Unlocking a Mystery

  September 30, 2018  

Read: Ephesians 3:1–12 | Bible in a Year: Isaiah 9–10; Ephesians 3  From: Our Daily Bread

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel. Ephesians 3:6

When I came home from work one day and saw a pair of lady’s high-heel shoes next to the driveway, I was sure I knew whose they were. So I put them in the garage to give to my daughter Lisa when she returned to the house to pick up her children. But when I checked with Lisa, I found they didn’t belong to her. In fact, no one in our family claimed them, so I put them back where I’d found them. The next day, they were gone. Mysterious.

Did you know that the apostle Paul wrote of a mystery in his letters? But the mystery he described was so much more than some kind of “whodunit.” In Ephesians 3, for example, Paul spoke of a mystery that “was not made known to people in other generations” (v. 5). This mystery is that, while in the past God revealed Himself through Israel, now, through Jesus, Gentiles—those outside of Israel—could be “heirs together with Israel” (v. 6).

Think about what this means: all who trust Jesus as Savior can love and serve God together. We can all equally “approach [Him] with freedom and confidence” (v. 12). And through the church’s unity the world will see God’s wisdom and goodness (v. 10).

Praise God for our salvation. It unlocks for us the mystery of unity as people of any and all backgrounds become one in Jesus.

Thank You, Jesus, for the unity all believers can enjoy in You. Help us to serve together as equal members of Your body.

Unity in Christ breaks down barriers and builds the church.

Freedom's Chains

  Sep 29, 2018  

Read:

From: Our Daily Journey

Romans 6:14-23
You are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living (Romans 6:18).

The notion of freedom seems like the ultimate noble pursuit. And it might seem to mean absolute, autonomous individuality. We can think that if we’re to achieve our full potential, we require unlimited choices, no external restrictions, and minimal authority over us. We can view ideas like commitment and responsibility as oppressive things. One of my friends feels anxious if he has to commit to dinner with us without knowing every competing option first.

The apostle Paul, however, tells us that true freedom actually requires an authority to whom we submit. In fact, we will submit to some authority somewhere (none of us are so free as we think). Thankfully, we have a choice here. Paul puts the question to us straight: “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?” (Romans 6:16).

Left to our own devices, our delusions about what freedom is actually enslave us. “Offer yourselves to sin,” Paul insists, “and it’s your last free act” (Romans 6:16 msg). We either surrender to sin that enslaves us or we “live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Romans 6:14). True freedom requires a loving and powerful God reigning over our life. If we surrender to Him, a vast space breaks open around us.

However, if we insist on our own autonomy, our life actually grows smaller and smaller. Eventually, we find ourselves chained in a small, confining space of our own making.

It can be easy to completely twist this truth. We can fear that surrender to God means we’ll be shackled and constricted. God’s leading, however, is the way we discover true freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). A life that resists God always traps us in restrictive, miserable spaces. But a life with God always releases us to goodness and joy.

Start Today

From: Our Daily Journey

  Sep 28, 2018  

Read:

Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up (Deuteronomy 6:7).

When I was growing up, my mother established a wonderful pattern for our family. Every night before bed, she would gather us around her, open the Bible, and have us take turns reading a few verses. Afterwards we would all briefly discuss the passage, and then we would pray together. No matter how tired she was, my mother would always bring us to the Scriptures.

The experience my mother created for us is similar to what Moses asked the Israelites to do for their children in the book of Deuteronomy. They were on the Plains of Moab, getting ready to take possession of Canaan—the Promised Land. Moses repeated the Law that was given to the prior generation after their exodus from Egypt, while adapting and expanding it for a new generation of Israelites.

Moses set the priorities straight by highlighting the importance of passing on God’s Law to their children. First, they were to realize that their relationship with God should come before rules. He said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Second, their commitment was to be unwavering (Deuteronomy 6:6). Finally, they were to teach God’s wisdom to their children even in the most mundane activities, such as “when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up” (Deuteronomy 6:7).

Professor Don Whitney wrote, “God deserves to be worshiped daily in our homes by our families. And for that reason, start today.” May we, like the Israelites, make use of daily opportunities to worship God with our family. That time set aside will honor God and create a spiritual bond that will help us to stand united even when difficulties come.

In All Things

From: Our Daily Bread

  Sep 26, 2018  

Read:

Colossians 3:1-25
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people (Colossians 3:23).

