Wisdom’s Benefit Package..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 Wisdom’s Benefit Package

Dr. Charles Stanley

Proverbs 2

When someone applies for a job, a common question is: “What does the benefit package include?” Since the world’s advice about how to have a good life is in sharp contrast to what the Bible recommends, we might want to consider asking a similar question about the value of living according to God’s wisdom: What are the benefits? In other words, Why should we seek to live in obedience to the instructions given in the Scriptures?

First of all, in seeking God’s wisdom, we will acquire a deeper understanding and knowledge of the Lord (Prov. 22:4-6). Our perception of life is greatly enhanced when we know Him intimately. He’ll give us the ability to see ourselves, others, and situations from His perspective. As biblical principles permeate our minds, they will shape our thinking and responses to all of life’s situations and challenges.

Second, God promises divine guidance and protection if we walk wisely (vv. 7-10). Nothing outside His will can penetrate the shield of protection around those who seek to obey Him. When we let His wisdom enter our hearts, discretion watches over our desires and emotions, preventing us from entering into foolish or sinful relationships that would draw us away from Him (vv. 11-20).

Godly understanding and protection don’t become ours simply because we want them. Such benefits come to people who diligently seek divine wisdom. If you receive the wordsof Scripture and let them fill your heart and mind, the Lord will reveal Himself to you and give you His discernment.

Be Who You Are..... Craig Denison

 Be Who You Are

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

So often we view God as an enforcer of religious rules. We see the commands of Scripture as a list of to-dos rather than a path leading to abundant life. But those perceptions aren’t the truth of Scripture. Those beliefs are founded on misguided notions of God’s character. God is after the heart. More than he wants us to do right, he wants us to see him rightly. He wants going to church, reading the Bible, worshipping, serving the poor, and living righteously to come from a heart filled with a true revelation of his loving-kindness. May your heart be wholly God’s this week.

Scripture:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.” Psalm 139:13

Devotional:    

God will never ask you to be anyone other than who you are. He’s not asking you to be just like other believers. He’s not asking you to copy those around you that seem to be well-liked or accepted. So often we view God as a parent who spends all his efforts trying to fix us on the outside that we might keep up appearances. But it couldn’t be more the opposite. God doesn’t spend time trying to cover up who we are. Rather, he devotes himself to uncovering who we truly are—who he made us to be.

Psalm 139:13 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.” God formed you wonderfully and uniquely. He gave you a personality and calling all your own. He sees past all the exteriors we create to try and fit in. He sees through all our efforts to cover up what makes us unique and different. He sees us for who we really are. And he is calling us to cast down our facades and live out of the revelation that we are already, right now, fully loved and accepted by our Creator.

Discovering your identity begins with a journey with God to your heart. If you’re wondering who you truly are, you need not look past yourself, but rather, with the Holy Spirit, take an honest look at yourself. Don’t shy away from your insecurities. Don’t shy away from that which makes you different. Allow God to reveal how he sees you. Allow him to reveal to you the true desires of your heart. And allow him to lay a secure foundation for you built on his unconditional love that you might live vulnerably and honestly.

Allow God to fill you with the courage to be yourself today. Stop trying to change yourself to fit in to the expectations of others. And live with your identity and value securely founded in the love of your heavenly Father.

Spend some time in guided prayer looking at your heart with the Holy Spirit. Allow him to reveal how he sees you. Ask him how he has formed you and made you unique. And allow him to empower you to be yourself today. May your time in guided prayer be filled with freedom and courage as you cease striving to be someone that you’re not.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s call for you to be who you are. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to live honestly.

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.” Psalm 139:13

“As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” Proverbs 27:19

2. In what ways are you striving to be someone you’re not? How are you seeking to keep up appearances rather than live honestly?

3. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal how he sees you. Ask him to fill you with courage to cast down any facades and be who you truly are.

Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If you choose to place value and identity on what God says about you, then your heart will find freedom that transcends the ways and cares of the world. Treasure what God says about you. Store up his words and truth over you. Let them be your source of hope and life. May your heart be with your loving, kind heavenly Father as you seek to find freedom to live as you truly are today.

Extended Reading: Matthew 6

The Missing Piece to Your Peace..... GRETCHEN SAFFLES

 The Missing Piece to Your Peace

GRETCHEN SAFFLES

“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” Psalm 119:15-16 (ESV)

Anxiety startled me awake without my permission. The pressures of daily life thrust my soul’s peace into a frenzied panic.

My thoughts spiraled into “what ifs” and “what nows,” and my hope for a peaceful night of rest seemed like a far-off dream. I didn’t want to be anxious, but I had no idea how I could experience the peace God promised.

This wasn’t the first time anxiety pushed and prodded at the peace that is mine in Christ Jesus. I can recall countless times when troubled thoughts and racing questions led me to a dead end of fear.

