From: April 23, 2018
April 23
Scripture for today: Judges 1:1-2:9; Luke 21:29-22:13; Psalm 90:1-91:16; Proverbs 13:24-25
“Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’” (Judges 2:3 NKJV).
From: April 23, 2017
“They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” (Luke 22:9 ESV)
From: April 23, 2016
When Jesus told Peter and John to go and prepare the Passover, they asked, “Where?” Jesus didn’t respond with an address, but with a set of circumstances and a person. He told them that they would meet a man carrying a jar of water as they entered Jerusalem and that they should follow him to the place. He even told them what to ask when they got there.
Have you ever experienced this kind of direction and help from the Lord? Peter and John were ready to obey, but needed direction. Sometimes we are ready to obey, but we don’t pause to ask the Lord for help. We come up with our own plans, rather than asking the Lord for where He wants us to go. What joy to hear the Lord’s voice saying, “Follow the man with the water jar!”
“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 NKJV)
From: April 23, 2015
Understanding that our days are numbered can motivate us to live life with a sense of urgent importance. “Urgent,” because putting off till tomorrow means eventually running out of tomorrows. If the Lord has put it on your heart, then do it now! And “important,” because we often fill our days with unimportant things. Prayerfully consider what is most important, then focus on those things every day. This is not a morbid state of mind, being aware of your limited days. This is wisdom, not wasting the time God has given you on planet earth. Don’t waste your life!
“This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease” (Psalm 91:2-3 NLT)
From: April 23, 2014
Psalm 91 was a favorite of my father’s. While lying in a hospital bed fighting cancer, he had our pastor read this Psalm to him regularly. He loved to meditate on its meaning. Psalm 91 is part of Book IV in the Psalms, which has five divisions or books organizing its 150 psalms. According to Spurgeon, the ancient rabbis saw a kind of “echo” of the Pentateuch in the Psalms. He described the Psalms as the Congregation’s “five-fold” response to God’s “five-fold word” in the Torah. Describing Psalm 91, Spurgeon said:
“It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is beloved of the Lord; the most crushing calamities can only shorten his journey and hasten him to his reward. Ill to him is not ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich him, sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honor, death is his gain. No evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good. Happy is he who is in such a case. He is secure where others are in peril, he lives where others die.” (The Treasury of David, Vol. 2, Part 2, 93)
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 ESV)
From: April 23, 2013
Understanding that our days are numbered can motivate us to live life with a sense of urgent importance. ‘Urgent’ – because putting off till tomorrow means eventually running out of tomorrows. If the Lord has put it on your heart, then do it now! And ‘important’ – because we often fill our days with unimportant things. Prayerfully consider what is most important, then focus on those things every day. This is not a morbid state of mind, being aware of your limited days. This is wisdom, not wasting the time God has given you on planet earth. Don’t waste your life!
“Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them” (Proverbs 13:24)
From: April 23, 2012
Stop trying to be your toddler’s big sister or best buddy and be their Mom and Dad. Don’t bargain with your 2 year old. Make your “No” mean something. Your discipline becomes their self-discipline later. Loving parents discipline their children. Lazy parents don’t.
“Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives” (Luke 21:37)
From: April 23, 2011
How Jesus spent the first 5 days of Passion Week. Then, after the craziness and cruelty of Friday’s crucifixion, on Sat. all was quiet. No teaching, no miracles. Jesus rested in the tomb on the 7th day. But Sunday is coming…