True Love Is No Accident

From: Our Daily Journey

Read:

Ezekiel 20:30-44
I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness (Ezekiel 20:44).

 

One rainy autumn day, my son’s vehicle left the road, went airborne at 70 mph (112 km), and found a lone tree beyond a drainage ditch. For the next hour, rescue workers toiled to pry him from his shredded car. By God’s grace, he survived.
While processing that event with friends, I shared a bit about my own youthful indiscretions. “Do you feel this accident is God judging you for your sins when you were young?” one asked. “No,” I said. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt God’s judgment.”
That got some attention. But if by judgment my friend meant punishment, I stand by my statement.
The ancient prophets show God pleading with His people to return to Him so they wouldn’t suffer judgment. Yet God still permitted them to go their own way. They chose idolatry and sexual sin over His life-giving commands. “I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them,” God said (Ezekiel 20:26). But He didn’t leave them there. “Go right ahead and worship your idols, but sooner or later you will obey me,” God told them (Ezekiel 20:39). Invasion, destruction, and exile were coming. Yet they would one day return to Him.
Sometimes accidents are just accidents. Sin, however, always carries a high cost. When we suffer the inevitable consequences, we may think we’re receiving God’s judgment. In reality, it’s His love.
God sometimes permits me to slam into the results of my sin. He pulls me out of the wreckage, brushes me off, and sets me back on my feet. I sense Him gently say, “Let’s go this way now.”
Our son for the time being is walking with a cane. I look at that cane and watch those painful steps. I observe his resilient, God-given spirit. And I see a clear metaphor for my own walk with God.

Abundant Life

From: Our Daily Bread

Read: Mark 10:28–31; John 10:9–10 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 72–73; Romans 9:1–15

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 

When I stopped by to visit my sister’s family, my nephews eagerly showed me their new chore system, a set of Choropoly boards. Each colorful electronic board keeps track of their chores. A job well done means the kids can hit a green button, which adds points to their “spending” account. A misdeed like leaving the back door open results in a fine being deducted from the total. Since a high-points total leads to exciting rewards such as computer time—and misdeeds deduct from that total—my nephews are now unusually motivated to do their work and to keep the door closed!

The ingenious system had me joking that I wished I had such an exciting motivational tool! But of course God has given us motivation. Rather than simply commanding obedience, Jesus has promised that a life of following Him, while costly, is also a life of abundance, “life . . . to the full” (John 10:10). Experiencing life in His kingdom is worth “one hundred times” the cost—now and eternally (Mark 10:29–30).

Lord, help us to remember there is great meaning in following You and that it is all so worth it.

We can rejoice in the fact that we serve a generous God, One who does not reward and punish as we deserve. He generously accepts our weakest efforts—even welcoming and rewarding latecomers to His kingdom as generously as old-timers (see Matt. 20:1–16). In light of this reality, let us joyfully serve Him today.

Lord, help us to remember there is great meaning in following You and that it is all so worth it.

Following Jesus is the way to a rich and satisfying life.

Reflecting God's Love

From: Our Daily Bread

Read: Exodus 34:29–35 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 70–71; Romans 8:22–39

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. Exodus 34:29

I had the privilege of serving as my mom’s caregiver during her treatments at a live-in cancer care center. Even on her hardest days, she read Scripture and prayed for others before getting out of bed.

She spent time with Jesus daily, expressing her faith through her dependence on God, her kind deeds, and her desire to encourage and pray for others. Never realizing how much her smiling face glowed with the Lord’s loving grace, she shared God’s love with the people around her until the day He called her home to heaven.

As we spend time with God and surrender our lives to Him more and more each day, we can reflect His love.

After Moses spent forty days and forty nights communing with God (Ex. 34:28), he descended Mount Sinai. He had no idea his intimate connection with the Lord actually changed his appearance (v. 29). But the Israelites could tell Moses had spoken with the Lord (vv. 30–32). He continued meeting with God and influencing the lives of those around him (vv. 33–35).

We might not be able to see how our experiences with God change us over time, and our transformation will definitely not be as physically apparent as Moses’s beaming face. But as we spend time with God and surrender our lives to Him more and more each day, we can reflect His love. God can draw others closer to Him as the evidence of His presence shows in and through us.

Our intimate moments spent with God can change us and direct others to His love.

Showing Grace

From: Our Daily Bread

Read: Colossians 4:2–6 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 68–69; Romans 8:1–21

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:6

The US Masters Golf Tournament began in 1934, and since then only three players have won it two years in a row. On April 10, 2016, it appeared that twenty-two-year-old Jordan Spieth would become the fourth. But he faltered on the last nine holes and finished in a tie for second. Despite his disappointing loss, Spieth was gracious toward tournament champion Danny Willett, congratulating him on his victory and on the birth of his first child, something “more important than golf.”

Writing in The New York Times, Karen Krouse said, “It takes grace to see the big picture so soon after having to sit through a trophy ceremony and watch someone else have his photograph taken.” Krouse continued, “Spieth’s ball-striking was off all week, but his character emerged unscathed.”

