OUR UNSEEN HELPERS

Since the devil always tries to imitate God, he too can come as an “angel of light.”

http://shipwrecksoul.blogspot.com/2009/08/angel-of-light.html

Dre

Psalm 34:1-7

Are [angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews 1:14

At one point in his stormy career, Martin Luther received some discouraging news. But he responded by saying, “Recently I have been looking up at the night sky, spangled and studded with stars, and I found no pillars to hold them up. Yet they did not fall.” Luther was encouraged as he reminded himself that the same unseen God who was upholding the universe was caring for him.

There is another unseen source of help from which God’s children can take courage when facing a physical or spiritual crisis — angels! Those heavenly hosts, called “ministering spirits” (Hebrews 1:14), are instantly responsive to God’s command. Little do we know what powerful protection and help they provide. When Jesus was enduring agony in Gethsemane, “an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him” (Luke 22:43).

But you say, “I’ve never seen an angel.” No need of that! It’s enough to know that they do their quiet, delivering work beyond the realm of physical sight (Psalm 34:7), calling no attention to themselves lest we look away from Jesus, our Savior and Lord. But their protection is real. Just knowing that these unseen helpers are on our side strengthens our trust in the God they so faithfully serve. —djd

What ready help our Father gives to struggling saints below! He sends His heavenly messengers His power and grace to show. —djd

The angels of God protect the people of God as they do the work of God.

WHAT WILL YOU HARVEST?

Judges 1:1-7

As I have done, so God has repaid me. Judges 1:7

No one can escape the principle that we reap what we sow. I read about a troublemaker who rode his bike into an inner-city park, jumped onto a box, and told the people to ignore the law and steal because no one should be poor while others are rich. A few minutes later, he discovered that his bike was gone. Infuriated, he shouted, “Where’s the bum who stole my bicycle?” How true are the words of Job, “Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4:8)

In today’s Bible reading, when Adoni-Bezek was captured and treated in the same manner he had treated others, he knew he was tasting the bitter fruits of the same kind of cruelties he had shown his enemies.

This reaping principle also applies when seeds of goodness are sown. I once visited a man in the hospital who was overwhelmed by the many get-well cards and plants he had received. I told him he was reaping what he had sown. He had always been kind and thoughtful to people, and now people were being kind and thoughtful to him.

Lord, help us to treat others the way we would like to be treated. May we live with the awareness that we will surely reap what we sow. —hvl

If you sow seeds of wickedness, sin’s harvest you will reap; but scattered seeds of rightousness yield blessings you can keep. —sper

Sow today what you want to reap tomorrow.

DOUBTING GOD

I would add that it is a very common tactic of the devil to entice people to doubt not only God’s character but also the character of others causing strife and division between people.

Dre

Genesis 3:1-6

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. James 1:17

When Satan tempted Eve, he did so by enticing her to doubt God’s character. He told Eve, “God knows that in the day you eat of [the forbidden fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).

Satan was implying, “God has a hidden agenda, and it is an evil one.” The devil knew that once Eve doubted the goodness of God, the temptation would work.

We may not think we doubt God. But when events happen in our lives that make us question Him, that’s exactly what we do. We seldom stop believing in Him, but we do stop believing in His goodness. And that is a faith-poisoning idea!

John Greenleaf Whittier knew that at the center of trust is a confidence in God’s goodness. He wrote:

I see the wrong that round me lies, I feel the guilt within, I hear, with groan and travail cries, the world confess its sin.

Yet, in the maddening maze of things, and tossed by storm and flood, to one fixed trust my spirit clings: I know that God is good!

Never doubt God’s goodness. Even when our trials seem beyond our understanding, we can trust God to give us perfect gifts (James 1:17). —hwr

Don’t put a question mark where God has put a period.

BLESSED TO BLESS

Genesis 12:1-7

I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. Genesis 12:2

While I was reading the 12th chapter of Genesis, the words of the second verse struck me with new meaning. Whenever I studied this particular passage of Scripture before, my mind was so occupied with the promises to Abraham and the nation of Israel that I overlooked a practical application for every Christian.

