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First and Foremost
Greg Laurie

A group of seminary students were given the task of organizing the Ten Commandments in their perceived order of importance. Interestingly, these students felt that the sixth commandment, "You shall not murder," should be number-one on the list. The seventh commandment, "You shall not commit adultery," was also placed near the top. But the group relegated the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me," to the bottom of the list. They didn't think it was all that important.

In God's listing, however, it is a different story. He puts this commandment at the top of the list. But why is it the number-one offense to God? It comes down to this: If you have broken this one, then everything else will fall apart.

One day a man came to Jesus and asked Him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" (Mark 12:28 NLT). Jesus responded,

"The most important commandment is this: 'Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." (verse 29, NLT)

With that statement, Jesus essentially summed up the Ten Commandments: Put God in His rightful place. Make Him number-one in your life.

Could this be said of us today? A survey revealed that 76 percent of Americans believed they had been completely faithful to the first commandment. In other words, they might have problems with some of the other commandments, but for them, the first commandment was not a problem. But is that true? It's hard to say.

You see, everyone has a god. Everyone, including atheists, bows at some altar. We don't all worship the true God, but we all worship. Everyone has something they believe in, some passion that drives them, something that gives their life meaning and purpose. For some, their god is possessions or money. Others worship their bodies. They worship at the church of the perfect physique. Still others worship success or pleasure or relationships. But we all worship someone or something.

With the first commandment, God was establishing the fact that He is our God and was showing us His place in our lives: "I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me" (Exodus 20:2-3 NLT). It is amazing how much can be revealed by a simple little pronoun such as "I." Only one letter long, it conveys a profound and fundamental truth about who God is. When He said, "I am the Lord," He was, in effect, refuting all other belief systems, including pantheism, polytheism, deism, and new-age thinking. When God says, "I am," He is revealing that He is a being, not a mere force of nature. He says, "I am. . . . I feel. I think. I care."

God is not an impersonal force, as pantheism would teach. Nor is He one of many gods, as polytheism claims. God said, "I am the Lord your God" (emphasis mine). As 1 Timothy 2:5 reminds us, "For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity-the man Christ Jesus" (NLT).

In contrast to the teaching of deism, which says that God has no interest in the affairs of men, the first commandment shows us that we have a God who sees and hears and cares. God reminded Israel that He had blessed and protected them up to this point: "I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery."

The Bible says that God is a jealous God. By "jealous," it doesn't mean that God is one who is controlling and demanding and flies into a rage without the slightest reason or provocation. The jealousy the Bible is speaking of is the jealousy of a loving Father who sees the possibilities and potential of His children and is brokenhearted when those things are not realized, or worse, are wasted and squandered.

Jesus said, "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?" (Matthew 16:26 NLT). Is God number-one in your life today? Or, are you allowing other gods to crowd Him out?

The Turning Point
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Genesis 41:1-16

After those two full years, Joseph experienced a turning point in his life—on a day that seemed like any other day. That morning dawned like every other morning over the previous two years. Just like the morning that dawned before Moses saw the burning bush. Just like the morning that dawned before David was anointed by Samuel as the king-elect. For Joseph, just another dungeon day—except for one little matter Joseph knew nothing about: the night before Pharaoh had a bad dream.

The king of the land had a dream, and in it he saw seven fat, sleek cattle coming up out of the marshy Nile delta. Then seven ugly, gaunt, starving cows came up from the same river and devoured the fat, sleek cows.

Pharaoh awoke, perhaps thinking that huge meal he'd eaten before he went to bed wasn't setting too well on his stomach. Before long he fell back to sleep, and his dream continued. This time he saw a stalk of grain with seven plump and healthy ears. But then seven lean ears, scorched from the east wind, sprang up and devoured the seven healthy ears of grain.

When Pharaoh heard that there was someone around who could tell him what this troubling dream meant, he naturally said, "Go get the man."

"Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.' Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, 'It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer'" (Genesis 41:15–16).

Talk about humility. Talk about absolute integrity This was Joseph's moment in court, his golden opportunity to say, "Do you realize that I could have been out of that place two years ago if that dummy standing right over there hadn't forgotten me?" But there was none of that.

You know why Joseph could be so humble and speak so openly? Because his heart had been broken. Because he had been tried by the fire of affliction. Because while his external circumstances seemed almost unbearable during those years, his internal condition had been turned into pure gold. We are now witnessing the benefits of enduring affliction with one's eyes on God.

On Trial Before Pilate
by Max Lucado

The most famous trial in history is about to begin.

The judge is short and patrician with darting eyes and expensive clothes. His graying hair trimmed and face beardless. He is apprehensive, nervous about being thrust into a decision he can’t avoid. Two soldiers lead him down the stone stairs of the fortress into the broad courtyard. Shafts of morning sunlight stretch across the stone floor.

As he enters, Syrian soldiers dressed in short togas yank themselves and their spears erect and stare straight ahead. The floor on which they stand is a mosaic of broad, brown, smooth rocks. On the floor are carved the games the soldiers play while awaiting the sentencing of the prisoner.

But in the presence of the procurator, they don’t play.

A regal chair is placed on a landing five steps up from the floor. The magistrate ascends and takes his seat. The accused is brought into the room and placed below him. A covey of robed religious leaders follow, walk over to one side of the room, and stand.

Pilate looks at the lone figure...

“Are you the king of the Jews?”

For the first time, Jesus lifts his eyes. He doesn’t raise his head, but he lifts his eyes. He peers at the procurator from beneath his brow. Pilate is surprised at the tone in Jesus’ voice.

“Those are your words.”

Before Pilate can respond, the knot of Jewish leaders mock the accused from the side of the courtroom.

“See, he has no respect.”

“He stirs the people!”

“He claims to be king!”

Pilate doesn’t hear them. Those are your words. No defense. No explanation. No panic. The Galilean is looking at the floor again.

Something about this country rabbi appeals to Pilate. He’s different from the bleeding hearts who cluster outside. He’s not like the leaders with the chest-length beards who one minute boast of a sovereign God and the next beg for lower taxes. His eyes are not the fiery ones of the zealots who are such a pain to the Pax Romana he tries to keep. He’s different, this up-country Messiah.

Pilate wants to let Jesus go. Just give me a reason, he thinks, almost aloud. I’ll set you free.

His thoughts are interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. A messenger leans and whispers. Strange. Pilate’s wife has sent word not to get involved in the case. Something about a dream she had.

Pilate walks back to his chair, sits, and stares at Jesus. “Even the gods are on your side?” he states with no explanation.

He has sat in this chair before. It’s a curule seat: cobalt blue with thick, ornate legs. The traditional seat of decision. By sitting on it Pilate transforms any room or street into a courtroom. It is from here he renders decisions.

How many times has he sat here? How many stories has he heard? How many pleas has he received? How many wide eyes have stared at him, pleading for mercy, begging for acquittal?

But the eyes of this Nazarene are calm, silent. They don’t scream. They don’t dart. Pilate searches them for anxiety … for anger. He doesn’t find it. What he finds makes him shift again.

He’s not angry with me. He’s not afraid … he seems to understand.

Pilate is correct in his observation. Jesus is not afraid. He is not angry. He is not on the verge of panic. For he is not surprised. Jesus knows his hour and the hour has come.

Pilate is correct in his curiosity. Where, if Jesus is a leader, are his followers? What, if he is the Messiah, does he intend to do? Why, if he is a teacher, are the religious leaders so angry at him?

Pilate is also correct in his question. “What should I do with Jesus, the one called the Christ?” (Matthew 27:22)

Perhaps you, like Pilate, are curious about this one called Jesus. You, like Pilate, are puzzled by his claims and stirred by his passions

What do you do with a man who calls himself the Savior, yet condemns systems? What do you do with a man who knows the place and time of his death, yet goes there anyway?

Pilate’s question is yours. “What will I do with this man, Jesus?”

You have two choices.

You can reject him. That is an option. You can, as have many, decide that the idea of God’s becoming a carpenter is too bizarre—and walk away.

Or you can accept him. You can journey with him. You can listen for his voice amidst the hundreds of voices and follow him.

Tender Mercies
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Genesis 41:41-46

Pharaoh swept his hand out wide, so as to include all that vast land of Egypt, and said, "It's all yours, Joseph." Then he took off his signet ring and put it on Joseph's hand.

You know what that ring signified, don't you? It was the platinum charge card of that day. It was the way the king stamped the invoices, the laws, or anything else he wanted to verify or validate with his seal. Now Joseph had that ring on his finger, placed there by the Pharaoh himself. Joseph wore the authority of the king's imprint.

Joseph's Cinderella-like promotion was incredible. But when God determines the time is right, that's the way He operates.

When the reward comes, thank God without pride. Only God can bring you through and out of the dungeon. Only God can reward you for your faithfulness. If He has, be grateful, not proud. Remember, with humility, that it is God who has put you there.

Some of you are on the verge of promotion and you don't even know it, because God doesn't announce His appointments in advance. What you have to do, while you wait, is to believe His promises. While in the darkness of your dungeon, by faith, trust him to bring the light of a new dawn. In the winter of your discontent, believe there'll be a spring.

The God of Joseph will stay beside us during the dungeon days; He will not forsake or forget us. He will be there during the blast of the winter storm, holding out the promise of springtime. He will be there through the darkest night, quietly reminding us of the promise of morning light.

Joseph learned that a broken and contrite heart is not the end, but the beginning. Bruised and crushed by the blows of disappointment and unrealized dreams, he discovered that God had never left his side. When the affliction ended, he had been refined, and he came forth as gold. He had become a person of greater stability, of deeper quality, of stronger character. God's promises are just as much for us as they were for Joseph. His grace is still at work. His tender mercies accompany us from the pit to the pinnacle.

