God Is Good! Give Thanks!..Doug Fields

 God Is Good! Give Thanks!

This devotional was written by Doug Fields

Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His faithful love endures forever. —Psalm 106:1 (NLT)

It’s Thanksgiving-eve as I write. Even if this year's celebration will only include your immediate family, you will probably be busy. In the hustle and bustle of this day, there will likely be more reasons for why being thankful might not be on the top of your list today. Here are a couple of possibilities:

• The turkey is thawing in the kitchen and you didn’t know that your dog loves raw turkey until you noticed him gnawing on one of the drumsticks in the living room.

• You make a final trip to the grocery store and you can't find anything on your list!

Whatever your day-before-Thanksgiving brings, allow me to simply remind you that there is always at least one good reason to give thanks, whatever your circumstances and it is this: God is good.

Here are three of my favorite ways that God displays His goodness:

1) God is good because He gives us free gifts. Everyone loves a free gift, right? God is good because His gifts are amazing! We read in Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God is so rich in mercy, He loved us so much, that He gave us back our lives again when He raised Christ from the dead. Only by His undeserved favor have we been saved.”

Do we deserve God’s kindness? No. Do we deserve His mercy? No. Do we deserve His forgiveness? No. God loves us and He gives us these free gifts. This is a reason to be thankful!

2) God is good because He loves us unconditionally. God loves us not for what we’ve done, but for who we are. This is a core truth about God and worthy of our embrace. God's love isn’t based on our income. It’s not based on our job. It’s not based on our looks. It’s not based on the way we dress. God's love for us has no strings attached. There’s nothing you can do to earn God's love. This is a reason to be thankful!

3) God is good because He offers us life forever. In the midst of all of the craziness happening in the world, we can be thankful that God wants our future to include real life! He offers us life to the full—here and now (see John 10:10) and someday, life in heaven.

We read in 1 Peter 1:4-5, “and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.” This is a reason to be thankful! 

God is good! He gives amazing gifts! He loves you unconditionally! He gives us life now and a future in heaven. So, what are you waiting for? Thanksgiving Day? There’s no need to wait! Give thanks!

GOING DEEPER:

1. What are the most personal and meaningful ways that you are thankful for God’s goodness to you?

2. Wherever you find yourself today, take some moments to thank God for His goodness.

FURTHER READING:

1 Chronicles 16:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:18

The Experience of His Voice..Craig Denison Ministries

 The Experience of His Voice

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

To know God is to experience God. Just as we experience aspects of one another as we grow in friendship, we experience the wonders of God as we seek to simply know him. God is calling us to a life of seeking him with all we are. He is calling us to value relationship with him above all else that we would love no other but him. May you encounter wonderful aspects of relationship with your heavenly Father this week as we wholeheartedly seek to know him with all we are.

Scripture:“Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” John 8:47

Devotional:

To seek the fullness of relationship with God is to hear his voice. “Whoever is of God hears the words of God” (John 8:47). Just like when I seek true relationship with a person, a conversation must happen; when we seek to truly know God, he talks with us. He is not a God who is silent but a God who speaks to us in any and every way he can.

All throughout the New Testament, there is both teaching on hearing the voice of God and instances where the people of God had conversation with him. In John 14:16-17 Jesus says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” And later in John 16:13 Jesus says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

God himself dwells within us and longs to speak to our hearts. He longs for us to know the will of our heavenly Father the way Jesus did. He longs for us to follow his leading moment by moment the way the apostles did. And he longs for us to engage in conversation with him as all those who are in true relationship with one another do.

God is constantly speaking to us. The problem is that we don’t know how to listen. Scripture tells us that he is declaring the invisible attributes of his nature through creation (Romans 1:20). When I take time to experience firsthand the things God has made, I feel his presence. There is a reason it’s peaceful to be in creation. There is a reason it’s restful to be in the mountains, lay on a beach, or swim in the sea. All of creation is declaring the wonderful character of our loving God. We just need to learn how to listen.

God speaks to us through his revealed word. The inspirer of Scripture dwells within us and longs to use the Bible as a wonderful avenue to encountering its Author. The Bible is not a biography written after someone has died. Rather, it is the living, active words of a living, active God who longs for relationship with us (Hebrews 4:12).

