VIDEO Not All Days Are Like This!

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving. Psalm 147:7

 

Alexander Whyte, a famous Scottish preacher, was known by his people as a man who was very optimistic and positive. He always prayed and devoted the first two or three sentences of his prayer to gratitude and thanksgiving to God.

On one particularly miserable Sunday in his church, about ninety percent of the congregation could not even get to the service because the weather was so bad. Rain, snow, wind, and ice were howling around the church. Dr. Whyte got up to pray, and his people wondered what he could possibly say that would be positive in his prayer that day.

“We thank Thee, O Lord,” he prayed, “that it is not always like it is today.” 

Perhaps you’re having trouble feeling thankful today. Regardless of your circumstances and mood, you can lighten your heart today—and bless God’s heart—by developing your own personal thanksgiving prayer. Make a mental list. Think of things for which you’ve never before expressed gratitude.

Thanksgiving is a great antidote for self-pity, and it’s an effective cure for the blues!

Count your blessings, name them one by one; and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Johnson Oatman, Jr.

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Psalm 147 – Praising the God of Care and Creation

Lies and Truth

[Satan] is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

Adolf Hitler believed big lies were more powerful than small ones, and, tragically, he tested his theory successfully. Early in his political career, he claimed he was content to support others’ aspirations. When he came to power, he said his party didn’t intend to persecute anyone. Later, he used the media to portray himself as a father figure and moral leader.

Satan uses lies to gain power in our lives. Whenever possible, he provokes fear, anger, and despair because he’s “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan can’t tell the truth because, as Jesus said, he doesn’t have any truth inside of him.

Here are a few of the enemy’s lies. First, our prayers don’t matter. Not true. The Bible says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Second, when we’re in trouble, there’s no way out. Wrong again. “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27), and “he will also provide a way out” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Third, God doesn’t love us. That’s false. Nothing can “separate us” from God’s love through Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).

God’s truth is more powerful than lies. If we obey Jesus’ teaching in His strength, then we “will know the truth,” reject what’s false, and “the truth will set [us] free” (John 8:31-32).

By:  Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Reflect & Pray

What are some lies you’re likely to believe? How might God want you to refresh your mind with His truth?

Dear Jesus, You’re the way, the truth, and the life. Please show me lies I’ve believed and help me to cling to the truth I read in the Bible.

God Comforts Us

Distractions offer only temporary relief from pain; in contrast, our heavenly Father promises healing Isaiah 66:12-13

In times of distress, we can fall into the habit of turning to God as a last resort. Food, relationships, careers, technology, and entertainment—these and other forms of escapism allure us with the false promise of relief. But whether we indulge in sweets, mindless scrolling on social media, or pointless busyness, we’ll always find ourselves empty and drained afterward. Worse still, the problem that sent us running is still there when we get back.

Reaching for God instead of our distractions requires the pain of being present in our distress—fully aware of our deep need, seeking a heavenly solution instead of the pleasures and diversions of this world. In our reading today, God reminds the children of Israel that even in the messy, painful space between promise and fulfillment, He never begins something that He doesn’t complete. In Israel’s struggle to become a nation after years of suffering and exile, God never left them. Instead, Israel experienced His deliverance in abundant and diverse ways.

Since we are children of God, Israel’s promised deliverance is extended to us—it’s an invitation to turn to Him with full confidence that we will be comforted. We are assured that “He who began a good work among [us] will complete it” and see us through to the end (Philippians 1:6).

The Promise

“And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” (2 Peter 3:4)

Has Christ forgotten His promise? After His resurrection, He returned to heaven to wait “until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21). Ever since the primeval promise in Eden (Genesis 3:15), God’s inspired prophets have kept assuring His people that He would come as Savior of the world and again as everlasting King, removing the curse of sin and death and bringing in everlasting life and righteousness.

But the centuries have come and gone, age after age, and the world continues to decay, growing worse and worse. With global pollution, disease pandemics, ever-increasing crime, and countless other intractable problems, there may be nothing left if He doesn’t come soon!

