Today’s Reading: 1 Peter 1; 1 Peter 2; 1 Peter 3; 1 Peter 4; 1 Peter 5
Scripture: 1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
Observation/Application: Prayer is a discipline that requires focus. Even the reading and study of the Bible requires a similar focus. This encouragement by Peter reminds me of the practical aspects of keeping a clear mind: regular sleep, eating, exercise and other basic health habits help keep our minds sharp so we can give ourselves without distraction to spiritual disciplines like reading and prayer.
Prayer: Lord, help me to do even better in those areas that will assist me in a meaningful prayer and study life. I want to grow in prayer and in the devotion to Your word.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Title: The Inner Battle / Topic: Temptation
Today’s Reading: James 1; James 2; James 3; James 4; James 5
Scripture: James 1:13-15
13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Observation: It's not God's fault. The primary source of my temptations is not hard to find. It's me. Even though I have known and followed the Lord consistently since I was six years old, I still have to deal with the problem that James describes here. "...By his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed." What follows is a progression from evil desire to sin and to eventual, inevitable death.
Application: Whenever I read scriptures like this, it reconfirms my life message: Real accountable relationships are essential to stay on track with God. This is a must for every person who wants to walk the narrow road of righteousness and holiness.
Prayer: Lord, thank You that You honestly tell me through Your word what is going on. Keep me in touch with the reality of my own need for You and for the continual application of Your grace and truth to transform me into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. I thank You for those who help me to stay on track with You. May I help them as they help me.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture: James 1:13-15
13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Observation: It's not God's fault. The primary source of my temptations is not hard to find. It's me. Even though I have known and followed the Lord consistently since I was six years old, I still have to deal with the problem that James describes here. "...By his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed." What follows is a progression from evil desire to sin and to eventual, inevitable death.
Application: Whenever I read scriptures like this, it reconfirms my life message: Real accountable relationships are essential to stay on track with God. This is a must for every person who wants to walk the narrow road of righteousness and holiness.
Prayer: Lord, thank You that You honestly tell me through Your word what is going on. Keep me in touch with the reality of my own need for You and for the continual application of Your grace and truth to transform me into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. I thank You for those who help me to stay on track with You. May I help them as they help me.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Title: Three Short Thoughts / Topic: Holy Living
Today’s Reading: Hebrews 12; Hebrews 13; Jude 1
I selected three verses from Hebrews chapter 12. These three caught my eye and I couldn't make up my mind which I wanted to journal on, so I decided to write on all three briefly
#1 Scripture: Hebrews 12:11
11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
#1 Observation/Application: The thing that caught my eye here was the phrase "harvest of righteousness and peace." We all know that discipline can produce righteousness in a person. But the idea that it produces peace is interesting to me. As I think about it, it seems that true righteousness brings peace along with it as a kind of bi-product. That is, if I am truly righteous, I will be at peace with whatever is going on around me. The other thing that comes to mind is that whenever we find ourselves or another person lacking peace, there is a need for some discipline to produce that peace along with the attendant righteousness.
#2 Scripture: Hebrews 12:14
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
#2 Observation/Application: Holiness is a word that is out of fashion today. For me, it strikes images of women with tight hairdos and no makeup wearing plain clothing. It reminds me of legalism and the efforts to get rid of sin by restricting any indulgence. But I think that misses the point of holiness. Holiness is a dedication of myself to a specific cause, in this case, to serving the Lord. Hence, I must dedicate myself to God and His purposes for my life or I will not "see the Lord."
#3 Scripture: Hebrews 12:15
15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
#3 Observation/Application: God gives grace when I am offended or wounded. I can receive God's grace and use it to process my hurt and pain to produce healing and more grace. Or, I can reject the grace of God and process (or bury) my hurt and pain on my own which has the inevitable result of producing a bitter root in my life. Unfortunately, a bitter root will grow up and produce bitter fruit. And even more unfortunate still is the truth expressed in this verse that bitter fruit does not affect only me. No, here is the broader effect of bitter root and bitter fruit: "cause trouble and defile many." The damage that bitterness can do it widespread and very detrimental. The lesson here is accept God's grace and never process hurt without it.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the great lessons we find in Your word. Help me and my readers to remember them and to implement them in our lives.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
I selected three verses from Hebrews chapter 12. These three caught my eye and I couldn't make up my mind which I wanted to journal on, so I decided to write on all three briefly
#1 Scripture: Hebrews 12:11
11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
#1 Observation/Application: The thing that caught my eye here was the phrase "harvest of righteousness and peace." We all know that discipline can produce righteousness in a person. But the idea that it produces peace is interesting to me. As I think about it, it seems that true righteousness brings peace along with it as a kind of bi-product. That is, if I am truly righteous, I will be at peace with whatever is going on around me. The other thing that comes to mind is that whenever we find ourselves or another person lacking peace, there is a need for some discipline to produce that peace along with the attendant righteousness.
