The Family Influence: Good or Bad ..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 The Family Influence: Good or Bad

Dr. Charles Stanley

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Proverbs 22:6 tells us, "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." What a great responsibility this places on parents. Records of royal lineage (1 Kings 15-16) illustrate that one's level of submission to God is often mirrored in the offspring's life.

Now, it's true that children eventually grow and make their own decisions. There are godly parents who are heartbroken by their kids' poor choices. Similarly, some from backgrounds full of sinful bondage become righteous people of integrity.

As mothers and fathers, we are given a momentous task: to model and teach how to live according to God's Word. Thankfully, we don't have to rely on ourselves for wisdom. Good parenting involves prayerful self-evaluation, godly counsel, and thoughtful course corrections.

Start by considering how you'd answer the following questions if your children were to walk in your way: What place will Jesus, the Word of God, and the church have in their lives? Will they seek God's direction as the ultimate guide for decisions? Will they develop strong godly relationships? Will they know how to handle money wisely? Will they do their best in their vocation? As you seek answers, ask God to reveal truth, since self-examination can be difficult.

In prayerfully considering your impact as a parent, expect to see positives and negatives. The goal isn't self-condemnation, so keep in mind 1) there's no perfect parent and 2) it's never too late. Even if the kids are grown, you can ask forgiveness, share what you've learned, and model a godly life starting now.

The Parables of the Lost Sheep and Coin ..... Craig Denison

 The Parables of the Lost Sheep and Coin

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

Jesus loved to use stories to illustrate profound, life-transforming concepts. He loved to use real and genuine settings, characters, and ideas that apply to all of us to reveal God’s heart of pursuit and love. This week we’re going to spend time allowing the parables of Jesus to speak directly to our situations, mindsets, and core beliefs about who God is. Open your heart and mind to be transformed by the powerful and captivating stories of Jesus.

Scripture:“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:4-7

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10

Devotional:    

If the core of Jesus’ teachings on the gospel could be summed up in two stories, they would be the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. Both stories illustrate one crucially important truth: God pursues us. Both clearly display God’s heart for us in that he willingly and passionately comes down to meet and help us wherever we are. As we look at these important parables today, open your heart and allow the reality of God’s pursuit of you to transform the way you relate to him and stir up your desires to seek his face in return.

Jesus says in Luke 15:4-7,

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Then Jesus teaches in verses 8-10,

Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Jesus tells two parables to re-emphasize a perspective-shattering truth. The One, True God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, so values us that he leaves everything behind to pursue relationship with us. So great is God’s desire for restored relationship with you that he came down off his throne, left transcendent perfection, and lived his earthly life in total service to us, thereby leading him to an unjustified and sacrificial death.

Has the reality of that truth been fully realized in your heart? Has both the grandeur and love of our God hit home to the point that the depth of God’s love is your chief reality? Too often we pass by the core message of the gospel because we have heard it before, and we don’t allow it to stretch past our mind into our heart. It’s when truth rests in our heart, impacts our emotions, and becomes real to us that it transforms our life. You were the helpless and lost sheep. You were the coin that was so valuable God worked and searched until he had it back in his possession. You are of the highest value to the only One who truly decides the essence of worth. Don’t let that truth pass you by today. Instead, grab hold of it, reflect on it, and wrestle with it until it becomes the foundation for every decision, thought, and action in your life.

Let’s respond to the depth of God’s pursuit with our own. Let’s allow God to bring every part of our lives entirely into his possession. Let’s be the reward of Jesus’ sacrifice. In Psalm 27:8 David says, “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” God is calling out to you, saying, “Seek my face.” He waits patiently for your reply, excited at the notion that you would live your life receiving the abundance made available to you by Jesus’ sacrifice.

Spend time in prayer meditating on God’s pursuit of you and responding to him by seeking his face.           

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the powerful, core truth found in the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. Meditation is an effective way to take knowledge and allow it to sink into our hearts. Rest in the truth of Jesus’ teaching.

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:4-7

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10

2. Ask the Spirit to guide you into a time of response. How can you seek God’s face? What can you do to offer your life as the reward for Jesus’ sacrifice?

“But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” Lamentations 3:25

3. In faith seek God today. God promises you his presence, his nearness. He longs to guide you into real relationship with him where he satisfies your deepest desires. As you seek him, allow him to fill you up with the power and love of his presence.