The Lord told Abraham: “I will bless you . . . and you shall be a blessing.” He was blessed to bless! What he received was not for his own selfish enjoyment, but for the welfare and betterment of others.

The same is true with believers today. The Lord has done a wonderful work of grace in our lives and wants us to share it with others. We who have trusted Jesus and have received the benefits of salvation have been saved to “save.” Although our relationship to Christ brings us personal satisfaction, He redeems us that we might go out and “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Likewise, God comforts us in our distresses “that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4).

You have been blessed to bless! Let the Lord do His work through you. —rwd

Make me a channel of blessing today, make me a channel of blessing, I pray; my life possessing, my service blessing, make me a channel of blessing today. —smyth

God gives freely to us so that we may give liberally to others.

ACTS OF PRAYER

Luke 11:1-4

Lord, teach us to pray. Luke 11:1

When my children come to me for advice, I consider it an honor to teach them what they need to know. For example, my daughter Julie had to write a poem for school not long ago. As I thought about the best way to assist her, I decided to compose a few lines to help her see how it’s done.

Jesus used the example method when His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. Instead of going into a long dissertation on the subject, He said, “When you pray, say, . . .” and He gave them a pattern that also included prayer principles.

That prayer has at least four elements we can learn to use when we pray: Adoration, Confession, Temptation protection, and Supplication.

Let’s consider the ACTS of prayer.

Adoration: “Hallowed be Your name.” We need to give allegiance and respect to our great and awesome God.

Confession: “Forgive us our sins.” God is “faithful and just to forgive us” (1 John 1:9).

Tempatation protection: “Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Ask for help to say no to sin.

Supplication: “Give us day by day our daily bread.” We should not be afraid to ask God for His provisions.

There’s the example. It’s up to us to follow it. —jdb

Lord, thank You for inviting me to come and talk with You; now help me to revere this time and pray my whole life through. k dehaan

Spend time with the Lord and your day will be well spent.

THE ULTIMATE AIRPLANE

2 Corinthians 4:8-18

Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

Tremendous heat is generated on the exterior of the Concorde airplane when it flies at supersonic speeds. The temperature on the outer surface of the plane can get to 127° C (261° F) even though the outside air temperature is -56° C (-69° F).

The expansion caused by this heat makes the plane 9 inches longer at cruise speed than at rest. The cabin floor of the aircraft is built on rollers and doesn’t expand, and four air conditioning systems keep the inside comfortable. While the outside of the plane is undergoing tremendous stress, the inside climate remains constant.

In today’s Scripture, Paul described our “outward man” as perishing under the heat of great pressure, while our “inward man” is renewed day by day. Note the contrast:

On The Outside

Pressed on every side, perplexed, ,persecuted, struck down

On The Inside

Not crushed (verse 8), not in despair (verse8), not forsaken (verse 9), not destroyed (verse 9)

When faced with trials, we too can have an inner strength through Christ (verse 11. Our part is to look beyond the temporal to the eternal (verse 18) and to renew our minds daily (Ephesians 4:23) through the Word of God and prayer. —djd

Upon your own strength you cannot rely; there’s a fount of strength and grace on high; go to that fount, your strength renew, and the life of Christ will shine through you. —hopkins

God’s Word refreshes our minds; God’s Spirit renews our strength.

A WINNER EITHER WAY

Philippians 1:15-26

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Lois had just undergone cancer surgery and was alone with her thoughts. She had faced death before, or so she thought, but it had always been the death of people she had loved — not her own.

Suddenly she realized that losing someone she loved was more threatening to her than the possibility of losing her own life. She wondered why. She remembered what she had asked herself before her operation, “Am I ready to die?” Her immediate answer had been, and still was, “Yes, I am. Christ is my Lord and Savior.”

With her readiness for death secure, she now needed to concentrate on living. Would it be in fear or in faith? Then God seemed to say, “I have saved you from eternal death. I want to save you from living in fear.” Isaiah 43:1 came to mind: “I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.”

Now Lois testifies, “Yes, I am His! That’s the reality that is more important than doctors telling me I have cancer.” And then she adds, “I win either way!”

