Leave Your Bible Open

“Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” -Deuteronomy 8:3-

Daily Bible reading is a habit worth developing. The Word feeds us spiritually and satisfies our thirst for peace. It convicts us of sin and reminds us of God’s grace. Still, the Bible will not jump into your hands or demand your attention. Chances are, nobody will be checking up on whether you spent time in the Scriptures today. Yet few things could possibly be more important.
According to the American Bible Society, more than half of the population would like to read the Bible more often, but only 15% of Americans do it daily. Southerners and the elderly do it the best. (So, if you are an elderly Southerner, you get a free pass to skip to the next devotional tomorrow.)
Most of us would cite the same reason for not spending daily time in our Bibles: “I’m just too busy.” But are we? I don’t mean to get too nosy, but how much time did you spend on Facebook or Pinterest today? How often did you check your Twitter feed or scan the latest Groupon deals? How long did you park yourself in front of your TV or gaming console? We find plenty of time to scan today’s news headlines or devour our newest novel. Yet we ignore the very words — the only words — that have the power of life.
What you feed yourself is what you start to develop an appetite for. God’s Word will appeal to you more and more as you learn to turn away from competing interests. In other words, you may have to subtract something in order to add Bible reading to your day. But you’ll find the trade to be well worth it.

Pursuing Today
To help develop a new habit, plan to read your Bible (even for a few minutes) at the same time and in the same location every day. Leave your Bible open or set an alarm to remind you. Try it for the remainder of this 25-day section. If you have some extra time, read Psalm 119, an entire psalm devoted to the power of God’s Word. Notice all the different names for God’s Word — laws, statutes, etc. Then make note of all the benefits of spending time in it.

God-Breathed

“The Holy Scriptures . . . Are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 3:15-17)

Have you ever walked down the hall of a college music school in the late afternoon, past the closed practice room doors? If you have, you may have wanted to cover your ears. Each musician is practicing a different song on a different instrument. The result is a discordant cacophony. Piano scales clash against trombone solos; cellos duel with tubas. The music doesn’t seem to belong together.
Sometimes, the Bible can seem like that. As you turn the pages, you encounter a little bit of everything. Blood-splattered war chronicles. Polite correspondence. Twisting tales of intrigue & betrayal. Lyrical poetry. Thundering prophesies. Tedious legal records. Desperate cries for help. Sensual love songs. If you’re looking for one unified presentation, you might become disenchanted in a hurry. Sometimes it feels as if all you can hear is clashing notes.
Yet, Timothy wrote, every word of the Bible is God-breathed. Every chapter is helpful; every refrain useful. Whether you’re moved by the honest lyrics of the Psalms or stunned by the merciless admonishments of Obadiah. Whether captivated by the adventurous missions of Paul or depressed by the laments of Job. Whether embarrassed by the explicit Song of Songs or inspired by the very words of Jesus. The goal of it all is to train you to live like Jesus, walk with Him, and join Him on His mission.
So, pause to listen, one book, chapter or verse at a time. But don’t stop with listening; respond in obedience to what you have heard. You’ll find that the more you respond to what you hear, the more you will hear. And as you respond, you’ll discover that you are “thoroughly equipped for every good work” that God has already planned for you to accomplish.

Pursuing Today
Open up your Bible and begin reading it. Not sure where to start? Download a Bible app on your smartphone or tablet and choose one of hundreds of good reading plans. But start today. As you read, consider keeping a journal handy so you can record what you hear God saying to you. At the risk of sounding cheesy, your obedience will be music to Jesus’ ears.

