Zondervan Inspire

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

Love Is at the Core

From the Editor: It sounds so simple, but it’s impossible to do without divine help. The good news: I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith

To please God, we do not have to spend years in theological training. Neither do we have to master some thick rule book that covers each and every situation. What we have to do is remember, every moment of every day, to treat others as we would like to be treated. As the apostle Paul put it, "Love is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. 13:10). Love is at the core of what a godly life requires.

If we Christians would, through the grace of God, conscientiously obey this one sentence, we would have covered the essence of God's desire for us. What a difference this would make! It would help us grasp that God's greater blessing for each of us is built on a foundation of selfless love. As Jesus said in his sermon, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:43–45).

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

by Jim Cymbala

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

Competing Values Cannot Coexist

From the Editor: I don’t know about you, but “balance” is something I fight with continually. Tom presents an interesting perspective here, yet other authors preach balance as an essential part of the modern workplace.

The other thing that strikes me is this: At what point do you cross the threshold from earning a living to loving money?

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

As we consider our priorities, three relational truths from Matthew 6:24-33 are vital. First, notice that Jesus said we "cannot serve both God and money." He didn't say "should not" or "might not want to attempt to"; he said "cannot." Jesus teaches us that competing values cannot coexist. One will overwhelm the other.

Our modern-day answer is, "I'll manage my life better, and then I'll be able to do more! I'll find time for being completely committed to God and for making money — and for recreation and career and hobbies too!" Jesus says, "You cannot serve both God and money," and we think, "Well, Jesus obviously didn't understand how to multitask!" It doesn't matter how well you manage your life or how many laborsaving, time-saving devices you buy; if you try to hold on to competing values, one will always overwhelm the other.

From The Relationship Principles of Jesus

by Tom Holladay

Acting on Renewed Priorities

What Jesus teaches takes just two sentences to say but a lifetime to put into practice: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. That's it! Jesus teaches that we must replace our old set of values with a new set — and we must then begin to act on this new set of values. First we renew our priorities, and then we act on those renewed priorities. When Jesus taught that love for God and love for our neighbor are to come first, he showed us which values are to have first priority in our lives. Then he described how to live out the priority of loving God in the words "with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" and the priority of loving others in the words "as yourself."

From The Relationship Principles of Jesus

by Tom Holladay

Any comments or testimonies today?

Hardwired to Seek God

This is the message God conveyed through Moses, the prophets, and finally through Jesus: No human being or material thing can satisfy our deepest longings because God has hardwired us for himself first. Just as birds are hardwired to fly south for winter, we were hardwired to seek God. We will never find the life we long for apart from him because he is the Source of all we love.

If we put other things, no matter how good, in the center of our lives, they become rival gods that lead us to destruction — the loss of the life our thirsty souls crave. But when a new vision of God's goodness motivates us to seek him with all we have, everything else comes alive. All our pursuits for relationship, success, security, and purpose get rightly ordered and become life-giving in new ways.

From Soul Revolution: How Imperfect People Become All God Intended

by John Burke

Any comments or testimonies today?

Celebrate What God Has Done

In our confrontations with obstacles or opponents today, we would do well not to focus on the troubles lined up against us. Instead, we need to celebrate the God who has already demonstrated his power and provision in our past. We don't need to be fretful or anxious. We need to anchor our hearts and minds in God's overwhelming track record.

The Bible says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you" (James 4:8). Apparently not all Christians live the same distance from God. Even though we all belong to his family, some are pressing in closer to his dynamic strength than others. As we live a life full of praise and thanksgiving for past mercies, we experience God coming ever closer to us in the present.

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

by Jim Cymbala

Any comments or testimonies today?

Only God

It's the only phrase I intentionally overuse, but it's for good reason. When God accomplishes activity that no human being could possibly orchestrate, you have to respond somehow. And the simple phrase I've landed on in recent years is "Only God." It's more than an axiom. It is a theology that has been alive and well at Willow Creek Community Church since the beginning. We watch for our heavenly Father to move and stir and act and call. And when he does, we humbly thank him with the only two words that could even begin to give credit to the one to whom alone credit is due: "Only God."

From Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs

by Bill Hybels

Any comments or testimonies today?

God Is Womb-Like

Throughout the Bible, God is described as compassionate. In Hebrew, the original language of the Scriptures, it's the word "raham." It's also the word for "womb." So, "God is compassionate" is "God is womb-like." This is a feminine image for God.

God is in essence beyond male and female ... God Transcends and yet includes what we know as male and female (see Genesis 1:27). So a man is created in the image of God and a woman is created in the image of God. There is a masculine dimension to God and there is a feminine dimension to God.

From NOOMA® She—021 Rob Bell

by Flannel

Any comments or testimonies today?