perspective of the years can only be gained by not
quitting, by plodding on, by realizing that whether or not
you live to see it, you can be sure that God takes note of the
wrong people do and ultimately will deal with it.
May
14
Learning to Trust God
“Dear Dr. Sala, where was God when my Man born of woman
dream died? I thought I could trust Him. is of few days and
Now I’m not sure.” When your dream full of trouble.
dies, you can hold on to God and find He springs up like
Him a refuge and strength. Remember a flower and
these four guidelines: withers away; like a
GUIDELINE 1: The death of your dream fleeting shadow, he
doesn’t have to be the end of your life. does not endure.
Harsh words hurled in anger won’t re- JOB 14:1-2
store your loss.
GUIDELINE 2: Strive to hold on to what you know is true.
No, you didn’t plan on what happened. But even if God
allowed the bad thing to happen, you are still loved, es-
teemed and valued in His sight.
GUIDELINE 3: Turn to God instead of turning on God. “When
I am afraid, I will trust in you” said David. No, others
don’t know the depths of your pain or loss. But He does.
Remember the death of your dream is not the death of
God.
GUIDELINE 4: Focus on the future, looking beyond your
dream to the reality of heaven. OK, you missed that six-
weeks-on-the-road vacation you had talked about for
years. You won’t be able to buy that new car because your
stock collapsed. Your dream won’t be realized, but at some
point you have to look beyond that to the reality of spend-
ing eternity in the presence of God. You’ve got to put
your loss in perspective.
When your dream fades, God is there. You can find His
presence that sustains and strengthens and helps you to go
on. You can hold on to Him when your dream dies.
May
20
A Mandate from Heaven
“If you abide in Me, Armin Gesswein called it, “The rarest
and My words abide prayer promise in the Bible”—the words
in you, you will ask of Jesus spoken in the Upper Room: “If
what you desire, you abide in Me, and My words abide in
and it shall be you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
done for you.” be done for you” (John 15:7 NASB). The
JOHN 15:7 NKJV word that Jesus used means more than just
casually asking for something. The actual
meaning of the word He used means, “to ask or request; to
require,” or “to demand.”
Asking and demanding are on the opposite ends of emo-
tional intensity. So the question needs to be asked, “Is it
valid to demand things from God?” After all, who are we to
be so blunt and forceful with a Sovereign God who is in
control of the universe?
There are two conditions attached to this great promise,
and these remove any ambiguity as to what Jesus meant:
Abiding in Christ and letting His Word remain in you. Abid-
ing in Christ means “to live, or dwell, to continue,” or simply
“to remain” in Him. It embraces a relationship of obedi-
ence, of fellowship, of being in touch, of walking with Him.
The second part means that God’s Word dwells in your heart
and life. You aren’t a casual, Sunday-only Christian. You are
serious with God and strive to let His Word provide guid-
ance for life and living.
Then, says Jesus, God honors your prayers, and you see
direct answers because you are His child and He is your Fa-
ther. Prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, it changes ours; and
when we pray as Jesus instructed, we sense what God wants
and pray intensely. Yes, you could even suggest we demand
what He wants and wills—and it happens.
May
25
Hope in Tribulation
For years believers have sung the words But the land you are
of Samuel Stennett, who wrote about crossing the Jordan to
standing on Jordan’s stormy banks and take possession of is a
casting a wistful eye “to Canaan’s fair land of mountains and
and happy land.” Crossing the Jordan— valleys that drinks rain
much like believing in Jesus Christ from heaven.
today—was the end of their troubles DEUTERONOMY 11:11
and the beginning of a life of bliss, right?
Wrong. But there are some parallels that can be considered
by the serious student of God’s Word.
First, leaving Egypt meant leaving the world, facing the
unknown future by faith. “Anyone who chooses to be a friend
of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4). Cross-
ing the Jordan was like drawing a line in the sand, stepping
across it and saying, “I’m committed. There’s no turning back.
By the grace of God and with His help I’ll move ahead.”
Do you remember that the waters of the Jordan didn’t
stop flowing until the sole of the priest’s sandal hit the sur-
face of the water? God doesn’t move those mountains until
you are willing to take the first step, and when you pick up
your pack and are ready to move, only then will you see the
waters roll back.
Once God’s people crossed the Jordan, everything came
together, right? Wrong again. Yes, it was a land of milk and
honey, but the battles only began once they crossed Jordan
and faced Jericho. The land was inhabited by enemies that
had to be faced one at a time.
Possessing the land was a time of testing when God’s
people discovered how strong He is and how He went be-
fore them to give them what He had promised. You’ll see
your own struggles and triumphs in those of His people, the
ones who crossed the Jordan and never turned back.
May
30
Your Heart
Then you will call On the door of every religious Jewish fam-
upon me and come ily you will find a mezúzah or a tiny box
and pray to me, and with a scroll within. It bears the message
I will listen to you. of Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel:
You will seek me The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love
and find me when the LORD your God with all your heart
you seek me with
and with all your soul and with all your
all your heart.
strength.”
JEREMIAH 29:12-13 When someone gets into trouble, the
press almost always talks to the person’s
mother, who says, “He has such a good heart,” or “He is a
good boy at heart.” Jeremiah the prophet would have dis-
agreed. He said, “the heart is deceitful above all things and
beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jonathan Edwards agreed with
Jeremiah. He said, “The heart is like a viper, hissing, and
spitting poison at God.”
But there is good news: When we, whose hearts are some-
times darkened, turn to God, God responds because He
knows when we are sincere.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 records God’s invitation, saying,
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and
I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you
seek me with all your heart.” Notice the phrase, “all your
heart.” Only you know when the needle on the meter hits
the peg. Only you know when your heart is completely com-
mitted to something.
“I love you with all my heart,” we often tell our spouse
and kids. Yes, that’s possible, and that’s also the way you can
love and know God, too—with an undivided heart and sin-
gularity of purpose. Your heart is you! And you alone know
what’s within your heart.
May
31
God’s Provision
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the My God will meet all
Philippians, he gave them a great prom- your needs according
ise. He was so bold as to say, “And my to his glorious riches
God will meet all your needs according in Christ Jesus.
to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” PHILIPPIANS 4:19
(Philippians 4:19). Were the Philippians
impressed? Philippi, located in Northern Greece, had been
famous for its gold deposits that had driven the economy.
But then the vein of gold ran out and the wealth slowly
dissipated.
The Philippians depended on the gold, but it ran out.
Paul was saying, “You can depend on your God.” Mean-
while, the question that confronts us is this: Can you still
depend on God in a world of technology and computers,
miracle drugs and sophistication? Or was that a promise
given just to certain people in the first century?
The fact that God takes care of His children is a theme
you will find throughout the pages of the Bible, and the
principle is just as valid in the 21st century as it was the first.
He promised to provide for your needs. When you have
needs—whether they be physical, emotional, or financial,
and they are valid—you can pray, “Lord, I’m Your child,
and You gave me a great promise in Your Word. I’m trusting
You to provide for me, and I’ll thank You in advance. Now,
Lord, here’s a great opportunity for You to show me how
strong You are!”
Then relax. God’s timing is different from yours, but of
this you can be certain: God is seldom early but He is never
late. He is precisely on time. Thank God for His promises.
June
LUKE 4:20-21
The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were
fastened on him [Jesus], and he began by
saying to them, “Today this scripture is
fulfilled in your hearing.”
June
1
Knowing Who You Are
Some people are not sure of their rela- I write these things
tionship with God. They call themselves to you who believe
Christians, but deep down inside, they are in the name of the
not really sure that if the roll was called Son of God so that
up yonder, they would be included. you may know that
Is eternal security something you can you have eternal life.
really know? Or is the uncertainty just part 1 JOHN 5:13
of being imperfect and human? There are
two passages in the New Testament that deal with this issue.
You will find them in Galatians 4 and Romans 8. When you
accept the historical fact that Christ died and rose again,
and understand that He was nailed to that cross because of
sin—something we all have (Romans 3:23), and believe that
God treated Him as you should have been treated, at that
point you are adopted into the family of God. John’s Gospel
uses the term “born again” but the beautiful picture given to
us by Paul is that you become God’s child—adopted into
His family.
Find out who you are and who God is. If you have re-
ceived the gift of life, no matter when it was that you became
His child, then stomp your foot and refuse to be intimi-
dated by uncertainty of your eternal security. As John wrote,
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life”
(1 John 5:13). Notice the word “know” is not spelled “think”
or “hope.” That promise has your name on it. It’s all you
need to know about where you stand with God.
June
2
Growing Old Gracefully
The problem is that the world’s under- Do you not know that
standing of God is based on what they your body is a temple
see of Him in His people. Too often, the of the Holy Spirit,
world sees little evidence of His presence. who is in you, whom
What the world sees is a weak, often dis- you have received
interested God who is too tired, too busy, from God?
or too withdrawn to be of much value. 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19
It’s a rather scary thought that the
world judges God by what they see of Him in our lives. It
often causes us to recoil with feelings of inadequacy and fail-
ure. We think, “Something is wrong with me,” and at times
that fear has foundation. What’s wrong is that too often we
are afraid to let the awesome God touch too many areas of
our lives, fearful that His fire would burn up some of the
old treasures we hold on to—treasures from Egypt that need
to be consumed by His fire.
Our fears cluster around three statements—“I can’t; He
won’t; He will.” We fear that we can’t measure up to His
expectations and will be pushed away, rejected. We fear He
won’t be there for us when we need Him, and we fear He will
ask us to do something we dislike or more probably ask us
to stop doing something we like to do.
If you believe that God is a good God and that He wills
only goodness and blessing for His children, the fear of what
He might do in your life rapidly dissipates. He takes over in
your life only as you yield to Him and allow Him to invade
your thoughts, your habits, your attitudes and your heart.
June
4
Tomorrow
Joshua told the What are your plans for tomorrow? Some
people, “Consecrate have the attitude of, “Let us eat and drink
yourselves, for for tomorrow we die!” If that describes
tomorrow the LORD you, there is something missing in your
will do amazing life—hope. Hope believes that tomorrow
things among you.” will hold the answers to the questions and
JOSHUA 3:5 problems that baffle you today.
The Bible speaks of tomorrow sixty-
one times. While it warns about being presumptuous, about
avoiding your duty or responsibility today, it nonetheless
speaks of tomorrow as a new opportunity to see God do
amazing things. Long ago Joshua told Israel to cleanse and
purify themselves because he told the people, “tomorrow the
LORD will do amazing things among you” (Joshua 3:5).
Is it only wishful thinking to focus on tomorrow? No,
and here’s why: God doesn’t always give you instant solu-
tions to the problems of today. Some things can’t be fixed
with the rapidity of making instant coffee or just saying the
words, or waving a magic wand in the air. But because you
believe God is still in control—that the promises of His word
are true—you rest your hope on tomorrow and face the day
as best you can.
Nothing that ever happens in life comes as a surprise to
our Heavenly Father. When tomorrow comes God will be
there to welcome you, take your hand and help you under-
stand that tomorrow can be beautiful!
Never give up hope that tomorrow’s sunrise will bring
tomorrow’s blessings and that as today’s dusk turns to night,
there is rest to give you strength to face tomorrow.
June
5
Handling Failure
Nobody likes to fail yet some of the great- Do not let this
est lessons in life are learned through Book of the Law
failure. What can you gain from failure? depart from your
First, you gain self-understanding. You mouth; meditate on
learn more about yourself in failure situ- it day and night,
ations than in successful endeavors. People so that you may
be careful to do
who eventually succeed after one or more
everything written
failures are usually better adjusted, less
in it. Then you will
arrogant and more gracious.
be prosperous
Second, you learn what will not work.
and successful.