Resigned to the Word
by Dr. Tony Evans

In His Presence:Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God (James 1:19-20).

Many Christians today are suffering from spiritual anorexia and starving to death spiritually. Even though they may have plenty of Bibles in their homes for spiritual nourishment, and even though the church—a spiritual supermarket—is right down the street, these Christians suffer from spiritual malnutrition. One primary reason for this is that they have not decided to make becoming like Christ their sole purpose. If He is not your passionate purpose, everything else you do will be wasted. God’s purpose for us is to be conformed to the image of His Son, to be transformed by His glory, and to be made holy and righteous like Christ

We must make the Bible the first place we go to find truth, not the last. We must be quick to hear His truth.

Quote from: HisDaughter on April 04, 2011, 09:26:22 AM

Wow! - Isn't this the truth! I have thought about this many times how spoiled we are in this part of the world with Bibles and access to all kinds of excellent Christian materials. Contrast this with people hiding a small portion of the Bible in some parts of the world and risking their lives doing it. We should never take for granted what we have and give thanks every day that we still have freedom of worship and the right to own Christian materials. When we pick up our Bibles, we should pray for those who could get beaten, imprisoned, or killed for doing the same thing in many parts of the world.

Thanks HisDaughter - these are excellent!

Quote from: nChrist on April 04, 2011, 11:11:39 PM

I have thought about that too. Here I own two or 3 bibles and all kinds "helps" and others don't have any or have to hide what they have. I've even heard of place where they just have one page each and they pass around their and share their pages! Yes, praise God that we are free to worship him and lets do so!

crosswalk.com

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit– Romans 8:1

Here we find two descriptions of the same person — the person that is in Christ Jesus. Those that are in Christ Jesus are described first by their position and then by their practice. They have no condemnation against them, Paul says, and they walk after the Spirit instead of the flesh.

No condemnation! Because God is completely holy, even our greatest deeds and thoughts are sin-soaked, filthy rags in His perfect sight. We stand guilty before a virtuous and fair judge; justice will be served (He will not compromise His own righteousness in order to have mercy on us) and so we must be condemned.

But those who are in Christ have their punishment transferred to Jesus, so that they are without condemnation. Those who believe on Jesus Christ have the assurance that He has taken their place—acted as their substitute—and so, in spite of their great shortcomings, they are without condemnation. Christ’s perfect sacrifice on their behalf has wiped their criminal record clean.

How do these pardoned sinners then live? They follow the promptings and leadership of the Spirit of God. As Paul explains a few verses later, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (14). They no longer follow the dictates of their corrupted nature or of the sinful world; they march to the beat of a spiritual Drummer, following the footsteps of their perfect Savior.

What a joy, what a privilege it is to be in Christ! Our desire, like Paul’s, should therefore be to “be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9).

Simon from Cyrene Carries Jesus' Cross
by Max Lucado

“A man named Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was coming from the fields to the city. The soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross for Jesus” (Mark 15:21)

Simon grumbles beneath his breath. His patience is as scarce as space on the Jerusalem streets. He’d hoped for a peaceful Passover. The city is anything but quiet. Simon prefers his open fields. And now, to top it off, the Roman guards are clearing the path for some who-knows-which-dignitary who’ll march his soldiers and strut his stallion past the people.

“There he is!”

Simon’s head and dozens of others turn. In an instant they know. This is no dignitary.

“It’s a crucifixion,” he hears someone whisper. Four soldiers. One criminal. Four spears. One cross. The inside corner of the cross saddles the convict’s shoulders. Its base drags in the dirt. Its top teeters in the air. The condemned man steadies the cross the best he can, but stumbles beneath its weight. He pushes himself to his feet and lurches forward before falling again. Simon can’t see the man’s face, only a head wreathed with thorny branches.

The sour-faced centurion grows more agitated with each diminishing step. He curses the criminal and the crowd.

“Hurry up!”

“Little hope of that,” Simon says to himself.

The cross-bearer stops in front of Simon and heaves for air. Simon winces at what he sees. The beam rubbing against an already raw back. Rivulets of crimson streaking the man’s face. His mouth hangs open, both out of pain and out of breath.

“His name is Jesus,” someone speaks softly.

“Move on!” commands the executioner.

But Jesus can’t. His body leans and feet try, but he can’t move. The beam begins to sway. Jesus tries to steady it, but can’t. Like a just-cut tree, the cross begins to topple toward the crowd. Everyone steps back, except the farmer. Simon instinctively extends his strong hands and catches the cross.

Jesus falls face-first in the dirt and stays there. Simon pushes the cross back on its side. The centurion looks at the exhausted Christ and the bulky bystander and needs only an instant to make the decision. He presses the flat of his spear on Simon’s shoulders.

“You! Take the cross!”
Simon dares to object, “Sir, I don’t even know the man!”

“I don’t care. Take up the cross.”

Simon growls, balances the timber against his shoulder, and steps out of the crowd onto the street, out of anonymity into history, and becomes the first in a line of millions who will take up the cross and follow Christ.

He did literally what God calls us to do figuratively: take up the cross and follow Jesus. “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me” (Luke. 9:23 CEV)

The Summer Will Come

"Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you" (Isa. 30:18).

Where showers fall most, there the grass is greenest. I suppose the fogs and mists of Ireland make it "the Emerald Isle"; and whenever you find great fogs of trouble, and mists of sorrow, you always find emerald green hearts; full of the beautiful verdure of the comfort and love of God. O Christian, do not thou be saying, "Where are the swallows gone? They are gone; they are dead." They are not dead; they have skimmed the purple sea, and gone to a far-off land; but they will be back again by and by. Child of God, say not the flowers are dead; say not the winter has killed them, and they are gone. Ah, no! though winter hath coated them with the ermine of its snow; they will put up their heads again, and will be alive very soon. Say not, child of God, that the sun is quenched, because the cloud hath hidden it. Ah, no; he is behind there, brewing summer for thee; for when he cometh out again, he will have made the clouds fit to drop in April showers, all of them mothers of the sweet May flowers. And oh! above all, when thy God hides His face, say not that He hath forgotten thee. He is but tarrying a little while to make thee love Him better; and when He cometh, thou shalt have joy in the Lord, and shalt rejoice with joy unspeakable. Waiting exercises our grace; waiting tries our faith; therefore, wait on in hope; for though the promise tarry, it can never come too late.
--C. H. Spurgeon

A Horizontal Viewpoint
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Genesis 42:29-38

When Jacob learned what had happened, the old gentleman shriveled in fear. Rather than saying, "Thank God, He is at work. Men, He loves us and watches over us. In His care we are all safe," he responded negatively and horizontaIly.

His sons had not only returned with the food they needed, but also with all of their money. They had been given grain from Egypt free of charge. All the prime minister had asked was that they prove they were not spies by returning with their youngest brother and claiming Simeon who had been left as a hostage. Yet Jacob saw none of this as God's provision. He froze in fear and focused on a worst-case scenario.

As soon as he heard they had left their brother in Egypt, he jumped to the conclusion that Simeon was dead. "Joseph is dead. Simeon is dead. Everything is against me," he moaned. He began to sound paranoid and self-pitying. "All these things are against me!"

Last time I checked, Jacob was supposed to be the patriarch of the clan, the spiritual leader. Yet, with a quick glance behind the scenes, as we sneak a peek through the back door of the tent, we see Jacob as he really is.

It's one thing for us to sit with book in hand and read the story, knowing what the outcome will be, and say with a shrug, "I'll tell you this, I sure wouldn't have done that. I would have trusted God if I had been in that situation." But would you really? Well, then why didn't you trust Him last week? What was it that kept you from seeing God's hand in that matter you couldn't handle last month? Call to mind your most recent major test. Did you rest calmly in Him? Or did you push the panic button out of fear?

Negative thinking. A horizontal viewpoint. A closed mind to something that is unexpected and new. That's why we tend to panic. Because, humanly speaking, you and I have been programmed toward defeat. We have formed habits of response that leave God out of the picture. We don't actually announce it in those words, we just model it and rationalize around it by calling it something else. And aren't we relieved God didn't put our biography into print?

Count It as Joy
by Dr. Tony Evans

In His Presence: In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7).

How are we supposed to react to trials when they come our way? Trials are inevitable for the Christian; we must all face trials of some kind at some point in our lives. James told us the first thing we should do is to consider, orcount in some versions, our trials as joy. The Greek word used for “count” is an accounting term meaning to add up. Why must we count trials as joy? Because sometimes when we are going through trials, they just don’t add up. They don’t make sense. It doesn’t seem fair to have to face what we must deal with.

We can’t ignore the pain of a trial, but we must focus on the purpose.

A Reflection of Christ
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Genesis 43:33-34

Joseph's life offers us a magnificent portrayal of the grace of God as He came to our rescue in the Person of His Son, Jesus. So many come to Him, like Joseph's guilty brothers, feeling the distance and fearing the worst from God, only to have Him demonstrate incredible generosity and mercy. Instead of being blamed, we are forgiven. Instead of feeling guilty, we are freed. And instead of experiencing punishment, which we certainly deserve, we are seated at His table and served more than we can ever take in.

For some, it's too unreal. So we desperately plead our case, only to have Him speak kindly to us---promising us peace in our own language. We then try to fend off His anger by bargaining with Him, thinking our hard work and sincere efforts will pay Him back for all those evil past deeds we're guilty of. But to our astonishment, He never even considered our attempts important enough to mention. What we had in mind was earning just enough to silence our guilt, but what He had in mind was overwhelming us with such an abundance we'd realize we can never, ever repay.

What a beautiful picture of Christ at the cross, bearing the sins we committed, forgiving us in the process. Isn't such grace amazing? The One who was rejected is the same One who goes the limit to get us reunited with Him.

