ALL – Psalm 53:1-6
ALL – Proverbs 22:28-29
OT – Isaiah 3:1-5:30
NT – 2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Interesting passage for the day: I am anxious for you with the deep concern of God himself—anxious that your love should be for Christ alone, just as a pure maiden saves her love for one man only, for the one who will be her husband. – 2 Corinthians 11:2, The Living Bible
Thought: Ok, so it’s not all that shocking, but people don’t like being cheated on. We reserve our deepest displays of love for that “special someone.” Obviously, as a Christian I believe that the “special someone” should be a spouse. But even those who aren’t married expect their boyfriend or girlfriend to be faithful to them so long as they’re a couple.
So why is it so hard to understand that Jesus wants us to be faithful to Him? Why do Christians toy with pleasures Jesus hates and with lies that Satan promotes? Why does the world mock those who are faithful to Jesus for being “narrow-minded,” when even worldly couples want an “exclusive” relationship? Is it really so hard to understand? Jesus isn’t a style of clothing, a haircut, or a skin to cover our cell phones. We don’t change gods and religions at whim, as though the fall season religion is out and winter season religion is now in. We don’t trade Jesus in for a newer model.
Jesus is a person, a very real person. He’s not a philosophy. He’s not a daydream. His love for us is very real. His suffering for us is very real. His death for us was very real. His life is fully devoted to us, the church, His bride. And we are meant for Him. Exclusively for Him. Let’s be faithful and pure.
Question: What alternative loves are distracting you from Jesus? When are you tempted to pursue other interests? Why not call on Jesus now, confess your heart’s unfaithfulness and impurity, and ask Him to forgive you, purify you, and draw you even closer to Him?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Showing posts with label distractions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label distractions. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Distracted Devotion
ALL – Psalm 32:1-11
ALL – Proverbs 21:5-7
OT – Nehemiah 3:15-5:13
NT – 1 Corinthians 7:20-40
Interesting passage for the day: I am saying this to help you, not to try to keep you from marrying. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few other things as possible to distract your attention from him. – 1 Corinthians 7:35, The Living Bible
Thought: Marriage is good. God created it, designed it, gave it to man and woman as a gift. Marriage is good, and it is a good thing to get married.
But marriage can also be an obsession. Young men and women crave the deep relationship of marriage and pursue one another with the intensity of a starving man being given his first opportunity at food. They devote themselves to marriage and its pleasures. God becomes a distraction.
Even when marriage isn’t an obsession, it still consumes. It consumes time. It consumes resources. Again, marriage is good, and time and resources may be spent doing good things to build up a marriage. To be married responsibly requires a man and a woman to take on the full-time responsibility of nurturing one another—mind, heart, and body—and usually also requires them to carry the responsibility for children. Marriage consumes married people. And even in a good marriage, it is easy for God to be a distraction.
God did not create us to see Him as a distraction. He created us to know Him, to love Him, to obey Him, to worship Him, to serve Him in wholehearted devotion. In some ways, singles have an advantage over married couples. Singles can most easily make sure that their primary relationship is with God, that their fullest love is for God, that their time is devoted to God. Unfortunately, too many singles fill their lives with alternative loves, too, whether work or entertainment or just lounging around. But single or married, God is God, and He calls us to devote our lives to Him. Single or married, our devotion to Jesus Christ should spur us toward creative self-discipline that discovers and invests time, resources, energy and emotion into loving and serving Him.
Single, married, working, unemployed, sickly, strong, rich, poor – our status does not cancel out Jesus Christ’s appeal to us, “Come, follow me.”
Question: Whatever your status in life, how have you been distracted from following Jesus wholeheartedly? How could you live the very life you already have, but live that life fully for Jesus?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 21:5-7
OT – Nehemiah 3:15-5:13
NT – 1 Corinthians 7:20-40
Interesting passage for the day: I am saying this to help you, not to try to keep you from marrying. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few other things as possible to distract your attention from him. – 1 Corinthians 7:35, The Living Bible
Thought: Marriage is good. God created it, designed it, gave it to man and woman as a gift. Marriage is good, and it is a good thing to get married.
But marriage can also be an obsession. Young men and women crave the deep relationship of marriage and pursue one another with the intensity of a starving man being given his first opportunity at food. They devote themselves to marriage and its pleasures. God becomes a distraction.
