When Plans Change: Should Compassion Decide?
"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things." (Mark 6:34)
Sometimes our plans get changed no matter what we do. Other times we have choice: Will I stick to my plan or change course for this other person? It takes wisdom to know which choice to make. How do you decide? For Jesus, the answer in this case was summed up in a word: compassion.
Compassion is letting another person's need penetrate your heart, your emotions. Jesus and the disciples needed rest -- and made a plan to get it. The people needed to be taught by a shepherd. Motivated by compassion, Jesus put the needs of the crowd above His own need -- and above the plans of His tired disciples.
Whether the wisest choice is to stick to the plan or throw it away, compassion is almost always the right motive and Jesus-like servanthood is always the right response for those who want to live like Him.
Think: How easy is it for you to feel compassion for people in need? Has genuine compassion ever caused you to change your plans to help someone else out? Has false compassion (or selfish, false guilt) ever caused you to change your plans for someone in an inappropriate way? How can you tell the difference?
Pray: Ask your compassionate God to help you to feel appropriate compassion for people in need and to be willing to change your plans -- or stick to them -- to serve those people.
Do: Pay attention to your heart's response to people in need this week and remind your heart to motivated by compassion for those who are hurting or lost.
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When Plans Change: Can’t Get Away
"So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them." (Mark 6:32-33)
Ever feel like your best plans are doomed from the start because someone can't take a hint? Your sibling. Your parent. Your best friend. Anyone who decides they need something from you right now no matter what else you've got going on.
This was Jesus' idea, remember? He's the one who said to the disciples in yesterday's passage: "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." I wonder if the disciples got discouraged when they saw the crowds they just left behind on shore waiting for them at their "solitary place."
It takes wisdom to know how to respond when other people try to change our plans for us. Sometimes, the plan is important enough to push through the attempts to steal away our time. Sometimes, the people are more important than our personal agenda. We'll find out tomorrow which was happening here.
The bottom line, though, is that we've got to be open to the fact that the person holding that "help me now" sign might be God's way of providing His own direction in our lives.
Think: How do you decide when to give your time and attention to someone who interrupts what you're trying to get done? How often do people change their own plans to help you?
Pray: Ask God for the wisdom and insight to know when to change your plans to get involved with someone who wants your time -- and when to stay on the task you set out to do.
Do: Notice this week how often your plans get changed by other people -- and how often your needs cause others to change their own plans.
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When Plans Change: Need Rest?
"The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.' " (Mark 6:30-31)
How do you handle it when your plans get changed, even for good reasons? Does it stress you out? Do you feel disappointed, angry even? We're going to learn along with Jesus' disciples this week some big ideas about how to handle an unexpected change of plans.
Being one of Jesus' disciples was a crazy life. They were worn out, too busy from ministry with Jesus among the huge crowds to even find time to eat. Jesus saw the problem and said, "Let's get away; we need rest."
I'd guess that sounded really good to them. They'd just come back from a mission away from Jesus; they probably felt like they needed some time with him that didn't involve hordes of needy people. You might feel that way sometimes. Time alone with God is important. Rest is essential. We're not built to just keep going -- even in serving God -- without stopping until we fall over.
So the plan was to get a break -- but the break didn't happen. Come back tomorrow.
Think: On a scale from 1 to 10, how busy has your life been, lately? Have you been busy doing good things -- or just doing? Do you ever get too busy to eat properly? How are you at resting and taking some time to just be alone with God once in a while?
Pray: Ask God to help you to be busy in your life doing things that are worthwhile. Ask Him, too, to give you enough times of rest and being alone with Him to keep from getting too worn out.
Do: Plan some restful time alone with God in the next week or so.
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Bigger Grace: God is Faithful
"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." (1 Corinthians 1:9)
Did you ever pick teams for a football or basketball game or something? If you're the one doing the picking -- and you really care about winning the game -- you pick the strongest players you can get first, right? You know you'll get stuck with a few weaker players, and you'll have to figure out how to keep them from making you lose.
Way too many people think God works the same way, that He stands in heaven picking those He wants on His "team" (in "fellowship with his Son") based on how good or strong we are, but that's exactly backwards.
God looks for people weak enough to know they can never do anything to earn a spot on God's team -- and then He gives us a spot and makes us strong enough to do exactly what He wants done.
God wants people who need Him to be faithful to them, not people who think they are strong enough on their own to be perfectly faithful to Him.
Think: Do you sometimes feel like you're always trying to earn God's approval by being strong or good or faithful? What's wrong with that idea?
Pray: Thank God that He called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ and that He is faithful.
Do: Read what Paul wrote about our weakness and God's strength in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.
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Bigger Grace: Strong to the End
"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 1:8)
What an overwhelming and powerful promise this is -- especially when you think about the letter that followed these words. Paul knew he was about to tell these Christians all kinds of things they were doing wrong both as individuals and as a church.
They had chosen sides on several big issues and were bitterly divided. They were not making good use of the power of the Holy Spirit; they didn't understand the difference between worldly wisdom and true, biblical wisdom. They allowed for all kinds of sexual immorality, and they were suing each other in secular courts. On almost every issue, they cared more about their own rights than about doing what was best for each other.
Still, Paul writes these words. He wasn't about to tell them, "God is going to give up on you if you don't change your ways." That wouldn't be grace. He was going to tell them, "Because God will not give up on you, you have the power to live as the new people you are in Christ. God won't quit, and God doesn't fail -- even when it comes to making His rebellious children like Jesus."
Think: Most Christians get that we cannot save ourselves, but sometimes we think we can make ourselves holy and Christlike in our own strength. What's wrong with that idea?
Pray: If you're a Christian, thank God that He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do: Read the most famous definition of love -- God's love for us and the love He wants us to give to each other -- in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
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Bigger Grace: Fully Equipped
"Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed." (1 Corinthians 1:7)
We make a big deal about God's grace in saving us from hell and giving us the gift of eternal life. And we should! None of us could ever earn either of those things. Jesus paid the price, but we're the ones who receive God's riches forever.
But God's grace also provides for us on this side of heaven, right now, today. Paul wanted to make sure the Christians in Corinth understood that they weren't missing any spiritual gifts they needed to do what God wanted from them right now. All the pieces were in place -- not because they had earned them but because God is good.
Peter put it this way: "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3)
Think: Do you sometimes forget that God has already given you everything you need to serve Him and other Christians? Do you sometimes forget that all of your talents, abilities -- and spiritual gifts -- are God's grace gifts to you so you can do what He asks of you?
Pray: Thank God that you have been given everything you need to live the life He's called you to.
Do: Check out more from 2 Peter 1:3-9.
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Bigger Grace: Evidence
"For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you." (1 Corinthians 1:5-6)
How do you know if you are "in Christ" and have received the grace of God? How do you know for sure that you are forgiven and settled into a permanent place in God's family with a changing heart and a future home in heaven?
Paul told the Corinthian Christians that he had seen the evidence of it in their lives, specifically in the spiritual gifts he had seem them put into practice. Every Christian receives -- by God's grace -- God's Spirit as a comforter, guide, and source of power to serve other Christian, among other things. You and I, too, should notice a change in our attitudes and abilities because of the Spirit with us.
In addition to that, we have God's unbreakable promise that those who trust in Christ have received God's grace. Listen to Romans 8:1:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
And Romans 8:38-39:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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.
Think: Do you ever have a hard time being convinced that God has forgiven and saved you by His grace through your faith in Jesus? Have you seen evidence of God working through you? Do you believe that He keeps His promises?
Pray: Thank God that everyone who is in Christ because we've put our trust in Him alone can be confident that we have been forgiven and saved by God's grace.
Do: Read Romans 8 and notice all the good gifts God gives to us as His children.
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Bigger Grace: In Christ Jesus
"I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus." (1 Corinthians 1:4)
Paul is writing these words to Christians. God gives His grace to those who are in Christ Jesus -- and that does NOT include everyone. God's grace is the free gift that includes becoming His family and living forever with Him -- and not apart from Him in hell.
Is that a mean thing to say out loud, that not everyone has God's saving grace? I don't think so. In fact, it's important to say it out loud, and it's really easy not to. Especially during this time of a year when "Jesus is the reason for the season," it's easy for us to use language that communicates that everyone who says the magic words "Merry Christmas" has received the salvation made available through Jesus.
But in today's verse, Paul makes clear that God's grace -- His gift of the eternal life we do not deserve because of our sin -- is given only "in Christ Jesus." All who reject faith in Jesus alone to forgive and to save also reject the free grace of God.
And without God's grace, we will be judged by our works and by our sins -- and nobody is good enough to earn eternity with God on that scale.
Think: Does it bother you that God's saving grace comes only through faith in Jesus or does it make you feel grateful? Is it hard for you to say that you believe that truth to people who don't? Why or why not?
Pray: If you're a Christian, thank God for His grace given to you in Christ Jesus.
Do: Write as briefly as possible what it means to be "in Christ Jesus." How would you describe it to someone who might not be a Christian?
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Bigger Grace: Changed and Changing
"To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 1:2-3)
We're calling this week's devotionals "Bigger Grace" because God's grace to us sinners is always bigger than we think it is. Just when we start to think we understand how much good He gives to us -- and how very little we deserve it -- we discover either that we are far less deserving than we thought or His goodness is even more huge.
Today's passage says a phenomenal thing: We Christians are both already "sanctified" and also "called to be holy." That means God has already changed our DNA, made us fundamentally different people than we were before we trusted in Jesus. Our identity and potential to live for Jesus are no longer the same -- and will never be changed back.
Notice what the God of grace doesn't say to us: "I've given you a chance for a fresh start. Don't blow it. Prove yourself to me, or I'll put you back on the road to hell."
Nope, He says this instead, "I've changed you now and for good. You are not the same you. I've made you mine. Now live like the person you are -- and are becoming."
Think: As a Christian, do you think of yourself as being truly changed in some way, already sanctified? Do you think of yourself as having a mission from God to live a holy life? Why or why not?
Pray: Thank God that you have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and ask Him to help you to be holy.
