Life: March 27, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY MARCH 27, 2015.

LIFE

DEFINITION:

The period from birth to death; a living being; human existence; a career; a condition or course of living; spiritual existence transcending death; salvation.

SCRIPTURE:

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. Psalm 139: 13-14.

Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. Deuteronomy 30:19

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The Psalmist in Psalm 139 (above) informs us that God not only created us but we are wonderfully made. God created us to have a life that is productive and full. A productive and full life comes from a total commitment to God. It is not an easy commitment because it requires discipline and a willingness to yield oneself to God.

Many never find happiness in life, like the believer does, because they look for it in gratification of getting possessions and material things that they feel will make them “happy.” The problem with this philosophy is that things really do not satisfy. A full and productive life does not come from having material possessions.

Contrast this with the life of one that has put his or her faith in the Lord. Even though we were born as sinners into an evil world with Satan’s sinful influences all around us, God provided His only Son as a substitute for us to pay our penalty for our sins. The result is, as believers in Jesus Christ, we can live a life of hope with the assurance of eternal life. A life yielded to Christ leads to a life of blessing which is the life God desires for us.

David recognized that God is life and the creator of life. In Psalms 139, David describes God as fashioning his tiny body together in the darkness of his mother’s womb. God knew and loved David before he ever existed. God designed the person that David was to be and brought him into being according to His predetermined plan.

David was shaped by his Heavenly Father into a unique creation and David chose life and lived a life of obedience to God. Like David, each of us is a unique production of our Creator’s genius. All life is created by God and bears His autograph and it is our choice to choose to have life by serving God.

Moses in his last days just before he put Joshua in command of the Children of Israel urged the people to renew their covenant with God. They had spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness because they had broken their covenant with God. He gave them a choice of life and prosperity or death and destruction.

In the verse above from Deuteronomy, Moses told the children of Israel to make the right choice and choose LIFE! In the next verse, Moses says that God is their life. In choosing life they were choosing to love the Lord, obey His voice and cling to Him. And Moses continued by telling the Children of Israel that if they chose life they were to be obedient to God and that they would live longer and would dwell in the land that God promised them through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Forty years earlier they had not chosen life. They chose death and destruction, and because of their disobedience, they suffered greatly. As a result of their choice not one person in that generation saw the Promised Land.

Jesus as God’s Son is life and also the giver of life. In John 4: 46-54, Jesus was asked by a nobleman, an official from the king’s court, to come to Capernaum and heal his son who was on the brink of death. He came to Jesus believing He could give life.

The crowd did not believe so Jesus put him off by saying that “unless you people are dazzled by a miracle you refuse to believe.” The nobleman would not be put off and he insisted, “Come down! It is life or death for my son.” Jesus simply said, “Go home. Your son lives.” The father chose to obey Jesus and went home and asked when the son got better. It was the exact time that Jesus said to him that his son lived. As a result the nobleman and his entire household believed in Jesus.

Jesus used this miracle to let us know that Jesus is the giver of life. When we believe and accept Him as our Savior, He gives us eternal life that does not perish. Each of us has a choice. We choose life or we choose death and what we choose lasts for eternity.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Timothy 6:14.

That you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the life that You give me here on this earth where I can serve You each day. Help me to share with others today what life is like when they put their trust in You. I look forward to spending an eternity with You because You have given me eternal life. Make my life demonstrate to others the life that You alone can give.

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Scriptures: March 26, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY MARCH 26, 2015.

SCRIPTURES

DEFINITION:

The Bible; the Word of God.

SCRIPTURE:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. II Timothy 3:16.

Finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me is not grievous, but for you it is a safeguard. Philippians 3:1.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

In II Timothy 3:16 Paul says that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. The scripture is the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Inspired means God breathed. Although God used men to write down the scriptures, the Bible is not a collection of stories or myths, which are merely man’s ideas about God. Through the Holy Spirit, God revealed not only His person and who He is, but also His plan for us in this world. We can be assured that what the Bible says is true and trustworthy because it is the inspired Word of God. Therefore we should read it so that we know what the Bible teaches and says about God and then apply it to our lives.

Paul notes in Philippians 3:1 that he is writing some things that he has written before. The basics of knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior and living for Him are so important they must be written again, and we need to read the Word over and over again because as Paul says, it is a safeguard for us. The Bible, God’s Word, is our safeguard both morally and theologically.

The scripture says that it was written to instruct us and to help us in pressing on for Christ. No person can press on and grow spiritually without heeding the scripture. God’s Word is a safeguard for us to keep from falling prey to Satan’s temptations and to prevent us from following false teachings. If we fail to study and obey the scripture we will cave in either to the temptations of life or to false teaching. Only as we obey the scripture which contains the commandments of the Lord, can we show our love and loyalty to the Lord.