Even when marriage isn’t an obsession, it still consumes. It consumes time. It consumes resources. Again, marriage is good, and time and resources may be spent doing good things to build up a marriage. To be married responsibly requires a man and a woman to take on the full-time responsibility of nurturing one another—mind, heart, and body—and usually also requires them to carry the responsibility for children. Marriage consumes married people. And even in a good marriage, it is easy for God to be a distraction.
God did not create us to see Him as a distraction. He created us to know Him, to love Him, to obey Him, to worship Him, to serve Him in wholehearted devotion. In some ways, singles have an advantage over married couples. Singles can most easily make sure that their primary relationship is with God, that their fullest love is for God, that their time is devoted to God. Unfortunately, too many singles fill their lives with alternative loves, too, whether work or entertainment or just lounging around. But single or married, God is God, and He calls us to devote our lives to Him. Single or married, our devotion to Jesus Christ should spur us toward creative self-discipline that discovers and invests time, resources, energy and emotion into loving and serving Him.
Single, married, working, unemployed, sickly, strong, rich, poor – our status does not cancel out Jesus Christ’s appeal to us, “Come, follow me.”
Question: Whatever your status in life, how have you been distracted from following Jesus wholeheartedly? How could you live the very life you already have, but live that life fully for Jesus?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Friday, March 5, 2010
L.O.V.E.
ALL – Psalm 48:1-14
ALL – Proverbs 10:26
OT – Numbers 4:1-5:31
NT – Mark 12:18-37
It’s amazing how quickly we forget what we’re up to. Not just in the little things of life, but the big things. Our expectations and perspectives are too quickly warped.
For instance, in marriage. We get married, usually, very much aware that our spouse wants us to be happy and that we want our spouse to be happy. But then, what happens? Well, unfortunately, no one pays us to make our spouse happy (wouldn’t that be an awesome job!). So we go off to work. At first, our intention at work is still largely to make our spouse happy; we’re there, after all, so that we can afford a place to stay, food to eat, clothes to wear, and a variety of fun things to do together. But then, it’s easy for work to become more and more important in our lives, and soon it’s our employers we are trying to please rather than our spouses. Work life goes great. Home life? Not so much.
It’s like that with God sometimes, too. We know that our relationship with Him is first. And we want to respond appropriately, lovingly, wholeheartedly. And then we begin to do things out of love for Him. And then we begin to do the same things to prove how much we love Him. And soon we’re doing those things to prove how much God ought to love us—and not just God, but everyone else, too. We begin to get caught up in the work we first did because of God’s love for us, and that same work becomes a matter of our love for us—our self-justifications, our basis for boasting, our reputations, our honor. No longer Christ’s. No longer Christ’s.
It’s amazing how quickly we forget what we’re up to. We forget what drives us. We forget who gives us strength. We begin to take control. We begin to set up our own goals, our own masterplans, our own motivations. And rather than living a life powered by love of and for God, we do the same things in a life powered by love of and for ourselves.
Jesus always knew what He was up to, and what we all should be up to:
One of the teachers of religion who was standing there listening to the discussion realized that Jesus had answered well. So he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Jesus replied, “The one that says, ‘Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only God. And you must love him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.’ The second is, ‘You must love others as much as yourself.’ No other commandments are greater than these.” – Mark 12:28-31, The Living Bible
Have you forgotten what you’re up to? How can we help to turn one another back to a wholehearted love for God and for those He’s put into our lives?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 10:26
OT – Numbers 4:1-5:31
NT – Mark 12:18-37
It’s amazing how quickly we forget what we’re up to. Not just in the little things of life, but the big things. Our expectations and perspectives are too quickly warped.
For instance, in marriage. We get married, usually, very much aware that our spouse wants us to be happy and that we want our spouse to be happy. But then, what happens? Well, unfortunately, no one pays us to make our spouse happy (wouldn’t that be an awesome job!). So we go off to work. At first, our intention at work is still largely to make our spouse happy; we’re there, after all, so that we can afford a place to stay, food to eat, clothes to wear, and a variety of fun things to do together. But then, it’s easy for work to become more and more important in our lives, and soon it’s our employers we are trying to please rather than our spouses. Work life goes great. Home life? Not so much.
It’s like that with God sometimes, too. We know that our relationship with Him is first. And we want to respond appropriately, lovingly, wholeheartedly. And then we begin to do things out of love for Him. And then we begin to do the same things to prove how much we love Him. And soon we’re doing those things to prove how much God ought to love us—and not just God, but everyone else, too. We begin to get caught up in the work we first did because of God’s love for us, and that same work becomes a matter of our love for us—our self-justifications, our basis for boasting, our reputations, our honor. No longer Christ’s. No longer Christ’s.
