Don't Try Too Hard

Saturday Devotional...6/8/13

Please listen to this song on YouTube 

Just click on this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfGvXfe9LK8

This song says that God gives us grace and that we can't earn it. Still we try hard as if our well being and acceptability depends on us. However, it does not depend on us. It depends on God. We need to remember this
.

Heavenly Father...Thank You for all the grace and favor that You give me. Help me to remember that I am not able to earn these gifts for myself ant that I must give You my life,my heart, my needs and my concerns. You will provide all I need. I have nothing to fear. Through You I will not fail or be lacking for anything. Thank you Lord.

Written by
Corinne Mustafa

HOPE IN GOD

Friday Devotional....6/7/13

“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose hope is the Lord.”
 Jeremiah 17:17

     Reading the morning headlines and listening to the news reports on television does not give us much “hope.”  With the latest bombing, out-of-control fires, or major earthquake we do take notice.  But for much of the world’s violence and natural disasters many of us have almost become insensitive to the turmoil and chaos ruling our society and the world.  There seems to be no hope for things getting better.

      Even our personal lives have become a constant stressor to most of us, as we see in the statistics of strokes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, obesity, and other diseases and illnesses.  Then there is the stress of living in a society which is seeking to drive God out of its land.  Standing up for what is Biblically correct is no longer “politically” correct.

     The effect of a world increasingly going its way without God is exerting its effects upon all of us, even Christians.  Trying to live “in” this world and yet not be “of” this world is becoming more and more difficult.

    

So when our outlook for the future becomes bleak, our strength and health fails us, we live lives with way too much stress – where do we look for “hope”?  We need God.  Why is it we try to solve all problems and then go to God as a “last resort” when we should go to Him as our first and only “hope”?  Where do we find Him?  In His Word.

“My soul languishes for your salvation, 
I hope in your word.”
 Psalm 119:81.

     Take time every day to be with God in His Word.  You don’t know where to start – start with the book of John in the New Testament.  This is the Word about the Word made flesh, Jesus, who came to live among us.  He is our Hope.  Rest in His loving arms – He is there waiting for you!  Hope in Him!

Written by

Carol Lynn Steficek

"LOVE REVEALED"...Part One

This is a writing that was authored for a class that is being given at a Bible College in San Jose, CA. The first installment is the one posted today. Every Thursday for the next seven weeks there will be a new installment of this lesson. We hope that our readers will be blessed and enriched by this teaching.

God bless

Corinne Mustafa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday Devotional 6/6/13

Definition of revealed- To make known, to disclose

My daughter, God made known, 

He revealed to you His love through His Son Jesus Christ.  

He gave up His Son for you!  Oh my God what love you have revealed. 

"Behold what manner of Love"

Behold what manner of LOVE the Father has bestowed on us, 

that we should be called children of God.....

1John 3:1a NKJV

Behold, see and taste, know and experience the love our God gave to you.  God's love is an unselfish love, a love that was given from Himself.  His love is that of a father's love.  I know for some of you, you think father is a dirty word.  I know I did, in fact I thought a father was only a sperm donor, one who would make promises and very rarely keep them, one who would use you to pick up a one night stand, one who could not be trusted, one whose alcohol was more important than you, one who walked away and left you. I could go on and on.  

But I am here to tell you the word Father is not a dirty word.  Let me enlighten you on the definition of a father.  He is the founder, the originator, the author of a family. He is the one who has supplied all of your needs, gives generously to his children. He has committed himself to you.  He reaches out to you whether in need or not.  He waits patiently for you.  He gives of himself.  He is your healer, your provider, your peace and your joy.  He has not and will not judge your past, present or future sins.  He is the lover of your soul.  

Who is this Father that I speak of? He is the living God, He is your creator, the one who has great and marvelous plans for you.  The one who knew you before you were created in your mother's womb.  The one who sent His only begotten son.  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  That He would be your identity.  Oh my beloved He revealed His love through His son, Jesus Christ, that you would live and breathe, that you would be among the living.  He sent His Son so you would not be lifeless, that you would enjoy the real life, the life that He created for you.  Ah that you should be called a child of God, His off spring, What a privilege you have been given.

