Light

Here is a great devotion reading by Kay Arthur:

“You are the light of the world,” Jesus declared to His followers in Matthew 5:14. And we know that light has one purpose: to dispel darkness. Light serves its purpose only when it shines forth, to be seen of men. If a lamp or candle doesn’t give light, what good is it?
Therefore Jesus admonishes us: “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
I want you to notice something important here: our good works cause the light to shine. But those good works are to be done in such a way that they do not glorify us but our Father. If they do not point men beyond us to the Father, then something is wrong with the way we are letting our lights shine.
I’m not saying that it’s wrong for people to love and appreciate you. This is obviously going to happen if you’re used of God in a significant way in somebody’s life. That love and appreciation, however, should never stop with you. It should rather be primarily directed toward the Source of all Light, Jesus Christ. The lampstand is not significant, but the light that comes from the lampstand is. The lampstand is merely a vessel to bring light to those who are in its presence. Just as the moon reflects the sun’s light, so we are to reflect the Son’s light!

Lasting Newness

They say the day after Christmas is the greatest shopping day of the year. You would think we’d had enough of the new things of this life! Yet we always seem to want something more, something new.
The word new carries an element of hope, doesn’t it? Well, New Year’s is coming. How about making this a year of lasting newness, of continual hope? What might happen if your life, beginning today, centered not on the world’s newest or latest great things but on reveling in all that is new to us because we belong to Christ?
There’s the new self – what you became when you received the Christ of Christmas. “[You] have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (Colossians 3:10). This new self “has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:24). The new self also includes a new mind, a mind tuned to truth. You’re able to appraise things to see if they’re true because you “have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:15-16).
Colossians tells us to “set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (3:2). Why not make it your goal this year to study some portions of the Bible that you’ve never really studied before? Discover new insights, new precepts, new promises as you study book by book. It will give you a new appreciation of what it means to be His and will keep you from being caught up in the world.
- Kay Arthur

What Is Christmas?

A great reading by Kay Arthur:

As you picture the original nativity scene, place two spikes in the baby’s soft pink fists and lay another at His squirming feet. Jarring though it may be, that’s the message of God’s gift to the world, a message to all who long for healing of the spirit, healing from the ravages of sin.
The Promised One from God became a human being like you and me so He might not only die for us but also represent us before God. He experienced all the flesh-and-blood realities of life, including temptation and suffering, so that as our high priest He could sympathize with our weaknesses.
Isaiah 53:4-5 says, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitted of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”
Healed of what? Of the consequences of sin, which is death. “And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
What is Christmas? Christmas is God’s sending His Son to become flesh and blood, to experience our sufferings, and to be “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Christmas is Jesus’ being nailed to a cross where He paid for your sins and mine once for all!Christmas is the promise of healing from sin for all who believe.

Son of Man and Son of God

Who is this One whose birth we celebrate at Christmas? Why does He bear the titles “Son of Man” and “Son of God”?
John opened his gospel with a description of Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). Do you see the truth revealed here? John tells us that the Word – Jesus – was with God and the Word was God. Jesus is a member of the triune Godhead!
But John has more to tell us about the Word: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (1:14). The Word begotten – born of God – became the Son of Man. Because you and I are flesh and blod, Jesus became the same: a human being. Yet He remained God. It’s the mystery of the incarnation. The Christ of Christmas was – is – God in the flesh. Every bit God and every bit man.
And what was the purpose of His becoming flesh? Hebrews 2:17 tells us that “He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might… make propitiation for the sins of the people.” The Word became flesh to die in your place, because even when you were yet a sinner, you were beloved of God!
(Kay Arthur)

Focus Shift

Have you ever wondered how the focus of Christmas shifted from Christ our Saviour wrapped in swaddling cloths in a Bethlehem manger to jolly ol’ Saint Nick dressed in a bright red suit with white fur in a North Pole workshop?
It started out quite innocently. The man who came to be known as Saint Nicholas was born around AD 280 in what is now Turkey. As a follower of Christ, this dear man gave away his inherited wealth to help the poor. Centuries later, the day of his death, December 6, became a feast day that included the giving of gifts to children and the poor.
By the time of the Renaissance, Saint Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas, as he was called, brought presents to good children. In Germany and elsewhere, Saint Nicholas was believed to be accompanied in his gift giving by the Christ Child or “Christkindl,” from where we get the name “Kriss Kringle.”
Eventually immigrants brought their various traditions to America, where writers and illustrators added new details to the character of Saint Nicholas until our modern Santa Claus gradually emerged in the late 1800s. Then it happened: the marketing of Christmas without the Christ.
“The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The shift came subtly, as often happens when we don’t evaluate everything against the plumb line of God’s Word. We veer slightly off center, and we soon lose track of the center altogether.
(Kay Arthur)

According to Your Word

Here is a great reading by Kay Arthur, from her devotional Lord, I Give You This Day...

