1 Corinthians 4:19 - The boss is comming

But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.

Today is a big day at work. The bosses are coming. Leaders from our corporate office are coming in for a "Town Hall" meeting. They come once a year and everyone scurries around making everything as perfect as possible. It is a good thing. It keeps us on our toes and helps us to get around to things we have been needing to get done. In this verse Paul is telling the Corinthian church that he plans to come and see for himself all the problems this church has been having. With his eminent arrival, Paul hopes to instil in them a sense of urgency to correct the problems. Every day we should have this sense of urgency regarding the return of Jesus. The time is now to turn to God and give our lives to him, to live our lives by the example given to us by Christ. He could come at any time.

Lord, thank you for putting the right verse in front of me for today. Please help us to always live with the sense of urgency of meeting you. Amen.

1 Corinthians 1:27 - Weak and foolish

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

God wants us to rely on him. Good uses the weak and the foolish because the glory belongs to him, it is his power and wisdom. Our righteousness, holiness and redemption is not to our credit, We have nothing to boast about except the Lord.

Lord, thank you for choosing us. Please help us to remember all the glory is due to you for our salvation. Amen.

Psalm 66:18 & John 8:47 - Failure to communicate

The other day during a conference, a single friend of mine was pleasantly surprised to be seated next to a very handsome man. They flirted casually through dinner, then grew restless as the speeches were given. During one particularly long-winded lecture, the guy sitting nest to my friend drew a # sign on a cocktail napkin. Elated, she wrote down her phone number. He looked startled for a moment, then drew another # sign, this time adding an X to the upper-left-hand corner.

Sometimes we have a failure to communicate.

Psalm 66:18

If I had cherished sin in my heart,

      the Lord would not have listened;

John 8:47

Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Listening and hearing are the lock and key of communication. How do we know God is listening? Can I hear God when he is speaking to me? According to these scriptures, if there is sin in our heart, God will not listen and if we are not hearing him, we need to examine if we actually belong to God. Have we given his life to him? How about you? Do you belong to God? Have you repented and been baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and to receive the holy spirit? If not, please do so today.

Lord, thank you for offering us salvation, listening to us and allowing us to hear you. Please help those who have not decided to be your child to do so today. Amen.

  

Psalm 119:120 - Fear?

My flesh trembles in fear of you;
     I stand in awe of your laws.

Two days ago, I read a section of Psalm 119 which contained the above verse, then I opened BibleGateway and the verse below was the verse of the day:

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18 NIV

The two verses reminded me of a Bible study I had heard a few days earlier about fear and love of God. Are these two the same God? My short answer is yes, at different times. When Christ died, the forgiveness he offered rolled back to include the Israelites and rolled forward to include us. As great as the law was, it did not save. Like the verse above says, The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Only the blood of Christ saves.

That may sound a little confusing and it certainly merits more study. Let me know if you would like to discuss it.

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to love you. Please help us to understand you and your word. Amen.

Psalm 119:90 - Forever

Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
     you established the earth, and it endures.

This section of Psalm 119 is about how God is eternal. Not only is he eternal, but his word has endured through generation after generation. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His plan for salvation has always been the same. Salvation only comes through his son as the perfect sacrifice. The law is still good and we can learn so much about God from it, but the law did not save. Jesus does.

Lord, thank you for your eternal nature. Please help us to trust you and your enduring faithfulness. Amen.

Psalm 81:11-12 - Does God give up on us?

“But my people would not listen to me;
     Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
     to follow their own devices.

God gives us free will. He lets us choose if we are going to follow him or not. In the form of friends, family members and kind strangers, he comes to us, sharing the good news of Christ sacrifice for our sins. As with the Israelites in this Psalm, his pursuit of us will cease and he will allow us to make our choice and do what we want. The door remains open, but we have to walk through it.

Lord, thank you for giving us chance after chance to come to you. Please help us to seek a relationship with you. Amen.

Psalm 78:38-39 - Mercy

Yet he was merciful;
     he forgave their iniquities
     and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
     and did not stir up his full wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh,
     a passing breeze that does not return.

Time and again the Israelites disappointed God. Over and over they were unfaithful and rebellious. They constantly complained and sinned. Sounds like us. Thankfully, God is merciful. He understands we are human. He knows our short-comings better than we do. God has a plan to deal with our sin. Jesus Christ, his son, came to the earth and died on a cross, taking on all our sins. One perfect sacrifice. We only have to recognize our sin and accept this gift of mercy through baptism. Even as a Christian we will continue to sin, but God;s Spirit will live in us and help us to grow more like Christ every day.

Lord, thank you for your perfect plan of mercy. Please help us to sin less often. Amen.

Psalm 75:6-7 God is the judge

No one from the east or the west
     or from the desert can exalt themselves.
It is God who judges:
     He brings one down, he exalts another.

We must always remember, our final destination beyond this earth will be decided by God. Our relationship with him is the single most important relationship we have.

Lord, thank you for wanting us to be with you. Help us to always seek you. Amen.

Psalm 67:1-2 - Gifts with a purpose

May God be gracious to us and bless us
     and make his face shine on us—
so that your ways may be known on earth,
     your salvation among all nations.

