Entries from May 2009
Job 1:13-22
Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? Job 2:10
Colonel Bill Kehler’s son Tim was a strong Christian and had a bright future. He was attending the Air Force Academy in Colorado when he was killed in bombing practice.
“Why Tim?” asked a young man, himself disabled in a car accident. Kehler replied, “Why not Tim?”
Many of us struggle a long time before coming to this kind of acceptance. Tragedies and accidents deceive us with their subtle logic. We ask, “Why me? If God controls everything and we’re trying to please Him, why hasn’t He kekpt us from trouble?”
Satan, I believe, thought Job would trip over that same question. He tried to make the case that people who trust God’s goodness have only a fair-weather faith. But Job showed the strength of God’s hold on his heart. When Mrs. Job urged him to curse God and die, he said, in effect, “Why should I be exempt from suffering? Why not me?”
Although Job did struggle for answers, he came to a sense of acceptance as he recognized God’s greatness and wisdom. He reaffirmed his confidence in God to do what was best.
When we stop saying, “Why me?” and start saying “Why not me?” we take the first step to glorifying God in our trials. —djd
Be this the purpose of my soul, My solemn, my determined choice: To yield to God’s supreme control And in my every trial rejoice. —Anonymous
Afflictions become blessings when blended acceptance.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: academy, acceptance, accident, adversity, affliction, air force, blend, blessing, bomb, bombing practice, determine, job 1, job 2, killed, logic, practice, purpose of my soul, strong, supreme control, trial, trip, trust God, yield
There once was a man named Soul who was walking in a garden. He was whistling a real sweet tune for he was saved and had the joy of the Lord, but he was a baby Christian. As Soul was walking, a beautiful and seductive woman came out from behind a tree. Soul was very startled. He said, “Hello, I’m Soul, what is your name?”
She replied, ” I am Temptation, I have what you want.”
“What do I want?” replied Soul.
“You want to do all things which are of the flesh,” said Temptation.
Soul replied, “Ok, lead me.” So he and Temptation went off and fulfilled the desires of the flesh. When Soul returned to the garden, he met a man named Condemnation. Condemnation said, “Hey, I see you have met my friend, Temptation.”
Soul said, “Yes, but who are you?”
“I am Condemnation, I come after Temptation, we work hand-in-hand.” Then Condemnation jumped on Soul’s back and began to beat him. He hit him in the face and kicked him when he was down. This went on for several days. On about the third day a man named Mercy came running and said, “I command you Condemnation to stop beating Soul.”
Condemnation snickered, “Make me.” So Mercy unsheathed his sword and cut Condemnation in two. As Soul watched in astonished pain, he was overtaken by the power of Mercy. Mercy walked up to Soul and said, “I have dealt with Condemnation before. He should not show up around you any more.”
Soul replied, “How can I ever thank you?”
“Well,” replied Mercy, “I was sent here by God and He told me to introduce you to a dear friend of mine. His name is Redemption.” Redemption walked up and said, ” Hello, Soul, I see that you are not doing well.”
Soul replied, “Not until Mercy came along. It is a pleasure to meet you Redemption.”
”Well ” said Redemption, “I am glad to meet you, are you ready to accept me?”
“What do you mean?” asked Soul.
Redemption said, “Well, when you accepted Jesus Christ and decided to walk with Him then you chose to accept the things of Him and His love. I am part of Jesus’ love. I help you feel forgiven. You will never have to deal with Condemnation again. Temptation may come around, but I have someone I would like for you to meet that can help you with that. His name is Grace.”
Grace walked up to Soul and said, “Hello Soul, I have been waiting for you. As a matter of fact all three of us have been waiting to meet you. I will help you take the way out of Temptation that God gives you as it comes up. The last person we want you to meet is Faith.”
“Hi Soul, I am Faith, and I will help you stay strong and keep your beliefs strong,” said Faith. Soul began to cry. When he began to cry Redemption said, “This is what we we’re here for. Jesus redeemed you, saved you by Grace through Faith and gives you His Mercy. Jesus loves you Soul.”
Soul said, “I love you Jesus.”
