Failing to Listen to God..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 Failing to Listen to God

Dr. Charles Stanley

Genesis 3

Listening to God is not a onetime event. We must continually keep His Word before us, or we'll begin to listen to the wrong voices.

In Genesis 2:16-17, the Lord gave a command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But Eve began to listen to another voice and did not hold firmly to her Creator's words. All that Satan had to do was plant a single doubt about God's integrity and offer Eve one appealing advantage of doing things her own way—and she fell for it. He mentioned wisdom, but using her own reasoning, Eve added two more benefits to the temptation: the fruit is good for food and a delight to the eyes.

The schemes of the Enemy have not changed. He still whispers lies and twists truth to convince us that a) God cannot be trusted and b) His ways are not the best. In every temptation, there is a deception about the character and motive of God, plus an attractive promise of a better way.

The world is filled with voices that vie for our attention and influence our thoughts and actions. Throughout the day, consider the messages that are sent your way through the media and people. Consciously begin to compare them to what Scripture says about God and His ways.

Remembering what God says in the Bible is our safeguard against deception and temptation. Daily devotions won't protect us if they're quickly forgotten during the day. Follow Christ's example: be ready with truth in your mind and on your tongue whenever temptation strikes (Matt. 4:1-11).

God is a Loving Father..... Craig Denison

 God is a Loving Father

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

There is no better father than Creator God. He formed us and knows us. He provides for us, loves us unconditionally, and longs for real, life-giving relationship with us. He runs out to meet us in our sin, clothes us with new identity, and restores to us the abundant life he has always planned for us. As we spend time looking at the father heart of God, may a fresh revelation of his love for you guide you into greater depths of relationship with your heavenly Father.

Scripture:“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” >1 John 3:1

Devotional:

In Brennan Manning’s book, Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging, he writes,

But we cannot assume that [God] feels about us the way we feel about ourselves—unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely, and freely. In human form Jesus revealed to us what God is like. He exposed our projections for the idolatry that they are and gave us the way to become free of them. It takes a profound conversion to accept that God is relentlessly tender and compassionate toward us just as we are—not in spite of our sins and faults (that would not be total acceptance), but with them. Though God does not condone or sanction evil, He does not withhold his love because there is evil in us.

May we experience the freedom that comes with a true revelation of God’s unceasing love for us.

God loves you with an unconditional love. To know God is to know love in its truest form, because he is love. Love isn’t just something he gives. It isn’t just something that he feels. It is who he is. God’s love for you is limitless and has the power to set you free from every wound, thought, sin, and broken relationship that causes you to live anything less than a joyful and content life.

Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Really take a minute today and allow the truth of God’s word to settle into your heart. While you were still a sinner, Christ gave his life that you might live. God demonstrated the depth of his love for you by sending Jesus to die while you were still a slave to sin. At your lowest point, God loved you with an everlasting love. There is no need to cleanse or fix yourself before you run into the arms of God. There is no need to fake happiness or holiness with your heavenly Father. God loved you prior to clothing you with Christ. He will love you in the midst of every mistake you make, and he will love you whether or not you ever love him back. His wrath was satisfied with the death of Jesus so that you could come to him just as you are and simply experience his love.

Titus 3:4-5 says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Take time in guided prayer to allow the Holy Spirit to wash you with regeneration and renewal. Allow God to cast out any fear or reservation that is keeping you from experiencing the fullness of his love. Allow him to establish a new foundation of grace on which you live with unshakable joy and security in the affections of your heavenly Father.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the depth of God’s love for you. Allow the truth of his grace and mercy to settle in and change your perspectives.

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” >Romans 5:8

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” >Isaiah 49:15-16

2. What keeps you from experiencing God’s love? What thought or wound holds you back from spending more time with your heavenly Father?

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” >1 John 4:18

3. Allow God’s love to renew within you a longing to spend more time with him. Rest in his presence. Receive a fresh revelation of his goodness. Spend time with your heavenly Father just letting him love you.

“The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” >Jeremiah 31:3

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” >1 John 3:1

It’s vital that as believers we are constantly checking the status of our mental and emotional health. A single lie planted in our mind has the power to steer us away from experiencing the fullness of God’s love. If you are having a hard time pursuing relationship with God, take some time to find out why. If you can’t seem to find joy, take time to do a mental and emotional inventory. May you experience freedom from whatever thought, belief, past or present event, worry, or doubt that is keeping you from the abundant life Jesus came to give you.

