The Good Life

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

¹ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
²     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

NIV Bible Gateway.com

  

   We all know of people who suffer from deteriorating health, financial reverses, and other troubles. How are we to process such situations in light of what the Scriptures teach about the Lord's goodness and the expression of His benevolence towards us?

   First, God's character is perfect, and everything He does is right. (See Deut. 32:4). He is "compassionate an gracious ... and abounding in loving-kindness" (Ps. 103:8). By His very nature, God is good. Second, our heavenly Father expresses His goodness based on His purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). From the Lord's perspective, everything that fits into His plan is beneficial for us.

   The greatest demonstration of our Father's goodness is seen in His Son's life and death. Jesus left His heavenly home, took on the form of man, suffered, and died in our place so we might be forgiven (Phil. 2:6-8). Because of what our Savior endured, we who have trusted in Him are adopted into God's family, and heaven is our eternal home.

   At the time of Christ's crucifixion, the disciples could not see anything beneficial in it. They knew only great sorow. But we understand that God gave His own Son so that He might accomplish our salvation (Rom. 8:32).

   Our definition of the good life would probably include material success, good health, and the absence of trouble-things that make us happy right now. But God has an eternal perspective, and He always works to fulfill His long-term plan for us. We can trust in His goodness, even in dark times.

Stanley, Charles F. "The Good Life." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living August 2016. Atlanta: In Touch ministries. page 8.

The Requirements of Faith

Romans 6:22-23

²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV Bible Gateway.com

  The moment we trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we enter into a life of faith. In other words, we live be assurance that God is all He claims to be and will do everything He promises. Salvation is instantaneous, but it takes a lifetime to learn and understand what that entails.
   As soon as we are saved, God begins what is known as sanctification, teaching us to be like Him. This is a process, as it takes time to learn to walk by faith, trusting what we cannot see.
   Even with God's Holy Spirit living inside of us, we nonetheless battle our flesh. We desire to do what God says and to see He sees, but because we have behavior patterns left over from our old sinful nature, we will falter and do things in our own strength, according to our own rationale. We must choose daily to follow His way.
   To grow in godliness, we must learn to listen to our Father. But since this is not a natural tendency, self-discipline is needed. It is best to set a specific time each day to meditate upon God's Word. Eagerly expect Jesus to speak to you, and listen to what He is saying. Write notes in your Bible with the date and what the Lord has impressed upon you. Then, apply the truth you learn, and observe the results.
   Hearing God's voice and being in tune with His Spirit are vital parts of walking in faith. But these things don't just happen; they require determined persistence. As with physical exercise, the more we strengthen our spiritual "muscles," the more the process becomes part of who we are.
Stanley, Charles F. "The Requirements of Faith." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living August 2016. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries. page 6.

Taking the Yoke of Jesus

1 Peter 5:6-11

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹ To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. NIV Bible Gateway.com

    Giving our burden to the Lord in order to take His yoke may sound like a contradiction. But the yoke of Jesus Christ is not some new kind of weight. In fact, it is a symbol of the believer's transformation: Submitting our burden to the Lord means submitting our very selves to Him as well.
   The only way that Christ can share our load is for Him to exercise control of our life. However, human beings are reluctant to give up authority over themselves. The illusion of having control of our circumstances gives us a false sense of security. But the truth is that until we allow the heavenly Father to manage our life, we will be managed by our problems-chasing after the quickest solution or the easiest escape from pain.
   Sacrificing control means that we cannot continue to rely on our previous survival techniques. Instead, through prayer, meditation, and daily Bible reading, we must learn how to walk in the same way our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did. As our steps begin to align with His, our new yoke shifts the weight of our problems onto His shoulders.
   The most important concept we must learn is to trust God. If we're certain He has a plan and purpose for our life, we can be confident that our burden-whether a troubled marriage, a child on drugs, or a harsh financial situation-will not drag us to the ground. Psalm 55:22 says, "He will never allow the righteous to be shaken," which means He is faithful to carry the weight and show us how to care for those affected by our burden. Trusting Him lightens the load.
Stanley, Charles F. "Taking the Yoke of Jesus." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living July 2016. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries. page 15. 

