Worldwide Transformation

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.

Painful Ministry

ALL – Psalm 54:1-7
ALL – Proverbs 23:1-3
OT – Isaiah 6:1-7:25
NT – 1 Corinthians 11:16-33

Interesting passage for the day: I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food; often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. – 2 Corinthians 11:27, The Living Bible

Thought: Martyrdom. Persecution. Suffering. When I think of the Christians who have endured severe trials for Jesus and His kingdom, I am amazed by them. They seem so strong. What great perseverance! What incredible faith! What certain hope they must have had to walk through the difficulties they did.

And as I am amazed by them, I begin to daydream about if I were ever to go through the same things. I daydream about the powerful statements of faith that would fall from my lips as I stood trial before my persecutors, statements like Stephen’s, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” and Martin Luther’s, “Here I stand. I can do no other.” And in my daydreams, persecution and martyrdom almost begin to seem like glorious experiences.

They aren’t glorious. They’re dreadful. They’re overwhelming. They’re exhausting.

The verse above is just one verse in quite a lengthy list of sufferings that Paul endured as he proclaimed hope through Jesus Christ. And Paul didn’t write about them to display his strength. He wrote about them to demonstrate his weakness, His complete dependence on Jesus, and the genuine nature of His ministry to the Corinthians. He didn’t endure them because he was strong and glorious; Paul endured them in spite of his weakness because Jesus is worthy.

Question: Do you remember how worthy Jesus is? When Jesus asks you to do something hard, how do you respond? How should you respond?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Much Has Been Given!

ALL – Psalm 27:1-7
ALL – Proverbs 20:20-21
OT – 2 Chronicles 35:1-36:23
NT – 1 Corinthians 1:1-17

Interesting passage for the day: Now you have every grace and blessing; every spiritual gift and power for doing his will are yours during this time of waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 1:7, The Living Bible

Thought: Sometimes it feels like we just get loaded down when we come to church. You know what I’m talking about. We’re grateful that Jesus died for our sins, don’t get me wrong. But Jesus’ call to holy living sometimes seems overwhelming. Even though we’ve been saved from our sins, avoiding them isn’t always easy.

Today it’s time for some encouragement! Jesus’ goal isn’t to drain you of every last drop of life, to squeeze every last ounce of goodness out of you like orange juice from an orange, leaving you crushed and worthless. Jesus came to give you life! To fill you! He not only died to free you from sins, but He ascended to heaven to pour out His Holy Spirit into your life! God Himself is filling you! He is filling you with strength, with His thoughts and words, with holiness and righteousness, with new motives! God is infinite, so His Holy Spirit will never stop supplying your every need!

Some of you may hear this the wrong way. You may think, “Oh, Matt’s just telling me I have no excuse for feeling exhausted, discouraged, worn out and fed up. He wants me to get up and work harder.” That’s not what I’m saying. If you’re exhausted, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest.” If you’re overwhelmed, spend some significant time with Jesus. See if you can lay other expectations aside for a few hours, or a day, and go to the King who wants to fill you with His riches. I’m saying to take a break. But I’m not advocating the kind of break many people are tempted to take. They step back from serving Jesus and His church because they’re exhausted, but they seek to be refreshed only via the world’s ways: sleep, food, entertainment, lounging. These things can be gifts from Jesus, so go ahead and receive them during your break. But make sure that you spend significant time with Jesus, too. One on one. Praying. Reading or listening to His Word. Being refreshed by godly songs. Unless you spend time being refreshed by Jesus, you’ll never find the motivation you need to stop taking your break. Only when you are receiving Jesus’ blessings can you be ready to share them. If you’re empty, stop trying to share what you don’t have. Go to Jesus and be filled up with His life. Then, once you and Jesus agree that you’re ready, come back to the harvest field singing and refreshed.

Question: Have you been working to the point of exhaustion? What would it take to get some time to spend alone with Jesus? Or perhaps you’re taking a break. Have you been taking that break with Jesus, or without Him? How can you re-work your time to receive the rejuvenation that Jesus gives us by His Spirit?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Does Taking Hits Equal Powerlessness?