God speaks to us through one another. All of us as believers have been given the same Spirit who has called us to a lifestyle of encouraging one another. We are called to be a critical part of the process of discovering God’s heart and will in each other’s lives. If we will make time to learn how God speaks to us for others, we will discover the very words of God given by grace to the lips of man.

And God speaks to us directly from his Spirit to our spirit. The Holy Spirit is a vocal God. He longs for us to know his thoughts. He longs to direct us whether it be through words, a sense, a desire, an uneasiness, or a prompting. He is always speaking to us. In order to learn to hear his voice moment by moment, whether we’re in solitude or in chaos, we must make time in the secret place to seek the fullness of relationship with him. It’s in seeking relationship with God that we become familiar with his voice and are able to follow him as sheep with their Shepherd.

Take time in guided prayer to seek the face of your heavenly Father and hear his voice however he is choosing to speak. Don’t limit yourself to hearing him in only one way. The path to the fullness of relationship with him is marked by his voice in each of these ways and more. Open your heart to hearing him through any and every way he is speaking that you might grow in your relationship with a good and loving God.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on Scripture that declares God to be a vocal God. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to hear God in every way he speaks.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

“Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” John 8:47

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

2. In what ways are you comfortable hearing God? What ways might be new to you? Know that there is grace to grow in every facet of your relationship with him. Don’t limit yourself to only what you’ve known or experienced up to this point. Rather, seek the truth of God’s word by his Spirit and discover a wealth of relationship you might not have yet experienced.

3. Choose one of the ways God speaks that’s new to you and ask him to help you have conversation with him through that avenue. Again, hearing his voice through all of these avenues is meant to be the byproduct of simply seeking relationship with him. Just as we don’t seek to hear the voice of another person but seek relationship with them and get a conversation as a result, simply seek to know God and talk with him.

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13

To have conversation with God might sound strange for some, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Rather, to have conversation with God available to us and to not take advantage of it is strange. God longs to speak to you. The Creator of all longs to have dialogue with you. The King of kings and Lord of lords is inviting you to meet with him that you might have true relationship. Seek God with all your heart. Look to Scripture and the lives of biblical believers as your source of truth and normalcy. Because of God’s heart to speak to you, you can live your life in constant conversation with a God who is both near to you and loves you.

Extended Reading: John 10

Starting Over New Each Day..Lynette Kittle

 Starting Over New Each Day

By Lynette Kittle

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” - Lamentations 3:22-23

Many individuals feel pressure at the start of a new year to start over. However, if failure to do so comes a few days, weeks, or months later, they feel defeated and like they have to wait another year to try again. Sadly New Year’s resolutions set individuals up for failure by causing them to think they only have one day each new year to start over. But the good news is God offers us the opportunity to start anew each and every day. So if we messed up the day before, we don’t have to wait for another calendar year to roll around before we begin again.

With this invitation to start over, God gives us the freedom to begin again no matter how many times we mess up and need His forgiveness and grace. For “Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given” (John 1:16).

Starting Over Day-After-Day
In the classic film “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray, his character has to start each day new, like the one before never happened. To his frustration, he messes up every day and is back to starting over the same day the next morning. After repeatedly beginning again day after day and increasingly messing up more and more, wears on him to the point where he falls into deep despair. In his distress, he gives up caring about his life or whether he lives or dies.

Even so, whether he wants to or not, he keeps waking up to a new day where he has to start the same day all over again. Still, with each new day, it’s like his mess-ups the day before never happened. He finally comes to the conclusion that every new day is a gift to him and offers him the opportunity to improve his life.

He comes to a point where instead of focusing on himself and seeing how much bad he could get away with, to focus on others and how he could make their lives and his life better by doing good. Eventually, over time, his day after never-ending day transforms him from a selfish and self-indulgent person to a caring, considerate and kind individual. With this revelation, he sets goals to live each one to the fullest, leading him to finally find the happiness and fulfillment he’s come to want and appreciate and ending his reliving the same day again and again.

How to Start Over Again
Although a secular movie, “Groundhog Day’s” script plays out some biblical truths. Below are three ways to move forward each day.

1. Re-evaluate our choices.
Murray’s character made progress in his life when he started examining his bad behavior and looking at where it was taking him. He got on the right path when he purposely made a choice to change his thinking and his actions. Ezekiel 18:21explains, “But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die” (Ezekiel 18:21).