Author Unknown
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: baby christian, beating, Christian, condemnation, faith, flesh, friend, garden, grace, Jesus, mercy, pleasure, redemption, seductive woman, soul, sword, temptation, unsheathed
Romans 8:35-39
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
The sign on the church marquee read, “Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.” I immediately thought of an earlier phone conversation when Donna shared her disappointment in just about every subject. Not wanting to encourage her attitude, I suggested that we have security in God’s love and no present or future happening is stronger than His love for us. But this longtime Christian did not want to be reminded of that truth, so the conversation ended.
Is our fellowship with God disrupted when we focus on disappointments? Paul must have been thinking along these lines. He wondered if a believer could possibly be cut off from God’s love. He concluded that God’s love is unchanging. Death is the greatest separator; but for the believer, death is only physical and temporary. Nothing can come between us and our Lord.
Father, thank You for Your unchanging, inseparable love.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: angels, attitude, Christ Jesus, conversation, creature, cut off, death, depth, disappointment, disrupt, fellowship, focus, future, future happening, Gods love, height, life, Lord, marquee, misery, optional, pain, persuaded, phone conversation, physical, present, principalities, Romans 8, security, separate, separator, temporary, things to come, unchanging
This is one of my most favorite scriptures. The vastness of this is overwhelming and awesome. There is no one else but God who holds this incredible ability.
Dre
Psalm 139:1-14
O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Psalm 139:1
A grieving 14-year old girl walked down the church aisle with her mother. The most important person in her life had passed unexpectedly at age 42. her daddy took care of the family and worked long hours so she could have nice things for school. She doesn’t remember what the preacher said that day, but a soloist’s special music caused her to look up and smile. I am that girl, and the song was “Never Alone.” Those words assured me that God’s comfort was always available. The person who wrote the lyrics to the hymn is unknown. I have often wondered if the words came from a sad heart or an experience where God’s presence made the difference.
The message of this psalm declares God knows each of us even better than our closest friends. From the secrets of our hearts, He knows what motivates us, what we think, and why. The fact that God knows us so completely may intimidate us, but the fact that God loves us also causes us to be grateful to Him.
Thank You, Lord, that You know me inside out.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: closest friends, declares, fact, hearts, intimidate, loves, lyrics, message, motivates, music, never alone, passed, preacher, Psalm, Psalm 139, school, search, secrets, secrets of our hearts, special music, unknown
I work with a very jealous, ignorant, uncouth, uncultured, uneducated, no class group of people who have nothing better to do with their pitiful lives than to harrass, agitate, create trouble and laugh at the things of God. It makes for a very difficult work environment because just like Peter in this story, this sort of situation can make for a great distraction. The devil is always standing behind every distraction. It is his job to lead us astray and it seems that God allows things to happen to a certain extent in order to test us all. God wants to know are we still going to follow Him even when we are being tested to the hilt.
Dre
John 21:20-23
Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. John 21:22
Some Christians make the mistake of wanting to follow and serve Christ just like a friend in the church. Fred was a believer who focused on Sam’s tasks instead of minding his own business. Fred basically did nothing that was really needed because he desired another kind of service. Sam did many visible things in the church. The people often said, “Sam is a good man.” Fred thought that if he had Sam’s responsibility, public recognition would come. Wrong!
Peter had a similiar problem, and the Lord wasted no words in telling Peter that the destinies of others were none his business. The apostle was encouraged to concentrate on his own discipleship. Remember that Peter had already been given his tasks and warned of the risks in following Jesus. The Lord made the decisions about what His beloved followers were to do. Peter became curious about John, and this distraction could have prevented him from obeying the Lord.
Father, I want to be faithful in serving You. Help me to focus on my tasks and not those of others.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: believer, business, church, concentrate, decisions, destinies, distraction, focused, follower, friend, good man, john 21, mistake, obeying, prevent, problem, public recognition, recognition, serving, tasks, visible, warned
John 21:18-19
This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. John 21:19
Required reading for my seminary class was a book about Christian martyrs. What an eye-opening truth was discovered! The thought of dying for my faith had never entered my mind. In New Testament times, loyalty to Christ was irreconcilable with the Roman emperor who required all people to kneel and address him as lord. Of course, the early followers of Christ would not obey this order. Suffering and death were accepted as a way of witnessing for their Lord.
