VIDEO Fresh Air: Focusing on Moments of Fresh Faith – Flourishing

They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing. Psalm 92:14

Springtime makes us feel fresh! Fresh flowers, fresh leaves on the trees, the fragrance of fresh air. It’s a kind of rebirth.

The same thing happens for the believer every single day. God gives us a fresh start as we awaken! Psalm 92 tells us to sing His praises and declare His lovingkindness every morning (verses 1-2). As we begin each day with worship, keeping our eyes on Him, the Lord keeps us fresh with a renewed spirit, an excited faith, a hopeful heart, and a smile. It’s a lifelong experience.

The ruts and routines of life have a way of dragging us into the zone of mediocrity. But remember: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing” (verses 12-14).

Flourish in your faith today by keeping your eyes on Him.

Fresh faith is compelling. It’s clean and crisp like the beginning of a new day…. Freshness comes by staying whole with God…. Middle age and old age aren’t for complaining, but for proclaiming the goodness of God. Boyd Bailey

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Psalm 92 – The Goodness of Giving Thanks to the LORD

Thankful Hearts

Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner? Luke 17:18

Hansle Parchment was in a predicament. He caught the bus to the wrong place for his semifinal in the Tokyo Olympics and was left stranded with little hope of getting to the stadium on time. But thankfully he met Trijana Stojkovic, a volunteer helping out at the games. She gave him some money to take a taxi. Parchment made it to the semifinal on time and eventually clinched the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdle. Later, he went back to find Stojkovic and thanked her for her kindness.

In Luke 17, we read of the Samaritan leper who came back to thank Jesus for healing him (vv. 15–16). Jesus had entered a village where He met ten lepers. All of them asked Jesus for healing, and all of them experienced His grace and power. Ten were happy that they’d been healed, but only one returned to express his gratitude. He “came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him” (vv. 15–16).

Every day, we experience God’s blessings in multiple ways. It could be as dramatic as an answered prayer to an extended time of suffering or receiving timely help from a stranger. Sometimes, His blessings can come in ordinary ways too, such as good weather to accomplish an outdoor task. Like the Samaritan leper, let’s remember to thank God for His kindness toward us.

By:  Poh Fang Chia

Reflect & Pray

What can you thank God for today? How can you cultivate a heart of gratitude?

Dear God, You’ve been so good to me. I give thanks to You today for

Understanding the Bible

When we live out the biblical principles we know, God reveals deeper truths 1 Corinthians 2:12-16; 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

Sometimes the Bible seems difficult to understand. After all, it is a compilation of documents from different times and places, written in various styles. But you don’t need to attend seminary in order to read Scripture. Believers have the ultimate Teacher within them—the Holy Spirit, who not only helps us comprehend God’s Word but also enables us to obey it. 

Obedience is a key part of truly understanding Scripture. When we apply what we read, the Bible comes alive and we begin to hear the voice of God more and more. Experience is an effective teacher, and living out God’s Word helps us move beyond simple recall to maturity in Christ.

Conversely, when we don’t act on biblical truths, we will not receive the awareness that comes from experience. Besides, if we haven’t obeyed what God has previously revealed to us, why would He share His deeper truths? The book of Psalms says, “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him” (Psalm 25:14); it goes on to say that those who fear Him obey His commandments and are promised “a good understanding” (Psalm 111:10). 

As you read the Bible, look for God’s instructions. Then, with the Holy Spirit’s help, commit to follow them. You’ll soon discover how applying divine truth leads to understanding and wisdom.

Resisting the Devil

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” (Matthew 4:1)

The first recorded event in Matthew’s gospel after Christ’s baptism is His temptation by Satan in the wilderness after He had fasted for 40 days. This amazing account provides us with several practical lessons.

First, we need to understand that the devil is a real and serious enemy. Consider the fact that he wasn’t afraid to tempt the Lord Jesus Himself. This same devil beguiled Eve, deceived David, and sifted Peter like wheat. The Bible tells us that he is a murderer, a thief, a liar, and a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. But this enemy is also often very subtle, since he can even appear as “an angel of light”
(2 Corinthians 11:14).

We also learn from this account that in response to Satan, Christ wielded “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The Bible is the chief weapon we must use to resist the devil. Three times Satan attempted to deceive Jesus, and three times his offer was refuted with Scripture as Christ said, “It is written.”

This is why we need to be diligent readers and studiers of the Bible. We can never fight a good fight if we don’t properly wield our chief weapon. We should not only be familiar with its contents, but also have key Scriptures stored in our memories. In fact, one of Satan’s greatest strategies is to distract us from being diligent, regular, daily, prayerful Bible readers.

Thus, we’d do well to follow the two-step formula given in James 4:7—“Submit yourselves therefore to God,” and “resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” JPT

Steadfastness, Willingness, And Brokenness

After King David’s tragic liaison with Bathsheba, he cries to God for a spirit characterized by:

I.  STEADFASTNESS:

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a STEADFAST SPIRIT within me.”

Paul exhibited a STEADFAST SPIRIT as he set his face toward Rome and certain death:

“I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God‘s grace.“(Acts 20:23, 24)

By way of contrast, Peter reveals his spongy character at Jesus’ arrest as a young woman links him with Jesus. In response, Peter blathers back to her, “Woman, I don‘t know Him.“

II. WILLINGNESS:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation… grant me a WILLING SPIRIT, to sustain me.“

Remember the father who approached Jesus to heal his son who was afflicted with an evil spirit? In his struggle to believe he exclaims,

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!“(Mark 9:24)

Now that is the kind of WILLING SPIRIT — imperfect as it is — that Jesus can work with!

III.BROKENNESS:

“The sacrifices of God are a BROKEN SPIRIT; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.“(Psalm 51:17)

A BROKEN SPIRIT is evidenced when:

• Our ungodly self is slain.
• Our impenetrable hardness is softened, and when
• Our haughty pride is brought low.

In our quest to walk with God, let us join with David in seeking a spirit characterized by STEADFASTNESS, WILLINGNESS, and BROKENNESS.

“Sing aloud unto God our strength.”

Psalm 81

May we, as a family, walk in continual obedience to the Lord that we may be fed upon the precious promises which are “the finest of the wheat,” and may enjoy in close fellowship with Jesus that honey of sweet peace which drops from no other rock but that which was smitten for us. Holiness is happiness—hence obedience to God is true wisdom. Enemies we shall have none to fear, if we dwell in the bosom of Jesus our friend.

Oh how I love thy holy law!

‘Tis daily my delight;

And thence my meditations draw

Divine advice by night.

Am I a stranger, or at home,

‘Tis my perpetual feast;

Not honey dropping from the comb

So much allures the taste.

Lean Back on the Keeping Power of God

...Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:5

Christian believers need always to be leaning back very strongly on the keeping power of God!

The Apostle Peter says plainly that those who are elect, begotten, obedient and believing have this power of God reflected in their daily lives.

Elect: that is God’s business and it was His business before we knew anything about it!

Begotten: that is God’s business as we believe in His Son!

Obedient and believing: we who are kept by the power of God through faith unto an inheritance!

So there we are—and as Christians, we are not only rich but nobly rich! Rich with riches which need no apology. Riches which have no taint of having come to us through defiled hands.

I wonder when we will begin to behave and to live on the level of our spiritual riches instead of acting like poverty-stricken creatures trying to crawl under a leaf so we will not be seen?

Let’s let the world know how rich we really are! Let’s tell it—we are being kept by the power of God unto an inheritance reserved in heaven for us!

That is the full-time business of the child of God!