Life: July 7, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY JULY 7, 2017.

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 healed. 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 Psalm 27:5.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

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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Loyalty: July 6, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY JULY 6, 2017.

LOYALTY

DEFINITION:

The quality of being steadfast, faithful, and constant in devotion.

SCRIPTURE:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one or love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Loyalty is an important character trait. Loyalty and faithfulness typifies the Christian. As believers we all know that our loyalty to God, our creator, our Savior and our Lord must be our first priority in our life. After being confident that we have complete loyalty to God we need to make sure that we are loyal to our spouses, our children, our parents and even our friends. Satan is constantly at work to weaken our faith and divide our loyalty.

Loyalty is a trait we admire in others and look for in a true friend. We all like to think of ourselves as loyal. Unfortunately, the reality is, we do not see much true loyalty in our world today. It is easy to be loyal if it doesn't demand anything of us. It is when loyalty costs us something that our resolve to be loyal crumbles.

Loyalty is difficult to maintain because it often puts us in a position of having to choose sides for whom or what we want to be loyal to. We must carefully evaluate whom or what we give our loyalty to.

Theodore Roosevelt, the former President of the United States, said in 1919: "There can be no divided allegiance here. We have room for one God, one flag, one language, and for one sole loyalty, and that is to the American people.” That is not as true today. Loyalties have become very fickle and divided.

As children in school we were taught to be loyal to our country and our flag. This is forgotten in the agenda of schools today. Our parents taught us to be loyal to them and to our siblings. With so many single parent families this has been difficult for a single parent to teach. Children find themselves being pulled in two directions. Most importantly, our parents taught us to be loyal and devoted to our Lord.

In the Old Testament Solomon was known for his God-given wisdom and devotion to God. In spite of his wisdom and his love for God he failed to remain completely loyal to God.

In I Kings 11:4 we read that Solomon's loyalty became divided. He allowed pressure from his pagan wives to compromise his devotion to God, "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God."

There are many pressures in this world that can cause us to compromise our loyalty to God. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus warned of this danger and compared it to trying to serve two masters. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one or love the other." Loyalty to the Lord our God requires making a choice. If we choose our Lord, He wants our loyalty without compromise.

Loyalty to the Lord may not be easy. Anyone who has lived under repressive governments such as communism knows that devotion to God comes at a heavy cost. Many have paid with their lives because of their faith and loyalty to their Lord.

We regularly receive emails from Christians living in Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Libya and India whose churches have been burned down and live in fear of being killed. Every day we hear in the news of Christians being persecuted in terrible ways and in many cases killed for one reason only and that is because they are loyal to God and their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In America today we are often mocked for our faith. Even though we may be mocked, we must stay strong and loyal to our faith and God will honor us for it.

To be loyal and faithful to God we must follow Jesus who is the one and only true way to God, the Father (John 14:6). If we do not remain strong in our loyalty to our Lord, we can become divided as Solomon did, trying to serve two masters.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 27:5.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, give me strength to stay loyal and faithful to You no matter what others might say or do to mock and ridicule me for my faith. Thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. We pray for Christians across the world living in fear of persecution for their faith. Keep them safe and bless them for their loyalty to their faith.

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Mercy: July 5, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY JULY 5, 2017.

MERCY

DEFINITION:

Forgiveness; compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward a defender. An act of kindness or favor.

SCRIPTURE:

For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting. And His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100:5

For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches the clouds. Psalm 108:4.

And loving kindness is Yours, O Lord, for You recompense a man according to his work. Psalm 62:12.

For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in loving kindness to all who call upon You.
Psalm 86:5.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Moses talked to God face to face but had never seen God. In Numbers 12:9 we read that he only saw the form of God. Moses wanted to see God and asked God to show him His glory. God responded and said, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

God did allow Moses to see only His back. As God passed by Moses, God proclaimed to Moses the nature of His character. God said, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness; who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished”. (Exodus 34:6-7)

Moses probably wanted to see God’s power and might. Instead God proclaimed to Moses that He was a God of mercy. God has not changed since that day when Moses met God on the mount. God revealed Himself to be a God of love, mercy and forgiveness when He was with Moses. God does not change. His mercy is available to you and I today.

