For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
Psalms 91:11
Take time today to be conscientious of the fact that you are always being covered and guarded; God is not unaware of one moment of your life, regardless of how alone or forgotten you might feel at times. Allow this reminder to bring comfort knowing you're under the care of the Most High.
Source: The Daily Verse by Kat Davis
10.02.2012
10.01.2012
GOD RELIANT
"Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." John 5:19
The ultimate expression of humility is reliance on Almighty God. He is the source of significance and He provides strength for life's journey. Jesus Himself confessed that He depended on His Heavenly Father as a model of what to do. Just as Jesus looked to His Father, so His followers look to their Heavenly Father. Obedience does not act alone. Activity for the Lord is best achieved when accompanied by a blueprint from God.
Our self-reliance gets in the way of our God reliance. Anger, will power and intellect are the fruit of self-reliance, while patience, trust and humility are the fruit of God reliance. We honor our Heavenly Father when we first ask Him how to solve a problem or how to love the unlovely. Our imitation of Christ's actions are an indicator of humble reliance. Thus, we forgive ignorant offenders and we challenge religious hypocrisy, as He did.
"For I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness." Psalm 26:3
People let you down, but the Lord is 100% reliable. He is never late, but seldom early in His timely explanations. For example, you may want to transition now, but He wants you to go deeper in your understanding and application of wise stewardship. Learn to make finances a friend and not a foe. When you take matters into your own hands, He matters less. Rely on God's economy and trust He will provide in unconventional ways.
You rely on God when you wait on His best, before you make a relational commitment. You rely on God when you take a stand for what's right and entrust your reputation with Him. You rely on God when you release a grudge and extend forgiveness. You rely on God when you share the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirt and trust the results with Him. Pray as if everything depends on God, and work passionately as unto the Lord.
"By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." John 5:30
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you that You are 100% reliable, keep relying on You!
Related Readings: 1 Kings 2:4; Psalm 86:11; Proverbs 25:19; Matthew 26:39;
Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey
The ultimate expression of humility is reliance on Almighty God. He is the source of significance and He provides strength for life's journey. Jesus Himself confessed that He depended on His Heavenly Father as a model of what to do. Just as Jesus looked to His Father, so His followers look to their Heavenly Father. Obedience does not act alone. Activity for the Lord is best achieved when accompanied by a blueprint from God.
Our self-reliance gets in the way of our God reliance. Anger, will power and intellect are the fruit of self-reliance, while patience, trust and humility are the fruit of God reliance. We honor our Heavenly Father when we first ask Him how to solve a problem or how to love the unlovely. Our imitation of Christ's actions are an indicator of humble reliance. Thus, we forgive ignorant offenders and we challenge religious hypocrisy, as He did.
"For I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness." Psalm 26:3
People let you down, but the Lord is 100% reliable. He is never late, but seldom early in His timely explanations. For example, you may want to transition now, but He wants you to go deeper in your understanding and application of wise stewardship. Learn to make finances a friend and not a foe. When you take matters into your own hands, He matters less. Rely on God's economy and trust He will provide in unconventional ways.
You rely on God when you wait on His best, before you make a relational commitment. You rely on God when you take a stand for what's right and entrust your reputation with Him. You rely on God when you release a grudge and extend forgiveness. You rely on God when you share the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirt and trust the results with Him. Pray as if everything depends on God, and work passionately as unto the Lord.
"By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." John 5:30
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you that You are 100% reliable, keep relying on You!
Related Readings: 1 Kings 2:4; Psalm 86:11; Proverbs 25:19; Matthew 26:39;
Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey
9.30.2012
Walk with the wise
Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20 NIV
Proverbs 13:20 NIV
8.15.2012
PROTECT YOUR WIFE
“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” Ephesians 5:23
A wife is vulnerable to emotional exploitation. She needs her husband’s loving care and protection. Insensitive friends and family can take advantage of her sweet and sensitive spirit. So, a husband who takes seriously his role of protector is ever vigilant to shield his bride from bad behavior. What was once a blossoming flower of faith can wither under the assault of rejection and disrespect. Thus, you guard her heart with your strong stand.
Every woman of faith prays for a godly knight in shining armor who will bear the sword of the Spirit on her behalf. She longs for a godly man who by faith walks in the fullness of the Spirit: courageous and confident in Christ. Are you that husband? Are you active in safeguarding your wife’s mind, will and emotions? Is her spirit in safekeeping with you? Wife, your husband is God’s buffer against bad people. So rest, his role is to defend you.