My identity was always about what I could do and how much I could do. And how perfect I could do it.  The more I did, the more good stuff I did would wash away how I felt about myself.  The more I did, the more people would like me and not be able to see the real me, the scared insignificant person that I thought I was.  The one who thought I could never be good enough or do good enough, always falling short of everything I did...always believing I fell short of being a good wife especially since I was on my third marriage...always trying to be a perfect mom, a perfect daughter, a perfect sister, a perfect friend, a perfect leader. I made my identity in trying to be perfect.  

Do you know that trying to be perfect just causes more chaos.   Inside I was a mess always condemning myself telling myself you could have done this better or why did you say that or why did you not speak up.  Or I should be more like whoever it was.  I was an angry mess.  I did not know who I was in Christ; I did not know I was the beloved of Father God.  I only knew that Father God sent His Son, Jesus, so that I would have eternal life in heaven. I had no idea it was about a relationship with God the Father, through Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit.  

I remember how I found out that it was all about relationship, I overheard our Associate Pastor's wife, Laurel, telling someone else about a relationship with Jesus.  That is all I pretty much remember her saying when it got me thinking about what a relationship was, especially one with Jesus.  Oh my beloved, He revealed His love through His son Jesus Christ that we would live and breathe, that we would be among the living.  I did not know He sent His Son so that I would not be lifeless, so that I would enjoy the real life, the life that He created for me.  I did not know that I could have a relationship with Him.  

Ah that I should be called a child of God, His off spring. What a privilege! It is He who has given to me the not perfect me.  Beloved, I have been made perfect in Him, just as you have been made perfect in Him as well.  We do not have to try to be perfect; we have already been made perfect in Him.  Glory to God.

We are His offspring, 

we are his children, His DNA runs through us. 

Blessings!
Written by

Kathryn Hanson

CO-Director of Charis Bible College, San Jose, CA

"Tears In A Bottle"

Devotional...6/4/13

I am so amazed of the vastness of compassion that our Heavenly Father has for us. He is deeply moved when we are walking through sorrowful times. He  extremely cares for us as He sees our hearts are broken and the tears are continually flowing. We can never think but for a moment that our Lord would abandon us. His strong arms surround us and He envelopes us with His sweet comfort.

His Word tells us in Psalm 56:8...

 "You keep track of all my sorrows. 

You have collected all my tears 

in your bottle. 

You have recorded 

each one in your book."

Our God does not miss a beat with His children. He is aware of what is going on in our life every single second. Knowing that, I can comfortably rest in His abundant compassion for me.

In His Radical Love, 

Sandy Billingham

Tick Tock, Tick Tock - I Feel the Pressure of the Clock

Tuesday Devotional, 6/4/13

Oh, hi there!  Thanks for looking in, have you got a minute?  Oh, you haven’t a minute to spare?  I totally understand; thanks for stopping for a few seconds anyway.  I’m short on time myself so I was hoping you could loan me a bit of yours.  

According to Webster’s Dictionary, “Time marks the period in which something exists.”  I find that my wants, hopes, dreams, and then reality, take a larger period than I’ve been allotted!  My mind and body try so hard to accomplish my daily plans. But often the effort drains my energy, leaving me with the sludge of frustration and weariness.

I’ve discovered that time has me in its space - not visa- versa.  I’m also discovering the comfort and encouragement of being in my Lord’s Word.  His plans were set “in the beginning” and whatever He has allotted for that time will come to pass.  Then I found the following Truths which quiet- (hush, God is speaking) my hurried; gotta get it done; hurry up, Lord, we’re going to be late; thoughts.

God:-“Sandy, I will accomplish all things that concern you.” (see Psalm 138:8 )

Sandy: “I cry to You, God Most High, to You God, who accomplishes all things for me! (see Psalm 57:2)   - “For I am confident of this very thing, that You who began a good work in me, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.  (see Philippians 1:6). Scripture addresses time in several ways.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;

repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:15 

But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son,

born of a woman, born under the law in order that 
He might redeem those under the law,

in order that we may receive the adoption 
as sons, and as you are sons,

God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son 
into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

Galatians 4:4 

There is an appointed time for everything.

And there is a time for every event under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

 “He has made everything appropriate in its time.

He has also set eternity in men’s heart,

so that man will not find out the work

which God has done from the beginning to the end.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 

I’m a slow learner sometimes but I was encouraged by Jody Ward’s story about her particular lesson with her lemon tree:  “But I will keep going and keep growing. That’s what I was designed to do.” “Thank you, Jody for encouraging me - I’m keeping on!” 