Driving home one evening, I noticed I was low on fuel. Icy rain began striking the windshield, and I groaned at the thought of getting out of my warm car to fill up the gas tank on such a miserable night. But I reluctantly pulled into the next gas station I came to—and promptly did a double take! Through the pouring rain, I saw a woman dancing in the gas station. I sat for a moment and stared in wonder. Why would anyone dance with such joyful abandon on an awful night like this? A rather sad, cold, and lonely moment was instantly transformed by a woman who refused to be defined by her circumstances.

I regularly return to that image of the lone woman dancing in the gas station. I don’t know if she was a believer in Jesus, but her exuberance certainly reflected the joy He brings. What a beautiful illustration of what it can look like if believers choose to bring hope and light and Christ’s joy to those we meet instead of succumbing to the darkness of this world. We have new life in Him and He’s given us a heavenly perspective that should affect everything, including our work (Colossians 3:1-4).

The apostle Paul reminds us that if Jesus lives within us and is the One we live for, then, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can put to death our sinful nature as we put on our new nature. We can “be renewed” into Christ’s nature as we “learn to know [our] Creator and become like him” (Colossians 3:10).

Whether in word or deed, as He provides the strength and perspective we need, let’s choose to honor Jesus. As Paul wrote, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people” (Colossians 3:23). That may even lead you to dance as you work for Him.

In All Things

From: Our Daily Bread

  Sep 26, 2018  

Read:

Colossians 3:1-25
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people (Colossians 3:23).

Driving home one evening, I noticed I was low on fuel. Icy rain began striking the windshield, and I groaned at the thought of getting out of my warm car to fill up the gas tank on such a miserable night. But I reluctantly pulled into the next gas station I came to—and promptly did a double take! Through the pouring rain, I saw a woman dancing in the gas station. I sat for a moment and stared in wonder. Why would anyone dance with such joyful abandon on an awful night like this? A rather sad, cold, and lonely moment was instantly transformed by a woman who refused to be defined by her circumstances.

I regularly return to that image of the lone woman dancing in the gas station. I don’t know if she was a believer in Jesus, but her exuberance certainly reflected the joy He brings. What a beautiful illustration of what it can look like if believers choose to bring hope and light and Christ’s joy to those we meet instead of succumbing to the darkness of this world. We have new life in Him and He’s given us a heavenly perspective that should affect everything, including our work (Colossians 3:1-4).

The apostle Paul reminds us that if Jesus lives within us and is the One we live for, then, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can put to death our sinful nature as we put on our new nature. We can “be renewed” into Christ’s nature as we “learn to know [our] Creator and become like him” (Colossians 3:10).

Whether in word or deed, as He provides the strength and perspective we need, let’s choose to honor Jesus. As Paul wrote, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people” (Colossians 3:23). That may even lead you to dance as you work for Him.

Many Beautiful Things

  September 25, 2018  

Read: Mark 14:1–9 | Bible in a Year: Song of Solomon 6–8; Galatians 4

She has done a beautiful thing to me. Mark 14:6

From: Our Daily Bread

Just before her death, artist and missionary Lilias Trotter looked out a window and saw a vision of a heavenly chariot. According to her biographer, a friend asked, “Are you seeing many beautiful things?” She answered, “Yes, many, many beautiful things.”

Trotter’s final words reflect God’s work in her life. Not only in death, but throughout her life, He revealed much beauty to her and through her. Although a talented artist, she chose to serve Jesus as a missionary in Algeria. John Ruskin, a famous painter who tutored her, is said to have commented, “What a waste,” when she chose the mission field over a career in art.

Similarly, in the New Testament, when a woman came to Simon the Leper’s house with an alabaster jar and poured perfume on Jesus’s head, those present saw it as a waste. This expensive perfume was worth a year’s common wages, so some of the people present thought it could have been used to help the poor. However, commending this woman’s deep devotion to Him, Jesus said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:6).

Every day we can choose to let Christ’s life shine in our lives and display His beauty to the world. To some, it may seem a waste, but let us have willing hearts to serve Him. May Jesus say we have done many beautiful things for Him.

Dear Father, help me express my love to You in beautiful ways.

May our lives display the beauty of God.

