United In Love and Faith (Page 13)

Exodus 15:23  When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter…the Lord showed (Moses) a piece of wood.  He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.  The Israelites did not expect bitter water.  After such a remarkable deliverance through Red Sea waters, they did not anticipate the hardships ahead.  Only three days into their wilderness journey and their songs of rejoicing turned into sounds of murmuring.  How quickly praises at the…

John 8: 32  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Real faith leads to truth, freedom, and knowledge.  Jesus’  teachings lead us progressively  “from ignorance to knowledge, from error or misinformation or uncertainty to truth, and from slavery to liberty.”  “Knowledge of the truth, acquired through experience, does not bring the liberty of which Jesus spoke.  Knowledge itself is conditioned upon abiding in His word (v. 31), which makes spiritual revelation prior in importance…

John 8:31  To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said,  “If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples.”  When Jesus taught and experienced resistance from the Pharisees, He was blunt:  “Unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24b).  That’s pretty blunt!  Then there were those in the crowd who did express belief in Jesus but probably had a shallow faith that Jesus was attempting to…

I Samuel 10:24 (The Message)  Samuel then addressed the people, “Take a good look at whom God has chosen…”  It was time for the coronation of Israel’s first king;  but Saul was hiding.  His sense of inadequacy caused him to run when it was time to step up and lead.  He faced inner fears and external opposition (v. 27).  When God leads us into positions of responsibility we often face resistance (internal and external).  Sometimes people withhold support until we…

Judges 16:28  O Sovereign Lord, remember me.  O God, please strengthen me just once more…  Sampson’s story reads like a modern-day superhero movie!  At times he crumbled under temptation and at other times the Spirit of God enabled him to do great exploits.  He truly struggled in that tug-of-war between right and wrong.  When he gave into the lures, his spiritual strength weakened.  When he allowed God’s Spirit to rest upon him, he excelled.  Can you identify with his struggle…

Judges 6:14, 16  The Lord turned to (Gideon) and said,  “Go in the strength you have…I will be with you.”  Gideon felt weak and inadequate, yet God had selected him to lead Israel to victory over their enemies.  His conversation with God was punctuated with the words:  why, if, but, and how?  In spite of Gideon’s reservations, the Lord chose him.  God’s call and the Holy Spirit’s empowerment qualify us for service in God’s kingdom far above our natural abilities. …

Philippians 3:7  (TPT)  Yet,  all the accomplishments that I once took credit for,  I’ve now forsaken them and I regard it all as nothing compared to the delight of experiencing Jesus Christ as my Lord.   We will have disappointments,  frustrations and setbacks in life.  “The sheer fact of life in a broken world is that we will not be all that we hope to be.  But in the end,  all that matters is that we know Christ Jesus.  We…

Mark 1:35 (TPT)  Jesus…left the house while it was dark,  and made His way to a secluded place to give himself to prayer.  “We cannot live in genuine community unless we know solitude…Solitude is fundamentally a place of prayer—of personal and individual encounter with God.  It is not the act of being alone but the event of being alone with God.  It is therefore the fundamental and most essential act of Christian spirituality.  It is the emotional and spiritual space…

Romans 14:19 (TPV)  So then,  make it your top priority to live a life of peace with harmony in your relationships,  eagerly seeking to strengthen and encourage one another.   A well-ordered life is structured around and is anchored in two realities:  community and solitude.  “We need the grace of community.  We discern our vocations in community and fulfill them as individuals anchored in mutual interdependence with others in community.  The solitary Adam was  ‘not good.’  In other words,  Adam…

Matthew 6:33 (NLT)  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else,  and live righteously,  and He will give you everything you need.  How do we live a well-ordered life that enables us to thrive?  “First,  we have to sustain a clear sense of what really matters and what is truly important.  Invariably,  a disordered life is but a symptom of a lack of clarity about priorities and purpose.  Our sense of what is important is rooted first and foremost in…

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)  This is what the Lord says:  “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,  but let him who boasts boast about this:  that he understands and knows me,  that I am the Lord who exercises kindness,  justice and righteousness on earth,  for in these I delight,”  declares the Lord.“  Left to itself,  our needle defaults naturally toward self-righteousness.  That’s why…

Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)  Guard your heart above all else,  for it determines the course of your life.  It is not your giftedness,  your level of education,  your connectedness with people of influence,  your beauty or physical strength,  but your HEART that ultimately determines your trajectory.  The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart  (I Samuel 16:7b).  Whatever lives in the heart finds expression in…

II Corinthians 1:3-4 (TPT)  For He is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort.  He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial.  We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us.  And just as we experience the abundance of Christ’s own sufferings,  even more of God’s comfort will cascade upon us through our union with…