Do: Look up the words grace, sanctified, and holy in a dictionary.
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Bigger Grace: The Same Sosthenes?
"Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes." (1 Corinthians 1:1)
We're trying to wrap our minds around the huge idea of grace this week and starting with Paul's pen man for his letter to the Christians in Corinth. Scholars guess this might be the same guy -- with the same name -- who dragged Paul in front of a Roman court in Corinth in Acts 18 trying to get him jailed or killed for converting so many people to Christianity.
That Sosthenes was the Jewish "synagogue ruler" who had his case thrown out by the Roman judge and then got beat up by an angry Gentile mob of people who hated the Jews. That's the last we hear of him, lying beaten on the street while Paul goes back to spreading the good news about Jesus.
Then this verse quite a while later. What an amazing story if this is the same guy. It would mean that, like the synagogue leader in Corinth before him, Sosthenes also believed in Jesus, putting all of his hope in the grace and forgiveness of God instead of following the Law -- and went to work with the same apostle he tried to get arrested.
God's grace works like that, converting enemies into family members, granting the highest privileges to the worst of sinners, offering forgiveness in exchange for simple belief. Stay tuned.
Think: Do you know anyone who lived the worst kind of life -- even hating God -- before finally coming to faith in Christ and the promise of heaven? Does that bother you or excite you?
Pray: Ask God to help you to better understand His grace this week.
Do: Read the whole story of Paul and then Sosthenes in Acts 18:1-17.
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Humility Week: What Mary Said
"And Mary said: 'My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me -- holy is his name.' " (Luke 1:46-49)
Mary was probably a teenager when an angel showed up and told her she was going to be pregnant with and give birth to the Son of God -- even though she'd never had sex. I'd guess someone in that position could see it all as either evidence of her own greatness -- or as the worst news ever.
Instead, Mary shows us what humility looks like. How? First, she believed the message of the angel. Believing things you can't understand takes humility. Next, she accepted the assignment; allowing God to change your plans and send you into a potentially humiliating situation takes a lot of humility.
Finally, she praised God for noticing her humility and lifting her up to a blessed position for His own glory. As we've seen this whole week, that's what God promises to do for humble people.
Mary was just a girl, not without weakness or sin. And that's the point. Like us (kind of), she received a gift of grace, the call to carry inside of her the Savior, the hope of glory. The only reasonable response for her -- and for us -- was to humbly say "yes," then "thank you," and then "for Your glory."
Think: What can you learn from Mary's example? Do you think you would have said to God yes, thank you, and "for your glory"? Have you done that with the assignment(s) He's given to you today?
Pray: Ask God to help you to respond to His direction in your life with humility, gratitude, and a desire to see Him get the glory.
Do: Read Mary's whole song in Luke 1:46-55.
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Humility Week: Scared to be Humble
"He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble." (Proverbs 3:34) "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." (Proverbs 11:2)
So why would anyone not be humble? After talking about all of the benefits of humility this week, we might start wondering why it's so unusual for us to choose a humble attitude. Here's one reason: We're all cowards.
Seriously. We're afraid that we're worthless, weak, dumb, or ugly. We're terrified of being unloved nobodies. We can't think of anything worse than being rejected by the people we respect for not being good enough. So we build an armor of arrogance to convince ourselves that we're pretty good, that we're not that bad, that we've got it going on, after all.
We already know the flaw in that approach, though. God rejects the self-reliant. He tosses down the self-important. As a life strategy, pride leads us in the exact opposite direction of the one we want to go. It leads to disgrace. It leads to worthlessness. It leads to being mocked by God.
God asks us to trust Him, instead. He asks us to believe that 1) His opinion of us is the most important, and 2) He will lift us up with Him, exalt us, make us somebodies forever.
Think: Have you ever noticed people trying to use pride (bragging, arrogance, smugness) to hide their fear of being worthless? Why does that fail in the long run?
Pray: Ask God to help you to reject pride for any reason and to find grace and wisdom in choosing humility.
Do: If you watch sports, look for examples of humility and pride in action this week.
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Humility Week: Be the Student
"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." (Psalm 25:9)
I remember my four-year-old son teaching me how to play chess. He didn't really know anything about chess, of course, but he had learned something about people: Teachers get all the attention. Teachers are smart. The one who knows how to do something has more status -- more props, more power -- than the one who is learning how to do it.
So he taught me how to play chess, which mostly involved knocking down all of my pieces in a series of violent air raids. We had fun, but neither of us learned anything about chess that day. He wasn't humble enough, yet, to start learning how to play. Sometimes I'm not even humble enough to learn new things from God.
We don't learn anything by having all of the answers. We only learn when we're the students -- and that takes humility. That means taking off my "expert" hat and putting on my "trainee" cap.
God is ready to teach us His way. His way! We've got to demote ourselves to the lifelong status of newbie before we can learn it, but He exalts the humble when the time is right. Are you ready to be His student?
Think: How hard is it for you to stop giving answers and start asking questions? Why does it take humility to learn anything new? Do you think God teaches us truth through other people, even people we don't want to learn from?
Pray: Ask God to help you to be humble so you can be guided in what is right and learn His way.
Do: If you get a chance to see some little kids in action this week, notice how much more important it is for them to demonstrate what they know than to learn what they don't know. Then notice when you do it, too.
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Humility Week: How?
"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:13-14)
A few days into humility week at the PW, you might be thinking that you'd like to be a more humble person, but how do you do it? It's not enough to just grit your teeth and focus and say, "I'm being humble now."
Nope, humble is as humble does. We find clues about how to live humble in today's verses. These famous words capture God's promise to Israel after the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. God promised to fix what He broke in Israel when His people chose to "humble themselves."
In this case, that involved three specific things:
A) "Pray:" To ask God for something is an admission that we cannot do it ourselves; that's humility.
B) "Seek my face:" We can find what God shows us of Himself in His Word, the Bible, but it takes time, effort, and energy to dive in there and look for it; that sacrifice of seeking for Him requires humility.
C) "Turn from their wicked ways:" It's not enough to just agree that our sin is wrong; we demonstrate our humble belief that God is right when we stop doing it.
Think: By this description, are you living a humble life? In other words, do you regularly pray, seek God's face, and turn away from doing wrong things?
Pray: Ask God to help you demonstrate your humility before Him by praying regularly, seeking His face, and turning away from sin.
Do: Write a note to yourself and leave it somewhere you'll see it. Tell yourself, "Humility = Prayer + Seeking God + Turning from Sin."
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Humility Week: God Notices
"You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low." (2 Samuel 22:28) "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:2)
Two verses today to show that one of the things that God tunes into in human behavior is humility -- or the lack of it. In other words, God notices when we're proud and self-sufficient and He notices when we're humble and needful of Him.
To say that our "eyes are haughty" means that we are willing to look God right in the eye and ignore Him. Or defy Him. Or do it our own way instead of His. We're being haughty when our actions shout to God that we don't need Him. We'll be fine on our own.
God notices and brings the haughty low.
His response is just the opposite for those who are "contrite in spirit." That means we're aware that He is right and we are so often wrong, that we need Him completely and He needs us not at all. Holding the very thoughts of God in our hands should cause us to tremble; what power are in those words?
God notices and "esteems" us when we are humble.
Think: What actions in your life lately might show you have a prideful, haughty attitude toward God and His word? What actions might reveal humility?
Pray: Ask God to help you to be humble, contrite in spirit, and to have enormous respect for His word.
Do: Look up and write down the definitions of "haughty" and "contrite."
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Humility Week: Compared to Who?
"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." (Romans 12:3)
The word humility means different things to different people. It's easy to think of it as a kind of performance, being careful never to do anything that "sounds" proud or arrogant or stuck up. And it's true that bragging and smugness aren't exactly humble. But God cares a lot more about what's going on in our hearts than on the stage of our external lives.
Others think of humility as a kind of self-hatred. "I'm so stupid. I'm so ugly. I'm such a jerk." But that's not true humility, either. That's just name-calling, and it is just as self-focused as pride and boasting.
No, humility is best understood as a comparison, but not of our ourselves to others. True humility is found when we compare ourselves to God. Why God? Because He's the only standard for what is truly good, truly powerful, truly holy, truly intelligent.
Humility is the ability to look at God and myself and realize how deeply sinful I am in comparison to His pure holiness; how fragile in comparison to His limitless power; how short-lived in comparison to His eternal existence; how foolish in comparison to His absolutely perfect understanding the universe. Humility gets that I am nothing apart from Him and have everything in relationship with Him.
Think: Why does it not make sense to base our view of ourselves on comparisons with other people? If we base our view of ourselves on a comparison to God, how would we most naturally think about ourselves? How would we think about Him?
Pray: Ask God to help you to not think of yourself more highly than you should, but to think of yourself with an honest, serious judgment.
Do: Make a quick list of a few of the most humble people you know personally. Think about asking one of them why they seem so humble.
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Humility Week: (Moses)
"(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)" (Numbers 12:3)
We're digging into the big idea of humility this week and starting with a verse so humble the whole thing is in parenthesis. It is an aside to let us know, apparently, why Moses wasn't defending himself when his siblings were disrespecting him.
And while Moses didn't feel the need to stick up for himself, God did. He zapped Miriam with leprosy for a week for smack-talking against Moses' God-given authority.
It's hard to imagine a trophy for the "World's Most Humble Guy." It feels better to tuck it in-between a couple of modest punctuation marks. We don't tend to give out awards for humility, but we do respect humble people -- especially humble leaders.
And as we'll see this week, you cannot be the person God intends you to be without humility. You can't be wise. You can't be like Jesus. And you won't be on the waiting list to be "lifted up" by God. We need humility. Come back tomorrow.
Think: Before we dig in this week, think about how you would define the worlds "pride" and "humility." Can pride be good? Can you be too humble? What does humility cost?
Pray: Ask God to help you to be great at being humble in a way that pleases Him.
Do: Read Number 12:1-16 to get the whole story about how -- and why -- God exalted humble Moses when he was getting dissed by Aaron and Miriam.
