Biblical Musings of a Prodigal Son: 06/08/21

Invest Your Time—Don’t Just Spend It

Dr. Charles Stanley

Time is a most valuable commodity. Since it’s irreversible and irreplaceable, we ought to give careful consideration to how we spend our days—and even our minutes. Time is a gift from God. That means we are not owners but stewards and will one day be held accountable for how we used what was entrusted to us. According to verse 15, there are only two possible ways to live: wisely or foolishly.

Let’s first consider what is involved in using our time wisely. Those who realize that their days belong to God are careful how they live. Their goal is to understand the Lord’s will and align their schedules and activities with His purposes. As they seek guidance each day through intimate fellowship with Him in the Word and prayer, their spiritual eyes are opened to discern which opportunities are from the Father and which are not a part of His plans for them.

But those who are foolish do not give adequate thought to the way they live. Some become unproductive and lazy, living for their own pleasures while missing out on God’s purpose for their lives. However, others may be very busy and extremely successful by worldly standards, but if their days are occupied with activities that aren’t God’s will for them, they’re wasting their time.

To make the most of your opportunities, begin each day with the Lord, submitting to His will and asking that He direct your activities. After all, none of us want to get to heaven and discover that even though we’ve been busy spending our time,we have failed to invest it for eternity.

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit..... Craig Denison

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

As believers, we’ve been given the Holy Spirit as a Helper, Teacher, Friend, and seal for the promised inheritance of eternal life with God. His presence, guidance, and wisdom in our lives is our greatest gifts while here on earth. Through him we have access to direct connection with our heavenly Father. Through him we receive spiritual gifts to empower us. And through him we are able to bear the incredible fruit of abundant life. Open your heart and mind to all that the Holy Spirit would give you, show you, and lead you to this week.

Scripture:“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Devotional:

The fruit of the Spirit passage in Galatians 5:22-23 gives me tremendous hope for my own life. Scripture says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” When I read that list I receive a vision of who I long to be. I long to be a person full of love, joy, and peace. I long to have patience, kindness, and goodness. I long to be marked by faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Who wouldn’t? I see within those incredible characteristics the marks of a fully abundant life. I see Jesus.

At the same time, I see myself in light of these incredible fruits of the Spirit. I see all the ways in which my life doesn’t line up with what the Holy Spirit desires to birth in me. How can we, in all our sin and brokenness, live a life marked by these characteristics? How can we be a people so full of the Spirit that our very being portrays the Spirit of God who dwells within us?

Weekly Overview:

Scripture:“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Devotional:

God longs to tell you and me today that by his grace, a life marked by the fruit of the Spirit is entirely possible—but only by his grace. In and of myself, I can produce none of these wonderful characteristics. In my own strength, I will only produce selfishness, laziness, and pride. “But with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). The Bible calls these characteristics fruit for a reason. They are birthed out of the glorious working of God in us. They come entirely by God’s grace.

So how do we allow the Holy Spirit to work at the core of our being and produce these wonderful fruits? How do we become children of God marked by the working of the Spirit in our lives? It comes from being connected to our source, that he might plant seeds that grow within us. As we spend time with God we become like him. In his presence our heart transforms into a greater reflection of his glorious love. He can do incredible and miraculous things in us if we simply open our hearts and spend time abiding in him. The more time we spend receiving his love for us, the more areas of brokenness and sin become healed and transformed. If you want to bear the fruit of the Spirit—if you want to be a person marked by the working of God at your core—then you must spend time each day simply being loved by God.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s desire and ability to produce the fruit of the Spirit in you. Allow his word to fill you with hope that you can be a person marked by these characteristics.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” Psalm 1:1-5

2. Receive God’s presence and rest in his love. Open up any broken places in your life to him. Talk to him about any areas in which you consistently struggle with sin and allow his love to heal those wounds.

3. Ask the Holy Spirit to bear fruit in you today. Ask him to lead you to a lifestyle of love, joy, and peace. Ask him to fill you with patience, kindness, and goodness toward others and yourself. Ask him to make you a person marked by faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

It’s vital that you understand these characteristics are not something you strive toward in your own strength, but they are a natural result of being loved by God. You will never be able to be consistently faithful, gentle, or anything else good in your own strength. It takes the work of the Spirit to be marked by the Spirit. Engage with the Holy Spirit throughout your day. When you find yourself in a situation and are struggling to be a person full of the fruit of the Spirit, take a minute and ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. Ask him to share with you his perspective and heart. He is with you in every moment and longs to help you live your life to the fullest. Enjoy his love today and live your life out of the abundance of God’s presence available to you.

Extended Reading: Galatians 5

Trusting God's Will Over Our Way..... ALEXANDRA HOOVER

Trusting God's Will Over Our Way

ALEXANDRA HOOVER

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

As a young working woman in her mid-20s, I’d spent most of my life thinking about this season and all I wanted to achieve — finding a more fulfilling role where I’d be able to use my creative and leadership gifts. I was ready to take on the goals I had long planned for.

