Hope That Surpasses October 31, 2016

Proverbs 14:32 (NIV)

32 When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous seek refuge in God.

We don’t like to talk about death; it’s the forbidden subject of our generation. Yet it’s real for all of us. Sometimes on television I see motion pictures featuring actors who are no longer living. They seem very much alive in the picture, but they are dead. Some of them were my personal friends. Death is real, and when we die, that is a battle we have to fight all alone. Nobody can be with us in that hour, but David said he had found an answer that would take the fear of death away. David said that there is an answer to death, there is a hope beyond death. That hope is centered in the risen Christ. Paul wrote that to be “absent from the body” is to be “present with the Lord.” So the fear of death is removed.

Thought for today: Do I live in fear because I don’t embrace all of Christ?

Make Room October 30, 2016

Matthew 5:43-45 (NIV)

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

When H. G. Wells summed up the influence of Jesus in history, he said, “Is it any wonder that this Galilean is too much for our small hearts?” And yet the heart of man, though small, is big enough for Christ to live in, if man will only make room for Him. Christ instilled the spirit of Christian love in His followers, so that they lived without malice and died without rancor. The love that Christ talked about can only be given to us by God. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit. When you come to Jesus Christ, He transforms you. Your past is forgiven. You receive a power to love men, beyond your natural ability to love.

Thought for today: Do I turn the other cheek?

Just As I Am October 29, 2016

Colossians 3:10 (NIV)

10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

A long-haired blonde from a southern university seemed to be enjoying a satisfactory student career when her grades began to slip. “Life had become one long case of the blahs,” she confessed later. “I wasn’t walking around with a steady load of blues, but I wasn’t enjoying life. Small things made me blow up. I met some kids who seemed to know something I didn’t know, but I couldn’t get in on it. We went to several meetings, and one night the speaker said that we don’t earn God’s love. He takes us as we are. It was then I realized it wasn’t a matter of clocking up a certain number of hours doing good deeds. Instead, I had to make myself available. Through faith, I had to let Him take over. It came together all at once, when I accepted Christ as my personal Savior. I know that God is in me in everything I do. My life has taken on a new dimension.” Does your life have this new dimension? It can! Just begin now with Jesus Christ! When you make this beginning, it will be your first step toward realizing personal fulfillment, meaning, and joy.

Thought for today: Am I using the excuse of “I can’t tell God”?

Grace and Peace October 28, 2016

Ephesians 4:7 (NIV)

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

The Christian life is never spoken of in the Bible as a bed of roses. It is uphill, because society is coming one way and the Christian is going the opposite way. But Jesus said that in the midst of your problems, in the midst of your difficulties, He will be there to give you grace and peace. Underneath all the troubles, will be the “still waters” that the Great Shepherd can provide. Many people are trying to steady themselves by taking tranquilizers. Jesus is the greatest tranquilizer of all. He can straighten out your life and put you back on center. Let Him take full control. You’ll go on your way rejoicing, as did those in the New Testament who met Jesus.

Thought for today: Do I find peace in the things of God?

The Secret Of Surrender October 27, 2016

Romans 6:19 (NIV)

19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.

We have heard the modern expression, “Don’t fight it-it’s bigger than both of us.” Those who are meek do not fight back at life. They learn the secret of surrender, or yielding to God. He then fights for us! Instead of filling your mind with resentments, abusing your body by sinful diversion, and damaging your soul by willfulness, humbly give all over to God. Your conflicts will disappear and your inner tensions will vanish into thin air. Then your life will begin to count for something. You will have the feeling of belonging to life. Boredom will melt away, and you will become vibrant with hope and expectation. Because you are meekly yielded, you will begin to “inherit the earth” of good things, which God holds in store for all who trust Him with their all.

Thought for today:  Can I let go of things and trust that God will work them out?

Unspeakable Joy October 26, 2016

Acts 11:26 (NIV)

26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

In the third century Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage, wrote to his friend Donatus, “It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people, who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians . . . and I am one of them.” If you have repented of your sins and have received Christ as Savior, then you, too, are one of them.

Thought for today: Can I find joy in everything?

