May 25 – Holy Satisfaction (Ecclesiastes 6:7)

“Death and destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man.”(Proverbs 27:20)

IN WORD:
Nearly every child has sworn an oath to his parents: “Just buy me this one thing, and I’ll never ask for anything else ever again.” It’s a hollow promise from the beginning; every parent knows it isn’t true. Nearly every Christian has offered a similar prayer to God: “Just answer this one thing, and I promise I’ll be satisfied.” It’s a hollow promise. God knows better. Deep down, so do we.
What is it about human nature that is always craving but is never content? We’ve all approached milestones in our lives with the thought that once the milestone is accomplished, we’ll be happy with our lives. But we never are. As soon as the next job is realized, the next house is bought, the next car is driven, the next relationship results in marriage, or whatever we’re looking forward to is accomplished, we set our sights on something new.
Whatever the reason, we can know at least one thing about our cravings: They indicate that we’re missing something deep within us. We have a gnawing hunger for more meaning, more purpose, more results. We can thank God that He made us that way; it’s His design for our fruit-bearing and our growing relationship with Him. But we also have to be aware of how sin has distorted that design. We turn it toward possessions, people, places, and personal agendas. Instead of letting a holy discontentment drive us toward god and His Kingdom, we let a twisted discontentment drive us toward fulfilling our needs in unholy ways. We’re looking for life in all the wrong places.

IN DEED:
The proverb is true; the eyes of man are never satisfied. But a maturing relationship with God will shine light on our dissatisfaction. It will also turn it toward the things that really fulfill us. We will find that it is, in fact, possible to be content with the things of the world and still be driven by a desire for God. He is the only One who satisfies.

“It is so important not to waste what is precious by spending all one’s time . . . Complaining over what one does not have.”
-Edith Schaeffer-

May 24 – An Illusion Undone (Isaiah 26:7-11)

“When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.”(Isaiah 26:9)

IN WORD:
The strange tendency of human nature is to thrive under distress and to stray under prosperity. We usually don’t see it that way, because we define thriving in terms of our circumstances. But God defines it in terms of our attitude and growth in Him. And we grow best when we’re in trouble.
Why is that? Pain has been the catalyst for spiritual growth ever since the early pages of Scripture. We see it most dramatically in the book of Judges: Every time the people prospered, they strayed from God. Every time they cried out, He delivered them. Then the cycle would be repeated all over again. It’s a cycle we know well in our individual lives, and the principle is almost mathematical in its precision. Ease equals apostasy and pain equals a heart hungry for God. Why?
Because we are motivated by need. When all seems well in our circumstances, we don’t think we have needs. It’s a dangerous illusion because it masks the spiritual poverty we all share. Somehow, a set of circumstances that highlights our need — one that corresponds directly with our spiritual poverty — gets us to see the lack of self-sufficiency we should have known all along. It turns our eyes toward God in the physical, which in turn can turn our eyes toward Him in the spiritual. It’s His mercy that puts us in a crisis. Crises drive our once-passive hearts to Him.

IN DEED:
Do you consider this principle when you’re in the midst of a trial? It may not be the only reason for your trouble, but it is certainly one possibility. Your crisis may be the perfect occasion for you to “learn righteousness” — to direct your attention to God and to wait for His Word. He draws us close through such occasions. We are always given a chance to grow deeper into Him when our outward situation matches our inner condition. We learn to seek the One who matters. If you’re in trouble, seek Him zealously.

“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” -Anonymous-

May 23 – Shedding the Past (Philippians 3:12-14)

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal.”(Philippians 3:13-14)

IN WORD:
It’s easy to live with regrets. Some people are able never to look back, but most of us can point to a few decisions that keep us wondering what life would have been like if we’d done things differently. Those kinds of thoughts can cripple us. They haunt us and keep us preoccupied with the past.
Two truths will keep the past from stealing our joy in the present: our identification with Jesus and our faith in God’s sovereignty. The enemy will seize the opportunity to remind us of our failures and accuse us of disobedience. He may be right, of course, but we aren’t living on the basis of what we have or haven’t done. We live fully identified with Jesus. We stand before God on the basis of what He has done.

A firm conviction that God is sovereign will also protect us from our regrets. Even when we’ve made missteps, we can trust that God knew about them before the foundation of the world and planned to compensate accordingly. Nothing we’ve done has surprised Him. He has known all along how to bring us in line with His will — even when we’ve walked far away from it.

IN DEED:
God never asked us to check the rear view mirror in order to lament about our shortcomings. We confessed when we came to Jesus that we were sinful failures, and He saved us. It’s time to move forward.
Do memories of the past hound you? Take an active stance against them. Point the enemy to Jesus as the basis of your righteousness — his accusations are irrelevant once you’ve found your identity in the perfect Son of God. And remember the sovereignty of God. Find heroes of the faith in Scripture who failed — it’s a pretty easy task — and see how God sovereignly worked out His purposes in spite of their failures. Rest in the present and look forward with hope. Nothing in your past can thwart God’s plan.

“God is not defeated by human failure.” -William C. White-

May 22 – Responding to Pain

“No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.” (Proverbs 12:21)

IN WORD:
Several years ago, a rabbi wrote a popular book asking why bad things happen to good people. It’s a legitimate question; we see godly folks go through some very difficult things. So doesn’t our experience contradict this proverb? Must we generalize this verse and water it down to get anything out of it? Not necessarily. We need to approach this proverb with some clear definitions. We need to define “harm,” and we need to define “righteous.”
Who is righteous? Surely not those who have it all together. None of us do. The proverb would be unrealistic if it meant that, and the Bible isn’t unrealistic. Those who are righteous know who God is and hang onto that knowledge regardless of the situation. They desire God enough to trust Him. Their past may not be righteous, but their direction is.
What is “harm”? Surely not difficult circumstances or pain. Otherwise, the proverb would be a shallow assumption based on fantasy, and the Bible’s not a shallow fantasy. No, trials and pain are not ultimately harmful unless they diminish our relationship with God. But the righteous will not let them do that. They let their trials draw them closer to God. They see His grace more clearly in the aftermath of pain; they trust Him more truly when obstacles hinder trust; they serve Him more sacrificially when it costs something. Through pain, we see Him better, and He becomes more real to us. There is no harm in that.

IN DEED:
This proverb is less about the trials that befall us than our reaction to them. Nothing that the righteous go through is truly harmful if faith is maintained. But troubles are troublesome indeed to those whose faith is conditional. Their love of God depends only on what He does to make them feel good.
Trials come to all, and our reaction defines us. Are we righteous or wicked? The test of pain will make it clear.

“Trials enable people to rise above religion to God.”
-Brother Andrew-

May 21 – Accept No Substitutes (Job 31: 24-28)

“If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’ . . . I would have been unfaithful to God on high.”
(Job 31:24, 28)

IN WORD:
Moses once gave a very long discourse on the blessings of obeying God and the curses of disobedience. God had entered a covenant with His people, one on which He would never default. Would His people? Moses explained what would happen if they did. Their enemies would lay siege to their cities “until the high fortified walls in which they trust fall down” (Deuter. 28:52).
That is one of the dreadful results of sin: We begin to trust our best efforts rather than the ever-dependable God. Our faith in God crumbles, and we must come up with substitutes, however flawed they may be. In Moses’ speech, it was the high walls of the cities — protection, just in case God happened to fail! In Job’s lament, it’s gold — provision, just in case God happened to lack! There is no shortage of securities that we set up to ensure our safety, health, comfort, or pleasure. We can depend upon them heavily. When we do, we take a huge risk: We may gradually learn to place more trust in them than in God. By God’s standards, that’s unfaithfulness.

IN DEED:
Where do you look for your sense of peace? An account? An education? The national defense? Airport security stations? Standard airbags? The list could go on for pages. Not that there’s anything wrong with earthly insurance in the various forms it takes. But our trust in wealth or walls can be a veiled statement of mistrust in God. He must let our false securities fail before our trust turns back to Him.
Don’t you remember? His eye is on the sparrow and the hairs on your head are numbered. The only thing that can undo you is your deliberate disobedience, and even then it’s under His supervision. Let yourself trust the One who is unfailingly trustworthy. Accept no substitutes. Rest in His sovereign arms.

