JUST ENOUGH

JUST ENOUGH

READ:
Matthew 6:25-34

Seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be
added to you. -Matthew 6:33

I love writing for Our Daily Bread.  I confess, however, that sometimes I whine to my friends about how difficult it is to communicate everything I would like to say in a short devotional.  If only I could use more than 220 words.

This year when I came to the book of Matthew in my Bible-reading schedule, I noticed something for the first time.  As I was reading about the temptation of Christ (Matthew 4:1-11), I noticed how short it was.  Matthew used fewer than 250 words to write his account of one of the most pivotal events in all of Scripture.  Then I thought of other short yet powerful passages:  the 23rd Psalm (117 words) and the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:9-11 (66 words).

Clearly, I don't need more words, I just need to use them well.  This also applies to other areas of life-time, money, space.  Scripture affirms that God meets the needs of those who seek His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).  The psalmist David encourages us, "Those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing" (Psalm 34:10).

If today you're thinking, "I need just a little bit more" of something, consider instead the possibility that God has given you "just enough." Julie Ackerman Link

I would be quiet, Lord, and rest content,
By grace I would not pine or fret;
With You to guide and care, my joy be this:
Not one small need of mine will You forget! - Bosch
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He is rich who is satisfied with what he has.

INSIGHT
The theme of today's reading is a problem Jesus repeatedly calls His followers to set aside (vv.25, 28, 31, 34)-worry.  He challenges us to put our confidence in the Father and His ability to meet our needs, knowing that He loves us more than anything else in creation (v.30).

Have a blessed day and week ahead.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace

HOW HAVE YOU KNOWN THE POWER OF GOD'S LOVE IN YOUR LIFE?

Today's promise: God pursues us with His love

How have you known the power of God's love in your life?

Know, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

Romans 8:37 NLT

O Love that will not let me go

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Love That Will Not Let Me Go,
GEORGE MATHESON (1842-1906)

George Matheson went completely blind when he was eighteen years old. Still, he remained a star student. He went on to become a great preacher in the Church of Scotland, assisted by his sister, who learned Greek and Hebrew to help with his research.

This hymn was written on the evening of June 6, 1882. "I was at that time alone," Matheson later wrote. "It was the day of my sister's marriage.…Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering."

What was it that happened to him? Some think he was remembering the time he himself was engaged to be married and his fiancée broke the engagement when she learned that he would soon be completely blind. Or perhaps it was difficult for him to have his devoted sister getting married. In any case, he was led to ponder God's eternal love, which would turn his "flickering torch" into blazing daylight.

adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for March 8

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Love is not something you feel. It's something you do.
DAVID WILKERSON

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF LOVE?

Today's promise: God pursues us with His love

What is your definition of love?

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.

John 14:2 NLT

About this week's promise

A healthy definition of love is crucial to understanding the central message of the Bible. According to the Bible, love is not confined to sexuality, nor is it primarily a feeling at all. The Bible teaches that love is a commitment. As a commitment, love is not dependent of good feelings, but rather on a consistent and courageous decision to extend oneself for the well-being of another. That commitment then produces good feelings, not the other way around. Jesus became the perfect demonstration of God's unconditional love for us by laying down his life for our benefit.

Adapted from TouchPoint Bible with devotional commentary by Ron Beers and Gilbert Beers, Tyndale House Publishers (1996), p 1227

Digging Deeper

For more on this week's promise, see Revelations of a Single Woman by Connally Gilliam, Tyndale House Publishers (2004).

Turning our culture's Sex in the City worldview completely upside down, Revelations of a Single Woman celebrates God's enticing, life-giving promises, even when life takes you down a path you didn't plan for. Through this collection of thoughtful, honest, and humorous memoirs, the author delves into what it really means to be "the remainder" in a world that caters to couples, and what it means to be the one who lives out moral values that her peers think died in the sixties.

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The love we give away is the only love we keep.
ELBERT HUBBARD

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

SAVOR THE FLAVOR

SAVOR THE FLAVOR

READ:
Nehemiah 8:1-12

All the people went their way
to eat and drink...and rejoice
greatly.  -Nehemiah 8:12

In a fast-paced culture of "eat and run," few people make time to enjoy a leisurely meal in the company of friends.  Someone has even remarked that the only way to enjoy a seven-course meal today is to get it all between two pieces of bread!

After many of the Israelite exiles in Babylon returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the walls of the city, they gathered to hear Ezra read from the Book of the Law given by God through Moses (Nehemiah 8:1).  They listened to God's Word for hours, while teachers among them "gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading" (v.8).

