Living By The Word

  Divine Calm in the Midst of the Raging Storm ( May 31, 2024) “Who  is  mighty like You, O  Lord ? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them. ” (Psalm 89:8-9) Commonly spawned by intense heat and humidity, many of us both admire the natural beauty and respect the awesome fury that can be unleashed by severe thunderstorms. Worldwide, an estimated 16 million thunderstorms occur each year, and at any given moment, roughly 2,000 of them are in progress around the globe, threatening damaging winds and hail, dangerous lightning, and heavy downpours that can generate flash flooding. Just as these often-spectacular weather events can erupt suddenly during the spring and summer seasons, we can expect storms of adversity and hardship to occasionally upset the peace and tranquility of our daily lives. In these most difficult and trying times, we must allow our faith to overcome our fear and respond in a posit...

  Trust the Captain of Your Salvation ( May 30, 2024) “… for the  Lord  your God  is  He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. ” (Deuteronomy 20:4) Life can be viewed as a battleground where we are engaged on multiple fronts in deadly warfare against a host of imposing enemies that seek to defeat and destroy us. In the physical world, many face such formidable foes as disease, addiction, poverty, relational issues, terrorism, hunger, natural and manmade disasters, and countless unseen dangers that lurk in the darkness of an evil world eager to strike. In the spiritual realm, Satan and his demonic forces seek to deceptively lead us into captivity to our fleshly lusts and entrap us in servitude to our sinful desires the ultimate consequence of which is death. We must be vigilant because our “ adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) “But thanks  be  to God...

  The Privilege and Power of Prayer ( May 29, 2024) “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3) One of the greatest privileges that we have as Christians is the opportunity to take our cares and concerns to the masterful Creator and sovereign God of the universe in prayer. We don’t need an appointment or a reservation; at any moment of our choosing, God invites us to come to His throne of grace to lay down our burdens and lift up our prayers to Him. God is readily accessible to believers, but consumed by the busyness and distractions of life, we often neglect to utilize the effective communication tool and the powerful weapon of prayer until we desperately need divine favor or face a personal crisis. Christians grow spiritually and develop an intimate personal relationship with the L ORD by taking time daily for prayer, communion, and fellowship with Him and allowing God to speak to us through His Word and His i...

  Jesus Strengthens, Sustains, and Saves ( May 28. 2024) “Trust in the  Lord  with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) In our human pride and selfishness we often assert our perceived independence and become mired in the myth of our own self-sufficiency. When things are going well and the changing circumstances of our lives happen to be favorable, at least for the moment, we tend to fall for Satan’s deception that we are in complete control of our lives. Consumed by self-centeredness, we make the mistake of trying to depend on our own intelligence and ingenuity, blindly ignoring the fact that we can have and do nothing outside of the providential sovereignty of the loving God who created us, provides for our needs, and sustains our lives down to each life-giving breath that we take. Often when hardships and difficulties come along, we try to fix our problems on our own...

 The Greatest Love (Memorial Day, May 27, 2024) The freedoms that we enjoy both as Americans and as Christians have been gained at unimaginably great costs…the sacrifice of precious human lives! On this somber Memorial Day, I thank God for the many courageous men and women who have died to secure and defend the liberties that we enjoy as proud Americans. And, as a devoted Christian, I am eternally grateful to the One who made the supreme sacrifice and died for my salvation, giving me and all believers the assurance of everlasting life—Jesus Christ, my risen LORD! These sacrifices are the ultimate expression of the greatest love!

Drink of the Living Water ( May 24, 2024)   “…but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)   Jesus Christ is the sole source of the living water for which every lost soul thirsts spiritually. The Lord invites everyone to come by faith to His fountain of grace and partake of the fresh, pure water of salvation that wells up into eternal life! Drink freely of this water of life rejoicing in the everlasting hope that is promised those who trust in Christ. “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Isaiah 12:3)

  What Would Jesus Do? ( May 23, 2024) “ Blessed  is  the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ” (James 1:12) Born again by the grace of God through faith in His beloved Son Jesus Christ, Christians have become new creations that have been liberated from the penalty of our sins, spiritual death, and given the hope of everlasting life! Each of us is a work of God in progress, gradually being transformed from the inside out into the likeness of Christ by our divine Helper, God’s Holy Spirit, who now inhabits our yielded, repentant heart. A dramatic change is taking place in which our old Adamic nature is being subdued and our interests, desires, and ways of thinking are progressively being conformed to God’s will, preparing us to serve His purpose for our creation. In our freshness of life in Christ, we now have God’s awesome power within us to resist si...