“It is not our trust that keeps us, but the God in whom we trust who keeps us.” -Oswald Chambers-

May 20 – Releasing a Blesser (James 3:1-12)

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.”
(James 3:9)

IN WORD:
Positive words seem less volatile than negative words, but their power can be surprising. A good word can edify. It can confirm the talents, skills — even the life direction — of someone who only needed a little encouragement to keep going. It can change the course of someone’s day, which in turn can change the course of that person’s week, month, or year. The snowball effect of a comment can run in an edifying direction just as easily as a destructive one. Why would anyone neglect such a powerful tool?
Not only can our mouths bless others, they can also draw attention to the glory of God. They can tell of His great works, witness to His unfathomable mercy, and marvel at his remarkable ways. They can be heard in the darkest corners of this world, in the assemblies of the saints, and in the halls of heaven. They can enter His gates with thanksgiving and tell of His marvelous greatness. They can shout with a voice of triumph and proclaim His mercies to all nations. In fact, our mouths were created entirely for such purposes.
It is a violation of the tongue’s created design to degrade, denigrate, demean, or destroy. It is even a violation to excessively express its discontentment and criticism. The tongue was formed exclusively — or at least primarily — to bless. It was given to bless others and to bless God. In so doing, it will bless our own selves.

IN DEED:
Do you have this remarkable tool stashed away somewhere? Have you failed to use this potent source of blessing? If negative words come out of your mouth, reverse the trend. Use your mouth to bless at all times. You will find the current of your life to flow in a corresponding direction. When blessing comes out of your heart, God makes sure that blessing comes into it. Release your tongue to do what it was meant to do.

“Kind words also produce their image on men’s souls; and a beautiful image it is.” -Blaise Pascal-

May 19 – Taming a Destroyer (James 3:1-12)

“The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person.” (James 3:6)

IN WORD:
Every summer, the news story is repeated. Someone in the western United States fails to completely put out a campfire, and from a single ember, a forest blazes. Firefighters battle the consuming enemy from ground and air, and governments spare no expense to extinguish it, but it is relentless. There is virtually no stopping a raging forest fire until the rains come. Before they do, millions of acres are destroyed. And it all starts with one spark.
Such is the power of the tongue, says James. Words burn. Once they’ve ignited, there is no undoing them. The only way to prevent massive damage is to prevent the sparks that start it all. Once spoken, words cannot be unspoken. Combined with the gossip-prone nature of the human community, words spread rapidly. It is virtually impossible to put them out.
The tongue must be tamed. It’s destructive capabilities call for the utmost carefulness. It’s corruption spreads outward and it also works inward. Words not only distort the perception of others, they train our own minds to follow. A careless comment becomes a deeply held conviction all too quickly. There is no such thing as idle chatter. Words matter.

IN DEED:
How careful are you with your tongue? Biblical wisdom has much to teach us about the power of speech. Jesus said in Matthew 15:18, “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean.” Words reveal our inner impurities, and those impurities may offend others. The childhood saying about sticks and stones simply isn’t true. Words can hurt.
Guard your tongues. They can set the whole course of your life, according to James. Anything with that kind of power must be tamed.

“Cold words freeze people, hot words scorch them, and bitter words make them bitter.” -Blaise Pascal-

May 18 – Unshakeable (Psalm 71:1-3)

“When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a refuge.” (Proverbs 14:32)

IN WORD:
How do you react in a crisis? Or, to ask an even more revealing question, how do you react in the minor irritations of everyday life? The answer is not a matter of your familiarity, even intimacy, with your Father. As much as we say that He is trustworthy and true, our tower of strength and our shield, those are only words until they are tested. And in this world, they are tested often.
Have you ever known Christians who believe the right things about God but who panic at every difficulty? It’s hard to believe that someone’s belief in the sovereignty and faithfulness of God are more than skin deep when his panic sets in. The truth of our relationship with God comes out when the heat is on. We discover whether we really trust him or not when we’re put in a position of having to trust Him. A belief in God’s providence means little until one lacks essentials, and a belief in God’s strength means little until one is completely helpless. Then the truth comes out.
Those who have not put their trust in the Refuge, who ignore Him and go their own way, are wicked, according to the Bible. That may seem harsh, but that’s the true assessment of the human rebellion. And those who do not really trust Him will be brought down by every calamity. Those who do trust Him can’t be brought down by anything — even death.

