Hebrews 4:13 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

NOTE: My morning personal devotional reading has been in Genesis. "Genesis-Beginning and Blessing" by R. Kent Hughes has served as my primary commentary source. Recent reading gave me cause to pause and more deeply ponder God's presence in my life. Here are some contemplative questions one is seriously asked to consider...

Do you believe that God will be with you? 

Do you believe that he will be with you in what you are facing this week, this month, this year? 

Do you believe that God is with you—spatially, specially, right now in your hurt, in your adversity? 

And do you believe that God has been with you all of these years in the ups and downs?

Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭7‬-‭12‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.

Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

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2 Corinthians 4:18 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"The time of death (when the natural inclination is to mourn as the world mourns) should be the time of our greatest demonstration of faith, for the recipient of God’s promises has a hope beyond the grave.”

Allen P. Ross, Creation & Blessing (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1998), p. 412.

2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

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Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭43‬-‭48‬ ‭(NLT‬‬)

 FROM TODAY'S READING...

"Only Jesus would be crazy enough to suggest that if you want to become the greatest, you should become the least. Only Jesus would declare God's blessing on the poor rather than on the rich and would insist that it's not enough to just love your friends. I just began to wonder if anybody still believed Jesus meant those things he said.” 

Shane Claiborne

Author, speaker, Christian activist

Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭43‬-‭48‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) "You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Jesus

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Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

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Matthew 5:15-16 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"...as believers who are indwelt by Christ we have the inner potential to shine for him. In fact, Christ calls us to do so. However, as we go through life, the sheen gets dulled by the road film we accumulate from our self-centeredness, unconfessed sin, and worldly accretions. And chief among God’s ways of bringing out the shine is the buffing function of trials, which cause us to see ourselves for what we are and then cause us to confess our sins and turn to him. The result, of course, is a renewed, buffed-out luster that shines with the character of Christ. The abiding truth is that for every believer, the frictions of adversity are used to polish the soul."

R. Kent Hughes

Pastor and author

Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭67‬, ‭71‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word...My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.

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Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

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Mark 7:20-23 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"The line separating good and evil passes, not through states, nor through classes, nor between political parties... but right through every human heart – and through all human hearts."

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008)

Russian writer and prominent Soviet dissident

Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Psalms‬ ‭51‬:‭10‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭14‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭11‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

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Galatians 2:20 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"God isn't trying to help you in your plans. He doesn't want to become a part of your life. He wants to become your life."

Pastor Will Bray

Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭20‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

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Psalms‬ ‭143‬:‭8‬, ‭10‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you...Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

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Proverbs 19:2-3 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"You have to at a point in time not allow the panic to dictate the solution. It has to be something that's more thought out..."

Bob Doll

Crossmark Chief Investment Officer 

Proverbs‬ ‭18‬:‭15‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.

Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes. People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.

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Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭(NLT) Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

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Genesis 19:15-20; 2 Peter 2:6-8 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"Ironically, though Lot was revolted by Sodom, Sodom was in his soul. It is possible, then, to be distressed by the world while hanging on to it for dear life."

R. Kent Hughes

Pastor and author

Genesis‬ ‭19‬:‭15‬-‭20‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city (Sodom)!"

When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” 

"Oh no, my Lord!” Lot begged. “You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.”

2 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.

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Psalm 139:7-12 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"The kitchen table is where I do my contemplative readings, Bible study and prayers. I feel God’s presence there, electrifyingly so, time and time again, day after day.

It’s not because I’m particularly holy. Nobody who knows me well thinks that. Ask my wife, for instance. And it’s not that my kitchen table is some sacred shrine. It’s that God is always everywhere, all the time. You don’t have to go to Asbury to find him."

Paul Prather, pastor and author

Quote taken from The Roys Report article titled "Opinion: Three Thoughts About the Recent Revival at Ashbury Revival."

Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭7‬-‭12‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.

Psalms‬ ‭73‬:‭28‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.

Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭4‬ ‭(NIV‬‬) Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

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Philippians 3:20-21 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"Longing for Heaven is the signature of the believing soul."

R. Kent Hughes

Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

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Colossians 2:6-7 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"We believe in God—such as it is, we have faith.… We work and goof off, we love and dream, we have wonderful times and awful times, are cruelly hurt and hurt others cruelly, get mad and bored and scared stiff and ache with desire, do all such human things as these, and if our faith is not mainly just window dressing or a rabbit’s foot or fire insurance, it is because it grows out of precisely this kind of rich human compost."

Frederick Buechner, Telling Secrets (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991), p. 36

Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

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Colossians 3:1-3, 10 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

"...the believer is seen as having died with Christ, having been buried with Him, and having risen with Him from among the dead. The spiritual meaning of all this is that we have said goodbye to the former way of life, and have entered upon a completely new type of life, that is, the life of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Because we have been raised with Christ, we should seek those things which are above. We are still on earth, but we should be cultivating heavenly ways."

William MacDonald (1917-2007)

Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭3‬, ‭10‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God...Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

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John 19:16-37 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

GOOD FRIDAY...

John 19:16-37 (NLT) Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. 

So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it. 

Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’” 

Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.” 

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” 

So that is what they did. 

Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

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Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 

It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.) These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and “They will look on the one they pierced.”

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Luke 22:59-62 (NLT)

FROM TODAY'S READING...

EASTER THOT...

“Sin has a peculiar impact on us. It makes us look away from God, trying to forget that He always sees us. Thus sin keeps us away from the one Person we most need when we fail. Let’s learn two things from Peter’s experience. First, after doing wrong, look quickly to the Lord. The love you see in His eyes may move you too to weep bitterly. But in that process you will be healed. And second, look unceasingly to the Lord. If you never look away, the love in Christ’s eyes will keep you from sin.”

Author unknown

Luke‬ ‭22:59-62‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.” But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 

At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34:11-15‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord. Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help.

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