Over and over in the scriptures we are told to obey the Word of the Lord and keep His commandments. It is so important that in just one chapter, John 14, Jesus said three times to obey His commandments. In verse fifteen Jesus says, “If you love me, keep My commandments.” In verse twenty-one Jesus said, “He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and he that loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” In verse twenty-three Jesus says, “If a man loves Me, he will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.”

It is not only necessary to keep God’s commandments to show we love Him, but if we truly love Him we will want to obey His Word. We must read and study the scripture daily in order for us to keep our guard up against the evil we face daily in our lives.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Timothy 6:14.

That you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.

PRAYER:

Today I turn my life completely over into Your hands. Help me to diligently study and obey the scriptures in a new and fresh way, so that I cannot be affected by the evil of this world and any false teaching that comes my way.

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Justice: March 25, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY MARCH 25, 2015.

JUSTICE

DEFINITION:

The quality of being just, true or correct; conformity to moral principles or law; merited reward or punishment; the administration of law; authority; jurisdiction.

SCRIPTURE:

For He is coming to judge the earth, with righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with equity. Psalm 98:9

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

In Proverbs 1:3 we are told that we are to receive from God the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment and equity. These standards are very consistent with the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses. In Psalm 82:3 we read that we are to defend the poor and needy and do justice to the offended.

Justice comes from God. God says that “By me Kings reign and rulers declare justice” (Proverbs 8:15). Do our rulers, leaders in government realize that they should seek God’s wisdom to rule by God’s justice? We do not think they govern with this in mind.

That is why we should be wise in selecting our government officials. Believers have a serious responsibility to get out and vote for those who will look to God for wisdom and rule justly.

The scriptures have much to say about God and justice. In Isaiah 61:8 it reads: “For I the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery and inequity.” And in Isaiah 30: 18 it reads: “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice.”

We need to remember that God is a just God. He does not want anyone to perish. He has provided justice to all through His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore it becomes our choice as to how we will be judged following our death and when we face the judgment seat of God.

“And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice and quickly.” Luke 18:7-8. It does seem like there is so much injustice in this world. It seems, to many, that God is doing nothing about the injustice and certainly not as quick as many believer’s desire. These verses assure us that God is paying attention to those who cry out to Him. In His perfect timing He will see that those who love Him will get justice for the injustice done to them.

We must remind you that we are born into this world as sinners. Because of this we will each one be judged by God. We can be thankful that our Lord God is not only a just God but He is a merciful God. How grateful we should be that God, because of His mercy, does not give us what we justly deserve. It is because of God’s mercy that He sent His Son into the world to pay the penalty for our sins.

There is no other way for us to escape eternal judgment other than through Jesus. The scripture makes it very clear in John 14:6: when Jesus said to Thomas, one of His disciples: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

There are no other options; either we except Jesus as our personal Savior or we reject Him. If we reject Him, then we face judgment and will spend an eternity in Hell. Eternal judgment is terrible and most people do not take it seriously. Some say that God would never send one to hell, and He does not. He gives us the option so it is our choice, not His.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Timothy 6:14.

That you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.

PRAYER:

Thank You God that You sent Your only Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins. Help me to live a life that honors You so that others may see Christ through me and realize the importance of them having a personal relationship with Jesus.

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Acceptance: March 24, 2015

TODAY'S WORD FOR TUESDAY MARCH 24, 2015.

ACCEPTANCE

DEFINITION:

Receive as worthy of being accepted; receive with approval or favor.

SCRIPTURE:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. I Timothy 2:1.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

When Jesus was here on this earth the Jewish people literally despised the Samaritans and did not accept them. They did all they could do in order not to meet or talk with a Samaritan. We read in John 4 that Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the well and began to talk with her. When Jesus asked for a drink she was surprised and wanted to know why He was talking to her as no Jewish man would ever talk to a Samaritan woman. Nevertheless, Jesus continued to talk with her and because Jesus accepted her she believed in Him and accepted His gift of “living water.”

She went back to her village and led many Samaritans to become believers in Jesus. The good news that we can learn from this, is that Jesus came to this earth for all of us. And He accepts all who come to Him in faith believing for forgiveness of their sins.

In Romans 15:7 we are told to accept one another just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God. As Christians we are to accept and encourage other Christians. Also we must be willing to accept others, who do not know the Lord that we meet even if we do not condone what they do, so we can introduce them to Christ.

Jesus knew that the Samaritan woman was an immoral woman. He did not shun her for her race, social position or her sins. He accepted her as someone who needed His saving grace.

People today are hungry for acceptance. Children in school do every thing they can, including lowering their standards, to be accepted by their peers. Adults are much the same. They want to be included in “THE GROUP” just as children do.

Paul tells us in Romans 14:1-- “Do not refuse to accept someone who is weak in faith. And do not argue with him about opinions.”