“May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, LORD, is in you.” Psalm 25:11
Men, don’t shrink back from stepping up for your woman. Just like Jesus is the head of the church and gave Himself up for His bride, so you do the same for yours. Yes, it is daunting at times and we are sometimes defeated, but we do not despair for the Lord is our ultimate defender. Our battle is with His weapons of prayer, faith and hope. He saved you to save her from being crushed by criticism and deceived by lies. You are her guard.
Ultimately, it is your heavenly Father who spreads His protective coat of character over His children. Your integrity gives you the moral authority to speak the truth in love. Courage follows commitment. Like a calf, caught in a hailstorm, moves for cover, so you get under Christ’s calming cleft. All hell can break loose around you, but you stay put in prayer at the feet of Jesus. He will protect you from the evil elements that swirl about. Therefore, trust in God’s protection first and protect your wife second. She needs you!
“For he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.” Proverbs 2:8
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thanks for being my protector, so I am able to protect my wife.
Related Readings: Proverbs 2:11; Malachi 2:16; John 17:11-15; 1 Corinthians 13:7
Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey
A wife is vulnerable to emotional exploitation. She needs her husband’s loving care and protection. Insensitive friends and family can take advantage of her sweet and sensitive spirit. So, a husband who takes seriously his role of protector is ever vigilant to shield his bride from bad behavior. What was once a blossoming flower of faith can wither under the assault of rejection and disrespect. Thus, you guard her heart with your strong stand.
Every woman of faith prays for a godly knight in shining armor who will bear the sword of the Spirit on her behalf. She longs for a godly man who by faith walks in the fullness of the Spirit: courageous and confident in Christ. Are you that husband? Are you active in safeguarding your wife’s mind, will and emotions? Is her spirit in safekeeping with you? Wife, your husband is God’s buffer against bad people. So rest, his role is to defend you.
“May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, LORD, is in you.” Psalm 25:11
Men, don’t shrink back from stepping up for your woman. Just like Jesus is the head of the church and gave Himself up for His bride, so you do the same for yours. Yes, it is daunting at times and we are sometimes defeated, but we do not despair for the Lord is our ultimate defender. Our battle is with His weapons of prayer, faith and hope. He saved you to save her from being crushed by criticism and deceived by lies. You are her guard.
Ultimately, it is your heavenly Father who spreads His protective coat of character over His children. Your integrity gives you the moral authority to speak the truth in love. Courage follows commitment. Like a calf, caught in a hailstorm, moves for cover, so you get under Christ’s calming cleft. All hell can break loose around you, but you stay put in prayer at the feet of Jesus. He will protect you from the evil elements that swirl about. Therefore, trust in God’s protection first and protect your wife second. She needs you!
“For he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.” Proverbs 2:8
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thanks for being my protector, so I am able to protect my wife.
Related Readings: Proverbs 2:11; Malachi 2:16; John 17:11-15; 1 Corinthians 13:7
Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey
I am he...
"I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:4
Source: A friend
8.14.2012
Will You Follow Jesus Even If Your Life Doesn't Get Any Better?
C.S. Lewis halted a generation of would-be converts in their tracks when he famously said, “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
Lewis’ candidness is certainly a strange sales pitch today, when Christianity is more often presented as good medicine for life’s ills than a costly call to faith. Today, Jesus is more often equated with the cure-all to felt needs—happiness, inner peace, life purpose and more— than the objective truth of the gospel. “Jesus will make your life better” is the gist of it.
But how does this pitch line up with the gospel? It hardly squares away with Jesus; words: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 6:24.) If this is Jesus’ invitation, then we need to drastically change the current call to faith. Instead of making cheap promises, we need to ask the harder question: “Will you follow Jesus even if your life doesn’t get better?”
Too often evangelistic zeal truncates the gospel to be more accessible, more compelling, and more applicable to the felt needs of an audience. Are you sad? Jesus is your joy. Are you depressed? Jesus is your comfort. Are you confused? Jesus is your guidance. Surely, these are all important truths that are part of real faith. But they are not the whole package. If we’re not careful, we inadvertently imply that if one only focuses enough on Jesus, one’s circumstances will get better, and better, and oh-so infinitely better.
The False Promise Gospel
But the trend becomes even more disturbing as we observe the fallout of our Jesus-will-fix-all-my-problems kind of faith.