Let us begin this devotional by looking at how the mercy of God is described in the scriptures: In Psalm 86:5 we are told that His mercy is abundant. So, there is plenty of God’s mercy available to all, even the worst of sinners. In both Psalms 106:1 and 107:1 we are told that God’s mercy is everlasting. Although this was expressing God’s mercy for Israel, the same mercy is offered to us today.

In Psalm 119:64 we are told that the world is full of His mercy. His mercy is everywhere. Isaiah 54:7 tells us that His mercy is great. In Lamentations 3:22-23 we are told that the love of the Lord for us is steadfast and never ceases. His mercy is new every morning. God’s mercy for us is rich, sure and tender. God’s mercy is greater than any sin.

The scriptures also tell us how God manifested His mercy to us. First of all, and most important is what God did in sending His Son to this earth to die on the cross and pay the penalty for all of our sins. Can you think of any greater mercy?

We deserve to die but God in His compassion has offered us mercy and the gift of eternal life. A good definition of mercy is “not getting what we deserve.” When we consider how numerous are our sins we deserve to be punished.

God also manifests His mercy today to those who we may call backsliders. He is willing to welcome anyone back into the fold. What great mercy. He offers His mercy to repentant sinners. This includes not only backsliders, but even those who once rejected Him. He offers His mercy with everlasting kindness -- not just for today but each and every day. When we have been redeemed we see that His mercy is new every morning.

What a great God we serve. We need to pray and thank the Lord for His mercy towards us. We must seek His mercy for others and lead them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 27:5.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

PRAYER:

Thank You for Your love and mercy that has freed us from the penalty of the sin we deserve and for giving us eternal life. Your loving kindness is overwhelming. Make my life today an example that You can use to communicate to others the wonderful joy in my heart that I have because of all You have done for me according to Your great mercy.

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Freedom: July 4, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY JULY 4, 2017.

FREEDOM

DEFINITION:

The state of being free and at liberty to act without restraint; the right to worship and publish fact and opinion.

SCRIPTURE:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Today in America we celebrate 241 years since the founding of our country. We need to be thankful for the freedoms that we have enjoyed over the years. But during the past few years we are seeing some of our freedoms going away. Our founding fathers paid a heavy price for the freedoms we have been enjoying.

Former President Harry S. Truman said years ago, “Freedom is expensive. It still costs blood. It still calls for courage and endurance by every man and woman who is free and who is determined to remain free.” Unfortunately, many Americans do not seem to want to pay that price today.

High above the Capitol building in Washington D.C. is the “FREEDOM LADY.” This statue is about 20 feet high and stands out for all to see when they visit the capitol. This statue was given to America and was shipped by sea from Rome to America. The ship that it was on encountered a fierce storm and the Captain ordered some of the cargo to be thrown overboard so they would not sink the ship. Some of the sailors wanted to jettison the heavy statue but the captain refused. He shouted above the howling storm. “NO NEVER! We will flounder before we throw “FREEDOM” away.

Our forefathers made sure that religious freedom was a major part of that freedom. We should not take our religious freedom for granted. Many in this world do not have religious freedom and many Christians are being persecuted today as you read this devotional.

Christianity is much more than a religion. It is a relationship with Jesus. God has given us the freedom to choose whether we want that relationship or whether we decide not to accept God’s offer. As Joshua said many years ago, “Choose you this day, who you shall serve. For me and my house we will serve the Lord.”

When we choose to serve the Lord, and accept Jesus as our Savior, we receive a freedom that came at a heavy price. We have the freedom from the consequences of sin because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins when He gave His life on the cross. His blood has made us free.

In John 8: 31, 32 and 36, we read that the truth that we learn from God’s Word shall make us free. When Jesus makes us free, we are truly free.

The story of Abraham and Lot shows us today that how we use our freedom reveals our character and who we really are. Abraham, after asking God how he should divide up the land gave Lot, his nephew the freedom to choose first which portion of the land he wanted when they were dividing it up.

Lot chose the most fertile land for himself and left the poorest land for Abraham. Lot’s choice led to his downfall. Abraham was rewarded by God and was richly blessed with great wealth. When we include God in our freedom to choose, God will bless us.

