Zondervan Inspire

Counter-Intuitive Power

From the Editor: This is an awesome quote from Ann Spangler’s latest book. I selected today’s picture to illustrate how we are empowered and uplifted by our heavenly Father. When we are grounded in Him, we can soar above all that seeks to bring us down. Any other thoughts on this subject?

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

In so many ways, the strength that Christ has portrayed and that God promises is counter-intuitive, a contradiction to the world's idea of strength. It is the power to control our appetites rather than to let them control us. It is the ability to endure rather than to run away. It is the quick instinct to take refuge in God rather than to trust in our own abilities or resources. It is the humility to ask God daily for what we need rather than to work ourselves into a frenzy trying to construct the perfect safety net. It is the ability to keep gazing at God even when trouble and fear assails us. It is the patience to wait rather than to run on ahead. It is the faith to keep praying no matter what. It is the decision to put others first and ourselves last. It is the grace to believe that nothing is impossible because we belong to God. It is the strength to be more than we are because God is more than we imagine. It is the power to run and not grow weary, to walk and not be faint, to ground ourselves in God’s might and his power to help and to save.

From The Tender Words of God

by Ann Spangler

Evidence of Changed Lives

From the Editor: I lead a Bible study on Tuesday evenings, and this Tuesday we studied Acts 14 where Paul is stoned and left for dead. After the brothers gathered around him (I’m sure there was some praying and healing going on), Paul gets up and waltzes back into the city where he was just stoned! The very guy who stood supporting those who stoned Stephen for proclaiming Jesus as Lord is now stoned for the same reason. Pretty dramatic change.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith

A proud, vindictive, violent, arrogant, self-occupied religious leader named Saul of Tarsus was traveling down the road when suddenly he had a vision of Jesus. As a matter of historical record, he became Paul — a different man with a different name, whose mind, writings, love for people, and self-sacrificial gift of his life to the world were so compelling that human minds are still fascinated by him two thousand years later. People devote their lives to studying what he wrote. How did that life get changed? The evidence of lives changed by Jesus is so abundant that the full story can never be told. It can never be matched. Not by any culture, by any book, by any program, by any hero. I have never heard the story of an accidental, meaningless universe changing a life like that.

From Faith & Doubt

by John Ortberg

Any comments or testimonies today?

God Chooses All of Us

From the Editor: The authors are talking about God choosing everyone in the sense of God wanting everyone to be on His team. Have you ever been the person last to be chosen in gym class to be on a team? I have. No fun. Thankfully God specializes in choosing people that others would leave behind.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

The Old Testament tells of God's "chosen" people, the Jews. It is full of stories of who God chose to do this or that. He chose Abraham to lead his chosen people. He chose David to be his greatest king. He chose prophets like Isaiah to deliver his message.

Jesus, however, tells us that now God chooses all of us. "Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). We've always liked the stories in the New Testament of who Jesus chooses to talk to. It often is not the "choosable" people. In John 4, for example, Jesus talks to a woman who has three strikes against her: she is a woman, she is a Samaritan, and she is an adulterer. She could have been stoned for her sin, and yet this is who Jesus talks to about salvation.

From The Seven Desires of Every Heart

by Mark & Debra Laaser

Everyone Knows Two Things

From the Editor: I’m finding Faith & Doubt by John Ortberg to be an intriguing work, not like his usual fare, but geared more toward those who are searching for answers. He gently addresses questions many have about Christianity all the while presenting it as both reasonable and appealing.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith

Every human being knows two things: There is a way we ought to behave. We do not invent this code; we only discover it. We might be fuzzy on the details of it sometimes, but we have a general idea of what it is. We also know that we don't live up to this standard. We all fall short. We need forgiveness. We need grace. We need to get fixed.

Every time people argue, they are implying that the universe is not an accident, that there is a moral order built into the way things are, because it was put there by Somebody, and that Somebody is God. The good news is that he is a gracious God. That's part of why I believe in God.

From Faith & Doubt

by John Ortberg

Any comments or testimonies today?

Power to Change Starts with Faith

From the Editor: I have to admit I was taken aback by Tom’s initial comment. But he’s right. Knowledge alone puffs one up. Active faith is required for genuine change to occur. Any other thoughts on this subject?

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Let me say something that might shock you: God's principles don't change our lives. What? How can I as a teacher of the Bible say that? I'll admit I'm playing with words to get your attention — because I don't want you to miss this: It is your faith in God's principles that changes your life! This statement is not meant to give any of us the credit, because it's God who gives us the power to have faith. Instead, it's a reminder that knowing more facts and ideas and principles — even if they're God's principles — does not have the power to change your relationships. The power to change starts with faith — with trusting God — and then acting on that faith.