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him. (Isaiah 30:18)

Do you long for Him? I've got great news! In an even greater way---greater than you could ever imagine---He longs to be gracious to you. He is offering you all the things you hunger for. The table is loaded, and He is smiling, waiting for you to sit down and enjoy the feast He prepared with you in mind. Have a seat---grace is being served.

"Father, Forgive Them"
by Max Lucado

The dialogue that Friday morning was bitter.

From the onlookers, “Come down from the cross if you are the Son of God!”

From the religious leaders, “He saved others but he can’t save himself.”

From the soldiers, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

Bitter words. Acidic with sarcasm. Hateful. Irreverent. Wasn’t it enough that he was being crucified? Wasn’t it enough that he was being shamed as a criminal? Were the nails insufficient? Was the crown of thorns too soft? Had the flogging been too short?

For some, apparently so...

Of all the scenes around the cross, this one angers me the most. What kind of people, I ask myself, would mock a dying man? Who would be so base as to pour the salt of scorn upon open wounds? How low and perverted to sneer at one who is laced with pain…

The words thrown that day were meant to wound. And there is nothing more painful than words meant to hurt…

If you have suffered or are suffering because of someone else’s words, you’ll be glad to know that there is a balm for this laceration. Meditate on these words from 1 Peter 2:23 (NIV):

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

Did you see what Jesus did not do? He did not retaliate. He did not bite back. He did not say, “I’ll get you!” “Come on up here and say that to my face!” “Just wait until after the resurrection, buddy!” No, these statements were not found on Christ’s lips.

Did you see what Jesus did do? He “entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” Or said more simply, he left the judging to God. He did not take on the task of seeking revenge. He demanded no apology. He hired no bounty hunters and sent out no posse. He, to the astounding contrary, spoke on their defense. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”? (Luke 23:34 NIV)…

“they don’t know what they are doing.”

And when you think about it, they didn’t. They hadn’t the faintest idea what they were doing. They were a stir-crazy mob, mad at something they couldn’t see so they took it out on, of all people, God. But they didn’t know what they were doing.

Yes, the dialogue that Friday morning was bitter. The verbal stones were meant to sting. How Jesus, with a body wracked with pain, eyes blinded by his own blood, and lungs yearning for air, could speak on behalf of some heartless thugs is beyond my comprehension. Never, never have I seen such love. If ever a person deserved a shot at revenge, Jesus did. But he didn’t take it. Instead he died for them. How could he do it? I don’t know. But I do know that all of a sudden my wounds seem very painless. My grudges and hard feelings are suddenly childish.

Sometimes I wonder if we don’t see Christ’s love as much in the people he tolerated as in the pain he endured.

Amazing Grace.

Grace to the Guilty
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Genesis 45:1--8

Humanly speaking, the average individual, when faced with people who have done them such grievous wrong, would likely frown and demand, "Drop to your knees and stay there! You think you know what humiliation is all about. You wait until I'm through with you. I've been waiting all these torturous years for this moment!"

But not Joseph. He, too, was a changed man. He was God's man, which means he was a great man. And so, with the arm of the Lord supporting him, he could look into his brothers' anxious eyes and say, in all sincerity, "Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me into slavery. It was not you who sent me here, but God. He sent me before you to preserve life." Allow me a moment to interrupt the flow of events and ask you: Did he operate from the vertical perspective, or what?

"But God!" Those two words change everything.

Joseph could never have spoken such words of reassurance if he had not fully forgiven his brothers. You cannot genuinely embrace a person you've not fully forgiven. Joseph did not see his brothers as enemies, because his perspective had been changed. "You didn't send me here," he said. "God sent me here. And He sent me here for a reason---to preserve life."

I love that. In today's terms: "Men, it wasn't you who pulled this off; it was God. It was my sovereign Lord who saw far into the future and saw the needs of this world and chose me to be His personal messenger to solve the famine problem of the future. You thought you were doing evil to me. But I'll tell you, it was God who worked outside your evil intentions to preserve life."

And he says it again, "Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God." But God! Underline that. "God sent me." Joseph was a man who operated his life---continually---with divine perspective.

Transformed by Temptation
by Dr. Tony Evans

In His Presence: Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone (James 1:13).

Temptation can be defined as a solicitation to do evil. Remember, nothing can come your way without divine approval. Whether it’s a test or a temptation, positive or negative, it has to flow through God’s fingers first. He has to allow the devil to tempt us, and at the same time He is testing us. If a temptation comes to you, God had to allow it to come, but He is not the source of that temptation. We find this truth in the story of Job. Satan said the only reason Job was serving God was that God was so good to him, so God allowed the devil to tempt Job. So Satan solicited Job to curse God. This was a test that showed Job’s faithfulness to God when he didn’t give in to the temptation.

God allows temptation for our development, not our destruction.

Overcoming Temptation
by Dr. Tony Evans

In His Presence: Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above (James 1:17).

When we sin, the consequence is separation from God. When we sin, we break fellowship with Him. Paul conveyed his struggle with sin in Romans 7:19: “The good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” Paul wanted us to know that he understood our struggle against sin and temptation, and he too wanted the victory but would fall to sin time and again. And if it happened to Paul, it can happen to us. But there is a solution to the struggle with temptation. The way you get rid of sin is not simply dealing with or focusing on the sin. It’s like being on a diet and deciding to focus on food all the time—it’s not to your benefit. Instead, to deal with temptation we must shift our focus.

“Count your blessings, name them one by one; count your many blessings see what God has done.”

Thirsty on the Cross
by Max Lucado

Jesus’ final act on earth was intended to win your trust.

This is the final act of Jesus’ life. In the concluding measure of his earthly composition, we hear the sounds of a thirsty man.

And through his thirst—through a sponge and a jar of cheap wine—he leaves a final appeal.

“You can trust me.”

Jesus. Lips cracked and mouth of cotton. Throat so dry he couldn’t swallow, and voice so hoarse he could scarcely speak. He is thirsty. To find the last time moisture touched these lips you need to rewind a dozen hours to the meal in the upper room. Since tasting that cup of wine, Jesus has been beaten, spat upon, bruised, and cut. He has been a cross-carrier and sin-bearer, and no liquid has salved his throat. He is thirsty.

Why doesn’t he do something about it? Couldn’t he? Did he not cause jugs of water to be jugs of wine? Did he not make a wall out of the Jordan River and two walls out of the Red Sea? Didn’t he, with one word, banish the rain and calm the waves? Doesn’t Scripture say that he “turned the desert into pools” (PSALM 107:35 NIV) and “the hard rock into springs” (PSALM 114:8 NIV)?

Did God not say, “I will pour water on him who is thirsty” (ISAIAH. 44:3NKJV)?

If so, why does Jesus endure thirst?

While we are asking this question, add a few more. Why did he grow weary in Samaria (John 4:6), disturbed in Nazareth (Mark 6:6), and angry in the Temple (John 2:15)? Why was he sleepy in the boat on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:38), sad at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35), and hungry in the wilderness (Matt. 4:2)?

Why? And why did he grow thirsty on the cross?

He didn’t have to suffer thirst. At least, not to the level he did. Six hours earlier he’d been offered drink, but he refused it.

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, buthe did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. (Mark 15:22–24 NIV,italics mine)

Before the nail was pounded, a drink was offered. Mark says the wine was mixed with myrrh. Matthew described it as wine mixed with gall. Both myrrh and gall contain sedative properties that numb the senses. But Jesus refused them. He refused to be stupefied by the drugs, opting instead to feel the full force of his suffering.

Why? Why did he endure all these feelings? Because he knew you would feel them too.

He knew you would be weary, disturbed, and angry. He knew you’d be sleepy, grief-stricken, and hungry. He knew you’d face pain. If not the pain of the body, the pain of the soul … pain too sharp for any drug. He knew you’d face thirst. If not a thirst for water, at least a thirst for truth, and the truth we glean from the image of a thirsty Christ is—he understands.

And because he understands, we can come to him.

Innovative Planning
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Genesis 47:1-26

Joseph had an innovative plan, something that had never been done before. "In order for the land to produce, we must spread out over this land," he said. Prior to this they had been settled in only a few well-populated regions. Those places represented their homes, their work, their farms, their neighborhoods. They were asked to relinquish all that. That took some selling—an awful lot of convincing. But Joseph managed it, and he spread the people out across the land of Egypt.

Leadership calls for the stretching of creativity. If you are a leader, you will occasionally find yourself up against a blank wall. It's big and intimidating and usually tall and slick. You can't push through it, climb over it, or see your way around it. That's when it gets exciting! That's when innovative juices start to flow and you begin to think about possible ways to get beyond that wall. Innovation and creativity (not to mention courage) team up, determined to find an answer and a way.

Jesus Christ carried out the most innovative, creative plan this world will ever know. From the virgin birth to the death and the resurrection to the soon-coming of Christ, the plan of Almighty God is packed with innovation and creativity. It had never been done before. It will never be done again. It was a once and for all Master Plan only the Creator could envision.

As He did with Joseph, the Father does with us. In His great arrangement of life, He does not discount man's sin; He deals with it. He deals with the hard questions of life. Not questions like how do I make a living, but how do I make a life? Not how do I spend my time, but how will I spend eternity? And not so much how do I get along with the person who sits next to me, but ultimately how do I get along with God? When we answer the hard questions correctly, all the others fall into place.

May we be models of diligence, honesty, compassion, creativity. May our work be an extension of our integrity. And may each one of us who names the name of Christ as our Lord be a positive influence on those around us and a faithful representative and ambassador for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Resurrection
John 20

Within three days Jesus’ followers went from heartbroken sadness to triumphant jubilation. The cross screamed, “The End,” making them feel hopeless and helpless. But the resurrection trumpeted, “The Beginning,” bringing confidence and courage. The cloud of doubt and despair that had shrouded them melted away and was replaced with unshakeable faith.

