How to Handle Praise..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 How to Handle Praise

Dr. Charles Stanley

Proverbs 27:21

How do you respond when someone compliments you? Some people absolutely love receiving praise because it lifts their spirits and makes them feel valuable. Others are uncomfortable with it. They look down at their feet or offer reasons why they really don't deserve such praise.

For Christians, there's another dilemma. We're called to be humble, so what are we to do when others say good things about us? Because pride is always waiting to raise its ugly head, we need to be careful not to let praise puff us up. Some believers think that accepting a compliment is a sign of pride, so they make a big show of giving all the glory to God. That's fine, if it's really what's in their hearts, but too often it becomes a rote "Christian" response that's geared to impressing others.

My advice is simply to say, "Thank you very much." Then whisper a prayer in your heart to the Lord, thanking Him for the blessing, recognizing that anything worthy of praise ultimately comes from Him. If you felt encouraged, let the person know how the comment blessed you. If you receive praise for an achievement that was really a group effort, be sure to redirect the compliment to all those who were involved. A blessing is always more enjoyable when it's shared.

Our character is tested by the praise that comes to us. Every compliment that bounces into our ears should quickly rebound up to the Father. If we hold onto it, the poison of pride will begin to infect our hearts. But if we pass the praise to God, humility takes up residence in our souls.

God is Trustworthy..... Craig Denison

 God is Trustworthy

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview: 

It’s vital to the Christian life that we as sons and daughters of the most high God allow our affections to be stirred by the loving, powerful nature of our heavenly Father. Too often we feel that God is distant or separated from us. Too often we allow misconceptions or lies to place a rift between us and experiencing God. It’s in reminding ourselves of God’s character that lies are broken and a pathway is laid for us to encounter his tangible love. Open your heart and mind and receive fresh revelation of the goodness of God this week. Allow your affections to be stirred and your heart to be filled with desire to seek the face of your heavenly Father.

Scripture:“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10

Devotional:    

Our heavenly Father calls us, his children, to place our trust solely in him for provision, well-being, and guidance. We see God call his people to a lifestyle of trust throughout Scripture, but time and time again the people of God take matters into their own hands. Why is trust so difficult? Why do we have a hard time placing the burden of provision, well-being, and guidance in the capable hands of our heavenly Father? The only good posture of our hearts is total trust in our God. The only way we will experience the full reality, love, and power of our heavenly Father is in trusting him. It’s when we trust him that we allow him to move in our lives. It’s when we trust him that we position ourselves to receive the powerful working of the Holy Spirit. It’s when we trust him that we allow him to work in and through us to see his will done on the earth. So, let’s allow God’s word to be our guide today as we open our hearts to receiving the courage and faith to place our trust in God.

Psalm 9:10 speaks to the core of trusting in God: “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Trusting God is first and foremost a matter of knowing his character and faithfulness. We must know his name, or who he is, and know in our heart of hearts that he will not forsake us. Trusting God starts with a knowledge of his trustworthiness, but must make its way down to the heart. If we don’t allow God’s character and faithfulness to become a transformative reality of our heart, we will never bear the fruit of trust. So in order to begin a lifestyle of trust in areas in which we have taken control for ourselves, we must begin by asking God for a fresh revelation of his character and faithfulness. We must see God for who he is, reflect on his faithfulness as demonstrated in Scripture, in the lives of other believers, and in our own lives, and allow these revelations to transform our hearts’ desires and bear the fruit of trust.

Oftentimes it takes me being at my wit’s end, where there is nothing possible left for me to do, before I pray and ask God for his help. In reality, I should begin every part of my life with surrender to the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance. I should follow God’s leadership from the beginning. Isaiah 26:3-4 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” My life should be a continual response to the love and faithfulness of God rather than a trial of my own strength ending in cries of desperation to my heavenly Father who longed to help me all along. God’s desire is that we would be a people marked by the peace that only comes from continual trust in response to his trustworthiness. Continual peace comes from continual trust.

Psalm 37:3-5 offers what I believe to be a blueprint for the abundant life God desires for each of us. David writes, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” When we place our trust solely in God we are filled with delight in him in place of the burden and weight of living life in our own strength. And when we delight ourselves fully in God, our desires come into line with his, allowing us to simply “do good” and “dwell in the land.” If we will trust in God he will both fill us with the desires he has for us and then satisfy those desires. When the people of God respond to his faithfulness with trust, he does mighty and incredible works. God delivered the entire nation of Israel through the trust of one man, Moses. He destroyed the walls of Jericho through the faithful marching of his people. He scattered the Midianites in response to the trust of Gideon. He delivered Paul and Silas from prison as they worshipped him in trust. The stories go on and on, but they all have this in common: God spoke his desires to his people, his people trusted him at his word in response to his character and faithfulness, and he did a mighty work in their favor.