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

“The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” Psalm 34:10

“You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” Psalm 27:8

The chief characteristic that marks those who live life in the Spirit is their continual pursuit of God. Psalm 34:10 promises us that “those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” God will always respond to your pursuit of him because his greatest desire is relationship with you. You don’t have to be scared to seek him, wondering if you will find him to be real and responsive. He’s already promised that to you. Take Hebrews 11:16 and live your life in obedience to his word. Have faith and believe that he “exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” May you discover a deeper reality of his nearness, love, and pursuit of you today as your respond to God’s word in faith.

Extended Reading: Psalm 27

Where Is My Happily Ever After?..... LYSA TERKEURST

 Where Is My Happily Ever After?

LYSA TERKEURST

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:33-34 (NIV)

I feel the most unsettled when I’m uncertain about the future.

Many of you are also probably facing circumstances that have left you feeling caught off guard and unsure about what tomorrow holds. So many times I find myself bracing for impact when I check my daily news feed. If there’s one word that seems most certain to describe the times we are living in, it’s “uncertain.”

Maybe you’re in a job where you feel unsettled, and you think God is leading you somewhere else, but He hasn’t yet revealed what’s next. So, for now, you walk into an office every day giving it your all, but your heart feels disconnected and your real calling unfulfilled.

Or maybe you’ve been watching everyone else in your life find love, walk down the aisle and start the life you’ve dreamed of. Then a few months ago, you met someone who was everything you’ve been hoping for. You told your friends this might be the one. But this week you felt that person pulling back. It’s hard to understand. You feel panicked. Yet the more you press in, the more distance you feel between the two of you.

There are thousands of scenarios that evoke these feelings of uncertainty, fear and exhaustion from life not being like you thought it would be.

Whatever your situation, you probably feel like you can’t change it, but you still have to live through the realities of what’s happening right now. Sometimes you just have to walk in your “I don’t know.” The Lord makes it clear in His Word that things will not always go as we wish they would in this life. Here are the quotes we so often hear:

“In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33b, NIV)

“Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34b, NIV)

All this trouble is exhausting. Walking in the “I don’t know” is scary. And sometimes we can be desperate to make things easier than they really are.

We keep thinking if we can just get through this circumstance, life will settle down and finally the words “happily ever after” will scroll across the glorious scene of us skipping into the sunset. But what if life settling down and all your disappointments going away would be the worst thing that could happen to you? What if your “I don’t know” is helping you, not hurting you? Remember those verses we just read about troubles? Here they are again in the context of the full passages:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34)

The crucial detail for us to have peace in the middle of everything we face is to stay close to the Lord. We think we want comfort in the “I don’t know” times of life. But comfort isn’t a solution to seek; rather, it’s a byproduct we’ll reap when we stay close to the Lord.

I wish I could promise you that everything’s going to turn out like you’re hoping it will. I can’t, of course. But what I can promise you is this: God is close to us even in our “I don’t knows.” God has lessons for us that are crucially important for our future, and we’re learning them in the middle of our “I don’t knows.” God has a strength He must prepare us with, and the training ground is here in the “I don’t know.”

This time isn’t a waste, and it’s definitely not pointless when we are walking with God. Let’s cry out to God, declaring that this hard time will be a holy time, a close-to-God time. And let’s choose to believe there is good happening, even in these places. We can rest in the knowledge that wherever God is, good is being worked.

Father God, more than I need You to fix anything in my life, I just need You. I am declaring this hard time as a holy time. Help me live in such a way that marks this season by closeness with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV)

Against Church Shopping..... by Mike Pohlman

Against Church Shopping
by Mike Pohlman

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. - Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV

A survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life details just how fluid religious commitment is among Americans. The survey, however, only confirms what the casual observer of religon in the U.S. already knows: we are a fickle people when it comes to religious affiliation. Here's how the survey opens:

Americans change religious affiliation early and often. In total, about half of American adults have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives. Most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24, and many of those who change religion do so more than once. These are among the key findings of a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life. The survey documents the fluidity of religious affiliation in the U.S. and describes in detail the patterns and reasons for change.

Responding to the survey Time magazine's Amy Sullivan summarizes why some people switch religious homes:

With all those options, choosing a church (or mosque or synagogue or temple) isn't just a matter of theology for many Americans. They might decide where to worship because they adhere to a broad tradition — like Protestantism — or because they are drawn to a particular denomination, subdenomination or even an individual congregation. Or they might choose based on location or children's activities or the quality of preaching or music or potluck offerings. The concept of church-shopping itself is uniquely American.

Our consumer-oriented culture has trained us to think choosing a church is like picking a cell phone plan: find the one that meets all my needs while offering me the best "deal." But choosing a church is not like picking a cell phone plan or restaurant or movie or television show.

