September 30 – Strength in Community (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
(Ecclesiastes 4:12)

IN WORD:
God doesn’t produce loners. He makes some people more sociable than others, but He has not called anyone to a lifetime of isolation. Why? Because the body of Christ is made up of many parts. They cannot operate independently any more than fingers can operate without hands or muscles can operate without nerves. An isolated soul is, in a very real sense, separated from the fellowship of Christ. He can experience the Spirit of God in some ways, but not in others. An essential means of God’s Spirit working in our lives comes only in community.
That should be obvious, but those of us who have grown up in an individualistic society have been trained to think of human beings as co-existing, not interrelating. We choose our relationships with a sense of independence, never realizing that we depend on the whole church in order to be complete in ourselves. Jesus may dwell in each believer for prayer and faith, but He does not dwell fully in any one believer for His works and ministry. That requires a body with numerous, diverse gifts. If we want to bear fruit in His name, we must bear fruit together. It’s the only way.

IN DEED:
The Christian church is horribly fragmented. Somehow we got the idea that separation was a casual matter. We change churches with relative ease. We move in and out of spiritual relationships with apparent apathy toward them. True believers develop overly exclusive theologies and divisive personalities and cliques. All the while, we forget a foundational biblical principle: In the body of Christ, as in many other venues, unity equals strength.
God gives us this principle of the three-strand cord because He wants us to be wrapped and bound together. He wants us to gather in His name. He wants a unified body of Christ, not many bodies of Christ. He wants individuals to find strength in tight, durable communities.

“As we draw nearer to Christ, we shall be drawn nearer to His people.” -G.T. Manley-

September 29 – End Time Priorities (Matthew 24:36-51)

“It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.”(Matthew 24:46)

IN WORD:
There is much speculation these days about whether we are nearing the end. Many people have an opinion, even a strong one. And while the Bible has given us many clues and tells us to live with a sense of expectation, let’s face it: We don’t know the day or the hour. Jesus assured us of that. In fact, when it comes down to it, we really don’t know the century or even the millennium. We are to be watchful and wise, not cocky and dogmatic. We have to confess a certain ignorance on the issue. Even Jesus did.
One thing we can know for certain, however, is that Jesus expected His followers to be ready. And as much as we look for His coming, many of us are clearly guilty of spending too much time trying to decipher biblical codes and headlines, and then gazing into the clouds for signs of His return. A little gazing is ok; Jesus urged our awareness of the signs. But He used stronger imperatives to urge something more: We are to be about His business!
Are you aware that as we stare upward, many millions of people — even billions — remain shrouded in darkness these 2000 years after the Cross, never having heard the gospel of grace, remaining under sin, and headed unforgiven into eternity? Are you aware that as we hold costly prophecy seminars, many hungry children are waiting for someone to give them a little food and a cup of cold water in His name? Wouldn’t we be a little embarrassed if Jesus returned right now?

IN DEED:
Jesus told us to expect His return, but expectation is folly if it does not lead to a dramatic sense of urgency and readiness. There is work to be done! Jesus knows you love Him, but don’t show your love by standing in the doorway passively awaiting His arrival. His house must be put in order. The other servants must be fed. Your Master isn’t just dropping in to say hello. He’s coming for an accounting. Are you ready?

“The fact that Jesus Christ is to come again is not a reason for star-gazing, but for working in the power of the Holy Ghost.”
-Charles Spurgeon-

October 29 – Wisdom Through Words (Psalm 119:9-16)

“With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.”(Psalm 119:13)

IN WORD:


IN DEED:


“Words, those precious cups of meaning . . .” -St. Augustine-

September 28 – Meaningless Competition (Philippians 2:3)

“I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor.” (Ecclesiastes 4:4)