Can you imagine how they felt when they realized Jesus had risen from the dead? Suddenly hope came alive; now everything He had said was validated as truth. They had not believed a lie. His victory over death was the acid test that forever sealed their sure conviction that He was the Messiah.

We commemorate Jesus’ death on the cross with solemnity, but the resurrection calls for thunderous applause, praise, and song. All the blessings that come our way through the Savior’s cross are confirmed by the resurrection. It proved that the Father was satisfied with the Son’s payment for our sins. Now we can know that our transgressions are forgiven and we’re eternally secure.

What’s more, Jesus promises that we, too, will be resurrected and given new bodies. Physical death could not hold Him, nor will it overpower us. Because He overcame the grave, His followers have the same kind of life He has—eternal and indestructible.

As Christians, we have the right to celebrate Easter with great rejoicing. Because of this event, our lives have been forever changed. We’ve been transformed and given new life. With unwavering faith, we trust the Bible because Christ’s power over the grave proves He can and will fulfill every word.

Focus on God's Plan
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: . . . so we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures (James 1:18).

To overcome temptation, the final element we must focus on is God’s plan. James 1:18 refers to believers as the “first fruits” among God’s creatures. First fruits are things of utmost value. In the Old Testament, the first fruits refers to the tithe to bring to the Lord. The first ten percent of what was accumulated went to Him. Giving the first fruits to God shows that He is the priority because He receives the best portion. Here, God says in His Word that we are the first fruits of His creation. Nothing God ever made is more important to Him than His saints, His people.

God has mighty plans for us, and we shouldn’t let the devil convince us otherwise. To believe the devil’s lies is to live beneath what God has in store for us. If we want our behavior to change, we must believe the truth that we are special to God. That will impact the way we live and the choices we make. We will want to please and obey Him.

Dogs are trained using the tool of temptation. The dog’s master will throw a piece of red meat in front of the dog. The first time the dog sees the meat, he goes after it because that’s his nature. The master corrects the dog and says, “No, look at me.” The master throws some more meat down, and the dog moves to get it, but the master says, “Stay! Look at me!” You know that the dog is trained when it stops looking at the meat and keeps his focus on the master. The dog can handle the presence of the meat because his focus is on the master.

Christians can overcome temptation when their eyes are focused not on the temptation, but on God’s character, Word, and plan.

Maturity Is a Process
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:13-14).

God’s goal for all of us is Christlikeness, or spiritual maturity. When He saved you, He put everything necessary for this process inside you. But maturity takes time. Growing up and becoming a spiritual adult is a process, not a single event.

Spiritual adulthood is the process of God bringing us to the place where we are consistently living life from the perspective of the Spirit rather than the perspective of the flesh. Maturity in Christ means you normally look at and react to things from a spiritual perspective. God wants us to get to this place of maturity, to live as we were created to be. But many of us are not yet living the Christlike life, which means we are immature. If we are living like that, we are children, tossed here and there by every new fad that comes along.

Becoming a mature believer takes time. You don’t become mature overnight. A baby doesn’t hop, skip, and jump into adulthood. The Bible tells us that maturity is a process: “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). In a very real sense, this maturing process will go on for the rest of your natural life, but there is a point you can reach where you are consistently responding to things from a spiritual perspective.

Rate multiplied by time equals distance. God has made maturity possible for every believer, but what you do with your time determines the rate of your progress in arriving at the destination of maturity.

Maturity Based on Relationship
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Ephesians 4:15-16).

Spiritual maturity is facilitated by spiritual relationship. Second Peter 3:17-18 discusses this factor in our growth: “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.” Peter said we have two choices: to go forward or to go backward. But what we can’t do is stand still. Often people will try to define their Christian life in terms of what they are not doing wrong. But the Christian life is more than that—it is also what we are doing right.

Spiritual growth, just like human growth, is not a mechanical process. People think if they follow a five-step or twelve-step program, they will get where they want to be spiritually. But nothing could be further from the truth. Spiritual development is a relational process, not a legal one. The law shows us our sin and has the power to condemn. Only the grace of Christ has the power to enable us to overcome sin. We grow into Christ by the knowledge of Him as a person, not by the fulfillment of a program. To do that, we must focus on what God is doing in the midst of what we are doing.

We must connect what is happening in our lives with how God is using it to transform us into the image of His Son.

Maturity Involves Development
by Dr. Tony Evans

In His Presence: According to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Ephesians 4:16).

When a baby matures, it also develops. The baby learns coordination, and its body parts develop, grow, and work together. Babies move from milk to solid food. Paul compared this development to that of a Christian: “Everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity” (Hebrews 5:13–6:1).

There is a developmental progression in Christian maturity, and one concept depends on understanding another. Elementary principles must be mastered before you can move on to deeper things, but we’re not supposed to dwell on elementary things forever. Spiritual growth takes place on the playing field of life, not in the classroom. If you never make the connection between the things you learn in Scripture and the way you live your life, you will never mature into anything beyond a Sunday Christian. You are to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).

Development is marked by change. If you give earthly excuses about why things are happening in your life, you are living as a natural man. But if your reaction to your situation is to focus on Christ at work in you, you are becoming a mature believer. When you are mature, you will react, think, and act like Christ because you are being conformed into His image.

Do you consistently live life looking through the eyes of Christ or are you still a natural man or a natural woman?

The Centurion at the Foot of the Cross
by Max Lucado

The day began as had a hundred others—dreadfully. It was bad enough to be in Judea, but it was hell to spend hot afternoons on a rocky hill supervising the death of pickpockets and rabble-rousers. Half the crowd taunted, half cried. The soldiers griped. The priests bossed. It was a thankless job in a strange land. He was ready for the day to be over before it began.

He was curious at the attention given to the flatfooted peasant. He smiled as he read the sign that would go on the cross. The condemned looked like anything but a king. His face was lumpy and bruised. His back arched slightly and his eyes faced downward. “Some harmless hick,” mused the centurion. “What could he have done?”

Then Jesus raised his head. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t uneasy. His eyes were strangely calm as they stared from behind the bloody mask. He looked at those who knew him—moving deliberately from face to face as if he had a word for each.

For just a moment he looked at the centurion—for a second the Roman looked into the purest eyes he’d ever seen. He didn’t know what the look meant. But the look made him swallow and his stomach feel empty. As he watched the soldier grab the Nazarene and yank him to the ground, something told him this was not going to be a normal day.

As the hours wore on, the centurion found himself looking more and more at the one on the center cross. He didn’t know what to do with the Nazarene’s silence. He didn’t know what to do with his kindness.

But most of all, he was perplexed by the darkness. He didn’t know what to do with the black sky in midafternoon. No one could explain it.… No one even tried. One minute the sun, the next the darkness. One minute the heat, the next a chilly breeze. Even the priests were silenced.

For a long while the centurion sat on a rock and stared at the three silhouetted figures. Their heads were limp, occasionally rolling from side to side. The jeering was silent … eerily silent. Those who had wept, now waited.

Suddenly the center head ceased to bob. It yanked itself erect. Its eyes opened in a flash of white. A roar sliced the silence. “It is finished.” (John 19:30 NIV) It wasn’t a yell. It wasn’t a scream. It was a roar … a lion’s roar. From what world that roar came the centurion didn’t know, but he knew it wasn’t this one.

The centurion stood up from the rock and took a few paces toward the Nazarene. As he got closer, he could tell that Jesus was staring into the sky. There was something in his eyes that the soldier had to see. But after only a few steps, he fell. He stood and fell again. The ground was shaking, gently at first and now violently. He tried once more to walk and was able to take a few steps and then fall … at the foot of the cross.

He looked up into the face of this one near death. The King looked down at the crusty old centurion. Jesus’ hands were fastened; they couldn’t reach out. His feet were nailed to timber; they couldn’t walk toward him. His head was heavy with pain; he could scarcely move it. But his eyes … they were afire.

They were unquenchable. They were the eyes of God.

Perhaps that is what made the centurion say what he said. He saw the eyes of God. He saw the same eyes that had been seen by a near-naked adulteress in Jerusalem, a friendless divorcée in Samaria, and a four-day-dead Lazarus in a cemetery. The same eyes that didn’t close upon seeing man’s futility, didn’t turn away at man’s failure, and didn’t wince upon witnessing man’s death.

“It’s all right,” God’s eyes said. “I’ve seen the storms and it’s still all right.”

The centurion’s convictions began to flow together like rivers. “This was no carpenter,” he spoke under his breath. “This was no peasant. This was no normal man.”

He stood and looked around at the rocks that had fallen and the sky that had blackened. He turned and stared at the soldiers as they stared at Jesus with frozen faces. He turned and watched as the eyes of Jesus lifted and looked toward home. He listened as the parched lips parted and the swollen tongue spoke for the last time.

“Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit” (Luke 23:46 NIV).

Had the centurion not said it, the soldiers would have. Had the centurion not said it, the rocks would have—as would have the angels, the stars, even the demons. But he did say it. It fell to a nameless foreigner to state what they all knew.

“Surely this man was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54 NIV)

A Metaphor for America
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: Hebrews 1:1-2

A while ago, a crack appeared in the Evans’ bedroom wall. We called in a professional who replaced the plaster around the crack and repainted the wall. But the crack reappeared not long after that. We called the painter back, he repaired the crack, and he repainted the wall again. Everything looked fine until about a couple months later when the crack came back. And this time it brought its aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews!

We called in another professional and he gave the verdict. The cracks in the wall were due to a much deeper problem. We were experiencing a shifting foundation. He told us that until we stabilized our foundation, we would forever be repairing cracks in the walls. What a perfect metaphor for the condition of American society today.

