Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

FROM TODAY’S READING (6/11/2020)...

“Real courage embraces the twin realities of current difficulty and ultimate triumph. Yes, life stinks. But it won’t forever. As one of my friends likes to say, ‘Everything will work out in the end. If it’s not working out, it’s not the end.’”

Max Lucado

Philippians‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭(NLT‬) And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Romans‬ ‭8:18-25‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

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1 John 2:9-11 (NLT)

FROM TODAY’S READING (6/10/2020)...

“Why has [racism] been so difficult to eradicate? Because racism is not first and foremost a skin problem. It is a sin problem. See, when you believe that racism is a skin problem, you can take three hundred years of slavery, court decisions, marches, and the federal government involvement and still not get it fixed right.

But once you admit that racism is a sin problem, you are obligated as a believer to deal with it right away. As long as the issue of race is social and not spiritual, it will never be dealt with in any ultimate sense.”

Dr. Tony Evans (https://tonyevans.org/not-a-skin-problem-but-a-sin-problem/)

1 John‬ ‭2:9-11‬ ‭(NIV‬‬) Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

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Matthew 6:9-13 (NLT)

FROM TODAY’S READING (6/9/2020)...

Lately, I have caught myself sensing the necessity to add a phrase to my morning devotional prayer. I regularly and faithfully pray, “Heavenly Father, please graciously forgive me for sins of omission and/or commission committed against you.” 

Recently, however, I have been impressed to add the prayer-phrase, “...and strengthen me, Lord, to make necessary adjustments in my daily life-walk that will prove more pleasing to you. Amen.”

Rocky

Matthew‬ ‭6:9-13‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

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Psalms‬ ‭19:12-14‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

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Romans 12:11-12 (NLT)

FROM TODAY’S READING (6/8/2020)...

“I never lost faith in the end of the story. I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”

Admiral James Stockdale (1923-2005)

NOTE: Admiral Stockdale was a prisoner of war for eight years during the Vietnam War. Following release from captivity, he was asked how he survived those unthinkable eight years of imprisonment.

Romans‬ ‭12:11-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

Romans‬ ‭5:3-5‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

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John 1:12-13 (NLT)

FROM TODAY’S READING (6/5/2020)...

“The child in my womb right now is truly alive, even though his life is utterly contingent on mine. He moves freely within my womb. But he does not control his location: where I go, he goes. Likewise, I am truly alive and truly free not independently from Jesus but enfolded in him. And just as escaping from me right now would mean not life to my child but death, so escaping from Christ would mean not freedom and life to me but a brief writhing before stillness. Enclosed in my body, dependent on my blood, protected by my immunity, and housed in my love, my son is, in a tangible sense, united with me. Because I trust in Jesus, I am similarly dependent on him. Where Jesus goes, I go. If he lives, I live. He died my death and took my punishment. He is my resurrection and my life.”

Rebecca McLaughlin (https://www.crossway.org/authors/rebecca-mclauglin)

‭‭John‬ ‭1:12-13‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

Acts 17:28‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, “We are his offspring.”

1 John‬ ‭3:1-3‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

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Mark 10:17-27 (NLT)

FROM TODAY’S READING (June 4, 2020)...

“Money is a marvelous servant but a terrible master. If you possess money, be grateful and use it for God’s glory; but if money possesses you, beware! It is good to have the things that money can buy, provided you don’t lose the things that money cannot buy. The deceitfulness of riches had so choked the soil of this young man’s heart that he was unable to receive the good seed of the Word and be saved. What a bitter harvest he would reap one day!”

Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019)

Mark‬ ‭10:17-27‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’ ” 

“Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 

Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 

At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” 

The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. 

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

John‬ ‭3:16-18‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

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Psalm 118:24 (NLT)

FROM TODAY’S READING (6/3/2020)...

“A great attitude becomes a great day which becomes a great month which becomes a great year which becomes a great life.”

Mandy Hale

Psalms‬ ‭118:24‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

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Philippians‬ ‭2:14-15‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

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