ALL – Psalm 53:1-6
ALL – Proverbs 11:4
OT – Numbers 14:1-15:16
NT – Mark 14:53-72

As men, we don’t like to be accused of being wimps. We’d rather get into a losing battle and show that we’re tough enough to fight than not put up a fight at all. People seem to think that if they can walk all over a man, he’s weak, but that if he puts up a fight he’s a man.

What about Jesus?

Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and began to hammer his face with their fists. “Who hit you that time, you prophet?” they jeered. And even the bailiffs were using their fists on him as they led him away. – Mark 14:65, The Living Bible

He was on trial for claiming to be the Christ, the King of all Creation, the Son of God. Obviously, His accusers didn’t believe His claim. But notice what they do to try to reassure themselves that Jesus is just some helpless, weak moron making foolish claims. They beat on Him. They spit at Him. And since Jesus doesn’t fight back, they think they’ve proved that He’s powerless.

Of course, the truth is that Jesus is the all-powerful God, so powerful that everything in all creation came into being just by His command. Apparently, taking hits without responding does not equal being powerless.

And Christians are His people. We are called to follow Him, even in this area of allowing ourselves to be abused at times. Don’t worry, Christian men. Letting yourselves be walked over won’t mean that you’re a wimp. You’ve got all the power in the world backing you. In fact, it’s the power of Jesus Christ and His gospel that enables us to put up with being abused.

So how powerful are you? Can you take a hit without dishing one out?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Repetition That Means Something

ALL – Psalm 41:1-13
ALL – Proverbs 10:15-16
OT – Leviticus 16:29-18:30
NT – Mark 7:24-8:10

Repetition can be dull. Boring. Tedious.

But sometimes we need our teachers to repeat the truth. We’re so prone to forget life’s most important lessons.

See if this scene sounds familiar:

“Are we supposed to find food for them here in the desert?” his disciples scoffed.

“How many loaves of bread do you have?” he asked.

“Seven,” they replied. – Mark 8:4-5, The Living Bible

The last time we read something like this, a crowd of 5000 men was listening to Jesus’ teaching. Jesus told His disciples to feed them, and the disciples were overwhelmed. So Jesus asked the disciples to bring him what food they could find. It turned out to be five small loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus took them, gave thanks to the Father, and fed the whole crowd with them.

This time there’s a crowd of 4000. Jesus tells His disciples that He doesn’t want to send the crowd away hungry because they’re too far out in the wilderness, and some of the people might have difficulty making it to the nearest town walking on an empty stomach. Again, the disciples protest, Jesus asks the disciples what they have, they give Him what they have (this time seven loaves and a few small fish), and He thanks the Father while providing food for the whole crowd. Seven large basketfuls of food were left over!

Why the repetition? Why did the disciples need it? It’s easy to mock them. After all, they saw the first miracle; you would think they could trust Jesus for a second.

But why do the gospels record both miracles for us? Why do we need the repetition?

I think there’s something fundamental we’re meant to believe—but don’t.

We’re so concerned with meeting our own needs. We’re so afraid that we don’t have food to spare. We don’t trust God to meet our own family’s needs, so we hoard what He’s provided, not sharing with others when they’re in need.

God is the Provider. He will meet your needs. And both of these miracles demonstrate not only that He’s willing, but that He’s able to meet not only our needs. In fact, with the little that we have, God is able and willing to meet many more needs than we trust Him to meet—not just ours and our family’s, but the needs of those all the people we encounter. He invites us—Jesus urges us—to stop clinging so tightly to our “little,” to give it to Him, and to watch Him provide for many more people than we thought He could.

What is overwhelming to us is easy for God. What are you withholding from others because of your fear that God won’t meet your needs?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Should Have Paid Attention

ALL – Psalm 27:1-6
ALL – Proverbs 6:20-26
OT – Exodus 15:19-17:7
NT – Matthew 22:1-33

Have you ever been around people who want so badly to be right that they ignore evidence, no matter how good it is? I suppose various evolutionists like Richard Dawkins would accuse me of ignoring solid evidence so that I can maintain my belief in God. But then, I would accuse them of the converse—they ignore solid evidence so that they can maintain their belief in evolution.