Extended Reading: Luke 15

The Direction We Look Matters..... GLYNNIS WHITWER

 The Direction We Look Matters

GLYNNIS WHITWER

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.’” Daniel 3:16-17 (ESV)

The sun was setting, golden red like the popsicles I loved as a child. A cool breeze swirled around us as we walked the dogs through the neighborhood when something rectangular and fluttering on the street caught my eye.

It was a $20 bill!

Although it was the most money I’ve ever found, it’s not surprising I saw it because I’ve always walked eyes-down. Even as a child, if there was a penny or a nickel on the sidewalk, I would find it. That day I looked around to see if anyone was near who might have lost the $20, but the street was vacant.

That time, my downward vision was a benefit, but not always. Unfortunately, the tendency to keep my eyes down isn’t limited to walks. My internal visage can trend down as well, looking for and finding the worst possible outcome.

The weariness of the past year, plus the reality of no real breaks in my routine for months, created the perfect conditions for me to spiral internally when a few hard incidents converged. I was certain things were falling apart … never to be mended.

A close relationship was strained, and I was convinced the individual didn’t care about me.

Finances were tight, and I was sure we wouldn’t get past it.

My mother’s health was declining rapidly, and the sadness of the future threatened to steal the joy of the present.

My eyes were firmly focused on the negative possibilities in every direction, leaving out of the equation God’s power to change my attitude or my circumstances. It’s odd that I found time to dwell on the negative yet missed so many opportunities to look up and see God’s potential in each situation.

God has been faithful in the past, so why did I think He’d fail me now?

There were three men in the book of Daniel who had no doubt about God’s power to save them from their circumstances. King Nebuchadnezzar demanded Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego bow down and worship a golden image or be thrown into a fiery furnace. That’s a scenario with only one outcome if they refused — a horrible death. And yet, instead of keeping their eyes on that, they chose to keep their eyes on their God.

To the king who held their lives in his hands, they matter-of-factly declared the power of God to deliver them:

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.’” (Daniel 3:16-17)

Those young men refused to bow down and kept their heads high. They were faced with certain death, and yet they didn’t waver in their conviction that, one way or another, God would come through for them.

This story challenges me to consider the direction of my vision when circumstances get hard. When I focus on my problems, they loom large. When I focus on my God, His power is evident.

Changing the direction we look changes our perspective. Problems don’t have the power to save us; God does.

The psalmist reminds us of this truth in Psalm 121:1-2: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth” (NIV).

Today, when challenges come in waves, let’s remember to change the direction of our eyes. Let’s look to and worship the One who has the power and desire to help us in our time of need.

Heavenly Father, forgive me for the many times I bow to my problems rather than keeping my eyes on You. I want to be a woman who faces hard places in life with the same confidence in You that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Power of Prayer to Deliver You from Fear..... by Lynette Kittle

 The Power of Prayer to Deliver You from Fear

by Lynette Kittle

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” - Psalm 34:4

A few years back, our family of six attended an out-of-town conference, staying in a large hotel in the greater Los Angeles, California area. Like Ezra fasted and prayed before embarking on a journey, we fasted and prayed beforehand for safe travels and protection over our luggage (Ezra 8:21).

With a packed hotel busy with conference attendees and our room located directly across from the elevator, it was an active area with people coming and going 24/7. Because it was such a high traffic location, I asked my husband and daughters to make sure to put items away in their suitcases each day before leaving for the conference. Besides not wanting items to get lost or broken in the cleaning process, I didn't want us to leave anything out that might tempt an employee or guest passing by to be dishonest.

Needless to say, after attending conference events all week long, along with traveling back and forth between the hotel and conference location, we were tired and dragging between the numerous sessions.

Rushing to leave our room on the final night of meetings, I found myself the last one out of our room. Later on in the evening while settling into my seat to listen to the speaker, a thought briefly crossed through my mind. Did I close the hotel door completely on my way out? Trying to go over my steps and actions in leaving the room, it wasn’t clear in my mind.

As fearful thoughts started to invade my mind, I resisted the urge to let my imagination run wild with possible scenarios of an open room full of open suitcases. In the midst of my processing, Psalm 119:114 calmed my anxious thoughts by reminding me that God is our refuge and shield.

So rather than let my thoughts run away with worry, I let God’s word assure me our possessions were under His watchful eye.

Realizing it was too late at that point to do anything about it, I was comforted in remembering how we had prayed at the beginning of our stay specifically for the protection of our suitcases.

Like Psalm 34:4 states, “I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”

God delivered me so much so from all my fears that by the time we returned to the hotel later that night, I had completely forgotten about my earlier concerns. As we stepped off the elevator, all six of us stopped in our tracks in seeing our hotel room door unlocked and standing wide-open.

