|
|
Post by Parker on May 12, 2023 4:26:47 GMT -8
MAY 12
ONE-ON-ONE CARE
MATTHEW 10:29, 31
Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from Your Father’s will.… Do not fear, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
God is the God of the individual. He is the God who would spare Sodom if someone there could demonstrate faith. When the destruction came, He got His people out because of His love for the individual. He was the one who saw Nathanael, sitting under a fig tree, and later talked to him one-on-one. He’s the one who cared about Cornelius, who was praying by the sea. He’s the one who sent two messengers to Rahab so that she could know what to do before the judgment came.
God knows who you are. He sees you in the massive crowd on this overpopulated globe! He knows you, He loves you and He cares. The same God who is the God of patience is a God of passion for the individual.
He is the only one who can take us as we are and not only keep us from the judgment, but lift us up out of the mire and put our feet upon the Rock. He’ll give us all we need to become all He ever wanted us to be.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 13, 2023 4:00:25 GMT -8
MAY 13
ROOTED IN THE WORD OF GOD
PSALM 1:2–3
His delight is in the law of the Lord.… He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.
Your strength comes from God’s Word. The psalmist says the righteous person is like a tree planted by streams of water. Just like a tree is nourished by the constant supply of water—without which, under the blistering sun, the tree would surely die—so the life that is rooted in the Word of God will also be established and it will be strong.
Your stability comes from God’s Word. A fruit tree that is planted by the banks of the river suggests stability. The tree is firmly rooted in the soil so that it can resist the storm. There are trees standing today that were here when this country was discovered. If you go to the right place you can see trees that are just as magnificent and beautiful as they were in their prime. Why? Because they’ve got a tremendous root structure and they are strong. If you’ve ever seen a redwood, a tree so big that you can drive your car through the middle of it, then you know what invincible means. That’s the kind of stability God wants His people to have. And when you put your roots deep down into His Word, you will become a person of great stability.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 14, 2023 4:23:18 GMT -8
MAY 14
JOY THAT STAYS
JOHN 16:22
I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
The joy of Christ doesn’t go away. Have you noticed how easily earthly joy can leave? Have you discovered how simple it is for your gladness of today to become your sadness of tomorrow, for your sweetness of the morning to turn into the bitterness of the night? Have you discovered how the people you thought were your friends today can become your enemies tomorrow, the wisdom you thought was so great yesterday is foolishness today?
Nothing seems to be too stable in the world. You can’t really count on too much anymore. But the joy of Christ is a continual, never-ending, absolutely constant joy when we follow the principles of the Word of God. This joy survives all the difficult times in life. This joy is not hinged on happenings, but it is hinged on a Person.
In John 16:22, Jesus says, “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.” Isn’t that something? Jesus says the joy He wants to give every one of His children is the kind of joy you don’t have to lose. Nobody can take it away from you!
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 15, 2023 5:04:34 GMT -8
MAY 15
WHEN GOD SEEMS UNFAIR
EZEKIEL 18:25
You say, “The way of the LORD is not fair.” Hear now … is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?
That’s not fair! Did you ever say that to your parents? Most of us have, and in some cases we have spoken the truth. But usually children feel that way because they’re unable to see things from a more mature perspective.
In Isaiah 55:8–9, our heavenly Father says:“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.… For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Abraham might have wondered if God were being too harsh with the population of Sodom, but he contented himself with this assurance: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).
He shall! God is righteous—that is, He is morally right, and He is right in His decisions and in all His ways. But God tempers His justice with mercy. If you sometimes feel God has treated you unfairly, tell Him so. Then ask Him to give you a higher understanding of His ways and a deeper dependence on His grace. You can trust the Judge of all the earth to do right.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God (Nashville, TN: Integrity Publishers, 2002), 142.
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 16, 2023 4:35:22 GMT -8
MAY 16
THE INDESTRUCTIBLE WORD
ISAIAH 40:8
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
Down through the centuries, the Bible has always been hated and scorned by God’s enemies. Men have gone out of their way to abolish it.
There have been some “heroes” of God’s Word. William Tyndale devoted his life to spreading God’s good news. He translated it, printed it, and distributed it. In the midst of the great distribution under Tyndale, the bishop got angry and wanted to get the Bibles out of circulation. He sent a friend to buy all the Bibles Tyndale had printed. “Whatever it takes, buy them and destroy them.” The friend talked Tyndale out of the Bibles in spite of Tyndale’s exorbitant price.
The bishop’s friend paid it, took the Bibles, and destroyed them. With the money from the Bibles, Tyndale bought materials to print thirty times as many Bibles and distributed them all over the country. When the bishop discovered more Bibles, he asked where Tyndale had gotten the funds to do this. His friend said, “You paid for it—you bought the Bibles and he distributed them.”