When We Feel Frustrated

Philippians 4:10-13

Thanks for Their Gifts

¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength. NIV Bible Gateway.com

   During Seasons of frustration, a natural reaction is to blame circumstances or individuals. When we find ourselves hindered from achieving our goals, discontent may be triggered by external forces, even though the root cause often is internal. Then we sometimes make changes-such as quitting a job, ending a friendship, or moving away-in an attempt to spare ourselves further dissatisfaction. But that's not how to find genuine peace. When frustrated, we must determine the cause. Discontent has three internal roots:
   One is the inability to accept ourselves as God created us. The talents, personality, and physical attributes we've been given may not be what we desire, but they are exactly what we need to follow God's will for our life. Dwelling on what we lack or what we'd change distracts us from serving Him.
   A Second root is a reluctance to deal with our past. We may have painful memories or recall mistakes that brought us heartache. Only when we admit their impact and confront any resulting emotional or psychological issues can we move on in peace.
   The final source of frustration is a refusal to deal with behaviors or attitudes that are outside the Lord's will. Holding on to an ungodly spirit or a bad habit will often lead to the useless practice of repeatedly trying to justify ourselves to our heavenly Father and those around us.
   The human solution for frustration-changing our external situations-will fail every single time. The only way to truly uproot our frustration is by relying on God for the strength to grapple  with its source. 
Stanley, Charles F. "When We Feel Frustrated." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living June 2016. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries.  page 26.

Belief and Faith

John 3:16-18

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. NIV from Bible Gateway.com
 
   The Apostle Paul told his jailer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:31). That Philippian man and his household had saving faith-they accepted the invitation and joined God's family.
   Saving faith has three elements: knowledge, conviction, and trust... To believe in Jesus as our Savior, we need to know who He is, what He accomplished, and why it was necessary.
  WHO IS JESUS? He is deity-God the Son. At the request of God the Father, Jeus set aside His divine rights, took on human form and dwelled on earth (Phil. 2:6-7).
   WHAT DID HE ACCOMPLISH? Jesus lived a perfect life, which qualified him to be our substitute: He stood in our place and bore God's judgement for our sins. His death on the cross made a way for us to be forgiven and experience peace with God.
   WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE? We could not save ourselves, since our "good deeds" are all marred by our sin nature. When we accept Christ's atoning work, we go from being God's enemy to becoming a member of His family...
   Knowledge without conviction and trust does not bring salvation. Even the demons understood that Jesus was the Son of God (Luke 4:41). Do you believe what you know to be true?

John 1:12-13

¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. NIV from Bible Gateway.com

    ... Knowledge of who Jesus is and what He did must be accompanied by confidence that the facts are true and apply to us.
   First, it's important to realize, I have broken God's law-that makes me a sinner. All of us are born with a nature that rebels against the Lord. Second, we acknowledge that none of our efforts can earn His favor. Third, we agree that Jesus died for each of us. He paid for all our sins, no matter how terrible they are in the world's eyes.
   Next, we believe that Jesus' death is sufficient payment for our wrong-doing; nothing else is needed. We must accept that He paid our penalty and endured the Father's wrath in our place. Finally, we accept by faith that we've been adopted into God's family on the basis of Christ's atoning death. The invitation is for all humanity, but not everyone has true conviction. Too many people see these facts as "information" rather than life-altering truths.
   Once we are convinced that Jesus is our Savior, trust is demonstrated through action. As a "new creature" (2 Cor. 5:17), we each are no longer who we once were, and there are different values and priorities for us to embrace. Jesus, our Lord, has authority over our life, and He alone deserves to be our top priority. He knows what pleases the Father and has sent His Spirit to live in us and teach us.
   Take time to examine yourself for evidence of knowledge, conviction, and trust. If one area is lacking, ask God to help you come to true saving faith.
Stanley, Charles F. "What It Means to Believe in Jesus" & "Saving Faith." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living, June 2016. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries. pages 20 & 21.