Purity Of Marriage October 25, 2016

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Nowhere does the Bible teach that sex in itself is a sin. Man in his sinful nature has taken what was intended to be a glorious and complete act of love between two people and has made it something low, cheap, and dirty. The Bible is one of the world’s outspoken books on the subject of sex, and the Bible condemns sex outside the bonds of matrimony. The fact that immorality is rampant throughout the nation doesn’t make it right; the fact that some clergymen may condone it doesn’t make it right. The Bible says, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25). Under Jewish law adultery was punishable by death. Under God’s law today it also results in spiritual death.

Thought for today: Do I bring all of who I am under God’s subjection?

The Root Of Sin October 24, 2016

Romans 8:37  (NIV)

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

The basic problem facing our world is not just social inequity, or lack of education, or even physical hunger. We are finding that highly educated and well-fed people have greeds, hates, passions, and lusts that are not eliminated by education. The root of sin in each of our hearts is extremely deep, and this is the basic cause of the world’s problems; only the fire of the Lord can burn it out. This is precisely what Christ came to do. He didn’t come to treat symptoms. He came to get at the very heart of man’s disease.

Thought for today: Do I bring ALL of who I am to the altar?

We Must Decrease October 23, 2016

Lamentations 3:40 (NIV)

40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.

Our modern philosophy of self-reliance and self-sufficiency has caused many to believe that we can make the grade without God. “Religion,” they argue, “may be all right for certain emotional people, but you can’t beat a man who believes in himself.” But this self-confident generation has produced more alcoholics, more dope addicts, more criminals, more wars, more broken homes, more assaults, more embezzlements, more murders, and more suicides than any other generation that ever lived. It is time for all of us to take stock of our failures, blunders, and costly mistakes. It is about time that we are putting less confidence in ourselves and more trust and faith in God.

Thought for today: Do I know that my confidence is in God or if it is hubris?

God Provides October 22, 2016

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV)

5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Death, to the Christian, is the exchanging of a tent for a building. Here we are as pilgrims or gypsies, living in a frail, flimsy home; subject to disease, pain, and peril. But at death we exchange this crumbling, disintegrating tent for a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. The wandering wayfarer comes into his own at death and is given the title to a mansion which will never deteriorate nor crumble. Do you think that God, who has provided so amply for living, has made no provision for dying? The Bible says we are strangers in a foreign land. This world is not our home; our citizenship is in heaven. When a Christian dies, he goes into the presence of Christ. He goes to heaven to spend eternity with God.

Thought for today: Do I pay more attention to the things of the world?

Experiencing Heaven October 21, 2016

Revelation 22:3 (NIV)

3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.

The Bible indicates that heaven will be a place of great understanding and knowledge of things that we never learned down here. Sir Isaac Newton, when an old man, said to one who praised his wisdom, “I am as a child on the seashore picking up a pebble here and a shell there, but the great ocean of truth still lies before me.” And Thomas Edison once said, “I do not know one millionth part of one percent about anything.” Many of the mysteries of God-the heartaches, trials, disappointments, tragedies, and the silence of God in the midst of suffering-will be revealed in heaven.

Thought for today: Do I find peace in knowing that all things will be revealed to me in due time?

Three Kinds Of Pleasure October 20, 2016

Acts 13:52 (NIV)

52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

The Bible speaks of three kinds of pleasure. There is lustful pleasure, the lust of the flesh, and Scripture says it is sinful and wrong. There is legitimate pleasure, which is not wrong, but we are not to become so preoccupied with its activities that it takes the place of God. Then there is a third kind of pleasure, lasting pleasure. Do you have that kind? It does not depend on circumstances or feelings. It is the pleasure that runs deep and comes from the Spirit of God.

Thought for today: Do I find pleasure in the things of God?

Don’t Be Anxious October 19, 2016

Colossians 3:16 (NIV)

16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Christians are to rejoice. To do that, you need only to think of the great things God has done for you. Then we are told not to be anxious, but in our prayers to make our requests known to God. In your biggest problems you have One to whom you can go; and before Him you can pour out your heart with the assurance that He will not leave you without an answer to that great problem. Then we are to fill our minds with those things that are good. They are mentioned in the Scriptures as being things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, of good report, and of virtue. It is upon these things that we are to think. Live positively, not negatively. Once you learn that secret, God will have given you the victory.

Thought for today: Do I offer repetitive “gimme” prayers or do I pray asking 1 time KNOWING God will answer?

