Third Day

  • Galactic Starveyors

    What a joy to study God, not just about God, but God. What a privilege to get outside of the world and come back to the center where we meet God who creates new things. What joy there is to know that God has revealed himself in the pages of his Word. We know Him, we embrace Him, and then we reveal Him as we obey Him.
    I am amazed at the Scripture. I’m amazed and stand in awe of God’s Word. It speaks. It is living, and this breathing Scripture gives breath and life. It transcends sin and death. It conquers all. God is in control and He is winning and has won.
    “Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;
    Give ear; all you far countries;
    Strap on your armor and be shattered;
    Strap on your armor and be shattered.
    Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
    Speak a word, but it will not stand,
    For God is with us.”     (Isaiah 8:9, 10).

     

    There will never come one moment when we will say, “I’ve seen it all.” As you know and trust God through His Son by the power of His Spirit, you and I will not be bored.

  • Values are Timeless, not Temporary

    “And these words , which I commanded thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7a).
    As parents, we need to see our kids at the age of the twenty- or thirty-year-olds they will one day become. This is not trying to grow them up before their time. But it is a vision that says to the world and to the culture that your children will not be had by them. We are talking about placing before them and within them the vision of training them into adulthood, growing them into disciples.
    One of the values of Scripture, for instance, that has always been before us is this matter of being not “yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14), especially in the terms of the marriage relationship. Of course, this wasn’t an issue when they are only ten, twelve, and fourteen. But since this issue would arise in their lives in a short period of time, as Christians who love our God, we as parents place these values of the sanctity of Christian marital vows before them as they grow.
    It is imperative that Christian parents know their core values and express them along the way. Before you know it the child has grown before you in a manner that is faster than a speeding bullet. God has taught us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto His wisdom. Don’t start tomorrow. Begin today to make those choices that will change and bend the hearts of your children toward Christ and His Word.

  • When Old Faithful Isn’t

    There was a bothersome headline a while back from the USA Today, “Old Faithful Gets Fickle.” What? The famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park was not as faithful as it once was. The 140 foot tower of steam erupted faithfully about every 66 minutes, but something was not right as the report continued.
    The eruption could be predicted for 12:11 p.m. But it didn’t occur until 12:18 p.m. The one predicted for 2:46 p.m. jumped the gun at 2:38 p.m. The problem was that underground shifts by minor earthquakes occurred, plus vandalism by visitors. The “Tommy Tourists” would come by and throw things into the geyser’s hole, from chicken bones to underwear. What?
    Most of us have had something or someone that was kind of our “Old Faithful”, but they became “Old Unpredictable.” It might have been a job that you used to have and depended upon for a long time. Or it could have been a mate that took off and left you holding air and nothing but hopelessness. Maybe it was your parents’ marriage that hurt you deeply that caused a rift for your growing up days.
    Maybe your church or your spiritual leaders have let you down and they were once your “Old Faithful.” It hurts when an “Old Faithful” isn’t anymore. It leaves us disoriented, and afraid, and even unsure of ourselves or unsure of others. Our future can seem so drear and so uncertain. But don’t let it bring you down. While others let you down, you don’t have to go down.
    Remember this for today. Jeremiah says, “I remember my afflictions and wandering, the bitterness and the gall, I well remember them and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail, they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him” (Lam. 3:19).

  • Cream Puff or Rattlesnake

    “God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in Him sets us clear”

    (Rom. 3:25 MSG).

     

    One Sunday President Calvin Coolidge, a man of few words, attended church. Upon his return from the service he was asked what the sermon was about. He responded, “sin.”

     

    “Well, what did the preacher say about it?”

     

    “He said he’s against it,” replied Coolidge.
    No Christian can live with sin – day in and day out, year in and year out, without even the slightest change or attempt to stop – and remain a Christian! Christianity without any change in behavior over the long haul is synthetic Christianity – it is a false assurance. We either go to God in repentance and turn away from our sin, or we give over to sin.
    Here is the truth of the matter, we need to be afraid of sin. We have to treat it more deadly than a rattlesnake. That means we never dally with it.
    You play with fire, you will get burnt. You mess with a snake, you get bit. You dabble in sin, you slide down the slippery slope that separates from God. There is NOTHING more dangerous than accepting and excusing sin…that has the power to cast into hell.
    As we walk through life we need to follow the Appalachian warning about river trails: NEVER stop watching for rattlers! We have got to be alert and be on our guard. Sin can creep up when we least expect it.
    When it does we need to do as Barney Fife says, “Nip it in the bud.” We need to root it out even before it is a half-formed thought, before it is said…before it is done. Don’t touch sin with a ten-foot pole. And if you do, deal with it immediately.
    Stay close to Christ. Stay in God’s Word. Read it. Meditate upon it. Eat it. Memorize it. Pray it through.

  • He is the God Who is Near

    “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?” (Jeremiah 23:23).

     

    There’s a trend today that isn’t new. It has been going on for thousands of years. It is the way of people, prophets, and priests and their delivery of the Word of God. In Jeremiah’s day the prophets were lying to the people. They said they heard from God but it wasn’t true. And because of their false information to the people there was a great void that was filled by other gods.
    When God’s Word is not lived out by His people we can be assured that something else will flow in. When we forsake our God for the activities of the world then we can be sure we are sending a message to our children that God is not that important to us. When God’s Word makes an impact upon His people you will see people bowing down and humbling themselves before this great and awesome God. You will see people forsake their lives and attend the house of God. Prayer will increase. The fire of people’s hearts will be sustained by more prayer and preaching of God’s Word. Fellowship will increase and love will be deeper.
    God’s Word is like a fire and it is like a hammer. As a fire it will consume all selfishness and sin. And as a hammer it will break the heart’s hardness into little bits of pebble. When God is near lives are changed. In the days of Jeremiah there was not much true God. In America’s church there is not much changing taking place, except more self-seeking and self-serving.  We are in great need of revival. Great needs will be fulfilled when God’s people need Him. Souls will be saved when God’s people forsake the gods that are afar off and return to the God at hand.