Walking into the room it looked like every piece of luggage had been left unlocked and on display throughout our room. For the four-plus hours we had been away, our possessions had been spread across an open hotel room and in full view of a busy hotel elevator. Yet it looked like everything was still there exactly the way we left it.

Defying Gravity..... by Katherine Britton

 Defying Gravity

by Katherine Britton

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” – 1 Chronicles 29:14

While I was in elementary school, family friends made the decision to leave the States for Kiev, Ukraine. This family of seven, including children my age, had to downgrade from a four-bedroom suburban home to an 800 square foot flat. That meant getting rid of a house full of clothes, toys, yard tools, furniture, dishes – a whole host of personal preferences and “needs.” Each family member had the luxury of one big trunk as they moved halfway around the world.

For this family, however, the joy of sharing the Gospel in a former USSR satellite nation outweighed all their possessions. My dad asked his friend how he was handling the sudden “loss.” His answer was telling.

“Actually,” the new missionary responded, “this is the most freeing thing I’ve ever done.”

This family found a special freedom far before I began to sniff it out. For me, this reorientation is coming slowly, helped along recently by a little book called The Treasure Principle. In it, Randy Alcorn uses a science metaphor to explain why our friends felt unshackled rather than empty. He writes:

It's a matter of basic physics. The greater the mass, the greater the hold that mass exerts. The more things we own—the greater their total mass the more they grip us, setting us in orbit around them. Finally, like a black hole, they suck us in.

Consider our materialism that way – the more stuff, the more mass. The more mass, the greater its gravitational pull. And the harder it is to escape.

Compare this to David’s exhilaration in 1 Chronicles. He is humbled not by how much God has blessed him with – but by how much God has allowed him to give away. The king of Israel, a center of the ancient world, found his joy not in the palaces and the women at his disposal, but in the act of returning to God was rightfully God’s. How many of us can say the same?

We live in a physical, material world. But we have the chance to defy its hold on us with every cent, toy, and “need” that comes our way. Are you ready?

Intersecting Faith & Life: I want to relearn the joy of giving in a more tangible way than ever before. As Alcorn puts it, “We give because He first gave to us” the most valuable gift of all. What ministries, families, or other kingdom cause is on your heart?

A Prayer to Remind Us God Works for Our Good..... By Lori Hatcher

 A Prayer to Remind Us God Works for Our Good

By Lori Hatcher

“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.”(Romans 8:28)

This Scripture brings comfort, direction, and hope to Christians every day. Sadly, it’s also one of the most misquoted and misunderstood verses in the Bible.

I’d like to share three things about this popular verse you may never have noticed.

First, Romans 8:28 doesn’t mean we can live any way we choose, and God will fix our messes.

To understand the truth of Romans 8:28, we can’t just quote the part of the verse we like: “And we know that in all things God works for the good...” and skip the rest, “of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

This verse says to those who love God and are doing their best to obey his commands, “Even though bad/sad/evil/wicked things will touch your life, I (God) will use them to ultimately bring about good, both in your life and in the world.”

Second, Romans 8:28 tells us God can use all things together for good. He doesn’t say all things are good.

No matter how rose-colored our glasses are, there’s nothing good about cancer, sex trafficking, or death. Until Jesus returns and conquers Satan once and for all, sin will continue to drag its poisonous tentacles across our world, damaging and destroying everything in its wake.

The truth of Romans 8:28 reminds us that although sin and Satan are powerful, God is more powerful; He is able to redeem and restore anything for our good and his glory. All things may not be good, but God can and will use all things for good.

The final thing you may never have noticed about Romans 8:28 and its accompanying verse, Romans 8:29 is the ultimate good God wants to accomplish in the lives of his children:

“For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (v. 29).

A wise Bible teacher once told me, “God allows everything into our lives for one of two purposes—either to bring us into a relationship with himself or, if we already know him, to make us more like his Son.”

As long as we live in this world, people will attempt to reconcile God’s sovereignty with humanity’s suffering. Verses like Romans 8:28 assure us that no suffering is wasted, and God is always at work for our good and his glory. When we cannot comprehend why trials come and struggle to imagine that anything good can come from them, we can rest in the security that God is in control.

Please pray with me:

Father, sometimes I can’t understand how you can bring beauty from the ashes of my life. I struggle to trust you with the broken pieces. You say in your Word that without faith it is impossible to please you, and I want to please you. I want to trust you. I want you to make me more like Jesus and use my trials for my good and your glory. Help me believe the promise of Romans 8:28. In the strong name of Jesus I ask, Amen.