Lois’ insight is a convinced echo Paul’s words in today’s text, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Let’s pray that those words may resonate in our hearts. That confidence makes us winners either way. —jey

Safe in the Lord, without a doubt, by virtue of the blood; for nothing can destroy the life that’s hid with Christ in God. —anon

We can really live when we’re ready to die.

LIFE-CHANGING GRACE

Romans 6:1-10

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

William James, Harvard University’s famous professor of philosophy and psychology, once stated that after age 30 we become set like plaster and never change. But he was wrong. We can and do change.

John D. Rockefeller had become the world’s only billionaire. But he was a miserable man who couldn’t sleep, who was unloved, and who needed bodyguards.

Then at age 53 he was stricken with a rare disease. He lost all his hair, and his body became shrunken. He was given a year or so to live.

Rockefeller started thinking about eternal issues, and suddenly he began to change. He gave away his money to help churches and the poor. He established the Rockefeller Foundation, which has under-written critical health research. His health improved, and contrary to the doctor’s prediction, he lived to be 98.

If a man could undergo such a physical emotional change, how can we doubt that God by His grace and power can transform us spiritually? The Bible says that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ and His sin-atoning, guilt-cleansing death will become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

What a glorious prospect! Have you experienced that change? If not, trust Jesus today. —vcg

Lord, now indeed I find Thy power, and Thine alone, can change the leper’s spots. And melt the heart of stone. —hall

Salvation is more than a reformation of habits; it’s a transformation of character.

A HAPPY LIFE

Revelation 21:1-7

There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4

Cornelia Dobner was 90 when she died and went to her home in heaven. Her life had been characterized by hard work, self-sacrifice for her family, and loyalty to God and her husband.

Soon after the funeral, two of her great-granddaughters put their feelings into words by writing notes to her. One of them, in the clear block printing of a 6-year -old, wrote, “I hope you have a happy life up in heaven.”

That child’s hope for her great-grandmother is an unquestioned certainty for every follower of Christ who dies. The Bible describes our eternal home as a place where there is no more suffering, sorrow, crying, pain, impurity, disease, nor evil (Revelation 21:4, 27). It also tells us what is there: the Lamb (Jesus), the redeemed, the river of life, the throne of God, the tree of life, the light of God (Revelation 21:22, 22:1-5).

Jesus said that He would go and prepare a place for us (John 14:1-3). And the apostle Paul described it as the place where “we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). If that’s not happiness, what is?

Yes, like Cornelia Dobner, every believer in Jesus can look forward to “a happy life up in heaven.” —dce

Beyond earth’s sorrows, the joys of heaven, beyond earth’s shadows, a glorious dawn; beyond earth’s battles, sweet peace unending; beyond earth’s sunset in heaven’s morn. —gilmore

To be with Jesus forever is the sum of all happiness.

“LOOSE” LIVING

Psalm 56

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. Psalm 56:3

A newspaper published the following story from the life of Lyndon B. Johnson, former President of the United States: “In Stonewall, Texas, at a ceremony recognizing highway beautification, the President told his audience he was feeling fine because he had followed the advice of an old woman who once said, “When I walks, I walks slowly. When I sits, I sits loosely. And when I feels worry comin’ on, I just goes to sleep.’”

The expression “When I sits, I sits loosely” caught my attention. It suggests something every believer should be able to do. Those who know Christ and are living in fellowship with Him can experience great blessing and renewed strength by relaxing and trusting God completely. This helps them to avoid getting all uptight. Like the psalmist, they can say with confidence, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Psalm 56:3).

In the hustle and bustle of life when everything seems ready to “fall apart,” sit down and read a portion of Scripture. As you quiet your heart in prayer, tell the heavenly Father about your anxieties and turn them over to Him. Then, when you pick up where you left off, you’ll be able to face your difficulties, assured that He will lead you and strengthen you for every task. —rwd

Simply trusting every day, trusting through a stormy way; even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus — that is all. —stites

If you turn your troubles over to God, you’ll have nothing left to worry about.