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As Personal as it Gets

February 28, 2013

“Why doesn’t God just show himself to people?”
The waiter had walked off with our dessert plates. I had resisted the urge to scrape mine with my fork as I usually did at home. Waiting for coffee, I decided it was now or never to get some of my remaining questions about God and life answered. This one seemed like a decent place to start.
Jesus wiped his mouth with his napkin and returned it to his lap. “What would you have me do?”
“I don’t know – appear to everyone personally.”
He chuckled, and seeing the irony in my statement, I couldn’t help but join him momentarily.
“No, seriously,” I said. “Most people don’t get a dinner invitation.”
“I did appear to humanity. I became one of you. That’s about as personal as [ … ]

Renew Where You Are

February 27, 2013

Martin Luther was once approached by a man who enthusiastically announced that he’d recently become a Christian. Wanting desperately to serve the Lord, he asked Luther, “What should I do now?” as if to say, should he become a minister or perhaps a traveling evangelist?

Luther asked him, “What is your work now?”

“I’m a shoemaker.”

Much to the cobbler’s surprise, Luther replied, “Then make a good shoe and sell it at a fair price.”

In becoming Christians we don’t need to retreat from the vocational calling we already have. Nor do we need to justify that calling, whatever it is, in terms of its spiritual value or evangelistic usefulness. We simply exercise whatever our calling is with new God-glorifying motives, goals, and standards – and with renewed commitment to performing our calling with greater excellence and higher objectives.

[ … ]

Money

February 26, 2013

Money is the currency of Christian Hedonism. What you do with it—or desire to do with it—can make or break your happiness forever. The Bible makes clear that what you feel about money can destroy you: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9).

This passage teaches us to use our money in a way that will bring us the greatest and longest gain. That is, it advocates Christian Hedonism. It confirms that it is not only permitted but also commanded by God that we flee from destruction and pursue our full and lasting pleasure. It implies that all the evils in the world come not because our desires for happiness are too strong, but because they are so weak [ … ]

God’s Plan

February 25, 2013

God sees the beauty and value of all His children. His love is the reason we are here, and that is something you should never forget. You can escape the hurt, the loneliness, and the fear. You are loved. You were created for a purpose, and over time it will be revealed to you. Know that where you feel weak, God will give you strength. All you have to do is put faith into action by reaching out to those who love you, those who want to help you, and most of all to your Creator by asking Him to come into your life.

Reject self-destructive thoughts. Shut them off. Replace them with positive messages or prayer. Let go of the bitterness and anger and hurt, and let God’s love into your heart. The spiritual realm is very real. The [ … ]

Wherever you are, be all there.

February 22, 2013

That statement has become a code in our family to remind us to focus all our attention on the moment we’re living in. It sounds simple, but for me it’s taken lots of practice to make it a way of life. My default state of mind seems to be worrying or zoning out, so I have to constantly and consciously remind myself to fully engage in every relationship that matters to me. That means that when someone I love is talking to me, I work to block out distractions and give them my complete attention so I can really connect with them. They need me to be all there so they’ll realize I value them and believe they’re worth my full focus. When I’m distracted, at best I miss out on what I need to know or understand about what [ … ]

Memorize the Gospel

February 21, 2013

God instructs us in the Psalms to store up His Word in our hearts. I love that picture. God wants us to tuck His promises into our hearts so that, no matter where we are or what we’re doing, we can pull them out and be strengthened by their truth.

You might not think you’re good at memorizing Scripture. That’s okay. Don’t give up. Work at it. God isn’t keeping score. Even if it takes you longer than someone else, it’s worth the effort.

Excerpted from Living the Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney

Daily Reflection: What holds you back from memorizing Scripture today?

It All Starts When You Look Up

February 20, 2013

The truth is, feeling small may not be so bad after all, if in recognizing our smallness, we come to realize the wonder of God—a God who is beyond our ability to fully describe or imagine, yet Someone we are privileged to know, love, and embrace. Looking up from our fragile little lives, we are faced with the supremacy of a God who is fully capable of not only running the entire cosmos today—a task that doesn’t tax Him in the slightest—but of sustaining the affairs of our lives as well.

Excerpted from I Am Not But I Know I Am by Louie Giglio

Daily Reflection: How do you find comfort in our smallness?

God sword

February 19, 2013

I want to share something I discovered while crafting this book. Hidden within the combination of letters that spell “God’s word” is a “sword.” By keeping the letters constant and only altering the spacing, you discover God’s word is a God sword. Isn’t that awesome? This confirms in an unexpected way what we are told by Paul in the book of Ephesians: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (6:17). Everything we need or will need is hidden in his Word, and we search it out like buried treasure!

Excerpted from Girls With Swords by Lisa Bevere

Daily Reflection: How do you search out God’s Word like buried treasure?

Receiving God’s Love

February 18, 2013

When my husband proposed to me so many years ago, I didn’t say, “Wait a minute, John.  Do you have any idea what you’re getting into?”  I didn’t pull out a list of reasons why he couldn’t possibly love me or a rap sheet detailing my inadequacies to prove why he shouldn’t—although there were and are many.

No way! I just threw my arms open wide and accepted his love.  I would have been a fool to turn down an offer like that.

I wonder what would happen in our lives if we stopped resisting God’s love and started receiving it.  What if we stopped trying to do the math, stopped striving to earn His favor? What if we just accepted the altogether-too-good-to-be-true news that the yardstick has been broken and the Cross has opened a door to intimacy with [ … ]

Quotes on Love

February 15, 2013

In family life, love is the oil that eases friction,
the cement that binds closer together,
and the music that brings harmony.
EVA BURROWS
…
Smile at each other, smile at your wife,
smile at your husband, smile at
your children, smile at each other.
MOTHER TERESA
…
Love at first sight is easy to understand; it’s
when two people have been looking at each
other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.
SAM LEVENSON

Daily Reflection: What is your favorite quote on Love?