  Slow to Anger ( May 22, 2024) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Living to honor and glorify Jesus Christ is an extremely demanding, but eternally rewarding lifestyle that is well worth the self-sacrifice that it takes. Walking daily in harmony with our Savior and portraying the love of Christ to other people requires, among other godly qualities, peace, patience, and self-control. One of the most challenging aspects of answering our call to be Jesus’ earthly ambassadors is the management of the inborn human emotion of anger. Living in a world of extreme conflict and strife, it is often difficult to suppress our tendency to erupt emotionally into wrathful words and unforgiving actions when we feel wronged or threatened by others, even our dearest friends and loved ones. But as believers, we must allow “the peace of God that passes all understanding” (Phil...

  Jesus Shoulders Our Burdens ( May 21, 2024)   Life is a rich blessing from a gracious God of love! Yet, as we all know, it can be quite burdensome. There are many contributors to the loads we bear. As much as we love them, our families and friends can place some rather weighty burdens upon us as well as demands upon our time and energy. Adding to the encumbrances of life are the loads imposed by our professions, the pursuit of our dreams, putting food on the table, paying the bills, and handling the pressures of life’s many other responsibilities. As if that’s not enough, sometimes we impose burdens upon ourselves. Among those needless self-imposed burdens is the baggage we often lug around from the past, refusing to let go of feelings of guilt for confessed sins that God has already forgiven and forgotten. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ” (Psalm 46:1) For Christians, there is divine relief! We don’t have to bear life’s burdens on our...

  Forgiveness Is Christlikeness ( May 20, 2024) “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) Along with the joys and blessings they bring, human relationships are bound to produce heartaches and pain. We have all suffered what we consider to be wrongs or injustices inflicted upon us by other people, even our closest friends and dearest family members. Sometimes we are cut so deeply that we hold grudges and seek revenge against those who have inflicted emotional hurt. We are quick to condemn others for their injurious acts against us, whether they are willful or not. Sadly, however, we are too often reluctant to forgive them. While folks who have caused us grief may withhold their expressions of sorrow and remorse, God has called Christians to love our neighbors as ourselves, and a godly expression of that love is forgiveness. “"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against any...

  Jesus--A Faithful Friend Is He! ( May 17, 2024) “ A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ” (Proverbs 17:17) Judas Iscariot certainly deserves ominous recognition as one of the evilest villains in the Bible. One of the Twelve Apostles, Judas, of course, became notorious for his betrayal of Jesus leading to the arrest and crucifixion of our L ORD. Having been possessed by Satan, he infamously disclosed the whereabouts of the Jewish Messiah to the chief priests and elders and was paid 30 pieces of silver for his dastardly deed. Judas then led an armed multitude into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus went to pray following the Last Supper. There Judas--whose surname may be derived from a Latin word meaning “murderer” or “assassin”--identified Jesus with a sinister kiss, calling him “Rabbi.” Amazingly, before the mob laid hands on the incarnate Son of God and took Him as a prisoner, Jesus graciously said to His depraved disciple, “Friend, why have ...

    The Temple of the Heart ( May 16, 2024) “And the temple which I build  will be  great, for our God is greater than all gods.”   (2 Chronicles 2:5) The ancient nation of Israel reached its peak of world renown under the reign of King Solomon, the son of David, God’s beloved servant. Not only did the L ORD give Solomon matchless wisdom, unprecedented riches, and restful peace with surrounding nations but the prestigious Hebrew monarch was privileged by God to build Israel’s first temple, a magnificent structure that became the center of worship and assembly of the Jewish people. In the Holy of Holies, the innermost room and most sacred area of the temple, God's presence rested. Only the high priest was allowed to enter this hallowed place, once per year on the  Day of Atonement , carrying the blood of a sacrificial lamb and burning incense. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and  that  the Spirit of God dwells in you? If...

