Come Back To God

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 7, 2017  

 

Read:

Amos 5:1-15 
Come back to the Lord and live! (Amos 5:6).

 

Years ago, a stray cat began to visit my parents’ house. After several back-door bowls of milk, they decided to adopt him and name him Theo. He enjoyed being petted and fed, but he often left for days and returned with bloodied ears, smelling like a trashcan. But my parents were always happy when he came home.
My parents’ unconditional love for Theo reminds me in part of God’s persistent longing for the Israelites to return to Him. During the time of Amos’ prophecy to the nation, the people had been worshiping at altars and shrines of false gods. Staying true to His loving covenant with His people—blessing for obedience and discipline for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:1,15)—God didn’t pursue His people with promises of ease and affluence. He allowed them to experience a series of challenges: famine, drought, mildew, locusts, plagues, and death (Amos 4:6-10).
In this case, hardship wasn’t simply a punishment for His people’s unfaithfulness. It was something more—something God allowed because He wanted to have a spiritual reunion with Israel. Through Amos, God voiced His greatest desire for His people: “Come back to the Lord and live!” (Amos 5:6).
When, like the ancient Israelites, we stray from single-hearted devotion to God, the painful consequences for sin may be one way to remember God’s love calling out to us, longing to draw us closer to Him. Amos’ words remind us of God’s love: “Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed” (Amos 5:14). If you’re in pain because of your sin or the sin of others, never doubt God’s heart of love for you—instead, turn to Him for healing and restoration.

Trusting The Heart Of God

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 6, 2017  

Read:

Isaiah 65:17-25
Look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness (Isaiah 65:18).

I have a friend, a nurse, who recently went to Thessaloniki, Greece, to work in three refugee camps, primarily serving mothers and young babies who were far from home in the bitter cold. The overwhelming majority of the refugees are from Syria, where their villages and cities, once places of laughter and life, are now mostly rubble. In an email, my friend attached an image of one of the refugee tents where someone had scribbled on the outside: “We are not refugees, we are prisoners here. We want a better life.”

When we see violence ripping countries apart, we mourn with these dear people. We want a better life for them as well. We want the cities they call home to be places of joy again instead of devastation.

The terrors and hopes of refugees are not foreign to God’s people. Through the prophet Isaiah, God spoke to Israel as they sat on the brink of disintegration. God promised He had not forgotten the people’s plight and He intended to do something about it. “Look!” God said, “I am creating new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17). With the arrival of this new reality, this new world, their beloved city that was teetering toward ruin would be renewed. “I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness,” God promised (Isaiah 65:18).

And this promise is still our hope as we struggle through the devastations of today. In God’s new city, “weeping and crying” will vanish as joy and celebration overflow (Isaiah 65:19). This city and her people will be “a source of joy” for all those who surround her (Isaiah 65:18).

And from this New Jerusalem, God’s mercy will flood over every nation and people. When God’s new world arrives, those who have believed in Jesus will experience the joy that flows from Him.

Prayer and Bullies

From: Our Daily Journey

 Nov 5, 2017 

Read:

Matthew 5:43-48
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! (Matthew 5:44).

My husband and I were discussing an elderly person who was being bullied by a professing believer in Jesus in their Christian workplace—unaware that our 10-year-old daughter had overheard us talking. A few days later, however, when my daughter and I were walking around the track at the local fitness center, I told her that I often pray for people as I walk each lap because I find that to be a good use of time. She responded: “Why don’t we pray for that person who was being bullied and for the bully too? Jesus said to pray for our enemies.”

She was right. Jesus does tell us to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44-46). After all, God provides good things, like rain, for both the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45). God is good and kind to His enemies even though they continually ignore Him. In fact, even before we were born, Jesus showed us His love by dying for us—sinners who act as enemies to ourselves, to God, and to others. When we pray for our enemies, Christlike love and compassion for them can grow. It doesn’t mean we allow abuse to continue, but we don’t retaliate in kind.

Praying for our enemies can take time and is definitely a work of grace, not something we are naturally inclined to do. But in time we just might find ourselves praying even more for them as our hearts soften.

I was thrilled to learn that my daughter had internalized what we had taught her. Although I didn’t want to pray for the bully that day because I was tired of this person getting away with awful behavior, I still chose to pray as Jesus told us to. There’s a beauty that radiates in our hearts when we pray for others—the beauty found in Jesus Himself. For He chose to love us even when we were His enemies.