Isn’t that great! The Bible, defiantely, victoriously, convincingly, still stands. It remains the only inerrant, infallible, complete revelation man has ever received from his living God.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 17, 2023 4:34:49 GMT -8
MAY 17
DOING THE STEPS
PROVERBS 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
A little boy comes to his father: “Daddy, I can’t get this piece of my model car to fit. I know it goes right there, but there’s just not room.” After walking his son back through the directions, they discover together that the problem part should have been glued in on step four—and the little guy was nearly finished. “See what happens? They tell you to put this piece in early because they know there won’t be room once the others are assembled.”
Sometimes when life’s pieces don’t fit together, it may be because we skipped the first step. And the first step to gaining wisdom and God’s knowledge is to fear the LORD. The word beginning can mean either “the first part” or “the main part.” In both cases, the practical message is the same. The first step, and the continual priority, in fitting all the part of life together is to honor, reverence, and worship God. Why? Because all knowledge and wisdom come from God, and we must seek answers through Him if we are to find them at all.
If you’re stumped with a part of life that won’t fit, humble yourself before the Lord. That’s the first step in living life skillfully.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 18, 2023 4:45:02 GMT -8
MAY 18
PROBLEMS PREPARE US FOR MINISTRY
[God] comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:4
Problems in our lives make us sensitive to the problems of others. How could the men and women of God reach out to a hurting world if they had never experienced that same pain in their own lives? How can we put our arms around a brother facing disappointment if we have never experienced disappointment ourselves? Sometimes God allows problems in our lives so that we can better minister to someone else. That’s exactly what happened to Joseph. From his humbling slave and prison experiences, he was able to fairly administer grain to a starving populace.
You see, problems have advantages. They provide us with opportunities if we will but look for them. They promote spiritual maturity if we let them make us better instead of bitter. They prove our integrity, produce a sense of dependency, and prepare our hearts for ministry. God allows problems so that we can learn and grow. We don’t like them, but they are necessary if we are to grow and change. Don’t run from the pressures God wants to use to make you His perfect example of Christlikeness.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 19, 2023 7:17:26 GMT -8
MAY 19
FEEDING SHEEP
JOHN 21:17
Jesus said to [Peter], “Feed My sheep.”
The final chapter of John’s Gospel records one of the last conversations between the resurrected Lord Jesus and Peter. Just days earlier, Peter had denied his Lord beside a fire. Now, beside another fire, he will be restored. Just as Peter had denied Christ three times, he would be given three opportunities to confess his love for Jesus.
That’s the portion of the story most people remember. Jesus uses one word for love—a strong, intense word for committed love—and Peter, his confidence shattered, comes back with a weaker word in reply. That happens two times, until finally Jesus looks Peter in the eyes and uses Peter’s own, weaker word, as if to say, “Peter, do you even care for Me as a friend?”
The question breaks the big fisherman’s heart, but Jesus neither rejects nor casts the sorrowing man aside. On the contrary, He recommissions Peter in the kingdom. In no uncertain terms, He gives him a job to do.
That is the portion of the story so often overlooked. Every time Peter answered the Lord, the Lord gave him a strong, specific command: “Feed my lambs, Peter”; “Tend my sheep, Peter”; “Feed my sheep, Peter.”
Peter got the message. Do you?
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 20, 2023 5:05:15 GMT -8
MAY 20
UNWILLING HOPE
Hebrews 6:19
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.
Scripture teaches us that hope is necessary because the will is often uncooperative. We all know we should possess hope. We know that as Christians, we should be filled with hope. But how many of us have found ourselves praying the prayer of Paul in Romans 7:19: “Lord, I know what I should do, but I don’t do it. I know what I shouldn’t do, and here I am doing it again” [my paraphrase].
Hebrews 6:18 is very interesting. It says, “That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”
Many of us have experienced difficult times and we know our hope ought to be in the Lord. But sometimes our will is uncooperative, and we just have to forget everything and hang on to God, flee to Him for our refuge.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 21, 2023 6:33:35 GMT -8
MAY 21
THE SPIRIT’S GIFTS
Ephesians 4:7
To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
The Bible says that when you’re saved you not only get the Giver, you get the gift! You receive the Spirit of God, but you also receive the gift of the Spirit. Every Christian is immediately endowed with a special gift of ministry. You will find those gifts listed in Romans 12, in Ephesians 4, and in 1 Corinthians 12.
In other words, every believer has a gift of the Spirit. We are to exercise that gift so that everyone else profits. I exercise my gift, and it helps you. You exercise your gift, and it helps me. And all of us using our giftedness help the whole body to grow.
But you can’t do that without the Spirit of God. The whole concept of service is based on the spiritual filling of the believer. No wonder so many of God’s people are trying to figure out how to survive! Do you know what we’re trying to do? We’re trying to accomplish a supernatural task in the energy of our own weak flesh.
