EVERY DAY LIGHT

[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 9

Suffering is Inevitable

For reading & meditation - Job 5:1-18

"Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward." (v. 7)

    How do we, as Christians, cope with the problem of unmerited suffering? The first thing we must do is to recognize that in a universe whose balance has been greatly upset by sin, undeserved suffering is bound to come. Face this, and you are halfway to turning the problem into a possibility. In an Indian palace, many years ago, a child was born whose parents decided to keep all signs of decay and death from him. When he was taken into the garden, maids were sent before him to remove all the decaying flowers and fallen leaves, so that he would be protected from all signs of suffering and death. One day, however, he left his home and, while wandering through the streets, came across a corpse. His reaction was so strong that he set about establishing the teaching that, as life is fundamentally suffering, the only thing to do is to escape into Nirvana, the state of extinction of self. The young man was Guatama Buddha, whose beliefs are shared by millions of his followers, not only in India but around the world. His philosophy is a dramatic and tragic result of trying to protect oneself from the realities of life, one of which is suffering. The Christian faith is the opposite of that: it exposes us to the very heart of suffering - the cross. Then it takes that suffering, and turns it into salvation. This is why Christians should not be afraid to face the worst that can happen - because with God it can be turned into the best.

Prayer:

    Father, I am so thankful for the cross - what is my suffering compared to that? And even if I have to bear similar suffering, I know that out of it will come to me what came to You - a resurrection. Blessed be Your Name forever. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Isa. 53; Luke 22:40; Heb. 2:9-10; 5:8; 8:1
    1. Why was it necessary for Christ to suffer?
    2. How can suffering become positive?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 10

The Best Out of the Worst

For reading & meditation - 1 Peter 2:11-25

"Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God ..." (v. 12)

    Yesterday we said that the first attitude we should adopt toward unmerited suffering is to accept that it is bound to come. Sin has unbalanced the universe, and suffering is one of the inevitable results. To deny this is to deny reality, and the denial of reality is the denial of life. Arising out of this comes our second principle: God is able to turn all suffering to good and glorious ends. J. B. Phillips translates today's verse: "... although they may in the usual way slander you as evildoers, yet when disasters come they may glorify God when they see how well you conduct yourselves." Note the phrase, "when disasters come." They are bound to come to everyone - it's foolish to think that, just because we are Christians, we are exempt. We are part of a universe that has been unbalanced by sin, part of a mortal, decaying world. However, though we may fall victims to life's disasters, we are able, through the redemptive purposes of God, to turn them into doors of opportunity and step through them into richer, more abundant living. A woman who was converted from one of the cults said in a testimony meeting in her church: "They taught me that the first thing I should concern myself about is my happiness. You have taught me that the first thing is to 'belong.' That makes me feel safe." Since she was safe, her happiness was safe too. Others are baffled by life's tragedies. Only the cross has an answer. Out of the worst, Christ brings the best, and makes life's victims victorious.

Prayer:

    Father, the more I think about this, the more excited I get. You have given me such security. I can stand anything because I can use everything. Oh glory! Amen.

    For Further Study

    John 10:1-10; 2 Cor. 9:8; Eph. 3:20
    1. What does the thief seek to do?
    2. What does Christ bring us?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 11

Not Comfort - But Character

For reading & meditation - Job 2:1-10

"... Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (v. 10)

    We come today to one of the most difficult principles to understand in relation to suffering - but it must be grasped nevertheless. It is this - accept suffering as a gift from God. This principle flows out of today's verse - a verse which one commentator describes as "the most profound verse in the Bible." It is obvious from reading this passage that Job's God is not a celestial Being who sits on the parapets of heaven, dropping nice little gifts into the laps of His children, at the same time saying, "There, that will make you happy; that will surely please you." There is much more to God than that. The God of the Bible dispenses the things that bring most glory to His Name. If, in achieving glory, He sees that suffering is the best means to that end, then that is what He will give. So mark this well - God is not under an obligation to make you comfortable. Can you see the truth that is contained in the words of our text today? "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (NASB). You are ready to accept good, but are you just as ready to accept adversity? You see, God's goal is not our comfort, but our character. That is why it is wrong to tell a non- Christian, "Trust God, and your troubles will all be over." It's unfair, dishonest, and downright unbiblical. In fact, becoming a Christian may mean that you will have more troubles than before. And why? Because character is formed in the furnace of affliction - no suffering, no character.