John 17:13 (TPT)  …so Father,  I pray that they will experience and enter into my joyous delight in you so that it is fulfilled in them and overflows…  “A person with emotional health has the capacity to respond with sorrow (anger,  mourning,  or discouragement) when pain intersects their life.  But they always come back to an emotional center of joy.  The person of emotional maturity is the individual in whom the dominant emotion is joy,  which is rooted in confidence…

Matthew 6:12 (NLT)  …and forgive us our sins,  as we have forgiven those who sin against us.  Is there someone you need to forgive?  Forgiving others is a truly spiritual act.  All of us are victimized from time to time.  God is good but life is not fair.  We will not be treated as we should be.  “We will not be thanked as much as we should be.  We will not be affirmed or appreciated as much as we deserve. …

II Corinthians 4:10 (NIV)  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,  so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  “Our capacity to be life and grace to others comes through our experience of difficulty.  Our ability to make a difference for God in a broken world comes through our capacity to be life in the midst of death,  to be people of hope in a discouraging world” (see II Cor 1:6). …

Romans 12:3 (NIV)  …Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,  but rather think of yourself with sober judgment,  in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.  “Without the virtues of gratitude and humility,  moral integrity is nothing more than moralism and judgmentalism.  When Paul advised Timothy that God did not give us a spirit of fear but of love,  power,  and self-discipline,  we are reminded of a crucial and vital qualifier:  true courage is…

Romans 12:3 (TPT)  Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you,  but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think.  This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life,  satisfying and perfect in His eyes. (NIV – …think of yourself with sober judgment…)  The Apostle Paul calls us to root our lives into moral integrity.  “That includes financial honesty,  sexual integrity—faithfulness to one’s spouse,  or…

Matthew 25:23 (The Passion Translation)  Commending his servant,  the master replied,  “You have done well,  and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant…” What is your calling- the work that you need to be doing?  “What is your divine necessity?”  We need to cultivate  “a theological vision of life and work,  and to then approach our lives and our days with this vision.”  Jesus gives the mission:  glorify God and edify others and take the gospel to every…

II Timothy 1:6 (The Passion Translation)  I’m writing to encourage you to fan into a flame and rekindle the fire of the spiritual gift God imparted to you…  Paul is urging Timothy to be proactive and take responsibility for his life and actions.  We are called to be stewards of the life we have with all its complications (not some ideal).  It is helpful to cultivate three conversation partners:  two peers (one in a similar line of work and a…

Romans 12:6a (The Passion Translation)  God’s marvelous grace imparts to each one of us varying gifts and ministries that are uniquely ours.  Paul calls us to live a life of service;  and he lists seven areas of consideration.  Where do you fit?  Each represents a basic vocational orientation.  “And each has the capacity to be reflected in many different occupations,  careers,  roles,  volunteer ministries,  responsibilities and ministries in the church,  and in the home.  What matters to you is reflected…

Matthew 11:30 (NIV)  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  When a yoke is  “easy,”  it fits us well.  “It is designed around the contours of who we are.”  When we embrace the yoke of God,  we find freedom (from ambition,  from the pressures and expectations of others).  We live with joy and hope rather than law-driven,  demands.  Regardless of praise or financial return,  we live to glorify God and edify others because we find our lives…

John 17:4 (The Passion Translation)  I have glorified you on the earth by faithfully doing everything you’ve told me to do.  When I come to the end of my life,  I want to know I had faithfully fulfilled my calling.  Missions,  writing,  teaching,  counseling,  mentoring,  discipling—these are a few of the things I simply  “must do”  with my life.  What is on your list of  “must do’s”?  Each of our lists will be different.  Each  “will be congruent with the…

Mark 1:37-38 (The Message)  (The disciples)  found Jesus and said,  “Everybody’s looking for you.”  Jesus said,  “Let’s go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also.  This is why I’ve come.”  Jesus had been successfully ministering in Capernaum.  Early the next morning he went  to a quiet place and prayed (v. 35).  When Peter and the other disciples came to find him to take him back into Capernaum to continue ministry,  Jesus basically said  “no”—he had…

Philippians 4:5b  The Lord is near. What a comforting word for those of us who need to be reassured!  God promises repeatedly throughout the Bible that He is near:  to those with a broken heart (Ps. 31:18);  to those with a contrite heart (Ps. 51:17).  Moses begged God:  If your Presence does not go with us,  do not send us up from here (Ex. 33:15).  How many times have you stood on the brink of a major life crossing and…

Philippians 4:7 (TPV)  …then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding,  will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. There is no better way to live than in a continual flow of conversational prayer with God.  That connection brings peace and helps us live with the truth of God’s Word at our core.  So many things in life can upset our peace unless we have learned to live in that holy space of prayer.  We don’t deny the…