Until we stabilize the foundation, no number of programs, government grants, or elections will be able to repair the cracks in our cultural walls. There is no place where the foundation of America needs to be stabilized more than in the home. The breakdown of the family is the single greatest contributor to the deterioration of our country. Strong families hold the key to a strong society, while weak families lead to a weak society. This is true because every other institution in society depends on strong families. You can’t have strong families without God as their foundation.

“No man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”(1 Corinthians 3:11).

How to Save a Nation in Trouble
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: 2 Chronicles 7:11-22

“If my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land”(2 Chronicles 7:14).

King Solomon reigned over Israel. In 2 Chronicles 6, Solomon had just finished building God’s temple and had offered up a prayer of dedication. In this prayer, Solomon was basically saying that he wanted to lead this people as God wanted him to lead. After the prayer, God’s glory came down to the temple and filled it. The people offered sacrifices and held a feast. Later that night, the Lord appeared to Solomon and told him that if the people ever rejected His ways and turned away from Him, the prayers of His people would be heeded.

God will deal with a nation that turns its back on Him. If a culture wants to be free of God, He will let it have that freedom. But freedom from God brings dire consequences. Pagans do not normally turn to God when things get rough. But this Scripture isn’t addressing pagans; it is addressing “My people who are called by My name” (v. 14). The people who are supposed to pray for their nation are God’s covenant people. In the Old Testament, His covenant people were the Jews. In the New Testament, the covenant people are the church—the body of true believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Sin-bearer and Redeemer.

Penetrate the Culture
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: Colossians 3:17

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world . . . Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-14, 16).

When we look closely at a culture that is deteriorating, we will probably see the people of God withdrawn from that culture. For example, when Christians began abandoning inner city and urban neighborhoods, taking their skills, resources, and moral influence with them, those neighborhoods deteriorated. When Christians left the public school system, moral values were systematically erased until they became almost illegal to teach. When Christians vacated the media, a spiritual approach to defining everything we hold dear went with them. When Christians decided to get out of politics, righteous political decisions left with them.

God’s people have been called to penetrate society. Of course, evangelism is always first because without forgiveness of sins, anything else we give a person is temporary. We have been called first and foremost to win people to Christ. But after a person receives Christ for eternity, he must represent Christ in history. Christians must give out hope; no earthly institution offers real hope for the world.

One Minute Please

The absence of righteousness in our culture has everything to do with the absence of God’s people penetrating the culture. When there is no yeast, the bread stays flat.

We Must Obey God
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Exodus 1:1–22

When we come to passages like the first chapter of Exodus, we are reminded that God's law always comes before man's law. Scripture does not teach blind-and-blanket submission. The fact is, there is a time to submit, and there's also a time to resist.

Before we run with that principle too far, however, a word of caution may be in order. The Exodus passage does not teach children to disobey their parents, wives to usurp their husband's leadership in the home, or anyone to reject ethical authority. But the passage does make one thing clear: submission to civil authority has limits. As Peter once told the Jewish ruling council, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

In other words, when the king's edict directly violates God's clearly stated will, we ought to fear God, even as a couple of brave ladies named Shiphrah and Puah feared God. And they, being dead, still speak. Scripture tells us that God honored the faith of these midwives. It says, "The people multiplied, and became very mighty. Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them" (1:20–21).

The midwives valued God's favor more than that of Pharaoh. Motivated by a deep and abiding reverence for the living God, they refused to obey the king's wicked edict. When that king told them to violate God's basic principle, the preservation of life, they refused to do so.

Pharaoh's directive, barbarous as it was, has its contemporary equivalent . . . in reverse. In Communist China today, couples are allowed only one child. When many women learn the sexes of their babies, they either carry them to term or immediately abort. If it's a boy, he lives. If it's a baby girl, she is frequently terminated.

The date on the calendar may have changed since the days of the Exodus, but human nature has not. Apart from the redeeming work of Christ, our hearts are desperately wicked. Cruelty existed in Moses' day, and cruelty exists today. Tyrants ruled in the ancient world, and tyrants rule in our day. Injustice hurt the innocent in Pharaoh's time, in Herod's time, and still in our sophisticated twenty-first-century world.

But in the days of Exodus there also lived men and women ready to stand alone for righteousness, even in the face of death, just as there are today. God always has His remnant.

Mary Magdalene at Jesus' Tomb
by Max Lucado

Mary had been there. She had heard the leaders clamor for Jesus’ blood. She had witnessed the Roman whip rip the skin off his back. She had winced as the thorns sliced his brow and wept at the weight of the cross.

In the Louvre there is a painting of the scene of the cross. In the painting the stars are dead and the world is wrapped in darkness. In the shadows there is a kneeling form. It is Mary. She is holding her hands and lips against the bleeding feet of the Christ.

We don’t know if Mary did that, but we know she could have. She was there. She was there to hold her arm around the shoulder of Mary the mother of Jesus. She was there to close his eyes. She was there.

So it’s not surprising that she wants to be there again.

In the early morning mist she arises from her mat, takes her spices and aloes, and leaves her house, past the Gate of Gennath and up to the hillside. She anticipates a somber task. By now the body will be swollen. His face will be white. Death’s odor will be pungent.

A gray sky gives way to gold as she walks up the narrow trail. As she rounds the final bend, she gasps. The rock in front of the grave is pushed back.

“Someone took the body.” She runs to awaken Peter and John. They rush to see for themselves. She tries to keep up with them but can’t.

Peter comes out of the tomb bewildered and John comes out believing, but Mary just sits in front of it weeping. The two men go home and leave her alone with her grief.

But something tells her she is not alone. Maybe she hears a noise. Maybe she hears a whisper. Or maybe she just hears her own heart tell her to take a look for herself.

Whatever the reason, she does. She stoops down, sticks her head into the hewn entrance, and waits for her eyes to adjust to the dark.

“Why are you crying?” She sees what looks to be a man, but he’s white—radiantly white. He is one of two lights on either end of the vacant slab. Two candles blazing on an altar.

“Why are you crying?” An uncommon question to be asked in a cemetery. In fact, the question is rude. That is, unless the questioner knows something the questionee doesn’t.

“They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.”

She still calls him “my Lord.” As far as she knows his lips were silent. As far as she knows, his corpse had been carted off by grave robbers. But in spite of it all, he is still her Lord.

Such devotion moves Jesus. It moves him closer to her. So close she hears him breathing. She turns and there he stands. She thinks he is the gardener.

Now, Jesus could have revealed himself at this point. He could have called for an angel to present him or a band to announce his presence. But he didn’t.

“Why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” (John 20:1-18 NIV).

He doesn’t leave her wondering long, just long enough to remind us that he loves to surprise us. He waits for us to despair of human strength and then intervenes with heavenly. God waits for us to give up and then—surprise!

And listen to the surprise as Mary’s name is spoken by a man she loved—a man she had buried.

“Miriam.”

God appearing at the strangest of places. Doing the strangest of things. Stretching smiles where there had hung only frowns. Placing twinkles where there were only tears. Hanging a bright star in a dark sky. Arching rainbows in the midst of thunderclouds. Calling names in a cemetery.

“Miriam,” he said softly, “surprise!”

Mary was shocked. It’s not often you hear your name spoken by an eternal tongue. But when she did, she recognized it. And when she did, she responded correctly. She worshiped him.

Our Ultimate Hooray, Part One
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Revelation 21:4; 22:3, 5

What gives a widow courage as she stands beside a fresh grave?

What is the ultimate hope of the disabled, the amputee, the abused, the burn victim?

How can the parents of children who have brain damage or physical handicaps keep from living their entire lives totally and completely depressed?

Why would anyone who is blind or deaf or paralyzed be encouraged when he or she thinks of the life beyond?

How can we see past the martyrdom of some helpless hostage or devoted missionary?

Where do the thoughts of a young couple go when they finally recover from the grief of losing their baby?

When a family receives the tragic news that a little daughter was found dead or their dad was killed in a plane crash or a son overdosed on drugs, what single truth becomes their whole focus?

What is the final answer to pain, mourning, senility, insanity, terminal diseases, sudden calamities, and fatal accidents?

The answer to each of these questions is the same: the hope of bodily resurrection.

We draw strength from this single truth almost every day of our lives—more than we realize. It becomes the mental glue that holds our otherwise shattered thoughts together. Impossible though it may be for us to understand the details of how God is going to pull it off, we hang our hopes on fragile, threadlike thoughts that say, "Someday, He will make it right" and "Thank God, all this will change" and "When we're with Him, we shall be like Him."

More than a few times a year I look into red, swollen eyes and remind the despairing and the grieving that "there's a land that is fairer than day"1 when, as John promised in the Revelation,

"He will wipe away every tear . . . there will no longer be any death . . . any mourning, or crying, or pain." . . . There will no longer be any curse . . . any night . . . because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. (21:4; 22:3, 5)

Hooray for such wondrous hope!

Satan Poses the Question
In His Presence: Genesis 3:1-7

Since God placed man on this planet, Satan has been determined to deceive man about the nature of God and God’s words to us. In the Garden of Eden, Satan began his plan by talking to Eve. “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). Satan raised a question about God’s command. Notice that he used the word “not.” He skipped over the first part of God’s statement and focused on the restriction. He didn’t want Eve to be thinking about God’s goodness. He wanted God to appear harsh and restrictive.

What God actually said was: “TheLord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die’ ” (Genesis 2:16-17). The first thing God told Adam was what he could do. All the fruit was good for the picking, and Adam could eat freely of the trees. He could eat whatever he wanted to eat whenever he wanted to eat. Of all the trees in the garden, and there were probably hundreds of trees, he was only restricted from one tree.

Especially for those of us who live in the United States, we have so much that is good. As much as we are able, we are free to pursue a good life and liberty. We can go after what makes us happy.

One Minute Please

In spite of what Satan wants, we should be thinking about God’s goodness.