Prayer:

    Father, if ever I needed Your help I need it now. It's easy for me to accept good from Your hand; help me also to accept adversity. Etch these words, not merely into my mind, but into my spirit. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

    For Further Study

    1 Pet. 1:1-9; Pss. 66:10; 119:67; Isa. 48:10
    1. What analogy does the Scripture draw?
    2. What is the result of enduring suffering?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 12

The Agony of God

For reading & meditation - Isaiah 53:1-12

"... he ... carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted." (v. 4)

    Dr. E. Stanley Jones said: "Christianity is the only religion that dares ask its followers to accept suffering as a gift from God, because it is the only religion that dares say God too has suffered." Surely it must mean something to us, as Christians, to know that though living in this world is costing us pain, it is costing God more. But how much has God suffered? Some Christians think that the full extent of God's sufferings were the hours in which He watched His Son die upon the cross, but it means much more than that. The Bible tells us that Christ was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8, KJV). That means that there was a cross set up in the heart of God long before there was a cross set up on the hill of Calvary. God's sufferings began at the moment He planned the universe, and tugged at His heartstrings from the moment that He laid the foundations of the world. The pain of the cross must have pierced right through Him as He waited for that awful moment when His Son would die on Calvary. How long did He wait? Centuries? Millennia! Then finally it came - the awful screaming agony of crucifixion. Was this the end? No. Now His sufferings continue in the world's rejection of His Son, and in the indifference of His children. So doesn?t it mean something, even everything, to know that, though living in this world is costing us pain, it is costing God more? I find this thought deeply comforting. I pray that you will too.

Prayer:

    Father, I realize that now I am looking into the heart of the deepest mystery of the universe - Your sacrificial love. Help me to understand this fully, for when I see this I see everything. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Matt. 26:36-42 and 27; Isa. 50:6; Luke 22:44; Heb. 2:10
    1. List five aspects of the sufferings of Christ.
    2. What was the "cup" Jesus had to drink?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 13

God Is in Control

For reading & meditation - Isaiah 46:3-13

"... I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning ... My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." (vv. 9-10)

    Recognize that because you are finite you will never be able to fully understand the ways of God. It was a wonderful moment in my life when I was delivered from the torment of trying to figure out the reasons why God behaves the way He does. I was reading the Scripture at the top of this page when these thoughts hit me like a bolt from the blue: God is in control of the world. Don't try to grasp all the ramifications of this truth; just accept it. I have never spent a single moment since in trying to figure out why God does what He does. I accept His sovereignty without question - and I am all the better for it. "One of the marks of maturity," says Charles Swindoll, "is the quiet confidence that God is in control ... without the need to understand why He does what He does." "He does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What doest thou?' " (Dan. 4:35, RSV). There are, of course, many more Scriptures that make the same point - the Almighty is in charge. If you are in a turmoil of fear trying to figure out the reasons why God does what He does, then stop. You can't anyway. Feverishly trying to unravel all the knots can bring you to the edge of a nervous breakdown. The finite can never plumb the infinite. Face the fact that God's ways are unsearchable and unfathomable. Then you will start to live - really live.

