All that stuff you have? It's not yours. And you know what else about all that stuff? It's not you! In Luke 12:15 Jesus said, "Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."
Heaven doesn't know you as the fellow with the nice suit or the woman with the big house. Heaven knows your heart. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Bible says the Lord looks at the heart. When God thinks of you, He may see your compassion, your devotion, your tenderness or quick mind, but He doesn't think of your things.
Define yourself by your stuff, and you'll feel good when you have a lot and bad when you don't. Contentment comes when we can honestly say with Paul who said, "I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty" (Philippians 4:12).
From Traveling Light
Job 22
Eliphaz
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10 That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15 Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
16 They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’
21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
Present Weakness and Resurrection Life
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Footnotes:
2 Corinthians 4:6 Gen. 1:3
Insight
Today’s reading showcases a remarkable spiritual reality concerning those who are resistant to the gospel. “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ . . . should shine on them” (vv.3-4). The apostle Paul tells us that Satan, “the god of this age,” has produced a form of spiritual blindness that hinders one’s perception of the reality of Jesus Christ. Spiritual blindness can only be overcome by the light of Christ (v.6).
Talking About Jesus
By Dave Branon
I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. —1 Corinthians 2:2
Former major league baseball player Tony Graffanino tells of an ongoing ministry effort in a European country. Each year his organization holds a week-long baseball camp. During this week they also offer a daily Bible study. In past years, the leader tried to find reasoned ways to convince the campers that God exists so they would place their faith in Him. After about 13 years, they had seen only 3 people decide to follow Jesus.
Then they changed their approach, says Graffanino. Instead of “trying to present facts, or winning arguments for a debate,” they simply talked about “the amazing life and teachings of Jesus.” As a result, more campers came to listen, and more chose to follow Him.
The apostle Paul said that when we tell others about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we should set “forth the truth plainly. . . . We do not preach ourselves,” he said, “but Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Cor. 4:2,5 niv). This was Paul’s standard for evangelism: “I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
We should be knowledgeable about the Bible and about the reasons for our belief, and sometimes we need to explain those reasons. But the most compelling and effective story we can tell puts Christ in the center.
Father God, please use me in the lives of others.
Remind me to talk about who Jesus is and His life
and teachings. And not to be dragged into debates,
but to share Jesus’ amazing life.
The risen Christ is the reason for our witness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 08, 2014
The Faith to Persevere
Because you have kept My command to persevere . . . —Revelation 3:10
Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life— throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God.
God ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet— places still untouched by the life of God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3). The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance— a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Waiting For the Best - #7129
Thursday, May 8, 2014
I think there's like this five-year-old kid that comes out in everybody when they get to Disney World. I'm going to have to confess that the little boy inside of me is still alive and well when I'm there, even though it's been awhile since I've been there. I mean, we did enjoy the times when our family visited the Magic Kingdom together some years ago. We've got the memories, we've got the photos. And, you know, now the next generation is taking their family!
Now, it's good to get to places like that early. I mean, all the attractions are great, but you've got to wait for them, even though you probably don't want to spend your time just standing in long lines most of the time. One of the most exciting rides we used to take in the Magic Kingdom was called Space Mountain. It still is. It was one of our favorite things to do. But there was this warning you had to read before you took the ride. Something like this, "If you have a heart condition, bad back, ingrown toenail, or whatever, don't get on this ride."
If you do decide to take the ride, it's a wild ride through this outer space environment, in total darkness. So, you look at the line, and you see it's one of the longest lines in the park. You go, "How long is this wait?" They say, "About an hour." No! Are we going to wait an hour? We did, and we even went back other times. It was great! It was worth it! There were a lot of teenagers in that line, and you know they're not normally known for really being patient. It's true of all of us. You've got to wait for the best that they have.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Waiting For the Best."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk. There are only a few chapters, but there's a lot in it. You should look it up if you're not familiar with it. He told God's children back in that day that he was actually struggling with God's calling. He wanted justice. He's going, "God, why don't you stop the sin in our nation? How come it's taking so long?" And God says, "I'm going to answer your prayer in My time." Then the dreaded word in chapter 2, verse 3, "For the revelation awaits an appointed time." There's that word! It's a 'wait' word.
Habakkuk learns a beautiful lesson, because He says near the end of the book in chapter 3, verse 16, "I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will rejoice in God my Savior."
Habakkuk has learned a solid gold lesson about following the Lord. Doing God's best is a lot like riding the best ride at a place like Disney World. You have to wait to get the best. The Bible is full of instances where people couldn't wait for God's answer. Like Abraham. He goes with Hagar, his wife's handmaid. He cannot wait for the promised son to come through him and Sarah, and he causes a horrible situation. Ishmael comes along, and today the descendants of Isaac, who would later come as the son of Abraham and Sarah, and Ishmael the descendant of Abraham and Hagar, still today are fighting it out in the Middle East because Abraham couldn't wait.
Moses tried to deliver the Jews by killing an Egyptian. He had the right idea, "My people should go free." God agreed, but not that way. He had to wander in the wilderness for forty years because he acted too soon. He acted his way... tried it his way. Created a forty year mess. See, God's best always comes after a wait. Look, a baby takes nine months.
Suppose you need an answer, but you can't wait for it. How different the result could be if you could get an instant answer. Wait! You don't want a premature answer. You want God's full term. Maybe you're tired of waiting, but God's answer is worth the wait; it's the best. You may have spent a whole life waiting for a love you couldn't lose and a peace that will sustain you in every storm, and the assurance that when you die you will be in heaven.
Today God is coming your way with the offer of Jesus, His Son, who died to make all that happen. Who walked out of His grace to prove that He can. Maybe you've never had a day when you made Him your Savior. Maybe you've never opened your heart, your life, to Him. If you want to and you need to know how, would you visit with me at our website ANewStory.com. A lifetime of waiting for the love that could begin today.