What Are We Thinking About?
By Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: 1 Chronicles 16:8

Why did God put a limitation on the tree in the Garden of Eden? Why do we have limitations at all? In order to enjoy freedom, there must be sufficient restriction so that we can maximize what freedom is. A baseball player isn’t free to play baseball if there are no foul lines. A football player is not free to play football if there are no sidelines. God placed the restriction in the Garden of Eden to give us the ability to choose. In that way, freedom is better understood.

Another reason why God put a restriction in the Garden of Eden was to remind man that he is a created being. Restrictions make it clear who is in charge. God wanted it to be clear that there is a major difference between created man and the Creator God. God is transcendent. He is infinite and omniscient. We are not.

Satan used the presence of these restrictions to trick Eve into focusing on the negative. The apostle Paul said: “I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Satan led her thinking away from the goodness of God to focus on the restrictions of God. In doing that, Eve lost sight of the freedom God had given her.

One Minute Please

Adam and Eve lived in a home they didn’t build and ate food they didn’t have to grow. They lived in a perfect environment that had only one restriction. Does your mind focus only on the restrictions in your life?

Trees of Analogy
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: John 8:12

Have you ever thought about the restricted tree in the Garden of Eden? It was called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Was this a bad tree? No, there was nothing wrong with the tree itself. Good things could be learned from it. It would teach the difference between good and evil. Another tree in the Garden was the Tree of Life, but it had no restrictions. These two types of trees make a good analogy for today’s Christians.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents lists of good and bad things. We are to do the good things and not do the bad things. We could think of this as the Tree of the Law. This tree offered Adam and Eve death. The other tree, the Tree of Life, offered Adam and Eve intimate fellowship and relationship with God. It offered them life.

God wanted Adam and Eve and their descendents to live their lives based on a relationship with Him. He didn’t want them to live by a list. The Tree of Life pictured Jesus Christ, who is life. It represents the abiding relationship we have with Him through which the grace of God flows into our lives. We enjoy walking with God in an intimate relationship. The problem with eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was that life had to be lived based on a set of rules, not on a relationship. The New Testament would call that the difference between Law and grace.

One Minute Please

Eating from the Tree of Life meant that there was no need for the Tree of Knowledge

Relationship vs. Rules
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: John 10:14-15

“My brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God . . . What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law’’(Romans 7:4, 7).

Romans 7 tells us that the Law is good. But the problem with the Law is that it can’t help us deal with sin. While it can show us what is wrong, it can’t empower us to improve. Only a relationship abiding in the presence of Jesus Christ can transform our lives. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was irrelevant to Adam and Eve. They had abundant life already. “I came that [you] may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). It was a life based on a relationship with God.

So how do we combat what Satan wants us to believe—that restrictions and “do’s” and “don’ts” are unfair? We should focus on the goodness of God. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (Romans 3:23-25). This demonstration of grace is what the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden was all about.

One Minute Please

“From any tree of the garden you may eat freely”(Genesis 2:16).

Max on Life #62
by Max Lucado

QUESTION #62:
I’m a new Christian who is trying to figure out how to grow closer to God. Friends tell me I need to have a quiet time with God each day, but I can’t figure out exactly what to do.

Denalyn and I like to go to the same restaurants over and over again. You could call our dates predictable, but for us they are special. We like the food. We like the servers. We like the atmosphere. When we’re there, we remember special moments we’ve shared before. Our hearts open up . . . we lose track of time . . . because we’re comfortable in that place. We talk to each other, listen to each other, laugh, and cry. I love those times!

A quiet time with God is very similar to a date. Here are some tools to help you keep your very special date with God.

Decide on a regular time and place. Select a slot in your schedule and a corner of your world, and claim it for God. A familiar place will remind you of similar feelings you experienced before with God. You need to get comfortable.

How much time should you take? As much as you need. Value quality over quantity. Your time with God should last long enough for you to say what you want and for God to say what he wants.

You should bring on your date an open Bible—God’s Word, his love letter to you. You won’t necessarily hear God speak out loud, but you can hear what he has to say through his eternal dialogue with humanity.

You also need a listening heart. Don’t forget the admonition from James: “The man who looks into the perfect mirror of God’s law, the law of liberty, and makes a habit of so doing, is not the man who sees and forgets. He puts that law into practice and he wins true happiness” ( James 1:25 PHILLIPS). Listen to the lover of your soul. Don’t just nod your head, pretending to hear. Your date knows when you’re engaged.

So does God. Just as you wouldn’t miss your date with a loved one, claiming you were too busy, make sure your date with God is on the calendar, and do everything in your power to keep it special.

Bumps in the Road
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Exodus 2:11–15

First surprise. Next confusion, followed by fear, like icy fingers around the heart. When Moses' well-kept secret hit the prime-time networks, he got the shakes. And acting on fear, the biblical account states that "he fled from the presence of Pharaoh." Why did he run? Verse 15 tells us, "Pharaoh tried to kill Moses." Now that Moses had tipped his hand and shown his true loyalties, Pharaoh couldn't stomach having such a threat around. In the king's eyes, a disloyal and out-of-control prince was better off dead. What awful repercussions grew out of Moses' ill-considered action.

It is very possible that you, too, have been forced to deal with such consequences. Your track record may reflect a pattern of great ambition but little knowledge. Great desire but little discernment. Great aspirations but little humility. Great zeal but little wisdom. And so you have to run the rabbit trails right to the bitter dead-ends, one after another. You've run faster each time, but never succeeded. None has taken you where you wanted to go. And if the truth were known, your impulsive actions have resulted in an unbearable situation.

In my book, there's only one thing worse than being at the end of a self-directed life, and that's being in the middle of one.

You say, "Well, I'm in my thirties, I ought to know better than that." Moses was forty.

You say, "Hey, I'm no novice! I've got education and training like you wouldn't believe!" Better than Moses? Remember, by this time in his career, he was "educated in all the learning of the Egyptians."

Our impressive resumé is part of the problem. Sometimes we're educated beyond our own intelligence. We know more than we're safe to handle! The truth is, when you rely on the flesh to get a job done, you don't need more schooling. You don't need another degree. You don't need more training seminars. Plain and simple, you need wisdom. So do I. So do all of God's people.

But discerning wisdom takes time. It takes some major bumps in the road. It takes enduring some failures and swallowing big and bitter doses of humility. Welcome to reality.

Sit Down!
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Exodus 2:11–15

Moses was a frightened and disillusioned fugitive running, escaping for his very life. His vaunted education now meant nothing to him. His knowledge of hieroglyphics and Egyptian culture gave him no comfort. His military victories seemed hollow. Thanks to his rash act of violence, that same military wanted to kill him. And with every step, he probably groaned within himself over his untimely deed, saying things like, "Life is over. God can never, never use me. I'm absolutely finished."

Maybe that's where you are today as you read these words. This man Moses lived thousands of years ago, but the situation I've just described may seem as contemporary to you as today's stale bread in your kitchen. You say, "I've worked so hard. Tried so many things. Pushed myself so relentlessly. But it's gotten me nowhere. Nothing has worked for me. It's curtains."

Believe it or not, you may be closer than ever in your life to a spiritual breakthrough. You won't quit running in the flesh until you get to the endless, waterless sand dunes. When you finally get there, when you finally stumble to a stop in the pitiful shade of some sun-scorched rock, you will be saying to yourself, "Will God ever, ever use me?" And there you'll sit.

When the self-life finally sits down, the well of a new life lies near. When will we ever learn that? Highly qualified, capable people prefer to be on the move; sitting down goes against the grain. Yet when that broken forty-year-old named Moses finally slumped to the ground at the end of a self-driven life, fresh, cool drinking water was available right next to him.

Sit down. That's right, my friend, sit down!

You have run far enough. You have pushed long enough. You have fought, demanded, and manipulated your way for too many years. God has finally grabbed your attention. He is saying, "Quit! Stop! Let Me handle it! Sit there on the hot sands of the desert where you have brought yourself. Look at what lies next to you. It is a well, full of fresh water." Soon it will be God's delight to bring up the bucket and refresh your soul. Sit still. Stay there. Be quiet. Listen.

Upwards with Max Lucado

QUESTION #121:
My job requires lots of overtime, so I can’t attend many of my kids’ school activities. My wife worries about this a lot. Could this have a negative effect on our kids? Or on my relationship with them?

As a father of three girls, I struggled with the same issues. As God blessed my ministry, more and more calls came in from all over the world, wanting me to speak at churches, conferences, and grand openings of supermarkets. It was hard to say no at first. I felt every opportunity was from God.

Finally I realized that every time I said yes to something, I had to say no to something else. It’s called Max’s Yes Law of Inverse Dynamics. Look it up! It says this: with every yes in your schedule, there is an equal and opposite no reaction. When I said yes to another speaking engagement, I said no to another family dinner. When I said yes to another meeting, I said no to my girls’ volleyball game. When I said yes to another book tour, I said no to taking a walk with my wife.

So how do we show people that we love and believe in them? There are many ways to express those feelings—verbal affirmations, love letters, phone calls, even a quick text message saying, “I’m thinking of you.” They’re all good, but there’s one that’s the best.

I talked about it in my book A Love Worth Giving:

Do you believe in your kids? Then show up. Show up at their games. Show up at their plays. Show up at their recitals. It may not be possible to make each one, but it’s sure worth the effort . . . You want to bring out the best in someone? Then show up.

Now that my girls are all grown up, believe me, I’m glad I made that decision to show up before it was too late. Now (cue “Cat’s in the Cradle” in the background) I miss those Meet the Teacher Nights and seeing their papier-mâché volcano at the science fair and sitting in the stands at the big volleyball meet, even if they were on the bench the whole time.

When it comes to kids and family, it is a lot easier to make money than to make up lost time.