Prayer:

    My gracious Father, set me free today from the tyranny of trying to fathom the unfathomable. Quietly I breathe the calm and peace of Your sovereignty into my being. No longer will I struggle to understand: I shall just stand. Thank You, Father. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Isa. 55 and 40:28-31; Rom. 11:33; Job 11:7
    1. What has God promised instead of thorns and briers?
    2. How are God's ways different to ours?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 14

God Tests before He Entrusts

For reading & meditation - 1 Peter 4:12-19

"... those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (v. 19)

    God seldom uses anyone unless He puts that person through the test of suffering and adversity. Jesus, you remember, began His ministry in the wilderness of temptation, but it culminated in a garden in Jerusalem on Easter morning. Our lesser ministries, too, need the test of suffering. An ancient proverb says: "He who is born in the fire will not fade in the sun." If God lets us suffer in the fire of adversity, depend on it - He is only making sure that we will not fade in the sun of smaller difficulties. Has life broken you by suffering and affliction? Are you feeling weakened and drained by the things that have happened to you? Take hold of the principles we have been examining this week, and I promise you that never again will life break you at the point of suffering. This does not mean that you will never again experience suffering, but it does mean that you will respond to the suffering with a new and positive faith. Let me draw your attention once more to the text we looked at the other day: "Although they may in the usual way slander you as evildoers, yet when disasters come they may glorify God when they see how well you conduct yourselves" (1 Pet. 2:12, Phillips). Make no mistake about it - the world is watching how we Christians react to suffering. What do they see? People who struggle on in continual weakness, or people who have been made "strong at the broken places"?

Prayer:

    O Father, I am one of Your followers, but so often I am afraid to follow You all the way. Yet I see that Your way is right - nothing else is right. I know You will stand by me; help me to stand by You. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Rom. 5:1-11; 2 Thess. 1; Matt. 5:10-12
    1. What are some of the results of suffering and affliction?
    2. Are these being evidenced in your life?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 15

When Riches Take Wings

For reading & meditation - Proverbs 23:1-8

"Do not wear yourself out to get rich.... Cast but a glance at riches ... for they will surely sprout wings and fly off ..." (vv. 4?5)

    We move on now to consider yet another way in which life can break us - through financial disaster or material loss. Some Christians speak scornfully against money. I have heard them quote Scripture in this way: "Money is the root of all evil." They forget that the text actually reads: "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10, KJV). Money in itself is not evil. It feeds the hungry, clothes the naked and succors the destitute, and through it many errands of mercy are performed. Some years ago the recorder at the Old Bailey made a statement which was reported in almost every newspaper. He said, "A couple of pounds very often saves a life - and sometimes a soul." It may be true that money cannot bring happiness but, as somebody said, "It can certainly put our creditors in a better frame of mind." Perhaps nothing hurts more than when life breaks us through a financial crisis, and we experience something of what the writer of the Proverbs describes - "riches taking wings." Can we be made strong at the broken place of financial failure? We can. I think now as I write of a man I knew some years ago who lost all his assets. Such was his financial crisis that he lost everything - literally everything. Life broke him. He came out of it, however, with a new philosophy that changed his whole attitude toward money. I am sure of this: life will never break him there again. He was made strong at the broken place. And so, my friend, can you be.

Prayer:

    O Father, help me to settle once and for all my attitude toward this complex problem of money. If it is a weakness, then help me make it a strength. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Matt. 6:19-34; 10:29-31; Luke 12:15
    1. What did Jesus teach about possessions?
    2. What is to be our priority?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 16

Transferring the Ownership

For reading & meditation - Genesis 22:1-19

"... because you ... have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you ..." (vv. 16-17)

    We referred yesterday to the man who was broken by a financial disaster, but came out of it enabled to say, "Never again will I be broken by material loss." And why? Because he built for himself a biblical framework which enabled him to see the whole issue of finances from God's point of view. Here are the steps my friend took in moving from financial bondage to financial freedom. (1) In a definite act of commitment, transfer the ownership of all your possessions to God. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we do not in reality own our possessions. We are stewards, not proprietors, of the assets which God puts into our hands. After reading the story of Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice his son, my friend got alone with God and offered every single one of his possessions to the Lord. He said, "I continued in prayer until every single item I had was laid on God's altar, and when it was over I was a transformed man. That act of dedication became the transformation point in my finances." If, in reality, we do not own our possessions, then the obvious thing to do is to have the sense to say to God: "Lord, I'm not the owner, but the ower. Teach me how to work out that relationship for as long as I live." When you let go of your possessions and let God have full control, the whole issue of stewardship becomes meaningful. You are handling something on behalf of Another. Money is no longer your master - it becomes instead your messenger.