#2 Scripture: Hebrews 12:14
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
#2 Observation/Application: Holiness is a word that is out of fashion today. For me, it strikes images of women with tight hairdos and no makeup wearing plain clothing. It reminds me of legalism and the efforts to get rid of sin by restricting any indulgence. But I think that misses the point of holiness. Holiness is a dedication of myself to a specific cause, in this case, to serving the Lord. Hence, I must dedicate myself to God and His purposes for my life or I will not "see the Lord."
#3 Scripture: Hebrews 12:15
15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
#3 Observation/Application: God gives grace when I am offended or wounded. I can receive God's grace and use it to process my hurt and pain to produce healing and more grace. Or, I can reject the grace of God and process (or bury) my hurt and pain on my own which has the inevitable result of producing a bitter root in my life. Unfortunately, a bitter root will grow up and produce bitter fruit. And even more unfortunate still is the truth expressed in this verse that bitter fruit does not affect only me. No, here is the broader effect of bitter root and bitter fruit: "cause trouble and defile many." The damage that bitterness can do it widespread and very detrimental. The lesson here is accept God's grace and never process hurt without it.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the great lessons we find in Your word. Help me and my readers to remember them and to implement them in our lives.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Title: Believe The Invisible / Topic: Faith
Today’s Reading: Hebrews 9; Hebrews 10; Hebrews 11
Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-3, 6
1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible...
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Observation: By faith -- this is how the believer lives. "Being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Unsaved people will often mock this. "How can you be sure of what you can't see?", they ask. Of course the answer makes no sense to them: "By faith." They call it blind faith. But it is not blind. It is belief with a vision. A vision of hope and trust in a God that we choose to believe in. And when I believe in God, He rewards that belief with a greater awareness of His reality. As I earnestly seek Him, He sees that and reaches back to me with more blessings. I also like the statement in verse 3 "what is seen was not made out of what was visible." This scripture was written long before science discovered the basic building blocks of matter: molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons and the like. These invisible particles that make up every physical substance are what this verse is referencing. "...what is seen was not made out of what is visible..." or, to reword it, "what is seen was made out of what is invisible." Interesting.
Application: Faith is necessary to please God. (The world claims to shun faith, but that is not true. The unbelieving world has great faith to believe in all sorts of unproven and unprovable things. The most outstanding example of this is Darwinian evolution, that is the belief that all living organisms evolved by chance over time from one original single cell organism. That takes great faith to believe.)
Bottom line: Keep on believing. Keep the faith. God's reward will come.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that You reward faith. Thank You for the gift of faith and the measure of faith that You give to every person. Help me to grow in faith and in boldness to believe and act in a manner consistent with faith. Help more people to believe. Help me to lead others to believe in You.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-3, 6
1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible...
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Observation: By faith -- this is how the believer lives. "Being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Unsaved people will often mock this. "How can you be sure of what you can't see?", they ask. Of course the answer makes no sense to them: "By faith." They call it blind faith. But it is not blind. It is belief with a vision. A vision of hope and trust in a God that we choose to believe in. And when I believe in God, He rewards that belief with a greater awareness of His reality. As I earnestly seek Him, He sees that and reaches back to me with more blessings. I also like the statement in verse 3 "what is seen was not made out of what was visible." This scripture was written long before science discovered the basic building blocks of matter: molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons and the like. These invisible particles that make up every physical substance are what this verse is referencing. "...what is seen was not made out of what is visible..." or, to reword it, "what is seen was made out of what is invisible." Interesting.
Application: Faith is necessary to please God. (The world claims to shun faith, but that is not true. The unbelieving world has great faith to believe in all sorts of unproven and unprovable things. The most outstanding example of this is Darwinian evolution, that is the belief that all living organisms evolved by chance over time from one original single cell organism. That takes great faith to believe.)
Bottom line: Keep on believing. Keep the faith. God's reward will come.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that You reward faith. Thank You for the gift of faith and the measure of faith that You give to every person. Help me to grow in faith and in boldness to believe and act in a manner consistent with faith. Help more people to believe. Help me to lead others to believe in You.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Title: The Loud Pray-er / Topic: Passion
Today’s Reading: Hebrews 5; Hebrews 6; Hebrews 7; Hebrews 8
Scripture: Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Observation: What an interesting scripture! According to this verse, Jesus was one of those "loud pray-ers" -- He didn't pray silently or even quietly. He was also quite emotional about it -- crying with tears and all that kind of thing.
Application: Lots of people don't like loudness and emotion when it is connected to spirituality or religion. (It's OK at sporting events or at political protests, but for most it is apparently NOT OK at church.) Maybe this is one additional reason that the religious people of Jesus' time didn't like Him. He wasn't dignified and reserved in His practice of religion. His method of prayer makes Him seem like a fanatic. And fanatics always make the establishment uncomfortable.
