Zondervan Inspire

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

 

Good Soil

From the Editor: May the seed of God's Word find good soil in your heart.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear" (Matthew 13:1–9). Listen to Blair Underwood as Jesus (Matthew 13:1–13) and Watch the Inspiring Video.

 

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

 

Fly Beyond the Stars

From the Editor: I don’t know who produced this photographic art, but it’s a tasteful and beautiful expression of creation. Any other thoughts on this subject?

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

How does a Christian create art that reflects God's beauty? Is the artist limited to representing only what we observe in God's creation? Francis Schaeffer finds God's design for the Jewish priest's garments to be instructive: "Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them" (Exodus 28:33). "In nature," he wrote, "pomegranates are red, but these pomegranates were to be blue, purple and scarlet. Purple and scarlet could be natural changes in the growth of a pomegranate. But blue isn't. The implication is that there is freedom to make something which gets its impetus from nature that can be different from it, and it too can be brought into the presence of God."

Schaeffer concludes, "What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is not to be solely a vehicle for some sort of self-conscious evangelism.... Christians ought not to be threatened by fantasy and imagination.... The Christian is the really free man — he is free to have imagination. This is our heritage. The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars."

From A Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings on Art, Science, and Life

by Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington

The Greatest Example

From the Editor: No, this is not a picture of the garden of Gethsemane. I’m sure most of you have figured that out already. But it’s a beautiful garden with a path that shows the way. Kind of like how Jesus shows us the way.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

One moment stands above all others in history as the greatest example of loving God with all one's soul. It took place on the night before Jesus died, as he talked to his Father in the garden of Gethsemane. Knowing that the next day he would face the physical, emotional, and spiritual torture of the cross, Jesus prayed, "Not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). Jesus set aside anything he may have desired and determined to do only what the Father directed.

How do you set your soul to make such a radical decision? Jesus shows the way. You set the direction of your soul by talking to God. The power to follow Jesus' example is found in being able to pray the prayer that Jesus prayed: "Not my will, Lord, but yours be done."

From The Relationship Principles of Jesus

by Tom Holladay

Return to Putting Him First

From the Editor: This picture and this post remind me of how much I need to put God first and depend on him daily—like a small boy depends on his dad.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Like a husband's first love for his young bride, that's how God feels about you. Like a loving parent desires his children to trust his guidance, God longs to lead you into life. But when we put things that are worth less first in our lives, before God, we end up feeling worthless ourselves. We can never feel secure enough, we can never get enough, because we've abandoned the fountain of living water to dig wells for ourselves that are full of cracks and can never satisfy our deepest thirst. God pleads with people through the prophets to return to putting him first.

From Soul Revolution: How Imperfect People Become All God Intended

by John Burke

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

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?

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?

A Different Kind of Nation

Genesis is about the progression of sin, violence, and death—what started with one son killing the other quickly led to an entire civilization in opposition to God. And then Exodus begins with the Israelites enslaved by a nation. Sin always gains a head of steam when it goes unchecked. And that always leads to institutions and cultures and structures that are anti-kingdom. This leads to dehumanizing places, like Egypt had become, which these former slaves standing at the base of Sinai know all too well. And God's response is to form a different kind of nation, a "holy" one shaped not by greed, violence, and abusive power but by compassion, justice, and care for one's neighbor.

From Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile

by Rob Bell and Don Golden

Any comments or testimonies today?