2. Repent from our bad behavior.
Once Murray’s character recognized, pinpointed, and turned away from making poor choices, he changed his ways. As Acts 3:19 urges, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

3. Renew our minds.
Like Murray’s character turned away and stopped making poor choices involved his mind being changed, for Christians, this involves letting God’s word renew and transform our thinking, which will change our actions, too. Otherwise, we’re likely to fall back into old patterns.

Like Romans 12:2 encourages, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Intersecting Faith and Life:
If you messed up yesterday, know that God gives you the opportunity to begin anew today and every day. Rather than feeling stuck in failures and disappointments, ask God to direct each and every day of life, knowing you can rely on His faithfulness to help you. 

How to Transform a Life Today, Biblically..John D. Barry

 How to Transform a Life Today, Biblically

By John D. Barry

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” - Matthew 5:9, NIV

Our world is full of problems. It feels overwhelming. But the solution starts right here, with each of us. Here are some practical and biblical steps you can take today to transform a life.

SPEAK WORDS OF LOVE AND PEACE

Much of the rhetoric of today has become filled with anger and hate. The Bible calls us to be peacemakers.

If we truly think of ourselves as children of God, those saved by the grace of Jesus, then we should be peacemakers. Rather than lashing out at others with hateful rhetoric and disdain, we should consider how we can show other people the very love of Christ.

That can be difficult when we feel ostracized for our faith, but that’s the time when such actions are most needed. Just after Jesus’ line about peacemakers, he says:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12 NIV).

If we experience persecution and difficulties truly for the sake of the gospel, then Jesus considers us blessed. We have become like the prophets of old. Our response to pain, difficulties, and persecution should always be love.

Jesus even went so far as to tell us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). We are to love and leave justice in Jesus’ hands. Jesus summarizes this nicely when he says to Peter:

“Put your sword back in its place … for all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52 NIV).

Peace is a masterful plan. It gives us the ability to completely trust God with our future. When we respond out of love, we silence hate.

REALLY LIVE THE BIBLE’S MESSAGE

Far too many people claim belief in the Bible but don’t really live its message. The Bible’s calling is clear: We are to self-sacrificially love others. It is not enough to claim belief in Jesus without taking action. The book of James puts it this way:

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” (James 2:14, NIV).

Jesus explained this idea when he differentiated between authentic and inauthentic believers by their actions on behalf of the stranger, sick, and imprisoned (Matthew 5:31-46). For Jesus, anyone who claimed to have experienced his saving grace but did not act on behalf of the outsider, marginalized, and helpless simply did not know him.

Take action today to empower others—really live the Bible’s message. Make a self-sacrificial choice for the sake of the gospel.

BE PART OF THE SOLUTION

In my experience, there are many Christians who like to talk about ideas but when it comes to action, there is silence.

Jesus did not tell us to simply speak about the gospel; he told us to take action on behalf of the gospel. In the book of Acts, Jesus frames the message this way:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NIV).

Jesus’ message necessitates action. The remainder of the book of Acts illustrates this point. Starting from Jerusalem and moving out to the rest of the world, the early church begins to spread the word about Jesus’ saving act.

When you truly experience Jesus, you can’t help but take action. For far too long, we have talked about the need to bring the gospel to unreached people groups yet there are still 3,000 people groups without a single missionary. In Bihar, India alone—where the organization I lead is working—there are 101 Million people who have never heard the name of Jesus.

We need solutions to these problems. And that starts with each of us taking action. We need to be willing to give of our time and resources for the sake of Jesus’ mission. We should be willing to do so, to the point it hurts.

At one point a man said to Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62 NIV). What are you looking back at? What do you need to let go of? How can you take action for the sake of reaching the unreached today?

A Prayer for Broken Hearts..Lynette Kittle

 A Prayer for Broken Hearts

By Lynette Kittle

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” - Psalm 34:18

Feeling heartbroken is probably one of the worst pains we endure as humans. It’s an outwardly unseen injury, a wound so deep, no one else can remove the pain from us no matter how many sweet, comforting words they speak to us. No drug, painkiller, or comfort food is able to take it away. All humanly cures and solutions fall short, only masking the pain for a while, being totally helpless to eradicate if from our hearts forever.

