June 19 – Patience (Ecclesiastes 7:8-9)

“A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.”(Proverbs 19:11)

IN WORD:
It is profoundly ironic that those who are most aggressive in asserting their rights and establishing themselves are least likely to earn a respectable reputation. There is something disturbing about those who are rash and overly assertive. They must have what they want now. They are ruled by their whims. They carry the defining marks of this world, and they are unimpressive to everyone but themselves.
By contrast, those who are patient — slow to anger, deliberate in their steps, reluctant to speak or to judge hastily — are those held in highest regard by others. They do not assert their reputation, they simply earn it. They lose the argument but win respect. The world takes notice because they are noticeably not like this world. They carry the marks of wisdom. In fact, whether they intend it or not, they are like Jesus.
Jesus could have won the kingdoms of this world at the Temptation, but He waited. He could have established His kingdom when He rode into Jerusalem, but He waited. He could have condemned those who crucified Him, but He waited. He could have called legions of angels to defend Him, but He waited. He could have returned yesterday, but He’s waiting.
Why is He so excruciatingly patient? Because the greater the investment in His people — in both time and spiritual maturity — the greater the benefit in the eternal scheme.

IN DEED:
Have you learned that principle for yourself? Sometimes the best answer is a slow one — or none at all. Sometimes there is no pressing need to defend yourself when you know your position will be established in the end. Sometimes the person who offends you will eventually come around — if you give him time. If you are patient in all things, you are like Jesus. Your wisdom will be to your own glory, and also to His.

“Be as patient with others as God has been with you.”
-Anonymous-

June 18 – Peace (Colossians 3:15-17)

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” (Colossians 3:15)

IN WORD:
Peace is elusive. Not only is it elusive to governments in the world’s hot spots of conflict, it is elusive in public and private institutions. Unfortunately, it is also elusive in churches and families. And, most unsettling to us, it is elusive in our own hearts.
Ever since the Garden of Eden, the human heart is by nature unsettled. We are restless creatures because we have separated ourselves from our created purpose. The natural dependence our first parents felt for God has been lost on us. Insecurity reigns within; and where insecurity reigns, peace doesn’t.
The reason we live in a world that is in conflict is because we have hearts in conflict. We want to institute the rule of Christ in our hearts, but He must replace the reign of self — with all its fears, ambitions, passions, and false hopes — and that takes time. Human beings in such turmoil find it difficult to live in peace with others, whether it is on the job, in the church, or at home. Those who do not get along with others are invariably uncomfortable with themselves. Those who are at peace within are almost always at peace with others. Even when others rage against them — as they did with Jesus on the cross, Stephen before the Sanhedrin, and Paul from city to city — they do nothing to fuel the conflict. They have no need. They are at peace with themselves and at peace with god.

IN DEED:
Paul says we are to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. He doesn’t say peace is simply to exist in our hearts. He doesn’t say it is to influence our hearts periodically. It is to rule.
Take this diagnostic test: Are you in conflict with others? It is likely a reflection of the condition of your heart. Ask God to still your turbulent waters. Let Jesus rule in the deepest corners of your being. Know the depths of His peace.

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You.” -St. Augustine-

June 17 – Joy (Nehemiah 8:1-12)

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”(Nehemiah 8:10)

IN WORD:
It was a day of grief and repentance, that day the scribe Ezra read “the Book of the Law of God” in the hearing of the assembly. A generation of Israelites suddenly realized what many previous generations had forsaken — a covenant of love with the great and mighty God. And, according to Nehemiah, they wept.
Have you ever wept over your failures? It’s a humbling experience, pouring out your heart over grievous sins that can’t be undone. The human heart never feels weaker than when it is faced with its undeniable shortcomings. Our humanity is shot through with sin, and there’s nothing we can do about it. We’re weak and helpless.
Believe it or not, that’s a great place to be. God meets us in our weakness and He exalts the humble. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). It is a blessed frailty to have no claim before God, no words with which to justify ourselves, no bargaining power whatsoever. When we can accept that, we can accept His provision; and there is no greater joy than His provision. It is all we need. It takes us from weakness to strength because God’s power — His very presence — is greatest when we are most visibly vulnerable. We can lay down our stressful, painful attempts at self-sufficiency, and we can accept his sufficiency instead. What greater joy is there than to realize it all falls on His shoulders and not on ours?

