Zondervan Inspire

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

Stand in the Light

From the Editor: I love how Ann blends personal experience, word studies, scripture and plain ole’ truth to say something so simple yet so profound. Her explanation of repentance is so spot-on. It’s not about simply asking for forgiveness; it’s a change of direction, attitude, behavior. Paul describes this concept of repentance in Ephesians 4:22-24 as putting off, renewing, and putting on. Any other thoughts on this subject?

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

I realize that forgiveness can be a process. It begins when I decide to forgive. But it can take time for me to let go of my emotional reactions to what someone has done and my desire to see them suffer for it. But God doesn't have emotional reactions. His forgiveness happens instantly — the moment I repent.

I remember the first time I realized what a positive thing repentance is. The Greek word that often translates "repentance" in the New Testament is metanoia. It expresses the idea of turning, of doing an about-face, of heading away from one thing so you can head toward another. It's not just a turning away from the disintegrating power of sin but a turning toward the creative, life-giving power of God. It's choosing to stand in the light rather than to linger in the darkness.

From The Tender Words of God

by Ann Spangler

Your Inheritance Forever

Jesus Christ is Himself the sum total of the covenant, and, as one of its gifts, He is the possession of every believer. Dear Christian, are you able to fathom what you have received in Him, "for in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9)?

Consider the word God in all its infinite greatness, and then meditate on the beauty of "becom[ing] mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). Remember, as God and man, all that Christ ever had or has is yours purely because of His favor. It has been freely bestowed on you and will be your inheritance forever.

From Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon

by Jim Reimann

Any comments or testimonies today?

Grace to Forgive as I Have Been Forgiven

I started thinking about how I had responded during the early months of the Iraq war when Saddam Hussein's two sons were killed. "Yes!" Both times, my response was instinctive, like cheering for my favorite football team. But then a discomfiting thought crept in. Was Jesus rejoicing at the death of these two men? I turned back to the Scriptures. "Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. How many times should you forgive? Seventy-seven times." These were Jesus' words. But really, I have to forgive rapists and mass murderers?

This Jesus, he asks so much. Yes, but he gives so much.

I can remember the sense of sheer mercy that came to me years ago when I finally admitted my failings and opened myself to God’s forgiveness. As I thought back to how gracious God has been, I felt willing to pray for a change of heart. Instead of cheering the demise of those men in Iraq, I wanted the grace to forgive as I had been forgiven, to let pure justice remain where it belongs — in God's hand.

From The Tender Words of God

by Ann Spangler

Any comments or testimonies today?

It Will Never Lose Its Power

Only the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross two thousand years ago, shields us from the awful judgment of God for sin. We are not justified because of our good intentions. We are not protected because of our tearful appeals. We can, in fact, do nothing to merit God's favor. Only the blood puts us in right standing with him. In the words of the Andraé Crouch song that we often sing in our church, the blood of Jesus "reaches to the highest mountain" and "flows to the lowest valley." That is why "it will never lose its power."

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?

Walk in the Light

God directs his children to "walk in the light, as he is in the light" (1 John 1:7). This does not equate to moral perfection. But it does mean being willing to be transparent and sincere. It also means repenting when God points out disobedience, as he did to the nation [of Israel] at Gilgal (see Joshua 5:2-9). If we choose to persist in sin, we have no assurance that God will bless us. He is not our puppet. His grace does not give us license to live however we want. He expects from us devotion and submission to his Word.

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?

God Doesn't Play Favorites

God doesn't play favorites. He loves us all the same but differently, the way a parent loves four children. God doesn't shell out a cup of love for Americans and a fourth of a cup to the Sudanese. God doesn't hate homosexuals or bigots. If you believe the B-I-B-L-E, he doesn't hate anybody. He's not a hateorator. He loved us enough to send his only begotten son to forgive us from all our ignorant, bigoted ways.

From Where's Your Jesus Now? Examining How Fear Erodes Our Faith

by Karen Spears Zacharias

Any comments or testimonies today?

Seeing Others the Way God Sees Us

Editor's Note: The author uses sarcasm in this excerpt to illustrate how ignoring truths in God's word is like treating such truths with contempt.

The louder we get, the harder it is to hear from God. But maybe that's the point. Maybe we don't want to hear what God has to say, especially if he's going to show up suggesting that what we ought to do when we are wronged is turn the other cheek, or overcome evil with good, forgive our enemy, or some of that other ridiculous, pious mumbo-jumbo.

But you can bet your last sip of water that as long as we fail to see others the way God sees them, the way he sees us, in tenderness and mercy, evil will prevail, loudly.

From Where's Your Jesus Now? Examining How Fear Erodes Our Faith

by Karen Spears Zacharias

Any comments or testimonies today?

Living in the Shadow of Death

In the concentration camp I lived near a crematorium for months. I was living in the shadow of death. I did not know beforehand that they would release me a week before they would kill all the women my age. It was a human error and a miracle of God.

When you face eternity, and that was what was happening to me, you see everything so clearly. Here I was weak and sinful, and there was the Devil, much stronger than me, much, much stronger than me. But there was Jesus, much, much stronger than the Devil. And together with Him, I was more than a conqueror.

From I Stand at the Door and Knock: Meditations by the Author of The Hiding Place 

by Corrie Ten Boom

Any comments or testimonies today?

The Central Theme of the Old Testament

The central theme of the Old Testament is redemption by grace. But incredibly, the Pharisees entirely missed it. In their rigid emphasis on religious works, they deemphasized the truth of God's grace and forgiveness to sinners, evident throughout the Old Testament. They stressed obedience to law, not conversion to the Lord, as the way to gain eternal life.

They were so busy trying to earn righteousness that they neglected the marvelous truth of Habakkuk 2:4: "The righteous will live by his faith." They looked to Abraham as their father but overlooked the key lesson of his life: "He believed in the Lord; and [the Lord] reckoned it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). They scoured the psalms for laws they could add to their list, but they ignored the most sublime truth of all — that God forgives sins, covers transgressions, and refuses to impute iniquity to sinners who turn to Him (Psalm 32:1-2).

From The Gospel According
to Jesus: What Is
Authentic Faith?

by John MacArthur

Any comments or testimonies today?