Prayer:

    Father, I'm conscious that, once again, You have Your finger on another sensitive spot. I wince, but I know I can never be a true disciple until I make this commitment. I do it today - gladly. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen

    For Further Study

    1 Kings 17; 1 Cor. 4:1-2; Rom. 14:12
    1. What can we learn from the widow at Zarephath?
    2. What is the characteristic of a steward?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 17

Hitched to a Plough

For reading & meditation - Colossians 3:1-17

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." (v. 2)

    We continue to consider the steps that can move us from financial freedom: (2) Streamline your life toward the purposes of God's kingdom. Livingstone said, "I will place no value on anything that I have or possess, except in relation to the kingdom of Christ. If anything I have will advance that kingdom it shall be given or kept, whichever will best promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes, both for time and eternity " Another missionary said, "That first sentence of Livingstone's should become the life motto of every Christian. Each Christian should repeat this slowly to himself every day: I will place no value on anything I have or possess, except in relation to the kingdom of Christ." If it advances the kingdom it has value - it can stay. If it is useless to the kingdom it is valueless - it must be made useful, or go. John Wanamaker, a fine Christian businessman, visited China many years ago to see if the donations he had made to missionary work were being used to their best advantage. One day he came to a village where there was a beautiful church, and in a nearby field, he caught sight of a young man yoked together with an ox, ploughing a field. He went over and asked what was the purpose of this strange yoking. An old man who was driving the plough said, "When we were trying to build the church, my son and I had no money to give, and my son said, 'Let us sell one of our two oxen and I will take its yoke.' We did so and gave the money to the chapel." Wanamaker wept!

Prayer:

    Father, I feel like weeping too when I consider how little of my life is streamlined for kingdom purposes. Help me to be willing to be hitched to a plough and know the joy of sacrifice. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

    For Further Study

    James 4:8-17; Rom. 14:8; Ps. 24:1; Hag. 2:8
    1. How should we approach life?
    2. Is your value system biblical?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 18

Riches or Poverty - So What?

For reading & meditation - Philippians 4:4-13

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any ... situation ..." (v. 12)

    Here is another step that can move us from financial bondage to financial freedom. Recognize that you are only free when you are free to use either poverty or plenty. There are two ways in which men and women try to defend themselves against financial disaster. One is by saving as much as possible in an attempt to avert it. The other is by renouncing money or material things entirely in order to be free from their clutches. Both methods have disadvantages. The first, because it can cause miserliness and anxiety, and tends to make a person as metallic as the coins they seek to amass. The second, because it seeks to get rid of the difficulty by washing one's hands of it entirely. In each case, there is a bondage - one is a bondage to material things, the other a bondage to poverty. The man who is free to use plenty only is bound by that, while the man who is free to use poverty only is also bound. They are both bound. But the person who, like Paul in the text before us today, has "learned the secret of being content ... whether living in plenty or in want" is free, really free. While waiting for a train in India, a missionary got into a conversation with a high-caste Indian. "Are you traveling on the next train?" the missionary asked. "No," he replied, "that train has only third-class carriages. It's all right for you, because you are a Christian. Third class doesn't degrade you and first class doesn't exalt you. You are above these distinctions, but I have to observe them." Lifted above all distinctions!

Prayer:

    O Father, what a way to live - lifted above all distinctions. Plenty doesn't entangle my spirit, and poverty doesn't break it. No matter how I have lived in the past - this is how I want to live in the future. Help me, dear Lord. Amen.

    For Further Study

    James 2:1-10; 5:1-8
    1. Where does favoritism come from?
    2. What does James say about selfish living?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 19

A Need or a Want?