Bottom line: If Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears, then that is a good way to pray. I need to practice because I am not very adept at praying this way.
Prayer: Lord help me to engage my emotions in prayer like Jesus did. Help me to get over my cultural preference for quiet, calm, and order and get into some serious prayers and petitions with all of my being. I need Your help in this, Lord. Teach me to really pray with a passion.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture: Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Observation: What an interesting scripture! According to this verse, Jesus was one of those "loud pray-ers" -- He didn't pray silently or even quietly. He was also quite emotional about it -- crying with tears and all that kind of thing.
Application: Lots of people don't like loudness and emotion when it is connected to spirituality or religion. (It's OK at sporting events or at political protests, but for most it is apparently NOT OK at church.) Maybe this is one additional reason that the religious people of Jesus' time didn't like Him. He wasn't dignified and reserved in His practice of religion. His method of prayer makes Him seem like a fanatic. And fanatics always make the establishment uncomfortable.
Bottom line: If Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears, then that is a good way to pray. I need to practice because I am not very adept at praying this way.
Prayer: Lord help me to engage my emotions in prayer like Jesus did. Help me to get over my cultural preference for quiet, calm, and order and get into some serious prayers and petitions with all of my being. I need Your help in this, Lord. Teach me to really pray with a passion.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Title: A Key To Growth / Topic: Spiritual Walk
Today’s Reading: Philemon 1; Hebrews 1; Hebrews 2; Hebrews 3; Hebrews 4
Scripture: Philemon 1:6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Observation: Paul shares a key in personal spiritual growth. If you want to grow in understanding of spiritual matters, share your faith.
Application: Many people seem to be stuck in their spiritual maturity level. They have reached a certain place and they have plateaued at that level for a long period of time. They may attend church regularly but many are frustrated that they don't seem to be growing. Here is a key: share your faith. In sharing my faith, I am stretched to know more and I involve the Holy Spirit in my life by being a part of the flow of God's truth to someone else. I not only benefit them, but also myself. Notice that it says "be active." That means we need to not only do it, but keep doing it.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be more and more active in habitually sharing my faith with others. I want to be a vehicle of your saving grace to many people. Give me words and ways to share that will get results for Your kingdom.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture: Philemon 1:6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Observation: Paul shares a key in personal spiritual growth. If you want to grow in understanding of spiritual matters, share your faith.
Application: Many people seem to be stuck in their spiritual maturity level. They have reached a certain place and they have plateaued at that level for a long period of time. They may attend church regularly but many are frustrated that they don't seem to be growing. Here is a key: share your faith. In sharing my faith, I am stretched to know more and I involve the Holy Spirit in my life by being a part of the flow of God's truth to someone else. I not only benefit them, but also myself. Notice that it says "be active." That means we need to not only do it, but keep doing it.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be more and more active in habitually sharing my faith with others. I want to be a vehicle of your saving grace to many people. Give me words and ways to share that will get results for Your kingdom.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Title: The Guard / Topic: Spiritual Walk
Today’s Reading: 2 Timothy 1; 2 Timothy 2; 2 Timothy 3; 2 Timothy 4
Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Observation: These words from Paul to young Timothy are interesting. Here we find the idea of a "deposit", that is, like a down payment. God has made a down payment and Timothy has to guard it. But not all by himself, the Holy Spirit is there to help.
Application: I want my Lord to finish the transaction on me. While I am glad that He's put down a deposit, I want to make sure He makes all the payments. And I have my co-pay to take care of too. To insure that this all happens, I must be a guard. That means I must be vigilant to guard against any threat from without or within. There are a range of activities and strategies that are required. These include everything from staying alert, to listening to the Spirit, to enlisting the help of others to watch my blind spots. They must all be done. God wants His deposit to be wisely placed and to bring a sure eventual return.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be the guard You want me to be. May I be ever vigilant and relentless in my pursuit of Your best for me. Keep me from danger and surround me with great helpers.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Observation: These words from Paul to young Timothy are interesting. Here we find the idea of a "deposit", that is, like a down payment. God has made a down payment and Timothy has to guard it. But not all by himself, the Holy Spirit is there to help.
Application: I want my Lord to finish the transaction on me. While I am glad that He's put down a deposit, I want to make sure He makes all the payments. And I have my co-pay to take care of too. To insure that this all happens, I must be a guard. That means I must be vigilant to guard against any threat from without or within. There are a range of activities and strategies that are required. These include everything from staying alert, to listening to the Spirit, to enlisting the help of others to watch my blind spots. They must all be done. God wants His deposit to be wisely placed and to bring a sure eventual return.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be the guard You want me to be. May I be ever vigilant and relentless in my pursuit of Your best for me. Keep me from danger and surround me with great helpers.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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