Sacrifice: January 8, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY JANUARY 8, 2016.

SACRIFICE

DEFINITION:

An offering of something to God for worship or payment for sin; to offer a life; a voluntary loss; the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable.

SCRIPTURE:

It came to pass, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” and he responded, “Here am I Lord.” Genesis 22:1.

But do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Hebrews 13:16.

Let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but for the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

There are times when God requires something from us that requires a sacrifice of our time or money in order to get His work accomplished. He may ask us not to respond to our natural instinct of revenge in a situation where he makes it clear to you to communicate God’s forgiving love by forgiving the person that hurt you.

He may ask us to sacrifice, what we feel is, valuable time to advance His cause. God calls on us often to give of ourselves in a sacrificial way that is tough to respond to as God wants us to. The way we respond to what He requires of us speaks volumes about how we really feel about God. As in the verse above from Hebrews, when we do good and share with others God considers our acts of kindness as sacrifices of worship to Him and He is pleased.

We read in Genesis 22 (above) about the time that God asked Abraham to give Isaac back to Him in an act of sacrifice for worship. This called for a test to see if there was anything in Abraham’s life that he treasured more than God. How would you have responded if you were in Abraham’s place?

Jesus spent His entire ministry here on earth among the suffering, healing them and bringing them the good news of God’s love. Each thing that we do to help someone, no matter how large or small, is our sacrifice in God’s sight. The writer of Hebrews says we should “not forget to do good.”

In the verse above from Philippians, Paul reminds us that as believers we are to look beyond ourselves and our own interests and look to what is in the best interest of others. We should consider others before ourselves. It may demand a sacrifice on our part but look what Jesus sacrificed for us. No sacrifice we make is too big for the One who sacrificed His all for us. A tender heart that looks to help others will be a happy heart and one that God will bless, and that blesses God.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in that Mark 16:15.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

PRAYER:

Help me realize that You want to use me to show Your love to people caught in life’s despair. Open my heart to be willing to give deeds of kindness to those who need help.

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Patience: January 7, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY JANUARY 7, 2016.

PATIENCE

DEFINITION:

The power or capacity to endure without complaint something difficult or disagreeable, longsuffering; ability or willingness to suppress restlessness; quiet; steady; even tempered.

SCRIPTURE:

Make haste to help me O Lord. Psalm 70:1

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete. James 1:2-4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We live in a day when everyone wants immediate gratification. We want everything now and do not want to wait. We enter a gas station to get gas for our car and if there is a line we start to complain. We go to the grocery store and we expect the line to check out to be waiting open for us.

When it comes to our prayer time, we expect God to answer our prayer right now. We are just like David was in the verse from Psalms that we have put above. David said, “make haste to help me”. How many times have you prayed and when God did not respond right then to give you the answer you want have you reacted by blaming God for not answering your prayer.

In the second verse we have put above, Isaiah reminds us that we need to develop patience and learn to wait upon the Lord. We need to be reminded that patience requires perseverance and endurance.

Having patience to wait upon the Lord allows Him to work in our lives so we can grow in faith. Waiting is a time of learning. What happens within us while we are waiting on the Lord is often more important than the attainment of what our prayer was asking God about. Waiting on the Lord takes trust and obedience.

In the third verse we have put above, James tells us to consider it pure joy whenever we face trials because the testing of our faith develops patience.

Waiting on God to answer a prayer can cause us to doubt. Is God really listening, we may ask? Does He hear our prayers? We can be assured by His Word that God does listen and He does hear our prayers. But God’s time table is different than ours, but His is always perfect.

Waiting may test our faith, but learning to have patience is part of becoming a mature Christian and being what God wants us to be.

Someone once said that the patient perseverance of the snail was the reason it reached Noah’s ark. Patience leads to success and success doesn’t come quickly or easily. To gain success is largely a matter of holding on after all others have let go. You need patience to make that happen.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in that Mark 16:15.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

PRAYER:

Give me the patience today Lord, to wait on You to renew my strength and to answer my prayers. Help me to be patient today to those who try to make life difficult for me. Give me patience that endures and will allow me to run and not be weary and to walk and not be faint.

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Promises: January 6, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY JANUARY 6, 2016.

PROMISES

DEFINITION:

A declaration that something will or will not be done; a pledge; assurance.

SCRIPTURE:

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8.

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

One of the most exciting things about being a believer in Jesus is the hundreds of promises He has given us. There are more than 3,000 promises from our Lord in the Bible. Truly as believers, we are wealthy beyond measure. The sad truth is that many believers live like spiritual paupers despite all the promises God has given them. Through “His precious and magnificent promises” (2 Peter 1:3-4) He has given us all we need to live godly lives.

On the day of our salvation we inherited all of God’s promises and became truly prosperous. In simple language we must emphasize that in order to benefit from these promises we must cash them in. To live without claiming what God has for you is like being a millionaire who has a bankbook with all of his wealth in it but never writing a check.

God promised us that when we trusted Jesus as our Savior we became a child of God and a member of His household. This is the foundation of our heritage because all other promises flow from our relationship with Him.

Here are some of the promises that God has made for us and all we have to do is claim them of we know Jesus as our Savior. In John 1:9 we are told that if we confess our sins He is faithful and will forgive us of our sins. Thus He has promised us daily cleansing so we can serve Him in a worthy way that will honor Him.

God has promised to be continually with us in Hebrews 13:5. How comforting it is to have assurance of His promise to never leave us nor forsake us. He has given us His Holy Spirit to be our helper every moment of every day (John 14:16).In Matthew 6:31-32 God has promised to supply all of our needs. He knows exactly what we need and has committed to provide it.

