God Knows What We Need

 January 4, 2024

Thursday

Matthew 6: 7-8 (NASB 2020) 7 “And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

We all pray but some think their praying will be enhanced by the words they use. I have heard many people pray using King James English. That is fine if that is how they learned to pray but it isn’t fine if they think this will cause God to give them what they want.

Because I have fasted for extended periods, people have acted as if God was obligated to give me what I asked. There is nothing I can do to make God give me what He doesn’t want for me. I fast because I humble myself before Him readily accepting what He has for me.

Honestly, do we believe that we know more than God does when it comes to our needs? Do we believe we are informing God of our needs? No, we are seeking to agree with God in our needs when we bring our needs to Him. 

We sometimes forget that God loves us. He loved us so much that His own Son was not too high a price to redeem us.

We sometimes forget that God knows exactly what is going on in our lives. He knows what we need before we know what we need. He keeps His attention on us out of His love.

We sometimes forget that God has the knowledge to know more than we know. Our cries to Him bring us closer. He wants us to walk with Him. He wants us to understand how much He loves us.

We sometimes forget that God has the power to give us exactly what we need. What we receive from Him is what we need.

Yes, we cry out to Him. Yes, we continue to petition Him. But we never should think that we can make Him give us less than what He has for us. This is how we should pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

There Is Hope for You, Yet

 January 3, 2024

Wednesday

Philippians 1:6 (NASB 2020) 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.

My wife and I flew back from Texas. She said she would get the bags if I would get the car in long-term parking and bring it just outside of baggage claim. Amazingly, I found the car and brought it around. The airport police were making sure that no one was parking and going in so I went around a couple times until my wife would come out with the bags. The third time she was waiting for me with one bad and I pulled over. 

While my wife went back in to retrieve the other bag the airport policewoman said that I needed to go around. I told her that my wife just went in to get the other bag. 

She proceed to act as if she was about to write a parking ticket. I exploded. I understood why they needed to keep the traffic flowing, but this seemed ridiculous! I got back in my car and started to go around the airport again as I yelled at the policewoman. 

My wife came out and wondered where I had gone. I was still mad and said some more things to the policewoman when I got back around. 

After I calmed down, I was so ashamed of my actions. Sure, I can justify what I said by being tired, hungry and the unreasonableness of what was going on, but that won’t truly justify my actions before the Lord. No, I didn’t act like I knew Jesus. I also wasn’t following His example of being ill treated but not returning ill treatment.

It is both accurate and easy for me to say that I have a long ways to go. I can even admit that I have preached this self-unlearned message before. I wasn’t anything like I had exhorted others to be.

I have one comfort that still doesn’t excuse my actions. Jesus is still working on me. I am an uncompleted project. This won’t excuse the next time I act this way but it does reveal there is hope for me yet.

Your Labor Is Not in Vain

 January 2, 2024

Tuesday

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NASB 2020) 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

No one makes a public decision in another worship service. The preacher may think that all of his hard work in putting the sermon together is in vain, but he would be wrong.

Not all spiritual decisions are public. Not all spiritual decisions need to be public. Working for the Lord means that you aim for the heart. The feet, hands, legs and mouth will follow later.

Not all spiritual decisions are immediate. Many times the Holy Spirit continues to work on the individual long after the preacher has stopped preaching. That is also true of anyone who shares the gospel with others. Some people volunteer readily when they are convicted of what they need to do. Others must surrender because they continue to fight what they need to do.

The work of the gospel takes time in many people. They hear the truth but it takes hearing it again and again for some. People working for the Lord need to see their work as adding a brick to the building rather than trying to build a building in a single day.

The person laboring for the Lord has been changed by the labor. This should always be true. The Holy Spirit worked in the laborer by drawing him or her close and convicting that the message shared is true. This is what makes the Christian firm and immovable.

So, be encouraged! That person you think has dismissed all that you have said to them may not have done so at all. The work you are doing to raise your children may seem to go nowhere but the Lord is the One who makes your work fruitful. The co-worker you struggle to show who Jesus is will be worked on by the Holy Spirit too. You are being changed by your work for the Lord.

None of our work for Him is in vain.

Lift Someone Up Today

 January 1, 2024

Monday

1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NASB 2020)11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

Paul reminds the Thessalonians of his ministry with them. He exhorted, encouraged and implored them to walk in a manner worthy of God who called them into His own kingdom and glory.These three words intrigued me enough to explore their meaning for I would have simply made them synonyms. The meaning is to call them near, speak to them in a friendly encouraging way and give witness to the facts that will lead people to walk with their God.

This, too, is my calling. Today, I am to see those who need the encouragement to start or continue their walk with the Lord. I am to tell them words, unique to them that will help them on their walk. A simple bit of encouragement for those who are down will lift them up to walk.

I remember a time I was in a huge crowd of people that were rushing toward a football stadium. I tripped and fell, but because there were so many people I couldn’t regain my feet. I was knocked down before I could get up. Someone in the crowd reached down and picked me up. Once I was on my feet again, I could continue on toward the stadium. 

I wondered what would have happened if that person that I never saw hadn’t picked me up. The injuries could have been catastrophic. 

Someone may need you and me to pick them up today so that they can continue their walk. Let’s keep our eyes, ears and hearts open so that we can lift them up today.

On the other hand, maybe you are the person who needs to be picked up. I can tell you that God knows what is going on in your life and is working on it at this very minute. He is bringing you to be closer to Him. Be encouraged because He has not forgotten you. He wants you to walk with Him right now.