IN DEED:
So, where do you stand? Do you have a shallow belief in God’s faithfulness, applying his promises to others’ situations but not to your own? We are called to live in a different dimension than we once lived in. We must know who our Fortress is. We are not to become strong; we are to find our strength in Him. We must let His peace speak louder to us than our trials do. God stands firm when everything else moves. Can you?

“As sure as God puts His children in the furnace, He will be in the furnace with them.” -Charles Spurgeon-

May 17 – The Perfect Word (Colossians 3:16)

“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”(Proverbs 30:5)

IN WORD:
In a world of shifting loyalties, devious cons, and ever-evolving ideas, we need to know where to anchor our souls. We aren’t diligent enough to analyze every counterfeit that comes our way, nor are we perceptive enough to expose every false philosophy. Human rationalism is not equipped to establish eternal truth. That’s why we need help. Only God can point us in the right direction.
It’s a comfort when we are searching for absolutes to actually find them. According to this proverb, such absolute truth will shield us. What from? Every subtle deceit, every malicious word, every doctrinal error, and every false messiah. Much to our dismay, the world is full of empty promises. If we are left to ourselves to figure them all out, we will spend our lives tossed around on tumultuous waves of competing “truths.” By the time we obtain understanding by our own efforts, it’s too late to settle on the foundation of God’s wisdom. In short, we need to be anchored in revelation.

IN DEED:
How do we do that? A daily. Time in God’s Word is a good first step. It works truth into our minds on a regular basis. But is that really enough? Is a daily quiet time, often on the run, enough to protect us against error?
Here’s a good pattern to follow: First, ask God every day to convince your heart of His truth and to give you discernment of lies. Second, find at least one verse a week to memorize. Chew on it, let it sink in, look at it from every angle, and come up with specific ways to apply it. Third, don’t just study God’s Word. Fall in love with it. Consume it as voraciously as your favorite meal. God has a way of working into our hearts the things that we love. If we love the flawless Word, the flawless Word will dwell within us.
The New Testament affirms the proverb. We are to let the Word of Christ richly dwell within us (Colossians 3:16). Perhaps that would be a good memory’s verse to start with. Let it richly dwell in you this week. In a world of lies, isn’t it good to know you can embrace something flawless?

“We must both affirm the inerrancy of Scripture and then live under it.” -Francis Schaeffer-

May 16 – Resist Flight (Psalm 55:4-8, 16-18)

“I said, ‘Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest — I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.’ “(Psalm 55:6-8)

IN WORD:
David was a man after God’s own heart and a great, anointed king. But in many ways, he was just like us. Psalm 55 is an example. When the pressure was on, David just wanted to run away.
All of us have had similar urges. When life gets intense and troubles seem to offer no way out, we just want to get out of the situation. Every Christian who has been prepared by God and stretched to his or her limits can relate: There are times when we would do anything if God would just remove us from our trial. We’ll pray for ways of escape, but God often leaves us surrounded until His time is right.
God has no scorn for such feelings. He made us and He knows our frailties. He understands our impulse to flee from whatever difficulties we face. But He also insists on our endurance, because it has spiritual results that nothing else can accomplish. And there is no way to learn endurance other than simply to endure. We can’t learn it in principle or in theory; only pain can teach it to us. We must be put in a position of having to lean on our God and to learn of His ways. Experience is the only way to know Him.

IN DEED:
The good news for those who go through intense trials and suffering is that once the impulse to flee is broken, God delivers. When endurance is complete, God removes the tribulation we endure. Every fear of verses 4-8 is followed by every blessing of verses 16-18. Our God does not leave us in our troubles. He has put us there to discover His provision; He will not withhold it indefinitely. There will be a day of deliverance. It is God who is enthroned forever (v. 19), not suffering. We don’t have to flee; we simply call on the One who dwells above our trials.

“Nothing great was ever done without much enduring.”
-Catherine of Siena-