After we’ve been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ from an evil conscience (Hebrews 10:22), how do we stay pure? How do we keep our hearts from being stained all over again?
Listen to the answer from Psalm 119:9: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.” We keep our hearts cleansed through the Word of God. When the Word cleanses us, it cleanses from wrong thinking, wrong doctrine, and wrong behaviour. This is why Jesus prayed to the Father on behalf of His followers, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17).
How often do you think such sanctification, such cleansing by the Word, is necessary? How much do you think it takes to make or keep you clean?
I’ve heard some people say, “Just spend three minutes a day alone with God.”
I can understand where they’re coming from. Some believers go through their days without spending any time with the Lord. And three minutes with God is better than none!
But the question is, are we selling God short? Are we selling God’s Word short? Is Deuteronomy 8:3 true when it says that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD”? In three minutes a day can I really present myself “approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15)?

Prayerfully evaluate how much time you are spending in God’s Word. If you’ve been short-changing God, ask Him to show you how to reprioritize your schedule.

Idolatry

It seems odd to think of ourselves as idol worshipers in our modern culture, doesn’t it? And yet so many of us are. The idols that tend to attract out attentions are not as easy to spot as the icons of Old Testament times or the fetishes of superstitious people who still worship other gods. But they are just as real. They are just as damning. And God’s warning remains just as true: “Do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands” (Jeremiah 25:6).
Why is God against idolatry? Because its focus is on what man creates rather than on the Creator. God loves us and desires our highest good. He made us for Himself. Nothing – no person, no object – is to take His rightful place in our affections or attention.
Think about it. Does He have the pre-eminence in your affections? Do you desire Him above all else and everyone else? Or have others – idols – crowded Him out so that you live for others, seeking to please them above your God? And what priority do you give Him? How much of your attention does He receive? Do you talk with Him daily? Weekly? Monthly? Annually? Do you take vacations from God or with God?I urge you to take a moment and think about these things. If you have idols in your life, you must realize they are as great a sin as adultery or murder. Hear the word of the Lord in Exodus 20:3: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Have you?
(Kay Arthur)

When You're Worried or Anxious

Here's the last of the Kay Arthur pieces for this week. I know they've all been about rather negative things... but the fact is that these are things we all face time-to-time and when we do face them, it's so good to be able to read something like this that reminds us we're not alone, and helps put our focus back where it should be - on Him. :)

When You’re Worried or Anxious

Do you ever get frustrated or anxious?

It’s hard sometimes, isn’t it, to have peace when your circumstances are difficult… to have joy when your heart is filled with anxiety?
Circumstances, as well as our frustration and anxiety about the concerns of life, can rob us of our joy.
The apostle Paul was well aware of this as he wrote to the believers at Philippi, for he himself was living under house arrest as a prisoner of the Roman Empire. His circumstances were less than ideal! Yet, listen to his words:

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

If you’ll learn what kept Paul in peace and contentment despite his circumstances, if you’ll learn how he handled the anxieties of life, you will have a biblical example and pattern to follow in your own life.
Philippians 4 lays out several precepts which, if adhered to, will grant us the same victory Paul experienced.
First, Paul rejoiced in every circumstance – no matter what it was:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).

Here is a command that, if obeyed, will bring victory and peace in the midst of any situation. Why? Because the minute you begin rejoicing, your circumstances cease to control you, and you find yourself living above your circumstances as more than a conqueror.
It is crucial to understand, however, that the command to rejoice does not mean rejoicing in your circumstances; it means rejoicing in your Saviour who is Lord over every circumstance of life. You could not be in the predicament you are in without the Lord’s foreknowledge.
God is sovereign: He rules over all; nothing happens without His permission (Daniel 4:34-35).
Rejoicing is a matter of obedience – an obedience that will start you on the road to peace and contentment.
We are to live by faith, not feelings. Then, like Paul, we can handle anything… because of Jesus. Listen to God’s Word through the apostle again:

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Or, to paraphrase it: “I can keep on bearing all things through Him who constantly infuses His strength into me.”
Christ’s strength, His grace, His power are sufficient to enable us to endure what comes our way. Therefore, we can “rejoice in the Lord always.”
… Sometimes it isn’t a specific circumstance that destroys our joy and our peace. Anxiety about life in general can have the same effect.
Anxiety begins in your mind and, if left unchecked, can frazzle your nerves and eat away at your insides.
Anxiety is a tormentor that can keep you locked in a living hell, immobilizing you so that you cannot cope with life, let alone live as you should for the kingdom of God.
Now the world will tell you that it is natural and normal to be anxious. Well, anxiety may be natural and normal for the world, but it is not to be part of a believer’s lifestyle… no matter what our circumstances.
Either God’s Word is true, or it is not. Either God is who He says He is, or He’s not. And He is who and what He says He is, and His Word stands as His character stands. Therefore, no matter what our future holds, God says,

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

“Be anxious for nothing” is a command; and yet, in the same breath, God gives us the means of obeying that command.
The moment anxious thoughts invade your mind, go to the Lord in prayer. This is where you begin. The word for prayer is proseuche, and it refers to prayer in a general way rather than to petitioning God for specific needs. “General prayer” causes us to look first at God – who He is and what He has promised – rather than at whatever is making us anxious. Focus on God. Rehearse His character, His promises, His works. Remember His names, His attributes, and how they suit your situation. As you rehearse and remember, you will see the cause of your anxiety in a whole new light.
After you focus on God in prayer, remembering and rehearsing His character and His promises, then pour out your supplication before your God whom you have just worshiped and adored. The word for supplication is deesis, which means “a wanting or a need.” It is at this point that you get very specific in your petitions to your God, your Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. Tell God exactly what you want or need.
Once you have turned your focus on God’s character and His promises and have laid your specific petitions regarding your anxieties before His throne, faith is then to take command by giving thanks. Note that Philippians 4:6 says: “By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.” The act of thanksgiving is a demonstration of the fact that you are going to trust, to believe God.

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is [that’s where your general prayer comes in] and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him [this is where supplication comes in]” (Hebrews 11:6).

The thanksgiving is where the faith comes in.
And what is the end result? Peace instead of anxiety.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

Oh, my friend, not only do I want you to know these three steps to freedom from anxiety today, but I also want you to be spiritually prepared for tomorrow.

“Do not be anxious about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34).

Don’t be anxious in the midst of today; and don’t be anxious thinking about tomorrow. Know God’s Word – and live accordingly.
Invest your time and energies in getting to know your God by getting to know His Word. The returns of that investment are far greater than anything Wall Street has to offer, for these returns – rewards – are eternal.
Trying times are coming, and it is vital that you know how to live. When you do, you won’t be anxious about anything!

When You're Disappointed, Discouraged, Defeated...

When You’re Disappointed, Discouraged, Defeated…

Are you aware of Satan’s deadly devices?

Has disappointment in a person or a situation ever caused you to go into an emotional tailspin?
Have you ever felt you might drown in your discouragement?
Have you ever fallen into a well of dejection and despaired to the point where you were so demoralized that you simply sat down and didn’t attempt to climb out?
Then, my friend, you have engaged in warfare with the evil one, who desires to take you captive; and you have allowed him to penetrate your line of defense with his armoured division and his foot soldiers.
You have done battle with Satan’s Five Deadly D’s and tasted their awful wretchedness.
The first deadly D is Disappointment. To counterattack disappointment you need to launch the Christian’s Strategic Defense System (SDS) of faith that in meekness praises God in every situation by seeing it as God’s sovereign appointment. Change the D of Disappointment to an H, and you have His Appointment.
If you refuse to do this, if you refuse to give thanks in everything, believing that this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, then the next deadly D the enemy will launch against you is Discouragement.
To become discouraged is to become disheartened – to be weakened, to lose your courage so that you think there is no way you can win. When this happens, you throw up your hands and say, “I’ll never make it! I’ll never survive. It’s no use, I’ll never get out of this one.”
Unless you deal with discouragement – head it off at the pass – there is no way to be the victor.
Have you listened to the world’s analysis of your condition or your future rather than being strong and courageous believing your God?
If so, then you have found yourself mired in the mud of Dejection.
Instead of the joy of the Lord being your strength, as Nehemiah exhorts his people (Nehemiah 8:10), you are about to faint (Isaiah 61:3). When dejection pulls you down into its depths, you face lowness of spirit and emotional fatigue. The oil of gladness has been exchanged for mourning, and you have not covered yourself with a spirit of praise. Either you praise God in pure, gut-level faith, whether you feel it or not, or you will continue to weaken.
Then you will find yourself in Despair, having lost or abandoned hope. Despair leaves you apathetic; your mind is numb. And if this goes unchecked, you may find yourself acting recklessly, not considering the consequences of your actions. Desperation is energized despair, and in this state you do things which you later greatly regret, but which many times bring lifelong consequences.
Often you see examples of this when people suddenly find themselves confronted by the infidelity of their mate or the demand for a divorce, or when they are faced with financial reversal.
When you find yourself in a state of despair, you need to say with the psalmist,

“Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence” (Psalm 42:5).

When you are in despair, write down why and then look for a specific promise of God to write next to each cause of your despair. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself Demoralized. And demoralized people run in circles – if they even have the strength to run! They are cast into disorder. They cannot get their act together in their home or in their business affairs or in any of the disciplines of life. Many times they are simply paralysed with fear.
But God has not given you “the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). His is the power, the glory, and the victory; so when the Five Deadly D’s are launched against you, you can be more than a conqueror of this enemy of your soul.

“Whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” (1 John 5:4).

When Your Heart Aches

When Your Heart Aches

Have you ever had to deal with a recurring heartache?

Maybe it’s something from your past. Maybe it’s something you are having to live through right now. But whether past or present, it weighs heavily. Life seems harder. The hurt and heaviness hang like a dark cloud between you and joy.
You want to cry…but you know if you do it might go on for days. And although tears might relieve the pressure, you know they wouldn’t change a thing.
You wish you could write it off… or, if it’s a person, you with you could just forget them. But despite the tears, the pain, the torture, you can’t seem to let go.
Sometimes running away from the heartache seems attractive, but would running away really solve it?
You look at others… they seem so happy.
You sigh wistfully and wish things had been different
in your life
in your situation
in your relationships
in your experiences.
You wish you had known better,
had done differently.
Others seem to have what you would like to have…
in their relationships
in their circumstances of life. …
Emotionally, materially, spiritually, physically, intellectually, professionally… you feel: “They won… and I lost.”
Maybe because you smile, no one knows.
Maybe because you cover up, no one suspects.
Maybe because you are silent, no one can share, relate, and give you hope.
So you feel locked away in loneliness… and your heart hurts.
The happiness of others only makes your pain worse. It shouldn’t. You want to rejoice for them, but you can’t. You hurt too much.
Sometimes you may even have to deal with envy… with jealousy… or with grief… or anger… or depression… or wanting to die.
I do understand, because at one time or another I have had to deal with all of this. And more and more as I read our mail, I know I am not alone. Christians are not exempt from heartache.
Yet, though not exempt, we do have the means to endure heartache without falling apart!
For this we have Jesus… His grace, His sufficiency.
For this we have His Word… His promises, His wisdom.
If I did not know that to be true, I couldn’t keep on keeping on… through my own heartache… and through our ministry which exposes us to so many who are burdened with incredibly heavy and overwhelming heartaches.
I cannot change their circumstances; I cannot cure their heartache. I cannot change my own circumstances or cure my own heartache! But I know Who can. And I have learned that despite heartache I can go on and my life can be effective… and is probably more effective because of it!
And because I know this on a personal level, I have the same message for others. The cure for your heartache is found in the Great Physician, Jehovah-rapha, and in His healing balm of Gilead, the Word of God.
As a matter of fact, I believe that people who have heartaches and who, in the midst of those heartaches, cling to God and to His Word will be those who are the most greatly used of God to impact their world.
This is the truth with which the Lord encourages us in 2 Corinthians, chapters 1-5. I urge you to take time in the next few hours or days to read and study this passage. Our God is the God of all comfort, and He comforts us so that we may be able with that comfort – that grace, that strength – to comfort others.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

Paul tells us that at one point he was so burdened that he despaired even of life, but God comforted and delivered him and used that burden to deepen his trust in God (2 Corinthians 1:8-10).
As He did with Paul, God manifests through us the sweet fragrance of His character, and our heartaches and hurts are the very tools He uses to transform us into the image of His Son.