Has He forgotten His promise? No! says Peter, in this very same chapter. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

He has not yet returned because there are not yet enough who have “come to repentance”—that is, whose minds and hearts have turned away from the world system and have been renewed through faith in Christ as Creator, Savior, and Lord of all. We need not despair but simply “account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation” (2 Peter 3:15), seeking to lead people to Him until He comes.

His promise is sure, and one day He will return indeed! Therefore, Peter concludes, “we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). HMM

Our Values Determine Our Priorities

The other day I was interacting with a businessman in an attempt to motivate him to spend regular time with Christ. In response, he proceeded to lament over how little time he had for himself… that the pressures of business were overwhelming, etc. etc.

Finally, I asked him, “Mel, if I were to give you $100 for every morning you spent 10 minutes with God, would you find the time to do it?

“No.”

“Would you find the time if I gave you $200?”

“No.”

$300?”

“Yes.”

“Mel… I think you have just illustrated the fact that OUR VALUES DETERMINE OUR PRIORITIES.”

I then asked, “Mel, if you had a serious kidney disease where your very survival depended upon being on a dialysis machine every morning from 2:00 – 3:00 A. M., would you find the time to do it?“

“Yes.”

“Hmm… It sure sounds to me like OUR VALUES DETERMINE OUR PRIORITIES!”

Mel, like the rest of us, needs from time to time to be reminded that the purpose of the Cross was not to furnish us with a spiritual fire insurance policy, but to usher us into precious and intimate fellowship with Christ:

“God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.“(1 Corinthians 1:9)

Therefore, regular time with Him — call it a “Quiet Time” if you please, is a must if we are to know Him intimately.

So can we say that if we are not spending consistent time with God, it is simply because we do not value it badly enough; that it is not a priority with us? After all, we now understand that: OUR VALUES DETERMINE OUR PRIORITIES!

“My God shall supply all your need.”

Mark 8:1-9

Mark 7:1-3

Some spiritual teachers think it beneath them to devise anything for the temporal good of their hearers, but our Lord was intensely human and humane. He could not look on hunger and faintness without pity.

Mark 7:4, 5

That is the question—How much ability have you? To calculate how much agency would be necessary to evangelize the thousands, may be mere speculation: to resolve each one of us to do our own share of the work is sound sense.

Mark 7:8

Those hands which multiplied the food were surely those of the world’s Creator. Who can doubt the Godhead of Jesus? Lord, prove thy Deity by making the labours of thy poor church to be a rich blessing to millions.

Matthew 15:39, 16:1-12

Matthew 16:1

How trying it must have been to his holy and ardent soul to be haunted by these spies! Yet he never fell into their snares. His holy wisdom is an example for us. We too are watched.

Matthew 16:2, 3

The signs of coming judgment were clear enough. None are so blind as those who will not see.

Matthew 16:6

Meaning their sour, hypocritical, carping spirit, and erroneous teaching.

Matthew 16:12

What mere children the disciples were, yet Jesus bore with them very kindly, and so will he do with us.

Canst thou, then, without compassion,

Me thy faint disciple see,

Hungering after thy salvation,

Perishing for want of thee?

Dying, till the grace is given,

Only for thy life I pine;

Feed me, Lord, with bread from heaven.

Fill my soul with love divine.

More Than Religion

Walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:12)

Contrary to much that is being said and practiced in churches, true worship is not something that we “do” in the hope of appearing to be religious!

True worship must be a constant and consistent attitude or state of mind within the believer, a sustained and blessed acknowledgement of love and admiration. If we have this awareness in our own lives and experience, then it is evident that we are not just waiting for Sunday to come to church and worship.

Having been made in His image, we have within us the capacity to know God and the instinct that we should worship Him. The very moment that the Spirit of God has quickened us to His life in regeneration, our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition!

