If you forgive others for their sins, your Father in heaven will also forgive you for your sins. Matthew 6:14
Bitterness is its own prison. The sides are slippery with resentment. A floor of muddy anger stills the feet. The stench of betrayal fills the air and stings the eyes. A cloud of self-pity blocks the view of the tiny exit above. Step in and look at the prisoners. Victims are chained to the walls. Victims of betrayal. Victims of abuse. The dungeon, deep and dark, is beckoning you to enter… You can, you know. You've experienced enough hurt… You can choose, like many, to chain yourself to your hurt… Or you can choose, like some, to put away your hurts before they become hates… How does God deal with your bitter heart? He reminds you that what you have is more important than what you don't have. You still have your relationship with God. No one can take that. He Still Moves Stones (Max Lucado) Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. Matthew 12:18 In today’s verse, it’s clear that Jesus was living out a specific mission on earth – he was God’s chosen servant. It's a remarkable thing to be chosen by God. God's choosing is not like our choosing. We are given options. God is not given options; he makes options. He did not ask Jewish candidates to apply for the position of Messiah and choose Mary's son. He had begotten from all eternity the only One who could bring hope to a lost world. Christ came into the world as the eternally chosen one. Powerfully at his baptism and again at his transfiguration, Jesus is declared by God to be his Son, whom he loves. Once again we are reminded that Jesus is chosen by God to be his servant whom he loves and who brings him pleasure. It’s also clear the Jesus came to earth to do the Father's will. In addition, his ministry is carried out by the power of the Holy Spirit and its purpose is to share God's love, mercy and justice. In much the same way, we are called, chosen, and empowered by God through his Holy Spirit. He lives in us and our goal is to bring God pleasure and to do his will. We are not chosen for our own benefit or to fulfill our own selfish ambitions, we are chosen to serve God. Today and every day, make it your life’s goal to live by the power of his Spirit and make it your aim to please God and share his grace with others. Prayer: Father, please help me to find your will for my life so that I may serve you with undiluted devotion. Please forgive me when I get caught up in things that are not healthy for me spiritually and not helpful for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen. Tell a child you have a secret and you have his undivided attention. All of us children - big and little, young and old - love secrets; love to hear them, love to tell them. Today, I am opening the vault and revealing four of the best-kept secrets in the Kingdom of God.
Secret #1 - God has big plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says it best. "I know the plans I have for you: plans for your welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope." His plans for us fall into two categories - earthly and heavenly. Secret #2 - He is not going to tell you what they are. In His compassion, God makes big plans for us. In His wisdom, He does not tell us what they are. He protects us from knowledge of the future for two reasons... (1) We could not handle it. (2) We would mess it up. Suppose you found out that your brothers were going to fake your death and sell you into slavery, and that you would end up forgotten and forsaken in a foreign prison for years. Who could handle such news? Most of us would grieve over such a future and grow bitter toward our brothers and angry at God. In the Old Testament book of Genesis, Joseph experiences precisely such a fate. Suppose the Lord told you that one day you would become the king's second-in-command and live in power and luxury for the rest of your life. Who could handle news like that without becoming distracted? This, too, is the story of Joseph in Genesis. Scripture promises the Lord will not put more on us than we can bear. One way He does that is by withholding details about our future. The burdens would rob us of our joy and threaten to destroy us in advance, while the blessings would distract us from our responsibilities of the moment. Secret #3 - God is working on His plans this very moment. He is getting you ready for the future and getting the future ready for you. Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you. If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-6). He is getting Heaven ready for us. He is getting us ready for Heaven. One way God prepares us for future challenges is by giving us difficulties and hardships. He strengthens us the same way a personal trainer builds our muscles: by laying on stress. "It is good for me that I was afflicted," the psalmist said, "that I might learn thy statutes." (Psalm 119:71) That's how it works. Secret #4 -- Your job is to be faithful today. Bloom where you are planted, as the saying goes. The way to be ready for tomorrow's opportunities is to do our job today, no matter how insignificant or routine. Writing in the Spring 2003 issue of "Columns," the alumni magazine of Louisiana College, Curt Iles pays tribute to science professor Charles Cavanaugh. Early in Curt's sophomore year, he paid Cavanaugh a visit to tell him he planned to drop chemistry. "Prof," said the 19-year-old, "I thought it was God's will for me to become a science teacher. I enjoyed the biology classes you taught last year. But chemistry is killing me. That little rural high school I attended did not prepare me for this. I failed the test yesterday and I am not going to be able to pass this course. So, I plan to drop chemistry. Maybe God will have something else for me since I can't be a science teacher. I need to find His will." Suddenly, the professor cut him off. "God's will? God's will? Son, I'll tell you what God's will is for you! Get in there, go to work, and pass chemistry. That's what God's will is for you!" And he stormed out of the office. Curt sat there in shock. Finally, realizing the professor was not returning, he went back to his dormitory. That night, he studied chemistry, and the next day, made a D on the test. At least, it was passing. "That day," Curt Iles writes, "I decided that nothing was going to stop me from achieving my goal of teaching. I was going to pass this course or die trying." A month later, the chemistry professor said, "Iles, what's happened to you?" He was a student with a purpose. Before leaving the disciples, Jesus began to prepare them for the future. Peter listened, absorbed all he could, then turned to the apostle John. "Lord," he said, "what about him?" Jesus said, "What is that to you? You follow me." (John 21:22) God has big plans for you. He is mercifully not going to tell you what they are. At this moment, He is at work getting you ready for them and them ready for you. Your job is to do the work He has put on your plate today. Joe McKeever Wait for the LORD, and he will make things right. Proverbs 20:22
Some of you are in the courtroom. The courtroom of complaint. Some of you are rehashing the same hurt every chance you get with anyone who will listen. For you, I have this question: Who made you God? I don't mean to be cocky, but why are you doing his work for him? "Vengeance is Mine," God declared. "I will repay" (Heb 10:30 NKJV). Judgment is God's job. To assume otherwise is to assume God can't do it. Revenge is irreverent… To forgive someone is to display reverence. Forgiveness is not saying the one who hurt you was right. Forgiveness is stating that God is faithful and he will do what is right. When God Whispers Your Name (Max Lucado) As long as we are in this world we will have tribulations see John 16:33 this verse also says that we can be in peace as God has deprived the world of its power to harm us and He has conquered it for us. So in the midst of our storm we can have the assurance that God already taken care of it.
Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:10-12 As Christians, we often say how much we desire to serve God – until we’re actually called to action! Then we do exactly what Moses did, we make excuses. "I'm not really comfortable with that" or "This isn't my area of expertise" or “But someone else is far more qualified than I am!” Sound familiar? God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called. He equips us with gifts and talents to serve him, and often in unexpected ways. God could’ve miraculously given Moses the gift of the gab, but he didn’t. God gave him Aaron to speak on his behalf. And just how does God equip us to serve him? We can read the answer to that question in 2 Timothy 3:17,"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." If you want to be equipped to do anything God asks of you, you need only to study his word. God’s formula is simple; learn his word to gain the skills and tools needed to serve him. So if we don’t feel as if we have the skills or tools to serve God, it is because we are not spending adequate time learning and applying his word. Prayer: God, we pray that you equip us through your Holy Spirit to be able to serve you. Lord, we want to give you the glory and honor in everything we do, forgive me for the times I’ve made excuses for my unwillingness to serve you. Help to read and understand your word. Amen. |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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