Opportunity often enters through the
back door disguised as failure—probably JOSHUA 1:8
one of the reasons so few people really
learn from their failure. To move ahead, however, requires a
partial amnesia. Many people never rise from the ashes of
their failures because they cannot forget. Fearful of failing
again, they hesitate to risk trying again.
Third, you can move in a different direction. A friend
faced failure when his company went broke, so he borrowed
money and took a two-week vacation. Sitting on the beach
in Hawaii, he thought through his failure and came up with
a new business plan, which eventually succeeded.
Fourth, you can see an added dimension to your life—a
positive one that also embraces the reality that God has much
to do with our lives. Countless individuals have failed, then
realized that God had been left out of the equation. Under-
standing the importance of knowing and serving God, they
included Him in their plan for the future.
Failure has much more to teach you than success. Once
you have climbed the hill, there’s no place to go but down;
but having stumbled on the climb provides lots of opportu-
nities to advance. It’s what you learn that makes for success.
June
6
Success and Our Culture
You will seek me If you have a hunger for God deep down
and find me within your heart, be encouraged. You are
when you seek me spiritually alive and God’s Spirit is prod-
with all your heart. ding you to seek and find Him. How do
JEREMIAH 29:13 you find God? Here are several simple
guidelines that provide guidance:
GUIDELINE 1: Overcome your awkwardness. Some folks talk
about “finding God” when in reality, like a shepherd
searching for lost sheep, He’s been searching for them all
along. God allows us to get to the end of our resources
so we would hear His call and grasp the hand that has
been reaching toward us.
GUIDELINE 2: Ask God to reveal Himself to you. That’s like a
flare that shouts, “I’m lost, but here I am; God, please
send someone to help me find my way back home.” God
is far more desirous of a relationship with you than you
are with Him. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me
and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
GUIDELINE 3: Talk to someone who knows Him. When you
are lost in the forest, you don’t wait until you find some-
one before you shout for help.
GUIDELINE 4: Find out for yourself. What book tells us about
God? There is one that is tested and true—the Bible. It
answers the hard questions of life: Who am I? Where
did I come from? and Where do I go after I die?
GUIDELINE 5: Accept and embrace the truth as you encounter
it. Some confront the truth and, fearful that God might
not be as good as others say, keep on walking through
the woods calling out for help, rejecting the Shepherd
who is trying to show them the way home.
June
9
Questions I Would Ask
When you hit the bottom, you start ask- When he came
ing, “How did I get here, anyway? Is there to his senses, he said,
a way out of my distress?” If I were at that “How many of my
point in life, as perhaps you may be, there father’s hired men
are some questions I would ask myself. have food to spare,
“Who put the longing in my heart to and here I am
starving to death!”
know God?” God created you with a long-
ing that only He can satisfy. LUKE 15:17
“Who created this beautiful world
with such order and symmetry?” Even scientists who do not
believe in God recognize the intelligent design of our world,
a position that has a trail leading from it to the Creator.
“Who gave me the intelligence and the emotions to rea-
son, think and love?
“Is there an opposite to what I abhor in life?” Most people
never ask the question involving opposites, yet it’s impor-
tant to do so. Day is balanced by night, heat by cold, strength
by weakness, and good by evil. While God often gets the
blame for the evil, there has to be an opposite that accounts
for the evil in our world.
Finally, I would ask myself, “Who is Jesus Christ and
does He care about me?” John says that God so loved the
world He gave His one and only Son to be the Savior of the
world. I would want to know, “Was He God?” and if so,
“Did He die for my sins?”
The prodigal—the young man who had lost his way—
came to his senses, and that’s what you, too, must do if you
would find your way back home. God gave you a brain. Use
it. You’re the only one who can do an about-face and start
walking towards home.
June
10
An Open Letter to My
Grandchildren
Be honest. Have you ever made personal These are the things
calls on company time? Or taken credit you are to do:
for something someone else did? “Wait a Speak the truth
minute,” you may be saying, “I don’t have to each other,
to answer those questions.” OK, before and render true
we dispense with the sticky questions that and sound judgment
cause us to squirm, answer one about the in your courts.
other guy. Would you say that Christians ZECHARIAH 8:16
are more honest than other people? Or
about the same as everyone else? Why should those who
believe in Jesus be more honest than non-believers?
If you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord, then there is
born a motive to live as He lived. You become willing to
embrace the truth that He taught, and live as He wants you
to live. That umbrella, which also includes ultimate respon-
sibility to God, makes a difference. Apart from that, there
is little, if any, motive to be honest.
Another factor in the honesty equation is how you feel
about the authority of the Bible that says you are not to lie
to your neighbor, or dishonestly move his property line or
deceive your fellows—whomever they may be.
The secular humanist may tell you that honesty is good
for society, yet when it gets down to it, if dishonesty is good
for him, he could say dishonesty can be good at times. Such
instances will be when, for example, he finds a wallet that he
keeps and chooses to be quiet about it as well.
The American humorist Mark Twain once gave some
pretty solid advice when he said, “When in doubt, tell the
truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your
friends.” To that I might add, “and make your Father proud
of you and let you hold your head high.”
June
20
The Prayer of Jabez
The battle flags hanging from the rafters When the enemy
of old St. Giles in Edinburgh, those shall come in like
frayed, tattered and dirty pieces of cloth a flood, the Spirit
suspended on poles are rather meaning- of the LORD shall
less to the thousands of tourists who gawk lift up a standard
at the stained glass windows and the pol- against him.
ished wood centuries old. But to the men ISAIAH 59:19 KJV
who rallied behind those battle flags, they
were symbols of patriotism, pride and significance.
Of those flags Sherwood Eliot Wirt wrote, “The pre-
cious emblems are not too exciting to outsiders, but to the
combat veterans who took part in the engagements where
those flags were carried into the fighting zone, they have
become colorful symbols of living history. What memories
they evoke! What trials! What dangers! And—what victo-
ries!”10
A study of Scripture indicates that flags were used by
ancient Israel. When the Hebrew children left Egypt and
camped in the desert, flags or standards were posted identi-
fying different groups. In Numbers 10:14 Moses wrote, “In
the first place went the standard of the camp of the children
of Judah according to their armies: and over his host was
Nahshon the son of Amminadab.”
Isaiah challenged his people saying that “when the en-
emy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall
lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19).
Evil and the hideous onslaught of iniquity don’t stop when
a peace treaty is signed and the old battle flags are sent to a
museum. The battle goes on today. God’s people still have
to rally to the standard, the banner of the Cross, which has
never lost its glory.
June
22
The Roman Legions and
The New Testament
But they all alike Suppose you are planning a big dinner
began to make party. You hire a caterer, bring in a deco-
excuses. . . . rator and plan on the entertainment.
LUKE 14:18 “This is going to be the hottest thing that
has happened in years,” you smugly tell
yourself. Then the phone starts to ring. People don’t say,
“We’re not coming,” but you quickly translate their “We’re
not sure,” and “We’ve got to go out of town,” and “Our
grandmother is having a birthday” excuses into reality as
you ask yourself, “What is going on here?”
Jesus told a story saying, “A certain man was preparing a
great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the
banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been in-
vited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike
began to make excuses’” (Luke 14:16-20).
What was the point of the story? The individuals who
heard it understood. He said that He had come to His own
as the long awaited Messiah but His own rejected Him.
Jesus’ mission was greater than just coming to Israel,
which is why in His story He told how the man who pre-
pared for a great party sent his servants out into the streets
and invited the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame
to come to the party.
Someday God is going to throw a party greater than any-
thing ever seen on earth. The Bible calls it, “the marriage
supper of the Lamb.” You are invited, too. At this great party
all of God’s children will celebrate. Talk about an awesome,
international event. It will be unrivaled in all history. The
venue is His Father’s House. The book of Revelation says,
“Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of
the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9).
June
27
If Jesus Christ is God
When he was asked who was the most in- And when
fluential person in his life, George Bush the centurion,
quickly responded, “Jesus Christ.” Would who stood there
you also say that Jesus Christ is the most in front of Jesus,
influential person in your life? heard his cry and
Faced with the criticism of a skeptical saw how he died,
he said, “Surely
intellectual community, C. S. Lewis decided
this man was the
to find out for himself who Jesus was. His
Son of God!
search was also intensified by the evils he
saw in war as innocent people died, and MARK 15:39
the confusion of it all evoked the question,
“If there is a God, why doesn’t He intercede in this madness
and chaos which has engulfed our world?”
In his book Mere Christianity, Lewis rebutted the posi-
tion: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher but
not as the Son of God.” He explained: “A man who was
merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would
not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—
on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or
else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your
choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else
a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a
fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you
can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us
not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His be-
ing a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”
Having confronted the claims of Christ’s unique posi-
tion as God’s Son who loved you and gave Himself for you
when He died on the cross, you have to decide.
June
28
I Am The Lighthouse
I was twelve years old and in the sixth They that hate me
grade when I first tasted the bitter dregs without a cause are
of hatred. Next to me in gym class at more than the hairs
Thatcher Elementary School was a His- of mine head: they
panic kid, Frank Sedillos. that would destroy
Frank was no ordinary kid. Without me, being mine
parents, he had been placed in a state enemies wrongfully,
home where kids survived by their brawn, are mighty: then I
and the meanest kid was the boss. The restored that which
I took not away.
problem was that Frank brought all of his
pent-up meanness to school with him and PSALM 69:4 KJV
bullied everybody who was in his path.
In a matter of days, I decided that I disliked not only him
but everybody else who was Hispanic, something that I had
to unlearn as God worked in my heart in later years. So
everybody who is Hispanic is as mean as Frank Sedillos, right?
How foolish. Yet such is the logic of hatred.
Following the bombing of the World Trade Center in
New York on September 11, many people were shocked at
the intense feelings of hatred that drove Osama Bin Laden
and his cohorts to take the lives of three thousand people.
And in the days following, some American Arabs were equally
surprised at the venom of hatred directed at them simply
because of their ethnic background.
It is easy to say that this problem has always been with
us, and there is nothing that can be done about it. Yet ignor-
ing this hatred only fuels the fire. It can be reversed. The
alchemy of God’s grace resulting in a changed heart can take
away the hatred and help us see others as hurting individu-
als worthy of our respect and love. If there’s a Frank Sedillos
in your life, ask God to let His love be rooted in your heart.
July
16
Ridding Your Life of Hatred
You have heard In the Upper Room, Jesus told His dis-
that it was said, ciples that He would go to the cross,
“Love your neighbor fulfilling the prophecy that He was hated
and hate your
without cause(John 15:27). So how did
enemy.” But I tell
Jesus respond to the venom of hatred that
you: Love your
He encountered? Peter says, “When they
enemies and pray
hurled their insults at him, he did not re-
for those who
taliate; when he suffered, he made no
persecute you.
threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to
MATTHEW 5:43-44 him who judges justly”(1 Peter 2:23).
So what should be our response when we find that hatred
has filled our souls and poisoned our thinking?
First, be honest and admit that you hate someone. That’s a
hard first step, but it’s necessary. Not all hatred is wrong. Hat-
ing sin, evil in the world, and the bitterness that tears apart
relationships is different from hating the perpetrator of evil.
Second, analyze the reason why you hate someone. When
you find it in your heart to put that person in God’s hands,
knowing that vengeance belongs to Him, you release the
hatred that has made you a prisoner as well as a victim.
Third, ask God to deal with the offender and free you of
the burden of getting even. Some people live for years seek-
ing revenge, yet they are never satisfied.
Finally, pray for the person you hate. Jesus said, “You
have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate
your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Fa-
ther in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the
good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”
(Matthew 5:43-45). Leave your hatred behind, and go on
with your life.