It is one thing to switch from Coke to Pepsi because one of the two happens to be on sale, but quite another when we leave a church simply because one down the street has a better coffee bar in the foyer. In other words, choosing a church should be primarily "a matter of theology." This requires a whole new way of thinking. A consumer-oriented mind-set by definition holds weak loyalities to any one thing. The consumer mind must be ready to move quickly to the latest best deal or new thing. The theologically-oriented mindset is strongly tied to foundational doctrines and is not easily moved. The former is fickle and mobile; the latter is committed and grounded.

So how do we begin to treat church unlike the way we determine what coffee to buy at Starbucks?

1. Recognize the consumer orientation of American culture. See it for what it is and don't pretend we're not living within it. Instead, we must learn to not be conformed to this world (cf. Romans 12:1-2). The best way to do this is to "set our minds on things above" (cf. Colossians 3:1-4) through consistent Bible study, prayer and fellowship with other believers. But it also requires shunning many of the fallen habits of the world. Discernment is needed.

 2. Resolve to find a church based on matters of first rather than secondary importance. For example, what does the church believe about the gospel? The Bible? God? Christ? The Holy Spirit? Church leadership? How these questions are answered should be what drives us to a particular local church not how good the potlucks are on Wednesday night (as important as that is!).

3. Persevere in your local church. The consumer will not endure faulty products. But the Christian is not called to a product, but to Christ and His church. And churches are flawed. Why? Because they're full of people like us--people being sanctified. As the apostle said, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect..." (Philippians 3:12). Indeed, we are a work in progress so love, gentleness, forbearance, forgiveness, patience, kindness, etc. must be what marks us as we learn to live together in local fellowship.

More could be said, but I am convinced that we have a tremendous opportunity to get the attention of our market-driven, consumer-oriented culture by modeling the very opposite behavior when it comes to church. When fickleness is the norm deep commitment will stand out like a shining star at night. When those people close to us see this devotion they may even ask why--with all its flaws--we stay committed to our local church. And when that question comes I pray we will have a reason far more powerful than, "We like the music on Sunday mornings." No, let us say, "The gospel is preached and lived out there. Why would I go anywhere else?"

Title: A Prayer for Boldness to Share the Gospel..... By: Emily Rose Massey

 Title: A Prayer for Boldness to Share the Gospel

By: Emily Rose Massey

“The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion” - Proverbs 28:1.

A few years ago, I was met with a strong desire to begin to use my social media accounts to share my faith in Christ with others. I didn’t want to use my words to manipulate people’s emotions to gain likes or followers, but to point them to truth found in God’s Word alone.

As a writer, I see social media as a place of ministry. I never want to compromise God’s truth so that others may feel more comfortable embracing my message. I don’t want to twist or misinterpret scripture so that the entire meaning is changed, or confusion is created because it may contradict what we find in the Bible. I discovered very quickly that exposing darkness and error wouldn’t win me any popularity contests online.

As someone who has spent many years healing from the wounds of rejection, denying myself of the desire to be a people-pleaser has to take precedence when it comes to sharing God’s truth, even when it tends to offend. Standing up for God’s Word in a culture where truth is relative, and not absolute as it should be, comes with a lot of pushback (even among professing Christians).

But as true Christ-followers, we are to live to please God and not men.   As believers, we shouldn’t compromise truth to be popular, but we also shouldn’t be quarrelsome. We need to stand firm upon truth no matter what others may say about us or about our God.

Proverbs 28:1 reminds us that believers don’t back down or run away at the first sign of adversity:

“The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1, NASB).

We need the Holy Spirit’s help any time we stand up for Jesus; it is His strength that we must lean on. We need His boldness and courage to be light in a dark world if we are to be a mouthpiece for Him. Just as we cannot muster up our own righteousness, we cannot muster up boldness and strength as a witness for Jesus.

We have to solely rely on the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives and in our hearts. God desires that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), so that should be the heartbeat behind why we share truth with others. It’s not about us being right so that they would follow us, but that they would come to the knowledge of truth so that they might follow Jesus alone.

May the Lord give us the boldness to share His Word with others so that they may come to know Him and love Him more.

Father,

I thank You for calling me to Yourself and making me Your child through what Jesus did for me on the cross. In Him, I am now able to be called righteous, not for anything I have done, but because of His sacrifice.

You have called us as believers to go into the world and make disciples of every nation. I ask that You give me a courage and boldness to share Your truth and Your Gospel with those around me, whether that is online or with another person face to face.

I pray that those you place in my path would see Your great love for them in the truth that I share.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.