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Praise Week: He Loves Us?
"Praise be to God, who has not rejected a my prayer or withheld his love from me!" (Psalm 66:20)
What exactly does God owe us? Maybe it's too easy to say He doesn't owe us anything. He did create us, after all. And He is just to His creatures, giving good gifts to all.
But He does not owe us love. We do not have the right by default to have the God of the universe love us and hear out prayers.
David ends his praise psalm -- and our praise week -- amazed that God, the God of all, has not rejected his request. In fact, God has proven His love for one among the billions in time and space again and again.
Does God love you? Does He hear your prayers and answer them? Then let's praise Him today.
Think: Why do you think it's so easy for us to get bored with the idea that God loves us and listens to us? How much does that matter to you?
Pray: Praise God for loving you and responding to your prayers because you come to Him in the name of Jesus.
Do: Look forward to your next opportunity to praise God.
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Praise Week: Don’t Cherish Sin
"If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer." (Psalm 66:18-19)
What do you cherish in your heart? Or to take the greeting card flavor out of it, what do you really want most? The word for cherish in this verse means something that is "aimed for" or "looked forward to."
David had just said that he prayed to God for help -- and God helped. But, David warns, if he had been asking God for help while really wanting most to do something sinful -- and especially if he had been asking for God's help to do a sinful thing -- God wouldn't listen.
And, really, what would be the point of praising God for His goodness while spending the rest of the time "aiming for" sin? If God's goodness is praiseworthy, why not tell your heart to aim for that, instead?
Think: Can you control what you cherish in your heart? Have you ever felt like you "loved" something sinful? How likely are you to sincerely praise God or to ask for His help when you're living for sinful things?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to cherish sin in your heart. Thank Him that He graciously forgives all the sins of those who put their faith in Jesus' death and resurrection to save them.
Do: Watch your heart this week and stand guard over it to keep it from aiming for sin.
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Praise Week: Tell Someone He’s Good
"Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue." (Psalm 66:16-17)
This is going to make me sound a little vain, but it's true: I really like it when I overhear my wife telling someone else nice things about me. It makes me feel tall -- especially if she doesn't know that I can hear what she's saying.
Of course I know she likes me most of the time, but when she tells someone else that she likes me or that I've done something good it feels even more authentic and meaningful. I feel really valued and respected and appreciated.
I think it's meaningful to God, too. David, of course, praised God to God, but He also praised God to others. Out loud. He made it part of his natural conversation to mention to everyone all the great things God had done for Him.
You don't have to sing and clap when you praise God to your friends and family members. You don't have to close your eyes and sway. You can just say it: "God did this good thing for me; He is a good God." It matters to God, I think, and it matters to you because you are giving credit to the one who really deserves it.
Think: How often do you mention God to others in a positive way? What good things have you said about Him out loud in conversation, lately?
Pray: Ask God to help you to praise Him out loud to your friends and family members.
Do: Notice this week when people praise God in normal conversation with each other.
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Praise Week: When God Brings Pain
"For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." (Psalm 66:10-12)
How do you deal with the undeniable reality of painful moments in your past when you are praising God? What's the best approach? Should you pretend like those moments never happened? Is it impolite to bring them up in the middle of praising God for His goodness to you?
Right in the middle of this great psalm of praise to God, David reaches back to a painful time in Israel's history -- and says that God did it to them on purpose. He makes a choice to believe that God was responsible both for bringing them into that terrible season and bringing them out of it again.
Would a good God really "test" His people and use hard times to "refine us like silver"? Yes, He does -- and the fact that He does is evidence that He is good and loving and powerful. David saw that God cared about His people too much not to use terrible circumstances to draw them into the place they would find the most meaningful and satisfying life -- in closer relationship with Him.
Can we praise the God who takes us into and out of life's most difficult times?
Think: Have you noticed that God has used some of the harder times of your life to draw you closer to Him? Do you believe the best life is lived in leaning more closely on God?
Pray: Ask God to help you to praise Him for being your good God even during the most difficult times of your life.
Do: Read Job's shocking statement about this idea in Job 13:15, then listen in Hebrews 12:7-11 says about hard times and our Father's loving discipline.
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Praise Week: Remember and Rejoice
"Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot -- come, let us rejoice in him." (Psalm 66:5-6)
Does anyone ever read these verses that doesn't already know about God's parting of the Red Sea back in the time of Moses? Did David expect that some of his readers would really have forgotten about that miraculous rescue when God turned a sea into dry ground to get the Israelites out of Egypt?
Nope. David knew everyone already knew about that. But remembering the major moments when God came through for us -- even if we've heard them a thousand times -- makes a huge difference. Those moments are evidence of three important things:
- God is powerful.
- God uses His power for us.
- God really cares about us.
Why not rejoice again that the God who saved us -- and answered that prayer and then met our needs in an incredible way that one time -- is still the God who loves us today and will work on our behalf tomorrow?
Think: What are some of the major moments of your life with God that you can remember and rejoice over again today?
Pray: Ask God to help you to keep remembering the works He has done on your behalf and keep rejoicing in Him.
Do: Make a quick timeline of some of the major moments in your life in which you know God was the one who was working on your behalf. (Hint: Don't forget the moment of your salvation and any big answers to prayer.)
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Praise Week: Notice and Say It
"Say to God, 'How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.' Selah (Psalm 66:3-4)
Here is worship boiled down to its essence: "Say to God, "How awesome are you deeds!" Of course!
That kind of bottom-line praise requires two things. Step 1) Notice something awesome about God. Step 2) Tell Him about it.
The first step doesn't just happen. Sometime you have to work to notice what God is doing and why it is awesome. But He will help you to see it.
The second step can feel unnatural, too. Doesn't God already know what He has done that is awesome? Yes, but we never talk to God to fill Him in on what He doesn't know. We talk to Him to fulfill our purpose, and we are built to worship Him. His commands are always loving to us, including the command for us to give Him praise.
Think: What is the most recent awesome thing you know God has done in your life? How often do you talk about His awesomeness to Him?
Pray: Ask God to help you to notice the awesome things He has done and is doing and to praise Him for them.
Do: Make a list of ten awesome things about God or that God has done. Then say to Him, "How awesome are your deeds!"
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Praise Week: Get Loud
"Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!" (Psalm 66:1-2)
King David had a volume issue. He had this expectation that people praising the God of the universe should crank it up to 11 sometimes. He wanted to hear joyful shouting and loud singing -- but not just noise. He wanted it to be both loud and "glorious," excellent, good.
We're tuning in to Psalm 66 this week to think about what it means to praise God. Sometimes we think of praising God as doing whatever the worship leader tells us to do for the 20 minutes before the preaching starts. Read the screen and follow along.
We'll see, though, that David praised with a purpose. There was a method to his glorious worship shouting. We're going to look at a few ways we can learn to praise and worship our glorious God on purpose, as well.
Think: How often do you shout with joy? Sporting events? Concerts? How often do you shout for joy to God? Does your church get loud and excellent when praising Him? How could you make it even better?
Pray: Ask God to help you to shout with joy to Him when the time is right and to sing the glory of His name and to make His praise glorious.
Do: Find the right time and place this week and do what today's verse tells us to do.
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LIve Different: Use God’s Power
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 4:10-11)
It's easy for us to walk around with the wrong idea of what Christianity is all about. We can get sidetracked into thinking Christianity is intended to make us better versions of ourselves -- as if Jesus came and lived and died and lived again just to make me a little nicer and better at helping people.
That idea is wrong in two huge ways.
First, Christianity isn't about us, at all. It's about God. It's about Him being praised through Jesus Christ and getting all the "glory and power for ever and ever."
Second, Christianity isn't about making us better. We're not close enough to being good that getting better would help all that much. Nope, God wants us to do His work with His power, with His words, in His strength. God wants to be God through us -- not for us to be good enough on our own to accomplish His mission.
Think: What are some ways God has asked you to serve Him with His gifts and His power? Would you say you're using His power to serve other people? What does that look like?
Pray: Ask God to help you to use the gifts He has given you to serve others with His words and His strength.
Do: Talk to your parents or youth leader or mentor about what your spiritual gifts might be and how you could use them best to serve God by serving others.
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Live Different: Love Deeply
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8)
Sin comes with a price tag. We don't naturally think of it that way. When we're tempted -- or jumping in -- sin feels like something that is freeing and free. We're breaking out of the rules holding us back from experiencing good things. Sin feels like escape.
But that's the lie of sin, right? Sin digs a hole in our relationships with each other and in our closeness to God. To support itself, sin steals from our emotional stability, from our clear thinking, even from our physical strength.
We can be forgiven for our sin by God's grace and through faith in Jesus. But God also offers us away to experience healing from the consequences of some of our sin in the here and now. It's called love.
Sin is a selfish act. Love, by definition, is selflessness. It is the choice to give up what I want for your good. It is the choice to die to me to help you live more abundantly. It's what Jesus came to give us and -- by God's remarkable gift -- it's what we can give away to each other.
Love each other deeply and cover over some of the holes in life that sin has left behind.
Think: Who loves you most deeply with a selfless Christlike love? Who do you love most deeply like that?
Pray: Ask God to help you to love others deeply with a Christlike love as a way of covering over a multitude of sins.
Do: Notice how the Christians in your life express the love of Christ to each other this week.
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Live Different: Live to Pray
"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray." (1 Peter 4:7)
A friend of mine just got done running a marathon. Aside from not understanding why any otherwise healthy person would want to do such a thing, I must say I admired his commitment to preparing for this thing.
He ran lots of miles almost every day, of course. He changed what he ate, when he slept, and did everything he could to avoid getting sick -- all so he could be in prime shape to run 26 miles on race day. That what it takes to compete in a marathon.
What does it take to compete as a Christian, to do everything you can to be ready for the "end of all things": prayer. Why is prayer so hard? Why does it require us so much focus and self-control to do it effectively? I don't know, but I know that it does.