July
17
Lining Up Your Ducks
of Loves and Hates
What you love and what you hate reveals a Do I not hate
great deal about your character. Why? Because, those who
simply put, you can’t be for something with- hate you,
out being against its opposite. When you love O LORD,
your family, you stand in strong opposition to and abhor those
anything that would threaten it. who rise up
Long ago the psalmist wrote, “Do I not against you?
hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor PSALM 139:21
those who rise up against you?”(Psalm
139:21). Are you surprised to learn that there are things that
God hates? You shouldn’t be. There’s an old expression that
goes, “Get your ducks lined up.” It means you are consistent
in what you love and hate.
So the question confronts us: “What does God hate?”
First, says Proverbs 8:13, “To fear the Lord is to hate
evil.” Immediately you find yourself standing in a small circle
because most people today have a passive indifference to
wrongdoing.
In the book of Amos there’s an interesting statement as
God says He hates their religious feasts(Amos 5:21). Sur-
prised? No, God isn’t a killjoy. He was the one who instituted
the great feasts of the Old Testament that included dancing,
drinking and celebration. What He opposed was turning
them into orgies and debauchery while He was forgotten
and pushed aside.
In Malachi we read, “I hate divorce . . . and I hate a man’s
covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,’
says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit,
and do not break faith”(Malachi 2:16).
If you get your ducks lined up with what God loves and
hates, you will find that the number who stand with you
may be small, but you will be in the company of the
Almighty God Himself.
July
18
Faith in a Dark World
Anyone who reads the Bible will learn that “For I know the plans
I have for you,”
God has made special promises to His
declares the LORD,
own, no matter when or where they live.
“plans to prosper you
To Jacob, God said, “I am with you and
and not to harm you,
will watch over you wherever you go, and
plans to give you hope
I will bring you back to this land. I will and a future.”
not leave you until I have done what I
JEREMIAH 29:11
have promised you”(Genesis 28:15).
When Joshua took over the leadership of the Israelites,
God reaffirmed the promise He made to Moses, saying,
“Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so
they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses”
(Joshua 3:7).
Even when Israel turned its back on God, the faithful
were assured of God’s presence and help. At least six times
God repeated His promise to be with Jeremiah, who was
periodically thrown into prison, beaten and treated as an
outcast. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have
for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
The New Testament echoes this statement, affirming that
Jesus will never leave or forsake His own. Then why did
Peter and Paul suffer so? Paul’s suffering included being ship-
wrecked, beaten with rods and whipped. Yet he believed that
God allowed evil in the world that still accomplished His
purpose. To the Philippians, he wrote from prison, “For it is
God who works in you to will and to act according to His
good purpose”(Philippians 2:13).
Evil in our world doesn’t negate the promises God has
made to His children. You can trust Him and realize noth-
ing can destroy His promises to you.
July
22
John Cage’s “4’33”
But you will receive A relationship with God is the only thing
power when the in the world that can give you what you
Holy Spirit comes need to build a life with purpose, to know
on you; and you will why you even exist.
be my witnesses in
A relationship with God resolves the
Jerusalem, and in all
issue of, “Who am I?” You know who you
Judea and Samaria,
are—God’s child. Paul says that when a
and to the ends
believer trusts Jesus as Savior, he is adopted
of the earth.
into the family of God, which unites men
ACTS 1:8 and women of every race.
While this relationship with God produces a sense of
definition and purpose in life, it also gives you a sense of
empowerment. When you become God’s child, He comes
to indwell your life. And this indwelling presence of God
results in an empowerment for life and service. It’s the key
to a successful, purposeful life.
No person has succeeded in life until he writes, “Enter
God” at the top of life’s page. When Paul tells believers they
are to be filled with the Spirit, he is talking about something
missing in the lives of many of God’s children today.
Are you a child of the King? Your answer is either “Yes”
or “No.” If “Yes,” may I follow by asking, “Do you live like
one?” And if “No,” I would ask, “Why not become one?”
It’s the key to living, loving, and enjoying life to the fullest.
July
29
Winston Churchill
and FAte
You can see the hand of God guiding, pro- But it is God
tecting and preserving, long before the world who judges:
ever takes note of some individuals. Such was He brings
the situation described in Robert Lewis one down,
Taylor’s book on Winston Churchill. At he exalts another.
twenty-three, Churchill was sent by the PSALM 75:7
military to Egypt. But instead of being placed
in command as he anticipated, Churchill was sent to super-
vise supplies, including the mess hall.
Robert Grenfell, the chap who was given the command
that Churchill wanted, wrote home to his family saying,
“Fancy how lucky I am. Here I have got the troop that would
have been Winston’s, and we are to be the first to start.”
Writes Taylor, “A few days later, in the terrible charge at
Omdurman, Grenfell was pulled off his horse and cut to
pieces by a howling Dervish mob.” Had Churchill taken
command of the group, which was his desire, there would
have been no Winston Churchill to lead Britain and help
defeat Fascism in World War II. As Taylor notes: “History
is violently altered by very small decisions.”15
You can argue that God is sovereign, and should Churchill
have died at Omdurman instead of Robert Grenfell, He could
have raised up another to do His bidding.
God is sovereign and He guides the affairs of human-
kind as we move towards the ultimate rule of God on Earth.
The Bible clearly says, “In him we were also chosen, having
been predestined according to the plan of him who works
out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”
(Ephesians 1:11).
As William Shakespeare put it, “There’s a divinity that
shapes our ends, rough hew them as we will.”
July
30
What is Precious to You?
Through these he has Zorra was a spinster who lived alone and
given us his very didn’t have many friends, yet there was
great and precious one thing which she took delight in—a
promises, so that little dog that she named Precious. Zorra
through them you would press the dog to her face and whis-
may participate in per, “Precious.”
the divine nature If you were to make a list of five things
and escape the you consider precious, what would be on
corruption in the your list? What you consider precious is a
world caused reflection of your value system. The Bible
by evil desires. repeatedly refers to things that are de-
2 PETER 1:4 scribed as being precious, and a few times
the comparative “more precious” is used.
Peter calls the promises of Scripture “very great and pre-
cious” because through them we come to know Christ and
escape the corruption in the world(2 Peter 1:4).
David described his relationship with God as being
precious(Psalm 139:17). He also described the law as “more
precious than gold, than much pure gold”(Psalm 19:10).
In Psalm 116, there is an unusual reference to what God
considers to be precious. The one thing God considers pre-
cious—are you ready for this?—is the death of His own
children. “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of
his saints” says Psalm 116:15. From our perspective this seems
to be reversed. Life is precious to us, but God says, “No, the
circumstances of your homegoing are a matter of great care
and concern to me!”
It only points out what we know but seldom acknowl-
edge: What we value and what God values are often as far
apart as the east is to the west. Going back to your list, what
do you consider to be precious?
Wise is the person whose great treasures lie within the
heart—precious thoughts, memories, relationships and hopes
that survive the fire.
July
31
Excess Baggage
I will never forget the first time I was But with you there
charged for excess baggage. I was in Africa is forgiveness;
on a missionary jaunt. Since then, I’ve paid therefore you
for overweight luggage a few more times. are feared.
The solution: travel light. PSALM 130:4
Traveling light is good business in life as
well. The more stuff you carry with you, the more difficult
it is to get through life without stumbling. And what do
people carry with them that they should get rid of?
Get rid of fear!Back in the 1970s, Leonard was sure a
bomb was going to be dropped, and he thought the only
way to handle that fear was to dig a bomb shelter in his
backyard. Yet, it was not a nuclear blast that got him. A
heart attack took his life instead. When your fear becomes
your master, it’s a heavy burden to live with.
Get rid of your malice towards others. It’s a proven fact
that when you have malice and hatred in your heart, it af-
fects your health.
Get rid of your resentments. When Jim’s dad passed away,
he expected not only to get his share of the inheritance but
personal things that his dad had promised. But before any-
thing was distributed, some other family members got there
first, and Jim lost what he thought was his. For more than a
decade, he lived with the bitterness. Eventually, he forgave
them, but it cost him a decade of isolation.
Get rid of the guilt you carry with you day in and day
out. Only God’s forgiveness can really take away your guilt.
God can and does forgive, but you’ve got to ask Him to
remove your guilt and sin. David, who knew what guilt is,
said, “But with you there is forgiveness”(Psalm 130:4).
August
EXODUS 14:13
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid.
Stand firm and you will see the deliverance
the LORD will bring you today.”
August
1
Created in God’s Image
Then he said to It isn’t how you start that counts but rather
them all: “If anyone how you finish! Rarely does the individual
would come after me, who sprints out of the starting blocks with
he must deny himself a burst of speed break the tape and wins
and take up his cross the race. This is what Jesus had in mind
daily and follow me.” when he said, “No one who puts his hand
LUKE 9:23 to the plow and looks back is fit for ser-
vice in the kingdom of God”(Luke 9:62).
You can’t drive looking in the rear-view mirror. Neither
can you accomplish God’s purpose in your life vacillating,
compromising, wondering whether you should commit your-
self to the task before you.
Jesus’ comments about looking back after you have put
your hand to the plow was the linchpin to a conversation
He had with several people as He challenged them to follow
Him. One had an excuse that he first had to go bury his
father. Then he would come and follow Jesus. Another said,
“I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say
good-bye to my family.”
Nobody can find the victory, the joy, and the power to
live as God intends us to live until he makes the decision,
unconditional and without reservation, to walk with God.
You can say “No” to the Lord, but you never say, “No, Lord”
because when you say “No” you deny that He is Lord.
There is strength and power in the decision to move for-
ward, to refuse to look back, going for it no matter what
happens. When you turn back, or even look back, you
stumble over the future and what you might have been, what
you might have accomplished, what God might have done
through you.
August
5
Joseph and Revenge
The Bible tells it all—the sordid details But love your enemies,
of human failure, the lust that turned do good to them, and
gentleness into savagery and the failure lend to them without
of individuals who were godly but for- expecting to get
got their calling in moments of passion, anything back. Then
hatred or greed. your reward will be
Such emotions detail the account of great, and you will be
brothers whose jealousy drove them to sons of the Most High,
want to kill their very own brother, because he is kind
Joseph. If you recall the story, a compro- to the ungrateful
mise was made not to kill him but to sell and wicked.
him to Midianite slave traders who took
LUKE 6:35
him to Egypt.
About a decade passed, and Joseph rose up to become
Prime Minister of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself.
Furthermore, a major famine parches the Middle East, and
Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt seeking humanitarian re-
lief.
Eventually, the brothers faced Joseph. But they didn’t rec-
ognize him. The story is rich in insights for those who have
lived with wrongdoing. Joseph not only forgave them, but
did great good instead of exacting punishment or revenge.
He brought the entire household into Egypt and gave them
some of the best land for their flocks. His step of forgiveness
resulted in complete restoration with his family.
Forgiveness means, “I give up my right to hurt you be-
cause you hurt me.” It means, “I can trust Him who sees the
sparrow fall to note the wrong that has been done to me and
trust that God in His own time, and in His own way, will
deal with the one who has wronged me.” It means, “I refuse
to exact an eye for an eye, lest we both end up blind.”
It practices what Jesus taught, “But I tell you who hear
me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”
(Luke 6:27-28).
August
6
Streets of Gold
The wall was made The chemical symbol for this metal is Au.
of jasper, and the Men have killed, lied and cheated for it.
city of pure gold, It is gold, something that is valuable pri-
as pure as glass. marily because it is scarce as well as
REVELATION 21:18 beautiful. In the 1500s, the Spaniards
came to Mexico seeking gold and spices,
but when they saw the Aztec gold, they forgot the spices and
killed over fifty thousand Indians, plundering the gold of
the Aztecs. In 1849, probably the greatest gold rush ever
took place in California’s Sierra Nevada when more than a
half-million men traveled from far away to pan gold.
