A Re-post From David H. Roper of Our Daily Bread

The Good Life

January 1, 2013 — by David H. Roper

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Read: Psalm 73:21-28

It is good for me to draw near to God. —Psalm 73:28

Bible in a Year:
Genesis 1-3; Matthew 1

Beauty, wealth, power, love, marriage, and pleasure are good things, but they’re not the best. The best is loving God and taking in His love—bringing Him glory and making Him our friend for life. That leads to the best possible life because it gives us satisfaction and joy now (John 10:10), and it’s what Christians are going to be doing forever.
That’s why we should make time for God and rest in His love—the love that made you and me. It is the reason for our existence and the means by which we will make the most of our lives.
I like the way the psalmist put it: “It is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works” (Ps. 73:28). In other words, the good life is drawing close to the One who loves us like no other.
And how can we “draw close” to Him? Here’s a practice I began many years ago: Take a few minutes every morning to read some verses from the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) and note what Jesus said or did. After all, He came to show us what God is like (Heb. 1:1-3). Put yourself in the story—in the place of the leper He healed with His loving touch, for example (Mark 1:40-45). Think about how much He loves you and then thank Him!

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. —Crosby

The wonder of it all— just to think that Jesus loves me!

A Re-post From David C. McCasland of Our Daily Bread

The Power Of Terminal Thinking

December 31, 2012 — by David C. McCasland

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Read: Psalm 39:4-13

Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. —Psalm 39:4

Bible in a Year:
Revelation 19-22

As we look forward to the New Year with plans and resolutions, the voices of godly men from the past encourage us to think about something we prefer to ignore—our own death.
Thomas à Kempis (1379–1471) wrote, “Happy is he that always hath the hour of his death before his eyes and daily prepareth himself to die.” And Francois Fénelon (1651–1715) wrote, “We cannot too greatly deplore the blindness of men who do not want to think of death, and who turn away from an inevitable thing which we could be happy to think of often. Death only troubles carnal people.”
These men were not referring to a depressing preoccupation with dying, but a dynamic approach to living. We, like the psalmist David, should pray: “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. . . . Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor” (Ps. 39:4-5). David speaks of people who work in vain, heaping up wealth with no idea of who will get it (v.6). He concludes by affirming that his hope is in God, who alone can keep him from a life of spiritual rebellion and disaster (vv.7-8).
As we place our hope in God, the brevity of our life on earth is worth considering—every day.

Lord, we know that our life on this earth is so short
compared to eternity. Bless us, fill us, use us to tell
of Your love and goodness as much we can and
for as long as we can until we see You. Amen.

Considering the certainty of death
can provide a dynamic approach to life.

A Re-post From Dennis Fisher of Our Daily Bread

A Lasting Letter

December 30, 2012 — by Dennis Fisher

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Read: Isaiah 40:1-8

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever. —Isaiah 40:8

Bible in a Year:
Revelation 16-18

The family members who founded Hobby Lobby craft stores are born-again believers. The president, Steve Green, is passionate about the Scriptures and plans to establish a Bible museum that will display rare books and manuscripts from around the world. He said, “We are interested in . . . encouraging people to consider what [the Bible] has to say. . . . The goal is to create a museum around the story of the Bible. No book has been persecuted as much or loved as much. Its incredible story needs to be told.”
The Bible has been preserved through time in remarkable ways, and the museum will tell that story. The oldest copies we have of the New Testament are more numerous and closer to the date of the eyewitness events recorded than any other ancient document from that time. Their reports on Christ are more reliable than anything we know about Socrates or Caesar. It should not surprise us that God is behind the scenes using people and circumstances to pass on His inspired text of redemption. Isaiah eloquently proclaimed: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever” (Isa. 40:8).
As we read the Bible with an open heart, we long to share its message. It’s God’s lasting letter to all.

The Bible stands and it will forever,
When the world has passed away;
By inspiration it has been given—
All its precepts I will obey. —Lillenas

In all literature there is nothing that compares with the Bible.

A Re-post From Joe Stowell of Our Daily Bread

Bless The Boundaries

December 29, 2012 — by Joe Stowell

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Read: Psalm 1

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners. —Psalm 1:1

Bible in a Year:
Revelation 13-15

In all the years I’ve worked with people, I’ve yet to meet someone whose life was all messed up because he or she kept God’s commands. Yet, in a day when personal freedom is celebrated as an inalienable right, talk of conforming our lifestyle to God’s ways is often viewed as an infringement. And anyone who speaks out in favor of God’s boundaries is ruled out of bounds. But in this frenzy to be free, it should not go unnoticed that our society is increasingly marked with a haunting sense of meaninglessness and despair.
God’s people should have a distinctly different view of boundaries. Like the psalmist, we must realize that a blessed life comes from delighting in the law of the Lord (Ps. 1:2)—not in living like those who “walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take” (v.1 niv). A believer in Jesus will recognize that God’s boundaries are not meant to take the pizazz out of life. Instead, they are divine fences constructed with God’s wisdom to help us avoid the treachery and trouble of reckless living.
Next time you are tempted to break through God’s boundaries, remember His loving purpose in putting up fences. Choose to bless God for the boundaries and for the way they bless you.