It’s amazing how quickly we forget what we’re up to. We forget what drives us. We forget who gives us strength. We begin to take control. We begin to set up our own goals, our own masterplans, our own motivations. And rather than living a life powered by love of and for God, we do the same things in a life powered by love of and for ourselves.
Jesus always knew what He was up to, and what we all should be up to:
One of the teachers of religion who was standing there listening to the discussion realized that Jesus had answered well. So he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Jesus replied, “The one that says, ‘Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only God. And you must love him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.’ The second is, ‘You must love others as much as yourself.’ No other commandments are greater than these.” – Mark 12:28-31, The Living Bible
Have you forgotten what you’re up to? How can we help to turn one another back to a wholehearted love for God and for those He’s put into our lives?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Distracted
ALL – Psalm 17:1-15
ALL – Proverbs 3:33-35
OT – Genesis 39:1-41:16
NT – Matthew 12:46-13:23
How long do our eyes need to be off the road ahead for us to have an accident? How much of a distraction can a runner afford in his focus without losing the race? How many mouse-clicks on favorite sites does it take to eat up a quarter of an hour’s premium work time? Is distraction really that big of a deal?
It most certainly is.
A moment’s distraction can cost us an hour’s work, the win of a racing career, and even the life of a loved one. If a moment’s distraction can cost us so dearly, what could a lifetime of distraction cost us, especially a lifetime of being distracted from God’s aim for our lives?
In Jesus’ famous parable of the sower, he had some warnings for us about being distracted from the good news of His Kingdom:
The ground covered with thistles represents a man who hears the message, but the cares of this life and his longing for money choke out God’s Word, and he does less and less for God. – Matthew 13:22, The Living Bible
The NIV puts it this way: “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”
What a waste! Jesus came to invite us into an eternal, glorious Kingdom with an eternal, glorious King. But we can get so distracted by the cares of a temporary, cursed, fading world and by fleeting opportunities for fleeting wealth that our lives end up being unfruitful, wasted, in vain. And Jesus warned us about unfruitfulness: “The ax is already at the fruit of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10, NIV).
Distraction is deadly. Don’t be deceived. It truly matters what you focus your mind and energies on. Let’s focus on Jesus Christ and following Him.
What distractions tempt you the most? What has Jesus taught you that helps you ignore them?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 3:33-35
OT – Genesis 39:1-41:16
NT – Matthew 12:46-13:23
How long do our eyes need to be off the road ahead for us to have an accident? How much of a distraction can a runner afford in his focus without losing the race? How many mouse-clicks on favorite sites does it take to eat up a quarter of an hour’s premium work time? Is distraction really that big of a deal?
It most certainly is.
A moment’s distraction can cost us an hour’s work, the win of a racing career, and even the life of a loved one. If a moment’s distraction can cost us so dearly, what could a lifetime of distraction cost us, especially a lifetime of being distracted from God’s aim for our lives?
In Jesus’ famous parable of the sower, he had some warnings for us about being distracted from the good news of His Kingdom:
The ground covered with thistles represents a man who hears the message, but the cares of this life and his longing for money choke out God’s Word, and he does less and less for God. – Matthew 13:22, The Living Bible
The NIV puts it this way: “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”
What a waste! Jesus came to invite us into an eternal, glorious Kingdom with an eternal, glorious King. But we can get so distracted by the cares of a temporary, cursed, fading world and by fleeting opportunities for fleeting wealth that our lives end up being unfruitful, wasted, in vain. And Jesus warned us about unfruitfulness: “The ax is already at the fruit of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10, NIV).
Distraction is deadly. Don’t be deceived. It truly matters what you focus your mind and energies on. Let’s focus on Jesus Christ and following Him.
What distractions tempt you the most? What has Jesus taught you that helps you ignore them?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Baby’s Awake!
ALL – Psalm 6:1-10
ALL – Proverbs 1:29-33
OT – Genesis 13:5-15:21
NT – Matthew 5:27-48
My baby just woke up, so I’m just going to send the readings out, for now. Maybe I’ll have some thoughts to share later. Of course, if you have thoughts, feel free to share them here.
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 1:29-33
OT – Genesis 13:5-15:21
NT – Matthew 5:27-48
My baby just woke up, so I’m just going to send the readings out, for now. Maybe I’ll have some thoughts to share later. Of course, if you have thoughts, feel free to share them here.
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
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