October 4, 2014
Creation itself is a general revelation of God to those who would acknowledge it. Yet, the ultimate revelation is Christ. No one has seen the invisible God, but Christ is His “visible image.” If you want to know what God is like, then gaze upon the face of Jesus. Read the gospels and see God’s nature revealed. Through Christ, God has created all, offers redemption and sustains all. Everything was made by Christ and for Christ. You were made for Him. So, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
October 3, 2014
What is worry? Isn’t it anxious self-talk? It’s an internal conversation between you and you. Worry circles around your head like a cloud of gnats that you can’t swat away. What is prayer? It’s talking to God. Why not take the same amount of effort that you’re putting into worry and turn them into prayer? Paul taught us to stop worrying and to start praying. Worry at its heart is an expression of doubt. It is the opposite of faith. It is sin. Prayer is an expression of faith. Prayer causes us to lift our eyes from self to our Savior. Prayer pleases God. Turn your worries into prayers!
October 2, 2014
Paul was one of the most brilliant minds of his generation, yet he counted human knowledge worthless when weighed against the “value of knowing” Christ. Truth is not a philosophy or equation, it is a Person. Decide to know Jesus. Let Him be the criterion for knowing, the lens by which you interpret reality. Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6).
October 1, 2014
Paul warned the Philippians against the Judaizers who would have the Christians live under the law of circumcision once again, rather than the law of the Spirit. He taught them to “rely” on Christ’s finished work on the cross, rather than their own human effort. When we have acknowledged and accepted the finished work of Christ, we are able to have the complete joy and freedom that we are fully accepted by God. Our confidence, and therefore our joy, is in Christ alone!
September 30, 2014
Paul taught the Philippians that they should live as “citizens of heaven,” remembering the gospel in their conduct. When we live as worldly, our message has no consistency and our gospel comes across hypocritical. Our lives should be consistent with the good news we believe. Our lifestyle should in fact cause people to ask about our faith, so that the gospel comes out easily. One cannot be excluded from the other. We are called to both live and share the Good News.
September 29, 2014
Paul prayed that the Philippians would understand what “really matters.” He prayed that their priorities would focus on becoming more and more like Jesus until the Day of completion when Christ returns. What are you focused on today? Will today’s concerns matter tomorrow? Lord, help us to focus on what “really matters” today.
September 26, 2014
In a generation of course communication we are to be different. Jesus taught that our words are an expression of our heart condition, saying, “Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Do you speak for the edification of the hearer or to benefit yourself? Do you often need to just “air it out?” Or just get things “off your chest?” Do your words flow from a spiritually renewed heart, filled with the Holy Spirit? Or are they vomited forth from the old nature? Give your heart and your tongue to Jesus. Ask Him to tame your tongue and fill your communication with blessings and beauty.
September 25, 2014
God gave Isaiah a prophecy against Babylon and its idol worship. It is almost sarcastic in its imagery, predicting that Babylon’s idols will “bow” down as they are lowered onto ox carts and carried away by the very people who used to “bow” down before them. Even the oxen are “bowed-down” under the weight of pulling these massive, manmade gods. This illustrates the ridiculous nature of those who would make gods of their wealth and possessions. In the end, their wealth cannot protect them and they cannot preserve it. They both “go off into captivity together,” as if in a funeral procession with heads bowed down. Yet, those who trust in the Lord are not weighed down, but lifted up by the Redeemer who can save to the uttermost!
September 24, 2014
I often heard my mother quote this psalm in prayer after my father died. She was only 31 years old when she found herself a widow raising four children alone. She called on God to keep His promise to be a Father to her fatherless children and a Defender, a Husband, to her. I think He heard her prayers. My life and calling are a testament to them.
September 23, 2014
This psalm was to be sung in the Temple accompanied by instruments. It is a prayer, asking God to make Himself known to people everywhere. This prayer is consistent with God’s will and it is being answered today, perhaps even in this generation. Jesus has commanded us to go to the nations and make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20) and He also said that when every nation has heard the gospel, the end would come (Matt 24:14). So, we pray this psalm to God, knowing that only He can save and make Himself known, yet also knowing that we are called to be His heralds, announcing the gospel to the nations, so that they may hear and be saved.