Bible League: Living His Word "You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance."— Psalm 65:11 NLT Sometimes we forget that life is to be lived one step at a time. Recently, I was wrongfully terminated for doing something that I didn't do. When the unemployment office provided justice in my favor, I remembered "Be still and know that [He is] God" (Psalm 46:10). Upon resting, the Lord gave me a word in a new tongue. "Luber" is Indonesian for "overflow." After the job loss, I contemplated getting a master's degree in dance and movement therapy, and I felt myself slipping into a "future-tripping" mode of operation. "Lord, WHEN I get the degree title, THEN I'll more effectively minister," I thought. One day, though, I stumbled upon a picture of a dancer with a caption written by another believer. Jeremiah 29:11 was the verse reference; my Christian sister wrote that you can have joy today and dance with the Lord, because even though you don't know the future, God does, and He has promised that it is good. It was profound advice. I began to worship the Lord through dance in my living room, knowing that I'm loved. Right. This. Moment. After all, that's the reason why I worship Him through movement to begin with. My personal relationship with God is wonderful now. I get to live in the moment, one step at a time, being present with God's presence. That, my friend, is "living your best life" currently, without anything else added to or subtracted from your circumstances. The job loss was a shock, yet the reality is that most of life is lived during the moments of journeying, not in summiting the destination. If you are in Christ, you've already summitted your peaceful purpose in this life: being loved by God. That's how "even the hard pathways overflow with abundance." Some days bring shock, while others are mundane; still, we're often impatiently waiting for the days that produce "what we want when we want it." This mindset makes our moments appear to be a hard trek. However, life is to be lived one step at a time. Be present with God's presence today and watch all future-focused worry fade away. What you perceive to be your "hard pathway" right now can overflow with spiritual abundance, or peace, yet today. By Jenny Laux, Bible League International contributor, Wisconsin U.S. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading1 Samuel 1, 2, 3 1 Samuel 1 -- Samuel Is Born to Hannah and Elkanah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Samuel 2 -- Hannah's Prayer; Eli's Sons; Samuel's Childhood NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Samuel 3 -- Samuel's Vision of the Fall of Eli's House NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 12:1-34 Luke 12 -- God Knows All; Parable of the Rich Fool; Anxiety; Watchfulness NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Pride leads to conflict;those who take advice are wise. Insight “I was wrong” or “I need advice” are difficult phrases to utter because they require humility. Pride is an ingredient in every quarrel. It stirs up conflict and divides people. Humility, by contrast, heals. Challenge Guard against pride. If you find yourself constantly arguing, examine your life for pride. Be open to the advice of others, ask for help when you need it, and be willing to admit your mistakes. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Luke 23:27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.Amid the rabble rout which hounded the Redeemer to his doom, there were some gracious souls whose bitter anguish sought vent in wailing and lamentations--fit music to accompany that march of woe. When my soul can, in imagination, see the Saviour bearing his cross to Calvary, she joins the godly women and weeps with them; for, indeed, there is true cause for grief--cause lying deeper than those mourning women thought. They bewailed innocence maltreated, goodness persecuted, love bleeding, meekness about to die; but my heart has a deeper and more bitter cause to mourn. My sins were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders, and crowned with thorn those bleeding brows: my sins cried "Crucify him! crucify him!" and laid the cross upon his gracious shoulders. His being led forth to die is sorrow enough for one eternity: but my having been his murderer, is more, infinitely more, grief than one poor fountain of tears can express. Why those women loved and wept it were not hard to guess: but they could not have had greater reasons for love and grief than my heart has. Nain's widow saw her son restored--but I myself have been raised to newness of life. Peter's wife's mother was cured of the fever--but I of the greater plague of sin. Out of Magdalene seven devils were cast--but a whole legion out of me. Mary and Martha were favored with visits--but he dwells with me. His mother bare his body--but he is formed in me the hope of glory. In nothing behind the holy women in debt, let me not be behind them in gratitude or sorrow. "Love and grief my heart dividing, With my tears his feet I'll lave-- Constant still in heart abiding, Weep for him who died to save." Daily Light on the Daily Path Isaiah 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!Isaiah 54:4,5 "Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. • "For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth. Isaiah 44:22 "I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." 1 Peter 1:19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Jeremiah 50:34 "Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of hosts is His name; He will vigorously plead their case So that He may bring rest to the earth, But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon. John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. Galatians 1:3-5 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, • who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, • to whom be the glory forevermore. 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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