Bible League: Living His Word For the despondent, every day brings trouble;for the happy heart, life is a continual feast. We live in the days between Jesus Christ's first and second comings. For the Christian, this means that we experience days when the reality of the Kingdom of God seems to have come and days when the reality of the Kingdom seems far off. We have, in simple terms, good days and bad days. It follows from this state of affairs, therefore, that if we are to live the life God calls us to live, if we are to properly negotiate the ups and downs of life, we will have to learn how to approach life with all that it throws at us; we will have to learn how to have the proper attitude to life as it actually is in the present era. Our verse for today tells us that there are two basic ways that we can approach life. There is the attitude of the despondent and the attitude of the happy of heart. For the despondent, every day brings trouble. The despondent cannot see that the Kingdom has come; they can only see that the Kingdom is not yet here in its fullness. The despondent are filled with dread and foreboding. They expect something bad is going to happen and life always seems to confirm their worst expectations. For the happy of heart, in contrast, every day is a continual feast, every day is a party. The happy of heart celebrate the coming of the Kingdom and look forward to its further manifestations and breakthroughs. The happy of heart are filled with faith and joy. They expect something good is going to happen and life always seems to confirm their best expectations. For the despondent, even when the reality of the Kingdom breaks into their lives they cannot appreciate it because their attitude embitters their outlook on it and robs them of peace and joy. For the happy of heart, on the other hand, even when the Kingdom seems far off they find a way to see the good in it and refuse to allow their spirits to sink into despair. Ask the Lord to give you a happy heart. Ask Him to help you to overcome the temptations to despair. And ask Him for the faith to see the reality of the Kingdom of God. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingDeuteronomy 29, 30 Deuteronomy 29 -- The Covenant Renewed in Moab NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Deuteronomy 30 -- Restoration Promised; Life Offered NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 16 Mark 16 -- The Resurrection; Christ Commissions the Disciples NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Not to us, O LORD, not to us,but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness. Insight The psalmist asked that God's name, not the nation's, be glorified. Too often we ask God to glorify his name with ours. For example, we may pray for help to do a good job so that our work will be noticed. Or we may ask that a presentation go well so we will get applause. Challenge There is nothing wrong with looking good or impressing others; the problem comes when we want to look good no matter what happens to God's reputation in the process. Before you pray, ask yourself, “Who will get the credit if God answers my prayer?” Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Galatians 2:10 Remember the poor.Why does God allow so many of his children to be poor? He could make them all rich if he pleased; he could lay bags of gold at their doors; he could send them a large annual income; or he could scatter round their houses abundance of provisions, as once he made the quails lie in heaps round the camp of Israel, and rained bread out of heaven to feed them. There is no necessity that they should be poor, except that he sees it to be best. "The cattle upon a thousand hills are his"--he could supply them; he could make the richest, the greatest, and the mightiest bring all their power and riches to the feet of his children, for the hearts of all men are in his control. But he does not choose to do so; he allows them to suffer want, he allows them to pine in penury and obscurity. Why is this? There are many reasons: one is, to give us, who are favored with enough, an opportunity of showing our love to Jesus. We show our love to Christ when we sing of him and when we pray to him; but if there were no sons of need in the world we should lose the sweet privilege of evidencing our love, by ministering in alms-giving to his poorer brethren; he has ordained that thus we should prove that our love standeth not in word only, but in deed and in truth. If we truly love Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by him. Those who are dear to him will be dear to us. Let us then look upon it not as a duty but as a privilege to relieve the poor of the Lord's flock--remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Surely this assurance is sweet enough, and this motive strong enough to lead us to help others with a willing hand and a loving heart--recollecting that all we do for his people is graciously accepted by Christ as done to himself. Daily Light on the Daily Path Leviticus 1:4 'He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.1 Peter 1:18,19 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, • but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 1 Peter 2:24 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. Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Jude 1:24,25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, • to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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