ALL – Psalm 76:1-12
ALL – Proverbs 24:21-22
OT – Jeremiah 2:31-4:18
NT – Colossians 1:1-19
Interesting passage for the day: The same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world and changing lives everywhere, just as it changed yours that very first day you heard it and understood about God’s great kindness to sinners. – Colossians 1:6, The Living Bible
Thought: This statement was written about 2,000 years ago, but it’s just as true today as it was then. People who learn about God’s great kindness to sinners are still being transformed entirely—from their hearts to their hands. Jesus Christ is still making all things new. Through Him we have not only been created, but we become a new creation all over again.
This change is happening in every nation on earth. The gospel is still the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Jesus Christ is still building His church, and the gates of hell are still not prevailing against it.
Question: How has your life been changed by Jesus Christ? How have you seen Him change others?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Showing posts with label new. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new. Show all posts
Monday, October 4, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Holy Agent of Change
ALL – Psalm 66:1-20
ALL – Proverbs 23:26-28
OT – Isaiah 39:1-41:16
NT – Ephesians 1:1-23
Interesting passage for the day: And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians. – Galatians 1:13, The Living Bible
Thought: How thankful are you for the Holy Spirit? Do you realize that He has been given to us because of Jesus Christ? Peter tells us in Acts 2 that Jesus “poured out” the Holy Spirit on His disciples, and the Holy Spirit has been given to all believers since then. Romans tells us that if we do not have the Spirit of Christ, we do not belong to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit marks those who have faith in Jesus Christ. His fruit is grown in our lives. He lifts our eyes to Jesus when we would otherwise get distracted or discouraged. He speaks to our conscience and encourages us toward what is best. He brings the newness of Christ’s life to dwell in our souls, and He navigates the new creatures we are safely through this world’s challenges to dwell in our heavenly home.
Question: Are you working with Christ’s Spirit or against Him? What difference do you think that His presence in our lives should make?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 23:26-28
OT – Isaiah 39:1-41:16
NT – Ephesians 1:1-23
Interesting passage for the day: And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians. – Galatians 1:13, The Living Bible
Thought: How thankful are you for the Holy Spirit? Do you realize that He has been given to us because of Jesus Christ? Peter tells us in Acts 2 that Jesus “poured out” the Holy Spirit on His disciples, and the Holy Spirit has been given to all believers since then. Romans tells us that if we do not have the Spirit of Christ, we do not belong to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit marks those who have faith in Jesus Christ. His fruit is grown in our lives. He lifts our eyes to Jesus when we would otherwise get distracted or discouraged. He speaks to our conscience and encourages us toward what is best. He brings the newness of Christ’s life to dwell in our souls, and He navigates the new creatures we are safely through this world’s challenges to dwell in our heavenly home.
Question: Are you working with Christ’s Spirit or against Him? What difference do you think that His presence in our lives should make?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Joy: Pain Defeated
ALL – Psalm 46:1-11
ALL – Proverbs 22:15
OT – Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22
NT – 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Interesting passage for the day: Our hearts ache, but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord. We are poor, but we give rich spiritual gifts to others. We own nothing, and yet we enjoy everything. – 2 Corinthians 6:10, The Living Bible
Thought: Have you ever thought about comparing Paul’s words here in 2 Corinthians 6 to what Jesus said in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5)? Following Jesus leads us through pain, but it also leads us through the best of life. Apart from Jesus, there are many hurting people I probably would not have stopped for. But because I’m walking with Jesus, I have sometimes stopped. And then their sorrows become my sorrows. Their foreclosures. Their extreme joint pain. Their friendlessness. Their despair. I share it with them, and I mourn with them, and my heart aches. Even inside my home, I learn to bear other people’s burdens. I am called to bear other people’s burdens, following Jesus, who bore my sin and my cross.
And yet despite the pain that is added to my life—my own, of course, but also all the pain that comes from feeling powerless to help others overcome their problems—I have the joy of the Lord, like Paul. I have the joy of knowing that my own sins are washed away. I smile as I think of how Jesus offers everyone that same joy. Even more, I rejoice that Jesus is setting the world straight. I shout when He uses me to help someone in a small way, or better yet, when He uses His church to help in a big way. I see His victory pouring down from heaven to earth. And when the church’s resources are exhausted, I celebrate when Jesus comes through in miraculous ways. And when the world still has problems, I set my eyes on the day when Jesus comes back. And I sigh with contentment, even going through the troubles of this world. Because my Jesus will set everything straight on that day.
