Scripture Reading: Esther 4:13-17
Focus Verse:
"Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!" Psalms 27:14
The word "courage" has somewhat of an identity crisis today. Some think of courage as the absence of fear. Actually, courage is persevering in spite of fear. Some of the most courageous men and women have prevailed in spite of weakness, sickness, and persecution.
After two millennia, the beautiful Jewish woman Esther is still remembered for courageously stepping forward to preserve the Jewish nation. When alerted to Haman's evil plan to annihilate the Jews, Esther asked her cousin Mordecai to mobilize the prayer team as she endangered her life to approach the king without his summons. In Esther's moment of crisis, she wisely spent three days in prayer and fasting--before making her request to the king.
If you're experiencing a situation where you need courage to make a decision, don't rush ahead. The more crucial the decision or project, the more critical the groundwork. Make preparation through prayer, asking others to support you. It is then that God will reinforce your courage and give you strength to proceed.
"Cowardice asks the question: "Is it safe?" Consensus asks the question: "Is it popular?" Courage asks the question: "Is it right?" ~Rod Rogers
Devotion by David Jeremiah
Friday, August 31, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Where Is Happiness Found?
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-40
Focus Verses: Matthew 22:37-39 "Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
The world spends lots of money on advertising products every year. They try to convince us that we need many things in our lives. They say that these things will bring happiness into our lives. Some things are truly needed in our lives like, food, shelter, and clothing.
In our verses today Jesus gives us the two greatest commandments in all the Bible. Love God, and love others. That sounds simple, doesn't it? If you think about it, all of life comes down to those two things, loving God, and loving others. Everything else in this world will one day pass away. But God and people will last forever.
The things of this world do bring a kind of happiness. But it's not a lasting happiness. You have to keep looking for the next thing to keep your happiness. God designed us with a void or emptiness in our lives that only He can fill. He knew the value of our loving Him and loving others. He also knew how self serving we, as humans, can be, and that we would fill our lives with empty pursuits if He didn't command us to love Him and to love others. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 "there is coming a day when all our works will be tested by fire." Only what is done for Christ will last.
In true love and obedience to God is where we can find real happiness. We will experience real joy in giving of ourselves to God and others out of love. It is in this love that we find purpose in life, and it is from this purpose that we can gain true happiness.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Focus Verses: Matthew 22:37-39 "Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
The world spends lots of money on advertising products every year. They try to convince us that we need many things in our lives. They say that these things will bring happiness into our lives. Some things are truly needed in our lives like, food, shelter, and clothing.
In our verses today Jesus gives us the two greatest commandments in all the Bible. Love God, and love others. That sounds simple, doesn't it? If you think about it, all of life comes down to those two things, loving God, and loving others. Everything else in this world will one day pass away. But God and people will last forever.
The things of this world do bring a kind of happiness. But it's not a lasting happiness. You have to keep looking for the next thing to keep your happiness. God designed us with a void or emptiness in our lives that only He can fill. He knew the value of our loving Him and loving others. He also knew how self serving we, as humans, can be, and that we would fill our lives with empty pursuits if He didn't command us to love Him and to love others. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 "there is coming a day when all our works will be tested by fire." Only what is done for Christ will last.
In true love and obedience to God is where we can find real happiness. We will experience real joy in giving of ourselves to God and others out of love. It is in this love that we find purpose in life, and it is from this purpose that we can gain true happiness.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Friday, August 17, 2012
Wonderful Counselor
Scripture Reading: Psalm 139
Focus Verse: "For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
Jesus, the Son of God, has been given many different names in the Bible. Wonderful Counselor is a name that should give us great comfort as we go through this challenging life. Wonderful means "outside the realm of human explanation." Psalm 139:6 says, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain it." It describes something miraculous. Our sense of wonder should go beyond all human explanation. The prophet Isaiah declared that the coming Christ would be a wonder.
Long before the Son of God was given, Isaiah foretold that God was planning to send a Counselor for the brokenhearted people of the world. The Bible is full of counsel that has been given to us to be able to live this life. Even at 12 years old, Jesus astounded Jewish rabbis with His wisdom (Luke 2:46-47). In His public life people were amazed at His wise counsel. In Colossians 2:3 Paul says, "In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Are we as astonished at the wonder of the Counselor as Isaiah was? Are you amazed by His wise counsel? Where else can we get the assurance of acceptance and forgiveness of sins and comfort of God? Wonderful Counselor is our Creator and Savior. How thankful we should be that our Wonderful Counselor is also rightly named our Mighty God. Allow Him to counsel you each day.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Focus Verse: "For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
Jesus, the Son of God, has been given many different names in the Bible. Wonderful Counselor is a name that should give us great comfort as we go through this challenging life. Wonderful means "outside the realm of human explanation." Psalm 139:6 says, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain it." It describes something miraculous. Our sense of wonder should go beyond all human explanation. The prophet Isaiah declared that the coming Christ would be a wonder.