When they wept because of their shortcomings, Ezra, along with Nehemiah the governor, told them this was not a time for sorrow but a time for rejoicing.  The people were told to prepare a feast and share it with those who had nothing, "for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (v.10).  Then "all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them" (v.12).

The spiritual banquet God has prepared for us in His Word is a cause for great joy.  It is worth taking time to savor. -David McCasland

Lord, give us to a hunger and a thirst to know You more
that can be satisfied only by time spent with You in Your
Word.  Help us to savor that time and as we do,
to grow more in love with You each day.
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Christ the Living Bread
satisfies our spiritual hunger through the Living Word.

Have a blessed day.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace

HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED THE AMAZING GRACE THAT CHANGED JOHN NEWTON?

Today's promise: God is always willing to forgive us

Have you experienced the amazing grace that changed John Newton?

For God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.

Ephesians 2:4 NLT

Amazing grace

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.
Amazing Grace , John Newton (1725-1807)

The gift of forgiveness is often best appreciated by those who need it the most. The Reverend John Newton experienced this truth firsthand. His tombstone tells the story: "John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had so long labored to destroy." These words were written by Newton himself, a testimony to God's transforming power. After years as a hardened slave trader, that "wretch" met Jesus Christ and abruptly turned to defend the gospel he had so long despised.

Throughout Newton's years of ministry, God's amazing grace remained central to Newton's thinking. When it was suggested he retire (at age eighty-two!) due to poor health and a failing memory, he responded, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior!"

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for March 17

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When a friend makes a mistake, don't rub it in. Rub it out.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

DO YOU SEE THE RESULTS OF SIN IN YOUR CHURCH?

Today's promise: God is always willing to forgive us

Do you see the results of sin in your church?

O our God, hear your servant's prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.

O my God, listen to me and hear my request. Open your eyes and see our wretchedness. See how your city lies in ruins — for everyone knows that it is yours. We do not ask because we deserve help, but because you are so merciful.

O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, list and act! For your own sake, O my God, do not delay, for your people and your city bear your name.

Daniel 9:17-19 NLT

The desolate sanctuary

Most of us can think of one or two "inherited consequences" in our lives. Others may have made bad decisions, but we seem to be suffering the results. This is what Daniel was experiencing in Babylon. He knew he was there because his nation was being punished for generations of sinfulness. So he prayed for his people — God's people. From the land of punishment, he begged the Lord for forgiveness. His plea for mercy was based solely on God's compassionate character.

The Lord still disciplines his people when they refuse to walk in his ways, only now God's people are the church rather than an actual nation. Do you see the results of sin in your church? Spend some time today praying for the Lord's forgiveness and guidance.

Dear Lord, for your own sake, smile again on your desolate sanctuary…

adapted from The One Year® Book of Bible Prayers edited by Bruce Barton, Tyndale House Publishers (2000), entry for March 22

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

NEW EYES

NEW EYES

READ:
Ephesians 1:15-21

The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that you may
know...the riches of the glory of
His inheritance. -Ephesians 1:18

A college student I met had recently placed her faith in Christ.  She described her initial life-change this way:  "When I trusted Christ for salvation, it felt like God reached down from heaven and placed a new set of eyes in my eye sockets.  I could understand spiritual truth!"

It was moving to hear how her encounter with the Savior brought new spiritual perception.  But her experience is not unique.  Everyone is endowed with spiritual sight when they trust Christ as their Savior.  Yet, at times a "fog" rolls in and our spiritual vision becomes cloudy and unclear.  That happens when we neglect our relationship with Him.

In Paul's fervent prayer for believers' spiritual sight, we see how important it is to fully appreciate all that God has done and will do for us through Christ.  He prayed that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened that we "may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18).

Each believer has been given new eyes to discern spiritual truth.  As we keep our hearts tuned to God, He will help us to see with our spiritual eyes all that He has given to us in Christ. -Dennis Fisher

My soul within me yearns for Thee
Till Christ be fully formed in me;
Let love divine enlarge my heart,
Then all Thy fullness, Lord, impart. - Stewart
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I once was blind but now I see!

INSIGHT
The letter to the Ephesians focuses on the role of the church as the body of Christ.  It divides equally between doctrinal (chs.1-3) and practical (chs.4-6) teaching.  It is (with Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) one of Paul's prison letters.

Have a blessed day.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace