Enslaved by Debt ..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 Enslaved by Debt

Dr. Charles Stanley

Proverbs 22:7

Personal debt has skyrocketed in our Western culture. Easy credit, a desire for material goods, and an unwillingness to save and wait have led many people down the path of financial bondage. The Bible doesn’t forbid borrowing, but it clearly warns us of its negative consequences. Our verse today describes the borrower as the lender’s slave.

Every dollar you borrow costs you a measure of freedom. Your paycheck is no longer entirely yours; a part of it must be set aside to repay your creditor. As the interest adds up, the financial burden may necessitate longer working hours. For Christians, the obligation to repay debt oftentimes hinders the ability to give to
the Lord’s work or help people in need. Instead of getting the first part, God gets leftovers or nothing at all. 

The consequences of accumulating debtreach beyond monetary issues. The burden of mounting bills creates emotional and relational stress. In fact, financial problems are one of the leading causes of divorce. Even our relationship with the Lord is affected when we let our appetite for the world’s goods override our obedience to biblical principles. Although God promises to supply our needs, how often do we jump ahead of Him and provide for ourselves with “easy payment plans.”

The next time you are tempted to charge a purchase that you really can’t afford, stop! Go home and ask the Lord if He wants you to have it. If He does, ask Him to provide it. Then wait. True freedom comes to those who rely on the Lord’s promises instead of their credit cards.

Renewal of Purpose..... Craig Denison

 Renewal of Purpose

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

One of the best aspects of spending time alone with God is being renewed daily by his word and presence. When we make space for God in our lives, especially at the beginning of the day, he is faithful to renew and prepare us for all we will face out in the world. Scripture says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Where do you need renewal? How greatly do you need God’s mercies in your life? He has a plan this week to both teach and guide you into an encounter with him that will renew you with his overwhelming goodness and love. Make space for God. Make time to encounter him. And experience the refreshing spring rain he longs to bring to heal the dry and weary places of your heart.

Scripture:“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” John 15:16

Devotional:    

You and I were born with a deep desire to live with purpose. As children, we dream of doing something significant with our lives. We dream of being a person who makes a difference in the world. Inherent in all of us is a longing to make a deep and lasting impact. Our longing for purpose only becomes a problem as we begin seeking out its source. Most of us live our lives in constant pursuit of finding out why we’re here, seeking the answer to the question: “What am I uniquely made for?” And we look for the answers in all the wrong places. We look for our purpose in each other, in the ever-changing whims of society, or internally, in what seems to make us feel good in the moment. But God has a better purpose for our lives than we could ever find in the world. He has a purpose so great, so powerful, and so lasting that when we get a glimpse of it, we will forever be changed. God has a page in his grand narrative written just for you, to use you to make a unique and eternal impact on the earth.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Let us not miss the importance of what God would reveal to us today because we’ve heard something before. Instead, let’s dive in deeper and see what God’s word would reveal to us about that purpose. In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” You are chosen by God. You aren’t secondary to someone else in God’s kingdom. He has formed you and chosen you to “go and bear fruit.” And Jesus desires that our fruit would “abide.” He has chosen you to make a lasting impact on the earth.

So, what lasting fruit does God intend for you here? Answering this question should start with the words of Jesus. Allow God’s commandments to lay the defining foundation of your purpose. In response to the question of what the greatest commandment is, Jesus replies, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31). Your purpose here on earth is to love God and love others. God has chosen to use love to bring about salvation. He’s chosen to use love as the catalyst for spiritual awakening. It’s love that is God’s driving force, and it’s love that he longs to instill in us as our highest goal. Understand today that you are formed and called to love above all else.

Scripture also tells us that we have been chosen to be carriers and ministers of the kingdom of God. Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” God’s kingdom is here on earth. And Revelation 5:10 says, “You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” We are not purposed to merely suffer and wait for heaven. God’s kingdom is here on earth, and we are his workmanship. We are his priests. Acts 26:16 says, “Rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.” Matthew 28:19 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Your life here is of eternal value. A life spent simply waiting for heaven is a life wasted. God has placed an eternal purpose on your life, a purpose meant to be pursued and lived out every minute of every day. You don’t have time to waste. And the compelling truth is, you will never be satisfied until you devote your life to ministering this incredible gospel of restoration and love. Until you pursue seeing God’s kingdom come through your job, relationships, and time, you will never experience the joy and passion only God’s purpose can bring you. God doesn’t have a cookie-cutter mold he tries to fit all believers into. He’s formed you for a specific and unique purpose no other believer will be able to accomplish. His plans for you are your own and no other’s. So choose today to live your life for your heavenly Father. Work with him in all that you do. Love him and others with every fiber of your being. And experience the joy of making a deep, eternal impact with all that you do. May God renew your sense of purpose today as you enter into a time of guided prayer.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s desire to use you for an incredible purpose.