  Blind Faith ( May 15, 2024) “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) To become the earthly servants that Jesus has called us to be, believers must learn to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Spiritual maturity is a step-by-step process in which we respond to the promptings of the indwelling Holy Spirit without, in many cases, knowing exactly where God is leading us or understanding why He is guiding us in a particular direction. We simply step out in faith without seeing the whole picture, trusting God to use us to accomplish the task He has called us to do and believing His promise to work all of the circumstances of those of us who love and seek to serve Him to our ultimate benefit. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8) To please God, we must follo...

  He Must Increase… ( Daily Devotion #667 ) May 13, 2024 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ” (John 1:29) When lost sinners accept Jesus as their Savior and enter into a personal relationship with Him, they begin the process of becoming new creations in Christ. Heartfelt faith in Christ is the mechanism that triggers an outpouring of God’s grace, allowing believers to be forgiven of their sins and to receive God’s gift of salvation. To be useful and fruitful in our newfound standing as children and heirs of God, we must make the L ORD our highest priority and center our lives on Him. Jesus both desires and deserves this place of highest prominence, above the people, possessions, and pleasures of this world, even our dearest loved ones and most treasured pursuits. John the Baptist, whose earthly ministry prepared the way and heralded the coming of the incarnate Christ to offer Himself as the...

  A Guiding Conscience ( May 10, 2024)   The human conscience is our inner sense of what is right and wrong, the moral compass that guides our conduct and shapes our character. Fans of the delightful Academy Award-winning Walt Disney animated classic “Pinocchio” will recall that Jiminy Cricket famously admonished the film’s long-nosed title character to, “Always let your conscience be your guide!” As a Christian, I consider that to be great advice if your conscience is finely-tuned to the “still small voice” of the L ORD and grounded in the absolute truth of God’s Word. Only through trusting obedience can we maintain consciences that are keenly sensitive and immediately responsive to the wisdom of God’s righteous guidance of our lives.   “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart,  from  a good conscience, and  from a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5) Each of us needs to make sure that the compass of our conscience is c...

  The Walk of Faith ( May 9, 2024) “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) Learning to walk by the faith that has secured our salvation is the central challenge we face as Christians seeking to grow in our relationship with the L ORD Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that every good and perfect gift is given by a generous heavenly Father who expects us to develop and share our divine blessings as we do His will and serve His purpose. Like the unmerited favor of His grace that is freely offered to those who choose to trust in Christ, faith is a gift of God. Faith must be flexed like a muscle to gain the strength that our journey as believers demands.     “ For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think  of himself  more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. ” (Romans 12:3) God has allotted to each of His children a certain amou...

  The Son and the Savior ( May 8, 2024) “ Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ” (Matthew 16:16) One of the most helpful God-given skills that we often take for granted is the ability of recognition that allows us to respond appropriately to daily circumstances. Whether or not we are focused on people, places, or things, it is vitally important that we be able to recognize who, where, and what they are. For example, we recognize other people by their facial features, the sound of their voices, and the mannerisms we have come to associate with them. By the same token, we discern where we are located by known landmarks that are characteristic of particular places. Indeed, in order to get where we want to go, identify the various objects that are part of our everyday lives, and interact successfully with other people we must first recognize them and then respond accordingly. And suddenly a voice  came  from heaven, sayin...

  Jesus Is the Source Our Joy! ( May 7, 2024) “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4) Christians should greet each new day with rejoicing and gladness because of the unimaginably great hope of eternal security that is ours, having received God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. “This  is  the day the  Lord  has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:2) Rejoicing is the expression of the heartfelt joy that is ours as saints of Christ. The deep, abiding joy within our hearts should be outwardly visible in the conduct of our lives regardless of what we might be experiencing at the time. Knowing Jesus personally is a matchless joy! Quite apart from happiness and other emotions that ebb and flow depending upon our circumstances, joy is that unshakeable inner delight that is among the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) divinely cultivated in us when we yield our free wills to the L ORD and our transf...