I don’t think anyone can be as deeply sad and as deeply happy at the same time as a follower of Jesus. No one except God, who is infinitely more sad about our sin and pain and yet infinitely more happy about restoring us all through Jesus. As followers of Jesus, let’s follow Him into greater and greater sorrows. As we do, the reality of His power and plan to make all things new will lead us into deeper and deeper joy. Jesus is everything!
Question: When you avoid entering into other people’s pain, how much of it comes from a fear that Jesus can’t or won’t help us through the pain? What has Jesus already helped you through?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 22:15
OT – Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22
NT – 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Interesting passage for the day: Our hearts ache, but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord. We are poor, but we give rich spiritual gifts to others. We own nothing, and yet we enjoy everything. – 2 Corinthians 6:10, The Living Bible
Thought: Have you ever thought about comparing Paul’s words here in 2 Corinthians 6 to what Jesus said in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5)? Following Jesus leads us through pain, but it also leads us through the best of life. Apart from Jesus, there are many hurting people I probably would not have stopped for. But because I’m walking with Jesus, I have sometimes stopped. And then their sorrows become my sorrows. Their foreclosures. Their extreme joint pain. Their friendlessness. Their despair. I share it with them, and I mourn with them, and my heart aches. Even inside my home, I learn to bear other people’s burdens. I am called to bear other people’s burdens, following Jesus, who bore my sin and my cross.
And yet despite the pain that is added to my life—my own, of course, but also all the pain that comes from feeling powerless to help others overcome their problems—I have the joy of the Lord, like Paul. I have the joy of knowing that my own sins are washed away. I smile as I think of how Jesus offers everyone that same joy. Even more, I rejoice that Jesus is setting the world straight. I shout when He uses me to help someone in a small way, or better yet, when He uses His church to help in a big way. I see His victory pouring down from heaven to earth. And when the church’s resources are exhausted, I celebrate when Jesus comes through in miraculous ways. And when the world still has problems, I set my eyes on the day when Jesus comes back. And I sigh with contentment, even going through the troubles of this world. Because my Jesus will set everything straight on that day.
I don’t think anyone can be as deeply sad and as deeply happy at the same time as a follower of Jesus. No one except God, who is infinitely more sad about our sin and pain and yet infinitely more happy about restoring us all through Jesus. As followers of Jesus, let’s follow Him into greater and greater sorrows. As we do, the reality of His power and plan to make all things new will lead us into deeper and deeper joy. Jesus is everything!
Question: When you avoid entering into other people’s pain, how much of it comes from a fear that Jesus can’t or won’t help us through the pain? What has Jesus already helped you through?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
When New Wine is Better
ALL – Psalm 66:1-20
ALL – Proverbs 11:24-26
OT – Numbers 36:1-Deuteronomy 1:46
NT – Luke 5:29-6:11
I don’t know much about wine. But I know enough to say that those who love wines tend to prefer the old ones. The best ones have aged for decades, according to connoisseurs.
Jesus knew that people develop a taste for the old. And, comparing Himself and His ministry to new wine, Jesus noted:
But no one after drinking the old wine seems to want the fresh and the new. “The old ways are best,” they say. – Luke 5:39, The Living Bible
Jesus is still new to many people. Many people reject Him because they prefer their old ways. But in Jesus’ case, there is simply no better “wine” than Him. No other attempt to approach God realizes that mankind depends on God’s intervention; no other approach points to humanity’s sinfulness and God’s righteousness so clearly; no other religions demonstrate God’s justice so fully, nor can they demonstrate such grace; no other view offers such hope; no other view can promise such transformation; no other approach can set men’s hearts at rest like this; no other God stepped into history as a man, determined to re-create His broken creation to be like Himself.
Won’t you drink the new wine and set aside whatever old wine you’ve been contenting yourself with?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 11:24-26
OT – Numbers 36:1-Deuteronomy 1:46
NT – Luke 5:29-6:11
I don’t know much about wine. But I know enough to say that those who love wines tend to prefer the old ones. The best ones have aged for decades, according to connoisseurs.