“We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

We are ambassadors for Christ, pointing others away from things which are seen (the temporal) to things which are not seen (the eternal).
So take courage, valiant warrior. Fight the good fight of faith, for soon it will all be over, and then only one thing will matter: “Have I pleased my Father God?”

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

When Your Joy Is Clouded Over

I recently bought a book by Kay Arthur called (For Every Need, for Every Moment...) Speak to My Heart, God. It is a fantastic book with 65 chapters, each dedicated to a "When"... ie: When You Feel Out Of Focus, When Joy Is Shattered, When Intimacy With God Seems Impossible, etc, etc. I think that every single chapter in here is something that every person will deal with at one time or another.

I typed out a few different chapters as I've read them and want to share them on here over the next few days. I hope and pray that if or when you find yourself faced with these "When"s, that you will find encouragement from these writings. :)

When Your Joy Is Clouded Over

Have things ever robbed you of your joy?

Has something of temporal value ever become so important to you that your joy in the Lord does a vanishing act? Your preoccupation with that “thing” casts a cloud that obliterates the warmth of a concentrated devotion to the Lord?
Maybe it is something tangible… or maybe it is some “thing” in your past that you cannot seem to shake.
Can you say, “Yes, I can relate! I have been there”?
How do you handle situations like this that can drive you up the wall and keep your focus off the things that really matter – like the joy of the Lord and our need for Christlikeness?
Well, let’s look at Philippians 3 and see what we can learn and then live by when “things” start to rob us of our joy. Let’s begin by reading several verses from this wonderful chapter and underlining every use of the word “things.”
Paul writes:

“Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ… Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:7-8, 13-14).

Paul’s past associations and achievements had been important to him. If you will read Philippians 3:4-6 you will find that Paul wasn’t into “pretty things,” but he was into achievements of the flesh. We each have our own set of “things” that mean something to us, and when they are lost or disturbed, we can be robbed of our joy.
Paul knew this. Yet he also knew that only one thing could or should be central or important to him, and that thing was Christ-likeness! So, he determined, he would develop a single mind by making Christ his goal!
To do this, Paul literally had to count all things as loss for the excellence of knowing Jesus Christ. In comparison to knowing Christ, everything else was rubbish.
Instead of focusing on things as they might have been or might be, Paul set his eyes on the goal. Forgetting the things that were past, he reached forward to what lay ahead – Jesus Christ.
When I stand before Him, one second in eternity will erase all care or thought of anything except whether or not I allowed the situations of life to make me more like Him. Christlikeness is all that will matter.
And so I say to you: Let that thing – whatever it is – go. It will only hinder you from getting on with what God has for you. And when “things,” even those that are cause for celebration or expectation, begin to rob you of your joy, try the following:

• Take a careful look at the “thing” in the light of eternity. What does it have to do with the eternal? If it has no value, release it.
  
• Ask yourself if the “thing” is worthy of the energy you are expending on it. Are you fretting over something you cannot change? Is it distracting you from the things of God? Then, in an act of discipline, put it out of your mind. Every time the thought of “it” returns, knocking at the door of your mind, begging refuge, refuse it.
  
• Can you change the “thing,” turn it around, rectify it, live without it? If there is nothing you can do to change it, then be obedient, walk in faith, and forget those things which are behind and press on toward the prize of your high calling in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). Believe Romans 8:28-30.

God looks upon the heart. And if your heart’s attitude is to please God, then you have the promise:

“Let us therefore, as many as are perfect [mature], have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained” (Philippians 3:15-16).

Meekness

On the topic of grumbling, I was reminded of an excerpt by Kay Arthur about meekness - which is the opposite of a complaining attitude. She writes...

Meekness is an attitude of submission and trust that accepts all of God’s ways with us as good, and therefore it does not murmur, dispute, or retaliate. It realizes that what comes to us from man is permitted and used by God for our discipline and thus for purifying us. Meekness is a trusting attitude that looks beyond circumstances and beyond man to the sovereign God and, bowing the knee, says, “Lord, what pleases Thee pleases me.”

Come To The Quiet

I wanted to do a quick entry about “quiet time with the Lord.” I read a great piece about this from Elisabeth Elliot and am going to paraphrase what she said.