Where Is Your Treasure October 18, 2016

Matthew 6:20 (NIV)

20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Many young people are building their lives on the rock of materialism. I find across the country a deep economic discontent among people in every walk of life. People want more and more things. They forget that we are enjoying the highest standard of living the world has ever known. We still have poverty, and hundreds of agencies are trying to do something about it; but we are dissatisfied. We want more, more, more. But Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and money.” He said that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses. Adolf Berle, in his study of power, points out that riches often make people solitary and lonely and, of course, afraid. Many times a rich man knows loneliness and fear, because when he makes wealth his god, it leaves him empty. You see, without God life loses its zest and purpose and meaning.

Thought for today: Do I trust God to meet my needs?

Cast Your Cares October 17, 2016

Matthew 6:26 (NIV)

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Some section hands on a British railroad found a thrush’s nest under a rail. Peacefully sitting on her eggs, the hen was undisturbed by the roar of the fast trains above and around her. Someone has written a little verse which goes:

“Said the robin to the sparrow,
‘I should really like to know,
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.’
Said the sparrow to the robin,
‘Friend, I think that it must be,
That they have no heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.'”

Jesus used the carefree attitude of the birds to underscore the fact that worrying is unnatural. I am learning in my own life, day by day, to keep my mind centered on Christ, and the worries and anxieties and concerns of the world pass, and nothing but “perfect peace” is left in the human heart. God has taken the responsibility for our care and worry.

Thought for today: Do I allow worry to dictate my behavior?

Righteous Hunger October 16, 2016

Revelation 21:6 (NIV)

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.

God says that only those who hunger after righteousness will receive it. God thrusts this heavenly manna on no one. You must desire it, above everything else. Your yearning for God must supersede all other desires. It must be like a gnawing hunger and a burning thirst.

Thought for today: Am I a picky eater?  Meaning, do consume ALL that is prepared for you?

Nature’s Wonders October 15, 2016

Romans 15:4(NIV)

4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

In the wonders of nature we see God’s laws in operation. Who has not looked up at the stars on a cloudless night and marveled in silent awe at the glory of God’s handiwork? Who has not felt his heart lifted in the spring of the year, as he sees all creation bursting with new life and vigor? In the beauty and abundance around us we see the magnitude of God’s power and the infinite detail of His planning; but nature tells us nothing of God’s love or God’s grace. Conscience tells us in our innermost being of the presence of God and of the moral difference between good and evil; but this is a fragmentary message, in no way as distinct and comprehensive as the lessons of the Bible. It is only in its pages that we find the clear and unmistakable message upon which all true Christianity is based.

Thought for today: Do I block out distractions to spend quality time with God?

The Birth Of Wisdom October 14, 2016

1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV)

30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

I believe we ought to get all the education we can, but we dare not make it our god. John Dewey once defined education as the systematic, purposeful reconstruction of experience; but so much of modern education leaves out God. What we are actually doing is reconstructing our sins. We expand our sins, enlarge them, multiply them. We need education, but not just for the mind and the body; we also need education for the spirit. Man has a spirit, and in our educational system today we need a spiritual emphasis. If we bring up a generation that lacks the wisdom that God can give, they can turn into educated savages and fools. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” and education. Let’s make sure our rock is God.

Thought for today : What / who educates me?

The Power To Change October 13, 2016

Romans 14:9 (NIV)

9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

With a frequency that is amazing, the Bible affirms the fact of the bodily resurrection of Christ. Perhaps the most direct of all its statements is Luke’s account in the book of Acts, where he reports, “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days” (Acts 1:3). What are we going to do with these “many infallible proofs”? Someone asked my colleague George Beverly Shea how much he knew about God. He said, “I don’t know much, but what I do know has changed my life.” We may not be able to take all of this evidence into a scientific laboratory and prove it; but, if we accept any fact of history, we must accept the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

Thought for today: Do I acknowledge “I am because He is” in all I do? In other words do I know that God is real in my life?

A Poor Soul October 12, 2016

Jeremiah 4:22 (NIV)

22 “My people are fools; they do not know me.
They are senseless children; they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”

No man is more pathetic than he who is in great need and is not aware of it. Remember Samson? Standing there in the valley of Sorek, surrounded by the lords of the Philistines, ” . . . he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.” It has been truly said, “No man is so ignorant as he who knows nothing and knows not that he knows nothing. No man is so sick as he who has a fatal disease and is not aware of it. No man is so poor as he who is destitute, and yet thinks he is rich.” The pitiable thing about the Pharisees was not so much their hypocrisy as it was their utter lack of knowledge of how poor they actually were in the sight of God. There is always something pathetic about a man who thinks he is rich when he is actually poor, who thinks he is good when he is actually vile, who thinks he is educated when he is actually illiterate.