Jesus knew that people develop a taste for the old. And, comparing Himself and His ministry to new wine, Jesus noted:
But no one after drinking the old wine seems to want the fresh and the new. “The old ways are best,” they say. – Luke 5:39, The Living Bible
Jesus is still new to many people. Many people reject Him because they prefer their old ways. But in Jesus’ case, there is simply no better “wine” than Him. No other attempt to approach God realizes that mankind depends on God’s intervention; no other approach points to humanity’s sinfulness and God’s righteousness so clearly; no other religions demonstrate God’s justice so fully, nor can they demonstrate such grace; no other view offers such hope; no other view can promise such transformation; no other approach can set men’s hearts at rest like this; no other God stepped into history as a man, determined to re-create His broken creation to be like Himself.
Won’t you drink the new wine and set aside whatever old wine you’ve been contenting yourself with?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
New is Usually Different
ALL – Psalm 36:1-12
ALL – Proverbs 10:1-2
OT – Leviticus 4:1-5:19
NT – Mark 2:13-3:6
The unexpected can be annoying—perhaps even offensive.
But when Jesus came, He didn’t apologize for His unexpected new ways. In fact, He defended them. When the Pharisees implied that His disciples ought to be fasting along with theirs and John’s (the Baptist), Jesus said,
It is like patching an old garment with unshrunk cloth! What happens? The patch pulls away and leaves the hole worse than before. You know better than to put new wine into old wineskins. They would burst. The wine would be spilled out and the wineskins ruined. New wine needs fresh wineskins. – Mark 2:21-22
The old and the new often don’t work well together. Everything about Jesus was new, and new is usually different. Jesus was surprising. Jesus was unconventional. Jesus was different. Why? Because Jesus was new and brought a new reality with Him from heaven.
As Christians, we have to be careful how we apply this lesson. We want to be new like Jesus—there’s no question about that. But to some people, “new like Jesus” means that we must shake up the traditional ways of the church at every opportunity. “New like Jesus” can be used to justify people’s whims to be different, unconventional, even slightly rebellious against church practices and traditions. That’s not what being new like Jesus is about. We must remember that Jesus lived 2,000 years ago. For Christians, there is much about following Jesus that should be tradition by now. Why? Because we can never become newer than Jesus. He is the Father’s final word.
On the other hand, our behavior and teachings will always be new to the world around us, because people perpetually follow the world’s tradition of sinning against God. That is the tradition we must aim most passionately to break as we stand with Jesus in the newness of the covenant He sealed with His blood. We are not to differ from Jesus’ followers, but from the world and its patterns. New is usually different. Let’s aim to be different in Jesus’ way—not from Jesus and His followers, but from those who oppose Him.
What is new in your life because Jesus lives in you?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 10:1-2
OT – Leviticus 4:1-5:19
NT – Mark 2:13-3:6
The unexpected can be annoying—perhaps even offensive.
But when Jesus came, He didn’t apologize for His unexpected new ways. In fact, He defended them. When the Pharisees implied that His disciples ought to be fasting along with theirs and John’s (the Baptist), Jesus said,
It is like patching an old garment with unshrunk cloth! What happens? The patch pulls away and leaves the hole worse than before. You know better than to put new wine into old wineskins. They would burst. The wine would be spilled out and the wineskins ruined. New wine needs fresh wineskins. – Mark 2:21-22
The old and the new often don’t work well together. Everything about Jesus was new, and new is usually different. Jesus was surprising. Jesus was unconventional. Jesus was different. Why? Because Jesus was new and brought a new reality with Him from heaven.
As Christians, we have to be careful how we apply this lesson. We want to be new like Jesus—there’s no question about that. But to some people, “new like Jesus” means that we must shake up the traditional ways of the church at every opportunity. “New like Jesus” can be used to justify people’s whims to be different, unconventional, even slightly rebellious against church practices and traditions. That’s not what being new like Jesus is about. We must remember that Jesus lived 2,000 years ago. For Christians, there is much about following Jesus that should be tradition by now. Why? Because we can never become newer than Jesus. He is the Father’s final word.
On the other hand, our behavior and teachings will always be new to the world around us, because people perpetually follow the world’s tradition of sinning against God. That is the tradition we must aim most passionately to break as we stand with Jesus in the newness of the covenant He sealed with His blood. We are not to differ from Jesus’ followers, but from the world and its patterns. New is usually different. Let’s aim to be different in Jesus’ way—not from Jesus and His followers, but from those who oppose Him.
What is new in your life because Jesus lives in you?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
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