- Tuesday, 4/20/21 Psalm 67:1, God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. We’re to get the past squared away (via His mercy), and then
we’ll be on good ground to ask for His help today...walk with God: His routes and destinations are FAR better than ours. Joshua 14:8, Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God. It’s a truth that hurts ofttimes: those who’ve had the same training and opportunities as us will not do rightly. Or, their ceiling of commitment is lower. We can do nothing about their choices: we must focus on giving more and more of ourselves. The closer we get to Him, the smaller the crowd around us.
- Wednesday, 4/21/21 Psalm 27:1, The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? If we’re saved, our condition is the same as David’s. The reason he didn’t fear was because of his more frequent awareness of God; his meditations. How could you up your thought life? Acts 8:3-4, As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. Paraphrase: “Because he was throwing them in jail, they fled and did more of what was getting them persecuted.” True Christianity will not make logical sense to an unsaved or carnal mind. Question to ponder: does your daily life make sense to your coworkers?
- Thursday, 4/22/21 Psalm 27:8, When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. He extends this invitation to each in each church service. What is your normal response? Sincere acquiescence or stubborn aloofness? Psalm 71:1, In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Much of the angst that we occasionally feel in our Christian lives is because of this verse. We are to trust God (& ask), but a large part of trusting is leaving the circumstances in His hands. That’s where we err: we want to dictate the outcomes, and we get frustrated that it turns out differently than we fantasized...which shows we didn’t really trust that much.
- Friday, 4/23/21 Acts 11:23, Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with PURPOSE of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. This is the missing ingredient in many of our lives: purposefully drawing nearer to Him. Bluntly: Are you becoming more holy or maintaining? More and more like Him and less and less like the world...or trying to not “get too wacko”? Psalm 35:6, Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. David is not very loving here (though he’s honest, and exactly like us.) Lesson? Even the best Christians have much more internal holiness and external discipline to strive for and to incorporate. Are you earnestly desiring to be more holy and less offensive? More pure? More faithful and steady? Or, are you “good enough”? Is holiness high on your prayer list? If asked, could you say what new traits you’re working on adding or eliminating from your life and how you’re doing it? We must actively assess and alter our character.
- Saturday, 4/24/21 Matthew 5:6, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Self-evaluation question: how hungry are you? No, REALLY?! Are you hungry enough to alter something or postpone something to get more righteous? We’re as holy as we want to be...(ouch!) Psalm 36:1, The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. We usually shouldn’t but we all do: we assess people based on their actions. (Not always is this wrong: we are to judge some people some times.) But we must be aware that our assessment may be flawed or flat our wrong. We must be quick to admit error. Oft times, we hold onto a wrong judgment simply because of pride: we are not willing to admit error, and to us, not admitting wrong is more important than wrong thoughts toward another.
- Sunday, 4/25/21 Acts 16:25, And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and THE PRISONERS HEARD THEM. Has anyone caught you singing church songs outside of church? And asked, “What’re you SSSOOOOO happy about?” What was your answer? A witnessing opportunity... Psalm 37:16, A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. It’s sad, but oft times we look at what the wicked have (money and all it provides, fame, power, seeming freedom from accountability, no financial worries) and desire it, while they are looking for what we have: inner peace, no fear of death, true friends, a working marriage, a purpose in life, knowledge of the true meaning of life. Red reset button time?
- Monday, 4/26/21 Romans 13:14, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. We often sin, not because we plan to, but because we don’t plan not to. What’s your weakest area? How can you purposefully protect yourself from you? Psalm 78 reviews a large part of the history of Israel, and thus, it is full of sad verses. Psalm 78:9, The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. When they were needed most, these people turned back. But, we often do the same things. Dear friend, what are you trained and equipped to do that you no longer do? Do you know how to win a soul to Christ? Do you? Are you able to sit down with and teach another the Bible? Do you? Are you able to give to special needs and projects? Do you? Has God blessed you with some musical training? Either a voice or the talent to play an instrument? Does He get the use of that? Are you able to organize and plan anything? Does your church benefit from your abilities? What could you do or what have you done that you are no longer doing?
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