Just think, we can have a positive impact on people today. We have been picked up by God through other people to tell even other people how God is there to pick you up.

Now, let’s go tell people this today.

A Better You in 2024

 Many of you will buy a devotional book for 2024. I think that's great! However, you don't have to do that.  

I have written a devotional for every day for 2024. These will appear on this blog each day at 12:00 AM starting January 1, 2024. (I actually don't know where it will be 12:00 AM, I just set it up for 12:00 AM. I hope it's Eastern Time!)

There devotions are short. They are dated. They are not theological treatises. They haven't been edited. (You will not doubt find grammar errors.) These are the words I prayed God would give me as I wrote them.

Why would I do this?

I believe that a daily time with God will change our lives more completely than any other practice. I believe it will encourage us to pray, speak about our relationship with the Lord more often and give us perspective as we encounter every daily pressure. I believe people have to start somewhere when having a daily time with God. I just want to give people an easy place to start.

I do not think I am the answer to humanity's search for God. I do not believe I will make a difference without God. I believe God makes the difference.

If you would like, follow this blog so that you will get a devotion every day. If not, check it out. It may not be what you need. I hope it is what some need.

If you have a chance, make a comment. Please remember that a blog makes you vulnerable. I can be hurt too. None of these devotions are intended to hurt anyone. (By the way, I already know that I am not a great writer.)

I pray that God works in your life in 2024. I pray that He continues to complete you. I pray that you catch the need to make disciples.

God bless you!

Prentis

How Do We Understand God's Word?

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) ¹²  For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

We must be careful in our biblical interpretations. It seems easy for us to support a doctrine when it is right next to other scripture that we dismiss as speaking to the culture of the day. Yet, we must take scripture in context of the culture, the scripture near it, the book it is written in and the whole of the Bible before we can get the best interpretation. Too often, I am afraid we only see scripture through the eyes of those who could criticize us for not interpreting it as they do. We parrot what has been said to go along with the party line.

For example, we say that women can't teach but they can braid their hair and wear jewelry. Not braiding hair or wearing jewelry is 1 Timothy 2: 9. Not teaching is 1 Timothy 2: 12. How did we determine that one is doctrine and the other is culture? There doesn't seem to be any indicator that tells us that Paul is switching from one to the other. If he is speaking in principles, then each principle is noted. Women should not flaunt their wealth or their looks. Women should not teach in a way that exercises authority over a man. I don't think of my teaching as exercising authority simply because I teach. It is the scripture that has the authority, not me. I can see how a person can be so forceful in their teaching that they oppress others. That isn't the purpose of biblical teaching.

I have read many arguments on these exact verses. Most want to leave out the scriptures they don't wish to speak of. That is generally poor biblical interpretation. And even those who say women can't teach at all rarely follow that principle. You'll find women teaching in their churches whether they call them teachers or not.

Let's be honest: our humanity prevents us from understanding the scriptures. It is only through the Holy Spirit that we truly understand. We reveal ourselves as immature when we give argumentative interpretations. That doesn't mean that we are wishy-washy in our interpretations. We should stand firm when there is a firm truth. We should be vague when the Bible is vague. Most arguments come from standing firm on something that is vague.

The Bible does not need our help. It is living and active. It will cut through our human arguments to reveal the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. This is the action of the Holy Spirit revealing the scripture's interpretation. I get to this point through prayer and study. I try carefully to let the scripture speak for itself without my manipulations. I am not always successful. I admit I have been wrong, at times.

So, often I cry out, "Fill me with your Spirit, Lord for I cannot know you otherwise. Teach me your word, Lord, for I am inadequate to know it without Your Spirit reading it to me."

1 Corinthians 2:13 (NIV) ¹³  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 

The Yoke of Jesus Is Easy and His Burden Is Light

 Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) ²⁸  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Age has made me look back on the things I have done; the things I have preached, too. I have so often preached how hard it is to live the Christian life but Jesus says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. How could I have been wrong for so many years?

The truly difficult journey in the Christian life is a daily picking up the cross. It is dying to self each day so that you can live for the Lord. When that dying is complete, the burden that we take from Jesus becomes easy and light. Trying to take on what Jesus wants to give us is impossible while carrying the desires of the world. Saying that you are doing both at the same time is deceiving yourself. There is a war that goes on that only makes you weary and burdened.

James 4:1 (NIV) ¹  What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 

The Christian who has truthfully trusted in Christ and seeks to serve Him will constantly battle with his own desires if he does not take up his cross daily. The problem is, we preachers haven't told him that this is possible because we preachers aren't taking up our crosses daily either. 

That isn't to say that we don't occasionally take up our crosses and follow Jesus. It just isn't a daily thing for most of us. We fail to realize that the reason that Jesus could take up His cross when He was crucified was because He had taken His cross daily.

Most of the movies I have seen about Jesus never have Him laugh. He seems to carry the burdens of the world all the time. I have had people quote Isaiah 53:3 to me when I have said I believe Jesus laughed.

Isaiah 53:3 (NIV) ³  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

While this may be the overall characteristic of Jesus, it is hard for me to see Him as one who constantly frowned and gathered people around Himself. It is hard for me to understand why anyone would say, "Hey, you are sad. I'd like to be like you." I don't think it was all laughter but I simply can't understand how it could be all tears either. 

Honestly, would you call Peter the one who denied Jesus or the one who proclaimed Jesus? Of course, he had done both but he was characterized as one who would preach the gospel message for the rest of his life. So, would you call Jesus all sorrow?

So, today, I need to take up my cross and accept the yoke and burden that Jesus places upon me. They are easy and light.