If you summarized your emotions regarding the return of Christ what word would you use? Discomfort…denial…disappointment…or hope? Maybe your word is discomfort. After all, the Book of Life will be opened, and names will be read. How could the thought of His return bring anything but discomfort? Maybe it’s denial? We prefer answers and explanations, and the end of time seems short on both. Or how about disappointment? A mother-to-be wants to hold her baby; an engaged couple want to be married. A soldier overseas wants to go home before he goes… home!
Discomfort. Denial. Disappointment. All possible feeligs. But here is the one feeling Christ wants us to have: trust! Jesus says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in Me.”
From When Christ Comes
Psalm 43
Vindicate me, my God,
and plead my cause
against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are
deceitful and wicked.
2 You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send me your light and your faithful care,
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Footnotes:
Psalm 43:1 In many Hebrew manuscripts Psalms 42 and 43 constitute one psalm.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 01, 2016
Read: 1 Peter 2:4-10
Living Stones for God’s House
You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.
5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests.[a] Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. 6 As the Scriptures say,
“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,[b]
chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”[c]
7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him.[d] But for those who reject him,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.”[e]
8 And,
“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”[f]
They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,[g] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
10 “Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”[h]
Footnotes:
2:5 Greek holy priesthood.
2:6a Greek in Zion.
2:6b Isa 28:16 (Greek version).
2:7a Or Yes, for you who believe, there is honor.
2:7b Ps 118:22.
2:8 Isa 8:14.
2:9 Greek a royal priesthood.
2:10 Hos 1:6, 9; 2:23.
INSIGHT:
One of the great comparisons in the New Testament is between light and darkness. It is a hallmark of the apostle John’s writings (see John 1), but in today’s text Peter uses light and darkness to describe salvation’s transition. We are called “out of darkness into [God’s] wonderful light” (v. 9).
Leaning into the Light
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
[He] called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9
One day I received a bouquet of pink tulips. Their heads bobbed on thick stems as I settled them into a vase, which I placed at the center of our kitchen table. The next day, I noticed that the flowers were facing a different direction. The blossoms that once faced upward were now leaning to the side, opening and reaching toward sunlight that streamed in through a nearby window.
In one sense, we all were made to be like those flowers. God has called us to turn to the light of His love. Peter writes of the wonder of being called “out of darkness into [God’s] wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Before we come to know God, we live in the shadows of sin and death, which keep us separated from Him (Eph. 2:1-7). However, because of God’s mercy and love, He made a way for us to escape spiritual darkness through the death and resurrection of His Son (Col. 1:13-14).
Jesus is the Light of the world, and everyone who trusts Him for the forgiveness of sin will receive eternal life. Only as we turn to Him will we increasingly reflect His goodness and truth (Eph. 5:8-9).
May we never forget to lean into the Light.
Joyful, joyful we adore You, God of glory, Lord of love; hearts unfold like flowers before You, opening to the sun above. Henry Van Dyke
Salvation from sin means moving from spiritual darkness to God’s light.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 01, 2016
The Piercing Question
Do you love Me? —John 21:17
Peter’s response to this piercing question is considerably different from the bold defiance he exhibited only a few days before when he declared, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matthew 26:35; also see Matthew 26:33-34). Our natural individuality, or our natural self, boldly speaks out and declares its feelings. But the true love within our inner spiritual self can be discovered only by experiencing the hurt of this question of Jesus Christ. Peter loved Jesus in the way any natural man loves a good person. Yet that is nothing but emotional love. It may reach deeply into our natural self, but it never penetrates to the spirit of a person. True love never simply declares itself. Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men [that is, confesses his love by everything he does, not merely by his words], him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8).
Unless we are experiencing the hurt of facing every deception about ourselves, we have hindered the work of the Word of God in our lives. The Word of God inflicts hurt on us more than sin ever could, because sin dulls our senses. But this question of the Lord intensifies our sensitivities to the point that this hurt produced by Jesus is the most exquisite pain conceivable. It hurts not only on the natural level, but also on the deeper spiritual level. “For the Word of God is living and powerful…, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit…”— to the point that no deception can remain (Hebrews 4:12). When the Lord asks us this question, it is impossible to think and respond properly, because when the Lord speaks directly to us, the pain is too intense. It causes such a tremendous hurt that any part of our life which may be out of line with His will can feel the pain. There is never any mistaking the pain of the Lord’s Word by His children, but the moment that pain is felt is the very moment at which God reveals His truth to us.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him. Approved Unto God, 10 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 01, 2016
Checking For Messages – From Heaven! - #7602
There are some cities I look forward to visiting when I get a chance in this country. San Diego, California is one of them. There's just a list of things I love to see and do when I'm there. I was thinking about a particular trip prior to the invention of cell phones. (Yes, there was life before cell phones.) I was looking forward to getting out to see the sights, I was going to visit the beach, eat at a favorite restaurant there, but the meetings I attended were back to back and this happens a lot. I mean, I couldn't get out of the hotel. I mean, I hardly even got to my room! I wasn't there to see sights; I know that. I was there for ministry work, so I'm okay.
When I did get a short break, I'd race to my room with barely enough time to freshen up, change clothes if I needed to before I raced back to the next thing that was scheduled. But, no matter how much of a hurry I was in there was one thing I did check on – that message light on the phone that sat on the night stand. If the red light was on, it meant someone had sent me a fax, a message, call from the office, or somebody maybe needed me. So no matter how fast I was running, I always looked for the message light, because the red light meant that there was a message I needed to get.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Checking For Messages – From Heaven!"
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Joshua 5:14. It's the night before the battle of Jericho and the great general, Joshua, is scouting the outskirts of the city, and he's encountered this awesome figure who's identified as the commander of the army of the Lord. Many Bible scholars believe this is probably the Son of God making one of His pre-Bethlehem visits. When Joshua asks whether this commander is for the Israelites or for the enemies, he says, "Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord have I come." Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for His servant?" That's a great question.
Joshua gets personal orders that actually end up having an incredible effect. But the reason he gets the orders is because first he checks for a personal message. He's got an attitude of openness, of expectancy. He's looking for what God wants to say to him. You say, "Well, O.K. but I haven't had any heavenly commanders appear to me recently." Joshua didn't have the Bible. You do. He didn't have the church. You do.
Today the Lord addresses His people through the book He wrote and then as it is taught and celebrated, and as there is worship time together in His church. Often we open up the Bible and it just feels like nothing's happening. You go to church, you go to a Christian meeting – not much. Well, the first thing you need to do is go in with this attitude that says "I'm checking to see if there's a message here for me. I'm assuming there's going to be a message here for me. "Lord what message do You have for your servant?" That's the attitude that we should always come to God with. "What's the message, Lord?"
We go to church looking for God to say something to us through the sermon, through a hymn, through a prayer, through the comment of another believer in the hallway. Not sitting there criticizing the sermon, you know, grading like Olympic judges how well the choir did, how good is the music. We're looking for a message from God somewhere.
When you put your Bible in your lap to read it, say, "Lord, I'm not just going through an exercise here to check the box and say I did my Bible reading. I want to leave Your book with more of You than I came with. Give me a message from You." You go expectantly, you go curiously, and you go hungrily.
When you're fellowshipping with other believers, listen for a message from your Lord. Jesus is always in His Word. He also speaks as you're involved in His church. If you come away with no message, it's probably because you didn't go looking for one. Don't ever be too busy to check your message light. God turns it on often. He's got so much He wants to tell you.
Whenever you're around God's book, God's meetings, or God's people, check for messages!