Instead, I was met with disappointment, discontent, and more administrative work and spreadsheets than anything else. Mentally and emotionally exhausted, I was running myself into the ground while trying to grow in my career, sacrificing the very things God had placed before me as my portion to steward: time with my family and time with Him. I had followed my way before even asking God about His will.

Deep down, I knew God wanted good things for me, but honestly, I thought my way seemed better.

There was very little prayer involved in this season of my life. When I did pray, my prayers were more like petitions, asking God to bless my plan rather than to help me follow Him. The more I strived to follow my desires, the more my soul withered. I had created an idol out of my dreams and allowed performance and success to become little gods in my life.

Something had to change before something else in my life suffered. I needed to recommit the work of my hands and my heart’s desires to the Father, as our key verse says: “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans” (Proverbs 16:3).

I went before God with my hands and heart open, asking Him to do a new thing in me, settle my soul and help me remain faithful to the season He’d called me to. I sat with Him and listened as I read the Scriptures and sought out His wisdom.

Slowly but surely, my heart began to turn back to God. Finger by finger, I released my tight grip on the idols that had become the center of my affection. God was inviting me into total surrender and trust, asking me to commit to Him all that had been set before me and everything that was in me.

Proverbs 16:3 speaks beautifully to the heart of this. Solomon was a man who walked in wisdom at the time he wrote this proverb. He understood the importance of committing his heart and work to the Lord and had done so for many years, building the temple and serving God faithfully. (1 Kings 6:14) However, somewhere along his journey, he began to turn away from God, giving in to his desire to marry many foreign women, which led him into a life of idolatry and sin. (1 Kings 11:1-13) He failed to commit His whole heart over to God and steward well what God had continued to call him to.

The word “commit” in Hebrew means “to roll away,” to let go of all we think we must carry and do. To roll toward God all of our heart’s desires, leaving them at the feet of Jesus. What a beautiful picture of trust and surrender — to open our heart and hands, releasing the grip we’ve tightly held around the things we long for and maybe even idolize. Had Solomon surrendered his desires and plans to God, had he trusted God with his whole heart, he likely would've seen that on the other side of obedience is abundance. (John 10:10)

This is God’s desire for us: to commit our life and plans to Him while trusting His leading and guidance.

God had better things ahead for Solomon and has better things for us today. God's will for our lives will always be best — taking what’s in our hearts and conforming it to His. Friends, our desires, left unchecked, will open the door to a life fueled by pride and idolatry, turning us away from the Lord. But when we seek God in all things, we learn that what our hearts truly desire can only be found in Jesus. And as we commit to follow Him, He will lead us in the path of righteousness. (Psalm 23:3)

Father, thank You that Your plans are good and Your way is better than ours. Guide us to commit our desires and lives to You. Help us to trust You, surrender and follow Your lead. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

It’s Time to Finally Forgive (Mark 11:25)..... By: Anne Peterson

It’s Time to Finally Forgive (Mark 11:25)

By: Anne Peterson

Today’s Bible Verse: And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your offenses. - Mark 11:25

I didn’t understand my attitude. It was much bigger than everything right then. It kind of felt like I had shut the door on a closet overloaded with stuff. I needed to clean out my closet. The closet of my stored emotions. It was evident that I needed to forgive, but I didn’t even know where to start.

Everyone in life should have a friend like my friend Bonnie. I explained to her my feelings and my inability to put my finger on exactly what was making me upset. Her answer was typical.

“Have you asked God?”

Eventually, with my friendship with Bonnie, I learned there were things I needed to do before I asked her questions. And one of those things was pray.

So, I prayed, and I felt led to write down anyone toward whom I felt anger. I sat there for a while, and I wish I could tell you one or two names were written on my paper. It was more like eight names.

The offenses weren’t large ones, but it was clear that I had chosen resentment instead of forgiveness. And to keep those resentments fresh, I stored them in Ziplock bags. I’d take out the offenses and go over and over them in my mind, feeling the hurts as if they just happened. I’m not proud about this.

It was good to finally deal with it. It didn’t feel good, but I knew it was what God wanted me to do. He tells us to be “kind and tenderhearted, forgiving one another as Christ forgave us” (Ephesians 4:32). Roots of bitterness are hard to pull out.

God also tells us to “let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from us, along with malice” (Ephesians 4:31). Yes, I knew I needed to forgive and to put away my bitterness. But my pride wanted me to keep holding onto it.

Tightly, I might add.

Sometimes, the Holy Spirit gently takes us to Calvary reminding us how Jesus forgave us totally. And he asks us to forgive just as he did.

Forgiveness is difficult when all we think about is how we felt. Peter asked Jesus, how many times he needed to forgive his brother and he felt he was being generous when he asked if it was seven times. Jesus said seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22).

Repeated offenses are hard. But forgiving others as Christ forgave us is what Jesus pointed out. Whenever I struggle with forgiveness, it helps to remember Jesus’ words, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23: 34).

Satan tries to convince us that people who hurt us do it deliberately. But that doesn’t matter. We’re told to even love our enemies (Luke 6:27).

It helps me to remember that forgiveness is not possible apart from God. I have to pray when I need to forgive someone. God enables us to do the things he wants us to do.