From The Relationship Principles of Jesus

by Tom Holladay

Good Faith

From the Editor: Today’s excerpt is a good reminder to me that I need to consistently practice what I preach.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith

When someone claims to believe one way yet acts another, we call this bad faith. Good faith, on the other hand, is congruence between what we claim to believe and how we actually live. If someone intends to buy a house, the down payment is a gesture of good faith. Good faith means not deceiving others (in our public convictions) and not deceiving ourselves (in our private convictions). Good faith means loving the truth more than we love ourselves.

From Faith & Doubt

by John Ortberg

Any comments or testimonies today?

A Life-Transforming Awareness

From the Editor: This picture reminds me of my oldest daughter when she was young—tough, determined, looking to the future. It’s good to know that God’s love and grace is with all who trust him.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Our souls deeply desire affirmations. Think how often you may have wondered, "Does God really love me like the Bible says he does?" To know that God does love us and that he bestows his grace upon us is a life-transforming awareness. It gives us confidence in ourselves and our abilities. It helps us know the value of what we can do. It makes us long to serve such a God, and it makes us long to serve others. God's love and affirmation for us leads us to his calling, plan, and purpose for our lives.

From The Seven Desires of Every Heart

by Mark & Debra Laaser

Seek to Grow Upward

From the Editor: There are so many things that speak of growing in this picture—the trees, the boy, the grass. And aren’t we all merely children when it comes to spirituality? Some of us are much further along in the journey than others, but we all have so much to learn while on this earth, which is why we need to keep growing. A wise person once said (I don’t remember who), “if you’re not growing you’re dying.” Any other thoughts on this subject?

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

"Grow in grace" — not just in some grace — but in all grace. Grow in the root of all grace, which is faith. Believe God's promises more firmly than ever. Allow your faith to increase in its fullness, firmness, and simplicity. Grow also in love. Ask God to stretch your love and make it more intense and practical, to the point of influencing your every thought, word, and action.

Grow in humility too. Seek to be unnoticed and to more fully recognize your own nothingness. Yet as you grow "downward" in humility, also seek to grow "upward," where you will have closer times with God through prayer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus.

—Charles Spurgeon

From Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon

by Jim Reimann

Is God Enough?

From the Editor: This passage really hit me between the eyes. Too often I resort to complaining rather than trusting God in the midst of difficult circumstances. I'm going to be working on this. How about you?

Nothing special about the picture (except for its beauty). There are times when I draw a blank as to how to “picture” a passage. When in doubt, I find a great nature shot.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

"Of course you're enough, Lord," I'd answer intellectually. "Haven't I given my life to serve you? Didn't I prove I'd leave it all to follow you?" But when the deep struggle for peace and joy wouldn't let up, I had to admit the heartfelt truth: "No, Lord, right now you're not enough. I'm not at peace being faithful to simply love you and my family and enjoy using my gifts to serve you. I need things to go my way ... according to my plans ... that's the truth." That's why I was struggling. My hurt and frustration with God, my lack of joy and peace betrayed the truth. God was not enough. Faithfulness was not enough. I needed God plus — God plus things going as I planned. I wasn't okay with God being God in my life if he didn't do what I thought he should. I wasn't okay with simply being faithful to live in his will each day.

I spent the summer wrestling to surrender, letting go of playing God and learning to follow ... again. The sad thing is, I thought I'd already learned this lesson, but now I see that life with Christ is not so much a one-time decision to trust (though there is a first decision of faith), but more like a series of daily decisions to trust.

From Soul Revolution: How Imperfect People Become All God Intended

by John Burke

We Must Move On

Theologian Lesslie Newbigin writes that we live in an age that favors doubt over faith. We often speak of "blind faith" and "honest doubt." Both faith and doubt can be honest or blind, but we rarely speak of "honest faith" or "blind doubt." Both faith and doubt are needed, yet it is faith that is more fundamental. Even if I doubt something, I must believe there are criteria by which it can be judged. I must believe something before I can doubt anything. Doubt is to belief what darkness is to light, what sickness is to health. It is an absence. Sickness may be the absence of health, but health is more than the absence of sickness. So it is with doubt and faith. Doubt is a good servant but a poor master.

"Doubt is useful for a while.... If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if he burst out from the cross, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' then surely we are permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."

From Faith & Doubt

by John Ortberg

Any comments or testimonies today?