December 6, 2014
Have you heard someone make excuses about the way they lose their temper? They blame it on a family trait or a situation, but they don’t own the problem. In the book of Proverbs, the words wisdom and foolishness are considered nearly synonymous with righteousness and sin. In this verse, fools (sinners) express uncontrolled anger, while the wise (righteous) keep theirs under control. Is anger sin? No. It is an emotional response to a felt offense. Even God gets angry. Yet, His anger is always under His complete control, whereas, our anger usually is not. Don’t let your anger be an excuse for sin. Believers can put their anger under the Spirit’s control, practicing self-control, which is the fruit of those filled with the Spirit.
December 5, 2014
A timely word from the book of Proverbs for today. Is your goal to “agitate” others with that which has agitated you? Or is it your desire to “calm” others with wisdom, so that the truth of the matter may be revealed? The mocker will incite rioting and destruction in the streets, but the wise will look for solutions without anger. The former may be considered more newsworthy, but the latter will actually take steps towards solving problems.
December 4, 2014
What the apostle John here calls “proof,” the apostle Paul calls a “guarantee (deposit, earnest, pledge)” (Eph. 1:14). Paul spoke of how the Holy Spirit seals our salvation, giving us inward assurance of salvation. But John is more concerned with what this mutual abiding looks like outwardly. He says that the one who lives in the Spirit and has the Spirit living in him, will testify that Jesus is the Son of God with his lips and have the love of God for others in his actions. The outworking of the Spirit living in us is evidenced by our testimony about Jesus and our love of others.
December 3, 2014
When we receive Christ, we receive the love of Christ. This is the love that moved Christ to die in our place, so that we might have eternal life. Real love takes action. The evidence that we have received Christ is that the love that goes beyond mere words and takes action is suddenly ours. Christian love communicates itself through word and deed.
December 2, 2014
Determine to finish well. How? “Remain in fellowship with Christ.” Stay close. If you wander, come back. If you stray, return. If you sin, repent. Keep short accounts. “Remain.” Which is to abide, to stay, to live and walk in constant “fellowship” with Jesus. This is not work or earning. It is remaining. It is clinging continuously to the One who saves us. If we stay in constant fellowship with Him, we won’t be ashamed when He returns. He has done all the work. He declared, “It is finished” on the cross. There is no work for us to do. It is done. Yet, we must remain in Him to finish well ourselves.
December 1, 2014
Psalm 120 is the first of the fifteen “Psalms of Ascent,” that were read or sung by the Jewish worshipers as they climbed up to the Temple mount in Jerusalem. Today, worshipers still read these 15 psalms as they climb the 15 Southern Steps to the Temple mount. Psalm 120 begins with the appropriate place to take our troubles. Not to ourselves, to worry about them. Not to our friends, to complain. But to our God in prayer, who is able to help us. Perhaps this should always be our first step in worship. “Lord, I give You my troubles, now let me stand before You unburdened, so I may truly worship You.”
November 30, 2014
Daniel 7 is the prophetic vision of five kingdoms, four worldly kingdoms and one eternal. The vision of the heavenly seat of judgment stands in stark contrast to the four beastly images of human government. Many have tried to identify the four human kingdoms, but the identity of the fifth kingdom is clear. Human governments will become progressively more powerful, boastful and violent, but in the end, God’s judgment and government will prevail. Daniel’s prophecy contains information that is now both historic and predictive. Some of it has been fulfilled, some has yet to come to pass. Yet, one thing is certain, God is sovereign over all things, will judge all things and will work all things together for good. God has not hidden these things from us, but has revealed His purposes to us, His people.
November 29, 2014
What should you do if the government bans prayer? Ask Daniel. Daniel’s story is instructive to those who must live as a religious minority under a worldly government. God gave Daniel wisdom to navigate the political tangle of Babylonian and Persian rule and yet remain steadfast to his faith. Even so, he still often experienced persecution and threats to his life. How do we live out our faith at work or school, when expressing our faith is discouraged by company policies or prohibited by federal laws? As Daniel did, we should submit to the authorities over us, unless they cause us to break faith with the ultimate Authority, our God. Daniel feared the Lord more than the lions. And the Lord rescued him.
November 28, 2014
Some bounce from job to job and deal to deal looking for their big break. Others keep their head down and work with what they have. The former often end up empty while the latter prosper. Be thankful and get busy with what you have now.
November 27, 2014
Why head out into the darkness without a light to shine the way? Every morning we face a new day. Perhaps we think that the experiences of the days behind us will inform our direction forward, but who knows what a new day holds? Only the Lord. Stop stumbling and groping through life, blindly facing another day. Let God’s Word light your path.