Necessary Food

Jesus said, “It is written, ‘man shall not live

by bread alone, but by every word that

proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

    Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)

“I have not departed from the commandment

of His lips; I have treasured the words of

His mouth more than my necessary food.”

    Job 23:12 (NKJV)

I have been challenged lately not to become anxious when I see people at the store with their carts heaping full and some of the shelves bare, and to resist the temptation to buy more than I need for myself. We are living in challenging times to be sure. But I dare say none of us lived through the Great Depression or during wartime rationing and shortages.  Instead, we’re used to having plenty and many of our “needs” are actually luxuries according to some standards.  I hope and pray that God will fill us with gratitude for what we have, rather than concern over what we don’t have, and help us to trust in our gracious Lord to provide for all our true needs.

Also, our priorities may need to be re-ordered.  For as Jesus notes, we do not live by bread alone, but by God’s word.  Food sustains our bodies but we need to hear from God in order to be fed spiritually. Yet how many of us can say, as Job did, that we treasure God’s word more than our necessary food?  My hope and prayer is that we will use a portion of our extra time at home to grow spiritually by feeding on Scripture, studying and meditating on it.  There is help and hope, encouragement and comfort, in God’s word; be sure to feast on some today and every day.

It is good to remember that we have all we need in Christ, for He is the bread of life (John 6:48). Why not share this truth with someone who is anxious and fearful today?

Thursday Devotional - A Different Sunday, Part II

Well, our “different Sunday” may be our new normal for a while. We did get to watch the live-stream of our worship and sermon again. We also got to watch the live-stream of one of my sister’s services, where she was playing most of the music.

We did several additional prayer/Scripture/song times spread out throughout the day, similar to last Sunday (although, not as many ☹).

We started with praising God for who He is, then a thanksgiving session for all His provisions and blessings, and then prayers for how we could help others during this difficult time. It was encouraging to hear all the attributes of God that James and Sarah thought of for which to praise God, all the blessings they appreciated and their own creative ideas on helping others.

1. Praise God

Holy Holy Holy

Acts 4:23-31

2. Thanksgiving

At the Cross

Acts 12:21-24

3. How we can help others

God Will Take Care of You

Acts 22:30-23:22

Acts 4:23-24, 29-30     ²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them… ²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

We can pray for safety and health during this time, but notice what Peter and John prayed during their time of crisis. They first praised God for who He is and then asked for boldness to continue spreading His message. We can do the same! The biggest need of people right now is to know their Creator, whether they end up seeing Him soon or not for many more years.  

Alice

You Don't Want None Of This!

You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.  You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.  But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.  Exodus 20:4-6

How often have you heard the danger signs that told you not to do something?  Growing up, I loved and respected both of my parents.  With my mom, she was tough minded.  You never wanted to get on her bad side.  I spent a good portion of a summer in my teen years being reminded of that.  Despite all that, nothing compared to the fear I had of my Dad.  No, he neither abused me nor hurt me.  He loved me with all his heart, and I have nothing but fond memories of him.  But there were a couple of memories that reminded me this was no man to mess with.  Think of a prize fight, and as one fighter tries to hype themselves up, they say to their opponent, “You don’t want none of this!”  I felt like that opponent facing my Dad, but I REALLY didn’t want any of that!  Watching my oldest brother being dealt with once, that was more than enough for me.  Eventually, I did get some of that.  Thankfully, it was only that once!

While we know God is loving, we must always remember that He is the leader of our lives, and we face peril should we put other things ahead of Him.  As God was giving the Ten Commandments to Moses and His people, our focus today is on the 2^nd commandment.  While the tendency is to view idols as something physical, most of us are spiritually mature enough to understand that idols are not always something you can touch.  Very early in my walk of faith, I went to a church new member’s class the day of a big football game.  Of course, I was torn because I’ve been a football fan all my life, but I knew going to the class was the right choice.  It was a testament of my decision to follow Christ.  That was easy to give up as an idol, but what about that idol that you sometimes never see coming?  For me, it’s the man in the mirror.  At times, my own needs and wants will supersede God’s, and I will put them before God.  To fight this tendency, I try to remember to be humble.  My focus is on God being an abundant giver which I do not deserve His provisions.  It’s the main reason Paul talked about humility in such a glowing way saying:

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.  Philippians 2:3-4 (NKJV)

In viewing the words of Paul, we can feel the gravity of our own actions for as written in this commandment, the gravity of our placing things before God goes beyond just us.  It goes to our next generations.  This is not to condemn us for through Jesus Christ, we are indeed redeemed.  But it is a direct reminder of how our placing God first in our lives can have exponential rewards or devastating consequences.  If you question God’s seriousness, note that God later said to Moses, “Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me.” (Exodus 20:23) #settingthestage

While God’s love is unconditional, it does not mean our following Him is without expectations.  Jesus was perfect not because He took on our sins.  It was because He did what our Heavenly Father would ask of Him without fail or hesitation.  Thus, today’s verses are about following through on what God would ask of us.  Let us take up our crosses, and live for God as if our next generation depended on it.  Because it does.  How can we appreciate the gifts God has given us?  What idols may be blocking you from a closer relationship with God?  My prayer is that we follow Him less God have to tell us, “You don’t want none of this.”  Amen.

Ministering Gifts

“As each one has received a gift,

minister it to one another, as

good stewards of the manifold

grace of God.”

    1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)

I love the older hymns and the stories behind them.  Recently, at church we sang a hymn that I was not familiar with called  Jesus, I am Resting, Resting.  I thought I’d pass on to you what I learned about the hymn because it illustrates how God entwines our lives to bring us comfort and encouragement.    

Jean Piggott composed this hymn in 1876 and a few years later, her brother Thomas Piggott went to China as a missionary.  In a letter while there, Thomas wrote: “I am, I can truly say, more grateful every day for the opportunity of serving Christ, and I believe this to be the only true and sober view of life’s realities. The work pressed home now, will make all the difference a few years hence.” In 1901, Thomas was executed at the age of 53, along with a number of other Christian missionaries, in the Boxer Rebellion. J. Hudson Taylor was greatly saddened at the loss of his friend and fellow missionaries and apparently, “Jesus, I am Resting, Resting” was a great comfort to him during this time.

It’s wonderful how God used the writing of this song by one Christian to minister to missionaries and other Christians over the years.  Because Jean Piggott was faithful to use her God-given talent of composing, others were comforted and encouraged in difficult circumstances, and God was glorified. We have each been given different gifts and God expects us to use them to minister to others.  Even if what we do seems small and unimportant, the important thing is to stay faithful and we may later find out that it had an impact on someone else.