Pots, Pans, and the Presence of God

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

If the name Brother Lawrence sounds familiar, it’s not because he’s Joey’s brother. He was a medieval monk who served in the monastery kitchen, and he learned to “practice the presence of God” as he scrubbed the pots & pans.
As much as I admire Brother Lawrence’s commitment, doing the dishes has never been much of a devotional time for me. The reality is that I have to be intentional to schedule time to be still in the presence of God. For me, it means setting aside time every morning to surrender my thoughts, my desires and my plans to God. I can’t coast on yesterday’s successes or live paralyzed by yesterday’s failures. I make a daily choice to pursue God, knowing that “if I seek Him, I will find Him” (see Matthew 7:7-8).
But here’s the key: When my scheduled time with God comes to an end, I don’t say to God, “Goodbye,” “See you later,” or “Talk to You tomorrow”; instead, I accept His invitation to walk with Him throughout the day. I tell Him I want to keep the conversation going, I try to intentionally keep talking and listening as I drive to work, attend meetings, and, on occasion, clean the kitchen. I practice His presence and anticipate His faithful attentiveness to my prayers.
I can’t treat my daily time with God like I treat a physical workout, where once it’s complete I check it off until the next day. Instead, I try to think of my daily time alone with with God as a sort of “spiritual workout” in order to run the day’s race effectively, with more peace and joy than I could ever find running alone. Think of it this way: Start your prayer in the morning, and don’t say “amen” until you’re falling asleep at night.

Pursuing Today
If you haven’t already done so, schedule a daily “workout” time, even if you can dedicate only 5 or 10 minutes at first. For the next several days, consider starting your day by reading Psalm 63:1-8. Read it aloud, making it your prayer. Then see if you can find ways to exercise the muscles of your spirit throughout the day.

LIFE PURPOSE

“The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder – a waif, a nothing, a no man. Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you.”-Thomas Carlyle- (1795-1881)

Tchaikovsky put a sign on his gate: Visiting hours Monday & Tuesday between 3 & 5 P.M. Other times, please do not ring. He was saying, “I’m a composer. This is how I’m going to bless the world — not by idle conversation.” Tchaikovsky knew his purpose and lived his life to the fullest according to that purpose.
The life you have been given is a gift from God. You are a steward of every minute contained in that gift.
In Ephesians 3, we see that Paul clearly knows his purpose and the power behind it. Of course, Paul’s ultimate purpose is to know, love, and obey God – the same ultimate purpose we all share. But his specific purpose is to preach the gospel. (Read Ephesians 3:1-8)

3 Biblical Insights Concerning Your Life Purpose:
1.) Your purpose is designed by God, to glorify God.
2.) Your purpose will fit perfectly with the gifts and graces God has given you.
3.) Your purpose will be realized through God’s power, not your own.

My Time With God
Note: The discovery of your life purpose is more than a one-hour process. But by investing one hour, you can be well on your way to one of the most important discoveries you will ever make.

Preparation Time
List the following areas to begin to “frame up” your purpose:

1.) What are your spiritual gifts?

2.) What is your passion?

3.) What are you good at?

4.) What ministry has God used you in?

5.) If you could do one thing with your life, where you couldn’t fail and money didn’t matter…what would it be?

Waiting Time
(Again, the waiting time could be weeks or months to fully know God’s mind and heart on this, but start here!)

During your waiting time, let God…

Love You.
“God, I know You have created me on purpose, with a purpose.”

Search You.
“God, I give You permission to reveal anything that I may be doing or not doing that might block your purpose for me.”

Show You.
“God, show me Your plan for my life.”

Confession Time
“God, I confess that I have wasted my time & talent in the following ways”:

Bible Time
We can never pray out of God’s will when we pray God’s Word.

…Read Acts 20:24; John 17:1-4; Psalm 139:1-6.
…Close your eyes & allow a main truth to surface in your heart.
…Pray the Scripture and allow God to minister to you.

Meditation Time
After praying the Scriptures, write down the thoughts that God has impressed upon your mind…

Intercession Time – Praying for Others
Begin this time with a prayer of blessing & thanksgiving for the people for whom you will now intercede. Pray today specifically for people you know who don’t know their purpose, and for God to bring you people who can help you discover yours.
Name Request

Petition Time – Praying for Yourself

How To Petition God Properly
Talk to Him about the “little things”
Be Honest with God
Pray “Thy Will Be Done”
Prayer Requests

Application Time
The smallest obedient act is better than the greatest intention.

