Zondervan Inspire

Make Prayer a Dialogue

From the Editor: Have you ever just spent time in listening prayer? I find as I grow older, I spend more time meditating on God’s Word and listening for His guidance, encouragement, and correction.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Prayer was never meant to be just a recitation of our laundry list of needs and desires. For too many of us, prayer has become a monologue rather than a dialogue. When we run out of things to ask for, we stop praying. If we would stay in God's presence a little longer and listen, he would pour out his heart and mind to us. He would tell us invaluable insights into our circumstances. He would counsel us on some family problem or testy relationship at work. He would reveal whether we should say yes or no to a present opportunity. We need his guidance, and the good news is that he is more than willing to give it if we ask in faith. Read More from This Book.

 

From You Were Made for More: The Life You Have, the Life God Wants You to Have by Jim Cymbala

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Technorati tags: Jim Cymbala, You Were Made for More, prayer, guidance, Zondervan

Love Is Never Passive

From the Editor: Love is so much a part of who God is and who He wants us to be. Even the two greatest commandments as identified by Jesus have to do with loving God and loving others. John talks about love for one’s brother as a litmus test for whether or not someone is a true believer. May your holidays be filled with the love of God this year and always.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Religion exists not because God loves too little but because we need love so much. We've been told that God is a reluctant lover and that his standards must be met before there can be any talk of love. This is lunacy. Love exists because God is love. Our souls will never find satisfaction until our hearts have found this love that we so desperately yearn for.

God is not passive, for love is never passive, but always passionate; and passion always leads to action. Like Solomon's lover, God is going up and down the streets of the city, traveling the most obscure paths and untamed wilderness, searching for the one he loves — and that one is you and it's me. Read More from This Book.

 

From A Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings on Art, Science, and Life by Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington

 

It's as Simple as That

From the Editor: A good reminder for me today. If I don't have love, "I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1).

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

One of the greatest spiritual self-deceptions is the idea that we are living close to God even though we care little about the people around us. This simply does not square with 1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." We can study the Bible as diligently as the Pharisees did; we can boast in our doctrinal statements; we can raise lots of money and build impressive church campuses. But if we are not loving others, including those who are unlike ourselves, we are ignoring the truth of 1 John 4:20, which says, "If we do not love a fellow believer, whom we have seen, we cannot love God, whom we have not seen." It's as simple as that. Read More from This Book.

 

From You Were Made for More: The Life You Have, the Life God Wants You to Have by Jim Cymbala

 

Thankfulness Opens Our Eyes

From the Editor: Today I'm at home enjoying a thanksgiving feast with my family, thinking about how blessed I truly am.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

We long for tangible evidence of God's love, but we fail to see it, in part because we have not learned to be thankful. It's not just that God likes to be thanked. It's that we need to thank him. Expressing our gratitude is like holding a little celebration in God's honor. It's a way of feeding on his goodness, reminding ourselves what he's done for us. Thankfulness opens our eyes to God's faithfulness, which in turn nourishes our faith. No wonder the word "Eucharist," a common name for the Christian commemoration of the Last Supper, comes from a Greek word meaning "thanksgiving." Skipping gratitude is like skipping the meal God has prepared for us. Without it, we merely move on to the next need, feeling hungry and empty without the faith to believe that God will sustain us.

From Praying the Names of Jesus

by Ann Spangler

His Very Best

From the Editor: I believe our definition of what is “best” needs to change. God values our faith, which is “of greater worth than gold.” God’s best can mean painful and uncomfortable trials (1 Peter 1:3-7).

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

It seems the entire world is searching for happiness, love, and fulfillment. Yet so many of us search for these things everywhere except where they truly can be found — in God alone. Even as believers in Him, we as Christians often have a warped view of God, seeing Him as somewhat stingy, carefully doling out His blessings — a little here and a little there. Yet the apostle Paul wrote, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

In essence, Paul is asking us this question, "Isn't it absurd to think that if God gave us the very life of His Son, that there is anything He would willingly withhold from us? After all, He has already given us the very best!"

From Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon

by Jim Reimann

Will You Let Go?

From the Editor: Great advice from John Ortberg. Reminds me of Hebrews 12:1-3, “... let us throw off everything that hinders ...”.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith

There are three moves in the "leap of faith": letting go of the trapeze — whatever your trapeze is, waiting, and then being caught. God comes to you and says, "Let go. Will you let go?"

God came to Abraham and said, "Let go of everything familiar. Let go of your family, your home, and your culture, and go where I tell you to go. Will you do that? Will you let go?" Jesus came to a rich young ruler one day. He loved him, and he said, "Will you let go of your trapeze?" The rich ruler's trapeze was called "money." "Will you give away all your possessions or sell them and give the money to the poor and come follow me?" Jesus spoke to a woman caught in an adulterous affair. He said, "Go and sin no more." Will you let go of that relationship that you know dishonors God?

What are you to let go of? Anything that will keep you from God.

From Faith & Doubt

by John Ortberg

Any comments or testimonies today?

The Bottom Line

From the Editor: I find that the more I practice being thankful, the more joyful I am.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

"The bottom line for you and me is simply this," writes pastor and author Bruce Larson. "Grimness is not a Christian virtue ... If God really is the center of one's life and being, joy is inevitable. If we have no joy, we have missed the heart of the Good News." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest, put it even more simply: "Joy is the surest sign of the presence of God."

When King Solomon was just beginning his reign over Israel, he unexpectedly experienced God's presence while praying outside the temple. Awed and inspired by this heavenly encounter, Solomon's immediate response was unbridled thankfulness and joy—a joy so great that the king called for a raucous, nationwide 15-day festival of celebration and dedication to God (see 2 Chronicles 7:1-10)! Probably the closest modern parallel to this event is the American celebration of Thanksgiving. The fact of the matter is that, for the Christian, every single day is Thanksgiving Day, a day to celebrate what God is doing in your life and to reflect on his goodness and grace.

From New Men's Devotional Bible

Divine Authority to Forgive

From the Editor: Whenever I encounter someone who says that Jesus is not God, this passage that so clearly points to the divinity of Jesus often comes to mind.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God (Luke 5:20–25).
Listen to Luke 5:17–25  |  Watch the Inspiring Video

From Inspired By ... The Bible Experience™: The Complete Bible

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

The Source of All Strength

From the Editor: When things are going well, it’s so easy to forget that God is our refuge and strength. Perhaps that’s why the Scriptures encourage fasting in conjunction with prayer. Both expose our weakness and need, and point us to the source of all strength. Any other thoughts on this subject?

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

The Hebrew Scriptures make it clear that God is the source of all strength. His power is so great that no power in heaven or on earth can compete with it. Moreover, his love impels him to use his power on behalf of his people, to save those who hope in him.

Ultimately, Jesus is presented as the strongest of all men, the One who through his death and resurrection has overpowered Satan, ultimately freeing us from the devastating consequences of sin.

Remember that God's Word is powerful, living and active, able to accomplish far more than we can even ask or imagine. Let it transform your understanding of how God wants to reveal his strength in you and for you.

From The Tender Words of God

by Ann Spangler