This gospel presentation misleads people to become more focused on their problems than on Jesus Himself. While they step into faith, they stay center stage. And unfortunately, when circumstances do head south, they are ill-equipped to deal with them. When something bad happens, all is lost. Many of us have had tear-filled conversations with friends who are questioning why God would let bad things happen to people, let alone to good people, and even more so to His people. When these questions go unanswered, many people leave faith behind because they are tired of waiting, or they do not trust God to actually show up. Instead they go off in search of their own, more immediate solution. They want comfort and happiness. They’d prefer the port. Ultimately, they are still the center of their lives, not God.
The sincerity of such struggles should not be undermined, nor the biblical precedent for lamenting overlooked. The Bible shows many of God’s people questioning His inactivity or perceived absence. However, it seems that people want to follow Jesus—even enthusiastically for a season—but then jump ship when their lives don’t get better, easier, brighter—you name it.
Perhaps we need to stop and examine if we have set them up for this by portraying a circumstantial spirituality that stops short of the robust faith of the Bible.
Jesus does make your life better. Jesus certainly is the ultimate problem-solver, and it is true that we will find our deepest purpose satisfied only in the life He offered on two crooked beams. But Jesus by no means promises a better life in the sense of all your circumstances. In other words, following Jesus doesn’t mean that everything will go smoothly, that every aspiration of your heart will be achieved, and that all your loved ones will live to see 100. Yes, Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light but so is the gate wide that leads to destruction, and narrow the one that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14; 11:30.)
Somehow people get the notion that when God blesses, it means that He will give us great things and perfect circumstances—and right now. Or, if God’s blessing is upon us we can expect to have better lives than those who do not believe in Jesus. Blessing equals easier and better. Conversely, sometimes people believe that extended discomfort means there is something they have done wrong, or a lack of faith which inhibits God’s blessing. But what if this is a misconstrued concept of blessing? Can’t the blessing of God involve pain, suffering, waiting and holding on to a truth in spite of our circumstances? Isn’t it a blessing to be disciplined by our loving Father even if it causes discomfort?
In his classic The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan writes a beautiful hymn about the difficulties of the Christian journey: “This Hill, though high, I covet to ascend, The Difficulty will not me offend. For I perceive the Way to life lies here: Come pluck up Heart, let’s neither faint nor fear; Better, though difficult, the Right Way to go, Than Wrong, though easy, where the End is Wo.”
I can imagine Paul joining in the singing of this song. In his second letter to the Corinthians, after recounting all the challenges he faced following Jesus faithfully—in being mistreated, punished, sorrowful, poor—he concludes that in having nothing, he possessed everything (2 Corinthians 6:1-10.) When Paul’s life and circumstances were destitute, and when he could have been reasonably despondent, he experienced joy. How? He practiced an objective, God-focused Christianity rather than a subjective, me-focused Christianity. He was marked by a spirituality that takes the focus off oneself.
A Fresh Start to Faith
When we make personal benefits and rewards the starting point of our faith instead of praise that we owe our Savior, we start a walk of faith that is backward in its priorities. Yes, a great truth about God is that He is for us, with us, and even acts on our behalf. But it is His Truth that impacts our circumstances, and not the other way around. Our circumstances, as important as they may be, are not the primary guidelines for our faith. What is supposed to be our hope, our trust, despite whatever may come is that God is true, good, eternal and persistently consistent. Our trust is in God’s character, revealed ultimately in the gospel, and not in how congruent our circumstances are with what we know of God.
Often, circumstances will not be as easy or comfortable as we would prefer. The Bible paints an honest picture of reality: You will sin, you will have challenges in relationships, people will hurt you and you will hurt them, the world is set against you and evil is actively working against you. So, what do we do? The one consistent action of the people of God is a recognition of who God is, what he has done in the past and what He promises to accomplish at the end of time. We can rest our faith on the permanence of this truth.
Source: Relevant Magazine by Alastair Sterne
Lewis’ candidness is certainly a strange sales pitch today, when Christianity is more often presented as good medicine for life’s ills than a costly call to faith. Today, Jesus is more often equated with the cure-all to felt needs—happiness, inner peace, life purpose and more— than the objective truth of the gospel. “Jesus will make your life better” is the gist of it.
But how does this pitch line up with the gospel? It hardly squares away with Jesus; words: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 6:24.) If this is Jesus’ invitation, then we need to drastically change the current call to faith. Instead of making cheap promises, we need to ask the harder question: “Will you follow Jesus even if your life doesn’t get better?”
