Looking And Learning

Read: Deuteronomy 11:18-21.

"Train up a child in the way he should go." (Proverbs 22:6)

As an umpire stood behind the plate at a girls' softball game, he heard a player's mother start chanting: "We want a new ump! We want a new ump!" Soon, other parents took up the chant. The ump smiled, then turned toward the crowd and yelled, "I want new parents! I want new parents!" The heckling died away.
It's important for parents to set a good example, because their children are watching them. Christian parents can encourage good habits and behavior by doing things like:
• Praying for and with themso they learn how to talk with God. "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it" (Colossians. 4:2).
• Reading and teaching them the Bibleso they learn God's truth. "Teach [God's commands] diligently to your children... talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy. 6:7).
• Telling them about Jesusand leading them to faith in Him. "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
The best way to set a good example for our children is to live out our faith in front of them. While they're looking they're learning about what matters most.

- Cindy Hess Kasper

Take stock of yourself and consider your child
Your time and your thoughts are his due;
How would you reply to the Lord should He ask,
"What kind of parent are you?"  - Amon.

Children may not inherit their parents' talent,
but they will absorb their values.

Source: Daily Bread.

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Who's The Audience?

Read: Psalm 50:7-15

            I used to view the worship service in church as a time for entertainment. Speaking of folks like me, Sưren Kierkegaard said that we tend to think of church as a kind of theater: We sit in the audience, attentively watching the actors onstage. If sufficiently entertained, we show our gratitude with applause. Church, though, should be the opposite of the theater. God is the audience for our worship.
            What matters most takes place within the hearts of the congregation not onstage. We should leave a worship service asking ourselves not "What did I get out of it?" but rather "Was God pleased with what happened?"
            God took pains to specify details of animal sacrifice for the ancient Israelites in their worship. Yet He said that He didn't need their animals: "I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills" (Ps. 50:9-10). What He wanted was their praise and obedience (v.23).
            By focusing on the externals of worship, we too miss the point: The Lord is interested in a sacrifice of the heart, an internal attitude of submission and thanksgiving. The goal of worship is nothing less than to meet and please our God.

- Philip Yancey

Lord, may our worship and our praise,
From hearts surrendered to Your ways,
Be worthy offerings of love
For all Your blessings from above. - Sper

At the heart of worship is worship from the heart.

Source: Daily Bread

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Staying Clean

— by David C. McCasland

During a business trip to Philadelphia, I walked down Broad Street toward City Hall each morning to catch the subway. Each day I passed a long line of people waiting for something. They were a cross-section of humanity in age, ethnic origin, and appearance. After wondering about it for 3 days, I asked a man on the sidewalk why all those people were standing in line. He told me that they were on probation or parole after breaking the law and had to take a daily drug test to show that they were staying clean.

This struck me as a vivid illustration of my need to stay spiritually clean before God. When the psalmist pondered how he could live a pure life, he concluded that the key was to consider and obey God’s teaching. “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes. . . . I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your Word” (Ps. 119:11-12,16).

In the light of God’s Word, we see our sin, but we also see God’s love in Christ. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

By His grace . . . staying clean.

Lord, grant that we may hear You speak
As truth within Your Word we seek;
And may it show us all our sin
And make us clean without, within. — D. De Haan

Read the Bible to be wise, believe it to be safe,
practice it to be holy.

Source: Daily Bread.

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The Core Of The Problem

Read: Romans 3:10-18.

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find." (Romans 7:18)

 

One of my favourite television car toons as a boy was Tom Terrific. When Tom faced a challenge, he would put on his thinking cap and work through the matter with his faithful sidekick Mighty Manfred, the Wonder Dog. Usually, those problems found their source in Tom's arch-enemy, Crabby Appleton. To this day, I remember how this villain was described on the show. He was "Crabby Appleton rotten to the core."

The fact is that all of us share Crabby Appleton's primary problem apart from Christ, we're all rotten to the core. The apostle Paul described us this way: "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God" (Rom. 3:10-11). None of us are capable of living up to God's perfect standard of holiness. Because of our condition of being separated from a holy God, He sent His Son Jesus to give Himself to die on the cross for the punishment we deserve, and then rise again. Now we can be "justified freely by His grace" through faith in Him (v.24).

Jesus Christ has come to people "rotten to the core," and makes us "a new creation" by faith in Him (2 Cor. 5:17). In His goodness, He has fixed our problem completely all the way down to our core.

Bill Crowder

I know I'm a sinner and Christ is my need;
His death is my ransom, no merit I plead.
His work is sufficient, on Him I believe;
I have life eternal when Him I receive. - Anon.