Where do you need a powerful work of your heavenly Father today? Where do you need his help and guidance? Spend time meditating on the character and past faithfulness of your heavenly Father and place your trust in him in response to his trustworthiness. Your God loves you and longs to help you. He has a plan to deliver you from whatever comes against you. Just as he destroyed the enemies of his people time and time again, he will help you overcome whatever obstacle stands in your way today. Place your hope and trust in God and follow him as he leads you to a life of victory and freedom.     

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the character and faithful works of God.

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” Numbers 23:19

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” Nahum 1:7

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

2. Reflect on your own life. Where do you need God’s help today? Where do you need his favor or guidance? Where do you need a miracle?

3. Place your trust in God, ask for his help, and follow his leadership. Spend time placing your trust solely in him. If it feels too difficult to trust him completely, ask for his help! Ask him to uncover whatever lie is keeping you from trusting him. Ask him to reveal his nearness, love, and power to you. Trust is meant to be a response, not something you conjure up. Allow him to reveal himself in deeper ways so that you can simply respond to his overwhelming reality, love, power, and faithfulness.

“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10

“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:8

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” Psalm 37:3-5

May you grow in your knowledge of the trustworthiness of your God today. May you experience the joy of having the Creator of all working in the details of your own life. God is not too busy for you today. He doesn’t have better or bigger things planned than your problems. He is infinite, vast, all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. He longs to work in the little things along with the big things. Listen to him as he speaks Isaiah 43:1-2 over you today:

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Extended Reading: Psalm 37

Does Jesus Really Want You to Hate Your Family? (Luke 14:26) ..... By Lynette Kittle

 Does Jesus Really Want You to Hate Your Family? (Luke 14:26)

By Lynette Kittle

Today’s Bible Verse: If anyone comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, bothers and sisters - yes, even their own life - such a person cannot be my disciple” - Luke 14:26

Many of us have tried avoiding a close look at Luke 14:26, often skimming over it in Bible reading. We don’t want to address what Jesus is saying. We wonder, “how could He possibly be telling us to hate our families?”

At first glance, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. It seems like Jesus is telling us to do the opposite of what His Word tells us to do over and over again: to love one another as we love God (John 13:34).

Hating those we love the most doesn’t seem to match up with all those verses about loving one another. It doesn’t seem to fit with a God defined by love. So, what is Jesus saying to us in this passage? What does He mean?

What Does Jesus Mean in Luke 14:26?

Hate in Scripture is often interchangeable with “choosing” someone over another. Romans 9:13 is an example of this: “Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’”.

Jesus instructs us to hate our own life by choosing God over ourselves. “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25).

The Apostle Luke stresses, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to Me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24).

Again, Jesus emphasizes, “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).

What Does Choosing Really Look Like?

Luke 9:57-61 describes Jesus walking on the road while individuals approached Him. They wanted to follow Him wherever He went. But when Jesus extended invitations to them, saying, “Follow Me,” they said they had a few things to do beforehand.

Their requests sounded reasonable, with one asking to bury his father first and another wanting to go bid to his family before bidding them farewell. Most of us would see these things as the loving and compassionate things that these individuals to do before following Him.

But Jesus’ response was this: ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:62).

Jesus wants us to choose Him. He wants us to unconditionally walk forward with him. Looking back demonstrates there are still some things taking priority over following him.

God Is Love

God is love (1 John 4:8) and He does call us to love our families and neighbors. Yet, He also asks us to choose Him over our own lives and our families.

Following Jesus means making Him our first priority in life and loving Him over everyone else. Today, consider if Jesus really is the first priority in your life.

Daniel's Prayer: Longing for Rescue..... by Kelly Givens

 Daniel's Prayer: Longing for Rescue

by Kelly Givens

“We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” - Daniel 9:17-19

If you’re ever trying to find something to study in the Word, one neat thing you might try is reading the great prayers of the Bible. Think Genesis 18:16-33 for Sodom and Gomorrah, 1 Samuel 1:10-16 for a child, Jonah 2 in the belly of the great fish, and of course, Matthew 6:9-13, which Jesus himself taught his disciples. I’ve found these teach us more than just how to pray. Through these prayers we learn what it means to be people of faith. We also see God’s character revealed to us and learn why prayer is important to God.

