Maybe the reason your problems feel so great is because your cause is too small. Perhaps you need to set your mind on a holy cause. Do you have a holy cause? A faith worth preserving? A mission worth living for? Ask God to give you an orphanage to serve. A neighbor to encourage or a needy family to feed. A class to teach or some senior citizens to love.
It really is better to give than receive. In the kingdom of Christ we gain by giving, not taking. We grow by helping, not hurting. We advance by serving, not demanding. Want to see your troubles evaporate? Help others with theirs. You will always face problems, but you don’t have to face them in the same way. Instead, immerse your mind in God-thoughts. Turn a deaf ear to doubters and set your mind on a holy cause!
From Glory Days
1 Kings 9
The Lord’s Response to Solomon
So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do. 2 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had done before at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him,
“I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy—this place you have built where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.
4 “As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations, 5 then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: ‘One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, 7 then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. 8 And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will gasp in horror. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’
9 “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.’”
Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram
10 It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time, 11 he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre. (Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.) 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them. 13 “What kind of towns are these, my brother?” he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul (which means “worthless”), as it is still known today. 14 Nevertheless, Hiram paid[h] Solomon 9,000 pounds[i] of gold.
Solomon’s Many Achievements
15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, the supporting terraces,[j] the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon. 17 So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, and Tamar[k] in the wilderness within his land. 19 He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses[l] could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.
20 There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 21 These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed.[m] So Solomon conscripted them as slaves, and they serve as forced laborers to this day. 22 But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers. 23 Solomon appointed 550 of them to supervise the people working on his various projects.
24 Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces.
25 Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord. He also burned incense to the Lord. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath[n] in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.[o] 27 Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons[p] of gold.
Footnotes:
9:14a Or For Hiram had paid.
9:14b Hebrew 120 talents [4,000 kilograms].
9:15 Hebrew the millo; also in 9:24. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
9:18 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads Tadmor.
9:19 Or and charioteers.
9:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
9:26a As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew reads Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath.
9:26b Hebrew sea of reeds.
9:28 Hebrew 420 talents [14 metric tons].
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Read: Psalm 118:1-14
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Let all Israel repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
and the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?
7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
INSIGHT:
Today’s psalm celebrates the beautiful deliverance of the Lord. These verses provide a wonderful example of how to thank the Lord for His work in our lives. Verses 1-4 show us that praise is not only personal and private but can be expressed by a whole community. Verses 5-14 encourage us to reflect on our times of need and to celebrate how God has worked in us and through us.
No Peas!
By Joe Stowell
In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6
When our kids were young, one of them bluntly said “no” when we passed him some peas for dinner. To which we replied, “No what?” We hoped he would say, “No, thank you.” Instead he said, “No peas!” That led to a discussion about the importance of good manners. In fact, we had similar discussions on numerous occasions.
Beyond good manners—which are external—our Lord reminds us that we are to have a heart of gratitude. Scripture contains dozens of reminders that expressing gratitude is of primary importance in our relationship with God. Psalm 118 begins and ends with the exhortation to “give thanks to the Lord” (vv. 1, 29). We are to give thanks when we come into His presence (100:4). And the requests we bring to Him are to be wrapped in a spirit of thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6). Such an attitude of gratitude will help us remember our abundant blessings. Even in the midst of trouble and despair, God’s presence and love are our constant companions.
Giving thanks to God helps us to appreciate our blessings.
It’s no wonder, then, that the psalmist reminds us to “give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Ps. 118:1).
Lord, Your goodness is enough to make me thankful every day. Teach me to live with a thankful heart and remind me to regularly thank You for Your goodness and steadfast love.
It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 26, 2015
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
…except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. “Look to Me…” (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Thanksgiving Goodbyes - #7534
Millions of Americans are on the move right now. It's part of the annual Thanksgiving migration. They'll get to experience turkey on the table today and turkeys in those traffic jams! Speaking of turkeys, the President will pardon two today. Last year's were named Mac and Cheese.
My friend Bev said that she's baked ten pumpkin pies. Tons of folks will watch Macy's big balloons – and then later feel like one of those balloons after pigging out. And tomorrow, stores will be stormed with people that camped out in parking lots just so they could get that coveted Black Friday bargain.
I'm thinking about the people who aren't here this Thanksgiving. Some friends who have slipped into eternity recently. Their passing has reminded me of my own mortality – and, in some cases, how quickly it can all be over.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Thanksgiving Goodbyes."
Doing Thanksgiving against that backdrop has made one word loom very big – cherish. My big dictionary says "cherish" means to "hold dear; treat with tenderness and affection; to keep or guard carefully; to make much of."
So this Thanksgiving weekend, remembering how fragile life is and how close eternity is, I'm cherishing my dear ones. Oh, I always love them, but I'm thinking more about what it means to "hold them dear," to "treat them with tenderness and affection," to "make much of them."
I have so many blessings and so many kindnesses to thank them for, so many strong points that they have to affirm in them. Yeah, and some things to apologize for. To cherish someone is, as God says, to "live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us" (Ephesians 5:2). Cherishing – giving me up for them.
And I'm cherishing my days a little more, too, this mortality-shaped Thanksgiving. Like the Bible says to do in our Word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 90:10 and 12. "Our days...quickly pass, and we fly away...Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
Weeks and months, and even years, just seem to fly off the calendar. Right? I'm pretty sure there are only about a hundred days now between Christmases. There are just zero days to waste. Each new day is a treasure from God to be invested, not just spent. I need to sit with Him before I hear any other voices and find out His desires for this day, "the day (the Bible says) the Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24).
One other "cherish" for me this Thanksgiving – my destination. Heaven seems a little closer with each friend or loved one who goes there. It's the place Jesus said He was going Home to prepare for those who belong to Him. All the earth-stuff that we cling to so tightly is just so trivial. Because the Bible says "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20) and we're really (it says) "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Peter 2:11). This isn't home. It's Hotel Earth.
When I've been away, I love to come home. But after all is said and done, home isn't so much the place; it's the person I love who's waiting for me there. Knowing each day I'm one day closer to eternity, I am cherishing the eternal destination Jesus made possible. But it cost Him His life! He made it possible by His awful death but His awesome resurrection. Not so much because it's such an amazing place. But because the One who loves me – like nobody loves me – is waiting for me there.
I can't put into words the peace there is in knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that I am going to heaven when I die. Not because of anything I've done, but because of what Jesus did on the cross. Wouldn't you like that peace, that assurance, that security?
I'd love to point your way home. That's why we have our website, and that's why I invite you to meet me there at ANewStory.com. Or maybe you want to talk with someone about what it means to begin this awesome relationship with Jesus. Well then, text us at 442-244-WORD.
Home for this Thanksgiving? Home is a relationship you were made for and the love you were made to experience. His name is Jesus. So, this Thanksgiving, come on home.
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