I used to think I was the only Christian woman who still stumbled into the anxiety pit time and time again. While the world around me moved forward without a care, I’d pretend everything was OK even though the world inside me was crumbling. Satan knew the lie — that everything was OK — was precisely the lie that would hinder me from embracing freedom and fullness in Jesus. I believed this lie until the day God showed me the missing piece to my peace.

In Psalm 119:15-16, the psalmist penned a resolution to fill his mind with the Truth of God’s Word through the discipline of meditation. The meaning of the word “meditate” in this passage is to ponder, muse or study. Biblical meditation is a consistent and continual filling of one’s mind with the Word of God by dwelling on its Truth. As we think deeply about God’s Word, the Word takes root in our souls, becoming a part of our thinking, believing and understanding.

Did you know many of us spend most of our days dwelling on negative thoughts? Not only are these thoughts negative, but they are also repetitive. What we dwell on dictates our responses and becomes the narrative of our lives. When we are stuck in a cycle of repetitive, negative thoughts, we cannot find peace.

But God hasn’t left us without hope. He has given us the power of His Living Word to stop the cycle when we filter every thought through His promises. (Hebrews 4:12) Instead of allowing negative thoughts that clash with the Truth of God’s Word to play on repeat in our minds, we can join the psalmist in resolving to fill our minds with Truth.

Now, when the button of worry gets pushed, what plays on the record of our souls is a soothing melody of God’s promises. Worry-filled thoughts will come and go, but God’s Word never changes — yet it always changes us. If we want to find the freedom Jesus came to give, we need to know the Word inside and out, letting it seep into the deepest recesses of our souls. (Psalm 119:11; John 8:32)

Apart from saturating our souls in His Word, attempting to live a Spirit-filled, well-watered life in Christ is like trying to put together a puzzle that is missing several pieces. No matter what angle you look at it from, the picture is never complete. The missing piece to our peace is the steady intake of Truth. When God’s Word becomes the filter we see all of life through — including every “what if” that threatens to turn our peace into panic — then God’s promises become our rest.

Lord, we are helpless without Your help, living the dried-up life while sitting at the bottom of the pit of anxiety. Your Word reaches into these depths and lifts us up so we can sing a new song. Tear down our negative, repetitive thoughts, and root our souls in Your Truths that never change, although they always change us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (NLT)

Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” (ESV)

The Power of Words..... By Anna Kuta

 The Power of Words

By Anna Kuta

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” - Proverbs 18:21.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” In my mind, that statement couldn’t be further from the truth.

Words are powerful. We’ve all, no doubt, been wounded at some point by careless, unkind or mean statements. Their effect on our lives, even years later, is undeniable. No matter how much we deny it, it still makes us cringe to remember the taunts of the second-grade bully on the playground and makes us want to crawl under a rock to think of that rumor spreading through the high school hallways.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” Proverbs 18:21 says. The impact our words have on others cannot be overstated. One small comment or remark can make the difference between building a relationship up or tearing it down. We have the power to either encourage or destroy others with our speech.

The Bible speaks extensively about the power of words – especially positive ones – and warns about the dangers of careless ones. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger,” says Proverbs 15:1. “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones,” Proverbs 16:24 adds. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” And Matthew 12:36-37 says: “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

One particular instance of the power of words in my life stands out in my mind – one that, without exaggerating, very likely changed my whole course at that time. It was early in the second semester of my sophomore year of college, and I was trudging up the stairs of the journalism building to turn in an assignment. Freshman year and the first half of sophomore year had been rough for a variety of reasons, and now I was struggling to juggle my classes, work and personal issues and keep my head afloat. I had to officially declare my major in just a few weeks, but I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. It was one of those weeks where I seemed to be failing on every assignment, and to top it off, I had just come from a disastrous meeting with an econ professor who made me feel stupid for not understanding an “easy” problem. Even in my journalism classes – my best subject – I couldn’t seem to get into the swing of things. The harder I tried, the worse the results seemed to be. I was beginning to worry that majoring in journalism would be the most terrible idea of my life, and I was, in all honesty, becoming more and more tempted to give it all up completely and go take a semester off somewhere.

On my way out of the journalism building, I passed two of my professors talking in the hallway. I said hi to them and kept walking, but after I rounded the corner I stopped short as I heard one of them say to the other, “Anna is one of the most hard-working and good journalism students.” I don’t know if he meant for me to overhear his statement, and I don’t remember hearing either of them say a single other thing, but his words made me freeze and stand there for a good 10 seconds. A good student – that’s really what he thought? My work was paying off? I wasn’t a total journalistic failure who would never succeed as a writer? It was like right then and there something went off in my mind. I hadn’t even realized I needed the encouragement, but suddenly my whole outlook changed. If that’s what my professor thought of me, then I was determined not to let him down. Many times throughout the rest of college when I doubted myself or just needed a pick-me-up, I thought back to his comment. He became one of my most trusted mentors, and before I graduated I was finally able to tell him how his words that day had probably been the turning point in my whole academic career. To this day, I still don’t know what it was about that one simple statement – but I do know its impact went a thousand times beyond what my professor could have ever imagined.

