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The Meaning of Guilt

September 3, 2012

Guilt says, “I owe you.” Guilt is the result of having done something we perceived as wrong. Every wrong we do can be restated as an act of theft, as we’ll see in a moment. If I steal from you, I owe you. So the message from a heart laden with guilt is, “I owe!”

For example, consider the man who runs off with another woman and abandons his family. Without realizing it at the time, he has stolen something from every member of his family. He has stolen his wife’s first marriage; he has robbed her of her future, her financial security, her reputation as a wife. From his children’s perspective this man has stolen their father and all that a father means to the home. He has robbed them of Christmas, traditions, emotional and financial security, [ … ]

Jesus’ Choice

August 31, 2012

He could have come back when crosses were out of style.

But his heart wouldn’t let him. If there was hesitation on the part of his humanity, it was overcome by the compassion of his divinity. His divinity heard the voices. His divinity heard the hopeless cries of the poor, the bitter accusations of the abandoned, the dangling despair of those who are trying to save themselves.

And his divinity saw the faces. Some wrinkled. Some weeping. Some hidden behind veils. Some obscured by fear. Some earnest with searching. Some blank with boredom. From the face of Adam to the face of the infant born somewhere in the world as you read these words, he saw them all.

And you can be sure of one thing. Among the voices that found their way into that carpentry shop in Nazareth [ … ]

Understanding God’s Love

August 30, 2012

God created us to give and receive love, not just with each other but with Him as well. He’s our loving Father, and in many ways He constantly tells us, “You are My child. I was delighted when you were born, and I love you still.” God loves hearing that we love Him, but how His heart must jump when He knows that we really get it, that we understand, receive, and delight in His love.

When we understand the Father-love of God, we naturally desire to spend time talking with Him. Prayer is no longer a duty; it becomes a delight! We recognize God not as an unapproachable entity, but as the loving Father who invites us to come straight to Him and tell Him what our day was like, what we’ll face tomorrow, and how we feel about [ … ]

Finding Peace

August 29, 2012

We all long for an inner calm—especially when we’re in the valleys of life. We all want, pray for, and pursue peace. At the point of desperation, some people pursue peace by numbing their pain with alcohol, drugs, sex, food, success… The list is endless. Remember the old country song that says we are looking for love in all the wrong places and in too many faces? The same can be said about peace.

Some people tend to believe that peace is simply the absence of problems, valleys, and trials. Not so! Peace is a calm confidence that the Lord of the mountains is still on the throne—no matter how deep the valley may be. Peace recognizes Jesus walking on the water as He calms the crashing waves and stills the howling winds in your life. Trials become opportunities [ … ]

God Says “Yes”

August 28, 2012

When I am in a moment of deep prayer, feeling close to God and in tune with his Spirit, I find myself nodding a lot. “Yes, Lord, yes!” We know he can be trusted because what he promises becomes reality.

What a different picture this paints from the “thou shalt not” God that many people imagine him to be. To be sure, those “thou shalt nots” are still in Scripture and still his commands. But the emphasis in the New Testament is on the “thou shalls” and on the fulfillment of his many promises to those who love him.

God has said “Yes!” to you.

How will you answer him today?

Excerpted from Rise and Shine by Liz Curtis Higgs

Daily Reflection:
In what ways has God said “yes” to you?

Accepted by God

August 27, 2012

In Ephesians, Paul tells us that we have been accepted in the Beloved, and that we have become His cherished sons and daughters. In Jesus Christ, God makes possible this favored place, this place of total acceptance. Just like Jacob with Joseph, God’s favor rests upon you as His “highly favored one.” This is true of every single person who is born again into the family of God.

It is this acceptance by the heart of a loving God that sets you free to achieve. Because you are accepted, you can now excel, your performance can now be Spirit-led with the possibility of eternal consequences.

Whenever performance is elevated above the truth of acceptance—whether it’s in the home, in the church, or in your own mind—you are not free to dream. Any sense of destiny or assignment from God [ … ]

A Vision from God

August 24, 2012

When you let the Holy Spirit paint a vision upon the canvas of your heart, a picture will emerge that will stagger your imagination and test your faith. If the vision doesn’t seem impossible to accomplish with your natural ability, it’s probably not from God.

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11)

Excerpted from The Blessed Church by Robert Morris

Daily Reflection:
What vision has God given you?

DEVOTIONAL: When Good Enough Isn’t by Susan Meissner

August 23, 2012

by Susan Meissner

Author, The Girl in the Glass

Anytime I chat with someone who has just returned from a trip to Italy, the first question I always ask is, Did you go to Florence?

And if they say yes, then I ask them if they saw the David. Not the stony imposter that sits in the sun-and-statue-drenched piazza of the Palazzo Vecchio. Did they see the real deal. Michelangelo’s David. The one that stands on the tiled floor of the library-quiet Accademia. The one that takes your breath away. Did they see that one?

If they say no, they ran out of time, or no, they didn’t want to wait in line, or – and this is the worst – they’re happy with the photo they got of the copy in the piazza, I experience a little inner crisis.  [ … ]

How Far Can We Go?

August 23, 2012

The reality is we don’t know how far we can go in life. We don’t know how much good we can create. We can’t know for sure which stars in the night sky belong to us. Our destiny, in many ways, always remains a mystery.

And yet…while we can’t be sure about how far we can go, we do know this: we’re meant to go further than where we are today. We can’t deny the urge inside us to be different and to make a difference. We might not be able to reach the sky, but we can step into the opportunities that are right in front of us. We can take risks.

Excerpted from Spark by Jason Jaggard

Daily Reflection:
What risk are you being called to take today?

God of All Creation

August 22, 2012

Jesus, the greatest person who ever lived, said, “Look at the birds” (Matthew 6:26), and Solomon, the wisest man, said, “Take a lesson from the ants” (Proverbs 6:6). Both our Savior and the man renowned for his wisdom understood the deeper truths that God reveals through His creation—from foolish sheep to dangerous predators, soaring eagles, birds of prey, and even hard-working insects.

A friend once said, “If you can’t see God in everything, you won’t see God in anything.” In this book we will explore expressions of God’s love, lessons in His grace, warnings about sin, and other eternal truths as we consider our pets and other awesome residents of God’s vast creation.

Exerpted From God of All Creation by James Robison

Daily Reflection:
What have you noticed about God in each of His creations?