We all want good things from God, but his purpose in giving us good things is greater than just a blessing towards one who loves him. When God is gracious to us, blesses us and shines his face on us, we become a reflection of God's goodness. We shine a light on God's paths and plans. We expose the world to the salvation God offers to everyone.

Lord, thank you for giving us your blessings. Please help us to allow you to use those blessings to reveal your ways and salvation to the world. Amen.

Psalm 18:16 - Rescue

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
     he drew me out of deep waters.

The first few verses of Psalm 18 talk about God's power and glory. The next group of verses (16-29) focus on how God rescues us. I love in verse 19 it says, "he rescued me because he delighted in me." I've seen the word delighted a few times in scripture, referring to how God feels about us.  It feels nice to be "delighted in." God knows where we are. He knows when we need rescued. He loves us and wants us to put our trust in him so that he can rescue us.

Lord, thank you for rescuing us. Please help us to always trust in you. Amen.

Joel 2:1 - The end of the world

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
     sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
     for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—

The end of the world isn't something most of us think about much. The Bible always refers to the "day of the Lord" in urgent terms, like it could happen any moment. But it's been thousands of years and it hasn't happened yet, so we get complacent and don't really think about it. Should we? Yes! Not only the end of the world, the end of our world. We can die at any time, without any warning. Are we ready? Do we know God and are a Christian, baptized for the forgiveness of our sins and to receive the Holy Spirit? Have we reached all of those with whom we want to share the good news of Christ?

Lord, thank you for reminding us that the end of time, or the end of our time, can come at any time. Please help us to always live with a sense of urgency regarding your work. Amen.

Exodus 15:2 - Amen

“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
     he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
     my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Amen!

Exodus 13:14 - Remember...

“In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

I love the idea that God sets up traditions with the purpose of remembrance. The Israelites being brought out of slavery from Egypt still carries meaning for us today because we are all given the opportunity to be brought out of slavery from sin. And the Passover Celebration for us has become the Lord's Supper, a regular opportunity to remember how we were brought out of slavery from sin. I also like the idea of the passing on of this tradition from parent to child. By simply doing as commanded, we set a powerful example for our children. They will go our on their own and have to take their own journey to God, but Proverbs 22:6 tells us "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Lord, thank you for helping us to remember you and all you have done for us. Please help us to maintain these traditions and pass them on to our children. Amen.

Romans 11:5-6 - Grace

So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

Grace...there is nothing a person can do to earn salvation. It is only a gift they can accept and be thankful for. Thankfulness is shown through our obedience and service.

Lord, thank you for the gift of salivation. Help us to accept it and show our thankfulness. Amen.

Luke 2:11 - The greatest gift

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Lord, thank you for sending your son to allow us the gift of salvation. Please help us to bring glory to your name today and everyday. Amen.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Romans 8:32 - In this season of giving...

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

In this season of giving, remember that God gave us the greatest gift of all, his son, who died on the cross to pardon our sins. God loves every person in this world and wants the best for them. He gave you his son, will you give him your life?

Lord, thank you for the gift of your son and all things. Please help us to honor your gift by giving our lives back to you. Amen.

Romans 7:24-25b - The purpose of the law

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 7:7-25 is a passage I have kind of been putting off. It is so confusing to me, but I think the ultimate meaning is in the passage above. We are sinful people and we don't need to blame the law for this. The law revealed sin, not caused it. But, any time we are told not to do something, we want to do it. The law was essential because it made us aware of our sin, death and separation from God. We should be thankful for the law for revealing this to us so we can then connect with God and the only way to do that is through Jesus Christ.

Lord, thank you for your perfect plan, even if it is something we do not always understand. Please help everyone to recognize themselves as sinful and give themselves to your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Romans 3:20 - Cause or effect?

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

This verse hits on such an important concept. I think from the outside looking in, it may look like Christians do good and "follow the rules" to get to go to heaven. In my early years as a Christian, I believed this as well. The truth is we follow God because he has given us salvation, not in order to gain it.

Lord, thank you for offering us the gift of salvation. Please help me to live like I am thankful for your gift. Amen

Joshua 20:9

Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

I have always liked the concept of the cities of refuge. I think we could compare our time on earth as our city of refuge. We have all sinned and our sin has put Christ on the cross. We all deserve death, but we have the opportunity while here on earth to do something about it. We have the opportunity to accept the saving grace Christ offers us. We may even have the opportunity to express our thankfulness while we are still here on earth. And we have the opportunity to share with others how they can be cleansed of their guilt.

Lord, I pray that I use my time here on earth, in my city of refuge, to do all that you want me to do. Thank you for saving me. Amen.

Philippians 2 : 12

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

In the first part of this verse I think Paul is giving the Philippians such a compliment. The second part is something I have used so many times in so many circumstances. I have always felt like my relationship to God is something very personal. It's not just a generic rule book. Each of us has to communicate with God independently to hear His Word and do His will. I think this is what is meant by continuing to working out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Dear Lord, I intend to continue to honor you with my obedience. Lord I will daily communicate with you so that I can continue to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. Ame