You may have heard the story of the miner who insisted
on being buried with all the gold he had mined, sealed in his
casket. When he got to heaven, lugging his bag of golden
nuggets with him, Peter asked him, “What do you intend to
do with the asphalt?” “No, no,” he clarified, “this is not as-
phalt. It’s gold—my lifetime treasure.” Peter says, “You may
call it gold, but we call it asphalt because we pave the streets
with the stuff up here.”
Are the streets of heaven really paved with gold? A better
question is, “Do you disbelieve everything in the Bible that
you find hard to comprehend?” In the book of Revelation,
John attempted to describe the beauty of heaven—gates of
pearl, foundation stones of jasper, sapphire and so forth.
Then, says John, “the street of the city was pure gold, as trans-
parent glass”(Revelation 21:21). The qualifying phrase seems
to indicate that just as transparent glass is without blemish,
the streets in heaven are 24K gold.
Wise is the person who doesn’t spend his entire life search-
ing for the stuff here when there is so much on the other
side. Forget about storing gold here. There’s plenty in heaven.
August
7
The Biblical Pattern of
Reconciliation
No marriage or friendship is free of con- Therefore, if you are
flict. The history of humanity is an ongoing offering your gift
story of disagreements, which often start at the altar and
over trivial, unimportant issues but esca- there remember that
late to warfare where battlelines are drawn your brother has
and people fight to their deaths. something against you,
The Bible is full of such stories. Cain leave your gift there
killed his brother. Jacob cheated Esau out in front of the altar.
of his birthright. Miriam didn’t like her First go and be
brother Moses getting all the glory in his reconciled to your
battle with Pharaoh. The disciples were an- brother; then come
noyed that the mother of James and John and offer your gift.
asked Jesus if they can sit at his right hand, MATTHEW 5:23-24
and Paul said he withstood Peter to the face
because he would have a meal with Gentiles only when no Jews
were around.
How do you deal with it?
STEP 1: Confront the person who offended you. Attitude is
everything. When you approach the issue with humility, your
adversary is disarmed.
STEP 2: Confess your wrongdoing. “But I haven’t done any-
thing!” Possibly, but not likely. “Have you told your husband
that you love him and want him back?” I often ask. “Well, he
knows that.” Not enough. Say it. Write it. Get the message across.
STEP 3: Be willing to compromise. Negotiation and compro-
mise are two keys to conflict resolution. Marriage is one big “I
do!” with a lot of little “Uh-huhs…” Dogmatic, inflexible indi-
viduals who can’t bend shouldn’t marry. They must learn to
compromise if they are to do so.
STEP 4: Be quick to forgive and forget. Forgiveness means, “I
give up my right to hurt you because you hurt me.” With God’s
help and His grace, you can learn compassion and tenderness
and experience His healing, which makes you a more loving,
caring person.
August
8
Reconcile If You Can
This day I call heaven Suppose the pastor of a large church di-
and earth as witnesses vided his congregation into two groups,
against you that I have and announced, “Half of you represent
set before you life and blessings, and the other half curses. Now,
death, blessings and I’m going to read a list of what you are
curses. Now choose life, to do if you want to be blessed, and you
so that you and your on the left say, ‘Amen.’ Then I am go-
children may live. ing to read a list of what will bring God’s
DEUTERONOMY 30:19 curses on your life, and you on the right
say, ‘Amen.’”
That is exactly what Moses instructed Joshua to do when
Israel crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan.
Mount Gerizim represented blessing, and there were as-
sembled Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin.
Across the small valley was assembled Reuben, Gad, Asher,
Dan, Napthali and Zebulun.
What brought blessings? Obeying the Lord and faith-
fully following His commands and laws. This resulted in a
bountiful harvest, overflowing barns, growing flocks and
herds, safety from the enemy, long life and many children.
In what some have called the greatest sermon ever
preached, Jesus talked about blessing. He began saying,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven”(Matthew 5:3). Over 200 times in the Bible, God
bestows blessings of one kind or another on individuals.
But what about curses? Negative results of sinful behav-
ior often play out the reality that God blesses those who
bless Him, and the curses of rejecting Him echo back in our
broken, dysfunctional lives.
When Joshua split the group into two great masses of
people, he announced, “This day I call heaven and earth as
witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death,
blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your
children may live”(Deuteronomy 30:19).
August
19
Passion
Blessed are those who To succeed in life, you need passion. You
hunger and thirst need to have a burning desire and a will-
for righteousness, ingness to pay the price.
for they will be filled. Sixteen-year-old Uzziah became king
MATTHEW 5:6 in Israel at the death of his father. He
learned quickly and had a great heart for
God. About this man who reigned for fifty-two years, we
read, “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as
his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the
days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God.
As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success”(2
Chronicles 26:3-5). Simply put, this man had a passion for
God. As long as he did, God made him to prosper.
Is the search for God endless? Does it become a madden-
ing quest for something that can’t really be achieved? Some
think so. Yet God assures us that when you make finding
Him your passion, your desire will be satisfied. Jeremiah
29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek
me with all your heart.”
You don’t develop a passion for anything overnight.
Moving from an acquaintance with God to a level of per-
sonal knowledge is a process. You begin to get involved in
studies and for the first time in your life, you spend time in
the Word. It begins to come alive. You understand it.
Read the works of A. W. Tozer, C. S. Lewis, J. I. Packer,
Oswald Chambers and others. Better yet, spend time with
mature brothers and sisters who have a passion for God and
a burning desire to know Him and make Him known.
August
21
“Dear God,
What is it Like to Die?”
“You will never know how much your When the angel of
programs on frustration meant to me,” the LORD appeared to
wrote a missionary who was held captive Gideon, he said,
by the FARC guerillas in a Colombian “The LORD is with
jungle. He had listened to Guidelines by you, mighty warrior.”
shortwave radio. His frustration was akin “But sir,” Gideon
replied, “if the LORD
to that experienced by Joseph. This Old
is with us,
Testament character who had been un-
why has all this
justly thrown into prison prayed for
happened to us?”
release, yet nothing seemed to happen.
Frustration is the result of not getting JUDGES 6:12-13
what you want and facing a situation you
wish didn’t exist, usually something you cannot change.
You are starting a new company, and you’ve been prom-
ised venture capital that will get your business rolling. You’re
down to your last month’s operating expenses when you get
a phone call saying there will be no money. The investor is
being investigated by bank examiners who have frozen his
assets. That’s frustrating.
You’ve taken your car into the shop three times this
month. “We’ve got it this time,” the shop foreman told you
with a big smile, yet the next morning, you turn the key and
nothing happens. That’s frustrating.
“I’ll never take a drink again,” your husband tells you,
but when he comes home, his breath tells you another story.
That’s frustrating.
How do you cope with frustrations? Remember that
nothing comes as a surprise to God. The frustration that
upset your schedule and sent your blood pressure up didn’t
take Him by surprise. He knew about everything that would
happen to you long before you were born. God cares about
your life and what happens to you. Jesus Christ told His
followers: “I will be with you always, even unto the end of
the world,” and He has never retracted that promise.
August
24
Overload and Frustration
Psalm 91 talks about the lion, the adder Thou shalt tread upon
and the dragon, over which you as the lion and adder:
God’s trusting child can triumph. All the young lion
the difficulties and challenges you will and the dragon
face in life are represented by one of shalt thou trample
these three images. under feet.
Lions are bold. They meet you head PSALM 91:13 KJV
on. Like lions, certain difficulties confront
you in life and you feel like running. The reality, however, is
that there is no escape from some of the difficulties that
stand in your path.
Adders are poisonous snakes. There is no warning with
snakes, no loud roars, no footprints on the trail of your life.
The snake simply appears and your heart is filled with ter-
ror. Life’s unexpected, negative surprises are comparable to
the venomous bite of the adder.
The third image is the dragon. Dragons are beasts of
your imagination or fearsome creatures of mythology.
Nonetheless, the dragons of life are terrible creatures of
our fear or folly that rob us of our peace of mind. They are
the things you fear may happen, such as your health giving
out, your money being exhausted or the world collapsing.
And what’s the answer to these three fearsome creatures?
“Dwelling in the secret place of the most high,” says Psalm
91. It’s a relationship with God whereby you are not over-
come by the lions, the serpents or the dragons of life.
God is a refuge, a place of security, a high tower to which
you can run when you are challenged by the lion, struck by
the serpent or threatened by the dragon. What more can
you ask when you are confronted with difficulty?
September
LUKE 5:26
Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God.
They were filled with awe and said,
“We have seen remarkable things today.”
September
1
God Uses the Little Things
In her book, Life and Death in Shanghai, Nien Ants are creatures
Cheng recounts her ordeal during China’s of little strength,
Cultural Revolution. Nien Cheng was impris- yet they store up
oned then, accused of being a spy for the their food in
British government because of her involve- the summer.
ment with a British petroleum company. PROVERBS 30:25
The only window in her cell was a small
opening, partly painted in black to obscure the light. One
day, as she looked through the grime and dirt, Mrs. Cheng
noticed a tiny spider, no larger than the size of a pea, climb-
ing the rust-eroded bars over the window. The tiny spider
climbed slowly and steadily for several minutes, then when
it reached the top of the bar, it swung down like a rock
climber using the slender, almost translucent thread that it
made and had attached to the bar. Then it secured the strand
at the bottom and climbed up to repeat the act all over again.
“There was no hesitation, no mistake, and no haste. It knew
its job and carried it out with confidence.
“For the moment, I knew I had just witnessed some-
thing that was extraordinarily beautiful and uplifting. . . . It
helped me to see that God was in control. . . I felt a renewal
of hope and confidence.”20
Sometimes God shouts from the housetop, but most of
the time He uses the little things—the sweetness of a baby’s
smile, the perfect symmetry of a flower growing in a crack
on the sidewalk, the pleasant song of a bird, or a phone call
from a friend when you’re depressed—to let you know He
hasn’t forgotten you. Look around you and find His mes-
sage through His handiwork.
September
2
Reconciliation
But God does not There’s nothing new under the sun. The
take away life; same dramas play out over and over again.
instead, he devises A father and his son have a disagreement.
ways so that a Angry words are spoken. Finally the fa-
banished person may
ther says, “I never want to see your face
not remain estranged
again!” “Don’t worry,” screams the son.
from him.
“You never will.”
2 SAMUEL 14:14 The Bible tells us that David had a son
named Absalom. After David’s affair with
Bathsheba, his life began to come apart. Amnon, one of David’s
sons, raped his sister Tamar. Their brother Absalom hated
Amnon so much for this that he engineered Amnon’s death.
David’s heart was torn by the turmoil and he banished
Absalom from his presence. His honor demanded tough
action. Three years later, Joab, the chief of staff in David’s
army, sent a wise woman to the king. She told King David
a story about a husband who is dead, and two sons who
fought, one killing the other. Then, she said, the clan wanted
to put the surviving son to death, which would leave her
without an heir. “No,” said David, “this is not right.” And
he gave an order protecting the son, allowing him to re-
turn home in peace.
Then, she told the king that he has convicted himself in
the estrangement he has with his own son, Absalom. In her
plea to the king, she argued for reconciliation. She said, “But
God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that
a banished person may not remain estranged from him” (2
Samuel 14:14).
Reconciliation is what the Gospel is all about. “We im-
plore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made
him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).
September
3
Enemies
God made him who The late King Abdullah II of Jordan had
had no sin to be sin a touch of class that has won the hearts of
for us, so that in him common folks, myself included. Unan-
we might become the nounced the king would slip out of his
righteousness of God. palace dressed as an ordinary person to
2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 talk with his subjects and find out exactly
what their business needs are and how
they can be met. On one of his forays the king borrowed
one of Jordan’s bright yellow taxis and for several hours ac-
tually drove people around Amman, talking with his fares.