IN WORD:
We like to think that our motives, at least on occasion, are pure. When we work hard and strive for success, we’d like to think we are doing so for the sake of our families and our God. But are we? Solomon’s observation is all too relevant. Even on our best days, we compare ourselves with others. And much of our motivation for achievement comes from one self-centered impetus: rivalry.
When are our ambitions most powerfully fueled? When are our accomplishments the sweetest? When are we most driven to achieve? When a rival is in the picture. We do want to bear fruit for God and to have an abundant life in His name. But there are subtle competitions that propel us further and deeper into our work. There is more than His glory at stake; There is ours. We work not only for the sake of His name but for the sake of our name.
Don’t believe it? Consider how often you compare your kids with those of others. Consider how you feel about your own house or neighborhood relative to others’. Consider your income and your position. Do we not strive for the best-sounding title on our resumes and business cards? When someone asks us what we do for a living, do we not cast it in the most impressive terms possible? Who are we trying to impress? It can’t be God; He knows what we do and how we do it. He already knows the level of responsibility we have and the income it brings. Is it possible that we try to impress others with our station in life? Solomon says yes! Our strongest motivations often spring from envy.

IN DEED:
Seek to consider only God’s favor, no one else’s. Force yourself to refrain from trying to impress people with what you’ve done, what you make, or how well you run your home. Consider yourself first and foremost a child of God, a position for which there is no rivalry. Make a conscious decision that prestige is like the wind, and you will no longer chase after it.

“Envy of another man’s calling can work havoc in our own.”
-Watchman Nee-

September 27 – Satisfying Work (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)

“That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God.”(Ecclesiastes 3:13)

IN WORD:
Recent surveys indicate unprecedented dissatisfaction with work. As many as 80% of employees at any given time are looking for a new job. Why? Maybe they need more money, or perhaps they don’t like the location, their co-workers, or their bosses. For most, however, the discontent isn’t a matter of location or benefits. It is a matter of meaning. If we don’t find meaning in our jobs, we find motivation difficult. Lack of motivation gets us behind in our work, which leads to stress, which leads to less motivation. It’s a vicious cycle.
God created work. Somehow, we got the impression that it’s a result of Adam & Eve’s sin, but God had the couple tending the Garden of Eden long before they were tempted and cast out. Work became more difficult, but work had already been ordained. God means for His people to be productive and to enjoy the fruits of their labor. He wants us to be content in what we do, whether it’s at home with children, in an office with co-workers, or elsewhere.

IN DEED:
Even when we know God’s plan, we often miss out on His ultimate purposes. The surveys that indicate massive job dissatisfaction invariably have Christians among their respondents. Believers can be as dissatisfied as the secular world.
How can we be more content in our work? There are 2 simple steps to meaningful labor. (1) Ephesians tells us to work “as if you were serving the Lord, not men” (6:7). If we who love Jesus have it firmly fixed in our minds that our labor somehow honors Him, we will be more interested in our labor. (2) We can pray. It’s acceptable to pray for a new job or role, but it’s even better to ask God to build meaning into your current work until His timing for something new is right. He can show you how your work relationships honor Him, or how your godly service reflects his character. That sort of satisfaction is a gift god longs to give.

“God’s greatest gifts come through travail.” -F.B. Meyer-

September 26 – Enduring Plans (Philippians 1:6)

“Everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.” (Ecclesiastes 3:14)

IN WORD:
We live in an age of disposables. We have disposable containers, disposable diapers, disposable cameras, even disposable income. Whenever someone laments that “they don’t make things like they used to,” they are invariably critiquing the quality of a product. Though the things craftsmen used to make didn’t last forever, the things factories make now last even less time. We are a plastic generation with a plastic lifestyle. Everything we don’t use immediately goes in the trash.
That may make for efficient consumerism (although one might argue just the opposite), but it doesn’t make for meaningful spirituality. Even the work of God’s hands, our world, is on a timetable. But God’s real work, the salvation of eternal souls, is permanent. His character is eternal and constant, His plan is eternal and constant, and His people are, through Jesus, eternal and constant. There is nothing disposal about the Christian life. When God called us, He had planned it from the foundation of the world and called us with “forever” promises. Nothing can take away from that, and nothing can add to it. God’s work is complete in every sense.
Why does God craft such immutable works? “So that men will revere him.” The shifting sands of time and culture have made us suspicious of everything. We are not impressed with temporary products. The infinite, on the other hand, blows us away.