God has promised to answer our prayers when you pray according to God’s will as recorded in I John 5:14-15. He daily bears our burdens (Psalms 68:19). If we give our concerns before God and believe in His promises, He will replace our worries with remarkable joy.

God also promises to comfort us in our times of trouble. He sets limits on the trials and temptations that come into our life so that we can stand up under it (I Corinthians 10:13). He grants us wisdom in every circumstance and decision that we might face (James 1:5).

The Lord will give us the desires of our heart when we delight in Him (Psalm 37:4). He is also a very present help in our times of trouble as related to us in Psalms 46:1-3. The Lord is our refuge in times of uncertainty and danger and always available to help in every way.

There are so many other promises that He has given us such as healing us in our times of sickness and providing us the gift of eternal security and a home in heaven to spend eternity with Him. Yes, indeed we are rich in God’s wonderful promises.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in that Mark 16:15.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

PRAYER:

My prayer is that You will keep me grounded in Your Word so that I never forget the many promises that You have given to those who believe in You. Help me to rely on Your promises every moment of every day.

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Intimacy: January 5, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 5, 2016.

INTIMACY

DEFINITION:

A close, familiar, and affectionate personal relationship.

SCRIPTURE:

For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

One of our greatest needs is to know we are loved and to feel loved. We look for intimate love from our spouses, children, family and even close friends. But sadly, far too often the needed love is not there, which sends people looking for love and intimacy in the wrong places.

Frankly, there is only one answer that can be given to a person searching for intimacy. One needs to know Jesus first and then desire an intimacy with God which should be one’s highest desire.

Jeremiah, in the passage we have put above, was counselling the Children of Israel in Babylon to live like colonists and settle in because they were going to be there for 70 years. Furthermore, they were to seek peace and pray for the prosperity of Babylon, their temporary home. They knew that their own welfare depended on the peace and prosperity of Babylon and that God had a planned future of blessing for Israel.

Jeremiah assured the Israelites that even though they were living in exile far from the land God had chosen for them, they were not exiled from the intimacy of God’s love for them. No matter how far we may try to remove ourselves from God we are never so far away that God’s love cannot reach us.

As believers in Jesus we need to understand clearly that God loves us, cares for us, and wants only what is best for us and in accordance with His perfect plan for us. He loves us with a passionate intensity too deep for words and beyond our understanding. Therefore we can rest assured that His plan for us is for our good and not for harm. Best of all His plan for us is to give us hope and a blessed future.

We will experience the love of God when we willingly surrender our all to Him. Intimacy with God requires surrender. There are three reasons why God requires surrender:

First, He loves us and desires our fellowship and worship. We cannot hold something back from God and expect to fully experience His love. When we surrender to Him fully, we will see the power of His love at work in our life.

Secondly, He wants our service for Him to be fruitful and effective. The more we know and love Him the more effective will be our service to Him.

Thirdly, He waits for the freedom to bless us. Having intimacy with God is what He wants from us. He asks us for our willing surrender to Him so He can give us the best blessings He can offer.

God offers all of this to us but for many pride causes them to surrender to God. Many people think they know what is better for them than what God knows and they can handle the situations without His help. Others resist because they fear God will ask them to give up the sinful things they love to do. And finally, many believe the lies of Satan that God is demanding and will punish them every time they make a mistake.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in that Mark 16:15.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

PRAYER:

Help me not to drift away from You in my devotion to You. Draw me closer to You daily so that I might experience the intimacy of Your love and receive the blessings that You have for me.

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Hurt: January 4, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY JANUARY 4, 2016.

HURT

DEFINITION:

Cause body or mental pain; do harm or mischief; injure; insult; affect emotionally.

SCRIPTURE:

“Look!” he said, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Daniel 3:25.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

It is impossible to get through life without suffering hurt and pain. Some hurts are physical caused by sickness or injury. Other hurts are emotional caused by how we are treated by others. Most physical hurts heal with time but emotional hurts are difficult to heal and some can even affect us for a lifetime.

As believers, it is very important how we respond to emotional and spiritual hurts. When we respond by relying on our own thinking the hurt may never leave us. The way we respond can affect our spiritual life. Hurts and the threat of hurts can cause us to doubt and lose our faith. But when we learn to turn our hurts over to Jesus, He will respond and we will have victory.

In the verse above we are given a wonderful example how God will take us through situational hurts that we would never conquer. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were facing physical harm because they refused to obey the command of King Nebuchadnezzar to bow down to the King’s statue in worship. They believed in God and stayed true to their faith even though they knew defying the King was going to mean that they faced death.

But God protected them and, as the verse above tells us, they were not hurt. Three people were thrown into the fire but when the King looked he saw four men. God sent someone from heaven to protect these men because of their faith. The King was certain what he saw was a heavenly being.

In Daniel 6:16 we read about Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den. King Darius made it a law that no one could pray to any god but him. The punishment for breaking the law was to be cast into a den of lions for 30 days. After 30 days when the king ordered Daniel out of the lion’s den no injury or hurt was found on him. God protected him and Daniel told the king, “My God sent His angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me.”

There is one more example that we would like to share with you from the scriptures. In Acts 18: 9-10, the Apostle Paul was in Corinth preaching to the Jews telling them that Jesus was the Christ. The Jews opposed Paul and became so abusive that Paul decided to quit preaching to them. But the scripture tells that the Lord spoke to Paul in the night and told him to continue to preach to the Jews in Corinth without fear and no one would hurt him. Paul realized that he must remain faithful to what God had called him to do in spite of the threat of hurt.

These examples are for us, teaching us to rely on God’s protection. When a hurt comes your way, lay that hurt in the hands of Jesus.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in that Mark 16:15.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

PRAYER:

Thank You that when hurts come my way that I can turn them over to you and that I can have the confidence that You will heal those hurts.

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