Daily Devotional

Read Matthew 4 -- 6

Highlights In Today's Reading:

Jesus begins His inspired-of-God teaching with nine blessings (5:1-12) — notice the similarities to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). He explains the meaning of the Commandments (5:21-48). Jesus covers all the basic issues in this model prayer to our Father . . . Hallowed be Thy Name (we should never use His Name in vain). Our life's focus should be: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done (6:9). It is of utmost importance that we never hold any bitterness toward anyone but forgive all offences from our heart. Then, as evidence of relationship to Christ, we are assured that our Creator will forgive our multitude of sins against Him (6:12). Only to the extent that we forgive others will we be forgiven of our sins (Ephesians 4:32); but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:15).

The self-seeking world supposes that physical satisfaction, personal recognition and successful achievement are three indispensible characteristics of contentment.

Many books tell us how to attain "material" success, but few set forth what it means to be emptied of self-confidence, self-importance, and self-righteousness. Our Lord reveals how false and deceptive the philosophy of the world is and He leads us to recognize that in ourselves we have nothing, we are nothing, and we can do nothing of eternal value. Jesus gave us the key to spiritual success when He said: Without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:5) of eternal value.

The poor in spirit will not take offense, and they are very careful not to give it. The centurion who desperately desired Jesus to heal his servant said: I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof (Matthew 8:8). The Syrophenician woman was content to be numbered with the dogs to see her daughter healed (Mark 7:26-30). Jesus leads us to recognize our poverty of spirit without Him. It was often said by Him, I do nothing of Myself (John 8:28; compare 6:63). It is because of His sacrifice that now we can say: I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me (Philippians 4:13). Poverty of spirit is a consciousness of our emptiness without Christ. Jesus said: Blessed are the merciful. . . . the peacemakers . . . the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3-9). The word Blessed means happy, satisfied, content.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-8).

Thought for Today:

Some teachers today only feed our ego, but our real joy and privilege is to share the mercy and peace of God.

*Taken from: //www.biblepathway.org/English/InDepthDailyDev.html *

As We Sow, Shall We Also Reap?

It’s a basic principle of life: What goes around comes around. The Bible refers to it in terms of “sowing and reaping”. Sometimes it’s stated in the form of a warning:

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” - Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)

Fair enough. Let any who would scoff at the Almighty take heed; they won’t get away with it forever. But what about non-scoffers, without desire nor intention to ever mock God? Thankfully, the concept is still valid in the other direction. As the next verse explains:

“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.“- Galatians 6:8 (NKJV)

There is, however, something to beware of even in good, spiritual sowing:

Our ability to reap is not guaranteed.

Tragic, but true, and many reap not, because the time for harvest, the time to reap, doesn’t come immediately. Meanwhile, many get discouraged. Many lose patience. Many do not persevere. The enemy of our souls and the trials of life all work together in a vast conspiracy to get us to give up.

As long as we’re wise to this strategy, let’s not play right into it. In every area of life that we await that spiritual harvest, be it with family, friends, work or faithful service to our Master, let’s commit to stay committed. Don’t quit. Our capacity to not lose heart is the thing that guarantees a fruitful harvest.

May the Lord Jesus Christ grant you the grace and perseverance to become an abundantly joyful reaper.

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.“- Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)

From http://dckoso.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/as-we-sow-shall-we-also-reap/.

Life is Difficult: A Lesson from the Life of Job

Life is difficult. That blunt, three-word statement is an accurate appraisal of our existence on this earth. When the writer of the biblical book named Job picked up his stylus to write his story, he could have begun with a similar-sounding and equally blunt sentence, "Life is unfair."

No one could argue the point that life is punctuated with hardship, heartaches, and headaches. Most of us have learned to face the reality that life is difficult. But unfair? Something kicks in, deep within most of us, making it almost intolerable for us to accept and cope with what's unfair. Our drive for justice overrides our patience with pain.

Life is not just difficult, it's downright unfair. Welcome to Job's world.