A century ago Mark Twain wrote a novel called The Prince
and the Pauper, about a youthful prince who wanted to see
how life was outside the palace. He exchanged places with a
pauper who looked very much like him; they assumed each
other’s identities and saw how life was for the other. Mark
Twain was an atheist (or so he claimed), yet his story about
the prince and the pauper tells the story of redemption about
as vividly and clearly as could be done by any theologian.
Paul wrote that He who was Himself sinless—Christ—
bore our sins and its consequences, in order that we who were
separated from God might be united with Him forever. He
became the pauper described in Twain’s novel, so that we
who are paupers—sinners—could become sons of God.
My hat is off to the Jordanian king who cared enough for
his people to rub shoulders with them, endearing him to their
hearts. May He who walked among us, who went so far as
to lay down His life for us, gain the same respect and love.
September
5
Celibacy or Chastity?
In 1956 Roger Youderian, Jim Elliot, Pete A wise man fears the
Fleming, Ed McCully and pilot Nate LORD and shuns evil,
Saint launched Operation Auca. The but a fool is
Aucas were one of the most difficult tribes hotheaded and
to reach; they didn’t like outsiders and reckless.
killed most of them in sight. Having made PROVERBS 14:16
initial contact with the fierce Auca people,
they felt that the time had come to make personal contact.
With Nate at the controls, their plane landed on the sandy
beach of an Ecuadorian river where they met some of the
Aucas. Two days later, these five men were speared to death.
Time and Life magazines sent reporters and photogra-
phers to cover the story. An unbelieving world lashed out at
what they thought was a needless loss of life. “What a waste!”
many exclaimed.
In 1963, Guidelines went on air with the Operation Auca
as the theme of my commentary. I quoted Jim Elliott, who
said, “He is no fool to give to God what he cannot keep, to
gain what he cannot lose.” A listener wrote a sharp letter of
rebuke saying that the five who were killed were the real
fools. “They got what they deserved—a spear in the belly!”
I responded to the man’s words, trying to help him real-
ize that the five men died for a cause—one he neither knew
nor understood. Several years passed, and I received another
letter from the same person. He told how alcohol had cost
him his wife, business and wealth. As he sat homeless on a
street corner, a young woman walked up and said to him,
“God loves you, mister, and so do I!” He cried. In the letter,
he wrote, “ Now I know it was I who was the fool.” Sitting
on the gutter as a destitute bum, he came to understand
why some are willing to die to share the love of Christ.
So whose fool are you?
September
24
The Defining Moment
of Your Life
Then the LORD said For Army Ranger Jeff Strueker, whose
to him, “What is that courage has been portrayed in the movie,
in your hand?” Black Hawk Down, the defining moment
“A staff,” he replied. of his life was when a rocket-propelled
The LORD said, grenade went flying through the air to-
“Throw it on the wards his Humvee in the middle of a
ground.” Moses threw firefight in Somalia. At that moment he
it on the ground and knew that God was calling, he answered,
it became a snake, “Lord, I put myself in Your hands!”
and he ran from it.
Strueker survived the seventeen-hour
EXODUS 4:2-3 battle, and the experience gave him a faith
that he describes as “bullet-proof.” Today he’s serving God as
an army chaplain.25
When Moses left one morning, he never thought that
the defining moment of his life was about to happen. He
stumbled across God, while shepherding his father-in-law’s
flock on the desert. “What is that in your hand?” God asked
Moses following his encounter with the burning bush. “A
staff,” Moses replied, wondering what would happen next.
Then the LORD commanded, “Throw it on the ground!”
Your defining moment in life comes when you do what
Moses did. You take whatever you have in your hand and
release it for God to control. You have three things in your
hand: resources, abilities and time. The extent of your re-
sources and abilities may differ from others, but when it
comes to time, every person has exactly the same amount—
168 hours a week, 24 hours a day, 60 minutes in every hour.
When you are willing to submit your talents and abili-
ties, along with resources and time, to the lordship of Jesus
Christ, you are answering the same question that Moses had
to answer. As you let go, you too have confronted the defin-
ing moment of your life.
September
25
Is Christ Divided?
But grow in the grace A gardener will plant flower seeds, culti-
and knowledge of our vate the ground and watch the green
Lord and Savior Jesus sprouts eventually push through the soil,
Christ. To him be burst forth, and finally blossom. It takes
glory both now and time and a combination of certain condi-
forever! Amen. tions—not too much heat but enough
2 PETER 3:18 sunshine, nutrients but not so much that
the flower burns, and so forth. Similarly,
it’s clear that we are to grow in our interaction with God
with the challenges we daily face. That’s what grace is about.
Grace involves the interaction of God’s love and compas-
sion with your need. He guides, overshadows and enriches
your life, although you may not sense it or know what He is
doing. You can only look back in retrospect and say, “Wow!
I now see how God met me in this time of crisis!”
In recent days I’ve had concern over the many people
who feel that God has forsaken them, turned His back on
them or shut the door of concern in their face just when
tough times confront them. No, God hasn’t forsaken you.
He’s simply pruning the tree or He’s breaking up the hard
soil so you can grow in grace. He’s exposing you to enough
heat to allow you to grow, not despair. Warren Wiersbe says
that when we face affliction, God always keeps His eye on
the clock and His hand on the thermostat.
Once you have a deep-settled understanding that God is
a good God and that He will not turn His back on you
when troubles come, you are in a position to grow in grace.
Let the strong hand of God lead you through your experi-
ence, tilling the soil of your soul in such a way that you will
someday look back and say, “Ah, yes, now I see how the
grace of God brought me through.”
September
27
Making God Happy
From the earliest recorded history to the God made him who
present, humankind has struggled with had no sin to be sin
guilt feelings that we are not good enough for us, so that in him
to approach God. This sense of failure is we might become the
accompanied by the urge to do something righteousness of God.
to appease Him. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21
Do you feel that you have to do some-
thing to balance your moral failures? Do you give to charity
or volunteer, hoping that God—whoever He is and wher-
ever He is—may take note of your goodness? What does it
take to satisfy God?
The story of redemption recorded in the Bible is of a
loving God who knew His children had wandered out of
relationship with Him. He sent His Son to find them, and
bring them back. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to
seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). His was not a
mission to seek and destroy, but to find and save.
The Bible says that we have failed God and come short
of what He requires, and Christ, not humankind, paid the
price for our wrongdoing. “God made him who had no sin
to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righ-
teousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
When Abraham Lincoln was president, a criminal was
offered a pardon for a crime he had committed, and unbe-
lievably, the man refused the pardon—something without
precedent in legal history. The highest court determined the
verdict. “A pardon is a piece of paper, the value of which is
dependent upon its acceptance by the person implicated. If
the pardon is rejected, it is no pardon at all.” And the man
died for his wrongdoing.
Jesus Christ paid the price of your sin, but it’s up to you
to acknowledge your failure, confess it and receive the par-
don He offers.
September
28
When Your Shoes
Don’t Match
Thomas Lewis Turner was well-liked and For the wages of sin
respected. He mentored young people and is death, but the gift
had encouraging words for those who were of God is eternal life
down. He and his family were in church in Christ Jesus
every Sunday. “The Turners were the per- our Lord.
sonification of the perfect family—loving ROMANS 6:23
and church-going,” a newspaper report
put it in an article captioned, “Family man’s fatal flaw!”
This successful thirty-eight-year-old loan officer turned
a gun on his wife, his fifteen-year-old nephew and his twenty-
two-month-old daughter, before he took his own life.26 What
happened?
After his death, character flaws began to paint a dark
picture. There was a pattern of violence in his family among
his siblings. He had fathered a child his wife knew nothing
about. Yet the question persists, “Was his faith only a social
front?” When he sat in church, had he so darkened his heart
that the Spirit of God ceased to convict him?
The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin, unconfessed and unforsaken,
becomes a cancer that erodes decency, common sense and
civility. In recognizing the cause we also acknowledge that
while the extent of our sin may differ, the quality of it is just
the same. The word “all” is inclusive. Paul adds, “None are
righteous!”
But there is good news! Scripture says, “For the wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord”(Romans 6:23). The gift of God in Christ Jesus
transforms us into gracious, compassionate individuals.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like
wool”(Isaiah 1:18).
September
30
Test Everything: Hold on to
That Which is Good
“My peace I leave with you,” said Jesus to You will keep in
His disciples in the Upper Room. This was perfect peace him
immediately followed by two commands: whose mind is
“Don’t be troubled; don’t be afraid.” The steadfast, because he
word troubled means “to be confused, to trusts in you. Trust in
be in turmoil, to be distraught.” That’s the the LORD forever,
condition of many people today who have for the LORD,
hearts filled with worry. the LORD,
The Bible is full of great promises but is the Rock eternal
we tend to disconnect from them. Bur- ISAIAH 26:3-4
dened by our failures and feelings of
worthlessness, we seldom say, “I’m going to trust God for this
need because I am His child.
The Bible says that God sent His Son to seek and to save
that which was lost—and lost is the one word that describes
all of us until we establish a relationship with Jesus. Jesus is
like a shepherd who goes in search of us; and when He finds
us, lifts us from the muck and mire and puts our feet on solid
rock.
Two Arab lads were playing together when a firearm acci-
dentally discharged, immediately killing one of the boys. The
remaining fled in fear and ran to the tent of the Sheik, the
leader of the tribe. He tearfully pled for mercy, and the Sheik
took mercy and said, “I will protect you; come into my tent.”
The angry crowd gathered, calling for justice and the boy’s
life as payment. Only then did the Sheik learn that it was his
only son who had been killed. He stood there, puzzled, angry
and uncertain. Then he quietly spoke, “I have given my word
that cannot be broken. This boy’s life is to be spared. I will
take him and raise him as my son.”
You can find yourself under the hand of God’s protection.
That will bring peace to your heart in a troubled world.
October
4
Don’t Be Troubled,
Don’t Be Afraid
For it is by grace you In the Upper Room Jesus charged the dis-
have been saved, ciples: “Don’t be troubled; don’t be afraid!”
through faith— He knew future; they didn’t. Jesus finished
and this not from His challenge, saying, “I have told you these
yourselves, it is the things, so that in me you may have peace.
gift of God— In this world you will have trouble. But
not by works, so that take heart! I have overcome the world”
no one can boast. (John 16:33).
EPHESIANS 2:8-9 Do you believe that? Are you convinced
that God is in control of our world? And
that you can have peace with Him?
A little girl was a passenger aboard a ship that was
captained by her father, and as the ship crossed the Atlantic,
it was caught in a winter storm. Gales lashed the vessel and
it tossed and rolled with the angry waves. The captain asked
the steward to have every passenger put on lifejackets.
Gently, the steward knocked on the door of the cabin
occupied by the little girl and told her the orders that had
been given. “Is Father at the helm of the ship?” she asked.
When she was told that he was, she quickly added, “If Fa-
ther is at the helm, everything is going to be okay.”
God neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is not indifferent to
our world, or to your personal needs. His hand is not too
short to reach you at the point of your need. Do you recall the
words of Psalm 23? “Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”(Psalm 23:4 KJV).
Safety is not the absence of danger but the presence of
the Lord. The dangers are all around us, yet so is His pres-
ence. You can face every day with confidence, because He
says, “Don’t be troubled; don’t be afraid.”