That response within our beings, a response to the forgiveness and pardon and regeneration, signals the miracle of the heavenly birth—without which we cannot see the kingdom of God. Thus the primary work of the Holy Spirit is to restore the lost soul to intimate fellowship with God through the washing of regeneration.

VIDEO Rest and Refresh

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” John 7:37

They were nuns, monks, hermits, and ascetics, and were known as the Desert Fathers (or Desert Mothers, for nuns). Beginning with Anthony the Great who moved to the Middle Eastern desert around A.D. 270, thousands of others followed in his footsteps, seeking spiritual purity, enlightenment, solitude, and perfection.

Their pattern of retreating contributed to today’s practice of taking a retreat to refresh oneself spiritually. Thankfully, it’s not necessary to retreat to the desert or a mountaintop, either temporarily or permanently, to find spiritual refreshment. Jesus said if we would but come to Him—for living water or for rest (Matthew 11:28-30)—we would find it in abundance. We can create that place of rest in a place of prayer or Bible study or meditation or worship, anywhere we can retreat from the cares and busyness of life. When we turn over those cares to God in prayer through Christ, His peace will guard our heart and mind (Philippians 4:6-7).

If you can retreat to a serene spot in nature—wonderful! If that’s not possible, retreat with Jesus wherever you can. He will meet you there.

You made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they rest in you. Augustine

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Opposed by the Religious Rulers – John 7:37-52

Joy and Wisdom

I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Ecclesiastes 8:15

Sweetly fragrant cherry tree blossoms flood Japan with exquisite pale and vibrant pinks every spring, delighting the senses of residents and tourists alike. The short-lived nature of the blossoms cultivates a keen awareness in the Japanese to savor the beauty and scent while they linger: the very brevity of the experience heightens the poignancy of it. They call this deliberate enjoyment of something that will change quickly “mono-no-aware.”

As humans, it’s understandable that we’d want to seek and prolong feelings of joy. Yet the reality that life is riddled with hardship means we must cultivate the ability to view both pain and pleasure through a lens of faith in a loving God. We needn’t be overly pessimistic, nor should we fashion ourselves an unrealistically sunny outlook on life.

The book of Ecclesiastes offers a helpful model for us. Though this book is sometimes thought to be a catalog of negative statements, the same King Solomon who wrote that “everything is meaningless” (1:2) also encouraged his readers to find joy in the simple things in life saying, “There is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad” (8:15).

Joy comes when we ask God to help us “know wisdom” and learn to observe “all that God has done” (vv. 16-17) in both beautiful seasons and in difficult ones (3:11-14; 7:13-14), knowing that neither is permanent on this side of heaven.

By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

What kind of “season” are you currently in? How can you find joy in it?

Dear Father, thank You for being the source of beauty and joy in my life.

God Remembers Us

It is impossible for God to forget us—we are His children and are inscribed upon His hands Isaiah 49:13-18

Does it ever seem as if God has forgotten about you? Do you ever feel overlooked, abandoned, or unimportant? In seasons of suffering, it’s easy to think He doesn’t see or care about what we’re going through. With Jerusalem destroyed and most of its inhabitants sent into Babylonian captivity, the people of Israel were also tempted to think God had forgotten and abandoned them.

Today’s passage, however, directly challenges the assumption that pain and hardship are indications of His absence. After God acknowledges that He knows all about Israel’s fear of abandonment, He counters by asserting His unconditional love. He is as near, attentive, and giving as a mother with her nursing baby, and it is impossible for Him to forget us. To make this point clear to the apprehensive, weary Israelites, God gave reassurance that He had inscribed them upon the palms of His hands (49:16). Does that image sound familiar?

Centuries later, Jesus Christ hung on a cross with nails driven into His hands—proving that God’s words were true and that we are worth more to Him than we could ever imagine. We are God’s unforgettable, beloved children. How would it change our daily lives and our relationship with our heavenly Father if we lived safe in the knowledge that we are always on His mind?