Zondervan Inspire

Let Your Light Shine

From the Editor: Let us let our light shine before others this holiday season.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16). Listen to Blair Underwood as Jesus (Matthew 5:14–22) 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

Build on the Rock

From the Editor: Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.” Obedience provides a foundation in our lives that will enable us to weather the storms.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? As for those who come to me and hear my words and put them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But those who hear my words and do not put them into practice are like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete" (Luke 6:46–49). Listen to Luke 6:41–49.

Extra: Listen to Denzel Washington in Song of Songs

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

What a Servant Does

From the Editor: Another good reminder for me.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Jesus speaks of a new kingdom as he shows what it's like to be human in this new reality. He heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, helps the lame walk. The prophet Isaiah had said that the coming servant would do things like this, showing what a new humanity would look like. When John the Baptist sends his disciples to find out about Jesus, he puts his question in the language of the coming exodus: "Are you the one who was to come?"

Jesus answers by pointing to Isaiah: "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor."

Power is flowing through Jesus to the broken, blind, and lame — those who need it the most, who have no power. Jesus is a servant who uses his power in the service of compassion and love — that's what a servant does.

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

by Rob Bell and Don Golden

Reckless Self-Giving

Jesus gave moral teachings that encouraged his followers to become the type of people who naturally care for the good of others because he wanted them to be united as a family. The life of heaven focuses on the good of others. It picks up the spoon not to fill its own belly but to offer a bite to the other starving stomachs in the room. This is the best life possible because it is the very type of life that is going on within God. The Father gives us his Son. The Son gives us his life. The Spirit gives us understanding of all that is true and praiseworthy. This reckless self-giving is the activity of heaven. Jesus said that all God wishes for you and me — all he encourages us to do and be, the entirety of our moral obligation — is summed up in this kind of reckless self-giving toward God and others.

From Seven: The Deadly Sins and the Beatitudes

by Jeff Cook

Any comments or testimonies today?

Passionate Rants of the Prophets

Amos says, "Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy..." (Amos 4:1). The cows of Bashan were known for how big and healthy and well fed they were. Amos compares the wealthy women of Israel to cows who graze gluttonously while others starve. God doesn't have a problem with eating and drinking and owning things. It's when those things come at the expense of others' having their basic needs met — that's when the passionate rants of the prophets really kick in.

God is patient but also pragmatic. God has a plan. God cares about the suffering of the world and will not allow the indifference of his people to stand in the way of his plans to relieve that suffering.

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

by Rob Bell and Don Golden

Any comments or testimonies today?

This Is Who God Is

God is looking for a body, flesh and blood to show the world a proper marriage of the divine and human. What happens when your body looks nothing like you? What happens when your people become the embodiment of everything you are against? What happens when you're being given a bad name? What happens when your people are unfaithful to the vow they made to you? What happens when your people "go back that way again," the way you rescued them from?

The Hebrew Scriptures have a very simple and direct message: God always hears the cry of the oppressed; God cares about human suffering and the conditions that cause it. God is searching for a body, a community of people to care for the things God cares about. God gives power and blessing so that justice and righteousness will be upheld for those who are denied them. This is what God is like. This is what God is about. This is who God is.

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

by Rob Bell and Don Golden

Any comments or testimonies today?

The Life of Heaven

What would have happened if the rich man had served Lazarus and healed his sores (see Luke 16:19-31)? What would have happened if he had ripped down the gate separating them and stooped low to help the beggar? What would have happened if he had served Lazarus with the gifts he had been given?

The rich man would have entered into a relationship with Lazarus. He would have allowed Lazarus to lean on him for provision. In a profound way, the rich man would have assumed the role that Jesus reserved for one of the great men of Israel’s past. The rich man would have found himself in the place of Abraham with Lazarus the beggar at his side. It is this kind of interdependence that matters to God, and this is rightly seen as the life of heaven.

From Seven: The Deadly Sins and the Beatitudes

by Jeff Cook

Any comments or testimonies today?

Your Mission Is Not about You

Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth." But salt does not exist for itself. When is the last time you went to someone's home for a meal and said, "Man, this is great salt. Honey, how come we don't have salt like this at home? We gotta switch brands."

Salt's calling is to lose itself in something much bigger and more glorious; and then it fulfills its destiny. We were made to count. We were made to be salt. But the quest for significance is a delicate dance. If I do it by myself for myself, it's death. If I do it with God for others, it's life.

From When the Game Is Over It All Goes Back in the Box

by John Ortberg

Any comments or testimonies today?

greatness

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We long to be first, to be the center of attention, to have control. We hate to admit it, but we can struggle with insecurity and jealousy and sometimes become threatened when others succeed. We find secret satisfaction when our rival fails. We yearn for significance, to accomplish something great.

But Jesus redirects our earthly rationale by teaching us that being great means serving, choosing to be second, stepping out of the limelight so someone else can shine. We are on our way to greatness in God's perspective when we roll up our sleeves and offer our gifts wherever they are needed (see Mark 10:42-45).

From The Grandmother's Bible

Devotion by
Dawn Scott Jones

Any comments or testimonies today?