Walking God’s Way

From: Our Daily Bread

 September 24, 2018  

Read: Isaiah 30:15–21 | Bible in a Year: Song of Solomon 4–5; Galatians 3

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21

“We’re going this way,” I said as I touched my son’s shoulder and redirected him through the crowd to follow his mom and sisters in front of us. I’d done this more often as the day wore on at the amusement park our family was visiting. He was getting tired and more easily distracted. Why can’t he just follow them? I wondered.

Then it hit me: How often do I do exactly the same thing? How often do I veer from obediently walking with God, enchanted by the temptations to pursue what I want instead of seeking His ways?

Think of Isaiah’s words from God for Israel: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’ ” (Isaiah 30:21). Earlier in that chapter, God had rebuked His people for their rebelliousness. But if they would trust His strength instead of their own ways (v. 15), He promised to show His graciousness and compassion (v. 18).

One expression of God’s graciousness is His promise to guide us by His Spirit. That happens as we talk to Him about our desires and ask in prayer what He has for us. I’m thankful God patiently directs us, day-by-day, step-by-step, as we trust Him and listen for His voice.

Father, You’ve promised to guide us through the ups and downs and decisions we face in life. Help us to trust and follow You, and to actively listen for Your guiding voice.

God patiently directs us as we trust Him and listen for His voice.

Not a Weakness

From: Our Daily Journey

  Sep 23, 2018  

Read:

Ruth 1:8-18
May the Lord, the God is Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done (Ruth 2:12).

If my mother could have chosen a super-power, it would have been invisibility. Mom did things the right way every time. She didn’t want anyone to notice anything amiss. Then again, she didn’t want anyone to notice anything at all! Mom was a textbook introvert.

Due to her quiet ways, it might have appeared to some that my mother wasn’t a worshipful person. But that would’ve been totally untrue. She worshiped God with all her heart—through her faithful Bible reading each morning, through her unfailing prayers for her family, but mostly through her selfless service to others. She never looked for attention or praise, and she couldn’t wait to be with Jesus. She fully lived out her faith with the personality God gave her.

God often chooses the quiet, unassuming types to fulfill His plans. Ruth may have been one of those. We never see her doing anything flashy. She never sought attention or did anything that might be construed as noisy. All we see is faithfulness and a fiercely unrelenting loyalty.

When Naomi and her two daughters-in-law were left widowed in Moab, Naomi, a Jewish woman, chose to return to Israel alone. “But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi” (Ruth 1:14). A crucial part of Ruth’s decision was spiritual: “Your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16). Ruth proceeded to live out this faith in quiet acts of service that provided for her mother-in-law (Ruth 2:2-3). Ultimately, her quiet loyalty would provide for all of us: In a plot twist only the Master Storyteller could write, Ruth became an ancestor of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).

An introverted personality isn’t a weakness. Quiet or exuberant, our confidence should always reside in Jesus.

Spirit-Led Worship

From: Our Daily Journey

  Sep 22, 2018  

Read:

Luke 2:36-52
She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone (Luke 2:38).

Facing transition in my current job, I’ve been diligently asking God for direction. Feeling called to take a leap of faith, I wonder how others will respond to my decision. As I was ruminating over the circumstances with my son, he said, “Mom, you are a Lucy,” referring to the Prince Caspian segment of The Chronicles of Narnia. “She could see Aslan when the others couldn’t, and he told her to follow him regardless.”

A fictional presentation of the kingdom of heaven, C. S. Lewis’ iconic work reminds us that following Jesus requires faith (Hebrews 11:1,3). Anna, a prophetess, intimately experienced this engagement with the unseen (Luke 2:36). Staying in the temple, she worshiped God night and day “with fasting and prayer” (Luke 2:37). She likely knew the voice of the Holy Spirit, and her life of dedication to God gave her a distinctive view into His plans.

While we do not know her daily routine, Anna would certainly have known the festivals, the prayers, and the Scriptures that encompassed life within the temple. Similar to Anna’s experiences, the life of Jesus teaches us that the set and predictable rhythms of worship can serve to ready us for the spontaneous movement of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus and His parents returned years later to the temple, they were following the customs of the Jewish Passover (Luke 2:41-42). Because His life was surrendered in worship to the will of the Father, however, Jesus allowed the unseen leading of the Spirit to determine His steps, and He remained in the temple long after His parents had started their journey home (Luke 2:43,49).