IN DEED:
This verse applies to all of God’s works, but today, consider its application to your life. Do you wonder if God will change His mind about you? That perhaps you’ve overstepped His mercy? That maybe He won’t complete what He’s started in your life? Trust Him. The work that he does — including you — will endure forever. He promised it so you would revere Him.

“Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou, who changest not, abide with me.” -Henry Francis Lyte-

September 25 – A Shepherd Sent (Psalm 78:65-72)

“David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.”(Psalm 78:72)

IN WORD:
David is an Old Testament picture of the Savior. Messianic prophesies say the Son of David will establish the kingdom of David — an everlasting kingdom. Psalms about David are often quoted in the New Testament and applied to Jesus. There’s a correlation between the human image and the divine fulfillment that we can scarcely grasp.
Even so, though we understand it dimly, we get the clear impression that the psalmist Asaph is not speaking only of David the king, but also of the Davidic King. Just as God’s own hand provided a unilateral salvation after centuries of treasonous Israelite history, God’s own hand has provided a unilateral salvation after millennia of treasonous world history. The God who stepped into Israel’s affairs, despite its well-attested rebellion, is the same God who steps into our affairs, despite our own rebellion. Paul said it very succinctly: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We have a Shepherd who will take our confused, distorted lives and lead us with integrity of heart and skillful hands.

IN DEED:
David is an apt image for the good Shepherd. The shepherd of Israel wrote the most familiar psalm about the shepherding nature of God, and it parallels the history of His people. Because the Lord was his Shepherd — and ours — both he and we shall not want. Despite our whining in the desert, we will be led to pleasant waters and green pastures. Despite our wilderness wanderings, He will lead us in paths of righteousness — for the sake of His name. Despite the fact that the wages of our sin is death, He will walk with us through death’s valley. Despite God’s rod of judgement, His staff will comfort us. Despite the vicious enemies in both the wilderness and the Promised Land, He will prepare our table in their presence — just to prove a point. What’s the point? His goodness and mercy last a whole lot longer than our centuries — and years — of sin. Even after all that has happened, we will dwell in His house forever.

“I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” -John Newton-

September 24 – Splendor Subverted (Psalm 78:56-64)

“He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy.” (Psalm 78:61)

IN WORD:
We know from multiple Scripture passages that God is intensely concerned for the glory of His name. The Exodus event is filled with words from God to Pharoah through Moses that His works will establish His reputation (Exodus 8:10 & 9:16, for example). Moses, David, Daniel, and many others let the impetus for their prayers be the glory of God’s name rather than the success of their plans — and God honored them for it. Even the heavens declare His glory (Psalm 19:1). The whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of His glory (Habakkuk 2:14). Clearly, a driving theme of God’s Word is the renown of His name.
God attached His name to a group of tribes in the ancient Middle East. Surely He knew what that might do to His reputation. God’s glory displayed in humans? It seems so absurd. And they proved it. After years of rebellion and grievous sin, God pronounced judgment. It wasn’t an unredeemable judgment, but it was harsh nonetheless. And the God who loves the glory of His name, it seems, hates sin with an even greater passion. He sacrificed glory, even if only momentarily, in order to purge His people. He let His splendor fall into the hands of the enemy.

IN DEED:
Do you take your sin casually? God doesn’t. His passion and zeal throughout Scripture to make His name known among the peoples of the earth was subverted by His own hand. Why? He hates sin. It cannot stand. It would have been a greater offense to God for Him to defend a rebellious people for His name’s sake than to let the symbol of His name fall into the hand of pagan enemies. So He did the latter. The glory of God was held captive for our sin.
Fast forward a few hundred years. Want to know what God thinks of sin? Look at the brutality of the Cross. That’s the most accurate picture. On the Cross, the glory of God was once again held captive for our sin. His Son became a curse. His splendor became ugly. Only when we begin to understand that — the hideous nature of sin — can we begin to understand the depths of His mercy.