For reading & meditation - Philippians 4:14-23

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (v. 19)

    Today we look at yet another step that will help us overcome financial disaster: (4) Learn to differentiate between a need and a want. Your needs are important, but not your wants. God has promised to supply all your needs, but not all your wants. What are our needs? Someone defined it like this: "We need as much as will make us physically, mentally, and spiritually fit for the purposes of the kingdom of God. Anything beyond that belongs to other people's needs." If this is true, then how do we decide what belongs to our needs? No one can decide that for you; it must be worked out between you and God. Go over your life in God's presence and see what belongs to your needs, and what belongs to your wants. Let the Holy Spirit sensitize your conscience so that you can distinguish the difference. A fisherman tells this story: "Yesterday on the lake I let my boat drift. As I looked at the water, I could see no drift at all. Only as I looked at the fixed point of the shoreline could I see how far I was drifting." It is a parable! It is only as you fix your eyes on Christ, and watch for His approval, that you will know whether you are staying on God's course - or drifting away from it. One more thing: keep your needs strictly to needs, not luxuries disguised as needs. If you eat more than you need, you clog up your system. It is the same with other things. Needs contribute; luxuries choke.

Prayer:

    Gracious Father, bring me under the sway of Your creative Spirit. Sensitize my inner being so that I might hear Your voice when I am about to go off course. This I ask for Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Exod. 16; Pss. 23:5; 33:18-19; 37:25
    1. How did God supply the needs of the Israelites?
    2. List some of the needs God has supplied in your life.
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 20

Promises! Promises!

For reading & meditation - Proverbs 20:1-22

"...'it's no good!? says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase." (v. 14)

    We continue following the steps that help us become strong at the broken place of financial disaster: (5) Ask God to help you resist the powerful pressures of this modern-day consumer society. I once listened to a sermon in which the preacher likened Satan's conversation with Eve in the Garden of Eden to the subtle tactics of modern advertising. The main point he made was that if Eve could become discontent with all she had in that lush garden called Paradise, there is little hope for us unless we identify and reject modern methods of alluring advertising. What exactly is alluring advertising? One definition puts it like this: "Alluring advertising is a carefully planned appeal to our human weakness, which is designed to make us discontented with what we have so that we can rationalize buying things we know we do not need and should not have." Not all advertising, of course, falls into this category, but much of it does. Charles Swindoll, an American author, claims that some advertising is not just alluring, but definitely demonic. I agree. He says that he and his family have developed a simple technique to overrule television commercials that attempt to convince us that we need a certain product in order to be happy. He describes it like this: "Everytime we feel a persuasive tug from a television commercial, we simply shout at the top of our voices: 'Who do you think you're kidding!'" He claims it really works. God expects us to discipline ourselves in relation to many things, and not the least is the discipline of spiritual "sales resistance."

Prayer:

    Father, help me, I pray, to see right through the alluring advertising of today's world, and develop within me the wisdom and strength to build up a strong spiritual "sales resistance." For Your honor and glory I ask it. Amen

    For Further Study

    1 John 2:12-17; Gen. 3:6; James 1:13-16
    1. What are the three avenues which advertising exploits?
    2. What is John's admonition?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 21

Be a Generous Person

For reading & meditation - 1 Timothy 6:6-19

"Command them ... to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves ..." (vv. 18-19)

    We have been discussing the steps we need to take to become strong at the place where life breaks us through a financial disaster. The sixth and final principle the friend I previously referred to used, and which we need to practice too, is this: (6) Become a generous person. Look again at the text at the top of this page. It is so clear that it hardly needs any explanation. Woven through the fabric of these verses, as well as in many others in the New Testament, is the thought: give, give, give, give, give. When you have money, don't hoard it, release it. Let generosity become your trademark. This is not to say that you have to give all your money away, but give as much as you can, and as much as you believe God would have you give. Jesus once said, "If your eye is generous, the whole of your body will be illumined" (Matt. 6:22, Moffatt). What does this mean? If your eye - your outlook on life, your whole way of looking at things and people - is generous, then your whole personality is illumined, lit up. Jesus had little to give in terms of finances, but He was generous toward all - the sick, the needy, the maimed, the sinful, and the unlovely. His whole personality was full of light. So be like Jesus - begin to see everybody and everything with a generous eye. Don't be a mean person. One of the greatest definitions of Christianity I have ever heard is simply this: "Give, give, give, give give...."