Source: Daily Bread 

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Tell Your Story

Mark 5:1-20

"Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." (Mark 5:19).

An organizational consultant in New York says that his graduate students typically recall only 5 percent of the main ideas in a presentation of graphs and charts, while they generally remember half of the stories told in the same presentation. There is a growing consensus among communication experts about the power of the personal touch in relating an experience. While facts and figures often put listeners to sleep, an illustration from real life can motivate them to action. Author Annette Simmons says, "The missing ingredient in most failed communication is humanity."

Mark 5:1-20 gives the dramatic account of Jesus setting a violent, self-destructive man free from the powerful demons that possessed him. When the restored man begged to stay with Jesus as He traveled, the Lord told him, "`Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.' And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled" (vv.19-20).

Knowledge and eloquence are often overrated in the process of communicating the good news of Jesus Christ. Never underestimate the power of what God has done for you, and don't be afraid to tell your story to others. 

- David McCasland

Take control of my words today,

May they tell of Your great love;

And may the story of Your grace

Turn some heart to You above. - Sees.

Source: Daily Bread.

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Never Too Busy

by Bill Crowder 

           College students rent a house from my sister and her husband. One night, a thief attempted to break in. When the young woman living there called the police to tell them that a break-in was in progress, the operator responded in an unusual way: “You’ll have to call back in the morning. We’re just too busy right now.” That response was very disturbing! The young woman had done the right thing by calling the police, but for some reason her plea for help was disregarded. That kind of indifference is upsetting.

            But indifference never happens when we go to God in prayer. We may not always feel that God is listening, but He is. He cares, and He will respond. The Bible reminds us that we can take comfort in the fact that our God is deeply concerned with what concerns our hearts: “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth” (Ps. 145:18). When we call out to Him, we will never get a disinterested response.

             Rather than distancing Himself from us when we cry to Him, our heavenly Father draws close to us in our time of need. He is never too busy for His child’s prayers—He hears us when we call.

For answered prayer we thank You, Lord,
We know You’re always there
To hear us when we call on You;
We’re grateful for Your care. —Branon

You’ll never get a busy signal on the prayer line to heaven

Source: Daily Bread.

                         

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HE IS ENOUGH

(Matthew 14:22-33)

Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." (Matthew 14:27)

            Sometimes we are overwhelmed by life. The crushing waves of disappointment, endless debt, debilitating illness, or trouble with people can cause hopelessness, depression, or despair. It happened to Jesus' disciples. And it has happened to me.

               Three statements by the Lord beginning with the words "It is..." offer us comfort, reassurance, and hope that Jesus is enough. The first is in Matthew 4 and is repeated three times: "It is written" (vv. 4,7,10). In responding to the three temptations of Satan, Jesus gave us proof enough that the Word of God is true and overcomes the most powerful forms of temptation and pressure.

               The second statement, "It is I" (Matt. 14:27), was spoken when Jesus told His terrified disciples that He Himself was presence enough to stop the howling storm and calm the raging seas.

              Jesus spoke the third "It is" from the cross: "It is finished!" (John 19:30). He assured us that His death was provision enough to pay the debt for our sins and set us free.

Whatever our circumstances, Jesus is present with His love, compassion, and grace. He is proof, presence, and provision enough to carry us safely through.

Dave Egner

When trials overwhelm our souls

And tempt us to despair,

We need to reach out to the Lord

And trust His tender care. - Sper

Source: Daily Bread 

                                                            

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God's Flannelgraph

Read: Psalm 19

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." (Psalm 19:1).

                In this age of new video technology, it might be hard to believe that some teachers still feel the best way to depict Bible stories is the low-tech flannelgraph board. I recall that my childhood Sunday school teachers used those flat boards covered with flannel, which enabled them to display cutouts of David, Daniel, Jonah, Jesus, and all the other characters. The flannelgraphs helped my teachers capture the essence of the Bible story in an artistic way.

                   Those old-school flannelgraphs aren't the oldest graphic teaching devices, however. God has long had a kind of "flannelgraph" of His own, and it is called creation. God uses the marvel of creation to instruct us and to display His power.

                   In Psalm 19:1, David wrote, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." In creation, God has revealed Himself so clearly that Paul declared, "His invisible attributes are clearly seen." Those who have the witness of creation are "without excuse" (Romans 1:20). Why? On the flannelgraph of God's creation, we see God's order and design. We see His power and glory. This should lead us to worship. "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!" (Ps. 8:1).

- Bill Crowder

 
With words of great power God formed the world
By the strength of His voice heaven's hosts were unfurled;
Now in His honor we worship His name
And in heartfelt devotion His glory proclaim. - Branon

Source: Daily Bread 

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