WORD FOR TODAY

 18 April 

Choose the Right Foundation

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, ‘Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him’"
—Exodus 32:1

The golden calf was the Israelites’ second idol. Moses was their first.

Yes, the people bowed before a golden calf while Moses was away. But they had made an idol out of Moses as well. It wasn’t his fault, however. Moses simply was a godly example.

Exodus 14 tells us, “Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His servant Moses” (verse 31 NKJV).

Later when Moses left for a time to receive the 10 Commandments, he put his brother, Aaron, in charge. But after a while, the people said, “As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (32:1 NKJV).

Hold on. It was God who brought them out of Egypt. But in a way, they had put Moses in the place of God.

This happens today. For instance, maybe a wife is more motivated spiritually than her husband, who seems to be just going along for the ride. His relationship with God, so to speak, depends on his wife’s relationship with God.

Now let’s just say, for the sake of illustration, that his wife loses interest in spiritual things. It won’t be long before he loses interest as well.

Or maybe there’s a pastor that people will flock to hear, but then one day he says or does something that they don’t like. So they say, “That’s it! I’m leaving my faith and walking away from the church.”

Don’t build your faith in God on the foundation of another person. Each of us needs our own relationship with Him, one that doesn’t depend on a spouse, parents, or anyone else. The Lord needs to be number one in your life

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17 April

 Work Out What God Has Worked In

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
—Philippians 2:12–13

A New York woman who survived the Spanish flu in 1918 also survived the coronavirus at age 101. So what’s the secret to her longevity? Her family said she loves to eat Oreos.

I don’t know about the health benefits of Oreos. But experts tell us there are health benefits from exercise. And just as we need to work out physically, we also need to work out spiritually, if you will.

The apostle Paul wrote, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13 NKJV).

We need to work out what God has worked in. Notice that Paul didn’t say, “Work for your salvation” because salvation is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8–9 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (NKJV).

I know that God has forgiven my sin and that I will go to Heaven when I die because I believe His promises and have received His gift of eternal life. If you haven’t received that gift yet, you can ask Jesus Christ to come into your life. He’s just a prayer away.

So then, what does it mean to work out your own salvation? Remember, Paul was writing to Christians. In fact, he addressed them as “all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi” (Philippians 1:1 NKJV). From the original language, work out also could be translated, “work it out,” “carry it out completely,” or “bring it to full completion.”

The Bible tells us that the Christian life is like running a race or being in a war. There’s effort involved. So work out and live out your own salvation.

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16 April

The First of a Great Harvest

 

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died."

1 Corinthians 15:20

It never was God’s plan for us to die. It was God’s plan for us to live forever. It was not even God’s plan for us to age. You see, if our first parents, Adam and Eve, had not eaten the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, sin would not have entered the world. But now we’re all facing the repercussions of it.

The message of Easter, then, is that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. And death died when Christ rose.

Of course, people are still dying physically, and they always will. It will happen to all of us in time. But the resurrection of Jesus says that we can live beyond the grave.

The apostle Paul wrote, “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died” (1 Corinthians 15:20 NLT).

To lose a loved one is so difficult to deal with. I know this from experience because our oldest son Christopher died in an automobile accident. When I heard that news, to say I was devastated is an understatement. My life was altered. That is what happens when a loved one leaves you.

We wonder, “Why did God allow this to happen? Why is this tragedy happening? Why are people dying?”

I don’t know. No one does. But if you’re a follower of Christ and have lost loved ones who died in faith, you will see them again. Your loved ones who have gone to Heaven are not only a part of your past; they’re also a part of your future.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (John 11:25 NLT). The resurrection of Jesus was the death of death.

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15 April

 God’s Greatest Pain

 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed."
—Isaiah 53:5

Can you recall the moment in your life when you experienced the most pain? Maybe it was physical pain when you broke your arm or your leg or something else. We’ve all experienced moments of physical pain.

But then there’s the emotional pain we can experience when someone has hurt us. For instance, there’s the pain of rejection, betrayal, or abandonment when a husband says to his wife, “I’ve been unfaithful,” or when a wife says to her husband, “I want a divorce.” There’s emotional pain when a child says to a parent, “I don’t want to live the Christian life.”

And one of the worst kinds of pain you can experience is when someone you care about, someone whom you thought was a loyal friend, has betrayed you.

So when do you think Jesus experienced His most painful moment? Do you think it’s when the soldiers placed the crown of thorns on His head or when they beat Him with a Roman whip, most likely a cat-o’-nine tails? Do you think it’s when they placed Him on the cross and drove nails through His hands and His feet?

As horrible and horrific as all those things were, I don’t think any of them were Jesus’s most painful moment. His most painful moment was when He bore all the sins of the world upon Himself.

That’s because Jesus never sinned. He never had even one thought out of harmony with God the Father. But as He hung on the cross bearing the sins of the world, Jesus and the Father were, in effect, separated.

Jesus was forsaken of God so that we could be forgiven. He entered the darkness so that we might walk in the light. He endured sorrow and suffering for a time so that we might enjoy His presence forever.

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14 April

 A Suffering Savior

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."Isaiah 53:4

Why did Jesus have to suffer as He did? We understand that He had to be nailed to a cross because the Bible prophesied this. But why did He suffer?

We follow a suffering Savior. In fact, Isaiah 53 gives this description of what Christ went through: “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; . . . Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:3–4 NKJV).

Then Isaiah gives us the reason Jesus suffered: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5 NKJV).

You see, Jesus voluntarily suffered in our place. It’s hard for us to think of a perfect Creator going through something as human as pain and suffering. But God has suffered more deeply than anyone could imagine. That’s why the Bible calls Jesus a “Man of sorrows.” He suffered because He loves us.

This also means that He can enter into your suffering as well. Maybe you’re in a state of personal anguish today. There’s something that is causing you a great deal of pain. Jesus has been there. He has walked in your shoes.

Hebrews 2:17 tells us, “It was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people” (NLT).

Don't think that God is disconnected from what you’re facing. Jesus has faced it. He has experienced it. He understands. You’re not alone in your suffering today.

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13 April  Run To The Cross

 

The problem with the two disciples on the Emmaus Road was they were trying to get away from the cross. The Crucifixion was not a beautiful sight; it was a horrific one.

Jesus’s body was so traumatized that you wouldn’t have been able to tell He was a man. In other words, Jesus was unrecognizable. The two disciples on their way to Emmaus afterward never thought they would see Jesus alive again. So, they wanted to get away from that bloody cross.

But every step away from the cross is a step in the wrong direction. We don’t want to run away from the cross; we need to run to it.

That simply means come to God. Realize that Jesus died on the cross for a reason. He died there for our sin. And as I’ve often said, it wasn’t nails that held Him to the cross; it was His love for you and me.

That’s because there was no other way to satisfy the righteous demands of the holy God whom we all have offended. But Jesus was uniquely qualified to bridge this gap. So with one hand He took hold of sinful humanity, and with the other hand He took hold of a holy God. They drove nails through those hands, and He died in our place.

Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV). God the Father not only sent His Son to the cross, but His Son willingly went.

Jesus went because He knew this was the only way for us to be forgiven of our sin, for us to know that we’ll go to Heaven when we die. That’s why He made such a great sacrifice.

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