May we too be so connected to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our worship that we obey, even when others don’t understand (Luke 2:50).

Are You Over-Righteous?

From: Author, Lori D'Augostine

“May all who come behind us find us faithful.” I can still remember chanting those words in our daily chapel meetings in Bible school. Girded by the breastplate of righteousness, a batallion of young soldiers were well-equipped to become the next Billy Graham or Elizabeth Elliot. Was it true righteousness though?Admittedly, I sometimes wonder.

Did you know that there is such a thing in the Bible as over-righteousness?

“Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise — why destroy yourself?” Ecclesiastes 7:16 (NIV)

What does it mean to be over-righteous? According to the Bible, true righteousness is only imparted through the Holy Spirit. Anything else is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). God’s righteousness is imputed to us at the moment of salvation and thenceforth, any true righteousness that flows from us is not from us, but from the Holy Spirit.

George Whitefield, one of the great evangelists of the Englightenment said:

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and we hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth. Now till the Spirit of God is felt on our souls as the wind on our bodies, indeed, my dear brethren, you have no interest in him: religion consists not in external performance, it must be in the heart, or else it is only a name.”

Many times our efforts may outwardly appear unto Christ. We busy ourselves with the “work” of the Kingdom. Outwardly, we paste on a smile, while sweating bullets inside. You know the drill … early to rise for 7 am prayer at church and then off to visit a friend in the hospital. We can hardly keep up with this Christian life. We’re not sure how to fix this, but if we don’t, our friends will be visiting us in the hospital. Martha, Martha, Martha ….

The reality is that all of our toiling is in vain. Our over-righteousness destroys us and perhaps even the people around us. Somewhere in our work for the Lord, our desire to be great for God has deterred the ability to hear His voice. Our walls of pride may have been built up so much that it is difficult to see this coming disaster.

We need to STOP! We are not the Savior of the world. We need to stop filling up our self piggy banks and flaunting our righteousness. We don’t have to strive and struggle any longer. Jesus came for people like YOU and ME!

When Jesus came to this earth, His actions seemed rather un-righteous to the religious folk. He broke the Sabbath, declared Himself equal to God, spent a lot of time with sinners, and urged his followers not to pray in public as the hypocrites. Maybe we should follow His example. The very man who was righteousness embodied, did not even try to out-do the Law. He was always consumed with His Father’s business, no matter how great or small and never wanted to make a name for Himself or be like any other person under Heaven.

“Then Jesus explained, ‘My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.'” John 4:34 (NLT)

If you think that you may be suffering from over-righteousness, I urge you to repent and reconsider that Your soul is starving. Get alone with God immediately and be open to His will no matter how menial or trite. He might surprise you! You may find that the secrets of advancing the Kingdom of God are to be found right under your nose. If you humble yourself, you will see that the smaller, less noble things are the greatest. The last shall be first in the great Kingdom of God (Matthew 20:16).

Strength in Joy

From: Our Daily journey

  Sep 20, 2018  

Read:

Nehemiah 8:1-12
This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength! (Nehemiah 8:10).

On a trip to England, Horatio G. Spafford’s four daughters lost their lives when their ship was struck by another vessel, leaving their mother as one of the few survivors. As Spafford later sailed to meet his wife, he penned the hymn “It Is Well with My Soul.” More than a century later, worship leader Darlene Zschech wrote “Shout to the Lord” during a family crisis. In moments of deep pain, both Spafford and Zschech drew strength from the joy of knowing God was present and for them.

The Jewish people who returned to Judah after exile in Babylon also knew times of great struggle. With Nehemiah’s help, they’d managed to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, “but the population was small, and none of the houses had been rebuilt” (Nehemiah 7:4). As they tried to plan for their future, “all the people assembled with a unified purpose [and] asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses. [So Ezra] read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law” (Nehemiah 8:1-3).

While the people listened and had the words explained by the priests, they began to weep (Nehemiah 8:9), likely with a fresh conviction of how they had strayed from God’s commands. In that moment, Nehemiah called out, “Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). “So the people went away . . . to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them” (Nehemiah 8:12).

Jerusalem was still in ruins, but the revelation of God’s Word brought great joy. And so the people received strength anew to continue serving God and to keep on rebuilding. No matter our situation, may we also draw strength from the joy of knowing and abiding in our Savior.