Philippians 4:6 (TPV)  Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing.  Be saturated in prayer throughout each day,  offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude.  Tell Him every detail of your life… Anxiety is a normal response when you are waiting for test results from the doctor or waiting for the ambulance and police to arrive on the scene,  or when you get a call from a family member urging you to come immediately.  But…

Hebrews 1:3 (TPV)  The Son is the dazzling radiance of God’s splendor,  the exact expression of God’s true nature—His mirror image!  He holds the universe together and expands it by the mighty power of His spoken word… Jesus took the form of a human body and lived among us so that He could reveal the Father and ultimately go to Calvary to take the penalty for mankind’s sin.  Colossians 1:17 tell us that  “in Him all things hold together.”  In…

Deuteronomy 8:3  He humbled you,  causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna…to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. When life dishes out major challenges,  we need to reflect on this important truth.  God’s Word sustains us.  It provides encouragement,  wisdom,  comfort,  and promises!  It is our weapon against misbeliefs.  It is the truth in which we find consolation and rest when…

Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. As we begin our first full week of the New Year, let us begin by remembering how God has helped us in the past.  The narrative of Moses leading the Jewish people through the tough wilderness to…

Philippians 3:12-16 (TPV)  I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing,  but I run with passion into His abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover.  I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this;  however,  I do have one compelling focus:  I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead.  I run straight for…

Luke 1:35 (KJV)  The angel answered (Mary),  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,  and the power of the most High will overshadow you…”  This overshadowing is the same  “hovering” that we read about in the Creation narrative when the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.  Have you experienced a sense of God’s hovering Presence over your life?  Are you aware when He is near?  Are you sensitive to His leadership in your day-to-day,  faith-meets-the-reality-of-my-life experience? …in the shadow…

Luke 1:30  (TPT)  But the angel reassured (Mary),  saying,  “Do not yield to your fear…”  Fear can be a destiny derailer.  So many of the biblical narratives describe the experiences of ordinary people as they chose courage over fear (see Joshua 1).  There is no fear in love;  but perfect love casts out fear (I John 4:18).  When we know we are loved,  fear melts.  The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which…

Luke 1:28  (TPT)   Gabriel appeared to (Mary) and said,  “Grace to you,  young woman,  for the Lord is with you and so you are anointed with great favor.”  My grandchildren know they have my favor—it shines through everything I do from greeting them with hugs and personal statements of affirmation when they come through my door,  to making space in my busy life for those sacred moments when they ask questions about God.  When you know you are favored, …

Luke 1: 67-73  His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:  Praise be to the Lord,  the God of Israel,  because he has come and has redeemed his people”  (read the entire song).   These are the first words of prophecy to Israel after 450 years of silence!  John the Baptist’s father,  Zechariah,  proclaimed this prophecy on the day his son was circumcised and named.  The last prophet who had spoken the word of the Lord to…

Luke 1:64 (TPV)  Instantly Zechariah could speak again.  And his first words were praises to the Lord.  When you come to the end of a deep trial,  are your first words  “praises to the Lord”?  Consider the frustrating proportions of Zechariah’s dilemma.  The entire community knew that something had happened to him nine months earlier as he served in the Temple.  Something had taken his voice away.  When suddenly he could speak,  the  “fear of God fell on the people…

Luke 1:17 (MSG)  He will go before the Lord as a forerunner,  with the same power and anointing as Elijah the prophet… And he will prepare a united people who are ready for the Lord’s appearing.  Any great manifestation of Jesus usually requires a forerunner to prepare people.  Israel was on the cusp of the Messiah Jesus’  appearance,  but no prophetic word had come to Israel for 450 years.  Succeeding generations had compromised their faith.  They needed a forerunner to…

Luke 1:16-17  Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.   God used John as a critic of society—to name sin for what it was,  and to call for a change in religious life.  He challenged people to examine their hearts,  to follow God wholly,  and to live in purity from the inside out.  His call to water baptism was a call to self-washing and purification.  He prepared them for the arrival of…

Luke 1:13  …Do not be afraid,  Zechariah;  your prayer has been heard.  Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son….   We serve a God who hears our prayers.  He may not always answer them in the ways we prefer;  but He has our best interests at heart.  When you can’t trace his hand,  you can trust His heart.  After a lifetime of waiting for their prayer for a child to be answered,  Zechariah and Elizabeth’s expectations dwindled.  Too many…

Luke 1:11 (NIV)  Then an angel of the Lord appeared to (Zechariah)…  Elizabeth and Zechariah lived blamelessly before the Lord, (vs 6) yet remained childless.  Now that they were old,  their hopes were dead.  Zechariah was a priest from the country,  an ordinary sort of guy,  and probably not as well educated as the urban priests who were called scholars of the Law and highly respected.  His call to light the incense inside the sanctuary Holy Place came only because…