Long before the Son of God was given, Isaiah foretold that God was planning to send a Counselor for the brokenhearted people of the world. The Bible is full of counsel that has been given to us to be able to live this life. Even at 12 years old, Jesus astounded Jewish rabbis with His wisdom (Luke 2:46-47). In His public life people were amazed at His wise counsel. In Colossians 2:3 Paul says, "In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Are we as astonished at the wonder of the Counselor as Isaiah was? Are you amazed by His wise counsel? Where else can we get the assurance of acceptance and forgiveness of sins and comfort of God? Wonderful Counselor is our Creator and Savior. How thankful we should be that our Wonderful Counselor is also rightly named our Mighty God. Allow Him to counsel you each day.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Friday, August 10, 2012
Why Do Believers Suffer?
Scripture Reading: Job 1
Focus Verses: "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him." John 9:1-3
When God created the first man and woman, and put them in the Garden of Eden, it was a perfect environment without troubles or sin. Some day in the future, Jesus is going to take every believer to heaven where there will be no more sorrow or pain. Heaven will be a perfect environment just like in the beginning. But where are we now? We are in this middle period of time when our human nature of sin and Satan, with his demons, are trying to take control of this earth. This period of sin, trials, suffering, and tribulation is actually brought on by our own disobedience of God.
The Bible has a lot to say about suffering. We read that God can work His will for our lives through our suffering. When I think of suffering in the Bible the first name that comes to my mind is Job. We see that even though everything was taken from Job he did not turn his back on God. Job 1:22 "In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong." James even says we should be joyful when we have trials. James 1:2-4 "My brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. " We know that when hard times come God is just getting us ready for eternity. Suffering will either make us bitter or better.
Sometimes suffering is because of our own mistakes or choices. Sometimes it is because of someone else's choice. But other times, it is just because of the natural ways of this world. The Bible tells us that we will have trouble. Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Sometimes suffering is because of our own mistakes or choices. Sometimes it is because of someone else's choice. But other times, it is just because of the natural ways of this world. The Bible tells us that we will have trouble. Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
In our focus verses today Jesus said that suffering is allowed so that the power of God can be seen in our lives. All of us will go through suffering at some point in our lives. Some of us will go through more than others. I don't have a good answer for why a child dies. Or why do wars happen. Or why does someone go through great financial loss. But I do know that God loves His children and not a one of them are lost. You have so much to look forward to if you are a child of God. Pray that your suffering will make you better.
Romans 8:18 "Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later."
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Friday, August 3, 2012
Why Should a Christian be a Missionary?
Scripture Reading: John 4: 7-26, 39
Focus Verse: Mark 16:15 Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature".
We have learned over the past few devotions that the task of a missionary is to tell the Gospel. We also learned that the person to whom a missionary tells the Gospel can be anyone. Today we will look at the reason why a missionary should take the Gospel to everyone. As we see in our focus verse, it is because Jesus told us to. But I think another reason should be, if we love people then we will want to share the good news with them.
Jesus is probably the best example of that. In John 4 Jesus had a meeting with a woman at a well. Jesus knew of this woman's history and all the sin that she had committed, but He loved her any way. Jesus knew the heart of this woman, that she was repentant. Jesus not only loved her but forgave her sin. There is no better feeling here on earth than to know that your sins are forgiven. I am sure glad Jesus loves me in spite of my sin. Every Christian is to be the hands and feet of Jesus, because we are doing what He commands. He has commanded us to preach the Gospel. People will never know the forgiveness of sin unless we tell them. That is why I continue to go back to Kenya, because there are so many more people that need to hear this good news of salvation.
Maybe you have never put your faith and trust in Jesus. Maybe you have never had your sins forgiven. You can do that right now by praying to God and asking Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sins. He will do it immediately. After you pray, tell a Christian friend what you have done. They will be able to encourage you in your new life in Christ.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Focus Verse: Mark 16:15 Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature".
We have learned over the past few devotions that the task of a missionary is to tell the Gospel. We also learned that the person to whom a missionary tells the Gospel can be anyone. Today we will look at the reason why a missionary should take the Gospel to everyone. As we see in our focus verse, it is because Jesus told us to. But I think another reason should be, if we love people then we will want to share the good news with them.
Jesus is probably the best example of that. In John 4 Jesus had a meeting with a woman at a well. Jesus knew of this woman's history and all the sin that she had committed, but He loved her any way. Jesus knew the heart of this woman, that she was repentant. Jesus not only loved her but forgave her sin. There is no better feeling here on earth than to know that your sins are forgiven. I am sure glad Jesus loves me in spite of my sin. Every Christian is to be the hands and feet of Jesus, because we are doing what He commands. He has commanded us to preach the Gospel. People will never know the forgiveness of sin unless we tell them. That is why I continue to go back to Kenya, because there are so many more people that need to hear this good news of salvation.
Maybe you have never put your faith and trust in Jesus. Maybe you have never had your sins forgiven. You can do that right now by praying to God and asking Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sins. He will do it immediately. After you pray, tell a Christian friend what you have done. They will be able to encourage you in your new life in Christ.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
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