We, as Christians, need to make people feel important and needed. This way they will feel accepted and will more than likely be open to hear about Jesus. If we see a fellow Christian weak in their faith, we should not argue about things in their life we disagree with, but lovingly accept them and encourage them to help them grow in their faith.

Back when we attended school at Wheaton College in Illinois, I (Ken) remember being in an ethics class where we had a discussion about a small group of students who were not living up to the standards set by the college and evidently because of this they were not being accepted by many of our peers. As a class we began praying for this group and about a week later one of the students in our class told us that she had approached one of the people in the group.

The one thing I remember her saying was that they did not feel accepted at the school so why should they change their life style? This small group had all come from home situations where living a much looser life was acceptable. We believe that because of our prayers and the fact everyone made the effort to show them, acceptance rather than rejection, a positive impact was made on them because being accepted, soon the group came around and everyone could see their lives being changed. Fellow students approached them with love and not with criticism. We learned from this experience that rejection and criticism only drives the unsaved farther away from God.

We must deal with many people who do things that are unacceptable to us as a believer in Jesus but this is an example that should remind each of us to do all we can to make such people we touch shoulders with feel accepted as a person.

In I Timothy, we are exhorted that we are to pray for all people not just those who are believers.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Timothy 6:14.

That you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.

PRAYER:

Help me to find people today who need to feel accepted. May these people see Christ through my words and my deeds. Help my children to stand up for what they believe and not to be swayed by the crowd. Help me to do what is good and acceptable in Your sight so that I may know beyond any doubt the good and acceptable and perfect will of God for my life.

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Role Models: March 23, 2015

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY MARCH 23, 2015.

ROLE MODELS

DEFINITION:

A person whose behavior in a particular social setting is imitated by others, especially younger children.

SCRIPTURE:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. Romans 8:28-29.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. I John 4:7.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We often hear people refer to another person as a role model. The dictionary defines a role model as one that another person imitates. It might be wise for you to consider all those who are role models to you. When you look at the list then ask yourself the question: “Do you really know each one?” Many on your list could include movie, television, sports or even Christian personalities. But do you really know them or do you call them a potential role model because you have seen only the good from the distance.

When I (Ken) was a teenager I can remember knowing a then well known Christian leader and nationally known youth evangelist and I considered this man the best of the best. I suppose at that time I considered him a role model. But about three years later I heard of the problems this man had in life. His wife had divorced him, he had an alcohol problem and he forsook his belief in the virgin birth of Jesus.

We have talked about this sad situation many times. It served as a very real warning for us to be sure we really knew those we considered to be role models and to teach our children the same.

Today’s society feels it most important to have role models. The famous know they are role models but do not seem to care if they are good role models or bad ones. They just desire the limelight and notoriety. Teenagers especially are influenced by role models and do not use discretion in choosing their role models. Parents must be aware of who their children are looking to as role models. Just because someone is a big “star” and famous does not make them worthy of being a role model.

Only God and Jesus are worthy to be role models. Jesus is the perfect role model because He lived in our sinful world, was tempted as we are, yet He never sinned. Following Jesus as our role model will lead us to live a God honoring life. We can be sure Jesus is a trust worthy role model and will not fail us because first of all, He loves us, and gave His life for us. Then He lived His life as the perfect example of how to live our life.

He serves as an example to us to love one another. When you love it is impossible to hate at the same time. The righteousness of God and Jesus should be the focus of our choosing our role model. Can you think of any living person better to imitate in life? God has given us His Son to pay the penalty for our sins. God has given us His Holy Spirit to lead us through life each day. God has given us time, talent and treasure to use for Him. God has given us His Word as a guide for living. God loves and wants what is best for us.

In the verse we wrote above, Romans8:28-29, God tells us who He has chosen to be our role model. God desires that those who love Him “be conformed to the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ”. God created us in His image and His desire for us is to make us like Jesus. To become like Jesus we must make Him our role model.

To become like Jesus we must first know Him by studying God’s Word and study the life of Jesus as recorded in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). As we read and study God’s Word we will desire to be like Jesus and will want to do His will and live for Him.

As believers in Christ we can still look to people as role models so we can learn from their knowledge of God’s Word and how they live their Christian lives. We need to do this with caution and wisdom. We can learn from the positives we see in their lives but we should always be alert to the possibility of failure in their lives. We must remember that they are human just like us and vulnerable to the devil’s temptations.

God and His Son alone are trust-worthy. God never changes. When someone fails us we cannot blame God. God is faithful and He will never fail us.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in I Timothy 6:14.

That you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.

PRAYER:

Thank You almighty God for the model that You have given me to live a life of happiness, joy, peace and gratitude. Help me to lead my family away from the false hope given to us from those we may consider as role models in life. Help my family to look to You for all we need in life.

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