Too often evangelistic zeal truncates the gospel to be more accessible, more compelling, and more applicable to the felt needs of an audience. Are you sad? Jesus is your joy. Are you depressed? Jesus is your comfort. Are you confused? Jesus is your guidance. Surely, these are all important truths that are part of real faith. But they are not the whole package. If we’re not careful, we inadvertently imply that if one only focuses enough on Jesus, one’s circumstances will get better, and better, and oh-so infinitely better.
The False Promise Gospel
But the trend becomes even more disturbing as we observe the fallout of our Jesus-will-fix-all-my-problems kind of faith.
This gospel presentation misleads people to become more focused on their problems than on Jesus Himself. While they step into faith, they stay center stage. And unfortunately, when circumstances do head south, they are ill-equipped to deal with them. When something bad happens, all is lost. Many of us have had tear-filled conversations with friends who are questioning why God would let bad things happen to people, let alone to good people, and even more so to His people. When these questions go unanswered, many people leave faith behind because they are tired of waiting, or they do not trust God to actually show up. Instead they go off in search of their own, more immediate solution. They want comfort and happiness. They’d prefer the port. Ultimately, they are still the center of their lives, not God.
The sincerity of such struggles should not be undermined, nor the biblical precedent for lamenting overlooked. The Bible shows many of God’s people questioning His inactivity or perceived absence. However, it seems that people want to follow Jesus—even enthusiastically for a season—but then jump ship when their lives don’t get better, easier, brighter—you name it.
Perhaps we need to stop and examine if we have set them up for this by portraying a circumstantial spirituality that stops short of the robust faith of the Bible.
Jesus does make your life better. Jesus certainly is the ultimate problem-solver, and it is true that we will find our deepest purpose satisfied only in the life He offered on two crooked beams. But Jesus by no means promises a better life in the sense of all your circumstances. In other words, following Jesus doesn’t mean that everything will go smoothly, that every aspiration of your heart will be achieved, and that all your loved ones will live to see 100. Yes, Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light but so is the gate wide that leads to destruction, and narrow the one that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14; 11:30.)
Somehow people get the notion that when God blesses, it means that He will give us great things and perfect circumstances—and right now. Or, if God’s blessing is upon us we can expect to have better lives than those who do not believe in Jesus. Blessing equals easier and better. Conversely, sometimes people believe that extended discomfort means there is something they have done wrong, or a lack of faith which inhibits God’s blessing. But what if this is a misconstrued concept of blessing? Can’t the blessing of God involve pain, suffering, waiting and holding on to a truth in spite of our circumstances? Isn’t it a blessing to be disciplined by our loving Father even if it causes discomfort?
In his classic The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan writes a beautiful hymn about the difficulties of the Christian journey: “This Hill, though high, I covet to ascend, The Difficulty will not me offend. For I perceive the Way to life lies here: Come pluck up Heart, let’s neither faint nor fear; Better, though difficult, the Right Way to go, Than Wrong, though easy, where the End is Wo.”
I can imagine Paul joining in the singing of this song. In his second letter to the Corinthians, after recounting all the challenges he faced following Jesus faithfully—in being mistreated, punished, sorrowful, poor—he concludes that in having nothing, he possessed everything (2 Corinthians 6:1-10.) When Paul’s life and circumstances were destitute, and when he could have been reasonably despondent, he experienced joy. How? He practiced an objective, God-focused Christianity rather than a subjective, me-focused Christianity. He was marked by a spirituality that takes the focus off oneself.
A Fresh Start to Faith
When we make personal benefits and rewards the starting point of our faith instead of praise that we owe our Savior, we start a walk of faith that is backward in its priorities. Yes, a great truth about God is that He is for us, with us, and even acts on our behalf. But it is His Truth that impacts our circumstances, and not the other way around. Our circumstances, as important as they may be, are not the primary guidelines for our faith. What is supposed to be our hope, our trust, despite whatever may come is that God is true, good, eternal and persistently consistent. Our trust is in God’s character, revealed ultimately in the gospel, and not in how congruent our circumstances are with what we know of God.
Often, circumstances will not be as easy or comfortable as we would prefer. The Bible paints an honest picture of reality: You will sin, you will have challenges in relationships, people will hurt you and you will hurt them, the world is set against you and evil is actively working against you. So, what do we do? The one consistent action of the people of God is a recognition of who God is, what he has done in the past and what He promises to accomplish at the end of time. We can rest our faith on the permanence of this truth.
Source: Relevant Magazine by Alastair Sterne
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)