Written by Sandy Schott

Read Jody’s devotional here: http://paintgodintoyourday.blogspot.com/2013/05/thursday-devotional5913.html

Open Book Tests

Monday Devotional, 6/3/13

My first open book test was in 6th grade in a class poignantly called, The History of Our Town. Through out the class we had copied from the chalk board into our booklets every word regarding the history of where we lived. The names of bridges and avenues that were named after founding fathers was only the tip of an iceberg amount of information. In a small town of barely 6,000 people I wouldn't have thought there would be quite so much to learn.

After diligently creating own copy of this history it was time for a test. It was 10 questions long but it would be open book. Open book, the teacher explained, meant we could look for the answers amongst all of the chapters we had in our booklets. Our only limit was on time and he gave us exactly an hour. I remembering thinking how weird it was to be able to look up the answers. Surely at this rate we would all get 100%! I surprised myself when I found I was scrambling to complete all of it in the hour. I was even more surprised the next week when the class totals were posted on the blackboard. Half of the class had received a D or an F. Wow, I thought, they had the same info available to them that the rest of the class had yet the results were so different.

As my own kids weaved their way through final exams last week, sometimes they were scrambling to review, sometimes they weren't even worried about it. One of them even had an open book essay test with days to complete it. To say that they are extremely relieved that finals are over is an understatement. Although I was relieved for them - I thought to myself how finals week is actually quite like real life.

Real life comes at us in multiples. A crisis doesn't wait for us to finish with the one that came before it. Challenges and difficulties have a not so funny tendency of happening all at once or one right after another, overlapping with the previous problem before we've finished dealing with it. Just like my kids experienced, sometimes we stress because we don't feel prepared and we're scrambling to figure it out. Occasionally we take a crisis in stride because we know our stuff in that area of life.

But our Teacher has made a provision. Every test is open book. Tutoring is available on a 'just seek' basis. God has provided pastors, counselors, bible study leaders, and Christians who have gone through the same stuff already. They are ready and willing to help us when we need guidance. The Holy Bible is full of wisdom and direction.

 Do what the Lord your God tells you.

Walk in His ways.

 Keep all His Laws and His Word,

 by what is written in the Law of Moses.

 Then you will do well in all that you do

 and in every place you go.

 I Kings 2:3 New Living Translation

 Even if it was written in Scripture long ago,

 you can be sure it’s written for us.

 God wants the combination of his steady,

 constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture

to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next.

 May our dependably steady and warmly personal God

 develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other

 as well as Jesus gets along with us all.

Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very

 lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem

to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

 Romans 15:4-6 The Message

 Thank You, Lord, for making Your Truth available to us. Please give us ears to hear You and hearts that understand what You are saying to us. In Jesus name, amen.

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

WHERE ARE YOU, GOD?

Sunday devotional, 6/2/13

With so many detestable and devastating things that occur here on earth, at times it is hard to comprehend why God does not intervene.  How can a merciful and loving God stand idly by as innocent children cry out in anguish and pain?  Why would God allow abuse, rape, torture or agonizing death for his faithful flock?  When defenseless animals are treated horribly and left in squaller at the hands of sick individuals, who is there to protect them?  What is going on when we hear of the great destruction from wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis and tornadoes? Where are you, God?

These questions are nothing new. Even God-fearing people in Biblical times had the same burning questions.  

How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed,  and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous,  so that justice is perverted... Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? Habakkuk 1:2-4, 13 NIV

Some things we may never fully understand while we are still on this earth.  We may understand that God does not cause the suffering, and that it is because of Satan and our sinful world that these things happen.  But God has promised to do what we ask in Jesus' name.  Explanations of God not interfering with man's free-will, or of suffering producing certain blessings, or of retribution coming in the end times seem inadequate to our human minds.  But those are the things to which we must cling.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.  Romans 5:3-5 NIV

[God's answer in Habakkuk:]

“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."  Habakkuk 1:5 NIV

The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.  He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.  According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due.  Isaiah 59:15b-18 NIV

At least we know that in all the misery of the world, God submitted his only Son to the worst suffering of all.  A totally innocent life not even capable of ever sinning was tortured and sacrificed for us, in our place, so that we might receive eternal life.  And while we are still here on this planet in distress, God is with us to help us through anything this world can throw at us.  How awesome is that?  We can confidently say, "You are here, God!  Thank you!"

written by Jan Andersen