Yet there is One who has the power to remove it’s sorrow, with the power to comfort us in a way that makes it bearable, and to even replace it with joy. Psalm 30:11 describes how this can happen, “You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.” Sounds impossible but yet it’s true. There is no heartbreak too deep or devastating for God to heal. As Psalm 147:3 assures us, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

Yet even though God is willing, it often takes time for us to give it up, to let Him have it. We often cling to the pain in fear of letting it go, believing if we do, then the last remnant of our love will be gone forever and we’ll be left with nothing to hang onto. Often we find comfort in our pain believing its better to linger in its wounds than to let go entirely. But hanging on only deepens and adds to sorrow and keeps us from the promise of being set free and ready to receive more than we’ve lost.

God never intended for us to experience broken hearts. The pain and suffering they bring are from the evil one who like a thief, brings such devastating heartache, some people dive into deep despair, giving up hope and the desire for life. But Jesus tells us, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

No matter how deep the wounds of a broken heart, God assures us He is with us. “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you’”(Isaiah 41:13).

Let’s pray:

Dear Father,
You alone, God, know the sorrow deep within my heart and You alone are the One who can heal my broken heart. “You who are my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me” (Jeremiah 8:18). In this darkest of times in my life, Father, I turn towards you, asking You to mend my brokenness and extend Your healing into to every area of my heart that is ripped and torn apart. I’m powerless, Lord, to remove this heartbreak from my heart but You who created my innermost being and knit me together in my mother’s womb, can make my heart anew again (Psalm 139:13).

I praise You, Father, because in You, I can be set free from the grief, as your word assures, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Thank You for Your nearness to me during this time of overwhelming heartbreak and loss. In Your beautiful name I release my deepest sorrows and receive Your abundant life. Today, Father, I receive Your freedom from this brokenness to heal my heart. I look to you to turn my sorrow into joy and to replace my many tears shed with joyful songs (Psalm 126:5).
In Jesus’ name, Amen

The Experience of His Love..Craig Denison Ministries

 The Experience of His Love

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

To know God is to experience God. Just as we experience aspects of one another as we grow in friendship, we experience the wonders of God as we seek to simply know him. God is calling us to a life of seeking him with all we are. He is calling us to value relationship with him above all else that we would love no other but him. May you encounter wonderful aspects of relationship with your heavenly Father this week as we wholeheartedly seek to know him with all we are.

Scripture:“And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5

Devotional:

There is nothing in this world like experiencing the unconditional love of God. His love extends farther than the width of the skies. His love goes deeper than the deepest sea. His love is more powerful than a raging fire, and it is closer than the heartbeat within your chest. Experiencing his love is like becoming new again and again. With each taste of his affection, the wounds of the past become healed and restored that one no longer regrets pain but rejoices in the opportunity it gives to experience the love of a good and near heavenly Father once again.

When we seek to know God we gain experiences with his love because it’s who he is. 1 John 4:8 says, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” To know love is to know God because every bit of true love comes from him. 1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” It’s time for you and me to “believe the love that God has for us.” It’s time that we cease questioning whether we are loved and instead seek the face of our heavenly Father that we might know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loves us.

Almost all of my energy goes toward being loved. I look for love everywhere. I look for it from my wife, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and total strangers. I constantly concern myself with whether I am, moment by moment, loved or not. But Jesus came that we might no longer ask ourselves that question. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God already loved us so much that he died for us (Romans 5:8). There’s nothing we have to do to earn his love. If we need a fresh reminder of it, all we have to do is simply seek his face and love will come as the result.

We have unlimited access by the grace of God to the love of God. Unconditional, limitless love awaits us at every turn if our hearts will simply seek his. Scripture says in Psalm 27:8, “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” May we be children who constantly seek the face of our loving heavenly Father. May we be a bride wholly wrapped up in the love of our Bridegroom. And may we experience as the result of simply seeking God the powerful affections of a God who laid down his own life for the sake of his creation.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the love of your heavenly Father. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to seek God and as a result experience an encounter with his love.

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:16

2. Where are you seeking love? To whom or what are you turning for love other than God?

3. Take time to seek the face of your heavenly Father and encounter his love. Open your heart to him and simply desire relationship with him. He will take care of the rest.

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5

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

1 John 4:18 says, “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.” We have no reason to fear seeking God. All that he would say to us, do in us, and lead us to comes from a foundation of his perfect love. There is no reason to fear in this life. There is nothing here that can separate us from eternal, unbound relationship with our heavenly Father. Allow his love to cast out any reservations you have today. Receive an awareness of his perfect love and rest easy in his kindness.

Extended Reading: 1 John 4