Job was a man of unparalleled and genuine piety. He was also a man of well-deserved prosperity. He was a godly gentleman, extremely wealthy, a fine husband, and a faithful father. In a quick and brutal sweep of back-to-back calamities, Job was reduced to a twisted mass of brokenness and grief. The extraordinary accumulation of disasters that hit him would have been enough to finish off any one of us today.

Job is left bankrupt, homeless, helpless, and childless. He's left standing beside the ten fresh graves of his now-dead children in a windswept valley. His wife is heaving deep sobs of grief as she kneels beside him, having just heard him say, "Whether our God gives to us or takes everything from us, we will follow Him." She leans over and secretly whispers, "Why don't you just curse God and die?"

His misery turns to mystery with God's silence. If the words of his so-called friends are hard to hear, the silence of God becomes downright intolerable. Not until the thirty-eighth chapter of the book does God finally break the silence, however long that took. Even if it were just a few months, try to imagine. You've become the object of your alleged friends' accusations, and the heavens are brass as you plead for answers from the Almighty, who remains mysteriously mute. Nothing comes to you by way of comfort. It's all so unfair; you've done nothing to deserve such anguish.

Pause and ponder their grief - and remember that Job has done nothing to deserve such unbearable pain. If it had been you, how would you have responded?

Adapted from Charles R. Swindoll, "Life Is Difficult," in Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing, 2005), 226. Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lessons on Living

Author: Woodrow Kroll
Source: Lessons on Living From Esther
Scripture Reference: Esther 1:17-18

Esther 1:17-18

"For the queen's behavior will become known to all women, so that they will despise their husbands in their eyes, when they report, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.' This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media will say to all the king's officials that they have heard of the behavior of the queen. Thus there will be excessive contempt and wrath."

Keep Your Cool

Overreacting can have unexpected results. One mother related that she came home from a shopping trip to find her five children in a huddle. Curious as to what could be so intriguing, she slipped up behind them and peeked over their shoulders. To her horror she saw the kids had captured five baby skunks. "Quick, children, run!" she shouted. Thinking some disaster was about to happen, they scattered to all parts of the house--each with a baby skunk in his arms. The mother's overreaction insured that every room got its share of the spray.

When King Ahasuerus' advisors overreacted, they created an equally odious situation. What could have been merely a personal family matter was blown into an issue of national security. Consequently, their suggestion to remove Vashti as queen (v. 19) far exceeded the crime.

Often the intensity of the moment causes situations to loom far larger than they really are. When we overreact to such circumstances, sometimes justice gets trampled in the stampede. Then we regret our responses when we later view them more objectively.

Are there things in your life that seem unbearable? Does someone always rub you the wrong way? Before you overreact, ask God to show you His purpose in your frustrations. View them with eternity's telescope. Get God's viewpoint before you react.

A moment of prayerful reflection can prevent a lifetime of bitter regret.

Faith Walk

Author: Woodrow Kroll, Tony Beckett
Source: Faith Walk
Scripture Reference: Romans 2 Psalm 51-53

Robbed

Psalms 51–53, Romans 2
Key Verse: Psalm 51:12

We have a constitutionally guaranteed right to the pursuit of happiness. Notice, however, that the right is not to happiness but to the pursuit of it. Many people seem to miss that fine line of distinction. They live as if happiness is a right and nothing should ever stand in the way of their having it.

What God gives us is not temporary happiness, something dependent upon the current situation, experiences, possessions, activities or feelings. He gives us joy, an abiding inner sense of well-being that is not dependent upon anything other than our relationship with Him. The biggest difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is temporary and dependent on other things, while joy is permanent, coming from our relationship with God. The one comes and goes while the other stays—unless we allow ourselves to be robbed of our joy.

David was robbed and wanted his joy restored. The robber was himself—specifically, his sin. Covering up his sin instead of confessing it brought pain into his life, the result of God at work bringing David to the point of repentance.

Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance. Finally, he confessed. Now he would find relief and joy.

Joy is not a right but a blessing. It is not fleeting like happiness, but we can be robbed of it. Joy can be restored, however, when we repent before God, crying out like David, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (v. 12).

Do you have joy? If something in your life has robbed you of it, follow the example of David. Read again Psalm 51, praying it as your own prayer before God.