Thought for today: Do I seek God in all my decisions?

The Grace Of God October 11, 2016

Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

“Grace,” according to the dictionary, is the unmerited favor of God toward mankind. The word “grace” is used over 170 times in the New Testament alone. Grace is not bought. It is a free gift of almighty God to needy mankind. When I picture Jesus Christ dying on the cross, I see the free gift of God’s grace in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. I sing with the songwriter, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” Your human mind, with its philosophy of an equal return for favors done, can hardly comprehend the full meaning of this grace of God. But when you catch, by the inspiration of God, its full meaning, you will leave the limits of human reasoning and revel in the spiritual riches of divine truth and privilege.

Yes, the grace of God is a reality. Thousands have tried, tested, and proved that it is more than a cold creed, a docile doctrine, or a tedious theory. The grace of God has been tested in the crucible of human experience, and has been found to be more than an equal for the problems and sins of humanity.

Thought for today: Am I aware of the examples of grace in my life?

A New World October 10, 2016

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV)

9 However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

At the close of the Bible we encounter these words, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” A new world is coming! Each time we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” we should remember that that prayer will be answered. Heaven is described as a new creation in which we shall move in new bodies, possessed of new names, singing new songs, living in a new city, by a new form of government, and challenged by new prospects of eternity with social justice for all. The paradise that man lost will be regained, but it will be much more. It will not be the old one repaired, patched up, and made over. When God says, “Behold, I make all things new,” the emphasis is on all things. One day we shall live in a brand-new world. Centuries ago the apostles greeted each other with the word, “Maranatha”—the Lord is coming.

Thought for today: Do I celebrate and remind others of God’s return?

An Eternal Fact October 9, 2016

John 3:36 (NIV)

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Currently, Christianity is being compared with other religions as never before. Some so-called Christian leaders even advocate the working out of a system of morals, ethics, and religion that would bring together all the religions of the world. It cannot be done. Jesus Christ is unique. Why insist on the uniqueness of Christ? What did Christ bring into the world that had not appeared before? The Christian answer is that He is the supreme manifestation of God. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This is the eternal fact of our Christian faith.

Thought for today: Is my belief so rigid that I do not love or respect others?

The Bible’s Unity October 8, 2016

2 Peter 1:21 (NIV)

21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Although one can derive inspiration from any portion of the Scripture, it is better to have an understanding of the general structure of the Bible to get the most out of it. The Old Testament is an account of a nation, Israel. Out of that nation came Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. The New Testament is an account of a Man, the Son of man, the Savior. God Himself became a man, so that we might know what He is like. His appearance on the earth was the central, most important event of history. The Old Testament gives the background for this event; the New Testament tells the story of its fulfillment. You will find a unity of thought and purpose which indicates that one mind inspired the writing of the whole.

Thought for today: Do I ask for discernment when I pray?

The Mind Of Christ October 7, 2016

2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)

7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Many diseases of both body and mind are self-inflicted. For example, ulcers are often caused by worry and anxiety. Heart attacks are caused many times by overexertion. Unjustified worry, fear, prejudice, hatred, and envy can contribute to mental stress, which could lead to mental illness. So one way to have a healthy mind is to avoid those practices. But the Bible way to a healthy mind is this, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” If you have the mind of Christ, worry will be offset by trust, enmity by love, and fear by faith.

Thought for today: Do I approach situations knowing I have power?

Human Ills October 6, 2016

2 Kings 20:1 (NIV)

20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

Man condemns himself by his refusal of God’s way of salvation. In love and mercy, God is offering to men and women a way of escape, a way of salvation, a hope and anticipation of better things. Man in his blindness, stupidity, stubbornness, egotism, and love of sinful pleasure, refuses God’s simple method of escaping the pangs of eternal banishment. Suppose you were sick and called a doctor who came and gave you a prescription. But after thinking it over you decided to ignore his advice and to refuse the medicine. When he returned a few days later, he might have found your condition much worse. Could you blame the doctor? Could you hold him responsible? He gave you the prescription, he prescribed the remedy. But you refused it!

