Flawed: September 30, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2016.

FLAWED

DEFINITION:

Defective, imperfect, weak.

SCRIPTURE:

My strength is made perfect in weakness. II Corinthians 12:9.

For without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

In an interview with an actor, he said that he enjoyed playing “flawed” characters in movies because people relate to an imperfect character. This is true. People like to hear about flawed people. When you look at what makes the biggest headlines in the news it is stories about famous people, such as politicians, sports figures, or stars in the entertainment world who commit a scandalous act of wrong doing.

The media knows that the public loves to hear about other people’s failures and flaws, especially those who are looked up to. The reason we like to hear about other people’s transgressions is that it makes us feel better about ourselves. We all know that we are flawed but we do not want others to know how flawed we are.

Most of us would agree that it is easier for us to understand people who are not perfect because we know that we are not perfect. Therefore they are a lot like us.

There are so many accounts in the Bible of people who were flawed and had weaknesses and yet God used them in powerful and mighty ways. Most of them faced times of decision or times of crisis that revealed their weaknesses. Jacob resorted to deceiving his father so that he would receive his father’s blessing. Gideon was so unsure of God that he asked him twice for proof that He would be faithful to do what He said He would do. Peter was so fearful for his own safety that he denied knowing his friend and Lord.

When you read the rest of the stories of these men, you will observe that these people were able, with God’s help, to overcome their shortcomings and ultimately were useful to God. They were all flawed but when they put their trust in God, He made them useful. It was by first seeing that they were weak that they could see that they had to depend on God and not on themselves.

Just as the people who lived thousands of years ago, each one of us has flaws. By the grace of God we can overcome our flaws and imperfections by embracing “His strength which is made perfect in weakness.” II Corinthians 12:9. When we forget to depend on the Lord, the Lord may make us weaker with the intention of making us realize we will do better when we rely solely on Him. When we feel we are strong in abilities or resources we try to do God’s work on our own. It is in our weakness that we turn to God and God’s power is able to shine forth.

God’s strength and power is available to all who love Him and no one is so flawed that God cannot use them. Nor is anyone so unflawed that they do not need God’s strength and power. No matter how great our abilities or how hard we work, Jesus tells us in John 15:5, “Without Me you can do nothing.”

LEARNING:

Our memory verse this week is found in Matthew 19:26

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”.

PRAYER:

It is my prayer today that Your strength will be made perfect in my weakness. It is my desire, Lord, that through my weakness You can be glorified by the working of Your power. Help me to recognize my weaknesses and give me Your grace to acknowledge that of myself I can do nothing.

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Peace: September 29, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2016.

PEACE

DEFINITION:

Freedom from strife, discord, war or civil disorder; harmony in human relationships; quiet; calm; tranquility.

SCRIPTURE:

Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

All of the restlessness of our times might be understood as an attempt by believers in Jesus to acquire the right things in the wrong way. We believe that there are essentially three things that believers want. They want righteousness, peace and joy. But because our understanding is warped by sin, our search for these things gets skewed. Today we will discuss one of these three, PEACE.

John F. Kennedy, former President of the United States said, “The absence of war is not the same thing as peace.” Even when our society has enjoyed so called peace, there is often a sense of national tension, unease, and dissatisfaction. As a people, most of the time, we are not at peace with each other nor even with ourselves. This is because we seek peace in the wrong places and in the wrong ways.

For example, many people are dissatisfied with themselves because they feel they must have more than they have. It leads them to seek money, fame, or a higher standard of living as the key to having peace of mind, yet the more they get the more they want. Some think they will have peace if they do good works and strive to be a better person.

Nothing in this world and no amount of effort on our part can bring the kind of peace we long for. True and lasting peace comes from God. Peace is God’s gift to us when we accept His free gift of salvation. In Romans 5:1 it reads “Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

God gives us as believers, even in uncertain times, a very different and transcendent peace; the peace that passes all understanding. This is what the apostle Paul wrote to us in the book of Philippians (above verse). When your heart is troubled and you are not feeling at peace, focus on God’s promises and His great love for you.

It is not what is out there in the world that gives us peace. It is what is from out of this world, but is within us. It is Jesus Christ dwelling within us that brings peace. In Colossians 1:27 Paul describes that the peace that Jesus dwelling in us gives is the hope of glory; that we will spend eternity with Christ.

The song writer Edward Bickersteth wrote it beautifully in, “Peace, perfect peace.” He wrote two lines in every verse. The first line ends with a question mark and the second line answers the question. Read carefully his words:

•    Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin? The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

•    Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed? To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.