IN DEED:
Do you know God’s joy? Have you ever heard him speak into your grief and say with Ezra, “This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength?” The joyless Christian is bearing burdens no human is capable of bearing. The joyful Christian has come to grips with his weakness and accepted God’s strength by casting all burdens on Him. Learn the art of casting those burdens; be joyful and be strong.

“Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved.” -Henri Nouwen-

June 16 – Love (Song of Solomon 2:1-4)

“His banner over me is love.” (Song of Solomon 2:4)

IN WORD:
The Song of Solomon is an amorous book because our God. Is an amorous God. Does. It seem irreverent to say so? It can’t be, not when we realize the most passionate kind of love could not have originated anywhere but in the passionate heart of God. It is certainly not Satan’s invention, nor that of a depraved human condition. It is experienced by emotional beings made in the image of an emotional God. Our love reflects His.
Like the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon, our Bridegroom, Jesus, has set His love over us as His declaration of victory. It is our identity. We know that He loves us, and because of that, we love Him (1 John 4:19). Not only do we love Him, we love each other. It is the identifying feature of a Spirit-filled Christian. Where love is absent, so is the Spirit. Where the Spirit is absent, so is love.
So important is this characteristic that Jesus spent the major part of His last words to His disciples on the subject. In John 13-16, He first demonstrates love and then preaches on it: love and obedience, love and the Spirit, love and prayer, love and His friendship, love and joy. Then in His parting prayer, He asks this of the Father: “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23). It is an intimate love — “I in them and you in me” — between a loving God, the beloved Son, and a love-hungry people. If there is any single mark of belief, it is love.

IN DEED:
Does your life bear the banner of love? Are you aware of God’s great love for you? Do you have great love for Him and for others? Do not be deceived: No matter how spiritually mature a believer is, it is a false spirituality if he or she is not thoroughly saturated in love. “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). There is no way around it. The Christian life is a loving life. An un-loving life is not Christian. Let love, above all else, define you.

“Love of man necessarily arises out of love of God.”
-John Hooper-

June 15 – Fruit and the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26)

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
(Galatians 5:22-23)

IN WORD:
All those who desire to live godly lives have prayed for these fruits. We want more love, so we pray for God to increase our love. We want more patience, so we pray for patience. We all know the routine. We’ve all sought the gifts of the Spirit with a shopping-list mentality.
But there is a better way. Instead of seeking more of the fruits, we must seek more of the Spirit. When we think we need more love, we really need more of Jesus in us. Or, perhaps more accurately, we need Jesus to have more of us. The same goes for our joy, our peace, our patience, and so on. These are not 9 individual characteristics that we can isolate and work on individually. They are integral parts of the mind of Christ. The more we abide in His Spirit, the more we will have them. When we lack certain fruits, we lack fellowship with the Spirit who gives them. The means to be more fruitful is to ask for closer fellowship with the Source. When we have that, the love, joy, peace, etc., will come.
This is God’s design for His people. His plan is not simply to improve us and make us better people. His plan is to inhabit us. The fruit of the Spirit is not about us and our deficiencies. It is about God and His presence in this world. If you find yourself lacking, the problem is not an isolated characteristic; it is fellowship with the personal, living God. He aims to live His life in you.

IN DEED:
Believe it or not, you — along with other believers — are the means to display God’s character in this world. If we don’t display Him, He won’t be seen. That’s an awesome responsibility. It’s also an awesome privilege. Do you lack His fruitfulness? Then you lack Him — not necessarily His salvation, but His lordship and His fellowship. Don’t just ask for love, joy, or anything else. Ask for Him.