October
5
A Better Way
Mable Shaw was one of the first women Greater love has
missionaries sent by the London Mission- no one than this,
ary Society to Rhodesia. In 1915 as she that he lay down his
was about to leave a village of lepers and life for his friends.
bicycle home, she was told that a lion was JOHN 15:13
prowling about. As she prepared to leave,
the headman, an aged man, victim of leprosy, came from his
house.
She wrote of the incident: “He held a spear between the
stumps that once were hands, and he went hobbling along
the path in front of me. I called to him, and he stopped and
looked around.
‘Where are you going?’ I asked.
‘I am going to escort you to Mbereshi village, You can’t
go alone with lions about,’ he replied.
I smiled at him, ‘but on my bicycle, I’ll be there in a
minute.’
The old man would not be persuaded. It was a matter of
protection and honor, and he assumed full responsibility for
my presence.
I looked at him, a feeble old man, handless, feet half-
eaten, his whole body covered with marks of disease, and his
face most pitiful. Half-jesting and with a smile, I said, ‘Now
what could you do if a lion came?’
The old man drew himself up and with quiet dignity
said, ‘Have I not a life to give?’
I thought of a cross—the cross upon which Jesus gave
His life. I followed him to the village, thanked him, and
came home, having met with God face-to-face.”27
In the Upper Room with the cross looming on the hori-
zon, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he
lay down his life for his friends”(John 15:13).
October
12
Jesus as a Motivator
Why are times Doug Herman, having lost his wife and
not stored up by baby, faced the prospect of raising their little
the Almighty, boy as a single dad. He lost his church, his
and why do those wife, his daughter, and his brother in a mat-
who know Him ter of months. Was he bitter? No, but he
never see His days? was crushed and deeply wounded in spirit.
JOB 24:1 NASB The title of his book What Good is God?,
which deals with finding faith and hope in
troubled times, reflects his pain. The last sentence of Doug’s
book answers the question he poses in the title, “What good
is God?” He writes, “He allows us to live again. His good-
ness knows no bounds.”28
In recent days a lot of folks have had God on the witness
stand. “If He is good,” goes their reasoning, “why didn’t He
prevent . . . ?” Many turn on Him with anger and vengeance
rather than turning to Him for comfort. Few acknowledge
or think about the fact that ours is an evil world, and God’s
children are not immune from the rottenness and filth
wrought by a depraved and evil person. This means that
children can become victims of sadists and perverts, and in-
nocent individuals can become casualties. The innocent suffer
but God is good.
In the Upper Room, Jesus told the disciples, “Now is
your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will
rejoice, no one will take away your joy. In that day you will
no longer ask me anything”(John 16:22-23).
It is only natural that our hearts cry out, “Why, God?”
when things go wrong and we lose someone we love. But
Elisabeth Elliot has written, “God will see to it that we un-
derstand as much truth as we are willing to obey.”
October
15
What Good is God?
Taste and see that Substitutes are never quite like the real
the LORD is good; thing. Artificial sweeteners may save calo-
blessed is the man ries but—let’s face it—Diet Coke doesn’t
who takes refuge quite taste like “the real thing.” The same
in him.
thing goes for salt and butter substitutes.
PSALM 34:8 Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher
and mathematician, wrote that there is a
God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person that can
never be filled apart from a personal relationship with God.
Many folks today haven’t gotten the message. Instead of a
personal relationship with God, they’ve accepted a wide va-
riety of God-substitutes like addictions, travel, wealth, fame,
power and self.
Almost all substitutes have side effects of one kind or
another, and for those people who settle for God-substitutes,
one side effect is that they become indifferent to what is
right and what is wrong. Substitutes never quench the spiri-
tual thirst that is deep within your heart. The world of those
who settle for God-substitutes is often painted in shades of
gray. Their values are obscure, and by and large what they
worship is what they can see, taste or feel.
When Jesus and the disciples drew near to a village in
Samaria where cool water from a deep well could satisfy their
thirst, Jesus asked a woman to draw a drink of water for
Him, and in the conversation which took place, He told her
that if she would drink of the water which He would give to
her, she would never thirst again!
Life at its longest is short, and when you come to the
end, the one thing you never want to discover is that the
god you bought into may have come in the traditional pack-
aging but wasn’t the Living One who created our world, nor
the one whom you will face when you die.
October
21
A Thirst for God
Oh, worship the Do you ever ask yourself, “What’s the pur-
LORD in the beauty pose of going to church, anyway?” Have
of holiness! we grown bored because the competition
Tremble before Him, is too great or because our focus is wrong?
all the earth. The book of Acts is the exciting his-
PSALM 96:9 NKJV tory of the Early Church. While we don’t
have the entire order of service that was
used in Paul’s day, we do know some of the ingredients that
went into worship. Borrowing from the synagogue worship,
there were readings from the Law and the writings. And fol-
lowing the reading of Scripture, someone expounded on what
was written, helping them understand how to apply these
truths to their lives. Then as letters to the churches were
circulated, these, too, were read. They prayed, and they also
sang the psalms put to music. So how do you worship when
you may be in a church that is somewhat less than exciting?
Worship involves focus. Worship looks to Him who gave
His life for you. Worship is not a performance, neither is it a
party. It’s an encounter. Keeping your focus on God is the
beginning of true worship.
True worship involves posture. Worship is more than kneel-
ing, or lifting your hands before the Lord, though both are
biblical; it also involves lifting your heart in praise, your voice
in song and bowing in humility.
Worship involves your attitude. Your pastor may not be
the greatest expositor, though he may be doing his very best.
But he’s not the one you have come to see and bow before.
Remember, you worship the King of kings, the Lord of lords,
and the Great I AM of Scripture.
Let’s return to the simplicity of worshiping in the beauty
of holiness, with neither program nor pageantry.
October
29
Born to Worship 5
Some stand while they pray. Some fall face The four living
down before God while others kneel. In creatures said,
ancient days when people worshiped God, “Amen,” and the
they knelt or prostrated themselves on the elders fell down
ground. It represented the acknowledg- and worshiped.
ment of a superior. REVELATION 5:14
Submission to the person and will of
God the Father comes one of two ways. You can yield be-
cause you fear the consequences of not bowing, or you can
bow because you love God. This results in your asking Him
to bend and conform to His purpose and will, letting God
have His way. But how do we do this?
Take time to meditate on God’s Word. To learn more
about worship, take a concordance and look up the many
references to worship in the Bible. Eventually you will come
to Revelation 5 where the twenty-four elders bow before God
in the presence of thousands of angels. “In a loud voice they
sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power
and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory
and praise!’”(Revelation 5:12).
Singing praises as you worship also enforces your atti-
tude of bending to the will of God—something you can do
while driving a car, working at your computer, or doing the
dishes. Sometimes I will take an old hymnbook and medi-
tate on the words of praise and worship, a reflection of the
bygone generations.
When you pray, “Bend me, O Lord,” you are asking Him
to fashion you according to the image wrought by His hand.
October
30
Stalked Fear
For centuries men and women have been The LORD is my light
encouraged by the words written by and my salvation—
David in Psalm 23, “Yea, though I walk whom shall I fear?
through the valley of the shadow of The LORD is the
death, I will fear no evil, for you are with stronghold of my life
me” (Psalm 23:4 KJV ). This was written —of whom shall I
be afraid?
by the same one who as a lad confronted
the giant Goliath and succeeded in kill- PSALM 27:1
ing him, to the praise and acclaim of
the people.
Yet was David ever stalked by the dark monster of fear?
Yes, in fact David had been there, staring death in the face,
fearing that he might well go to sleep one night and wake up
in heaven the following morning.
When did he learn that God was greater than his fears?
David experienced one of the lowest times of his life during
the seven years he lived as a fugitive, hunted by Saul. In
despair, David feigned insanity to escape. Writing of that
dark hour, David said, “I sought the LORD, and he answered
me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).
David was confronted by the Philistines who threatened
to take his life, and from the horrible dark hour came Psalm
56, when he wrote, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be
afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”(Psalm 56:3-4).
What was David’s secret in dealing with fear? It was his
trust in God. He explained, “The LORD is my light and my
salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold
of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”(Psalm 27:1). He
learned that God is greater than his foes, that God will pro-
tect, that God will deliver, and that God can be trusted.
November
HEBREWS 4:7
Therefore God again set a certain day,
calling it Today, when a long time later he
spoke through David, as was said before:
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not
harden your hearts.”
November
1
Man’s Greatest Fear
It was now about Back in the days when circuses went from
the sixth hour, and town to town, a prominent circus featured
darkness came over an act with ferocious Bengal tigers. Those
the whole land until who live where they roam in the wilds are
the ninth hour. always frightened of them—and with
LUKE 23:44 good cause.
As part of the tiger routine, a trainer
would go into the cage with his whip and a small kitchen
chair. The snap of his whip would prod the tigers into a
routine that was perfunctory yet dangerous.
On one occasion the trainer went into the cage, the door
locked behind him. As he started his routine, suddenly there
was a power shortage and the lights went out. For approxi-
mately thirty seconds, says Tomas Butts in Tigers in the Dark,
the trainer was locked in with the tigers.
When the lights came on, he finished his performance as
though nothing unexpected had happened. Afterwards he
explained that he had remembered that while he knew the
tigers could see him, they didn’t know that he couldn’t see
them, so he continued snapping his whip and talking to
them just as usual.
What an experience! There are times when the lights go
out on you and you are left in the dark. That’s what you do
when you have no choice: You rely on what you know, not
on what you see. You know that God hasn’t singled you out
as a target of His wrath. Everyone faces storms. You know
God will honor the promises of His Word. While the lights
may have gone out on you, God sees the whole situation
very clearly. If you are His child, you also know that nothing
that happens to you is beyond the sovereign care of your
Heavenly Father.
November
3
Seven Guidelines to
Overcoming Fear
More and more of life is lived in the fast lane. Put your house
Many will take precious hours from you in in order,
the form of phone calls, interruptions, and because you are
endless detours. How do you get out of the going to die….
fast lane? ISAIAH 38:1
GUIDELINE 1: Have a plan and stay with your
plan. You can’t do everything, so list the “must do” items
in one column, “should do” in another, and the “can do”
in the third. Begin with the most important “must do”
item and stay with that until you are finished.
GUIDELINE 2: Prioritize what isn’t negotiable—time with your
wife, family and God. At heaven’s door, you won’t be
asked how much time you spent at the office, but your
relationships and how you’ve spent your time will all be
on the docket.
GUIDELINE 3: Simplify, simplify, simplify. Having more does
not always satisfy; having less usually simplifies.
GUIDELINE 4: Make every day count. That was exactly the
point that Moses made when he wrote, “So teach us to
number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto
wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 KJV ).
The person who lives judiciously knows that the days
of our years are numbered, and that’s why he strives to
make each one count, waiting on God at the beginning of
every day to know how to live with purpose and meaning.
GUIDELINE 5: To the degree that you can, live every day with-
out regrets. You should so live that when you die, even
the undertaker would be sorry.
GUIDELINE 6: Slow down and enjoy the flowers. You have no
second chances for some things. So say it now, write it
now, enjoy it now, and leave tomorrow in God’s hands.
November
10
Why Did This Happen to Me?
You will seek me Do you ever wish that you could really
and find me when know God? The old English hymnist Ian
you seek me with McPherson did when he wrote “If I but
all your heart. knew thee as thou art, O loveliness un-
JEREMIAH 29:13 known,/ with what desire, O Lord, my
heart would claim thee for its own.” The
theme is the cry of a heart to know God as He really is, not
as we suppose Him to be.
The New Testament book of James contains a great prom-
ise: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James
4:8 NKJV). When those obstacles that keep you from draw-
ing near to the Father are pushed aside, He receives you
with open arms.