Q: What is the main thing God has impressed on me today?

Q: What am I going to do about it?

Steps to Take in My Obedience to God this Week:

My Goal: To Implement the Above Steps in the Next 7 Days.

Faith Time
Faith is our positive response to what God has said. Spend a few moments praying through your eyes of faith. Tell God the positive things you see happening because of His goodness!

Praise & Thanksgiving Time

Praise God by recognizing WHO HE IS!
Thank God by recognizing WHAT HE HAS DONE!

This Week’s Memory Verse – Philippians 1:6

This Week’s Time Alone With God

Monday – This Lesson

Tuesday – Meditate on Psalm 139:1-6

Wednesday – Write the first draft of your life purpose statement.
Share it with a close friend.

Thursday – Meditate on John 17:1-4

Friday – Review your memory verse.

The Heart of the Issue

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”-Proverbs 4:23-

What is your “heart”? In science, we know that it’s the blood-pumping organ that makes the rest of the body run. It doesn’t think; it doesn’t feel. But in Hebrew culture, the heart was seen differently. It was a metaphor for the center or the core of a person’s personality. It was the spiritual hub, and one’s life flowed from its orientation. Everything flowed from the heart — not only blood, but personality, motives, emotions, and will.
In Hebrew, the word for “heart” means “the kernel of the nut.” Your heart reflects your true identity. Understanding this concept helps us realize why “guarding the heart” is so important. We recognize it as the source from which our thoughts, feelings, and actions flow.
Imagine the futility and frustration of trying to clean a downstream section of a creek, when all the while a garbage dump up at the creek’s source is continually polluting it with load after load of filth. Sure, you could go and clean every day, but it would be like pushing a boulder up a hill only to watch it roll back down again.
How much of your life do you spend dealing with the visible garbage downstream, rather than what produces it? It’s easy to focus on “behavior modification,” just picking up bits of trash here & there as we see them. But that only addresses the symptoms. It’s a quick-fix methodology for a long-term issue. It’s like a bandage for your elbow when the issue is your heart. It’s not that addressing behaviors can’t yield positive results; it’s simply that the heart of the issue is an issue of the heart.
We need to learn to hike upstream, with the Holy Spirit as our guide, to remedy the issue at the source. It’s a staggering commitment, but it will be worth the extra effort.

Pursuing Today
Do some serious reflecting on these questions as a kind of “spiritual heart test”: What disappoints you? What do you complain about the most? Where do you make financial sacrifices? What worries you? Where do you go when you’re hurting? What infuriates you? What are your dreams? Memorize God’s promise: “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

It’s Not Too Late

“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
-1 Corinthians 15:58-

We all want to be difference makers — not space takers or time wasters. But if we’re honest, most of us say, “It’s too late now; I’m too far down my career path; I’ve made too many bad choices; I’m too old; I burned those bridges a long time ago; I’m carrying too much baggage; I can’t break these habits; There’s no way to hit rewind or click delete; It’s too late now.”
You may never have felt called to the mission field, but you may feel that you had some kind of opportunity and you missed it. When you sensed that God wanted you to make a difference in your neighborhood, you failed to reach out. You once made a genuine effort to meet your neighbors and learn their names, but now, many of them have moved away, and it would be awkward to start over with the ones who haven’t. You believed that God wanted you to be a spiritual leader in your home, but you felt inadequate. Now, you see your children making bad decisions, walking away from their faith, but they’re out of your home and it’s too late to go back and fix your mistakes.
You don’t know how to push the restart button. And like most people, not knowing what to do means you default to doing nothing. You find yourself just sitting at home.
But, it’s still not too late with Jesus. It’s not too late to have a fresh start. Look at the apostle Paul, who used to be Saul, the Chritian-killer. If it wasn’t too late for Paul, it can’t be too late for you and me to surrender to Jesus and then make a difference. It’s not too late to quit living accidentally and start living on purpose.
“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, un-believing heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’ ” (Hebrews 3:12-13).