“Work designed for eternity can only be done by the eternal Spirit.” -A.W. Tozer-

June 14 – Unburdened (Philippians 4:6)

“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”(Proverbs 12:25)

IN WORD:
One of the most persistent problems for Christians is anxiety. One of the most consistent exhortations in Scripture is for us to not be anxious. It’s a curious contradiction, isn’t it? Or perhaps it makes perfect sense. God’s command for us not to be afraid, not to be anxious, not to fear, and to be strong and courageous is so complete and frequent for a reason: He knows that fear will be one of our worst problems.
Why is God so concerned with our level of anxiety? Because, as this proverb says, an anxious heart weighs a person down. It is a heavy burden. It is the antithesis of the abundant life that Jesus has come to give us. It will cripple us from doing God’s will and enjoying His presence. When we are absorbed in the threat of difficult circumstances or difficult people, we are not absorbed in God. When we fear the things that seem to steal our lives away, we are placing them on a higher pedestal than the One who gives us life.
God emphatically does not want us to be weighed down. He may give us many responsibilities, but He does not burden us with them. His burden is light, because Jesus is the Burden Bearer. And as long as we are anxiously stressing over our burdens, we are not letting Jesus bear them. We simply cannot experience His strength while bearing the weight of life in our own strength. We must choose one or the other. We must choose the burden-bearing God.

IN DEED:
What is the solution to our anxiety? There are several, prayer ranking first among them. But the proverb gives us another: kind words. Let your life be full of them. Tell them to yourself. God’s truth is kind to you, after all; rehearse it often. Tell them to others. God’s primary vehicle for expressing Himself in this world is through people. Verbally demonstrate His kindness to others. And when others offer kind words to you, accept them. God has sent them to you. Accept them, and do not be anxious.

“Beware of anxiety. Next to sin, there is nothing that so troubles the mind, strains the heart, distresses the soul, and confuses the judgment.” -William Ullathorne-

June 13 – An Obligated God (Job 41:1-11)

“Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.”(Job 41:11)

IN WORD:
Imagine a father giving his daughter an extravagant Christmas gift every year: an expensive piece of jewelry. At first, she might squeal with delight and hug her father’s neck as tightly as she could. After a few years, her reaction to the annual gift might calm to a respectful “thank you.” Eventually, she might begin to expect the extravagance as her right. Suppose that one year the father didn’t have enough money for expensive jewelry and bought her something much more humble. How would she react?
We know human nature well enough to know that once we’re accustomed to generous grace, we expect it not as a gift but as a right. Perhaps we’ve noticed this dynamic in our spiritual lives as well: God gave us salvation, to which we rejoiced as undeserving recipients should; then we began to take His mercies for granted; now, we often expect them as our rightful inheritance. We might even complain when He doesn’t answer our prayers the way we want Him to, or when He doesn’t make life as easy for us as we think it should be. What happened to us? We made a dreadful mistake. We misunderstood the consistency of God’s mercy. Somewhere along the way, we decided that His extravagant promises entitled us not only to trust in them, but to demand them. Perhaps we’ve been spoiled.
Job’s many blessings may have led him to expect that God would always bless him in exactly the same ways. God didn’t. Job couldn’t understand that, and he even hinted that God might have dealt unfairly with him. Like us, he forgot that we were fallen, corrupt, and spiritually dead. We deserved nothing. Grace gave us everything.

IN DEED:
Be careful how you address God. Don’t be a spoiled child; be a grateful one. Remember that everything you have — even life itself — is a gift that springs from His fabulous, unfathomable mercy.

“Between here and heaven, every minute that the Christian lives will be a minute of grace.”-Charles Spurgeon-

June 12 – God of Justice (Isaiah 30:18)

“Many seek an audience with a ruler, but it is from the Lord that man gets justice.”(Proverbs 29:26)

IN WORD:
God loves justice, and we who have been created in His image love to see things work out in a way that is fair for everyone. We hate inequity, especially when we’re on the short end of the imbalance. No matter how many times someone tells us that life isn’t fair, we still want it to be. We’re afraid we might not get our piece of the pie.
Our sense of fairness is really rankled when God’s timing does not equal our own. We’re hardly content with the thought that things will be made right at the judgment seat of Christ. That’s too far off in the future. And what if the offender repents! Then there’s never any payback, just a free ride. Never mind that we received the same free ride the day we accepted Jesus’ sacrifice. When we’re offended, we’re all for justice.
Such indignation has led us throughout the centuries to establish all sorts of courts and punishments. And God would have it so; He is never in favor of chaos in this world. To the degree that our justice systems reflect His standards, they are pleasing to Him. But they are never perfect, and they don’t handle our every grievance. We are left, at least with some offenses, either to steam and stew about them or to let them go and forgive, trusting god to handle them well. We often choose the anger over the trust. God seems much less urgent about our complaints than we are. We want restitution now.