First, I couldn’t agree more with Elliot when she said “having a quiet time with the Lord every day is absolutely essential if you expect to grow spiritually.” But so many of us have excuse after excuse as to why we don’t have time to sit and do devotions. A lot of reasons are very valid – but overall, if you really want to spend time with the Lord, you can make time. And this may take actual planning… plan the time and make sure you stick with it. :)
As for just reading the Bible, here are some great ideas of how to make this time a bit deeper and also to really help you focus and glean from it, rather than doing a mere quick read and move on.

Pray: Pray, first, for the Holy Spirit’s teaching.

Questions: After you’ve done your reading, ask yourself some questions about it.

What does this passage teach me about…

• God
• Jesus Christ
• The Holy Spirit
• Myself
• Sins to confess or avoid
• Commands to obey
• What Christian love is

Keep a notebook and write down some of your answers that you’ve found to the above questions, or anything else you learned.

If you really enjoy journaling, here are a few more ideas of things to focus on in your notebook:

Application: Note ways in which you intend to apply what you’ve learned to your life.

Key Verse: Jot down a key verse (or verses) that you may want to memorize.

Quotations: Quotes from your spiritual reading other than the Bible; also, perhaps prayers from the words of hymns that you want to make your own.

Prayer Requests: Write down some of your special prayer requests with the date. Record the answer when it comes.

Thanksgiving: Reasons for thanksgiving.

I really believe that doing these things make for a much deeper and intimate quiet time with the Lord, and I hope if there is anyone struggling in this area, they’ll give these ideas a try!

Also, for anyone who also enjoys reading another book along with their Bible in their devotional time, here are a few that I absolutely love and highly recommend:

• Lord, I Give You This Day by Kay Arthur
• Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
• The Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett
• My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers
• A 30-Day Walk With God in the Psalms by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

And I also recommend any studies by Kay Arthur – for example Speak to My Heart, God or Lord, I Want To Know You.

Clear Our Vision

In our conversations and interactions with other people, we need to continually bring to mind these words of Jesus: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged… How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:1, 4).
The judgement that Jesus forbids in Matthew 7 is the judgement of hypocrites who concern themselves with a speck in their brother’s eye even while they are stumbling around with beams under their own eyelids. They expect perfection from others but are far from perfect themselves. They have an attitude that can only be described as judgemental.
Did you notice the blatant contrast? A log compared to a speck! And remember, Scripture says we will be judged according to the way we judge. The standard of measure we use will be the measure by which we are measured. That’s a sobering thought. Do I expect the same thing from myself that I consistently expect from others? Am I willing to give the kind of mercy I would like to receive? Am I willing to extend the sort of love that grants grace and covers imperfections?
The judging that Jesus calls hypocritical is that which notices specks in the eyes of others and misses our own logs and beams. This is why we need to spend time with God daily, allowing Him to clear our vision.
- Kay Arthur

Spiritual Warfare

I just heard from a friend of mine whom I correspond with regularly, and she is such an inspiration to me. She was talking about pressing on when going through particularly difficult times... she is so faithful to wearing her armour of God against Satan's attacks, and it made me think of this particular reading, written by Kay Arthur:

As you decide how to respond in the various situations that will arise today, I urge you to remember that you are in a war. Satan’s strategy is to besiege your mind until he wears down your resistance and captures your thoughts. You can expect a barrage of thoughts to constantly hammer away at your defenses. It is spiritual warfare.
From the beginning, Satan has cast doubt on the Word of God. He wants you to question, doubt, distort, alter, embellish, discredit, or ignore the Word of God. Disguised as an angel of light, he will do anything and everything he can to undermine God’s Word.
The devil’s tactic is not only to cause you to doubt, ignore, and disobey God’s Word. It is also to get you to doubt God’s love. To doubt God’s love is to doubt His character. Once the enemy casts doubt in your mind on God’s love, he cuts you off from the only true and sure source of healing – your Jehova-rapha and the Word of God.
Know your God. Know His Word. And live accordingly. “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).Remember, the Word of God is all you need in order to be perfect, thoroughly adequate for every work of life (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Victory is assured as long as you let Jesus be your captain and do what He says.