“And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:10

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” John 15:16

2. Reflect on your own life for a moment. In what ways have you been living out of a purpose other than God’s? Confess those sins to your loving heavenly Father. Let his forgiveness transform your heart.

3. Now commit your life to God’s plan and purpose. Choose to love with all you have today. Line up your heart with God’s word, and pursue the life he has in store for you. Give him your job, your family, and finances. Ask him how he would have you use them.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.” Acts 26:16

What will God say about your life when you get finished here? Will your life have been spent in pursuit of him and his kingdom or in building up a small kingdom here that will pass away like the changing of seasons? Will your life be of fleeting or eternal impact? Only you can choose how you will live your life. May you make the choice today and every day to live the only life that truly matters. God has incredible plans and purposes in store for you if you will simply open your heart and your hands to him and say, “Use me.”

Extended Reading: John 10:1-19

Famous and Adored..... KELLY BARBREY

 Famous and Adored

KELLY BARBREY

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters … It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23, 24b (NIV)

From a very young age, I loved an approving audience.

There was a children’s story called Tina the Ballerina I would listen to on repeat. In the story, Tina was a little girl who loved to dance. She was finally allowed to attend a professional ballet performance, but at the last moment, the prima ballerina was unable to perform. Tina the Ballerina leaped onto the stage, leaving the adoring audience mesmerized by her abilities. Her bravery! Her skill! She became famous and, no doubt, lived happily ever after.

I longed to be like Tina. I would leap from my couch, head held high, and twirl in my too-big tutu for my imaginary audience. Famous and adored sounded just about as good as it could get to 3-year-old me.

But in the blink of an eye, I found myself staring down adulthood, still neither famous nor adored, at least not according to the world’s standards. I had family and friends who loved me along with a job that paid the bills. Still, I felt a constant and nagging desire for praise, appreciation and acknowledgement from others. To win awards! To be recognized by my peers! To outshine expectations! I wanted to feel uniquely useful, like something I had to offer was superior in some way. And, this desire had reached a fever-pitch in the era of social media, as more people than ever seemed to be famous and adored with no exact algorithm to the madness.

I believe we all have hearts that, in some way, long for the applause of others. Over the years, I have done a great deal of digging in the Bible to get to the bottom of my yearning for praise and recognition. In the book of Colossians, I found an unexpected answer.

The Apostle Paul’s words in Colossians 3:23 and 24b change my perspective on striving for human applause, refocusing my attention from the “what” to the “who”: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters … It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Notice that these two short verses point out the “who” when it comes to all of our efforts … not once, but twice! Who do we work for? Verse 23 says we work “…for the Lord, not for human masters.” And verse 24b echoes, “It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Shifting my perspective to working for the Lord and fulfilling my earthly duties for Him rather than garnering human praise and acknowledgement has led to a healthier grasp on my need for positive reinforcement. After all, the Lord created each of us to be sublimely special. What each of us has is uniquely useful in the eyes of the Lord, as we are created as part of God’s grand design “…fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14, NIV).

What kind of work we do, whether that means working in an office or in the home — and the amount of human recognition we receive for it — does not matter as much as who we are working for in our hearts and the manner in which we do that work. This feels so freeing and exhilarating to me! When Jesus was speaking and teaching, some people praised him, but others shunned him. Their approval of him was insignificant. It’s truly a gift to be able to work and enjoy that work regardless of the response from others because we have already received love and acceptance from our Father God.

The task might be investing in a teachable moment with a child or working on a project that will impact people outside your immediate family. But no matter what it is, remember that all of the acknowledgment and acceptance you need has already been graciously bestowed on you by God, who knows you, loves you and created you for the exact assignments He has placed on your plate today.