Dear Lord, help me by Your Spirit to be gracious and kind to others and to represent You well.

Paul urged the followers of Jesus in Colossae to “be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col. 4:5–6).

As those who have freely received God’s grace, it is our privilege and calling to demonstrate it in every situation of life—win or lose.

Dear Lord, help me by Your Spirit to be gracious and kind to others and to represent You well.

Gracious words are always the right words.

Sowing Seed

From: Simposious Devotions

Matthew 13:1-23New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Speaking the Word of God is like a farmer sowing seed. People who receive the Word when it is spoken receive the seed and are saved. A person who rejects the Word of God is in danger of being lost.

Popular Opinion

From: Our Daily Bread



Hearing rave reviews from her circle of friends—all believers in Jesus—about a TV show they’d been watching, my friend decided to check it out. After just two episodes, however, she was taken aback by the program’s explicit sexual content. She chose to no longer watch the show due to her convictions, but wondered how to handle future discussions about it. Thinking through her concerns, she wondered why the show sustained drawing power for her friends.

Freedom and holiness (being set apart for God) are certainly not incompatible, but sometimes we may find ourselves in difficult conversations about these two powerful concepts. We know “Christ has truly set us free” (Galatians 5:1), but how do we steward this gift, especially knowing that we serve a holy God who calls us to live differently than those who don’t know Him? (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Having dealt with inappropriate behavior within the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul offers guidelines that still apply today. The foundation of our pursuit of holiness must be the remembrance of what first brought us to intimacy with Christ: God’s kindness (2 Corinthians 6:1). Only by His grace are we able to have freedom. This truth should both challenge us to set aside compromise and humble us in response to others’ choices (2 Corinthians 6:3,6).

As we mature, we come to understand how our lives preach the gospel (2 Corinthians 6:4-5); and what we allow to enter our minds can shape what comes out (2 Corinthians 6:7). As we value God’s presence, may we seek His wisdom to be a dwelling place for His Spirit instead of following popular opinion—even that of other believers (2 Corinthians 6:16). In all our responses, though, love must resonate in any correction offered (2 Corinthians 6:11), for it was Love that first drew us.

Talk To God Through Prayer

By: Merle Mills

“This is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard. Our flight today will reach a cruising altitude of 33,000 feet. The weather looks good and we should arrive at our destination in approximately one hour and 20 minutes. Until then, sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight.”

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight? I had not flown since January 1999, more than 16 years ago. In 16 years, there were many negative airline incident reports. My trust had been destroyed, replaced by fear.

For the next 80 minutes, my life would be guided by the hands of a captain I did not know, nor knew me. Dependent on his skill and wisdom, there was nothing I could do in my own strength. I felt helpless. Fear gripped my soul. Seat-belted in, feeling trapped at 33,000 feet in the air, I breathed a prayer.

“Heavenly Father, help me.”

“Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 KJV

Have you ever felt there was nothing you could do in your own strength, helpless? Gripped by fear, or trapped?

“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” Psalm 56:3 KJV

Prayer has no limit. We can pray, morning, noon, or night, silently from the heart, whispered, spoken aloud, or from any location. It has the ability to defeat fearful thoughts, and transform them into moments of strength, wisdom, peace, and hope.

David, fearful and running from Saul, took refuge and fled to Cave Adullam. According to Thompsons Chain Reference Bible, “there was a strange, secluded wildness about the place.”

David’s prayer breathed from this “secluded wildness place” was:

“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusts in You: yea, in the shadow of Your wings, will I make my refuge, until these calamities have passed.” Psalm 57:1 KJV

Jonah prayed with seaweed wrapped around his head (Jonah 2:5) out of the belly of a whale:

“I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and He heard me.” Jonah 2:2KJV

Peter prayed on a housetop:

“Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.” Acts 10:9 KJV

Hannah prayed for a child and our Heavenly Father gave her a son:

“Give unto your handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life.” 1 Samuel 1:11 KJV

King Hezekiah prayed to be healed:

“I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you.”2 Kings 20:5 KJV

Jesus whipped, beaten, pierced, and nailed to the cross prayed for His persecutors:

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 22:34 KJV

Today, if you are you feeling helpless, gripped by fear, or trapped, you and I have a Captain who wants to guide our life. A Captain who knows us, and One we can trust. One who invites us to pray, with the promise that our prayer will be heard.

“Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.” Jeremiah 33:3 KJV

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been cleared to land.”  We were arriving at our destination 10 minutes earlier than scheduled.  Fear before prayer had almost denied me the joy of a relaxing flight.

Prior to deplaning, I had the opportunity to speak with and compliment the captain. He had over 35 years flying experience. My life had been in capable hands.

We too are in capable hands. Our Captain has been guiding lives eternally.

“Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” Psalm 90:2 KJV

Heavenly Father, every day, in every situation, or circumstance of our lives, may we always remember Your invitation to pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.