Thought for the day...

February 15, 2020
Verse of the Day
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
Jeremiah 17:7 NIV

 

No overstuffed recliner
By Pastor Dave Scharf
Things happen in every Christian’s life that make us wonder, “Where is Jesus?” A job loss, a spouse loss, a self-confidence loss, a . . . loss. I’m guessing you can relate. Where is Jesus?

When we think of Jesus’ “working years,” we think of the 33 years he walked on this earth, the 40 days after he rose from the dead, and his ascension into heaven. So what’s he doing now? Playing checkers with the Father, biding his time until he returns? Challenging the saints to golf at the Savior’s Tournament on the perfectly manicured fairways of Zion Interstellar Golf Club? Taking a nap on his overstuffed recliner throne?

Hardly! There are so many dangers facing his church! The devil, the world, and our selfish natures are constantly trying to get us to step out of the church and embrace the world. The devil knows the church’s mission: make disciples. The devil knows that if he can get the church to join the world, then there is no need for the world to join the church!

And so Jesus prays for you today and works every loss in your life out so that you might gain heaven. Isn’t that a cool thing to think about? Jesus prays to the Father . . . for you. He constantly rules everything . . . for you. Jesus’ throne is no overstuffed recliner!

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15

 

Holy, Holy, Holy . . .
Theologian R. C. Sproul once wrote, “When the Bible calls God holy it means primarily that God is . . . separate. He is so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign to us. To be holy is to be ‘other,’ to be different in a special way.”

As we consider what it means for God to be holy, we recognize this is one of His many attributes including love, grace, mercy, and compassion. Even though our holy God is far different and greater than us, He allows us to know and love Him.

Having led the Jews out of Egypt, Moses wrote a song celebrating God’s deliverance and lifting up His power and holiness (Exodus 15:1-18). “Who is like you among the gods, O Lord—glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders?” (v.11).

In the New Testament, the apostle John described a vision of worship in heaven where believers in Jesus sang “the song of Moses . . . and the song of the Lamb” (Revelation 15:3), proclaiming, “Great and marvelous are your works . . . . Just and true are your ways . . . . Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy” (vv.3-4). What an amazing, holy God!

In the few and rare occasions where people have been allowed to have a peek at what the angels are doing in heaven, the angelic beings were singing continuously “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God” (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4:8). Holiness is the only attribute of God mentioned in triplicate. If God says something about His character once, it’s vitally important. But when He says it three times, that’s some serious emphasis.

Our holy God is wonderful and without equal (Isaiah 40:25). May we worship Him today, declaring “You alone are holy”! (Revelation 15:4). —K.T. Sim

MORE: Read 1 Thessalonians 4:7 and 1 Peter 1:13-17. Since God is holy, how does that affect the way you live?

NEXT: Pick a song that focuses on the holiness of God and worship Him by singing it. How can you practically live out holiness in what you’re facing today?

 

February 16, 2020
Verse of the Day
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16 NIV

 

February 17, 2020
Verse of the Day
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9 NIV

 

The stakes are higher now
By Pastor Mark Jeske
Jesus told his disciples once that those to whom much had been given, from them much would be expected and even demanded. God’s self-revelation did not come all at once, and he cut people slack when their available information was thinner. He didn’t drop the entire Bible on Adam and Eve. Over the centuries he slowly released more and more information about himself, his plans, and his work, some verbal and some in writing. Over the centuries he steadily left a clear track record of his interactions with both righteous and unrighteous people.

Over the centuries the portrait of the coming Messiah came increasingly into focus, with more and more detail and explanation. Over the centuries the dreadful consequences of sinful rejection of the gospel became clearer and clearer. The human race is increasingly running out of excuses for its ignorance and apathy.

You know far more about God and his agenda than Old Testament believers ever knew, and that raises the stakes (and the risks). “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3). Don’t complain about the increased pressure. Celebrate the clarity and power of the revelation you have to work with.