Dear Heavenly Father, You see me. You love me. Allow me to work for You today. Allow me to humbly use my gifts and talents to please You. Help me remember that human “likes,” praise and acknowledgement are irrelevant to the work I do because, seen or unseen, it matters to You. In Your eyes, I am uniquely useful. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Psalm 119:36-37, “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.” (NIV)

Jeremiah 2:13, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (NIV)

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway ..... By: Heather Riggleman

 Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (Deuteronomy 31:6)

By: Heather Riggleman

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” - Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

This was my moment to push through. Feel the fear and do it anyway; I told myself with the acute awareness there was over 1,000 pounds of power, muscle, and bones beneath me. The day was supposed to be spent bonding with my daughter via horseback.

I used to love to ride. Horses were my freedom to roam on my uncle's ranch until one accident changed everything. Deep jagged scars on my forearms glare brightly in the sun, a constant reminder of the accident. Its ugly hues of white and pink were never more apparent than at that moment. How I missed the freedom and trust I once had!

I watched my daughter giggle as her horse turned to nibble at her shoe. I desperately wanted a dose of her fearlessness. Breathing out a shaky breath, I tried to relax, but experience taught me horses jump sideways, buck, and bolt in the blink of an eye.

Taylor shook his mane and danced, antsy to get home. I squeezed my legs and froze, scared he was ready to bolt. Christine, our riding instructor, appeared at my side, patting his neck. She recognized my crisis. She didn’t belittle me nor did she cater it. Instead, she acknowledged my fear and walked beside me. “If you can sit with your fear today, you will fear less tomorrow,” she said.

Her words resonated with so many areas of my life. Later, I sat with her words and had a realization. Fear had become an unwelcome paralysis in my life, damaging my relationships and hindering my faith. Or so I thought: because I didn’t understand what fear really was.

What if fear wasn’t the bully or tyrant I thought it was? What if fear wasn’t here to cause problems but to help us come alive? How would our lives, connections and relationships transform if we sat with fear? What if we believed Jesus was walking beside us, teaching us the benefit of understanding fear in an authentic way?

In Deuteronomy 31:6, the Lord promised He would never leave me or forsake me: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Today’s key verse reminds us God is with us no matter the situation or moment. He came to give us life so that we may live it abundantly. A part of living a life in Jesus Christ is remembering fear isn’t in charge. God is!

This realization has transformed my soul. It has been a holy awakening of sorts. God reached out his hand to me and said, “Heather, stop believing how fear could hurt you and believe in me.”

Since that moment, God has breathed new life into the meaning and made it mean new things in new seasons of my life. I have held onto that idea since first feeling the fear of 1,000 pounds beneath my body several months ago.

I sat at fear’s feet as I struggled to find my voice again as a writer.

I welcomed fear when I learned I had uterine cancer.

I met fear as tears glided down my face as I was rolled into surgery for a total hysterectomy.

I thanked fear when it presented itself in the confines of marriage counseling.

This fresh perspective of fear has taught me to not run, not hide, not whimper, not panic, and not freeze. Integrate instead of disintegrate; instead feel it, face it and do it anyway. We can face fear because God is with us, He is bigger than the fear in front of us. Face the fear and do it anyway because He is always with you.

I’m a Hypocrite..... by John UpChurch

 I’m a Hypocrite

by John UpChurch

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” Matthew 6:5

The college-me would call the current-me a hypocrite. That’s what I did back then. Anyone claiming to be a Christian automatically earned that prestigious title. I could judge, after all, because I sat in my lofty seat in the college library and weighed such grave matters in my head and in my poetry. My pencil could strike down any Christ-follower with a witty rhyme. I knew they were all fake.

So, I had a lot to learn about love. But I was right about the hypocrisy thing. The current me is, in fact, a hypocrite.

Jesus warned us not to be like the hypocrites, those who put on a show but don’t let the show touch their hearts. And when I’m honest, that’s exactly what I do sometimes. My worship becomes a series of movements, a tentative toe-tap into the spiritual waters. All the while, my mind has drifted off to my bank account, my schedule, and my Instagram feed.

That type of worship isn’t worship. It’s a show put on for my own gratification, one that makes me feel better about doing the “Christian thing.” In those moments, I’m exactly what my college self accused me of.

Hypocrite.