Jesus and Peter were discussing the degree of dedication involving the personal cost of following the Savior. The apostle’s death was predicted, but his commission was to keep on following Jesus until that time. Tradition states that Peter was crucified upside down at his own request because he considered himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. Following Jesus has always been the nature of Christian discipleship.
Thank You, Lord, for the privilege of following You all the days of my life.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: commission, dedication, degree, discipleship, john 21, loyalty, manner, martyr, nature, personal, personal cost, predicted, privilege, reading, Savior, signifying, tradition, witnessing
John 21:15-17
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. John 21:17
William Featherston wrote the words to the simple hymn we call “My Jesus, I Love Thee.” This young man from Montreal became a follower of Jesus in 1862. The task of loving the Lord “right now” was important as his lyrics indicate: “If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.”
The nowness of loving the Lord became an issue between Peter and Jesus. An invitation for absolute devotion to Jesus was offered. Three questions with different words were involved in the discussion. With the response that Peter loved Jesus, Jesus assigned Peter a ministering responsibility. Instead of a fisherman, Peter would become a shepherd. This responsibility involved evangelism and pastoring. The history of the apostle reveals that he carried out his task of love for years to come.
Father, help me to love as You love – unconditionally.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: absolute, carried out, devotion, evangelism, feed my sheep, fisherman, grieve, history of the apostle, hymn, invitation, john 21, love, loving, lyrics, ministering, pastoring, questions, shepherd, task
John 21:1-3
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go afishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. John 21:3
Marrying into a fishing family was real challenge. The how, when, and where to fish had to be understood. Weather is never a factor. The amount of fish caught is not a deterrent.
The scene in John 21 shifts from a room in Jerusalem to a seashore in Galilee. The Lord had instructed His disciples to meet Him. And now a group of men were suddenly left with nothing to do, so they returned to their former occupation. Perhaps Jesus had called fishermen to follow Him because of their courage. Brave, dedicated disciples were needed. Jesus may have asked these men to follow Him because they knew how to respond to a leader and work together on a task. However, on this night, nothing was happening. The nets were lowered numerous times and were pulled up empty.
Lord, teach me to follow You even when my spiritual net seems empty.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: challenge, scene, fishermen, john 21, ship, fishing, caught, entered, deterrent, shifts, seashore, weather, instructed, dedicated, task, empty nets, spiritual net
John 21:7-9
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. John 21:7
Bill waited a long time before accepting Jesus as his Lord. For many years he did not appreciate how the Lord used people to pray for and witness to him. His life centered on gambling and drinking. The Sunday he came forward in the worship service will long be remembered by the church. He openly stated the Lord was his Savior and now was the time to serve Him. Bill did just that. His compassion and zeal for telling others that “it is the Lord” changed many lives.
The formerly discouraged fishermen responded to the advice of the stanger on the shore. The immediate recognition on the part of John brought action from the disciples. Simon dressed, jumped into the sea, and swam to shore. The other men followed in the boats. Jesus had prepared a breakfast of fish and bread for the tired men. Why do you think they had not recognized the Lord earlier?
Lord, help me to recognize You in the events of this day.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: action, disciple, events, fisher, fishermen, Jesus, john 21, pray, recognize, sea, shore, stranger, witness
John 21:4-6
And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. John 21:6
Suella first became aware of missionaries and their many endeavors to reach the world for Christ through her church. Then a personal calling to missions came to her during a summer camp. A public commitment to obey this calling soon followed. However, excuses became reasons for not fulfilling this desire.
Marriage and family filled the years, but Suella never forgot her failure to follow Jesus. But God did not forget this young woman. Through her local church missions outreach, she has gone on mission trips and continues to work in the missionary education program. But what about the fishermen of Galilee?
Morning dawned for these tired men. A stranger on the shore would soon make things right for these laborers. All they had to do was move to the other side of the boat!
Lord, thank You for Your presence just when I need You most.
Categories: Devotionals
Tagged: boat, church missions, dawned, education, endeavors, failure, fishermen, fishes, john 21, laborers, mission trips, missionaries, missionary, morning, outreach, program, ship