•    Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows searching round? On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.

•    Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown? Jesus we know and He is on the throne.

•    Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours? Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.

To find peace, Paul tells us not to be anxious about anything but that seems like impossibility. There are just so many things that cause us worry and anxiety. Paul’s advice to us is to turn our worries into prayers. To put it simply: pray more! Worry less!

Only the peace that Jesus gives will last for eternity. Put your focus on Him because He has the answers for all your needs. He will bring true peace into your life.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse this week is found in Matthew 19:26

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”.

PRAYER:

Thank You Lord for the words of Paul written to the church at Philippi that applies to me: Do not be anxious for anything and then the peace of God will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.

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Deception: September 28, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2016.

DECEPTION

DEFINITION:

The act of misleading by a false appearance; a misrepresentation of what is the truth; deliberate concealment of the truth; trickery.

SCRIPTURE:

They refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. Zechariah 7:11.

They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord God Almighty was very angry.
Zechariah 7:12.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Think back on the many times you have felt that you have been deceived. Deception is rampant in the world today. We are all guilty of deception at one time or another. We not only deceive others, but we deceive ourselves into thinking we are better than we are. This is because we measure ourselves by our standards, not God’s standards.

In the 7th and 8th chapters of Zechariah the prophet is communicating God’s message to the 50,000 Jews that had been freed by Cyrus of Persia to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. God’s message to them was not to only restore the temple but to restore their spiritual lives. Zechariah called the people to repentance and also to be honest and sincere in their worship. For years they had been deceived by false teaching and were worshipping idols and false gods.

God reminds them of their failures and reminds them that while He is unfailing in mercy and grace, He is also unchanging in His standards. What God wants from us is obedience.

The people failed in three ways. First, they refused to pay attention, verse above, and turned their backs on God. They basically ignored God by pretending not to hear.

Secondly, they made their hearts hard, verse above, and would not listen to God. They deliberately disobeyed God.

Thirdly, they began to play the hypocrite role. At the beginning of this chapter, verse 3, the people asked if they should mourn and fast during the fifth month as they had done for years in remembrance of the destruction of Jerusalem.

At that time Jerusalem was being rebuilt so the people wanted to know from the priests and the prophets at the temple if it was necessary to continue this fast. God did not answer the question directly. Instead He rebuked them for their hypocrisy and deception and asked them, “Was it really for Me you fasted?” God knows when our worship is sincere and when it is only a religious show for appearance sake.

They fasted but did not fast with a proper attitude of repentance and worship. They deceived themselves that they were pleasing God but for them it was merely ritual, not a time of genuine sorrow and repentance. They were without a sincere desire to know God and love Him. Many of us do the same today. We go through the motions of religious ritual and avoid God’s will in our lives, which is to love Him and obey Him.

Think about this: We go to church but we do not hear. We read the Bible but do not heed its instruction. We deliberately disobey and we become hypocritical. This is because we do not have a sincere desire to know the Lord and worship Him. He wants us to repent of our sins and do what is pleasing to Him. This passage in Zechariah portrays the human heart in the very act of deception.

God’s Word tells us the results of our repeatedly turning a deaf ear to God’s voice. We become blind to the truth. We lose our ability to see and hear what God is saying to us. This is what happens when God tries to move in our life and we do not listen. You lose the ability to see and hear God.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse this week is found in Matthew 19:26

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”.

PRAYER:

Keep my heart and the hearts of my family open to Your voice every day. Help me not to turn a deaf ear to what You are telling me and keep me faithful in reading Your Word so I can know what You desire from me.

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Guide: September 27, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2016.

GUIDE

DEFINITION:

Show the way to; escort; direct.

SCRIPTURE:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Life is like an untraveled trail with complex twists and turns. Have you ever gone hiking on a trail in the mountains? There are always signs that clearly mark the trails and signs that remind you to stay on the trail. If you make the mistake of leaving the marked trail you become lost and may never reach your destination.

There are many examples in life where one needs a guide. How many times have you been driving on a road and run into a construction crew making the road impassible? Many times you will see guides at the beginning of the construction zone to help you through by directing you to a detour to get you on the right route. We need guides when we travel in unknown territory. We need guides in many situations. We have guides that direct us to hospitals. Without signs it would be hard to find what we want in large malls and stores.

In our daily life we run into appealing activities that if we take our eyes off of our guide, Jesus, we can easily be detoured to the quicksand of sin. We may at times have to journey over some hard terrain or deep valleys. The only way to be sure we are on the right path is to follow a guide who knows the way perfectly.