Peter wants us to see the need to sacrifice sloppy thinking, meandering self-amusement, and living for instant gratification -- so that we can pray. He wants us to do the prep work needed to effectively talk to God. What changes would you need to make in your life to make that happen?
Think: What gets in the way of effective praying for you? What could you change to give yourself more time, more focus, more energy for talking to God more often and about more things?
Pray: Ask God to help you to be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
Do: Set aside 15 minutes in a row today or tomorrow where you will do nothing but talk to God.
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Live Different: Think Next Life
"But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit." (1 Peter 4:5-6)
Sometimes Christians fall into self-pity or confused thinking when we can only see life from what we ourselves stand to lose and gain.
We might feel bummed to miss out on the pleasure hunt, not to dive into the flood of selfish sex, drinking, and parties. We might feel burdened to pay the price of maybe being mocked (or worse) for following Jesus. We feel good thinking about making good use of our lives and receiving our reward in heaven.
But what do we feel for those who might mock us for believing in Jesus, for not joining in the pleasure parade? Do we believe in eternity enough to fear for them, to want to offer them the way out of their dead end thinking and into a relationship with God that will provide joy (and pleasure) forever?
They will give an account to the judge after this short, painful life is over. That's far scarier to imagine than the worst the world can do to those who follow Jesus on this side of eternity. What can you do to offer the good news of God's grace through faith in Jesus to those you know who still need to hear and understand it -- even those still living deep in sin, even those who think you foolish for trusting Christ?
Think: Do you know Christians who seem to feel sorry for themselves because being a Christian limits their options or makes them feel foolish in the eyes of the world? Do you know Christians deeply concerned for the eternal destiny of the unbelievers they know?
Pray: Thank God for helping you to believe the gospel and trust in Jesus for your salvation. Thank Him that you will live forever in joy even if you suffer in some ways now for following Him.
Do: Notice this week the attitudes you hear from other Christians about what we gain and lose by being Christ-followers.
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Live Different: Expect Abuse
"For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you." (1 Peter 4:3-4)
We've got to be careful with this passage, I think. Peter isn't telling us to put on our "I'm a Victim" T-shirts and start complaining about how bad Christians are treated in our society.
He's talking to Christians who used to party hard and are walking away from that empty lifestyle. He's warning them that their former friends won't get it and will "heap abuse" on them for letting go of their belief in hedonism, for giving up on expecting to find meaning in a life of pleasure and numbness.
In Peter's day, that abuse included terrible persecution against Christians, persecution most of us have never seen, but persecution that put them right in the middle of God's will and on the path to making the best possible use of their lives.
We'll see tomorrow, though, that the persecutors and party people were the ones in real danger -- and we have the message of hope they most need to hear.
Think: Have you ever felt abused for not jumping into sin along with your friends? Have you ever prayed for friends who were jumping into sin out of concern for the danger they face?
Pray: Ask God to help you to have the courage and strength to pay any price required to avoid sin and do the good He's called you to do.
Do: Read more about Christians who suffer for being Christians in 1 Peter 4:12-19.
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Live Different: Don’t Waste Your Life
"For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry." (1 Peter 4:3)
If you've lived a pretty straight-up or sheltered life so far, you might be reading this verse and thinking, "Wait a minute. I haven't spent any time doing these things." And Peter would likely say, "Even better."
Why? Because he's making a point that participating in all these "party sins" is a waste of our lives. It's not just that they're wrong -- and they are, of course -- it's that they are time we can never get back, time in our short lives spent on worthlessness.
Peter was writing to people who had grown up thinking that lust, drunkenness, three-way sex, and worshipping idols was normal, everyday stuff. Then they became Christians and realized that what was normal for their culture led to pain, emptiness, loss, and destruction. Normal partying brought them nothing good, even if it felt good at the time.
If we've really made the choice to follow our Savior who suffered for our sin, why waste our lives indulging in more of it?
Think: Which of the things on Peter's list of party sins is coming to be seen as normal in our culture, even for high school students? Does the fact that a sin is normal and accepted make that sin less of a big deal? Why or why not?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to waste your life indulging in sin, even if its normal for your culture.
Do: Notice this week what sins are being "normalized" in the media and among other people your age.
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Live Different: Be Done with Sin
"Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God." (1 Peter 4:1-2)
Several years ago, before Apple was the most powerful company in the universe (exaggeration?), they ran an ad campaign called "Think Different." Especially back then, they wanted people to consider the possibility that their "Windows" on the world wasn't the only way to see things.
God's Word tells Christians to "think different," as well. And having our minds renewed is a big part of what it means to become like Jesus. But we're not meant to stop at thinking different(ly?). God calls us to live different from the world in very specific ways. In fact, it's one key to becoming as powerful in Christ as God means for us to be.
Peter will help us to understand what that means this week, but it does start with taking on a Christ-like attitude toward sin. In short, as people who are willing to die for Christ, why would we want to waste our lives living for sin? Living different starts with not letting our physical appetites make the decisions for us.
Living different means living to say yes to God.
Think: Is your goal in your natural self to stand out from the crowd or to fit in? Is your goal as a Christ-follower to do either of those things? According to today's passage, what should be your goal as a Christ-follower?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to waste your life living for sin but to live for the will of God, instead.
Do: Today's verse starts with a "therefore." Read 1 Peter 3:8-22 to see what it's "there for.
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Self-Control Week: Letting It Go
"He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." (Proverbs 17:9)
How powerful is the period on the end of this sentence? "I forgive you." Your answer to that question will have buckets-full to do with the quality of your relationships for the rest of your life.
Someone did wrong to you and it lead to a fight. You both agree they were wrong. They say "sorry." You say, "It's okay; I forgive you." And it's done forever, right? Well, not always. It takes a lot of self-control to let it stay finished, especially when the next fight comes around.
Today's passage says love grows out of our ability to "cover over" an offense by letting it stay finished, by practicing powerful forgiveness, by keeping the vault closed.
Friendships can break when the period at the end of "I forgive you." doesn't do its job.
Think: Why do you think even good friends sometimes have trouble not bringing up past hurts and sins again and again? Have you ever lost a friend because one or the other of you couldn't let something go?
Pray: Ask God to help you to promote love in your friendships by covering over offenses with forgiveness and mercy when it is wise to do so.
Do: Pay attention this week for anyone who brings up offenses in a way that damages relationships.
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Self-Control Week: Angry Friends
"Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared." (Proverbs 22:24-25)
Have you ever noticed that angry people tend to flock together? According to today's verse, it's not necessarily because they just enjoy being angry together. It's because a lack of self-control over our anger is contagious. A quick temper is like the H1N1 of emotional responses.
This verse doesn't say so, but I think that tends to go with lack of self-control is many areas of life. When the leader in a group shows that it's "okay" not to control yourself, her friends will often lower their standards for self-control in that area, too.
So friends tend to lean together toward out-of-control anger or fear or sexual expression or gossip or procrastination. Close friends are a powerful influence in our lives.
The solution: If you have a choice, move away from the quick-tempered person and find some friends who care as much as you do about living wisely.
Think: In your group of friends, what is the standard for controlling feelings of anger? How about other areas of self-control? Do you think you tend to influence your friends toward wiser living?
Pray: Ask God to help you to avoid making friends with quick-tempered people and to help you to find friends who influence you to live more wisely.
Do: Notice the people you spend time with this week to see which of them control their anger and which are controlled by it.
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Self-Control Week: Just Push Pause
"He who answers before listening -- that is his folly and his shame." (Proverbs 18:13)
One of the greatest conversational skills you can master is a simple one: Pause. It's the length of the gap between the words that often determines the difference between saying something wise and helpful or spewing something foolish and hurtful.
Pausing, though, requires self-control. It requires turning off our "assuminators," the part of us that thinks we already know exactly what the other person means before they finish saying it. It requires listening all of the way through to make sure we've got it before we respond. It requires the hardest thing in the world we can do with our lips: Leaving them closed for another few seconds.
James called the pause being quick to listen and slow to speak. For some, it means getting comfortable with moments of awkward silence, being fearless about quiet eye contact, growing to love the ticking of the clock as we search for the words that are true, honorable, and kind.
Think: How hard is it for you to let a moment sit for a second before saying something? Do you wisest friends tend to answer quickly or slowly? How could you slow your responses down a little?
Pray: Ask God to help you to listen before answering and to be wise and helpful with your words.
Do: Read more of what James has to say about our words in James 3:1-12.
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Self-Control Week: What’s Enough?
"If you find honey, eat just enough -- too much of it, and you will vomit." (Proverbs 25:16)
This self-control verse doesn't quite fit into our modern experience of honey. I "find honey" every day when I open my cupboard and see the little bear-shaped bottle on the shelf. But the nation of Israel at the time this was written was practically "flowing with milk and honey." You were likely to happen upon it along the path now and then.
In our day, the land flows instead with candy and soda, milkshakes and chocolate, high fructose corn syrup and red dye number 7. Every kid with a dollar can buy bag of Snickers or a bucket of Mountain Dew Red
And I'd guess it takes a lot more of that stuff to make us vomit than it once did.
More than ever now we need to remember the big idea of this verse: We must not let opportunity decide what we will put in our bodies. The mere availability of lots of wonderful and terrible food doesn't mean we should actually put all of that food in us.
When there's more than enough to eat -- or watch or play or click on -- we have to find the wisdom to say how much is enough for us today.
Think: How do you decide when you've had enough of something? How could you do better at that?
Pray: Ask God to give you the wisdom and self-control to know when to stop.
Do: Ask a few people you know who seem to have good self-control how they decide when to say enough is enough.
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Self-Control Week: Say No to Love
"He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich." (Proverbs 21:17)
If you read this verse sloppy, you could jump to the wrong conclusion. Does it say that God hates pleasure, wine, and oil? Does being self-controlled mean you should plan on never having a good time or enjoying pleasure? Of course not!
The self-control question here is, "What will you love?" Wisdom tells us that we're the ones who decide what to do with our affections. If you fall in love with pleasure, wine, and oil -- and don't pry up that love and point it at something more valuable -- you're going to be broke. Living for pleasure -- like living for and loving money -- always leads to a dead end.
But enjoying pleasure is a gift from God. He wants us to enjoy life, to enjoy the good things in life, as evidence of His generosity. The problem comes when we worship the gift, when we make pleasure the point, when we love God less than what He gives to us.
Think: Do you think of your love for people and experiences as being something that you can control? Why or why not? What can you do to keep your affections from controlling you?
Pray: Ask God to help you to enjoy the pleasures He provides to you without loving them. Ask Him to help you to control your affections and to love Him with all of your heart and soul and mind and body.
Do: Make a quick list of 3 simple pleasures that God provides for your to enjoy but not to "love."
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Self-Control Week: Venting Anger
"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." (Proverbs 29:11)
This is such a mechanical-sounding description of controlling our anger. I picture some kind of steam-punk contraption or maybe a system on a submarine. The verse suggests that when I feel the pressure of my anger building, I can open the release valve a little, all the way, or maybe even not at all.
How do I know how far to open the valve? How much anger can I safely express? Paul gives us two clues in Ephesians 4. The first is, "in your anger do not sin." So I can open the valve far enough to let off a little steam as long as I don't cross over into being unkind or hurtful or taking revenge, etc.
His second clue: Get rid of the anger before the day is over. I guess that means, in terms of this steam-tube metaphor, that I can't just open the valve all of the way and spew all over everyone. I've got to find a way to reduce the heat, to cool the anger down inside before exploding.
It can feel so good to "give full vent" to our anger, but it's what fools do. It always hurts, never helps. The person who can control her anger is on the path of wisdom.
Think: What helps you to control your anger, to avoid opening the valve all the way and letting it rip? What makes it harder for you to stay in control?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to give full vent to your anger, but to be wise and keep yourself under control.
Do: Read what else Ephesians 4:26-29 says about controlling our anger.
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Self-Control Week: Can You Wait?
"Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." (Proverbs 25:28)
Nobody puts the words "self-control" up in neon lights. It's not something that necessarily makes us fun at parties or especially attractive to the opposite sex. Or does it? What wisdom is going to teach us during this next week is that self-control is a key ingredient to being better at everything in our lives -- including living for God.
Self-control isn't complicated. It's just the ability to tell ourselves one word: "no." It's the ability to stop ourselves from doing what comes naturally, to slow down our momentum, to shut up, to cool off, to turn down seconds (or thirds). Self-control is the ability to put the brakes on when we'd rather go faster.
Today's proverb says that without self-control, we're defenseless against attack. We're weak. When the heat is on, we can't take it. Unless we're stronger than our selves sometimes, we're not that strong, after all.
Stick around this week and let's find some self-control together.
Think: What are some of the areas of your life in which you struggle to tell yourself "no"? How can being a Christian help you to exercise better self-control?
Pray: Ask God to help you to have more self-control in your life.
Do: Read Galatians 5:22-23 and notice the best source of self-control for Christians.
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Telling Time: Permanent Seasons
"There is a time for everything . . . a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8)
Happy New Years! We're wrapping up a week in Ecclesiastes 3 by reading about some of the best and worst seasons of all.
The good news is that being a Christian means it is always time for love and time for peace. That season never ends for those who are powered by God's Spirit. Galatians 5:22 lists both of those emotions as parts of the fruit of the Spirit. And we're commanded to love -- and keep loving -- both God and our neighbors.
But we're also called to ongoing seasons of hate and war. Romans 12:9 tells us to hate what is evil -- and there's a lot of evil, including the evil of our own sin. And Ephesians 6 describes how we must arm ourselves for the spiritual battle we fight against Satan and his demons. That season of spiritual warfare is one far too many of us are trying to sit out -- because we don't really know what time it is.
Think: How are you participating in these four different seasons that will always be part of the Christian life until we're in heaven? Are you hating evil? Prepared for battle with a spiritual enemy? Finding ways to love God and your neighbors? Living in the peace of Christ that is beyond understanding?
Pray: Ask God to help you to love Him and hate evil. Ask Him to help you to live in peace while preparing yourself for spiritual warfare.
Do: Read more about arming yourself for war in Ephesians 6:10-18.
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Telling Time: To Speak or Not
"There is a time for everything . . . a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7)
Do you know what time it is? Do you know what season you're in right now? If not, it's hard to know how to live wisely. That's what we're thinking about this New Year's Week as we read through the poem in Ecclesiastes 3.
Most of us have spent more time than usual this last few weeks hanging out with our extended families. How did you do with knowing when it was time to be silent and time to speak? I think that's one of the hardest times to tell. It requires both the wisdom to know and the courage to act (or not).
Here is one guideline for making that choice: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (Ephesians 4:29)
If the words you have to say will not benefit or build up those who hear you, recognize the moment as one to be silent. But if you have words that will help or encourage, don't waste your speaking season. It would be unkind not to say something.
Think: How much do you think about whether you should speak or not before you talk? How much do you think about whether you should have spoken after you talk? If you think about it, how do decide when to speak and what to say?
Pray: Ask God to give you the wisdom to know when to speak and when to stay silent.
Do: If you're looking for verses to memorize this new year, Ephesians 4:29 is a great one to start with.
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Telling Time: Keep or Toss?
"There is a time for everything . . . a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6)
We're closing in on New Year's and thinking about God's Word for a few minutes.
And what inspiring words to get your year started: "a time to give up," "a time to throw away." Well, that's the problem with seasons. They don't always follow the calendar. No matter how badly we'd like to start everything fresh and new and perfect on January 1 -- and keep it that way -- sometimes life isn't that tidy.
Maybe God still has you in a season of searching for the right friends, the right college, the right major -- or maybe the deadline has passed and it's time to settle in to where He has you today.
Maybe God wants you to try again to make an old relationship work -- or maybe the best way you could possibly start this new year is to get as far away from a destructive boy/girlfriend or other friends as possible.
Whatever your season, resolve to live wisely in this new year. The times are always right for wisdom.
Think: Have you experienced seasons of searching for something? How did you know when it was time to stop looking? How do you know when it's time to throw away an unhelpful habit or relationship?
Pray: Ask God to help you to have the wisdom to know when it's time to search or to stop searching. Then ask Him for the wisdom to know when it's time to hold on to something or to throw it away.
Do: Ask one or more of your parents to tell you about a season of searching and how they knew when it was time to stop looking. Or ask how they have decided to end relationships that were unhealthy or maybe hurting their relationship with God.
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Telling Time: Sex Out of Season?
"There is a time for everything . . . a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain." (Ecclesiastes 3:5)
What better week that this one to talk about recognizing the times you're living in. We're in the middle of a famous poem describing some of the different seasons we experience during our lives. Understanding our particular times helps us to live wisely and make the most of them.
Today's line deals with times of "embracing" or not. The writer may have been talking about having sex, saying that sex is right for some times and wrong for others. If you're a Christian who believes the Bible is God's Word to you, that seasonal difference has everything to do with being married or not.
It's not just that sex out of season is wrong, it's that it's foolish. It still feels great, of course, and it creates a kind of closeness between two people -- but it's a false and destructive closeness when it happens without the commitment of marriage. The negative consequences linger far beyond the moments of pleasure.
But the creator of sex intended for sex in season to be the norm, providing connection and excitement within the commitment of marriage. And it's just as important to participate in "embracing" when the time is right as it is to skip it when the time is wrong.
Think: If someone asked, what would you say are some of the negative consequences of participating in sex out of season? What's the point of sex as part of marriage?
Pray: Ask God to give you the wisdom and courage to avoid the destruction that comes from having sex out of season.
Do: Read 1 Corinthians 7:1-9 to hear how Paul spells out God's teaching on sex and marriage in our times.
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Telling Time: The Crying Season
"There is a time for everything . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." (Ecclesiastes 3:1,4)
We're working this New Year's week on learning to recognize the seasons God has lead us into -- so we can live wisely during those seasons.
Nobody wants to live in a season of crying or mourning. Usually, that means something bad has happened -- we lost the big game or got betrayed by a friend or watched a loved one die. But that season matters. In fact, Ecclesiastes 7 tells us it's better to go to a funeral than a party because it reminds us again that this life isn't permanent -- and we'd better get ready for the one that is.
Many of us just try to go numb during the crying seasons and hope it goes away quickly. But that's a waste of the season God has lead us into. Instead, He wants us to turn to Him for comfort and learn from Him how to comfort others during their sad times. (See 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.)
The season for laughing and dancing will return. It always does, thank God! But it will be much, much sweeter if we have made the most of the crying season by using it to learn how comforting the arms of our Father can be.
Think: How can a person turn to God for comfort during a season of sadness? Have you ever been comforted by God through another person who has experienced the same kind of loss you are going through?
Pray: Ask God to help you to turn to Him for comfort during seasons of sadness and to include Him in your times of laughing and dancing.
Do: Read Romans 12:15 and think about what you can do to participate with others in their sad and happy seasons.
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Telling Time: The Killing Season
"There is a time for everything . . . a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build." (Ecclesiastes 3:1,3)
We're working this New Year's week on learning the wisdom of recognizing the seasons God has lead us into. Why? So we can live wisely during those seasons.
These words were likely written by Solomon, whose father King David lived in a time of killing. Israel was at war with several enemies, and David defended Israel by killing tens of thousands. But Solomon's season as king was a time of healing, and he used that era wisely to make peace with Israel's neighbors and make the nation stronger still.
We're called to kill in season, as well. In Colossians 3, Paul tells us to "put to death" whatever belongs to our earthly nature, to literally kill (or execute) our sin. Wisdom demands we tear down whatever plans or dreams we have built on the selfish foundations of sinful desires.
It takes courage to be the destroyer of the worthless things in your life, but if you sit the season out you won't make room to build -- with His power tools -- the new life God wants for you.
Think: Do you think God is leading you into a season of tearing down, a time of forcefully removing from your life sinful and worthless things that are getting in the way of living for Him? How can you make the most of that season?
Pray: Ask God to give you the courage to tear down anything in your life standing in the way of living for Him.
Do: Make a quick list of things in your life that might need to be torn down to make room to continue building your commitment to Christ.
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Telling Time: What’s Your Season?
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
People love to say at Christmastime that "Jesus is the reason for the season." It's a good line, and it rhymes. But this week leading up to the New Year, we're going to look at a famous poem from Ecclesiastes 3 and see that God is the reason for every season (not just Christmas).
David said this to God in Psalm 31:15: "My times are in your hands." That's true for all of us. God controls our seasons. You and I cannot turn winter to summer any more than we could have scheduled our own birth -- or the day of our death. Every season belongs to God.
What we can control is how we live in whatever season God brings along. Will we be wise or foolish this season? Will we plant in planting season -- by investing our time and work and energy in whatever opportunity God gives us for the future? Or will we waste our planting season and have nothing to "uproot" or harvest when the payoff season comes along?
We'll see this week that learning to tell what season you are in right now will help you to have the wisdom to know how best to live. Come back tomorrow.
Think: Does it bother you that God controls what season or time you are in? Do you trust Him to bring you in and out of the seasons of your life? Why or why not?
Pray: Thank God that your times are in His hands and that He has made a time for everything in your life.
Do: Read the whole poem we'll be studying this week in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
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Wild Night: What Next?
"The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." (Luke 2:20)
Merry Christmas!
I wonder sometimes what happened to those shepherds. How did their lives change after that wild night? After seeing all those angels? After worshipping the Creator of the universe in the body of an infant? What next? Do you just go back to living in the field, keeping watch over the flock at night?
I guess what you do for a living after meeting the Messiah isn't as important as what you do with your heart and your mind. The shepherds response that night was to go back to the sheep -- while giving praise and glory to God.
Christmas will soon pass for us, and we will all go back to school and work and regular life. But what we celebrate at Christmas has changed everything forever. Hopefully, we'll go back glorifying and praising God even more than we normally do because our King was born and lived and died and then came to life again forever.
Think: Does the Christmas season help you to refocus on praising and glorifying God? Do you tend to return to your everyday life with that worship fresh in your heart and mind? Why or why not?
Pray: Ask God to help you to respond to the true story of Christmas with praise and glory for Him.
Do: Read the rest of Luke 2 to catch two rare glimpses of Jesus as a child.
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Wild Night: The Ponderer
"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 2:19)
You don't meet many people who will admit to pondering things in their hearts. It feels more important to be like the shepherds out there doing things like spreading the word about Jesus and praising and glorifying God. That's got to matter more than just pondering, right?
But Mary was a ponderer. A reflecter. A muller. A thinker. Others were amazed, but she kept turning over everything that had happened to her: The angel. The near-broken engagement. The pregnancy. Elizabeth. The inconvenient trip to an overcrowded Bethlehem. Giving birth in a stable. Strange shepherds showing up already knowing her son was the Messiah.
It's a lot to think about, and most of us don't do enough of that. We've got the facts. Pretty much. Or we can get them on the Google. Now tell us what to do!
But Mary knew something its easy for us to skip over in our noisy world. God's working in our lives is a gift, a treasure, the most important thing. It's not just the facts of what He says and does; it's what those words and actions say about Him and how He loves us and how we should live in His grace. That takes pondering.
Think: Are you a ponderer or are you more likely to drown out the quiet moments in your head and heart? What do you think are the consequences of trying to follow Jesus without thinking too deeply about God's Word?
Pray: Ask God to help you to do enough pondering about the most important things.
Do: Read about how a couple of guys in the Bible talked about pondering God's commands in Job 23:12 and Joshua 1:8.
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Wild Night: Got to Tell Somebody
"So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." (Luke 2:16-18)
What a crazy night that was for the shepherds who saw the angels and then -- because they believed the message of heaven -- they found the Son of God tucked away in a barn in Bethlehem. Of course they "spread the word!" If the shepherds had been on Twitter, the whole world would have known the Messiah was born before the sun came up that next day.
And the people who heard were amazed. The shepherds enthusiasm and insistence that their wild night meant good news of great joy for everyone was jaw dropping. The Messiah? Here? Now? In a manger? What?
If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God -- that He was born in a stable that night and grew into a man who lived perfect then died for your sins, to buy you a home in heaven with His Father -- if you believe that, it's big news, right? Who have you told, lately?
Think: What evidence did the shepherds have that a savior had been born, that the baby was the Christ? Do you think they hesitated to tell people their story of meeting Jesus because they couldn't "prove" it was true?
Pray: If you are a Christian, ask God to help you to have the right amount of excitement and courage to tell your story of hearing about and then believing in Jesus.
Do: Think of someone -- even Christian friend or a family member -- you could have a serious conversation about Jesus with sometime this next week.
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Wild Night: Let’s Go!
"When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.' " (Luke 2:15)
After their once-in-several-lifetimes experience with the angels, the shepherds response was, "Let's go! Let's investigate. Let's confirm this supernatural revelation with our own eyes."
Too many people want to have the experience of seeing angels and feeling overwhelmed by the wonder of Christmas and having God "blow their socks off" -- without wanting to follow that up by going and seeing what God is doing in the real world around them. After the experience of the angels, who really cares about a newborn in a barn?
For those who truly believe the message of the angels, though, real everyday life is injected with meaning and excitement. The baby in the manger is the Son of God! The kid working the drive-thru was formed by the Creator of the universe! The God of all has sent me to represent His love and grace to these people I will spend Christmas with!
Nothing is ordinary for those who believe in angels -- if we're willing to go and see and test and practice God's truth in our everyday lives.
Think: God has revealed lots of His truth to you in the Bible. What biblical truths will you be looking for or acting on in your life today?
Pray: Ask God to give you the faith, courage, and will to practice what He has revealed to you in all the ordinary parts of your life this week.
Do: Go and look for evidence in your Christmas celebrations that the supernatural God is at work in your natural, everyday world.
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Wild Night: So Many Angels
"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.' " (Luke 2:13-14)
Very few people have ever knowingly glimpsed any of the heavenly army (or "host"), let alone a "great company" of them, let alone a great company of the heavenly host praising God together.
What the shepherds saw on that wild night was nothing less than a peek into our eternal future in heaven when we, too, will witness the staggering company of angels singing glory to the Lamb:
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne. . . . In a loud voice they sang: 'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!'
I wish I could have seen it; I can't wait to see it forever.
Think: How do you think what the shepherds saw that night changed them? Do you think it increased their appetite for heaven? What would make you hungrier to be in heaven with God forever?
Pray: Praise God for His glory and thank Him for the gift of peace to those He favors, all those who trust in the Lamb who was born to be slain.
Do: Try to imagine the joy and spectacle of a great company of angels praising God together on the night Jesus was born.
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Wild Night: Not Cute
"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.' " (Luke 2:10-12)
These words are almost too familiar to even understand any more. And the weird thing is most of us associate them with Linus and Charlie Brown or some cute kid with a gold tinsel halo.
But the being speaking these words to the shepherds wasn't cute, and I'm guessing he didn't have a lisp. He was so scary looking he had to command the shepherds to stop being afraid of him. He had to announce up front: "This is good news."
Try to listen past the tinsel: Great joy. Your Savior. Born today. Did he say manger?
As Jewish men, the shepherds had probably grown up believing a Christ (or "Messiah") would come to rescue Israel one day. But the idea that some baby born that night in a small town barn to a road-weary teenage girl was the Promised One would have sounded like a joke -- unless you heard it from a terrifying angel.
These words matter because they were true and because of who said them.
Think: Do you think we sometimes miss the importance of these passages because we know them too well? What is the most remarkable thing to you about these verses?
Pray: Thank God that the Christmas story is not just a story but also the Word of God for you today.
Do: Make a quick list of three times you got big news that brought you great joy.
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Wild Night: Light in the Dark
"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified." (Luke 2:8-9)
I think most of us tend to root for the shepherds in the Christmas story. They represent us. No matter what role you played as a kid in your church Christmas pageant, none of us are angels. And though we're all learning to have faith like Mary, none of us will ever have her experience exactly.
No, we're the shepherds -- just living our everyday lives and suddenly terrified to realize that God has noticed us and overwhelmed to understand that the message He is delivering is Good News. For us. And it's happening right now.
Like the shepherds working the night shift, we lived in the dark. And like the shepherds, God's light broke through the darkness of our fallen world with a spectacular opportunity: Believe in Jesus and live in great joy.
Don't be afraid the light. It's a good thing.
Think: Have you ever tried to imagine what that night was like for the shepherds out in the dark? Why do you think the shining "glory of the Lord" was so terrifying?
Pray: Thank God for making sure you heard the story of the shepherds and the angels so you could understand Jesus better.
Do: Think about reading Luke 2:1-7 to get caught up with the story again.
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Eyewitness: I Did It
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9)
Three of the most important words in any Christians life are these: "I did it." Or, "I was wrong." As hard as those words may be to say, without them we cannot have an honest relationship with God. Why? Because Christians sin.
We are saved from the eternal consequences of our sin. Jesus died for our sin. All of our sins are forgiven through faith in Him. But, still, we continue to give in to sin on some level, even as we're growing in Christ.
The difference is that now we know it. Now we can say out loud to ourselves and to God, "I lied, and that was wrong." "I disobeyed my parents; that was wrong." "I cheated on the assignment; that was wrong."
If confession of sin to God is not a regular part of your life, you might be missing out on the closeness with God that's available to us. God forgives. Confession is an act of humility that draws us near to Him and Him to us.
Let's not keep Him at a distance by pretending not to notice our own sinful choices.
Think: How often do you admit specific sin to God? Why would we ever choose not to be honest with Him about our sin? What's the value in regular confession of the specific sins we commit?
Pray: Ask God to keep reminding you to confess your sin to Him. Thank Him for His forgiveness and for His promise to purify us from all unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus.
Do: If it's not something you regularly do, make a point this week to confess to God any sin you catch yourself taking part in.
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Eyewitness: Light and Blood
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
Here's the difference between religion and being in fellowship with the one, true God: Religion is all about trying to be bright enough to get noticed by your idea of God, trying to be good enough to be acceptable to Him so He will do good things for you or let you into heaven.
Christianity -- being in fellowship with God through faith in Jesus -- is about walking in God's light, not your own. It's about saying, "I live in darkness; I have no light of my own. To find light, I'm going to have to move closer to Him."
One problem: Sin. Our sin is darkness. To walk in God's light, we need to be cleansed of our sin. Again, though, we can't clean ourselves. (That would be religion, paying for our own sin.) Nope, Jesus' blood is what cleans the sin out of us, it's what pays for every last drop of our darkness. When we trust in His death, His blood for our sin, we gain access to the light.
Think: Do you ever catch yourself thinking that you need to be a light, that you need to be good enough on your own to earn God's love and acceptance of you? What's wrong with that idea?
Pray: Thank God that the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies those who trust in Him from all sin.
Do: Look up the definitions of light and dark in a dictionary.
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Eyewitness: Can’t See Without God
"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." (1 John 1:5-6)
Lots of people these days claim to be spiritual, to believe in God, to be connected to Him. It's easy to use that kind of language, and it feels good to talk about God's love and His energy and having a sense of connectedness with the great divine.
But some of those people are lying, and John is calling them out. He knows the truth about what it really means to be connected to God because he got it first-hand from Jesus, God's Son. Without Jesus, we're not connected no matter what we say. Without Jesus, we're in the darkness.
How can you tell if someone is in the light or in the darkness? For one thing, John will reveal, that person won't keep on continuing in their sin as if God and sin could just hang out together. To sin is to be in the darkness; to be in fellowship with God, the light, leaves no room for walking in sin.
And we all sin. (More tomorrow.)
Think: How do you visualize the idea that God is light with no darkness at all?
Pray: Thank God that He is light and there is no darkness in Him.
Do: Notice the difference in your room tonight between what you can "know" about your room with the lights on and with them off. Notice how light reveals the reality of the space in your room.
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Eyewitness: Telling for Joy
"We write this to make our joy complete." (1 John 1:4)
I like really short, simple verses like this one. Sometimes they tell us way more than we expect.
After three densely packed verses about John's unique perspective as an eyewitness of eternal life -- and what that means for those of us who believe -- he adds this little sentence about joy.
He tells his story to make our joy complete. We can take "our" to mean, I think, everyone in fellowship together with the Father, the Son, and each other. To tell others about the salvation available through faith in Christ -- and then to see them accept the gift and join the family -- completes the joy of everyone involved.
We can also find joy in telling the story of Jesus, telling our story of how He saved us, how we found eternal life in Him. We all say that we want to be happy; this is one of the ways God provides for us to experience that.
Think: Have you ever experienced the joy of seeing someone respond to the message of Jesus by trusting in Him for salvation? Why do you think that can be such a joyful experience?
Pray: Ask God to help you to find joy in telling others about the path to eternal life through faith in Jesus.
Do: Read more about John's joyful response to those who hear and act on his message in 3 John 1-4.
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Eyewitness: “This Way to Fellowship”
"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)
John didn't tell the story of what He'd seen -- the story of Jesus -- just to impress people because he was there. He wasn't trying to increase his own status. He did it to invite people to join him and to be joined with God.
Here's a lame metaphor: If God had a Facebook account, the only way to be His friend would be to become friends with Jesus. And John's message as a close friend of Jesus was that everyone could become the Savior's friend and be included in the family of God through faith in Jesus' claim to be God's Son and our only hope for salvation.
And once included in the friendship (or fellowship or "familyship") of God we suddenly discover that we have fellowship with everyone else who has trusted in Christ's death in their place for salvation. We have Christian friends -- family -- in every corner of the earth.
It's a lame metaphor because my network of Facebook friends isn't nearly as significant as the network of God's fellowship. That's the one that really matters both right now and forever.
Think: What do you personally gain by being in fellowship with the Father, His Son, and all those who are truly Christians? How aware are you of being plugged into that network?
Pray: Thank God that you have fellowship with God and His people through faith in Jesus Christ.
Do: Next time you look at your Facebook account -- if you have one -- think about being included in the fellowship network of all of God's "friends."
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Eyewitness: The Life Appeared
"The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us." (1 John 1:2)
We had snow where I live a couple of days ago, and it's still winter cold here even though Christmas is a long way off. But today's verse reminds me of Christmas, of Immanuel, of "God with us."
Did God need to show up in person to make eternal life possible for us? Did He need to come in human flesh and walk on the ground and get sweaty and breathe hard with flesh-and-blood lungs? I suppose God could have accomplished His purposes anyway He wanted to, but His plan was to make it personal. He sent the lone gateway to eternal life to make eye contact with us, to shake our hands, to wash our feet.
John saw "it" -- the path to salvation -- with his own eyeballs, just as God intended. John was one of our representatives for contact with eternity and his mission was to tell as many people what he saw as possible, including you and me.
Almost makes me feel like singing Christmas carols. Almost. Maybe in November.
Think: What does it mean to you personally that God was here in person as a human being, that Jesus lived here and died here and lived again? Why do you think that's so much more valuable than if God had made a way for us to be saved "remotely"?
Pray: Thank God for sending Jesus to be with us in flesh and blood. Thank Him that because of Jesus you can one day be with God in person, too.
Do: Because of TV, faxes, Internet and cell phones, we can participate in so many things now without actually being there. Make a quick list of five big events that still require us to show up in person to participate in.
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Eyewitness: “I Was There”
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life." (1 John 1:1)
For the next few days, we're going to listen to the eyewitness testimony of the apostle John. He will make, as he does in other parts of the Bible, an outrageous claim about the man called Jesus -- that He is the Son of God, the path to a relationship with the Father, the one hope for forgiveness and eternity in heaven.
He opens with his strongest piece of evidence: "I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. I heard Him with my own ears. I touched Him with my own hands." Jesus' biography in the gospels tell us that John saw Jesus dying on the cross and that he saw Him alive again after death. In fact, John described himself as the disciple Jesus loved, maybe Christ's closest human friend.
John isn't just a lawyer making the case for Christianity; he's the witness in the stand. He tells us what he saw and what it means -- why his glimpse of that key moment in the history of the world makes him qualified to proclaim the message of eternal life.
Stay tuned.
Think: How much more credibility do you give to an eyewitness than to somebody who is telling about something they heard from someone else? Why?
Pray: Thank God for John's first-hand account of Jesus, the Savior.
Do: Read through 1 John 1 once or twice to get ready to think about the chapter this week.
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Faith to Feelings: Get Busy
"Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:9)
Today's verse may be the most overlooked one of this whole passage on "faith to feelings." But Paul's instructions on how to take control of our emotions -- especially our worry -- isn't complete without it.
So far: Don't stay worried. Instead, be intentional about giving your requests and thanksgiving to God. Then God's peace will come to free your hearts and minds. Use that freedom to think about good things.
Finally: Get out there and do good things. Paul uses his teachings and example to sum up what it means to live as a Christian. Put it into practice, he writes. The final step to controlling your emotions involves taking action. Maintain your peace by getting out of your head and doing good.
Think: Have you ever noticed that acting on what God's Word teaches helps you to feel better emotionally? Have you been putting off obeying God or doing something He's called you to do? What would it take to get out there and do that thing this week?
Pray: Ask God to help you to put into practice what you've learned from His Word.
Do: Make a quick list of three things you've learned from God's Word that you could do today or this week.
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Faith to Feelings: Mind Control
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)
For some reason, this verse is often used to talk about impure sexual thoughts and/or R-rated movies and/or violent video games. And that's fine; it's just not the point Paul was making, I don't think.
He's talking about anxiety. Worry. Being stressed out. He's just told us never to be anxious, but instead to give our requests and thanksgiving to God. The result? A mind-blowing peace that doesn't even make sense but protects our thoughts and emotions from being controlled by worthless worry.
Now what? Now -- with the protection of God's peace -- you can control your thoughts. Be careful not to jump right back into the worry zone by jumping right back into worthless thinking. Instead, think about what is true (not what might happen), what is noble (not how bad people can be), what is right (not a sinful approach to fixing your problems) . . .
You get the idea. Once you have God's peace, think God's thoughts to avoid falling back into trusting you more than Him.
Think: Do you feel like you can control your thoughts? Do you have the self-control to tell your brain what to stop or start thinking about? If so, how do you use that power?
Pray: Ask God to help you to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.
Do: Write these eight words down on a piece of paper and carry it around with you this week as a way of reminding yourself to check your thoughts.
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Faith to Feelings: Got Peace?
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. " (Philippians 4:7)
Of all of the promises in the Bible, this one might be the most immediately appealing to me. I want God's irrational peace standing guard -- it's a military word -- over my heart and mind.
This is different from God's promise that we have peace with Him through faith in Christ (see Romans 5:1). That means that we are on good terms with Him; He's for us. All Christians are receiving that promise.
This one, though, is conditional. I only get it today if I practice what's in the verse before it -- giving my requests and thanks to God and letting go of my worry. Then comes this peace that doesn't make any sense because my actual circumstances haven't really changed.
But it's a big, bulky well-armed peace -- this peace of God -- that stands guard over my thoughts and emotions. When I trust Him with what matters most to me today, He floods me with the sense that it's going to be okay. Who wouldn't want that?
Think: You can't pay for it, but what do you think the peace of God would be worth if you could? Why do you think sometimes we'd rather worry than have the peace of God?
Pray: Thank God that He gives us His peace when we gratefully trust Him with what matters most to us.
Do: Pay attention to your heart and mind today and notice if they are protected by peace or dwelling on worry.
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Faith to Feelings: Gratitude v. Anxiety
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)
"With thanksgiving." In high school, those two words were voted "most likely to be ignored in Philippians 4:6." (Yes, it was an odd category.)
We're so eager to get rid of our anxiety, to give it to God, to make our request of the ultimate authority, that we often rush right past "with thanksgiving," one of the essential ingredients in shaking loose of crippling worry.