Thankfully, Jesus warned me about all this ahead of time. When my body and mind get out of sync, when my devotion becomes a demonstration, His warnings inevitably hit me in the chin. Matthew 6 cues up on my audio Bible, His admonitions pop up on someone’s blog, or I just catch myself in the act. That’s when I see just how much I’m simply going through the motions.

Unlike my college self, who judged to feel superior, God unmasks hypocrisy because He wants me to get real. His gentle (and not-so-gentle) nudges snap me out of my one-man show.

Intersecting Faith and Life: When Jesus warned His followers about hypocrisy, He knew they’d need the reminder. He knew we would need the reminder two thousand years later. Why? Because humans like to put on a good show and we don’t always live what we believe. Our hearts skip off like sheep while our bodies do those “Christian duties.”

Thankfully, God’s in the shepherding business. He knows how to shear that acting junk right off.

For Further Reading

Matthew 6:1
Isaiah 29:1

A Prayer for Comfort When You’re Grieving..... By Christina Fox

 A Prayer for Comfort When You’re Grieving

By Christina Fox

“Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice” (Psalm 55:17).

The book of Psalms contains poems that were used in the Israelite’s worship. There were many different types of Psalms, some were sung in thanksgiving for something God had done. Others were sung to remember things from the past. Some Psalms were sung in praise to God for who he is. And then there were the Laments, the darkest of all the Psalms. These songs were sung to express the sorrows and fears of life in this fallen world.

The Psalms of Lament are filled with questions. These are not the silly questions we might ask Siri or the how-to questions we might enter in a search engine, but they are the questions of a broken heart. They are the questions of one who is weighed down by the sorrows of this world, by the fears, griefs, and heartaches that we all experience.

On this side of the cross, we know that Jesus fulfilled the Psalms, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). Jesus is the answer to every heart’s cry. He came to rescue and redeem us from our greatest fear and our deepest sorrow—eternal death and separation from God because of our sin. By his perfect life and sacrificial death, he made a way for us to come into God’s presence wrapped in his righteousness. Because of Christ, we can “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

I come before you today with a heavy heart. Sadness overwhelms me. I feel surrounded by a dense fog that I fear will never lift. Like David, "my tears have been my food day and night" (Psalm 42:3).

For however long this season of sorrow lasts, I pray that you would show me more of your love and grace. Help me not to run from whatever you want to do in my heart. Help me to trust that you are at work and to rest in your faithfulness. I want to say along with David, "I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul" (Psalm 31:7).

Father, grant me gospel joy; help me to rejoice in Christ even as I grieve. Envelope me with the peace and comfort only you can provide. As the days move into months, may this burden lessen. As the months move to years, use me to encourage and bless someone else who must walk a similar path. Help me to point them to you as the God of all comfort.

I know that you are always with me and that your love never ceases. Help me to find refuge in you and nowhere else.

In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.

Finished!..... By Craig Laurie

 Finished!

By Craig Laurie

When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit. —John 19:30 

The cross was the goal of Jesus from the very beginning. His birth was so there would be His death. The incarnation was for our atonement. He was born to die so that we might live. And when He had accomplished the purpose He had come to fulfill, He summed it up with a single word: “finished.”

In the original Greek, it was a common word. Jesus probably used it after He finished a project that He and Joseph might have been working on together in the carpentry shop. Jesus might have turned to Joseph and said, “Finished. Now let’s go have lunch.” It is finished. Mission accomplished. It is done. It is made an end of.

So what was finished? Finished and completed were the horrendous sufferings of Christ. Never again would He experience pain at the hand of wicked men. Never again would He have to bear the sins of the world. Never again would He, even for a moment, be forsaken of God. That was completed. That was taken care of.

Also finished was Satan’s stronghold on humanity. Jesus came to deal a decisive blow against the devil and his demons at the cross of Calvary. Hebrews 2:14 says, “Only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who hadthe power of death.” This means that you no longer have to be under the power of sin. Because of Jesus’ accomplishment at the cross, finished was the stronghold of Satan on humanity.

And lastly, finished was our salvation. It is completed. It is done. All of our sins were transferred to Jesus when He hung on the cross. His righteousness was transferred to our account.

So Jesus cried out the words, “It is finished!” It was God’s deliberate and well-thought-out plan. It is finished—so rejoice!