We remember seeing years ago a large picture on an office wall. An artist painted a picture of the Lord Jesus standing behind a young man whose eyes were focused in the direction that the Master was pointing. Jesus’ hand was on the man’s shoulder, and you could imagine that He was saying, “This is the way we are going. I will get you to your destination.”

There are two paths in life we can take and the choice is ours. One is wide and the way is easy and many choose to follow it. The other is narrow and the way is hard and very few find it. The one we choose to follow determines our destiny. In Matthew 7:13 Jesus tells us that the wide and easy road leads to destruction. And He tells us that the narrow road is not easy and few choose it but it is the right road because it leads to life eternal. To get to our destination of eternal life we need to follow Jesus and go the direction He is pointing us to go.

If you are honest with yourself you will admit that you are ill-equipped to go through life alone. God created us knowing that we would need His guidance. In our own knowledge and reasoning power we are simply not able to figure out how to consistently make wise decisions. Some people feel they are wise enough to make their decisions on their own but sooner or later they fail. Wrong decisions often have disastrous consequences.

The assuring hand of our Lord on our shoulder will always lead us down the right path to good choices if we put our total trust in Him as our guide. We urge you to choose to follow the lead of Jesus by reading His Word and then by applying biblical principles to your walk in life. Also learn to pray for any large or small decisions that may put you on the wrong path and seek the narrow path that leads you to eternal life.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse this week is found in Matthew 19:26

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”.

PRAYER:

Keep me from yielding to temptation that leads me to take the broad and easy path of life. Help me to keep my eyes totally on You even though I may not see clearly the path you have for me. Thank You for walking beside me as my guide in life to keep me on the narrow road that leads to eternal life.

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Redemption: September 26, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2016.

REDEMPTION

DEFINITION:

The act of buying back by paying a ransom; restoration; to free from the consequences of sin.

SCRIPTURE:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Many people not only do not understand what redemption is, but do not know why they need redemption. So the question that we want to answer is, “Why do we need redemption?”

The theme of the Bible is redemption. From Genesis to Revelation the Bible teaches that the law of God has condemned us all, without exception, because as we read in Romans 3:23 (above) we have all sinned. By sinning we separate ourselves from God and miss the beauty of God’s plan for our life. Because of our sinful nature we stand condemned and we need redemption. Because of the grace of God, He stands ready to rescue us from our sins and redeem us.

In the book of Romans the apostle Paul speaks of three phases of redemption. They are justification, sanctification and glorification.

Paul illustrates the meaning of justification by saying that justification means that God gives us a right to stand before Him on the basis of the work of Christ, not because of anything that we have done. Justification is God’s act of declaring us not guilty. He wipes our record clean and God no longer sees our sin. We stand before Him just as if (justification) we had never sinned because Jesus, God’s own Son, died on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for all of our sins.

In ourselves, we are incapable of pleasing God in our own strength with our own shabby ideas of righteousness. Righteousness is not something we earn but comes to us by faith when we accept the gift that God gave us to pay our penalty for our sins, His Son Jesus Christ.

Redemption also must include sanctification. Many believers stop with justification feeling that all they need is an escape from going to hell. But Paul reminds us in Romans four the necessity for all believers to be set apart for God and God’s purpose to deliver our soul, our mind, our emotions and our will from the control of our sinful nature. Being sanctified simply means that we as believers need to be dedicated to God or set apart for God. Sanctification comes by the working of the Holy Spirit within us (I Peter 1:2).

The ultimate state for every believer is glorification. “Those who He justified He also glorified” (Romans 8:30). When Jesus returns to rapture His church, believers will receive new glorified bodies which will be like Christ’s after His resurrection (Philippians 3:21). What a glorious day that will be! Believers will spend eternity in Christ’s glory (Romans 8:17) and giving glory and honor to our Lord and God (Revelation 4:9-11).

And finally when we are redeemed it is the plan of God for us to glorify God through all of our words and actions. Nothing is more important for us today then to be certain that we understand that we all are born sinners and because we are sinners we must pay the penalty for our sins. But God in His great mercy provided His Son to pay the penalty for our sins and for this we should glorify His name.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse this week is found in Matthew 19:26

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”.

PRAYER:

I am so grateful that You sent Your Son to this earth to pay the penalty for my sins. Thank You for the glory that is waiting for me in heaven. Help me to completely set apart my life to You so that all that I do and say will glorify Your name while I am here on this earth waiting for Your return.

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