God Said So
In His Presence: Matthew 4:1-11
by Dr Tony Evans

“The tempter came and said to [Jesus], ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” ’ ’’(Matthew 4:3-4).

What should we do when we face Satan’s lies, especially the lie that God’s Word cannot be true? Jesus was faced with a legitimate need—the need to eat to sustain Himself. His need wasn’t wrong. Jesus had the power to do what was suggested, but to do it at the demand of Satan would have been satisfying Himself apart from God.

What proceeds out of God’s mouth must be our foundation for everything. It must be the foundation for counseling, for work, for our families, and for our finances. God has given us His definitive Word, and His Word addresses everything that is relevant to us today. Christians who do not believe His Word and obey it do not see His power demonstrated today. God does not want us to pay homage to Him; He wants us to believe Him and act on faith. Faith believes God in the absence of empirical evidence.

In the Garden of Eden, Eve stumbled over this type of faith. She failed the test because she did not believe something she had never seen—death. When it’s difficult to believe God but we place our faith in Him anyway, that’s faith.

One Minute Please

Faith is believing something is so, even when it is not visibly so, that it might be so simply because God said so.

Know God’s Written Word

In His Presence: 1 Corinthians 1:4-5
by Tony Evans

“The devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, “He will command His angels concerning You”; and “On their hands they will bear You up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” ’ Jesus said to him, ‘On the other hand, it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” ’ ’’(Matthew 4:5-7).

We can be certain that Satan knows the Bible. He knows what it says and how to twist it into half-truths when it serves his purposes. Satan pulled a portion of Scripture out of context to serve his purposes. It isn’t enough for us to know the words in the Bible; we need to know the context. We need to understand the basic principle that the Word of God never violates: God does not contradict Himself.

“Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” ’ Then the devil left Him”(vv. 8-11).

One Minute Please

If the Living Word, who wrote the written Word, needed to use the written Word to get Satan off His back, then think how much more we need to use the written Word of God to fend off the devil!

Does Sin Have Consequences?

In His Presence: 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
by Dr Tony Evans

“From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die”(Genesis 2:17).

When Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden that she would not die from eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he emphasized his lie: “You surely will not die!” (Genesis 3:4). By telling her this, he was implying two things: God’s Word could not be trusted, and there would be no consequences to her disobedience to God. Satan’s fourth lie in this passage was that you can rebel against God and get away with it.

Sin is a violation of the law of God. Just like “No trespassing” signs say we are subject to prosecution if we violate the trespassing laws, God said to Adam and Eve and the rest of the world that when we have violated His law we will suffer the consequences. God’s law is a reflection of His character. He doesn’t make rules just to make rules. His guidelines and regulations reflect what He is like.

One of the chief definitions of sin is that which is contrary to the holiness of God. At the root of the word holy is the word separate. At the root of the word separate is the concept that God and sin cannot inhabit the same environment. He is wholly separate.

One Minute Please

Because of God’s purity and holiness, God never gets used to filth. We may get used to it, but according to His nature, God cannot.

Can We Believe the Bible?
by Max Lucado

Can we believe the Bible? How can we know it is anything more than a collection of sayings and stories? Can we truly believe that the Bible is the Word of God?

There are many reasons I believe in the Bible. Here are a few:

Composition. It was composed over sixteen centuries by forty authors with one central theme. Written by soldiers, shepherds, scholars, and fishermen. Begun by Moses in lonely Arabia, finished by John on lonely Patmos. Penned by kings in palaces, shepherds in tents, and inmates in prisons.

Forty writers, most unknown to each other, writing in different countries and three different languages, separated by three times the number of centuries since Columbus discovered America—was it possible for these authors to produce a book of singular theme unless behind them there was one mind, one designer? The Bible is remarkable in composition.

Durability. It is the single most published book in history. The top seller for three hundred years. Translated into twelve hundred languages by an army of translators. Bibles have been burned by dictators and banished from courtrooms, but God’s Word continues. The death knell has tolled a hundred times, but each time the grave is opened, and God’s Word continues. The Bible is remarkable in durability.

Prophecy. The pages of your Bible contain more than three hundred fulfilled prophecies about the life of Christ. A substantial biography was written about Jesus five hundred years before he was born. Can you imagine if the same occurred today? Can you imagine if we found a book written in 1900 that prophesied two world wars, a depression, an atomic bomb, and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King? What would we think of the book? Wouldn’t we trust it?

Applicability. Paul says the Bible “is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right” (2 Tim. 3:16 NCV). Apply the principles of stewardship to your budget, and see if you don’t get out of debt.

Apply the principles of fidelity to your marriage, and see if you don’t have a happier home.
Apply the principles of forgiveness to your relationships, and see if you aren’t more peaceful.
Apply the principles of honesty at school, and see if you don’t succeed.
Apply the Bible, and see if you don’t agree—the Bible works.

Respect for God’s Laws
by Dr Tony Evans
In His Presence: Hebrews 12:1-2

“To Adam [God] said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat from it,” cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to the dust you shall return’ ’’(Genesis 3:17-19).

There are definitely consequences to sin. Sometimes we don’t connect the problem with the cause. In this case, when Adam sinned, he affected the world of work. Even the ground was cursed. Though Satan denied that there would be death upon eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a lot of the dying wasn’t immediately evident. Economy was affected. Adam and Eve’s family felt the results of death in the discord within. Their bodies began to die. Ultimately, they died physically as well.

We can cut a flower from its stem. It dies right away because it is separated from the source of life, but it doesn’t appear dead immediately. The longer it is unattached, the more evident death becomes. One thing we must realize about sin and consequences is that we can choose the sin, but we cannot choose the consequences.

One Minute Please

We must respect God’s laws.

The Cure
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: 1 John 1:9

“The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel”(Mark 1:15).

Sin is more than just a problem in our lives. Many of our troubles are the consequences of sin. Sin always carries a consequence. Some of us may be suffering consequences for many years. Aren’t you tired of living with these consequences? God has a cure—repentance.

Repentance is God’s way of restoring harmony and removing the impregnable wall that goes up when we’ve lost our close fellowship with Him. Repentance is the decision to turn from sin in order for God to bring an end to the judgment He has wrought on us. Repentance repairs relationships.

The Greek word metanoia means a change of mind. It is often translated as repentance. It involves a change of heart, a new way of looking at life. Only one aspect of metanoia is repentance. It is much more like a rebirth. Metanoia involves a realization or new way of looking at ourselves. Like David who said: “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13), we need to wake up to the fact that we have sinned against God and God alone. We have offended God.

True repentance involves regret. We should feel sorrow over our sin, not just sorrow over the fact that we got caught. “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom” (James 4:8-9). We need to be broken-hearted before God about our sins.

One Minute Please

Have you gotten sick over your sins yet?

Another Lie
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: 1 John 2:15-16

“He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist”(Acts 17:26-28).

Satan understood that he could not get rid of God. Before man was created, He tried to elevate himself to God’s level. That way, he could do what he wanted to do, and God could do what He wanted to do. Satan did not want to be reminded that God created him.

In the Garden of Eden, God established a boundary. He limited Adam and Eve’s access to one tree. The boundaries created dependency. As mentioned in the above verse, God desires that we should seek Him. The limitations are meant to guide our search for Him.

When Satan approached Eve at the restricted tree, he told her: “God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). Satan’s fifth lie in this third chapter of Genesis was that we could be equal with God. Satan was offering Eve an impossibility. He was telling her that she could become like God by eating the fruit. However, we can never be like God. He is unique. Satan encouraged Eve to rebel against her creatureliness as he had done earlier.

One Minute Please

God creates boundaries to establish the Creator/creature distinction.

God Is Unique
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: Nehemiah 9:6

“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place’ ’’(Isaiah 44:6-7).

There are no other beings like God. He is entirely unique. Anyone trying to equate themselves to the status of deity is practicing idolatry. God establishes His uniqueness in so many ways. “ ‘You are my witnesses,’ declares theLord, ‘and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me’ ’’ (Isaiah 43:10).

When God placed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden and placed a limitation on the man He had created, He was saying that He is God, the Creator, and Adam was man, the created. He lay down a clearly marked line that Adam and Eve were not to cross over.

“I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God”(Isaiah 45:5). Satan, in the Garden of Eden, held out to Adam and Eve the idea that they could cross over the line and become like God.

One Minute Please

God is so spectacular that it will take all of eternity for us to get to know Him.

By Max Lucado

QUESTION #145:
In most of my prayers I ask God for things I need each day. These are legitimate needs. (I’m not asking God to make me a millionaire, just to help me pay the mortgage.) Is God really concerned about the necessities of my life?

“Give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3).

What is this daily bread Jesus spoke of, tucked inside the Lord’s Prayer? A loaf of warm Italian bread on my doorstep every morning? That would be nice.

Bread is a staple of every culture. From flat bread to yeast-filled loaves, grain has been mixed with water and oil and placed over a fire by every civilization. What’s the first thing a restaurant brings before the meal? Bread. (Okay, maybe Mexican restaurants don’t, but those chips are made from grain. They’re just fried in oil.)

But how about a slight change to the daily menu: “Give us this day our daily mocha chocolate chip ice cream” or “Give us this day our daily beluga whale caviar”?

Those are luxuries, not necessities. Sorry, God does not promise those.

Bread is a valued necessity, tasty and welcomed, but certainly not extravagant.

Jesus tells us to ask for the necessities in life, but does he promise to provide them?

Soon after this plea for daily bread, found also in Matthew 6, Jesus presents his famous “Don’t worry” passage: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” (v. 25). God takes care of birds, flowers, and grass and provides the basics they need to exist (vv. 26–30). Why not us? Aren’t we more important than a barn swallow, a multiflora petunia, and a blade of Bahia grass?

You bet a loaf of sweet sourdough we are.