Prayer:

    Lord Jesus, help me this day and every day of my life from now on, to make generosity the basis of all my dealings with people. Make me the channel and not the dead end of all Your generosity to me. For Your dear Name's sake. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Luke 21:1-4; 6:38; Eccl. 11:1; Acts 4:32-35; Matt. 5:42
    1. What did Jesus teach about giving?
    2. How did the early church work this out?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 22

When Evil Thoughts Oppress

For reading & meditation - Matthew 15:1-20

"For out of the heart come evil thoughts ..." (v. 19)

    We turn now to focus on yet another place where life can break us - through the affliction of evil thoughts. I am thinking not simply of an occasional wrong thought popping into one's mind, but of those situations where people become oppressed by thoughts which are obsessive and repetitive. A letter I received some time ago said, "My private discussions with Christians of all denominations has led me to believe that more are afflicted and oppressed by evil thoughts than we might imagine." When the late Dr. Sangster, the great Methodist preacher, once visited Bexhill-on-Sea, he found a lovely avenue of trees. A nature lover to the core, he walked admiringly up and down the avenue, and then noticed a strange thing. Two of the trees were dead, and not only dead, but dismally and evilly offensive. Frost could not account for it; their neighbors were all healthy. He made inquiries, and found out that the gas main which ran underneath them had been leaking! Everything on the surface had been in their favor - the sea breezes, sunshine, rain ... but they had been poisoned from beneath. There are many Christians like that. Perhaps you are one. The circumstances of their lives all seem in their favor - a good job, a happy family, a pleasant environment, a fine church, yet their lives are mysteriously blighted by evil thoughts. Who can help us when our lives are spoiled by continual and oppressive evil thoughts? Jesus can! Christ can not only heal the brokenness but also make you strong at the broken place.

Prayer:

    O Father, I am so grateful that You are showing me Your indomitable way. You can do more than sustain me in my weakness; You can turn my weakness into strength. Make me strong in this area. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Matt. 5:27-28; 6:19-34; 2 Cor. 10:5; Eph. 4:22-24
    1. List eight ways in which Satan seeks to attack our minds.
    2. What is the Christian antidote?
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[nChrist]

EVERY DAY LIGHT

August 25

The Law of Reversed Effort
For reading & meditation - Hebrews 2:5-18
"But we see Jesus ..." (v. 9)

    Yesterday we said that we must make sure we do not entertain evil thoughts. How does it work in practice? Build within your mind a strong picture of Jesus, and when an evil thought comes into your mind, turn and look at Him. Those who study the mind tell us that evil thoughts are not driven out by dwelling on them, even prayerfully. It is bad tactics to direct sustained attention to them, even in penitence, for then you experience what is called the law of reversed effort. This law states that "the more attention you focus on avoiding something, the more likely you are to hit it." A simplified form of this happens when a cyclist sees a pothole ahead of him, and concentrates on avoiding it - only to run into it. The longer things are held in the focus of attention, the deeper they are burned into the memory and the more mental associations they make. The way to overcome them is to outwit them by swiftly directing the mind to some other absorbing theme. It may be difficult to dismiss them, but they can be elbowed out by a different and more powerful idea. What better idea than to hold a picture of Jesus in your mind, reinforced by daily Bible meditation and prayer, so that in the moment of overwhelming testing, the mind is turned toward Him. One who developed this technique into a fine art said: "Christ in the heart and mind is the safeguard. To think of Him is to summon His aid. Evil thoughts dissolve in the steady gaze of His searching eyes."

Prayer:

    O God, my Father, help me develop in my mind and imagination such a powerful picture of Jesus that it will become the saving focus of my being. Help me turn to Him immediately whenever evil thoughts crowd my mind. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

    For Further Study

    James 4:1-8; 1 Pet. 5:8-9; Eph. 6:11
    1. What are the three steps James gives for overcoming Satan's attacks?
    2. How does this apply to wrong thoughts?
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