Thought for the day...

December 31, 2019
Verse of the Day
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV

 

The straightest shooters
By Jason Nelson
My little grandson, Noah, doesn’t mince many words. One time I picked him up from preschool and gave him a convenient snack when we got home. It was a package of yogurt and nuts in separate compartments that you tip together upon opening. I didn’t get it mixed to his satisfaction. I said, “I’m sorry, Noah, I am not familiar with how this product works.” He said, “Well, Papa, maybe you should take a class.” Booyah!

My heroes have always been kids because they are the straightest shooters. I have been taken to school by the unfiltered comments of elementary, high school, and college students in a lifetime of teaching them. Sometimes they are the only ones God can count on to say what needs to be said. “From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise” (Matthew 21:16). Hosanna! Hosanna!

The joy of Christmas for many adults comes from watching the children. They are mini beacons of the joy of salvation. They love the little Lord Jesus, and it shows. We think back to the time when our faith was like theirs. We wonder what happened to us. At what age did we start holding back? What disappointments piled up to dampen our praise?

Jesus likes kids too. And he warned us, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Luke 18:17). My New Year’s resolution is to hang on to my boyish tendencies as long as possible.

 

Loving God, Loving People
While watching the orbit of Uranus, astronomers noticed that the planet didn’t seem to orbit as expected, almost as if there was another unknown planet nearby whose gravity was pulling Uranus toward it. Using mathematics, the scientists were able to compute both the position and the mass of this unknown object and then observed it for the first time in 1846: the previously unknown planet Neptune. Math allowed them to identify Neptune before they could even see it!

This reminds me of how unbelievers can see God in us before personally recognizing His reality themselves. But how? For we don’t receive a badge or jacket proclaiming to the world that we’re Jesus’ disciples when we become believers in Him. Some might choose to make this identification based on whether a person goes to church or not, but we all know it’s not that easy. It can be quite difficult to identify whether someone is a true disciple of Christ.

But in John 13, Jesus reveals how—even without any kind of outward sign—we can identify someone as a true believer: by the way they love one another. Jesus said, “I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” (v.34).

This shouldn’t surprise us, given how central love is to our faith in Him. Consider that love is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-38) and the ultimate fulfillment of the entire Law (Romans 13:8). Love is also the evidence that Christ is Lord over our lives. “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples,” the Savior declared (John 13:35).

Our love for one another truly reveals our love for God! —Peter Chin

MORE: Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 for another reminder of how important love is.

NEXT: How do you typically identify someone as being a believer in Jesus? Who is God calling you to love? How is He calling you to truly love them?

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:1‭-‬13 NKJV

 

Chosen Instruments
My daughter is only 5 years old, but she’s a self-declared “artist.” One day we talked about paintbrushes. I selected two and handed them to her. The first brush was slim, with bristles that ended in a fine point. The other brush was larger and thicker. I explained that artists typically use bigger brushes to fill in large areas, while tiny brushes work better for small spaces and creating details. Painting involves choosing the right tool at the right time in the artistic process.

Not long after Jesus’ death and resurrection, He announced, “[Paul] is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

Paul was the right man for the job, partly because he had been “given a thorough Jewish training from [his] earliest childhood” (Acts 26:4). As a Jewish man using the Hebrew language, Paul reached Israel’s ordinary people as well as prominent government officials. He even had a voice with the uppity religious leaders because he had been a practicing “member of the Pharisees” prior to his conversion! (Acts 26:5).

As a Jewish man and a Roman citizen by birth, Paul was fluent in Hebrew and in Greek (Acts 21:37). This additional language allowed him to converse with almost anyone he encountered on his missionary travels. Fluency in Greek enabled him to start churches and even debate with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers (Acts 17:18).

God uniquely created Paul to be an effective evangelist (Galatians 1:15-16). Likewise, God has shaped all of our lives in unique ways—we speak different languages, live in different places, and have diverse abilities. We’re His chosen, created instruments for today (Ephesians 2:10). —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

MORE: Read Philippians 3:5-7 and see more of Paul’s qualifications along with where he found his true identity.

NEXT: How do you see the limitations in your life as they relate to your ability to serve God? How has He uniquely called and qualified you for His service?


Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.
Acts 9:10‭-‬19 NKJV


circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
Philippians 3:5‭-‬7 NKJV

 

January 1, 2020
Verse of the Day
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19 NIV

 

January 2, 2020
Verse of the Day
Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
Psalms 98:1-2 NIV

 

Pray the name
By Pastor Mike Novotny
When I was a kid, I learned a way to pray called the A.C.T.S. Method. It stood for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (asking for stuff). I understood the “I’m sorrys” and “thank you fors” and “please gimmes,” but I never really got that first part. Adoration?

But now I get why the best prayer starts there. Adore God. Hallow his name. Meditate on how wonderfully different God is from even the best things in your life. Pray, “God, you are glorious. You created all of this. Your love never fails. You never change. You are always faithful, always forgiving, always in control. You are my hidden treasure, my everything. Earth has nothing I desire besides you.”

If you start there, do you know what so naturally comes next? Confession. “But, God, that makes my sin even worse. I forgot your name. I ran to ____ to make me happy instead of to you.” And do you know what flows from there? Thanksgiving. “But, Jesus, there is forgiveness in your name! You knew what I would do, but you still died for a sinner like me.” Finally, supplication gets spiritual. “God, I want to have a good day, but what I really want is you. I want to remember you, know you, and see you by faith. I don’t need anything else. Neither do my friends, my kids, my family. So, God, please open our minds to see you as wonderfully different as you are. ‘Hallowed be your name’ (Matthew 6:9). Amen!”

Oh, that’s a great way to pray

 

Genuine Life
During a conversation with friends, several in the circle took turns recounting their early experiences with certain words in the Christian vocabulary. One person said, “Whenever I heard the word life mentioned by a Christian or in the Bible, I always thought it was only talking about heaven. I never thought it had much to do with me right now.” Most everyone nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it was difficult to know what there really was to be excited about,” another confessed. “I imagined playing harps somewhere in the clouds, and I felt guilty when the whole idea just didn’t excite me too much.”

While these descriptions of heaven have little to do with what Scripture actually reveals, it’s true that we often carry a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Bible means when it speaks of the life God brings. Paul describes the Holy Spirit as “the life-giving Spirit” and assures us that this Spirit of life “has freed [us] from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:2). At the very core, we discover that in Jesus we find freedom and life—the cure to the wreck and ruin that surrounds us.

Further, to “set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace,” Paul tells us (v.6 rsv). When we yield ourselves to God, setting our affections on Him and His truth as God’s Spirit reveals it to us, then we’ll find ourselves experiencing true life—life full of wholeness and well-being.

This true, genuine life isn’t only for the future, but for now. When we embrace God (or better, when we open up to God embracing us), we find ourselves stepping further into what it means to be truly human and truly alive. We find the genuine life that only Jesus provides. —Winn Collier

MORE: Read through Romans 8:1-11 again. Mark each time the word life appears. What does this tell you about your own existence and what it means to truly live?

NEXT: When are you most aware of the wreck and ruin of life? How does Jesus’ call to genuine life speak against these places of death?

 

January 3, 2020
Verse of the Day
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV

 

January 4, 2020
Verse of the Day
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 NIV

 

January 5, 2020
Verse of the Day
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31 NIV

January 6, 2020
Verse of the Day
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6 NIV

 

January 7, 2020
Verse of the Day
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV