|
Post by Les on Apr 11, 2020 20:48:21 GMT
Curtained Off By: Lisa M. Samra
Click on this link for the audio message
Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place . . . by a new and living way . . . let us draw near to God. Hebrews 10:19–22
Today's Scripture: Hebrews 10:19–25 As my flight reached cruising speed, the flight attendant pulled back the curtain that cordoned off first class, and I was given a startling reminder of the stark differences between areas on airplanes. Some travellers get to board first, enjoying premium seating with extra legroom and personalised service. The curtain was a humbling reminder of my separation from those perks.
Exclusionary distinctions between groups of people can be found throughout history, including, in a way, even God’s temple in Jerusalem, though not due to one’s ability to pay more. Non-Jewish people were only allowed to worship in the outer court. Next came the women’s court, and even closer, an area designated for men. Finally, the holy of hollies, seen as the place where God uniquely revealed Himself, was concealed behind a curtain and only accessible to one consecrated priest each year (Hebrews 9:1–10).
But, wonderfully, this separation no longer exists. Jesus has completely eliminated any barriers that might hinder anyone seeking access to God—even our sin (10:17). Just as the temple curtain was torn in two at the moment of Christ’s death (Matthew 27:50–51), His crucified body has torn away all obstructions to God’s presence. There’s no barrier that need separate any believer from experiencing the glory and love of the living God.
Reflect & Pray How does the truth that Christ’s death provides access to God give you confidence when you worship and pray? What else does His death provide believers?
Jesus, thank You for being willing to die to open up full access to God to all who long for it.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 12, 2020 20:59:51 GMT
Grief Overturned By: Linda Washington
Click on this link for the audio message
I have seen the Lord! John 20:18
Today's Scripture: John 20:11–18 According to Jim and Jamie Dutcher, filmmakers known for their knowledge of wolves, when happy, wolves wag their tails and romp about. But after the death of a pack member, they grieve for weeks. They visit the place where the pack member died, showing grief by their drooping tails and mournful howls.
Grief is a powerful emotion we’ve all experienced, particularly at the death of a loved one or of a treasured hope. Mary Magdalene experienced it. She’d traveled with and helped support Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:1–3). But His cruel death on a cross separated them. The only thing left for Mary to do for Jesus was to finish anointing His body for burial—a task the Sabbath had interrupted. But imagine how Mary felt when she found not a lifeless, broken body but a living Savior! Though she hadn’t at first recognized the man standing before her, when He spoke her name, she knew who He was—Jesus! Instantly, grief turned to joy. Mary now had joyful news to share: “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18).
Jesus entered our dark world to bring freedom and life. His resurrection celebrates that He accomplished what He set out to do. We too can celebrate His resurrection and share the good news: He’s alive!
Reflect & Pray When have you experienced a time when your sadness turned to joy? How will you share the news of Christ’s resurrection this week?
Jesus, I celebrate Your resurrection and the new life I can experience in You.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 13, 2020 20:57:54 GMT
Seeking God By: Dave Branon
Click on this link for the audio message
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you. Psalm 63:1
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 63:1–8 It’s inspiring to watch people’s passion and dedication in pursuing their dreams. A young woman I know recently graduated from college in just three years—a task that took total commitment. A friend wanted a particular car, so he worked diligently baking and selling cakes until he reached his goal. Another person who’s in sales seeks to meet one hundred new people every week.
While it can be good to earnestly seek something of earthly value, there’s a more important kind of seeking that we must consider.
In desperation, struggling in a desert, King David wrote, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you” (Psalm 63:1). As David cried out to Him, God drew close to the weary king. David’s deep spiritual thirst for God could only be satisfied in His presence.
The king remembered meeting with God in His “sanctuary” (v. 2), experiencing His all-conquering love (v. 3), and praising Him day after day—finding true satisfaction in Him that’s not unlike enjoying a full and satisfying meal (vv. 4–5). Even during the night he contemplated God’s greatness, recognising His help and protection (vv. 6–7).
Today the Holy Spirit convicts us to earnestly seek after God. As we cling to Him, in power and love God holds us up with His strong right hand. By the leading of the Spirit, may we draw close to the Maker of all good things.
Reflect & Pray How has the Holy Spirit been prompting you to seek God? What are some things you can do this week to grow closer to Him?
Thank You, God, for drawing me to seek after You. To know You better. To love You more. To recognise Your greatness. I’m so grateful for Your presence in my life.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 14, 2020 21:11:21 GMT
Healing Words By: Kirsten Holmberg
Click on this link for the audio message
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Proverbs 16:20–24 A recent study has shown that encouraging words from a health-care provider can help patients recuperate faster from their ailments. A simple experiment exposed volunteer study participants to a skin allergen to make them itch and then compared the reactions between those who received assurance from their physician and those who didn’t. Patients who received encouragement from their doctors had less discomfort and itching than their counterparts.
The writer of Proverbs knew how important encouraging words are. “Gracious words” bring “healing to the bones,” he wrote (Proverbs 16:24). The positive effect of words isn’t limited to our health: when we heed the wisdom of instruction, we’re also more likely to prosper in our efforts (v. 20). So too encouragement buoys us for the challenges we face now and may encounter in the future.
We may not yet fully understand why or even how much wisdom and encouragement bring strength and healing to our daily lives. Yet the cheers and guidance of our parents, coaches, and colleagues seem to help us endure difficulty and steer us toward success. Similarly, the Bible brings us encouragement when we face trials, equipping us to bear up under even the most unthinkable circumstances. Help us, God, to be strengthened by Your wisdom and to, in turn, offer the healing and hope of “gracious words” to those You’ve placed in our lives.
Reflect & Pray Who has spoken “gracious words” into your life? Why is it vital for you to share words of encouragement with others?
Dear Father, thank You for Your words of healing and hope.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 15, 2020 19:55:41 GMT
From Pity to Praise By: Patricia Raybon
Click on this link for the audio message
But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength. 2 Timothy 4:17
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Timothy 4:9–18 At a coat drive for children, excited kids searched gratefully for their favorite colors and proper sizes. They also gained self-esteem, an organizer said, with new coats boosting their acceptance by peers and school attendance on winter days.
The apostle Paul seemed to need a coat, as well, when he wrote Timothy, “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas” (2 Timothy 4:13). Held in a cold Roman prison, Paul needed warmth but also companionship. “No one came to my support, but everyone deserted me,” he lamented, when he faced a Roman judge (v. 16). His words pierce our hearts with the honesty of this great missionary’s pain.
Yet in these final words of Paul’s last recorded letter—his closing thoughts after an astounding ministry—he moves from pity to praise. “But the Lord stood at my side,” he adds (v. 17), and his words rally our hearts. As Paul declared, “[God] gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death” (v. 17 nlt).
If you’re facing a crisis, lacking even the right clothing for warmth or close friends to help, remember God. He’s faithful to revive, provide, and deliver. Why? For His glory and for our purpose in His kingdom.
Reflect & Pray In what “cold” area of your life do you need God’s great and warming strength? As you praise Him, how does your outlook change?
Our strong God, when life’s circumstances overwhelm us, stand with us, stir our praise, giving us Your strength to overcome.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 16, 2020 21:31:14 GMT
Hungry for God By: Poh Fang Chia
Click on this link for the audio message
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight. Jeremiah 15:16
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Jeremiah 15:15–21 A new believer in Jesus was desperate to read the Bible. However, he’d lost his eyesight and both hands in an explosion. When he heard about a woman who read Braille with her lips, he tried to do the same—only to discover that the nerve endings of his lips had also been destroyed. Later, he was filled with joy when he discovered that he could feel the Braille characters with his tongue! He had found a way to read and enjoy the Scriptures.
Joy and delight were the emotions the prophet Jeremiah experienced when he received God’s words. “When your words came, I ate them,” he said, “they were my joy and my heart’s delight” (Jeremiah 15:16). Unlike the people of Judah who despised His words (8:9), Jeremiah had been obedient and rejoiced in them. His obedience, however, also led to the prophet being rejected by his own people and persecuted unfairly (15:17).
Some of us may have experienced something similar. We once read the Bible with joy, but obedience to God led to suffering and rejection from others. Like Jeremiah, we can bring our confusion to God. He answered Jeremiah by repeating the promise He gave him when He first called him to be a prophet (vv. 19-21; see 1:18–19). God reminded him that He never lets His people down. We can have this same confidence too. He’s faithful and will never abandon us.
Reflect & Pray When have you experienced joy in reading the Scriptures? What can help you regain your hunger and thirst for God?
Faithful God, thank You for speaking to me through the words of the Bible. Help me to seek You earnestly and to obey You faithfully.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 17, 2020 20:16:31 GMT
Able to Help By: Arthur Jackson
Click on this link for the audio message
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 2:18
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Hebrews 2:14–18 Joe’s eight-week “break” from his job as a crisis care worker at a New York City church was not a vacation. In his words, it was “to live again among the homeless, to become one of them, to remember what hungry, tired, and forgotten feel like.” Joe’s first stint on the streets had come nine years earlier when he arrived from Pittsburgh without a job or a place to stay. For thirteen days he lived on the streets with little food or sleep. That’s how God had prepared him for decades of ministry to needy people.
When Jesus came to earth, He also chose to share the experiences of those He came to save. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). From birth to death, nothing was missing from Christ’s human experience—except sin (4:15). Because He conquered sin, He can help us when we’re tempted to sin.
And Jesus doesn’t need to reacquaint Himself with our earthly cares. The One who saves us remains connected to us and is deeply interested in us. Whatever life brings, we can be assured that the One who rescued us from our greatest foe, the devil (2:14), stands ready to help us in our times of greatest need.
Reflect & Pray How does it encourage you to know that Jesus became one of us to identify with us and help us? What difference does knowing that He “walked in our shoes” make during this season in your life?
Father, help me to remember that You’re ready to help me in all areas of my life.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 18, 2020 20:58:40 GMT
Being Cared For By: Anne Cetas
Click on this link for the audio message
The Lord Almighty is with us. Psalm 46:11
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 46 Debbie, the owner of a housecleaning service, was always searching for more clients to build up her business. On one call she talked with a woman whose response was, “I won’t be able to afford that now; I’m undergoing cancer treatment.” Right then Debbie decided that “no woman undergoing cancer treatment would ever be turned away. They would even be offered a free housecleaning service.” So in 2005 she started a nonprofit organization where companies donated their cleaning services to women battling cancer. One such woman felt a rush of confidence when she came home to a clean house. She said, “For the first time, I actually believed I could beat cancer.”
A feeling of being cared for and supported can help sustain us when we’re facing a challenge. An awareness of God’s presence and support can especially bring hope to encourage our spirit. Psalm 46, a favorite of many people going through trials, reminds us: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” and “Be still, and know that I am God; . . . I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us” (vv. 1, 10–11).
Reminding ourselves of God’s promises and His presence with us can be a means to help renew our hearts and give us the courage and confidence to go through hard times.
Reflect & Pray For what trials are you depending on God for strength? What Bible verses help you?
I’m grateful, God, for Your presence and Your promises. May I live out an attitude of confidence in You and Your ability to sustain me.
To learn more about why life can sometimes feel unfair, visit bit.ly/2YeZilB.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 20, 2020 20:58:10 GMT
The Singing Revolution By: Bill Crowder
Click on this link for the audio message
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:5
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 42:1–5 What does it take to ignite a revolution? Guns? Bombs? Guerrilla warfare? In late-1980s Estonia, it took songs. After the people had lived under the burden of Soviet occupation for decades, a movement began with the singing of a series of patriotic songs. These songs birthed the “Singing Revolution,” which played a key role in restoring Estonian independence in 1991.
“This was a non-violent revolution that overthrew a very violent occupation,” says a website describing the movement. “But singing had always been a major unifying force for Estonians while they endured fifty years of Soviet rule.”
Music can also play a significant part in helping us through our own hard times. I wonder if that’s why we so readily identify with the psalms. It was in a dark night of the soul that the psalmist sang, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5). It was in a season of deep disillusionment that Asaph, the worship leader, reminded himself, “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart” (73:1).
In our own challenging times, may we join the psalmists with a singing revolution for our hearts. Such a revolution overwhelms the personal tyranny of despair and confusion with faith-fueled confidence in God’s great love and faithfulness.
Reflect & Pray How do you respond when life is overwhelming? What songs bring you the most comfort and why?
Father, I thank You that Your mercies are new every morning and Your faithfulness is great. Empower me to sing the song of Your great love—even when I must sing it through my tears.
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 21, 2020 20:35:13 GMT
Friends Again By Sheridan Voysey
Click on this link for the audio message
How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:10
READ ROMANS 5:6–11
A mother and her young daughter are sitting in church one day. During the service, opportunity is given for people to publicly receive God’s forgiveness. Every time someone walks forward to do so, the little girl begins to clap. “I’m so sorry,” the mother later tells the church leader. “I explained to my daughter that repentance makes us friends with God again, and she just wanted to cheer for everyone.”
Simplified for a child’s mind, the mother’s words were a good explanation of the gospel. Once God’s enemies, we have been reconciled to Him through Christ’s death and resurrection (Romans 5:9-10). Now we’re indeed God’s friends. Since we were the ones to break the friendship (v. 8), repentance is our part in completing the restoration process. And the little girl’s response couldn’t have been more appropriate. Since all heaven claps when just one person repents (Luke 15:10), she was unknowingly echoing its applause.
Jesus described His reconciling work in similar terms. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). As a result of this sacrificial act of friendship toward us, we can now be friends with Him. “I no longer call you servants . . . . Instead, I have called you friends” (15:15).
Once God’s enemies, we are now God’s friends. It’s an overwhelming thought. And one worth clapping about.
REFLECT & PRAY God, thank You for loving me when I was still Your enemy. I repent of everything that disappoints You and celebrate being Your friend.
How often do you describe your relationship with God as one of friendship? In practical terms, how is your friendship with Him going today?
Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Reconciliation restores those who’ve been alienated. Paul uses the word reconcile more than any other New Testament author, often multiple times in a passage; for example, he uses it three times in Romans 5:10-11. He also uses it in Romans 11:15, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, and 1 Corinthians 7:11 (related to human reconciliation).
Today’s passage highlights the necessity of Jesus’ death for our reconciliation to God. But that isn’t the end. Our reconciliation through His death leads to our salvation through His life. Paul writes, “How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:10). Notice that there are two different tenses used: we have been reconciled and we shall be saved. Paul says that both the death of Jesus and His resurrected life are necessary to our salvation. J.R. Hudberg
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 22, 2020 20:28:27 GMT
A World of Provision By: Patricia Raybon
Click on this link for the audio message
There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number. Psalm 104:25
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 104:10–18, 24–26 It’s 2 a.m. when Nadia, a farmer of sea cucumbers, walks into a roped-off pen in the ocean shallows near her Madagascar village to harvest her “crop.” The early hour doesn’t bother her. “Life was very hard before I started farming,” she says. “I didn’t have any source of income.” Now, as a member of a marine-protection program called Velondriake, meaning “to live with the sea,” Nadia sees her income growing and stabilizing. “We thank God that this project appeared,” she adds.
It appeared in large part because God’s creation provided what their project needs—a natural supply of sea life. In praise of our providing God, the psalmist wrote, “He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate” (Psalm 104:14). As well, “there is the sea . . . teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small” (v. 25).
It’s a wonder, indeed, how God’s wondrous creation also provides for us. The humble sea cucumber, for example, helps form a healthy marine food chain. Careful harvesting of sea cucumbers, in turn, grants Nadia and her neighbors a living wage.
Nothing is random in God’s creation. He uses it all for His glory and our good. Thus, “I will sing to the Lord all my life,” says the psalmist (v. 33). We too can praise Him today as we ponder all that He provides.
Reflect & Pray In what ways does God provide for you through His creation? How can you thank Him for that today?
O Creator God, we’re humbled by Your vast creation and all the ways You provide for our needs.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Though the psalmist in Psalm 104 makes reference to various creatures in the earth, sky, and sea, only one creature is referenced using its proper name—Leviathan (v. 26). This is one of five times that Leviathan is mentioned in Scripture (see also Job 3:8; 41:1-34; Psalm 74:14; Isaiah 27:1). Who or what was Leviathan? All biblical references are in poetic passages, and Leviathan is cast in both literal and figurative roles. In Psalm 104, Leviathan is a sea creature: “There is the sea . . . and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there” (vv. 25-26). Similarly, in Job 41 Leviathan is depicted as a large, intimidating sea animal (vv. 31-34). On the other hand, references like Psalm 74:14 and Isaiah 27:1 figuratively depict Leviathan as being a threat to God’s people and being marked for overthrow by the Almighty. Arthur Jackson
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 23, 2020 20:43:08 GMT
The Saddest Goose By: Adam R. Holz
Click on this link for the audio message
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 Why is there a football in the parking lot? I wondered. But as I got closer, I realized the greyish lump wasn’t a football: it was a goose—the saddest Canada goose I’d ever seen.