Anyways… Are we in agreement that sometimes people ignore evidence just to maintain their point of view?

That’s what the Sadducees were doing. They didn’t believe in the resurrection, so they made up a ridiculous (though possible) story to prove their belief that the resurrection was not a reality. The premise of their story was that, if there were a resurrection, people who were married in this life would automatically be married in the next life. A possibly valid assumption, I suppose, but a big assumption to base an argument on.

So in their story, a man gets married and dies without having children. In that culture, his brother would marry the widow and have children for him. So brother number 2 marries her. But then he dies without having kids. So brother number 3 marries her. And then 4, 5, 6 and 7. All of them die. Finally she dies. (Matthew 22:23-27).

At this point in the story, I’m personally just thinking, “That’s terrible, but what’s this have to do with anything?” Just wait for it—the punchline’s coming.

So whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For she was the wife of all seven of them! – Matthew 22:28, The Living Bible

Ahhhh, blindness. Deliberate ignorance. The bliss. The stupidity. It’s amazing.

Here’s Jesus’ response:

Your error is caused by your ignorance of the Scriptures and of God’s power! – Matthew 22:29, The Living Bible

Ignorance of the Scriptures. Ignorance of God’s power. The Sadducees had only been able to come up with this creative “proof” that the resurrection was a ridiculous concept because they had ignored God’s words in the Scriptures. They had assumed that marriage in this life meant marriage in the next and had ignored any teachings in God’s Word that pointed to the resurrection. Further, they had ignored God’s power. They had assumed that resurrection was too difficult a task for God, and perhaps that sorting out crazy situations like the one in their story was too difficult a task for God, too!

Listen. God is capable of doing whatever He says He’ll do. So it’s not up to us to try and figure out what God can and can’t do. We’re to respect His power enough to trust that He can do pretty much anything. And if we don’t ignore His power, then the only question left is, “What does God say He’ll do?” The answer to that question is found in the Scriptures—His Word. So we had better not ignore the Scriptures, either.

Otherwise, we’ll find ourselves making the same stupid kinds of arguments the Sadducees made—arguments that become irrelevant as soon as the Scriptures and God’s power are brought into the picture.

What teachings do you find hard to believe? And why? Could you be ignoring God’s power and Word?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

When the Most Powerful Man on Earth Can’t Save You

Daniel 5:13-6:28; Psalm 121; Proverbs 28:27-28

Sometimes, people simply can’t. Can’t protect. Can’t provide. Can’t be strong. Can’t get there in time. Can’t think straight. Can’t come up with a solution. Can’t buy their way out. Even the most famous, most wealthy people on earth can’t overcome every obstacle they face. Nicolas Cage is struggling to stay financially afloat. John Travolta couldn’t save his son’s life. Barack Obama can’t keep everyone happy.

When fellow-rulers grew jealous of Daniel, they came up with a plan that effectively tied the hands of the world’s most powerful ruler at the time, King Darius. Why? Because King Darius truly appreciated Daniel; he was going to promote Daniel to oversee every other ruler in the kingdom, he valued Daniel so much. So if these murderous fellow-rulers wanted to get rid of Daniel, they had to find a way to keep Darius from interfering.

They appealed to Darius’ vanity. They urged him to pass a law that anyone who prayed to any god or man but to Darius himself—for the next thirty days—would be thrown to the lions. And Darius issued the decree.

When Darius realized what he had done and tried to save Daniel, who would never honor a man above the true God, it was too late. The other rulers came to King Darius and reminded him:

Remember, O king, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed. – Daniel 6:15

Suddenly, there was something even Darius, the world’s most powerful man, could not do: He couldn’t save Daniel.

Enter God.

The next morning, when King Darius went to the lions’ den to see whether Daniel had survived or not, he was greeted by an unscathed, peaceful Daniel, who told him:

O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king. – Daniel 6:21-22

What the most powerful man on earth couldn’t do, God did. He shut the lions’ mouths.

Why don’t we go to this God more often?

Share a time when God came through for you!