Immediately following the statement about drawing near
to God, James has some pretty straight advice. He says, “Wash
your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-
minded.” What does that mean? Far more than just soaping
your hands and wiping them clean on a towel. Two steps:
First, “wash your hands” means get rid of the wrongs that
separate you from God—those obstacles you have placed in
the path to God; The Bible calls them “sins.” Then make
the decision to reach out to God. James talks about being
“double-minded”—a kind of spiritual schizophrenia that a
lot of people possess. They would like to reach out to God,
but at the same time they want to hold on to the world.
A. W. Tozer wrote, “The man who would know God
must give time to him.” If you want to know God, take time
to read His Word. If you want to know God, you must also
take time to meditate on Him, to learn that prayer is com-
munion with Him and that He hears the cry of His child
reaching out to Him.
November
17
The Harvest is Past
When death stares you in the face, you The harvest is past, the
don’t mince words. You say exactly what summer has ended,
is on your mind. Sometimes the dying and we are not saved.
words of people are cruel and devastat- JEREMIAH 8:20
ing. At other times they are like
ointment that brings healing to fractured relationships.
Jeremiah gave us the haunting text above. Jeremiah had
lived to see Jerusalem destroyed by Babylon, its families car-
ried away in chains, and its homes destroyed. He asked, “Is
there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why
then is there no healing for the wound of my people?”
(Jeremiah 8:22). Gilead was famous for a medicinal resin,
called the healing balm of Gilead. We are not saved, said
Jeremiah, in spite of the fact there is a remedy, there is heal-
ing, there is a physician. Jeremiah knew that the people’s
relationship with God, whom they had rejected, was the
reason why destruction lay at their door.
In the northern hemisphere, late August and September
is harvest time. Life has its seasons just as nature does, but
the unknown, uncertain factor in life is, when does the sum-
mer end, and you are confronted with eternity?
Individuals who are unprepared to meet God–using the
terminology of the New Testament–who are not saved, fall
into two categories: Those who know they are not saved,
and those who think they are but really are not. The most
tragic are those who think they are ready to meet God but
who have ignored the clear teaching on Scripture on how to
make peace with God.
Jeremiah also records God’s faithful promise which gives
us hope. “‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me
with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the
LORD . . .” (Jeremiah 29:13-14).
November
18
Investing in Intangibles
Jesus illustrated great truths with human Since, then, you have
interest stories. One of them involved a been raised with
wealthy man who turned over his estate Christ, set your hearts
to three men, entrusting each with a cer- on things above,
tain amount of wealth. where Christ is seated
The story, found in Matthew 25 in the at the right hand of
New Testament, is poignant and disturb- God.
ing at the same time. The two who COLOSSIANS 3:1
doubled their investments were com-
mended, but the third who, cowering with fear had dug a
hole and buried his talent, was rebuked. “Throw that worth-
less servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth,” said the wealthy landowner
(Matthew 25:30).
A story such as this always has a deeper meaning, a truth
that Jesus wants us to see clearly. Simply put, He is saying
that God claims ownership of what we have, and that we
will someday be accountable for what we do with what God
has given to us. Few people acknowledge that what we have–
whether money that we can spend or invest, time that we
can use wisely or waste, or talents that can make a difference
in our world or be used selfishly (dig a hole and bury them)—
is God’s gift to us.
Earlier Jesus had taught, “Do not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where
thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves trea-
sures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and
where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your trea-
sure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:17-21).
How do you invest in heaven’s bank? Investing in heaven’s
bank goes far beyond giving at church or mailing a check to
a charity. It involves not just your resources, but time and
talents as well.
November
20
Investing in Others
If your son plays well in his last big bas- Trust in the LORD with
ketball game, he may be able to impress all your heart, and
the athletic committee and grant him a lean not on your own
college scholarship. And so you pray, understanding;
“God, let him do well.” in all your ways
The first quarter goes well, and then acknowledge Him,
in the second quarter your son gets and He shall direct
shoved and comes down hard on his your paths.
ankle, grimacing with pain. As you see PROVERBS 3:5-6 NKJV
him limp off the court, you mutter,
“God, You sure let me down on that one!”
That promise in Romans 8:28 has two conditions at-
tached: One is that you love God and the second, which is
usually neglected, is this: “and are called according to His
purpose.”
God’s purposes are often different from ours in that He
has a plan which we often overlook. Our view is sees only
the reward of the moment; His sees the reward of a lifetime.
God does have a will for His children, and with that will
comes a purpose for our lives which goes far beyond the
plans of a parent to help his child get the scholarship and
the best place at life’s table.
Make a note of Proverbs 3:5-6 in your Bible and mark
those words. Better yet, commit them to memory. “Trust in
the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He
shall direct your paths”. Someday you will look back and
see the sure hand of God guiding your life, opening doors,
directing you into a purpose which He determined was far
better than anything you had in mind.
November
26
Bread and Fish
In the Upper Room Jesus and His dis- “I’m going out to fish,”
ciples were at a Passover meal. As part Simon Peter told them,
of that celebration Jesus took a loaf of and they said, “We’ll go
bread and broke it: “This is my body,” with you.” So they
He told them. Then He took the cup went out and got into
and said, “This is my blood . . . which the boat….
is poured out for many” (Mark 14:24). JOHN 21:3
If a third element should have been
part of the worship ritual of Holy Communion, I think it
would have been the inclusion of fish as one of the elements.
Why? Think of the number of times in which you find fish
included in the basics of life.
At least three of the disciples—Peter, James and John–
were fishermen. Jesus found them drying their nets and said,
“Follow me and I will make you to fish for men.”
Jesus used fish as an illustration of a basic necessity. “If a
son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give
him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he for a fish give him a
serpent?” (Luke 11:11 KJV).
After the resurrection, fish was on the menu at least twice.
When the disciples were confronted by the resurrected Christ
and thought Him to be a ghost, He asked, “Do you have
anything to eat?” When they produced a fish, He ate it. And
when Jesus prepared breakfast for seven weary fishermen at
Galilee, it was bread and fish broiled over an open fire.
Fish seem to figure large in demonstrating the loving pro-
vision that God makes in meeting our most basic human
needs. God’s blessings and provisions come in just as many
varieties, sizes, shapes and colors as do fish. Take stock of
your blessings and remember, anything from the hand of
the Father is good and should be received with rejoicing.
November
28
Principles of Conflict
Resolution
Be perfect, be of good An aphorism goes: “Living with the
comfort, be of one mind, saints above may be glory, but living
live in peace; and the God with the saints below is quite another
of love and peace shall be story.” It’s true. But maybe you’re
with you. thinking, “I thought Christians
2 CORINTHIANS 13:11 KJV
weren’t supposed to fight and argue!”
That’s not quite the reality of the situ-
ation, nor has it ever been.
The Bible is full of stories of individuals who had con-
flicts. Even the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost didn’t
change human nature.
The progress of the Early Church seemed unstoppable
until Paul and Barnabas came back from their first major
missionary trip and told of the remarkable conversions of
Gentiles in Acts 15.
“Did you say, ‘Gentiles’?” some said. That very word was
inflammatory. “Salvation is of the Jews! We can’t accept Gen-
tiles unless they submit to the Jewish law!”
Thankfully, this issue was peacefully resolved and from
it, we see five steps to conflict resolution:
STEP 1: Have an open discussion. Ignoring issues never
makes them go away; admit there is a problem and confront
the issue.
STEP 2: Acknowledge your differences without blame. Ob-
viously you have different opinions; otherwise, one of you
would be unnecessary.
STEP 3: Seek the mind of God. When you submit your
will to the High Court of Heaven, it is amazing how quickly
what you want pales in light of His solution.
STEP 4: Be willing to form a consensus. Find the middle
ground. Holding onto your views usually leaves you bitter
enemies and divided.
STEP 5: Once an issue is settled, abide by the decision. Once
the early church’s conflict was resolved, Dr. Luke wrote, “It
seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” (Acts 15:28).
November
29
Getting along with
Difficult People
No, I beat my body How different is the man who fights traf-
and make it my slave fic on the morning commute in a major
so that after I have city, from the tribal man in Africa who
preached to others, battles a savage tribesman from a differ-
I myself will not be
ent village? No matter where we are on
disqualified for
the globe, when our space is invaded, we
the prize.
tend to react without thinking of the
1 CORINTHIANS 9:27 consequences, and our reaction may well
be a knee-jerking act of hostility that can
get one killed. Furthermore, in only a moment, we are all
reduced to a combatant who treats the man he dislikes ex-
actly as he is being treated.
When someone does you wrong, do you retaliate with
the same kind of treatment, or do you think, and then act as
God would have you? Simply put, how do you keep from
“losing it?” How do you manage yourself rather than the
one you detest?
The real issue is keeping your cool when your adversary
is hot under the collar. Paul wrote, “See that no one renders
evil for evil to anyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:15 NKJV ), and
again, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do
what is right in the eyes of everybody” (Romans 12:17).
When you start to lose your cool try this:
Think. Think of your family, or yourself, and the conse-
quences of doing something rash.
Take control of yourself. Sometimes you have to stuff your
anger and say, “I refuse to let him pull me down to his level.
He’s not worth it.”
Back off from the situation. You don’t have to prove that
you are stronger, that you can rise to his challenge.
Breath a quick prayer. Say, “God, help me right now!”
And with those five words, you’ll find a peace and a control
that keeps you in command.
December
LUKE 2:11
Today in the town of David a Savior has
been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
December
1
December and Depression
Who really counts in your life? The indi- Religion that God
viduals who have influenced you probably our Father accepts as
haven’t won the Nobel Prize or played in pure and faultless is
the Superbowl. No, the people who have this: to look after
made a difference in your life are those orphans and widows
who touched you with generosity, made in their distress and
to keep oneself
you feel worthwhile or helped you up the
from being polluted
ladder one way or another.
by the world.
Paul told the Galatians, “Therefore,
as we have opportunity, let us do good to JAMES 1:27
all people, especially to those who belong to the family of
believers” (Galatians 6:10). There is a phrase that describes
this interaction between people quite well. It is “the milk of
human kindness”—that indescribable something that causes
someone to reach out and touch someone else.
In too many cases today the milk of human kindness
seems to have curdled and gone sour. We’re too busy or in-
different to focus on the needs of others. But the good news
is the milk of human kindness has not totally evaporated.
There was an instance when a family began to regularly at-
tend the services at the church I was pastoring. I asked why
they chose to attend there. The wife told me that she had
been sick and confined to bed. A neighbor then began fix-
ing meals and bringing them over. Then she showed up on a
Saturday morning and cleaned the house.
“I thought, at first, she had an ulterior motive, but I
learned that it was her faith that motivated her to reach out
to us,” she explained. “I said to myself, ‘When I get well,
we’re going to her church and see what this is all about.’
That’s why we are here.”
The world doesn’t care about how much you know, but
they certainly want to know how much you care.
December
4
372 Days of Hell on Earth
Do you remember the story of Jesus’ en- The King will reply,
counter with a Samaritan woman at the “I tell you the truth,
well? This woman was a social outcast, an whatever you did
easy mark who slept around. She was a for one of the least of
half-breed, a Jew with Gentile blood. Fur- these brothers of mine,
thermore she was a woman, which in the you did for me.”
cultural context of Jesus’ day meant she MATTHEW 25:40
didn’t count for much.
Yet Jesus accepted her as a person of value and worth.
Later, Jesus commanded His disciples to go into all the world,
instructing them to bring healing and help to the afflicted
and neglected. This command is also ours to obey if we are
to be His followers.
Likewise, Paul instructed that the poor of Jerusalem be
fed and taken care of by all the churches he visited. He also
made provision for the widows who had no family to care
for them.