What freedom lies with all who choose
To live for God each day!
But chains of bondage shackle those
Who choose some other way. —D. DeHaan

God’s fences keep you within the bounds of His blessings.

A Re-post From Julie Ackerman Link of Our Daily Bread

Wind And Fire

December 28, 2012 — by Julie Ackerman Link

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Read: 1 Peter 2:9-17

Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. —1 Peter 2:17

Bible in a Year:
Revelation 9-12

Sometimes when I want to start a fire, the wind puts it out. But when I try to keep a fire burning, wind keeps it going. So, in the first situation, I label wind “bad” because it thwarts my plans; in the other, I label it “good” because it helps me accomplish what I want to get done.
This paradox illustrates how we judge things by the way they affect us. We declare circumstances or people “bad” if they thwart our plans or cause us inconvenience. We judge circumstances or people “good” if we agree with them and they support our cause.
But God is the One who determines what is good or bad, and He does so not by how it affects our plans but by whether or not it accomplishes His. His plan is that we would be “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people.” And His purpose for us is to “proclaim the praises of Him who called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
To accomplish God’s good purpose, we are to respect all people, love other believers, fear God, and honor those who rule over us—even when something doesn’t seem good to us (v.17). These kinds of actions may fan a spark of belief in those who observe our responses to “bad” circumstances and most of all bring praise to God.

Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here.
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear. —Berg

When things look bad, remember God is good.

A Re-post From Dave Branon of Our Daily Bread

A Winning Strategy

December 27, 2012 — by Dave BranonBread

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Read: Joshua 7:1-13

Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant. —Joshua 7:11

Bible in a Year:
Revelation 4-8

During my days as a high school basketball coach, I made a huge mistake. I sent some of my players to scout an opponent. They returned with this report: We can take those guys easily. Overconfident, we lost to that team. Does that sound familiar? To me, it sounds like the situation at Ai when Joshua sent out his scouts, who misjudged their opponent’s strength.
But there was more to the defeat at Ai than bad scouting. Israel lost the battle and 36 soldiers for several reasons that I think we can learn from.
Shortly before the loss at Ai, Joshua led his army successfully against Jericho because he knew God’s plan of attack. But there is no mention of Joshua consulting God before Ai. Prior to the battle of Jericho, the men had consecrated themselves to God (Josh. 5:2-8). Before Ai—nothing is said about Joshua’s men preparing themselves spiritually. The reason the Bible gives for the Israelites’ loss is sin in the camp. Achan had stolen from the spoils of Jericho (7:1). They could not defeat Ai until the sin was confessed and the people had consecrated themselves (7:16-26). Then God gave them a plan for victory (8:1-7).
A winning strategy for our daily battles: confessing our sin and living in the power that God provides.

Dear Lord, before I go off into the battle today,
forgive me of my sin and lead me in the path You
want me to go. I want to serve You. Empower me
to live for You and Your will. Amen.

Purity in the heart produces power in the life.

A Re-post From Dennis Fisher of Our Daily Bread

Plowshare Christmas

December 23, 2012 — by Dennis Fisher

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Read: Isaiah 2:1-4

They shall beat their swords into plowshares . . . ; neither shall they learn war anymore. —Isaiah 2:4

Bible in a Year:
1 John 1-2

In his book Christmas 1945, Matthew Litt tells about the first peacetime Christmas celebration in the US after World War II. The New York Daily News alerted readers to expect a fleet of warships in New York Harbor: “Christmas Day will find a mighty armada, consisting of 4 battleships, 6 carriers, 7 cruisers, and 24 destroyers.” But instead of waging war, the military ships hosted 1,000 needy children.
The children’s measurements had been taken previously so that perfectly fitted navy-blue coats and woolen caps would be gift-wrapped and awaiting them aboard the ships. These vessels of war had been transformed into carriers of compassion.
The prophet Isaiah predicted a future day of Christ’s reign of peace on this earth: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (2:4). Christmastime serves as a reminder that the Prince of Peace will ultimately bring a time of global calm and compassion.
As we celebrate the first coming of the Prince of Peace and wait for His second coming, we are reminded of our privilege to serve as His “carriers of compassion.”

Lord, You have come and brought peace, and I long to
share Your compassion everywhere I go.
Thank You that this world will know ultimate peace
when You return. Amen.

True peace comes from the Prince of Peace.