Daily Bible Reading

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Old Testament: Genesis 11:10 - 13:18

New Testament Matthew 5:21-42

Psalms/Proverbs Psalm 5:1-12

Based on NIV Seasons of Reflections

Messages referring to the Bible Reading:

THE MAN WHO NEVER RETURNED
THE PRICE IS WRONG
AN OVERVIEW OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
DAYBREAK!

Play Silent Night

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The Dungeon of Doubt

Some time ago, I took my family to the bicycle store to purchase a bike for five-year-old Jenna. She picked out a shiny "Starlett" with a banana seat and training wheels. And Andrea, age three, decided she wanted one as well.

I explained to Andrea that she was too young. I told her she was still having trouble with a tricycle and was too small for a two-wheeler. No luck; she still wanted a bike. I explained to her that when she was a bit older, she would get a bike, too. She just stared at me. I tried to tell her that a big bike would bring her more pain than pleasure, more scrapes than thrills. She turned her head and said nothing.

Finally I sighed and said this time her daddy knew best. Her response? She screamed it loud enough for everyone in the store to hear:

"Then I want a new daddy!"

Though the words were from a child's mouth, they carried an adult's sentiments.

Disappointment demands a change in command. When we don't agree with the One who calls the shots, our reaction is often the same as Andrea's-the same as John the Baptist's. "Is he the right one for this job?" Or, as John put it, "Are you the one? Should we look for another?"

Andrea, with her three-year-old reasoning powers, couldn't believe that a new bike would be anything less than ideal for her. From her vantage point, it would be the source of eternal bliss. And from her vantage point, the one who could grant that bliss was "sitting on his hands."

I can't believe that God would sit in silence while a missionary is kicked out of a foreign country or a Christian loses a promotion because of his beliefs or a faithful wife is abused by an unbelieving husband. These are just three of many items that have made their way onto my prayer list-all prayers that seem to have gone unanswered.

Rule of thumb: clouds of doubt are created when the warm, moist air of our expectations meets the cold air of God's silence.

If you've heard the silence of God, if you've been left standing in the dungeon of doubt, you may learn, as John did, that the problem is not as much in God's silence as it is in your ability to hear.

By Max Lucado
From The Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado,
W Publishing Group; 2nd Rep edition (June 4, 1999)
ISBN-10: 0849937523, ISBN-13: 978-0849937521
Used with Permission

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Precious Memories
by Alan Jackson; Price: $9.76 (49% off)
Customer Review: A few decades ago nearly every country singer had at least one--often more--gospel albums in their catalog. Today, aside from gospel veteran Amy Grant, who balances the sacred and secular, and Randy Travis, that concept has long faded. For Alan Jackson, however, treating the musical past as present has been a way of life, as it is with these 15 tim... [read more]

Categories: daily-thoughts doubt perspective attitude God

Apples

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention
in Auckland. They had assured their wives that they would be home in
plenty of time for Friday night's dinner.

In their rush, with tickets and brief-cases, one of these salesmen
inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of baskets of
apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they
all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.
All but one. He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his
feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose
apple stand had been overturned.

He told his mates to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of
them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and
explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal
where the apples were all over the terminal floor.

He was glad he did.

The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears
running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly
groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one
stopping, and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put
them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more. As he
did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised;
these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl,
"Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"

She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't
spoil your day too badly."

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called
out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those
blind eyes.

She continued, "Are you Jesus?"

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way
to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about
in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"

Do people mistake you for Jesus?

That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people
cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is
blind to His love, life and grace.

If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would.
Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church.
It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day. You are the
apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He
stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called
Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

Let us live like we are worth the price He paid.

Author Unknown

Play Amazing Grace

Precious Memories
by Alan Jackson; Price: $9.76 (49% off)
Customer Review: A few decades ago nearly every country singer had at least one--often more--gospel albums in their catalog. Today, aside from gospel veteran Amy Grant, who balances the sacred and secular, and Randy Travis, that concept has long faded. For Alan Jackson, however, treating the musical past as present has been a way of life, as it is with these 15 tim... [read more]