Geese often congregate on the lawn near my workplace in the spring and fall. But today there was only one, its neck arced back and its head tucked beneath a wing. Where are your buddies? I thought. Poor thing was all alone. It looked so lonely, I wanted to give it a hug. (Note: don’t try this.)
I’ve rarely seen a goose completely alone like my lonesome feathered friend. Geese are notably communal, flying in a V-formation to deflect the wind. They’re made to be together.
As human beings, we were created for community too (see Genesis 2:18). And in Ecclesiastes 4:10, Solomon describes how vulnerable we are when we’re alone: “Pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” There’s strength in numbers, he added, for “though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12).
This is just as true for us spiritually as it is physically. God never intended for us to “fly” alone, vulnerably isolated. We need relationships with each other for encouragement, refreshment, and growth (see also 1 Corinthians 12:21). During these extraordinary days, due to the Covid-19 virus many of us have needed to practice physical distancing to help contain the disease. But how we look forward to the time we can meet face-to-face with our local church families again!
Together, we can stand firm when life’s headwinds gust our way. Together.
Reflect & Pray What kinds of circumstances tempt you to go it alone? Who do you know who could use a word of encouragement from you?
Loving God, help us to remember that You never meant us to fly solo, but together with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Today, help us to see and support someone in need of encouragement.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT The author of Ecclesiastes uses practical illustrations that show the importance of companionship. Looking at verse 9, we learn that two “have a good return for their labor.” This verse points back to verse 8 which explains that it’s meaningless and miserable to toil for oneself. Not only do two have a better return, but two can help each other in multiple ways.
In the illustration of one person falling down, many commentators believe it refers to a serious fall (v. 10). In that time, it was common to dig pits and cover them to trap animals. Falling into one could cause injury and being left alone could be fatal. Additionally, roads were dangerous in the ancient Near East, and two could better defend themselves against robbers and other attacks. The author’s conclusion that “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12) emphasizes the need for companionship. Julie Schwab
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 24, 2020 20:54:59 GMT
Divinely Aligned By: Evan Morgan
Click on this link for the audio message
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Romans 11:33
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 11:33–36 I was deeply troubled and woke in the night to pace the floor and pray. Frankly, my attitude was not one of prayerful submission to God, but one of questioning and anger. Finding no release, I sat and stared out a large window at the night sky. I was unexpectedly drawn to focus on Orion’s Belt—those three perfectly arranged stars often visible on clear nights. I knew just enough about astronomy to understand that those three stars were hundreds of light years apart.
I realized the closer I could be to those stars, the less they would appear to be aligned. Yet from my distant perspective, they looked carefully configured in the heavens. At that moment, I realized I was too close to my life to see what God sees. In His big picture, everything is in perfect alignment.
The apostle Paul, as he completes a summary of the ultimate purposes of God, breaks into a hymn of praise (Romans 11:33–36). His words lift our gaze to our sovereign God, whose ways are beyond our limited ability to understand or trace (v. 33). Yet the One who holds all things together in the heavens and on earth is intimately and lovingly involved with every detail of our lives (Matthew 6:25–34; Colossians 1:16).
Even when things seem confusing, God’s divine plans are unfolding for our good and for God’s honor and glory.
Reflect & Pray What questions do you long for God to answer? How can you find rest and release through faith that His perspective of our lives is in perfect alignment with His ultimate purposes?