Daniel 9 contains one of these great prayers: Daniel’s prayer to God on behalf of the Israelites. In the first few verses, Daniel tells us that after reading the writings of the prophet Jeremiah he understood that the exile -- which he had been a part of for most of his life -- was nearing an end. We might expect Daniel to celebrate, but instead he says, “I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes” (Daniel 9:3).

What in the world is going on here? If Daniel truly believed God’s promise to end the exile, why is he praying as if he didn’t? When I thought through this, I realized Daniel didn’t doubt God would deliver on his promise. Rather, he understood that prayer is an expression of faith in the promises of God. It also helps us align our hearts to God’s will and purpose in the world. Daniel was essentially saying, “God, this is awesome news. I want this so badly. Don’t let our sinfulness keep you from acting on this great plan. Don’t delay, rescue us soon!”

We too have been promised an end to our own exile of sorts- Jesus promises to return and bring his Kingdom with him when he comes. He promises the end of our captivity to sin and to bring us into ever-lasting life in the New Jerusalem, in his presence forever!

This is an incredible promise. But are we praying for it the way Daniel was praying for Israel’s return from exile? We pray “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done,” but do we really mean it? I know I often don’t. I’m usually content in this broken world, in captivity. I’m comfortable here; I’m used to it. I don’t often long for the Jesus to come back.

But God desires us to be like Daniel, to remember our sinfulness, confess and to pray that Jesus would indeed come back soon. God’s promises are intended to encourage us to pray, not to make us shrug our shoulders and say, ‘Oh well, it’ll happen one day, regardless of if I pray or not.”

We need to pray as Daniel did, not because God needs our prayers to accomplish his purposes, but because we need to submit ourselves to his plans. We need to long for what he longs for, and for Christians today, the number one thing on our prayer list, our number one longing, should be the return of Jesus.

Intersecting Faith and Life:

God has promised us that he is coming back to claim this world as his own and to rescue all those who have placed their faith in him. Are you living in light of this promise? If not, meditate on scripture that affirms Jesus’ return, and pray your heart would desire this as much as God does.

Further Reading:

John 14:1-4
Rev. 21:1-5
Rev. 22:7

A Prayer of Comfort for the Lonely..... By: Kristine Brown

 A Prayer of Comfort for the Lonely

By: Kristine Brown

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

Life seems to be offering plenty of opportunities to feel lonely recently. Isolation and a host of other interruptions take us away from friends and family. Away from work colleagues. Away from community.

However, some of us may be experiencing just the opposite. Circumstances may have us spending more time with our people than we’re used to, leaving us feeling worn out. And even if we’re surrounded by people, a familiar void can settle in, telling us we’re all alone. That no one understands what we’re going through.

King David knew this feeling well. He faced times in his life when he felt alone. He asked for God’s grace in his loneliness, even though he was often surrounded by faithful soldiers, trusted advisors, and more. We discover the longings of David’s heart in Psalm 25:16, “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.”

Loneliness is deceptive. It lies to us, coaxing us into believing we have no hope. Making us think no one is there for us, even with plenty of people around. But God’s Word reveals the truth about loneliness. We are never alone as children of God.

Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” God will never leave us. So when feelings of loneliness begin whispering those lies, we can call it for what it is with God’s truth.

Let’s remember David’s familiar words from Psalm 23 today as we pray for those who feel lonely to find the comfort only God can give. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). Our Lord is with us. Today, tomorrow, and forever.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I come to You today with a heavy heart. Everywhere I turn, I see loneliness. In a world where we’re more connected than ever, why do so many of us still feel alone?

Lord, some of us are isolated from friends and family, while others are surrounded by people all the time. Yet whether or not we’re physically alone, we’re all vulnerable to the lie that tells us no one cares, and no one understands. But as children of God, we know that isn’t the truth. The enemy wants us to feel separated from one another, so help us remember what Your Word says. We are never separated from You.

You are “the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Only You can comfort those who feel lonely and afflicted. Please send Your Holy Spirit to those who feel lonely. He is our Comforter, and His presence offers the antidote we need.

Thank You for always being with us. Isaiah 41:10 offers hope of Your constant presence, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.” And finally Lord, help us to be aware of other people in our lives who feel alone. Guide us as we reach out into the world around us to show love to the hurting and lonely. In Jesus’ name, Amen.