How often do we take our freedoms for granted? All it takes for us to lose our freedoms here in America and also to lose our freedoms that Jesus has given us is to turn away from God and let evil triumph in our nation and in our personal lives.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 27:5.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

PRAYER:

Thank You, dear Lord, for the freedoms You have given me, especially the freedom to worship You as my Savior and Lord. Help me to use the freedoms you have given me to further the good news of the gospel. Enable me to share my beliefs to my family and lead them to appreciate the freedom to worship God that we have here in America.

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Prosper: July 3, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY JULY 3, 2017.

PROSPER

DEFINITION:

To be successful or fortunate; thrive; flourish.

SCRIPTURE:

If you do not obey the Lord your God -- you shall not prosper in your ways. Deuteronomy 28:15&29.

He sought God in the days of Zechariah and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper." II Chronicles 26:5.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you. Psalm 122:6

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. III John 2.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We all want to prosper and be successful. Moses was very specific in Deuteronomy chapter 28 in telling the Children of Israel what they must do if they wanted to receive God's blessings and prosper in life. They must obey the Lord their God and carefully follow all His commandments. (Verse 1) In the following verses, 2 through 14 he lists the blessings they would receive. You will be amazed as to how much God promised to the children of Israel if they would only obey their Lord and follow His commandments. Do you realize that God will do the same for us if we only obey the Lord and keep his commandments?

In verses 15-68, Moses details the curses that will come on them for disobedience. Moses warned them if they disobeyed God they would not prosper. Are you living in disobedience to God and wondering why everything is going wrong?

Every person wants to prosper today and when they see others prospering and they are not they become envious and many times bitter. We have two thoughts on this for your consideration today.

First, what is meant by “prospering”? God may prosper you with specific talents to do His work. If he has, are you using them as He would desire? God may prosper you with time so that you can help others in their times of need. If so, how do you spend your time? God may prosper you with wealth. Can He trust you with what He has given you? Do you use your money wisely?

Another thought for you to consider is that God will only prosper you, according to the scriptures, when you put Him first place in your life, all of the time! You cannot live for the Lord on Sunday and not on the weekdays and expect God to prosper you. You cannot treat your friends kindly and your family unkindly and expect to prosper. The decision is yours because God wants us all to prosper.

In II Chronicles 26, we read of Uzziah who became King of Judah at the age of 16. It is recorded that as a younger child when Uzziah was living under King Zechariah, he continually sought God in all that he did. When he became King, God said that as long as he sought Him, he would prosper. Notice that the verse says "as long as." For a time Uzziah was obedient to God and did prosper. Unfortunately, he became proud which led him to be unfaithful to God. The result was disastrous for him, God afflicted him with leprosy until the day he died.

Psalms 122:6 instructs us as Christians to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The Psalmist here says if we do God will prosper us. Do you pray for Israel each day?

Perhaps you are wondering why we should pray for Israel? Israel, as a nation and a people, are God’s Chosen people. The people of Israel are descendants of Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would bless those who blessed Him and curse those who cursed Him. God does not change. He is still concerned about all that happens in Israel.

God expects us to pray for Israel. God's chosen people turned away from Him but God has never turned away from them.

And finally, John in his third book writes to Gaius, who he calls the beloved believer in the first century church. Because of his faithfulness to God and his consistent daily walk in truth, John prays that God will prosper him in all things and give him good health. Likewise, we as Christians are to pray for our fellow believers and ask God to bless them in their faithfulness to the Lord.

Our prayer for you today is that God will prosper you in all that you do. But remember it will only happen if you obey God's commands, continually seek God, pray for the peace of Israel and those are serving the Lord, and be faithful and truthful in all you do for the Lord.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 27:5.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

PRAYER:

Thank You for giving me instruction from the scripture that challenge me to honor You in all that I do so I may prosper. Help me to understand that prospering means that I will receive Your blessings on my life. May I use the talent, time or treasure that you have given me so that I may be blessed and that my family and my friends will see Christ in me and may they give up their worldly traits and honor You in all that they do. Help me to pray daily for my family, my friends, and my fellow believers and for the peace of Jerusalem.

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