“Sin is the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.” -John Bunyan-

September 23 – Amazing Mercy (Psalm 78:32-39)

“He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.”(Psalm 78:39)

IN WORD:
God’s mercy is amazing. Repeatedly, the Israelites sinned against Him. If we’re honest, so do we. The ravages of the fallen nature are not isolated setbacks. They are frequent failures springing from a chronic condition. Even after we are born of His Spirit, we feed other spirits and our own flesh with alarming ease. And still, after all the sin and rebellion, after all the complaints and rationalization for our complaints, God remembers that we are but flesh. He hesitates to stir up His wrath.
People have taken God’s grace for granted for centuries. He offers forgiveness, and we interpret His mercy as license to do as we please. After all, if only a confession and some semblance of repentance are required, we can get away with practically anything. We abuse the character of God, and He lets us! If not forever, at least for a very long time. His patience is enduring, His faithfulness great. He much prefers to demonstrate mercy over justice. And in Jesus, He has demonstrated both.
We could spend our lives analyzing the fallen condition of mankind, with our lying tongues, flattering mouths, traitorous hearts, and futile ways (vs. 32-37). But our nature points to a greater object. Though our history certainly highlights our frailty and fickleness, it is more than a study of depravity. It is a study of God’s mercy. The patience of God, the grace He has given, the compassion of the Holy toward the profane — all of His attributes are amazing. All creation must marvel that, literally and metaphorically, treasonous flesh has abusively, willfully slandered Him in the desert, and He still came to redeem.

IN DEED:
Do you ever think you’ve sinned past the limits of God’s grace? Don’t flatter yourself. If the wanderers in the wilderness did not provoke His destruction of this planet, neither have we exhausted His mercy. In all of our futility, in all of our struggles, we can hold on to the knowledge of the all-wise god: He remembers that we are but flesh.

“The grace of God is infinite and eternal. As it had no beginning, so it can have no end.” -A. W. Tozer-

September 22 – Unholy Discontent (Psalm 78:17-31)

“They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.”(Psalm 78:18)

IN WORD:
God had led the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. They were confidently on the way to the Promised Land. After all, it had been promised.
But, a funny thing happened on the way to Canaan’s bounty. They had to go through a desert. The wilderness was wild beyond their tastes. Yes, they had seen God do marvelous things, but the sight of this desert seemed so much clearer than the goodness of God. Was the problem a short memory? An evil nature with a propensity to sin? A bad habit of complaining? Maybe all these and more. Regardless, the chosen people spoke against the One who chose them. They had just been given the rule of God’s Law, but their cravings ruled them more. With transient, demanding desires, they put God to the test.
We can relate. Human beings are complainers by nature. We instinctively know that things aren’t right in our lives. We live in a fallen world that we somehow expect to give us a better deal — for no reason in particular. When our desires aren’t satisfied, we cry out to God. He has already dealt bountifully with us, but we have short memories. He has provided manna, but we have a taste for something else. He has created us for His purposes, but we have purposes of our own. So we sit as judges while our God goes on trial.

IN DEED:
It’s an absurd situation, really. Wandering human beings — miraculously delivered from oppressive slavery, fed with food from above, visibly encountered by the Word of the living Lord, and promised an abundant land of victory — don’t like our lot. Every time we utter a prayer asking, “Lord, why are You picking on me?” Or express frustration that our plans are not exactly working out, we are hugely underestimating the goodness of God. Whenever we feel that the Deliverer, Savior, Redeemer, Victor, Guide, Protector, and Provider has somehow let us down, perhaps we should ask ourselves: Who is more likely to misunderstand this situation — me or Him?

“The secret of contentment is the realization that life is a gift, not a right.” -Anonymous-