A Special People

1 Peter 2:9-10

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
NIV from www.biblegateway.com

    
 Whenever feelings of low self-worth threaten us with discouragement, we need to rely on the truth of God's Word rather than on our emotions. Today we are going to examine four phrases that describe how the Lord sees every believer.
    A CHOSEN RACE. God chose you and me to be part of His kingdom and family because he wanted us. No one who has been specially selected by almighty God is insignificant.
   A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. As believer, we are children of God and, therefore, part of a royal family. In other words, we are "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). Just as Jesus fulfilled the roles of both king and priest, so God has also entrusted us with priestly responsibilities of worship and intercession for others.
   A HOLY NATION. The church - or body of Christ - is a group of people who are holy, which means "set apart" for the purposes of God. Our lives are never meaningless, because living for the Lord is the greatest purpose one can have.
   A PEOPLE FOR GOD'S OWN POSSESSION. You and I are the heavenly Father's personal possessions. (See Deut. 14:2; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9.) Because He sees us a precious, He sent His Son to die on the cross in our place so we could belong to Him.
   Each of these descriptions shows the high value God places on you. Satan may whisper lies of condemnation and criticism, but he can't change who you really are. Begin today to demonstrate the truth of Scripture by remembering your real identity and living out your high calling from the Lord. 

 Stanley, Charles F. "A Special People." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living. April 2016. page 34.

Victory Over Weakness

JUDGES 16:1-31

Samson and Delilah

16 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. ² The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”

³ But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
⁴ Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. ⁵ The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
⁷ Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
⁸ Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. ⁹ With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”
¹¹ He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
¹² So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.
¹³ Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”
He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric ¹⁴ and tightened it with the pin.
Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
¹⁵ Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” ¹⁶ With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.
¹⁷ So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. ¹⁹ After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.
²⁰ Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
²¹ Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. ²² But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
²³ Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”
²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,

“Our god has delivered our enemy
    into our hands,
the one who laid waste our land
    and multiplied our slain.”

²⁵ While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.

When they stood him among the pillars, ²⁶ Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. ²⁸ Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, ³⁰ Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
³¹ Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years.  NIV from www.biblegateway.com

Parents often try to give their children every advantage in the hope that they'll become successful adults. As Christians, we especially want to help our kids increase in knowledge of God and His Word, love for Jesus, appreciate for the body of Christ, and the desire to serve the Lord. Children frequently have great enthusiasm for the things of the Lord. But as they grow older, we sometimes see them falling away from the faith.

Samson is an example of such unfortunate drifting. Despite his godly upbringing, sexual temptations eventually became overly attractive to him.

Scripture reveals several occasions where Samson gave in to his lust. For instance, he desired a pagan woman from Timnah, and despite his parents' warning, he broke God's command by marrying her (Judges 14:1-3). A second incident nearly led to his death; he survived only because of his supernatural strength. (See vv. 12-20.) Perhaps the most tragic example was his betrayal by Delilah, the ungodly woman he loved. Lust prevented him from seeing her true nature. As a result, Samson was captured and blinded by the Philistines.

 Left unchecked, sin will permeate and dominate our lives, while affecting others with its repercussions. The first step toward success is to become aware of our weaknesses. Next, we must admit helplessness to overcome them on our own. Finally, it's important to acknowledge God's sufficiency to rescue us. In the end, Samson recognized his need for God and prayed for strength to strike back at the Philistines (16:28). If we share Samson's perspective, we will be able to obey God's commands and gain victory.

Stanley, Charles F. "Victory Over Weakness." In Touch: Daily Readings for Devoted Living. June 2016. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries. page 10.