When we take the time, focus, and mental energy to start really thinking about the good things God has already given us -- all the ways He has helped us during high-stress moments in the past -- we start to realize again just how good and loving and powerful our Father really is.
I can trust Him with the thing I'm worried about because He's already proved His goodness to me in all the things I have to be grateful for.
Think: Have you ever noticed that making an effort to tell God thanks leads to a sense of peacefulness? How often do you practice thanksgiving when you're feeling really worried and stressed out?
Pray: Ask God to help you to give your requests to Him with thanksgiving as often as it takes to get rid of your worry.
Do: Make a quick list of ten things you can tell God thanks for today. Then tell Him.
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Faith to Feelings: The Worry Command
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)
What? Can you really just tell someone not to worry about anything -- not to feel anxious, at all -- and expect that they'll be able to stop it? Just like that?
We have to assume that if God tells us not to be anxious about anything that it is actually possible. He doesn't direct us to do what we can't do. In fact, He gives us something to do with what's bothering us instead of worrying about it:
Give it to Him. Let Him hold it; trust Him to handle it. I'm not painting a meaningless word picture here; this is actually what we're told to do: Ask. Ask again. Thank Him for what He has already provided. Give the request for the thing that's bothering you to God instead of worrying about it.
Too simple? It helps me to think of the thing I'm worried about as a physical object -- a ball, a bag of flour, a brick -- and I either hold on to it or hand it to Him and then take it back and then hand it to Him. I can't trust Him with it and be anxious about it in the same moment.
More tomorrow.
Think: Does a command like this not to worry feel unfair to you? Do you agree that it is not possible to trust God and to keep worrying at the same time? How important is it to God that we trust Him?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to be anxious about anything, but to ask for His help for everything that bothers you.
Do: Think of something that's bothering you and practice giving your request to God and not worrying about it for a while. Notice how it feels to really let it go.
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Faith to Feelings: Emotions Under Control
"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." (Philippians 4:5)
When we read the word gentleness, I think a lot of us imagine fawns and fields of wild flowers and cradling newborns. Are Christians supposed to walk around like timid little rabbits all of the time? No. In fact, we're called to strength.
The idea of this word "gentleness" -- which shows up in other versions of the Bible as "reasonableness" or "moderation" -- is that we should be strong enough, in fact, to avoid extreme reactions to what's going on around us. Yesterday, we saw that even the worst circumstances shouldn't steal away the inner joy of those who know God as Father. Today's verse says that steadiness should carry over to our outward emotional responses.
In other words, we should be able to build a reputation as people not controlled by our emotions. When we fly off the handle in a rage or melt into a pool of instant self-pity or even lash out at others in fear, disgust, or ignorance, we're demonstrating a lack of faith in our God.
If He is in control and taking care of us -- and if the "near" return of Jesus and the eternity that follows is what we're living for -- we'll find the strength to control our emotional reactions.
Think: Do you sometimes think of gentleness as weakness? Do you buy the idea that it takes strength -- and faith in God -- to keep our emotions from taking us over in the heat of the moment? Why or why not?
Pray: Ask God to help you to let your gentleness be evident to all.
Do: Make a quick list of five of the strongest gentle Christians you know.
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Faith to Feelings: Rejoice!
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4)
How big is the gap between what you say you believe and how you're feeling emotionally? That's the question we're going to tackle this week as we dig through part of Philippians 4.
Paul wrote a lot about trusting God all the way into our emotional state of mind. Does it make sense for someone to say that the God of the universe is also the Father who loves her best -- and still feel depressed? angry? anxious? bitter? sad? giddy?
The Bible answers yes to some of those and no to others, depending on the source of the emotion and the depth of our faith. Today's verse, for instance, is not a command to feel shiny happy all of the time, no matter what. God doesn't want us to paste smiles over what we really feel.
It is a command, though, to actively tell ourselves that being in Christ -- having God as our Father -- is always, always cause for celebration. No matter the ups and downs of our daily lives, exercising our joy response -- whether that involves singing and dancing or just quietly remembering that we're loved and okay in Him -- is a rational response to being a child of the King with a secure, prosperous, and eternal future.
Think: How would you describe your emotional state of mind today? How does what you believe about your relationship with God through Jesus impact you emotionally? Do you let it change how you feel? Can you stop it from changing how you feel?
Pray: Ask God to help you to rejoice in the Lord always. Then ask Him again.
Do: Ask five or so Christians you know how they choose to "rejoice in the Lord always." What does that mean to them?
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Psalm 1: Final Destination
"For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." (Psalm 1:6)
God knows. The words "watches over" in this verse can be read as "knows" or "knows and guides" or "knows and cares." The big idea is that God knows where the righteous are going and how the righteous are getting there because He's paying attention, keeping them on the path, preparing the way.
The path of the wicked, on the other hand, runs out of God's "knowing" and terminates. It's not the God doesn't know where they're going; it's that their path, their way of life, is a dead end.
Again, the difference between being the righteous and being the wicked comes down to one word: Jesus. Those is Christ have the righteousness of Christ. Those not in Christ -- no matter how good they seem to be -- are the wicked.
So what's your final destination?
Think: Are you encouraged by the idea that God is watching over your way, if you are a Christian? Do you like the thought of being known by God? Why or why not?
Pray: Thank God that He knows the way of those who are righteous because they are in Christ.
Do: Think about memorizing some or all of Psalm 1.
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Psalm 1: Wicked v. Righteous
"Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous." (Psalm 1:5)
It's easy to get confused about all of this talk of "the wicked" and "the righteous." These days, most people would tend to divide those groups up by our own ideas about what's really wicked -- murder, rape, genocide? -- and what it means to be a "good person" in your heart.
For Israel, though, these two groups were defined by who was in a covenant relationship with God -- and who wasn't. God's chosen people were righteous as long as they continued to follow the Law. Everyone else -- no matter how "good" their hearts -- was "the wicked."
For those of us who have never followed the Law, though, the difference between these two groups is even more clear. Outside of Christ, we are all wicked. We are all sinners. We are all separated from God. But through faith in Jesus' death for our sin, God declares us as righteous as Jesus is. We may still struggle with sin, but we are forgiven, cleansed, made right with the one and only God.
Bottom line: In the end, the righteous and the wicked will not be together. They won't wind up having the same experience. It matters which group you belong to.
Think: In your own words, how would you describe to someone the difference from God's point of view between the righteous and the wicked?
Pray: Thank God for His justice and mercy, for His grace and forgiveness to those who come to Him through faith in Jesus.
Do: If you really want to dig into how the wicked can become the righteous, read carefully through Romans 5.
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Psalm 1: Dead and Disconnected
"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away." (Psalm 1:4)
"Not so the wicked!" As Christians, we believe in a real, literal hell where those who reject faith in Christ will spend eternity apart from God. Such a fate is too horrible to even imagine.
But today's verse could also describe the state of those who reject God in this life, right now. If we are not connected to the source of all of life, light, wisdom, beauty, and good things -- we are not connected to anything, at all. We are disconnected and adrift in the wind.
The wicked -- the God-rejecters -- are spiritually dead, as the New Testament explains to us. They are not planted and watered and alive and receiving nutrients. They are empty husks, destined for the fire.
By the grace and power of God, faith in Jesus transforms the wicked (all of us) into those credited with Jesus' righteousness. He transforms the dead things into the living trees planted by the water. He brings us to life. (See Ephesians 2:1-10.)
Think: In your own words, how would you describe the difference between being spiritually dead and spiritually alive in Christ?
Pray: As a Christian, thank God for making you alive and connected to Him through your faith in Jesus.
Do: Read how dead people come to life and get connected to God in Ephesians 2:1-10.
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Psalm 1: No Third Option
"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1:3)
Reading today's verse on its own begs one obvious question: Who? Who is like a tree with a primo spot by the river? Who's the one that always grows, that never lacks what's needed, that seems to be especially favored by God?
Jump back a couple of verses and you'll see that this person is defined by what he or she does NOT do: "walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers." That kind of person delights in God's law and is like this stellar tree.
I just noticed something: There's no third option here. You cannot be someone who does NOT live like a sinner but also does NOT love God's way. Turned around, Psalm 1 doesn't leave room for us to both live like the wicked and experience God's well-watered earthly blessings.
We're either all the way with Him -- or we're all the way with the ones who are against Him. And things don't go well for them in the next few verses.
Think: What percentage of people would you say are trying to find the third option -- not wicked, exactly, but not completely committed to God's way, either? What's the danger of trying to follow that non-existent path?
Pray: Ask God to help you to choose Him over the path of those who reject Him every time, even in the little choices you make every day.
Do: Close your eyes and think about trees. Okay, not really. But notice the trees this week and think about where their water comes from. Ponder how they get what they need to grow.
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Psalm 1: Delighted by a Book?
"But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night." (Psalm 1:2)
People who are passionate about the writings and ideas of the famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung are sometimes call Jungians. And the Jungians were pretty excited a few years ago. A huge journal he kept of his innermost thoughts and feelings was published after being hidden away and unavailable for nearly 100 years.
I'm not a Jungian; his teachings don't line up too well with Scripture, in my view. But I can understand why you'd be excited to read the long, lost insights of the person you've patterned your whole life after. The Jungians couldn't wait to get their hands on that book.
You know where I'm going. We tell everyone that we believe the Bible contains the very thoughts of God -- that the God of the universe went to the "trouble" of getting down in language His ideas for us. We say we believe that, but I'm not sure we're convinced.
If we were, it seems like we'd be a lot more delighted to dive into the thoughts of God every day. We'd be less likely to categorize studying the Book along with eating green vegetables, getting exercise, and flossing. What can we do to increase our enjoyment of God's thoughts from God's Word?
Think: How many people do you know who really seem to be fascinated, enthralled, captivated, and excited about the Bible? How did they get that way?
Pray: Ask God to help you to delight in His Word and to learn to really, truly enjoy meditating on it every day.
Do: Grab an online or offline (paper) thesaurus and read a long list of words that mean the same thing as "delight."