Zondervan Inspire

Surely I Will Help You Now

From the Editor: In these times of trouble, it's good to know that God is there for us.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

This morning may each of us hear the Lord Jesus speak to us, saying, "'I myself will help you.' It's a small thing for Me, as your God, to help you in your time of need, especially when you consider what I’ve done for you already. What! Not help you? I bought you with My blood. What! Not help you? I died for you, and if I've already done what is greater, will I now not do what is less? Help you? This is the very least I will ever do for you, for I have done much more for you in the past and will do much more for you in the future.

"Before the world began I chose you and made the covenant for you. I set My glory aside and become a man for you, and then I laid down My life for you. If I did all this, surely I will help you now...." —Charles Spurgeon. Read More from This Book

 

From Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon by Jim Reimann

 

The Righteous Have a Refuge

From the Editor: It’s so important for us to die to self and live for God no matter what the cost.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Though wickedness may flourish for a time, it is ultimately true, as Scripture assures us, that "when calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a refuge" (Proverbs 14:32).

As I ponder God's words of protection, I ask for a deeper kind of confidence in God's ability to watch over me and those I care about. May I without anxiety leave the decision of whether he will protect my body or only my soul in his loving, all-powerful hands. And may my confidence in his watchful care free me from fear so I can be flexible and faithful whatever God asks. Read More from This Book.

 

From The Tender Words of God by Ann Spangler

 

New Every Morning

From the Editor: I don’t know about you, but I’m so glad God gives second chances.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

In the book of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah looks back at the destruction of Jerusalem. The judgment on them was painful, but God would not leave them ruined. Eventually, after they acknowledged their disobedience and confessed their sin, God would forgive and restore them. He would allow them to start over once more. And he does the same for us.

Maybe you have experienced the discipline of God in your own life. You have suffered painful consequences for sinful choices you have made. Perhaps you feel that God has left you there. If so, remember that although God is just, he is also full of mercy. His compassions never fail. He promises to forgive us when we come to him and confess what we have done or not done. No matter how you have offended God, you can have hope because of his great mercy. You can always have a fresh start with him because of his compassions are "new every morning."

From New Women's Devotional Bible

Light Overcomes Darkness

From the Editor: I chose this picture for obvious reasons, but also because it reminds me of walking through the woods in beautiful Michigan on a fall morning. May today's post bring you hope. 

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Light and darkness are distinct opposites and each displays its own unique properties. John 1:5 says, "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." The NIV text note, however, gives this alternate translation of the Greek: "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome."

Darkness cannot overcome light. Consider this simple example: you open the door of your unlit closet while standing in your well-lit bedroom. What happens? Does the darkness spill over into the bedroom? Of course not. The light overcomes the darkness and you can now see into the once dark closet. Yet the light in the bedroom has not been diminished. Spiritual light has this same unique quality of physical light — it will always overcome darkness.

From Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon

by Jim Reimann

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

Our Condition Is Not Hopeless

So when Jesus spoke of the poor in spirit, who was he referring to? Who is this misfortunate bunch in such desperate need? Everyone.

All of us have places that are filled not with the spirit of God but with the void of sin. Everyone has broken and disgusting spots in their lives that just won't heal right. Everyone fails. Everyone hurts those they love most. Everyone lacks the kindness, the courage, and the wisdom they ought to possess. No one is solid inside; everyone is deficient.

Jesus alone shows us that our condition is not hopeless. Just as Socrates knew that the only ones who are wise are those who know they are fools, so too Jesus shows us that the only ones who are complete are those who know they are falling apart. Heaven is occupied not by those who think they have it all together. Heaven is the refuge of the infirm and the mending.

From Seven: The Deadly Sins and the Beatitudes

by Jeff Cook

Any comments or testimonies today?

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?

What God Is Really Like

Imagine what God is really like. Unless we believe God is, above all, loving and good and for us, we won't be willing to seek him. The Bible says, "God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:8–10).

Do you see what this says? God is love. Is God a just judge? Yes — God will one day make right all the wrongs — but is he primarily a judge? No! Jesus came to show us that first and foremost, God is Love, and God loves us so much that there is nothing he won't do to deliver us from our broken ways and bring us into a shared life with him. Jesus even gave his own life so that "we might live through him" — starting now and forever more.

From Soul Revolution: How Imperfect People Become All God Intended

by John Burke

Any comments or testimonies today?

Touch the Face of God

The journey to the Celestial City can be every bit as arduous as John Bunyan depicted in his famous Pilgrim's Progress. It will not always be filled with happy faces, fun times, and an incessant fare of upbeat praise choruses. There will be tears too, and through it all the ache of yearning. We face into the wind as we journey through this fallen world, and there are plenty of struggles ahead. Nowhere does the Bible say it will be easy. We have only been assured that it is infinitely worthwhile.

But we also journey in hope, and by hope we mean a confident and sustaining anticipation of a positive future. We have received sufficient assurances that we are on the right track (traveling mercies, Anne Lamott calls them) to keep us pressing forward. It is true that for the time being we know only "in part." But someday we will see him face-to-face, and will know him fully, just as we are already fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12). The time is coming when we will "slip the surly bonds of earth ... and touch the face of God."

From A Little Guide to Christian Spirituality: Three Dimensions of Life with God

by Glen G. Scorgie

Any comments or testimonies today?

God's Silent Work

Fanny Crosby was not content to be a victim. She voraciously memorized five books of the Old Testament and most of the New Testament by the time she was ten years old. She attended the New York Institute for the Blind, where she became a teacher and gifted poet. After surviving the cholera epidemic in 1849, Fanny realized something was missing in her life and turned to Christ at the age of 30. God had been silently working in her heart. The poetry that formerly flowed from her heart turned into hymns of praise, many of which we still sing today.

In Genesis 41 we see God silently working in Joseph's life. Joseph could have grown bitter and inflamed by the dreadful circumstances of his life. But amazingly, Joseph experienced God's silent work as much in slavery and in prison as he did when he rose to prominence.

Whatever your circumstances, you can trust that God is working behind the scenes. When you experience trouble—and you will—God can make you fruitful and full of praise, just as he did with Joseph and with Fanny Crosby.

From New Women's Devotional Bible

New International Version (NIV™)
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Celebrating 30 Years
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Any comments or testimonies today?