We run like crazy trying to keep up with everything, and we fall into bed at night totally exhausted. There is no human way for us to do the work of God in the energy of the flesh. If the Spirit of God doesn’t fill us with His power, we’re attempting the impossible.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 22, 2023 7:32:57 GMT -8
MAY 22
NINETY-TWO BANANAS
Philippians 4:19
God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
The prophet Jeremiah and the apostle Paul discovered the same thing about prayer: When our hearts are right, God delights to give us more than we asked for. In Jeremiah 33:3, the Lord said, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” In Ephesians 3:20, Paul said that God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”
In her autobiography, Evidence Not Seen, missionary Darlene Diebler tells of being near starvation in a Japanese POW camp. Through her window she saw in the distance a banana. “Lord,” she prayed, “just one banana.” But she couldn’t see how God could get her a banana through prison walls.
The next day she heard footsteps coming down the hall and the key turning in the door of her cell. In walked a guard with a bunch of bananas. “They’re yours,” he said. She sat down in stunned silence and counted them. There were ninety-two bananas!
As Darlene wept and thanked the Lord, she seemed to hear Him say in her heart, “That’s what I delight to do, exceeding abundantly above everything you ask or think.”
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 23, 2023 4:52:21 GMT -8
MAY 23
A REFLECTION OF HOLINESS
Exodus 33:19
I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you.
What happened to Moses when he experienced the Holy? Moses had seen some pretty amazing miracles in his life, but he still wanted to see God’s glory. God decided to show Moses a little bit of His glory. God put Moses in the cleft of a rock and covered him with His hand as He passed by. Moses only saw a reflection of the holiness of God from a distant rear view, but it affected him so much that the people of Israel were afraid of him when they saw him. His face shown so brilliantly, the people were terrified. Moses had to wear a veil in order to talk to the people.
If we could see God as He really is, not only would we know Him as a God of compassionate love, but we would see Him as a God of holiness, quite apart from anything we have ever known.
Why is it important to see God as He really is in His holiness? Because only then will you see yourself as you really are.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 24, 2023 9:09:02 GMT -8
MAY 24
A FAMILY FOCUSED ON GOD
Genesis 47:11
And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
There are at least three lessons we can learn from the story of Joseph and his family. First, God provided for the entire family due to the faithfulness of one member. God provided good land, met their every need, and watched Jacob’s family come back to Him, and none of it would have happened had it not been for Joseph. Christians, if we are the only godly people in our families, we can’t quit. We have the potential of redeeming our entire family.
A second lesson we learn from this story is that we are to care for the elderly. Joseph sets an example for us to follow by offering tender, loving care to his father.
Finally, we learn that God puts a priority on the family. The family is part of God’s perfect plan for the world. There are only two institutions that God ordained: the church and the family. In this day, when families are being torn apart, the story of Joseph is a clear indication of what the family can accomplish when it is intact and focused on the Lord.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 25, 2023 6:51:03 GMT -8
MAY 25
NO COOKIE-CUTTER CHILDREN
Proverbs 23:24
The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise child will delight in him.
Sometimes we have the parenting cookie-cutter mentality. We not only want our children to believe what we believe, but we want them to live out their beliefs exactly like we do. We lose sight of the fact that as children grow, they are going to develop some of their own ways of expressing the same commitments to truth that we have. But when we lose sight of the commitment to truth and we demand outward conformity in every single way, we foster rebellion, because rebellion is the only way they can get enough energy and power to be what they need to be.
You may have heard the story about the housewife who always cut off the end of a ham before baking it in her oven. When the reason was discovered, it was because her grandmother’s small oven necessitated it—a practice that was blindly followed by succeeding generations without question. Values and beliefs should not change from generation to generation, but the expression of them likely will. When we force our children to express their beliefs as we do, we foster rebellion. They need freedom to become their own people.
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
|
|
Post by Parker on May 26, 2023 5:10:02 GMT -8
MAY 26
MEEKNESS, NOT WEAKNESS
Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
When you hear the word meekness you may think of the word in its modern setting—someone who is spineless, spiritless, lacking in strength and virility. The meek person in today’s world is not how we’d like to be known. But the Bible says, “Blessed are the meek.”
The Bible says the meek are blessed of God and someday they will rule the earth.
Meekness is not weakness. It is not laziness. It is not compromise at any price, not just being born nicer than other people.
The word came to mean in classical Greek “to soothe, to calm, to tranquilize.” Someone has described meekness as gentleness by those who have the power to be otherwise—power under control. Meekness is the grace that brings strength and gentleness together.
When Jesus invited us to Him, He did not appeal to us on the basis of His kingship, majesty, or authority. The Lord reaches out His arms and says, “Come to Me and I’ll give you rest, for I am meek—you can be comfortable coming to Me” (see Matthew 11:28).
David Jeremiah, Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God
|
|