In that statement comes a promise from God to provide his most important creation on earth with food, clothing, and drink (vv. 25–34). The necessities once again.

Jesus tells us to ask, then promises to give us the basics we need to survive.

So don’t worry; be prayerful. God has something wonderful for us baking in the oven. Can you smell it?

The Staff of God
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Exodus 4:21–23

God was saying to his servant, "Moses, you simply go before Pharaoh and deliver the goods. He won't like it. He won't want it. Just bear in mind that even his stubborn, hardened heart is not outside My will." In the following verse, the Lord gave Moses specific instructions of what to say when he rammed into that brick wall. "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, "Israel is My son, My first-born. So I said to you, 'Let My son go, that he may serve Me'; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn" ' " (Exodus 4:22–23).

To put it into the vernacular, that was a gutsy message. You walk out of the desert into a new land, get an audience with the king, stand before him eyeball to eyeball, and say, "Pharaoh, God says to let His people go. But because you will refuse to do that, your own son will die."

Wow! What a tough thing to say. Yet, it was the Lord's own words. It was a good thing Moses had already settled the issue of obedience to his Lord back in Midian. Moses didn't argue; Scripture doesn't report so much as a flinch. Forty years in the wilderness had changed the man. He was ready to be God's mouthpiece, whatever the consequences. In fact, from that moment on, he seemed to have a quiet confidence in his dealings with the feisty Pharaoh. Knowing he was in the nucleus of God's will, he must have felt invincible.

We could call any work done in the will of God "the work of righteousness." And in doing that work, you will be surrounded by peace. Deep within you, in the very outworking of that service and that obedient walk, you will enjoy quietness and confidence. The original Hebrew term rendered "confidence" here might be better termed "security." The King James Version translates it "assurance."

In other words, there will be a quiet, secure confidence when you are walking in His will. There will be an invincible sense of inner assurance, gently and humbly accepted. Every believer in Jesus Christ longs to experience such assurance. It comes from being in the flowing current of His will. It envelops us when we do God's will, God's way.

Authentic Relationship
by Dr Gary Chapman

If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
—MATTHEW 5:23-24

It was Communion Sunday, and the pastor was preaching on 1 Corinthians 11—the passage in which the apostle Paul admonishes certain wealthy Corinthians for celebrating the Lord's Supper unworthily by shutting out their poorer brothers and sisters in the faith.

The pastor wanted to make sure his congregation went through a moral inventory before taking the bread and the cup. So to conclude his exhortation, he quoted Matthew 5:23-24 and then said, "Some of you have destroyed a relationship by something you did or said. Even if it might mean missing Communion, God would rather that you get up right now and go into the lobby to call that person and apologize."

In the silence that followed, a large number of people went to the lobby, pulling out their cell phones as they went. The shining looks on their faces as they came back made it clear that they had been through a spiritual bath and were ready to commune with God.

To be authentic in our relationships, we must deal with our failures by confession, repentance, and seeking forgiveness from others. In doing so, we prepare ourselves for deep and loving relationships.

Prayer

Father, show me ways my relationships could be more authentic through my own confession.

Who Will Be Our God?
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: 1 Peter 3:15

“If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”(Exodus 19:5-6).

When Satan tried to get Eve to take the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he put forth arguments that sounded convincing in her ears. He told her God was holding out on them. He said if they ate the fruit, they would be like God. He said God’s Word couldn’t really be trusted anyway.

There was something that Satan didn’t tell the first married couple. In disobeying God, they would be obeying Satan, making him their master. He knew that whomever we obey is our god. So the devil was not just offering Adam and Eve a bit of knowledge independently of God, he was offering himself as their new god. That is what he originally wanted as Lucifer, the angel of light. He wanted to be like God. We’re right back to the issue that caused the problems in the first place.

Moses said: “If you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-3).

One Minute Please

The issue today for us is whom are we going to obey? Who is the authority in our lives?

Knowledge vs. Power
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence: Proverbs 3:19-20

“It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands and I ordained all their host”(Isaiah 45:12).

God wants a Creator/creature distinction between us. We can still relate with each other, talk, and have fun. But we must not forget there is a difference. We have limitations while God does not. A good illustration of this type of relationship is the teen/parent relationship. Teenagers often question why there should be a distinction in the relationship. Depending upon whom they listen to, they may feel that their parents are withholding things that will make life better. They don’t understand why they can’t enjoy the same privileges as their parents.

Why would Satan tell Eve that eating the fruit would open her eyes and make her like God? Does this reasoning sound familiar?

Satan basically said, “God wants to keep us ignorant so He can control us. If He can control us, He can always tell us what to do and be our boss. But if we eat of the tree we won’t be ignorant anymore. We will know what He knows and be able to do what He does.”

In using the word know, Satan was implying that information equaled power—the power to determine our own future, our own fate.

One Minute Please
Using our illustration of the teen/parent relationship, Satan was encouraging Adam and Eve to think like the teen who wants his parents to pay the bills, but does not want to submit to their authority.

On Holy Ground
by Dr Tony Evans

In His Presence “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).

Isaiah probably felt as though he had been hit by a hurricane. King Uzziah had died. With his death came the end of a great era for Israel, which had become a mighty nation under his rule. Now that the king was dead, the people were in an emotional upheaval. Their security was compromised because it was in a man rather than in God.

What is your King Uzziah? Many people place their trust in savings accounts, jobs, and relationships. Shortsightedly, they mistakenly believe that if they have money and good health today, they will be fine tomorrow. While we don’t need to live our lives in fear, we do need to develop a strong, unshakeable faith in the One who will never fail us—the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, when life does take a downward turn, we will rest secure in His loving care.

How do you handle a crisis—when you receive the news that your income will be cut in half or that the relationship you believed would lead to marriage falls apart? What do you do when your Uzziah dies and your dreams fall apart? If the focus of your devotion is set on the things of this world, then when trouble comes, you will be shaken. However, if it is on God, you will remain steadfast and sure.

Our greatest vision and understanding of God often comes in times of crisis. Isaiah stepped out of a national whirlwind into the security of the temple where God’s presence appeared before him in full glory. Suddenly, the hurricane that had been ripping at his heart vanished, and he fell on his face and worshiped the Lord.

Are the winds of adversity blowing hard against your life? If so, turn your sense of worry into worship because you are standing on holy ground. F. B. Meyer writes, “A storm is only the outskirts of His robe—the symptom of His advent and the environment of His presence.”

One Minute Please
Ask God to help you to see your situation from His perspective. When you do, you will understand that He has a perfect plan and that it involves His goodness poured out in abundance for you.

A Heart of Gratitude
by Dr. Tony Evans

In His Presence: “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

The little boy looked up at his father and grinned from ear to ear. He said, “Thanks, Dad!” as he gently rubbed his hand over the new baseball glove and then, with a balled fist, pounded it into the glove’s center. He had wanted a new glove for weeks, but he didn’t know how to ask for one. How did his dad know what he needed?

“Wow, this is great!” An endless line of happy comments came tumbling out of his mouth as he proudly displayed the glove to his mom. “I’ll be able to catch Bobby’s infield throws now! How did you know, Dad? Wanna play some catch?”

Who could resist such a request? Certainly not this father. He was overwhelmed by his son’s gratitude and appreciation.
When was the last time you thanked your heavenly Father for something that He gave to you? Maybe you are thinking that it doesn’t seem like you have received much lately. It is time to look deeper.

This young boy didn’t ask for a new glove because he knew his family was having financial trouble. Instead of lamenting over the difficulty, he became determined to keep using the glove he had. His father, however, had noticed his son’s need and turned to God in prayer. He didn’t know how the Lord would answer, but he believed God would. So, he also began to thank God every morning for hearing his prayer and answering this simple request. A few days later, he wasn’t surprised when a friend called, telling him that there was extra work that needed to be done at his office. The father jumped at the opportunity, and when he was handed a paycheck, he headed to the nearest sporting goods store. God always meets our needs, and we need to say “Thank You, Lord.”

Your heavenly Father has a solution for your situation. Whenever you express gratitude to Him, His heart is filled with great pleasure because He knows that you have learned how to be thankful in all things.

One Minute Please
Thanksgiving is the recognition of God’s goodness with a grateful heart. It is simply gratitude expressed to God for His faithful, loving care.

A Shepherd's Heart

by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Numbers 27:12–23

Moses asks for a man "who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep which have no shepherd" (v. 17). In other words, "Lord, we need a man who realizes he must be in touch with the people before he can minister to them. He needs to be a people person."

Moses was saying, "These people don't need a mystic. They don't need a man preoccupied by his love for research, as important as that may be. These folks don't really need a super-efficient CEO or a brilliant organizational genius. They need a shepherd. They need a man who knows people, who will minister to people, understand people, and know how to guide people."

In whatever capacity you might minister—as a Bible teacher, as a student preparing for the ministry, as a woman of God ministering in your area of giftedness—your ministry is primarily people, not shuffling papers, not crunching numbers, not making phone calls, not writing letters, not planning programs, or noodling over strategies for the next decade. Of course, all of those things must be done. I must sign and/or write an average of forty to fifty letters a week and get involved in planning sessions too. Administrative details need to be handled. (As few as I can get by with!)

Do you know the most common thing I hear from individuals just beginning to come to our church? They want very much to get to know some of us on staff, and they'll say, "You don't know me, but I come on Sunday to hear you preach." And they almost apologize, as if to say, "Hey, I'm sorry to take your time, but I just want to shake your hand." I go out of my way to say to each one, "You are as important as anybody else in this entire church. There is no insignificant member of the family of God." I don't say this to make a good public relations statement or to make a good impression. I say it because I believe it—because it's true. Whoever you are, whatever you do, you are special before the God who has chosen you.

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Theology => General Theology => Topic started by: HisDaughter on March 29, 2011, 08:56:31 AM