Focus

A great reading by Kay Arthur:

Many Christians are stumbling through life, unable to see clearly the path of purpose because their spiritual vision is blurred or obstructed by the things of this world. John’s first letter warns, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:16).
Because our eyes can be an instrument of lust – because they can lead us into the sin of covetousness – it is vital that we keep our eyes healthy. But how? We live in a world filled with all sorts of alluring things. Books, magazines, television, movies, billboards, and computers constantly display treasures belonging to this life and this life only. How then can a child of God keep his vision clear?
Focus!
As the author of Hebrews says, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Or as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, we need to look “not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
It’s all a matter of perspective – eternal perspective. Where is your focus? Is it upon the things of this world? Is it riveted to the treasures of this life that can be consumed by moths and rust and stolen by thieves? Or is it upon heavenly treasures, which have eternal value?

Help me, dear God, to keep my eyes on You and on the things that matter to You. Don’t let me be distracted or drawn away from You by worldly things.

My Times Are In Your Hands

Here is another reading from Kay Arthur:

When God does not seem to answer you or move on your behalf, when you cannot seem to go on, what do you do?
Let me encourage you to meditate on Psalm 31:14-15, which says: “But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hands.”
Your times are in His hands! This truth will sustain you when there seems no relief in sight and when you are weak and weary of fighting the good fight, of running the race with endurance.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 reveals magnificent faith as God’s prophet contented himself with God’s timetable and plan:
Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

God does not want compliant resignation. When life is difficult, God wants us to have a faith that trusts and waits. He wants us to have a faith that doesn’t complain while waiting but rejoices because we know our times are in His hands – nail-scarred hands that labour for our highest good.

Everlasting, Unconditional Love

The following is from Kay Arthur's Lord, I Give You This Day...

God loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love. Can you accept that truth and cling to it, no matter what?
When you don’t like who you are or what you’ve done, or when the enemy comes whispering in your ear, knocking at the door of your mind, telling you that you are nothing, agree with your adversary. Then give him the truth. Tell him that apart from Jesus Christ you are nothing and you can do nothing that has eternal worth or value.
Also tell Satan that God loves you when you are nothing, accepts you just the way you are, and loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love that is transforming you into His image. Tell the devil that you are secure in God’s love, that the love of God has been poured out within your heart “through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5), and nothing “will be able to separate [you] from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Martin Luther had it right when he said, “God does not love us because we are valuable, but we are valuable because God loves us.”
If ever you’re tempted to doubt God’s love for you, think of what He’s already done to demonstrate His commitment. First John makes it clear: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (4:10).

What's On Your Mind?

Below is one of the readings from Kay Arthur's daily devotional Lord, I Give You This Day. :)

What’s on your mind today? Is your thought life dominated by images you’ve seen on the internet, songs you’ve heard on the radio, or items that caught your eye in a catalog? How much of your thought life centers on God and His Word?
Remember the admonition of Romans 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
When you dwell on things that are not of God or that are against God, you are giving the enemy ground on which he can erect a stronghold or a fortress. This is why the apostle Paul says, “We are destroying speculations [or imaginations] and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). If Paul had not destroyed the thoughts that were contrary to the Word of God, they could have become the means of destroying him.
Paul goes on to say, “We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” In other words, whenever a thought came to Paul’s mind, he evaluated it to see if it was pleasing to Christ and in accord with the Word of God.Will you allow the enemy to set up camp in your mind by dwelling on unwholesome or defeating thoughts? Or will you follow the example of Paul and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ?

Lord, I Give You This Day

This is from a devotional book I read, called Lord, I Give You This Day by Kay Arthur. I found this reading to be not only very convicting, but also very encouraging. :)

Did you know that water, which is necessary for life, has always been symbolic of God?
For the Israelites, God was to be their wellspring, the One to whom they turned for all their needs.
O LORD, the hope of Israel,
All who forsake You will be put to shame.
Those who turn away on earth will be written down,
Because they have forsaken the fountain of living
Water, even the LORD. (Jeremiah 17:13)
God’s people were to depend on Him as their source of life and satisfaction, their Fountain of Living Waters. Instead, in the days of Jeremiah, they turned to other sources.
That’s an Old Testament parallel to you and me walking in the flesh instead of walking in the Spirit. God alone is to be our life, our source, our sufficiency. Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38). “Come” and “drink” are in the present tense in the Greek, which implies continual or habitual action. You and I are to live in total, continuous dependence upon God.
Are you depending upon God? Or are you turning to a person, to a position, to material possessions – what you drive, what you wear, where you live – to give you a sense of worth, purpose, satisfaction? At what fountain are you drinking to quench your thirst? Has it really satisfied?

Lord, I thank You that You have promised to meet all my needs, to satisfy my longings. Forgive me for seeking fulfillment elsewhere.