Zondervan Inspire

Worth Betting the Farm On

From the Editor: I can't think of a better post to close out the year with. I'll still be sending out the Daily Inspiration emails, but I won't be posting on the blog again until Monday, January 5, as I'll be taking some needed time off.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

There is simply no one more worth trusting that Jesus. There is no one whose understanding of life has come close to his. There is no one who affected history like him. There is simply no other source — no book, no guru, no hunch, no personal experience — worth betting the farm on. As Elton Trueblood so well said, "A Christian is a person who, with all the honesty of which he is capable, becomes convinced that the fact of Jesus Christ is the most trustworthy that he knows in his entire universe of discourse."

Jesus is in the life-changing business. From the very beginning all kinds of people were drawn to him and would come to him — satisfied people, messed-up people, lepers and injured people, forgotten people, despised people, prostitutes, tax collectors, admired people, wealthy people, religious leaders. There was something about this man Jesus that made their hearts cave in and then be born again. Read More from This Book.

 

From Faith and Doubt by John Ortberg

 

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

Jesus Invites Us to Die

From the Editor: Today’s photo illustrates death to the old self and rising up in new life—what baptism symbolizes. Rob’s teaching in this DVD also makes me think of Ephesians 4:22-24 and Galatians 2:20.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Do you ever find yourself telling a story in a particular way to make yourself look better? Like, you emphasize certain details and leave other details out. You twist the story ever so slightly in your favor. For many of us this impulse is so deep within us. We've been doing this for so long we're not even aware that we're doing it.

What would it be like to be free from all that? Jesus invites that part of us to die—the part of us that always has to be right, the part of us that always has to be better, the part of us that always has to look good—Jesus invites that part of us to die. Watch a Video Clip

From NOOMA® Tomato 022—Rob Bell

by Flannel

It's about His Will

When I met Christ, I became a different person. Forgiven. Changed. And new. Experiencing God at the church was similar to my moment of salvation. It was like another turning point. Somehow I experienced God in a new and deeper way. My desire for him wasn't about what he could do for me. It was just a desire for him and nothing else. From that day forward I was somehow a different person. God was no longer just someone who did something for me. I was overwhelmed with an awareness that it is about me loving him. It is about this will. His plan. His desire to reach other people ... through me.

From It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It 

by Craig Groeschel

Any comments or testimonies today?

A Different View of Change

I used to be afraid of that word, change, as if it implied, somehow, that I need to be corrected. But now I have a different view of change. It is a shift in perspective and not the Extreme Home Makeover kind of change we see on television. It is a shift in what we think we are capable of; in where we want to see our life heading; in how we are willing to spend our time, talents, and resources. When people tell me about how God "moved" them, it is that kind of shift, I believe, they are talking about. It's a step in a new direction that we couldn't have taken on our own. Sometimes defining moments result in immediate and complete life transformations, like it did for the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus; but more often, such moments are more subtle, things we can only see in hindsight.

From Reckless Faith: Let Go and Be Led

by Beth Guckenberger

Any comments or testimonies today?

change

When you boil life down to the nubbies, the name of the game is change. Those who flex with the times refuse to be rigid, resist the mold and reject the rut—ah, those are the souls distinctively used by God. To them, change is a challenge, a fresh breeze that flows through the room of routine and blows away the stale air of sameness.

Stimulating and invigorating as change may be—it is never easy. Before you get all jazzed about some quick and easy change you plan to carry out, better read that sentence again. Changes are especially tough when it comes to certain habits that haunt and harm us. That kind of change is excruciating—but it isn't impossible. Change—real change—takes place slowly. In first gear, not overdrive (see Romans 12:1-21).

From New Men's Devotional Bible

Devotion by
Charles Swindoll

Any comments or testimonies today?

beginnings

Each one of us needs a new beginning at some point or other. But it needn't come with a bang of fireworks or a streaking comet. New beginnings often come slowly. They may even sneak up on you—like a tiny ray or sun slipping out from beneath a black cloud. You can be inspired by the smallest things, so keep your eyes open.

Consider these: A tea kettle singing on the stove inspired the steam engine. An apple falling from a tree inspired the discovery of gravity. A shirt waving on a clothesline inspired the balloon. A spider web strung across a garden path inspired the suspension bridge. God will use the simplest realities to inspire something bigger and better in your life.

From The Grandmother's Bible

Devotion by
Barbara Johnson

Any comments or testimonies today?