A kind, positive or encouraging word at the right time can truly be life-changing. Your words hold the power to breathe an attitude of death or life into others – which will you choose?

Intersecting Faith & Life: Let us strive to remember the power of our words and their impact on those who hear them. Think twice before making a negative statement, and instead find a way to pass along an encouraging word today.

Further Reading

1 Peter 3:10
Colossians 3:8
Proverbs 15

A Prayer for Greater Longing for Christ..... By: Victoria Riollano

 A Prayer for Greater Longing for Christ

By: Victoria Riollano

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. Psalm 42:1

I must be honest.

There are many things I desire. On my shortlist: Friendships that bring me joy, a family that operates in love, and financial security. This doesn’t include my desire for a new pair of shoes, a homecooked meal from my mother (who lives 10 hours away), nor my weekly need for a chocolate-filled dessert. Many times, I’m willing to go out of my way to attain these desires. Even a food craving will lead me to piling seven children in a car and doing a complete grocery trip for just one moment of satisfaction.

Yet, when I encounter Psalm 42:1, I ask myself, “Do I long for Jesus in the same way?”

Am I willing to pause everything just for him? Do I think of Him in the morning or talk to Him throughout my day? When I ask myself these questions, I’m faced with my own spiritual deficit. Though longing for Jesus should always be my heart cry, I often miss the mark. Trapped between my own fleshly desires and the need to be in control, there are many moments Jesus becomes an afterthought rather than my first love.

The word “longing” in Psalm 42:1 goes beyond a momentary want. The original meaning of the word used by the psalmist is “to cry out.” In other words, the one who “longs” cries out for what they need and is desperate for the object of their affection.

When the psalmist says, “as the deer longs for the streams of water,” this imagery is not a fleeting desire of an animal. Instead, the psalmist is keenly aware the deer cannot sustain herself without water. Having water once a week or when times get tough is not enough. For deer, water is needed several times throughout the day. So much so, that mature deer make their homes close to small water sources so that they can always be in close proximity of this basic need.

This verse reminds us that the Lord is the source of our strength, rejuvenation, and spiritual nourishment. He has no desire for us to be thirsty Christians in need of refreshing. He does not want us to only seek Him when we are feeling spiritually depleted.

Instead, like the deer, He wants us to camp out in His presence and see Him as our resting place. Our soul’s desire should be to remain in a continual state of seeking Him. Through prayer, worship, studying His Word, we refresh ourselves in the streams of His presence.

Today, I can’t help but imagine how different our world would be if the followers of Christ would all long for Jesus. This personal longing for Christ would strengthen our faith and cause us to live into and out of God’s love in a deeper way. Without a doubt, the testimony of how God would move in our personal lives and communities would draw people to our Savior. Yet, it starts with us making a choice to seek God above all else.

Although we can certainly desire the things of this world like a great career, finances, or even our favorite meal, we know that all these things are momentary. In time, they will all change or fade away completely. But our God remains the same. Never changing and always present for His creation now and until the end of time. May our soul cry out for the one who has all the answers, knows all the plans, and provides all the resources. He alone is enough.

Dear Lord,

I pray for a great refreshing to come over my life. I ask that you deepen my desire for your word and your presence. Like the deer pants for water, I pray I may long for your presence in my life. I ask for forgiveness for the many times I sought the fleeting things of this life more than I sought you.

Lord, I long for your truth to invade my mind, will, and emotions. I pray to experience your presence and to know with all my heart, mind and soul that you are enough to satisfy me.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

And they crucified Him....... Author not known

 And they crucified Him.

Author not known

--Mark 15:24

A medical doctor once gave a detailed description of what happens when someone is crucified:

"The cross is placed on the ground and the exhausted man is quickly thrown backwards with his shoulders again the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flex and movement. The cross is then lifted into place.

"The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed. The victim is now crucified. As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain--the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushes himself upward to avoid the stretching torment, he places the full weight on the nail through his feet. Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet.

"As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath. Finally carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream. Spasmodically he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen.

"Hours of this...pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.

It is now almost over--the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level--the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues--the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues...finally he can allow his body to die."

The Bible records this process of death by crucifixion in just a few simple words. How often we take for granted the pain and suffering Jesus endured when He died on the cross for you and me. Let us remember this Easter the sacrifice He made.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Thank Jesus for the price He paid for your sins through His painful death on the cross.