Pursuing Today
Name 1 or 2 things you wish you would have done differently in your life. What career would you have chosen? What opportunity would you have taken advantage of? Can you think of a time when you sensed God calling you to do something and you ignored it? Write out a prayer asking Him what to do and how. And “if you hear God’s voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). Write down what you will do today. Take that first step. DO SOMETHING!

25 Days of Pursuing

It started with a decision to follow. A response, really, to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him. To get to know Him and to be fully known by Him.
But you can’t follow Him completely unless you’re willing to leave some things behind. “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves,” Jesus said (Matthew 16:24).
And now, at this point of our journey together, we’ll focus on pursuing Jesus. A pursuit is an activity with a specific goal and end game. It carries the idea of living on purpose. We demonstrate our commitment to Christ by giving our lives to His mission. We begin to see people as He saw them and to love them with His love. We live by kingdom priorities and principles. We engage in meaningful relationships and make a difference in our communities. We meet needs and serve others, not because it’s a civil duty or a social obligation, but because it is the way Jesus lived.
Remember this: “Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6).

A Prayer of Denial

God, I see that in becoming like Jesus, I have to lose more of me, and eventually lose all of me, because only then will I discover the real life You have for me. I know that letting go of me and living for You is better, so much better. It’s just hard. I’m comfortable with me. I’m selfish. I want what I want. I am demanding. I act entitled so easily. I twist motives so I seem really ambitious instead of conceited. My whole day can revolve around my wants, and then I’ll pretend that it didn’t so it looks like I denied myself. I am not comfortable in denial.
In my honest moments, though, I know it’s better, so I have big hopes for letting go of myself with this prayer. I need You. Will you unravel my layers of selfishness? Will you re-align my deepest motives? Will you empower me to say yes and no to the right things? You say that I can deny myself because Your Holy Spirit lives in me. He’s powerful. I believe You. I say yes to following Jesus, so I say yes to dying to myself.
Please God, may the entitled, wanting, comfortable, demanding, self-absorbed me, become less and less so I am eventually completely lost in You.
AMEN.

Sacrificial Living

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”-John 15:13-

You hear about them occasionally: real-life heroes who sacrifice themselves for others. They pay the ultimate price by giving up their very lives. A soldier on the foreign battlefield. A firefighter rushing into a burning building. A concerned passerby who steps into harm’s way. The stories become legends. Monuments are built with pride. It’s the stuff greatness is made of. Some of their names we know and remember; others died in obscurity. Still, they are heroes just the same.
Hebrews 11 has come to be known as the “faith chapter” of the Bible, listing mighty heroes of old like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We read about Joseph and Moses. We see recognizable names like Gideon, Samson, and mighty King David.
Then we read about others. Faceless people whose names we may never know, but heroes nonetheless. We read about how they “were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated” (Hebrews 11:35-37). And then we read this short commendation: “The world was not worthy of them” (vs. 38).
I don’t know all that Jesus will ask of you as you follow Him. I don’t know what denying yourself will look like in your lifetime. Forsaking pleasure, sure. Letting go of recognition and applause, quite possibly. Denying god’s of lust and power? Certainly. Laying down your very life? Perhaps, I don’t know. But I do know this: If your life comes to that, your sacrifice will be worth it. And one day, when Jesus returns, you’ll be counted among those who triumph over the accuser, who “did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (see Revelation 12:10-11). And Jesus Himself will commend you. Well Done.

DENYING TODAY
You don’t have to read too many headlines to know that Christians around the world are being persecuted for their faith. Pray today for our persecuted brothers and sisters. Pray that they will sense God’s presence and feel connected to the greater body of Christ. Pray for their boldness to make Christ known. Pray that they will forgive and love their persecutors. Pray that they will rejoice in suffering and be refreshed through God’s Word and grow in their faith. Pray that they’ll be strengthened through the prayers of fellow believers. And pray that they’ll experience God’s comfort when their family members are killed, injured, or imprisoned for their witness. (Consider visiting the “Voice of the Martyrs” website, www.persecution.com, for more information regarding the persecuted church.)