Just so, God prescribes the remedy for the ills of the human race. That remedy is personal faith in, and commitment to, Jesus Christ. The remedy is to be “born again.” If we deliberately refuse it, then we must suffer the consequence; and we cannot blame God. Is it God’s fault that we refuse the remedy?

Thought for today: Do I give God reason to grieve?

Love One Another October 5, 2016

1 John 1:7(NIV)

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

I received a letter from a man in Charlotte, North Carolina. He said that, until our Charlotte Crusade, he was filled with hatred, bitterness, and prejudice toward people of another race. He had joined one of the extremist organizations and was on the verge of engaging in violence. Out of curiosity he came to the meetings, and one night he was gloriously converted. He said, “All bitterness, hatred, malice, and prejudice immediately left me. I found myself in the counseling room sitting beside a person of another race. Through my tears I gripped the hand of this man, whom a few hours before I would have detested. My racial problem has been solved. I now find that I love all men regardless of the color of their skin.”

Only Christ can solve the complicated racial problem that is facing the world today. Until people of all races come to accept Christ as Savior, they do not have the ability to love each other. Christ can give supernatural love, which enables you to love even those whom you otherwise could not love.

Thought for today: Do I place my character defects on the altar?

Where Is Your Treasure October 4, 2016

Matthew 6:24 (NIV)

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Tell me what you think about money, and I will tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related. A man’s heart is closer to his wallet than anything else. It is a staggering fact that for the past few years people have spent ten times as much for luxuries and non-essentials as they have for all charitable and religious purposes. This is a commentary on our shallow and superficial religious faith.

While the Bible warns us against greed and selfishness, it does encourage frugality and thrift. Even Jesus said to His disciples after He fed the multitude, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” Although our Lord had the power to create, He Himself lived frugally and without luxury. John Wesley had a threefold philosophy about money. He said, “Make all you can; keep all you can; and give all you can.” Most of us get all we can, spend all we can; borrow all we can; and give meagerly to God.

Thought for today: Do I allow material things and pursuits to disconnect me from my faith walk?

OK To Save October 3, 2016

Proverbs 14:12(NIV)

12 There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

A line of human thought that seems right to many people is the idea of self-redemption. Man thinks he must work at righteousness to save himself. After all, it was man who sinned and as we say, “God helps those who help themselves.” But a greater truth than this emerges from the Bible-the truth that God helps those who cannot help themselves. We cannot save ourselves. It is noble to be upright if we can. It is admirable to be honest, kind, and compassionate. It would seem that these characteristics would be sufficient to save our souls. But the Bible says that though this way seems right, it is wrong.

Thought for today: Do I continually present myself present myself to God?

The Soul’s Demand October 2, 2016

Isaiah 58:11 (NIV)

11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
   and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

The soul demands as much attention as the body. It demands fellowship and communion with God. It demands worship, quietness, and meditation. Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and shriveled. It remains discontented, confused, restless. Many people turn to alcohol to try to drown the cryings and longings of the soul. Some turn to a new sex experience. Others attempt to quiet the longings of their souls in other ways. Nothing but God ever completely satisfies, because the soul is made for God, and without God it is restless and in secret torment. The first step to God is a realization of your spiritual poverty. The poor in spirit do not measure the worth of life in earthly possessions, which fade away, but in terms of eternal realities, which endure forever. Wise is the man who openly confesses his lack of spiritual wealth and in humility of heart cries, “God, be merciful unto me, a sinner.”

Thought for today:  Am I feeding my soul?

The Internal Struggle October 1, 2016

Proverbs 16:18 (NIV)

18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

David, king of ancient Israel, found himself in the midst of a confused national situation. His kingdom was torn by internal strife. Slave hated master; master hated slave. People blamed the government, and government blamed the people. David looked about him and saw that every man thought himself perfect. Each individual placed blame upon other individuals. David knew that if sinful pride continued to increase, his nation would collapse spiritually. He knew that economic depression, moral disintegration, or military defeat inevitably follow spiritual decline. So David turned to God, and it was revealed to him by the Spirit of God that the spiritual tide of his nation could rise no higher than the spiritual level of his own heart. So he fell on his knees in utter humility and prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23,24).

Thought for today: Does my pride hinder my faith?