Is Your Treasure In Heaven?

May 15, 2017 The Day I Discovered I Was Rich SUZIE ELLER From: Crosswalk.com

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6-7 (NIV)

If I were rich, I’d …

Have you ever played that game?

Well, if I were rich I know exactly what I would do. I’d go for a massage every single week. I love them!

When I do get to experience that rare luxury, I walk in expectantly. I know the massage therapist will find knots and kinks I didn’t know I had. She’ll pause over that hurting spot and work on it until I feel relief. She can make my back — aching from a hike or even bending over to pick up a sock — feel strong again.

Most of all, a massage makes me feel nurtured and well.

There was a time when I hurt inside. I was reminded of that recently when I stumbled across an old friend from my school days. She invited me to join her and her husband at dinner. Later that night, we sat around the table enjoying enchiladas and old memories. At one point, she told her husband a story about the angry young girl she remembered from middle school.

It felt odd. Like she was talking about someone else.

And she was.

As I drove home, I couldn’t help but think about the Master’s touch on my life.

I don’t need to play a game of “If I were rich,” because I am rich. I am the recipient of the “incomparable riches of his grace” Paul talked about in Ephesians 2:6-7. God’s love worked out the knots and kinks of anger that used to live inside of me.

He made me whole, both spiritually and emotionally.

Rather than being bound by my past, His healing touch led me to show compassion for others hurting in the same way.

It set me free to tell others how His touch soothed the rough edges of my heart. It set me free to celebrate how He worked out the knots of unforgiveness and helped me to stand strong for the first time.

Do you need the Master’s touch today? His faithful love nurtures us and makes us well.

I pray you invite Him in to those hurting places and allow His unfailing love to gently touch and heal you. God is waiting to nurture you, simply because you are His.

If you’ve been made whole, you don’t have to play the “If I were rich” game ever again, for you are rich beyond measure. Why don’t you take a moment and tell someone how rich you are — all because of the Master’s touch.

Heavenly Father, if I’ve taken Your healing touch for granted, forgive me. I am rich because of Your mercy. I am blessed because of Your touch, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

A Special Mom

From: Our Daily Journey

Read:

Hebrews 11:23-27
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it (Proverbs 22:6).

Most people would agree that mothers are very special people. In many countries, we even set aside a date on the calendar—Mother’s Day—to celebrate them. As I was thinking about my own mom, I remembered another mother who’s truly worth knowing. Jochebed protected her newborn—“a special baby”—because she loved him (Exodus 2:2). The law of a power-hungry king required baby Moses to be drowned. But due to her deep faith in God, she was “not afraid to disobey the king’s command” (Acts 5:29; Hebrews 11:23). Moses was saved in an amazing way! By God’s providence, Jochebed became Moses’ nursemaid. And when Moses was older, he was “taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22). The infant in peril became a prince of privilege (Exodus 2:7-10).

As an adult, Moses turned his back on the power and pleasures of Egypt. Instead, he chose to suffer with his oppressed people. He wasn’t afraid of the king’s anger because he saw “the one who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:24-27).

How did Moses know the history of his people? How did he obtain his convictions? How did he develop such deep faith in God?

As his nursemaid (Exodus 2:9), Jochebed likely had opportunities to tell Moses the stories of Yahweh and the history of his people. Her godly influence and great faith may have therefore been imprinted on the life and heart of Moses (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

Jochebed’s three children testify to the kind of mother she was. Aaron, Miriam, and Moses became the leaders of God’s people (Micah 6:4). Jochebed means “Jehovah (God) is her glory.” She lived up to her name by His power and help. Today, may we celebrate godly mothers who point their children to Jesus and live out their faith by His streng

Make God Your Right Choice

From: Get More Strength.org

May

13

2017

“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” James 4:4

Ever been caught in the middle of a fight? When I was a kid in junior high school, two of my buddies had a disagreement and planned to prove their dominant masculinity in a fight at the park after school. “Red” was a friend from my youth group at church, and Larry was a buddy from my neighborhood. As we walked to the park after school that day, all of Red’s friends were following him, while all of Larry’s friends clustered around him. I didn’t know what to do. Both of them were my friends. So I decided to do the diplomatic thing. First, I walked for a bit with Larry, and then I slipped over to Red’s side of the street. I’ll never forget what Red said to me. “Joe, you’re either my friend or Larry’s friend. You can’t have it both ways. Make up your mind.”

Ouch.

I knew right away that what he said had a ring of truth to it. Not unlike Red’s remark to me, the apostle James jabs us with a stinging warning: “Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

I doubt that any of us would want to be on the wrong side of that equation. Yet it’s so easy to sidle up to the ways of the world. How can we know whose side we’re really on? Thankfully, Paul gives us a clue. In Galatians 5:19-21, just before he gives the famous list of the fruits of the Spirit, he lists several examples of how friendship with the world shows up in our actions: “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.”

If you find yourself in that list, you’re making a huge statement about whose side you’re on. And here’s a scary thought—not only are you a friend of the world, but an enemy of God when your actions stand in sharp contrast to His will and His ways. Thankfully, Paul doesn’t leave us in enemy territory. He goes on to list some examples of what friendship with God looks like: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Jesus Himself made the grounds for friendship with Him clear when He said to His disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). Doing His will is what proves our friendship with Him, and it is what empowers us to bear much fruit to His glory!