Surrounded by God

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 4, 2017  

Read:

Psalm 19:1-6
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship (Psalm 19:1).

In the 1940s, George de Mestral faced an issue only too familiar to dog owners: After a walk in the woods, his dog’s fur was riddled with cockleburs—thorny seeds which are nearly impossible to remove. But de Mestral realized that more than simply an inconvenience, perhaps the design of the cockleburs could inspire something useful. In time, he invented VELCRO® brand fasteners which are widely used for fabric and more. This is just one example among many of inventors who used the wonders of the natural world to provide inspiration for their creations.

But God’s creation is far more than simply providing inspiration for inventors. It provides us with a direct connection to Himself. The psalmist says that the sky and heavens declare the glory of God to the entire world, without using a single word (Psalm 19:3-4). This same sentiment would be echoed hundreds of years later by the apostle Paul in Acts 14 as he preached to the people of Lystra, imploring them to realize that their “rain and good crops” and “joyful hearts” were evidence of a living God (Acts 14:17). He shared something similar with the church of Rome—how God’s invisible attributes can be seen in visible creation: “Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20). The beauty and intricacy of created order is a wordless proclamation of a beautiful and all-powerful God!

I often long to see more of God and to sense more of His presence in my life. But this isn’t only an inner reality, like a state of mind or an emotion. If I take the time to see it, God’s miraculous and loving qualities are on display all around me in the world He created.

The Right Connection

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 3, 2017  

Read:

John 15:1-8
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

“The cable isn’t working!” exclaimed the event organizer with a panicked look on her face. I was speaking at a women’s conference and had arrived early to set up my laptop. The organizer tried to connect my laptop to the projector and found the cable connection didn’t fit. I told her, “Don’t worry. I have the right cable with me.” Thankfully, in my preparations for the event I had packed the needed component. I was grateful to have the right connection!

That experience reminded me of our need for connection with God. In His last days on earth, Jesus had promised His disciples that even after He left, He would remain in them if they remained in Him (John 15:4). He meant for them to continue His mission—living by His power no matter the circumstances. But how could they remain in Jesus? And how would they know they succeeded?

Earlier in the disciples’ training, Jesus had urged them to “seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously,” being confident in God’s provision of all they needed (Matthew 6:33). To have the right connection with God and remain in Christ meant they would need to seek Him above any relationship or possession. As they remained in Him, in obedience bringing glory to God, they would “produce much fruit” (John 15:8). And all of this would be possible only by the power of the Holy Spirit—through whom God’s character would shine in and through their lives (Galatians 5:22-23).

The secret to being connected with our Creator is to believe in, trust, and obey Jesus. When we do, we’ll experience the power of His Spirit producing lasting fruit and the joy of Jesus’ friendship and love even as we face life’s challenges.

Obedience or Independence?

November 2 

Obedience or Independence?

By Oswald Chambers

 If you love Me, keep My commandments. —John 14:15

Our Lord never insists on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” “Ifanyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.

The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.

Trusting the Shepherd

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 1, 2017  

Read:

Psalm 23:1-6
Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me (Psalm 23:4).

A rod and a staff—they feel like strange comforts. You think of a sheep in a dark valley with predators all around, and the push of a rod or a wrench of a staff are the only encouragements. They can be a comfort ultimately, but at the time they don’t feel like it.” A friend and I were discussing Psalm 23, highlighting an often overlooked part of it. How, I wondered, can we find consolation in these images of correction? (Psalm 23:4).

King David, having grown up a shepherd boy, knew well the tools of the trade. In the ancient Near East, shepherds would carry a rod—a short, heavy stick—to keep the sheep safe from predators and to discipline them when they went astray. The staff, easily recognizable with its distinctive hook, was a gentler tool. It could be used to place a newborn into its mother’s lap without transferring the shepherd’s scent onto the lamb, to lift a sheep up to higher ground, or to guide a sheep in a new direction through careful placement on the sheep’s side.

As I considered these instruments, I thought about how God might use them in my life. For instance, when I feel anxious, I might not sense His presence. Yet I may experience some sort of rescue, like the Shepherd’s crook that pulls the sheep up to high ground, reminding me that God is with me (Psalm 23:2-4). Other times when I act out in irritation or selfishness, I can sense the loving discipline of the Shepherd. This helps me to repent and be free of sin’s shame. I find myself not ostracized, but nestled among His flock.

That Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep should bring us confidence and comfort (see Psalm 23:1; John 10:1-18). He laid down His life for us, so we can trust Him when He uses His staff and rod.