Dear God, remind me that Your purposes and plans for my life are beyond my understanding, and help me rest in You.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Paul wasn’t the first author in the Bible to speak of God’s inscrutability—that He’s beyond comprehension (Romans 11:33-36). Two thousand years earlier, Job (believed to have lived at about the time of Abraham) asked, “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?” (Job 11:7). Isaiah also acknowledged that God is beyond human understanding (Isaiah 55:8-9). But God wanted us to know Him and said, “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord” (Jeremiah 24:7). Years later, John the apostle told us how we know Him: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). To know Jesus is to know God. Jesus said, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (8:19; see also 17:3). K. T. Sim
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 25, 2020 20:53:46 GMT
Run Toward Challenge By: Mike Wittmer
Click on this link for the audio message
He looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:17
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Kings 6:8–17 Tom chased the young men who were stealing his poor friend’s bike. He didn’t have a plan. He only knew he needed to get it back. To his surprise, the three thieves looked his way, dropped the bike and backed away. Tom was both relieved and impressed with himself as he picked up the bike and turned around. That’s when he saw Jeff, his muscular friend who had been trailing close behind.
Elisha’s servant panicked when he saw his town surrounded by an enemy army. He ran to Elisha, “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” Elisha told him to relax. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then God opened the servant’s eyes, and he “saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (vv. 15–17).
You may also find yourself in some dicey situations. You may have to risk your reputation, and perhaps even your security, because you’re determined to do what’s right. You may lose sleep wondering how it will all turn out. Remember, you’re not alone. You don’t have to be stronger or smarter than the challenge before you. Jesus is with you, and His power is greater than all rivals. Today, many believers are on the front lines in the battle against the Covid-19 virus. May we pray for them and others who are running toward the challenge. Ask yourself Paul’s question, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Really, who? No one. Run toward your challenge, with God.
Reflect & Pray What wakes you up at night? How can you give your worries to God?
Help me, Jesus, to truly see that You’re bigger than any problem facing me today. Thank You for Your everlasting presence!
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Today’s passage describes the fascinating reality of a world with both a visible physical dimension and an invisible (most of the time) spiritual dimension. The servant panicked because he couldn’t see the army that surrounded them—“horses and chariots of fire all around” (2 Kings 6:17). This contrasts to Elisha’s calm response as he asked God to open the servant’s eyes. The servant’s response to his new vision isn’t recorded. The author shows the reader, without telling us specifically, what can happen when we focus on only one part of reality. When we’re afraid, we need to remember that we don’t always see how God is helping and protecting us. J.R. Hudberg
|
|
|
Post by Les on Apr 26, 2020 21:49:04 GMT
Our Father Sings By: Estera Pirosca Escobar
Click on this link for the audio message
He . . . will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Zephaniah 3:14–20 Dandy loves encouraging people by singing to them. One day we were having lunch at his favorite restaurant, and he noticed the waitress was having a hard day. He asked her a few questions and then started quietly singing a catchy, upbeat song to cheer her up. “Well, kind sir, you just made my day. Thank you so much,” she said with a big smile, as she wrote down our food order.
When we open the book of Zephaniah, we find that God loves to sing. The prophet masterfully drew a picture with his words in which he described God as a musician who loves to sing for and with His children. He wrote that God “will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (3:17). God promised to be present forever with those who have been transformed by His mercy. But it doesn’t stop there! He invites and joins in with His people to “be glad and rejoice with all your heart” (v. 14).
We can only imagine the day when we’ll be together with God and with all those who’ve put their trust in Jesus as their Savior. How amazing it will be to hear our heavenly Father sing songs for and with us and experience His love, approval, and acceptance.
Reflect & Pray How can you celebrate God’s love for you? What song is He singing over you and with you today?
Heavenly Father, we know that because of our allegiance to Jesus, You not only accept us but celebrate with us and delight in us as Your children. Thank You for Your love.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT It’s not uncommon for Bible readers to scratch their heads when they encounter the brief but powerful prophecy of Zephaniah—the ninth among the twelve shorter prophetic writings (Minor Prophets) of the Old Testament. Zephaniah (whose name means “the Lord hides” or “he whom the Lord hides”) prophesied during the kingship of Josiah (640-609 bc; Zephaniah 1:1). The dominant theme is one of far-reaching judgment—judgment that included God’s people: “ ‘When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem’ ” (1:3-4). The term “day of the Lord” (1:7)—a time of widespread divine reckoning against evil—is used seven times in the book, more than in any other Old Testament prophet. However, the book ends on a note of hope and rescue (3:14-20).
|
|