A speaker once said, “If you’re not sure if you’ve forgiven someone, imagine them walking down the street towards you. What would you do? Would you cross over to the other side?” I’ve never forgotten that illustration.

Holding onto bitterness will stunt our spiritual growth. Paul tells us God started a work in us the moment we accepted Jesus and that work will be brought to completion (Philippians 1:6). When we follow God’s Word, we are cooperating with the Holy Spirit.

When I hold onto things, I can almost hear God saying:

Open Your Hand

What is that you are holding in your hand,
In your fist that is closed, ever tight?
What is that you are purposely keeping from me,
for you feel that you have the right?

Don’t you know as you grow in your walk with me,
I can see even things that you hide?
Oh, if you only knew what’s in store for you,
you would open your hand so wide. - Anne Peterson

God's Unseen Glory..... by Ryan Duncan

God's Unseen Glory

by Ryan Duncan

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14

If I had to choose a favorite moment in the life of Christ, it would probably be the story of the blind man in John 9. Most Christians are familiar with the passage, it begins with Jesus walking through the temple with his disciples when they come across a man born blind.

“As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” – John 9:1-3

For a long time, I believed the “works” Jesus talked about meant healing the man’s blindness. That’s what the story was all about, wasn’t it? Jesus performing a miracle to prove he was the Son of God? Actually, no. In fact, the real message of John 9 turned out to be something much different.

After receiving his sight, the man is brought before the Pharisees to be questioned. The religious leaders are torn: this Jesus performed a miracle, so he must be some kind of prophet, but he did so on the Sabbath, a true man of God wouldn’t break the Sabbath. Eventually, they just decide to pull rank (We are the Pharisees, We decide who gets credit for this miracle!) Listen to how the once-blind man responds,

“The man answered and said to them, ‘Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?’ So they put him out.”

If Jesus had wanted to be recognized for his power he would have ridden into Jerusalem as the conquering hero the Jews expected him to be. Instead, he came quietly, touching the lives of the lost and overlooked. His “works” were the restoring of hearts and souls, not just physical bodies. By doing so, he gave a blind man the ability to see truth, where the Pharisees became blind to it. Let us make sure the Church doesn’t become blind as well.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Ask questions. Don’t be like the Pharisees, who were so wrapped up in their legalism they failed to recognize God. Seek to grow your faith at every opportunity.

Further Reading
John 10

Praying for God’s Plans in Our Children’s Lives..... By Meg Bucher

Praying for God’s Plans in Our Children’s Lives

By Meg Bucher

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 NIV

Though parenting is a great blessing we undoubtedly treasure, it often causes us to worry and pray the most. Kids are only containable and controllable to a certain extent. When I am overwhelmed, scouring through Scriptures to pray on their behalf and desperate for God to shield them… He is faithful to remind me that control over their lives is not ultimately mine.

Abba, Yahweh, loves them infinitely more than I ever could. I often need to take my own advice and pray and be patient while God works out the details of their days in His sovereignty. He’s never given me a reason to doubt Him, and I needn’t worry He’ll fail to be faithful.

We, as Solomon wisely wrote in Proverbs, have a tendency to plot and plan the course of our lives, and those of our children. Then, we ask for God’s blessing. But God’s will for our lives is to obediently follow His lead to the best of our ability.

But the LORD, significantly and purposefully written in all caps to remind us who the LORD is, determines our steps. He alone knows what’s up next in our lives. When we are good stewards of the time, talents, and treasures He blesses us with on earth, we have nothing to worry about… nothing to fear… for His plans for us, and our children, are more than we can ask for or imagine.

Faithfully following Jesus is the greatest example we can set for our children. His love never falters or fades. Jesus meets us right where we are and walks with us. By the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in every believer of Christ, we will walk out the steps the LORD determines, for His glory and honor.

Father,

Thank You for the reminder of Your sovereignty and our place as Your children. You chose us, created us, and purposed us …and our children! When we are tempted to worry and request Your blessing over our plans instead of aiming to hear Your will for our lives, grab our attention. Convict our hearts and remind us who You are, and who we are in Christ. Sons and daughters of the One True God.

Yahweh, let the repetition of saying Your name calm us in the midst of worrisome circumstances and challenging moments as parents. Let the weight of perfection fall off of our shoulders, and the weightless and limitless freedom of grace rush through our lives. Let our daily lives honor You, God.

Bless our role as parents, and give us the wisdom we need in order to release the grip of control that so deceitfully sneaks into the cracks of our lives when we fear the decisions our children are making. Help us release them into Your hands. Protect them from those who wish to harm them. Shield and soften their hearts, Father.

Over everything we plan and worry about, we pray Your will for our lives. You are good. We trust You, LORD.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

Biblical Musings of a Prodigal Son

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The Fruit of the Holy Spirit..... Craig Denison

Trusting God's Will Over Our Way..... ALEXANDRA HOOVER

It’s Time to Finally Forgive (Mark 11:25)..... By: Anne Peterson

God's Unseen Glory..... by Ryan Duncan

Praying for God’s Plans in Our Children’s Lives..... By Meg Bucher

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