Believe it. Live it. Share it

 

GEORGE MUELLER, the great Victorian Christian and social reformer, tells a story of persistent prayer in his diary:

In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals. I prayed every day without a single intermission, whether sick or in health, on the land, on the sea, and whatever the pressure of my engagements might be. Eighteen months elapsed before the first of the five was converted. I thanked God and prayed on for the others. Five years elapsed, and then the second was converted. I thanked God for the second, and prayed on for the other three. Day by day, I continued to pray for them, and six years passed before the third was converted. I thanked God for the three, and went on praying for the other two. These two remained unconverted.

Thirty-six years later he wrote that the other two, sons of one of Mueller’s friends, were still not converted. He wrote, “But I hope in God, I pray on, and look for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they will be.” In 1897, fifty-two years after he began to pray daily, without interruption, for these two men, they were finally converted—but after he died! Mueller understood what Luke meant when he introduced a parable Jesus told about prayer, saying, “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1).

 

February 18, 2020
Verse of the Day
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
Philippians 2:3 NIV

 

Strong tower
By Pastor Mike Novotny
I will never forget standing behind the walls of Masada. Just west of the Dead Sea, Masada is an ancient fortress built on a tiny plateau, surrounded by steep drops. When the Roman army toppled Jewish cities and towns, Jewish rebels fled to Masada, the impregnable fortress. Up on that tower they were safe.

How about you? Where do you go when the walls of your life come crumbling down? when a friend won’t forgive you? when the surgeon can’t guarantee the surgery will work? when you can’t bring your husband back from the dead? when you feel like a hopeless failure? when life marches like an army and threatens to kill your peace and take your happiness captive, where do you run?

The name of God! Proverbs says, “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (18:10). Like Masada, there’s a refuge to which you can run. There’s a tower so strong and so high that the fiercest enemies can’t break in. Jesus Christ shed his blood so that the door to that tower would always be open to you. By washing away your sins, he guaranteed God’s name would be a source of comfort and security, a mighty fortress to help you free from every need.

Masada, if you haven’t heard, wasn’t as strong as the rebels thought. The Romans figured out a way to get in. But not the name of God. That tower will always keep you safe. So, run to it. Run to God.

 

February 19, 2020
Verse of the Day
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
1 John 2:15 NIV

 

February 20, 2020
Verse of the Day
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:39 NIV

 

My negativity
By Pastor Mark Jeske
Here are some things that drive me crazy: people who are always criticizing other people, people who are always finding fault with every event, people who never seem to be happy, people whose moods are always a drag on the group, and people who assume the worst in others. Hmm . . . you don’t suppose other people see those things in me, do you?

If my spirit is always cramped and bitter, what does that say about my worldview? It says that I’m not sure that Jesus really won. It says that I’ve been cheated in the distribution of resources and gifts. It says that I can’t trust anybody, that nobody really likes me, and that frankly I don’t really like myself. I assume things will fail and that I will be disappointed. Again!

Perhaps that’s why I am so drawn to positive people. They always seem to find joy wherever they go. (Is it luck? Karma? Are they too dumb to see all the obvious problems?) They seem interested in me. They seem to shed stress and have the ability to let go and let God. They have light: “Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones” (Proverbs 15:30).

Today I’m going to look for blessings, not breakdowns. I’m going to assume that God will send some light today, and I’ll be watching for it. And I am going to try to share some good news with a sad soul.

 

The gift of less to lose
By Jason Nelson
One of the best gifts God ever gave me was getting to a point where I had less to lose. I am not trying to compete with Job. His losses were epic. When God vacuumed nearly every distraction from his life, he was able to declare, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth” (Job 19:25).

Life happened. My wife and I could measure the effects. We had less income for ourselves and still had to spend money on other people. We moved to a smaller house in a poorer community, drove cars well into six digits on the odometer, and tuned in antenna TV because it was free. But as we had less to lose, we became more grateful for what we had.

Getting to the point of having less to lose is no picnic. It is very stressful. I would never recommend you start throwing things overboard unless you have a hut in a tropical paradise. But when God starts peeling away the excess in your life, pay close attention to what remains.

The journey led us to agree on a stewardship practice. Nothing new comes into our house unless something old goes out. If we get a new sweater, Goodwill gets an old one. If we update a light fixture, the Habitat ReStore gets the old one. Someone else can use them. And we don’t want to squander the gift of having less to lose.