So, whose side are you on? Friendship with Jesus is proven when we walk with Him in His will and His ways, which means that friendship with Jesus is a choice—a choice between Him and the ways of this fallen world.

Take it from me, James, Paul, and my friend Red, you can’t have it both ways. So be sure that you’re walking in Jesus’ crowd!

Forgiven Debt

From: Our Daily Journey

Read:

2 Corinthians 8:1-9
You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

John Oliver, the host of HBO’s popular TV show Last Week Tonight, made the news when he forgave fifteen million dollars in debt. He did this to show the unsavory nature of buying debt and collecting on it. He purchased the massive debt at the price of just $.004 for every dollar. Because he owned the debt, Oliver had the legal right to collect it. Instead, he generously abolished it.

Forgiving fifteen million dollars of financial debt is generous, but it pales in comparison to God forgiving the debt of our sin through the death of Jesus. The apostle Paul made this clear in 2 Corinthians 8, which contains a beautiful summary of the gospel in 2 Corinthians 8:9. In an effort to motivate the wealthy Corinthian church to be generous givers (2 Corinthians 8:2,6), Paul used the generosity of Jesus Himself as the ultimate model for believers. Christ “became poor” when He left heaven, came to earth, and sacrificed His life on the cross.

The One who was “rich,” who had everything, made Himself nothing (Philippians 2:7). Though a holy God had every right to collect the debt of sin, He sent His Son to assume humanity’s debt of sin and pay for it with His life (Philippians 2:8). Christ became poor so that those who believe in Him might become spiritually rich—experiencing real life in and through Him.

Jesus forgave our debt by voluntarily surrendering Himself to death on a cross. His generosity should inspire devotion in us. Today, may we honor God with our bodies, give freely to those in need, forgive others as we’ve been forgiven, and be patient with others as Jesus has been patient with us. Let’s lovingly give up our lives for our brothers and sisters as He gave His life for us.

Singing With Violet

From: Our Daily Bread

Read: Philippians 1:21–26 | Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 13–14; John 2

I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Philippians 1:23–24

An elderly woman named Violet sat on her bed in a Jamaican infirmary and smiled as some teenagers stopped to visit with her. The hot, sticky, midday air came into her little group home unabated, but she didn’t complain. Instead, she began wracking her mind for a song to sing. Then a huge smile appeared and she sang, “I am running, skipping, jumping, praising the Lord!” As she sang, she swung her arms back and forth as if she were running. Tears came to those around her, for Violet had no legs. She was singing because, she said, “Jesus loves me—and in heaven I will have legs to run with.”

Violet’s joy and hopeful anticipation of heaven give new vibrancy to Paul’s words in Philippians 1 when he referred to life-and-death issues. “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me,” he said. “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (vv. 22–23).

When God gives us a new beginning, we find a joy that’s never ending.

Each of us faces tough times that may cause us to long for the promise of heavenly relief. But as Violet showed us joy despite her current circumstances, we too can keep “running, skipping, praising the Lord”—both for the abundant life He gives us here and for the ultimate joy that awaits us.

Lord, when times are tough, help me to find joy. Help us to live in the tough times of this world with happiness while looking ahead to something “better by far.”

When God gives us a new beginning, we find a joy that’s never ending.

God Will Wipe Away Your Tears

From: Our Daily Bread

Read:

Lamentations 2:5-11
I have cried until the tears no longer come (Lamentations 2:11).

In 2013 Dr. Ad Vingerhoets, a social and behavioral scientist from the Netherlands, wrote a book called Why Only Humans Weep. He’s one of only a few scientists who have dedicated their lives to studying why people cry. Vingerhoets states that “tears are of extreme relevance for human nature. We cry because we need other people.”

Lamentations 2 is part of a poem written during a painful and tearful time of need—need for other people and for God. It’s about the destruction of Jerusalem, the suffering and exile of its people, and God’s anger at their sin. The prophet said that He “brought unending sorrow and tears upon beautiful Jerusalem” (Lamentations 2:5). He went on to say, “I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken. My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people” (Lamentations 2:11).

Years later, a poet also wrote about tears and the exile of Israel, but in a new light. Psalm 126 says, “When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, ‘What amazing things the Lord has done for them.’ . . . Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest” (Psalm 126:1-2,5-6).

Human suffering is all around us. On any given day we can read stories of profound suffering in the news. We can find it in every city. At times, it fills our own lives.

But our hope is in the same God who returned the exiles to Jerusalem. As John wrote, Jesus will someday “wipe every tear from [our] eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). That will be a new and glorious day.

Reaching Beyond Our Grasp

(Pictures of things that are just out of their grasp).

From: Utmost.org

Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint… —Proverbs 29:18

There is a difference between holding on to a principle and having a vision. A principle does not come from moral inspiration, but a vision does. People who are totally consumed with idealistic principles rarely do anything. A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah tried to excuse his disobedience by saying to God, “…I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). I too may have the right idea of God and His attributes, but that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of honesty and integrity, because the vision gives me the moral incentive.

Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?

“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]….” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path. We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?