I understand there is the possibility that those in need be-
come dependent upon the dole-out of their more affluent
brothers, becoming lazy and ungrateful in the process. Yet ac-
cepting the needy as brothers and sisters in the faith and equals
in the sight of God means my gift is God’s provision, an answer
to their prayers, not a dole-out which makes them dependent
upon me and subservient to the dictates of my will.
When Bob Pierce picked up an orphan child in Korea
and took him to an orphanage asking that he be fed and
sheltered, the sisters explained that for every rice bowl there
were four people eating out of it. Picking up the child, she
placed him in Bob’s lap asking, “Here, what will you do
with him?” In answering that question, World Vision was
founded.
When you face the reality of a world in need, you have to
ask, “What will I do about it?”
December
10
Move That Mountain
Jesus knew His hour had come. He poured For God so loved
out His heart to His Father, saying “Abba, the world that he
Father . . . everything is possible for you. gave his one and
Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, only Son, that
but what you will” (Mark 14:36). For a whoever believes in
few brief moments, ponder the elements him shall not perish
of His simple prayer in relationship to your but have eternal life.
own personal prayer life. JOHN 3:16
First, “Abba, Father” speaks of a rela-
tionship. Perhaps the closest English equivalent of “Abba” is
“Papa” or “Daddy.” It is intimate, loving and dependent.
The second element of His prayer is a reminder of the
Father’s capability. “Everything is possible for you,” He says.
He knew the Father spoke the word and brought the world
into existence. He knew that nothing limited God’s power
and, thus, He quietly reminded both His Father and Him-
self that nothing is beyond God’s ability to do.
Then Jesus made His request—“Take this cup from me!”
He knew that He would die in the hands of the Romans.
Death was not His fear. He feared being separated from the
presence of the Father.
Finally, Jesus recognized His Father’s preeminence or su-
premacy—“Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
So is it OK to pray specifically for what you want? Abso-
lutely! That’s what Jesus did. Don’t beat around the bush
when you talk to God. Get specific. Outline your views.
Ask what you will, but—and this is vitally important—do
what Jesus did. Put your need in His hands and submit your
will to His great will. He knows what is best for you.
December
12
Christian Leaders and
Discouragement
Addie Bee is a woman who has used very Then the LORD said
well what she had in her hands. Addie to him, “What is that
grew up in a dysfunctional home where in your hand?”’
both parents were alcoholics so she was “A staff,” he replied.
placed in a foster home. Wanting a doll The L ORD said,
The Spirit told Philip, Does God really speak to His children?
“Go to that chariot Consider the person who wants to add a
and stay near it.” powerful weight of authority to their
ACTS 8:29 plans and says, “God told me to do this.”
It’s hard to fight against God. As Mar-
tin De Haan put it, “Sometimes we talk like this to let others
hear our desire to be in step with God. On other occasions
we use such phrases as a way of writing God’s signature un-
der our ideas to make it difficult for others to disagree with
us.” This creates confusion in the heart of every sincere be-
liever. Reading the account of the infant church in Acts makes
it clear that God does speak to His own through His Spirit.
Both the Old and New Testaments use the phrase, “The
Spirit said . . .” Luke tells us Peter had a vision, and while he
was thinking about the vision, “The Spirit said to him,
‘Simon, three men are looking for you.’”
Today, individuals who say, “God told me . . .” to back up
their argument are powerfully intimidating others, making
them say to themselves, “God never tells me anything, so
this brother must be close to the Lord.” But God has not
grown silent. God’s voice is not so faint that it cannot be
heard today.
The Spirit of God resides in the hearts of His children,
and He does speak to our hearts, prompting us to do His
will, at times leading us from danger. Those who have read
the Word or have prayed about something do sometimes
feel they have heard from God.
How do you know when God has spoken? Paul told the
Thessalonians they were to “test everything,” holding on to
that which is good, rejecting that which is evil (1 Thessalonians
5:21-22).
December
23
The Myth or the Miracle?
When Joseph woke How do you suppose God the Father felt
up, he did what the on that Christmas eve long ago, knowing
angel of the Lord had that His one and only Son was about to
commanded him and emerge from Mary’s womb and join hu-
took Mary home as mankind? Only those who have lost
his wife. But he had someone dear to their hearts can begin to
no union with her understand what God was going through.
until she gave birth Steve Saint has tasted this pain. As a little
to a son. And he gave boy, he lost his father at the hands of the
him the name Jesus. Aucas when he and four other men laid
MATTHEW 1:24-25 down their lives in bringing the Good
News of Christmas. Then later in life, his
daughter, Stephanie, a beautiful and talented girl who loved
the Lord and was also serving Him, died, leaving a very empty
spot in Steve’s life. The following, used with his permission,
describes how he felt at Christmas:
“What significance can there be in gifts and carols when
that happy bouncing little girl with pigtails—grown up to
be our stately and beautiful daughter—is not here to sing
with us? Every tradition of sound and smell that makes this
season jolly, reminds me that my heart has been rent.
“I finally begin to grasp a reality of this season. It took a
Father’s broken heart to make my place at the great Celebra-
tion! That same Father spent the first Christmas without
His Child to buy me a spot at His banquet table. With His
grief He has enfolded my little girl in eternal love. By His
agony I will see my precious little girl again and my heart
will be healed.”
Christmas is more than gifts, tinsel and celebration. The
joy of the coming of Jesus was bought by the loneliness of
His absence in heaven that we might forever be united in
His presence in the Father’s house.
December
25
Christmas Belongs
to Christ
The birth of Jesus Christ has been cel- Therefore the Lord
ebrated more than that of any person who himself will give you
has ever lived. Why? What is so unique a sign: The virgin
about the birth of Christ? will be with child
First He is the only one who was ever and will give birth to
born without a human father. Matthew a son, and will call
reads: “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ him Immanuel.
came about: His mother Mary was pledged ISAIAH 7:14
to be married to Joseph, but before they
came together, she was found to be with child through the
Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18).
Second, He is the only one who ever lived without sin,
the only one who could challenge His detractors, saying,
“Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?”(John 8:46).
Third, He is the only one who ever did the works that
He did. He spoke the word and healed the sick. He raised
the dead on three occasions. He commanded illness to de-
part, and He did so with absolute authority.
Fourth, He is unique in what He said. He spoke with
power as one who had all knowledge.
Fifth, He is the only one who personally claimed to be the
atonement for the sins of the world. Only one who is without
sin would qualify to be the substitute for our sins.
Sixth, He is the only one who literally rose from the dead!
His life, prematurely cut short at age 33, resurrected in new-
ness of life such as we will someday have.
Seventh, He ascended to heaven and promised to return
again to establish His Kingdom and to rule and reign forever.
Summarizing, John wrote, “For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). That’s
why this day is unique and should be celebrated.
December
26
Sheep and the Shepherd
May the God of Have you spent much time around sheep?
peace, who through Little lambs are cuddly and cute, but the
the blood of the full-grown sheep are something else—
eternal covenant smelly, obstinate, bull-headed pieces of
brought back from mutton on four legs.
the dead our Lord Of all the creatures God ever created,
Jesus, that great sheep are among the least intelligent. The
Shepherd of the size of their brain in proportion to the rest
sheep . . . of their body is quite small. Yet that is the
HEBREWS 13:20 image to which God’s children are likened.
“We are His people and the sheep of his
pasture,” says Psalm 100:3 (NKJV ).
The more you ponder the similarities between sheep
and people, the more you recognize how meaningful the
parallels are.
Sheep will follow almost anything that moves—a human,
another sheep, even black sheep who lead them astray. Like-
wise, many people shut off their brain and get involved in
cults, unhealthy relationships or business scams. We won-
der if their brain went out their ears for a drink of water and
didn’t come back.
It’s the relationship of the shepherd to the flock that in-
sures their safety, well-being and happiness.“I am the good
shepherd,” Jesus told His followers. His intention was to
find the lost sheep, lead them to the green pastures of heaven,
bring them to the still waters of cleansing and refreshment
and ultimately give them the joy of everlasting life.
The most important thing the shepherd does is to come
looking for the lost sheep and lead them back to safety. If
you find yourself identifying with one who has wandered
far from the fold, lift up your soul and cry, “Lord, here I am!
Be my Shepherd and lead me home.” He will come.
December
27
Hearing God’s Voice
February
1
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (London: Fontana, 1952),
13.
March
2
Joe Stowell, Following Christ, (Grand Rapids: MI,
Zondervan,1996), 36.
3
Jeff Blake as quoted by Robert Coleman, One Divine
Moment, (Grand Rapids: MI, Revell, 1970), 27.
April
4
Karl Crowe, Personal newsletter, New Tribes Mission, April,
2000.
5
F. A. Worsley, Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure, (New
York: NY, W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2000), 164.
May
6
Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God, (Grand Rapids:
MI, Zondervan, 2000), 46.
7
Elisabeth Elliot, “Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter,” Nov-Dec,
2000, 1.
8
Christianity Today, July 10, 2000, 32.
June
9
As quoted by Sherwood Wirt in The Inner Life of the Believer,
(San Bernadino, CA: Here’s Life Publishers, Inc., 1989), 73.
10
As quoted by Sherwood Wirt in The Inner Life of the Believer,
(San Bernadino, CA: Here’s Life Publishers, Inc., 1989), 102.
11
Billy Graham, “The King is Coming,” Decision, November,
1974.
July
12
John Alexander, The Other Side (Jan-Feb 1993) as quoted
by Christianity Today, Feb. 9, 1998, p.78.
13
Alfred Lansing, Endurance, Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage,
(New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1999), 273, 274.
14
Mark Swed, “The Song of Silence,” Los Angeles Times
Magazine, October 21, 2001, 36.
15
Robert Lewis Taylor, Winston Churchill, (London: England,
Doubleday & Co., 1952), 145, 146.
August
16
Philip Yancey, In His Image, (Grand Rapids, MI, USA:
Zondervan, 1984), 32.
17
Sherwood Wirt, The God Who Smiles, (Eugene, OR: Harvest
House, 2001), 30.
18
Think, July-August, 1968, p. 25.
19
Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 22, 2002, p. U9.
September
20
Nien Cheng, Life and Death in Shanghai (Grafton Books,
1987), 180, 181.
21
Christianity Today, January 7, 2002, 62.
22
Roy Lessin, “Do You Know How Valued You Are?” http://
www.dayspring.com/easter/.
23
Vance Havner, “Things I’ve Learned in the Night,” Moody
Monthly, (Chicago: June 1974), 28.
24
Lee Green, “The Indisputable Mr. Scruples,” Los Angeles
Times Magazine, March 10, 2002, 11-13.
25
Jeff Struecker, Reader’s Digest, April, 2002, 137.
26
Susan Vardon and Jim Radcliffe, “Family man’s fatal flaw,”
Orange County Register, June 23, 2002, 1, 4.
October
27
From God’s Candlelight, as quoted by Elisabeth Elliot in The
Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter, July/August, 2002, 3.
28
Doug Herman, What Good is God? (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Books, 2002), 212.
29
Ibid.
30
Ibid.
31
Ken McAlpine, “Escape the Addiction Trap,” Southwest
Airlines Spirit, September, 2002, 109.
32
George Sweeting, Who Said That? (Chicago: Moody Press,
1995), 95.
December
33
Gracia Burnham, In the Presence of My Enemies, (Tyndale
House Publishers, 2003), 14.
34
Lori Basheda, “She warms hearts with her art: building doll
parts,” Orange County Register, Nov. 12, 2002, 1, 4.
35
Joan Burgess Winfrey, “Do You Love Me? Feed My Lambs,”
Focalpoint, summer, 2002, 11.
We would love
to hear from you!
Email us at info@omflit.com
or
Call us at 531-6635
or
Text OMFLIT<space><TITLE OF BOOK>
<your comments> and send to 2299