IN DEED:
How do you make things right when you’ve been wronged? Revenge is not a biblical option; God insists that vengeance is His, not ours. And perfect fairness is not a biblical option either; we who have received a clean slate from our Savior can have no complaints against our God of justice. Justice once directed at us was poured out on Another. We can hardly insist that others must receive it.
Does that bother you? Relax. God will make all things right, in His time and in His way. He is patiently waiting for all who will repent; a verdict now would be premature. Seek justice now, when appropriate, but don’t place your hope in it. God’s is worth waiting for.

“God’s justice guarantees that ultimately all that is unfair will be dealt with.” -Joseph Stowell-

June 11 – Regarding the Weak (Psalm 41:1-3)

“Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble.”(Psalm 41:1)

IN WORD:
Imagine having a child who doesn’t seem to care much for other people. He or she is completely absorbed in self-centered activities, always planning for personal gain, and never making any real sacrifices for anyone else. Even when confronted with desperate need, this child seems not to be moved.
How will you feel about this child when he is in trouble? As a parent, your sympathies will naturally lead you to take care of your child. But with what enthusiasm? If the child has demonstrated no feeling for others, you will likely have a strong desire for him to learn compassion.
On the other hand, how would you feel about a child who has gone out of his way to help everyone else? Your compassions are stirred for someone who is by nature compassionate. When a sympathetic person is in deep trouble, he has the sympathy of others to draw on.
So it is with God. He loves every one of us, even those who are cold hearted. But He delights in rescuing a compassionate person. If we rarely focus on others, God will often let us sit in our difficulties for a while until we learn how others have felt in their need.

IN DEED:
Those who have regard for the weak always have God’s sympathetic ear. The problem is that we get so completely wrapped up in our own agendas at times that we hardly notice the needs around us. It isn’t that we don’t care about other people; we just don’t care enough to feel their pain or even to notice their hardships. We’re too occupied with our own business.
In His mercy, God cares for our needs regardless of our level of compassion. But He cares for them more readily, more powerfully, and more demonstrably if we have demonstrated His nature toward others. Do we withhold grace? Then grace will be hard to find. Or are we examples of mercy? If so, we will have mercy in abundance.

“He who demands mercy and shows none, ruins the bridge over which he himself is to pass.” -Thomas Adams-

June 10 – An Hour of Need (1 Kings 17:7-16)

“The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day of the Lord gives rain on the land.”
(1 Kings 17:14)

IN WORD:
A drought had made food scarce in Israel. Elijah the prophet had been fed by ravens, but God had a new command: Go to a widow in Zarephath. She would supply the need. Elijah did, and though the woman was preparing to die of hunger, God miraculously provided enough for her, her son, and the prophet.
Have you ever wondered why God told the prophet to go to a woman who had nothing? She was no source of great wealth, no prominent benefactor. She was about to make her last meal so that she and her son could then die. But God’s providence comes in barren places, and the woman learned a valuable principle: Obey God first, even when He asks for your last meal. Then your supply is up to Him.
Can you imagine giving your last dollar to a ministry while your stomach gnaws at you for attention? This is exactly what God ordered. The deep principles of providence kick in only after we’ve demonstrated a greater desire to invest in obedience than to invest in ourselves. No one ever received a blessing of God by desperately hanging on to his last dime. The greatest inflow of providence comes when we determine that nothing will hinder our outflow. God is looking for those who will do what He says before fulfilling their own desperate plans — Dow of Zarephath gave Elijah what she thought might be her last meal.

IN DEED:
At what point do you have so little that you stop giving to God? That is the point where God will demonstrate the futility of your plans — not because He enjoys frustrating us, but because He has greater plans for His people than their self-preserving instincts will allow. The miraculous flow of His providence is. Only miraculous to us when it seems unlikely. Our hour of greatest need is His hour of greatest supply. A Phoenician widow survived a famine on that principle. So can you.

“You will never need more than God can supply.” -J.I. Packer-