Look Up

Bible reading: Psalm 5

Focus verse: "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up." ~Psalm 5:3

"The phrase "look up" occurs four times in the Bible (NKJV), and it conveys four different truths. In Psalm 40:12, the writer was so discouraged by looking around him that he found it difficult to look up: "Innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up." But Mark 8:25 says Jesus helps us look up, even when we can't see straight. Referring to the blind man of Bethsaida, Jesus put His hands on the man's eyes "and made him look up." Our Lord offers the same encouragement to us, especially in these Last Days, for in Luke 21:28, Jesus said, "When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

So we can say with the psalmist: "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up." Whatever is happening in your life today, look up. When we turn our eyes heavenward and celebrate what we see, our hearts will overflow with joy."

~David Jeremiah

Do you struggle when you look at your world around you?  Look up, look to the Lord.

Training for Service

Scripture Reading: Daniel 1

Focus Verse: Daniel 1:5  They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service.

Training is important before entering service.  Even a blade of steel needs careful attention before it can slice through a piece of meat.  Just as the knife needs sharpening, our spiritual skills need to be sharpened before God can effectively use us.  Maybe you don't have the resources to attend Bible college or go to seminary, but you can gain a great deal of biblical knowledge through your church and personal Bible study.  It is wise to prepare, instead of rushing off unequipped to serve.

Daniel and his friends did not compromise their conviction in God.  Even as they trained under ungodly authority, they held to their Godly instruction from their youth.  God still worked His purposes in their lives.  Sometimes the training process is not always pleasant.  Hebrews 12:11 says, "No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening, it is painful.  But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way."

Most importantly stay in the training process so you can be a better servant for God.  He will see you through.  He is training you for the task He has planned for your life.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Hope of Success

Scripture reading: Numbers 13

Focus verses: “The Lord said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites… Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." Numbers 13:1a, 30-31

The Lord told Moses to send some men to explore the promised land that He is giving to them.  (He didn't tell them to decide if they could take it, but that it was being given.)  After the appointed men explored, they saw that the land was very good, but most of them complained that it would be too difficult to take over the powerful people and fortified cities.  They began to spread lies about the land, saying that it was a bad land and the people were giants.  They lost their hope and treated God with contempt.

Caleb saw the good land and trusted in the God who said that He was giving them the land.  In Numbers 14 we see that Joshua joins Caleb in declaring the land to be good and trusting in God's protection and promise.

We may not always know what God is giving us, but we can trust God to deliver us if we are trusting in Him, even in the face of our own personal giants.  Do not give up hope in God.  Do not treat God with contempt and rebel against Him.  Walk in confidence as Caleb and Joshua did.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Listening and Seeing

Listening and Seeing

Scripture Reading: John 9

Focus Verse: John 9: 27  "Look!  the man exclaimed.  I told you once. Didn't you listen? Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you want to become His disciples, too?"

Just because someone hears you does not mean they are listening to you.  Someone can act like they are listening without really understanding you.  People who lack humility lack the ability to listen well.  Pride will prevent many people from true listening and accepting the truth.

In our story from John chapter nine, the Pharisees had a hard time believing that Jesus had healed this man born blind.  Satan has hindered many people from hearing the truth.  Although this man was healed of physical blindness, the bigger problem in the world is spiritual blindness. 

Let us be sensitive to the people in the world that are still spiritually blind.  We know the one that can heal their blindness.  Jesus wants to use you to help heal them.  Pray for those that refuse to be helped.  God still wants them to be saved, before it's too late.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
www.interlockingministries.org

Christ, The Foundation for Reconciliation!

Christ, The Foundation for Reconciliation!
Bible Reading: Mathew 5: 21-24

Focus verse: "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." 1 John 1:7

We all make friendships which at times break when we get tired with putting up with one another. Good friends have many at times feel like great enemies for different reasons.
We all try to make parties where we can discuss our differences in attempts to reconcile with friends; some people may spend huge amounts of money or wealth in this attempt. Many communities in Africa believe in doing rituals which must involve shedding of the blood of an animal for reconciliation to happen. These and many others attempts that we make many at times have not yielded the true and lasting reconciliation that we needed.

Many fail to identify Jesus to be the foundation and author of reconciliation. They want bloodshed of animals but fail to recognize the unstained, perfect, holy, blameless blood of the Lamb that God has offered for their enmity.   Jesus knows your differences and He understands how to mend.

Our sins have separated us from God and we live as his enemies. God does not want us to stay as enemies with him or with other human beings/creatures. He has offered Christ so that we don’t live again as enemies but be reconciled back to him and then to othes. Christ is today standing at each ones door, wanting to help make their relationship with our God and others, which has not worked despite our attempts. He does not want us to continue to stay far from him or our other friends. He wants us back to Him and as well want our loved friends back to us. He wants to save us from spending our wealth and time in building reconciliations by offering the perfect Reconciler at a free cost.  Each time we are faced with differences we need to let Christ be the reason for our reconciliation, he is able to bring true repentance of forgiveness from the heart.

Eliazar Wambo
Pastor Makira Baptist Church, Mfangano  

Faithful Followers

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” Luke 18:1-5

"Has rejection caused you to give up on an opportunity or a person? Are you tired of trying to do the right thing, without experiencing positive results? It is precisely at this point of frustration and fear that God calls us to persevere in prayer and continue to graciously engage these people and circumstances. Those who give up—give up on God" ~ Boyd Bailey

Pray for God's strength to continue to be faithful, even in the face of unfaithful family, friends or neighbors.  God will look upon your faithfulness and help you to finish well.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Remember Who the Enemy is

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 6: 1-7

Focus Verse: "For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world"  Ephesians 6:12

Today I was in a meeting of 12 people.  There was a decision to be made and the vote was 9 -3.  One of the three people gave a very emotional complaint after the vote because she didn't think the decision was right.  Although she doesn't agree, she has a choice to accept the vote and live in peace or choose to live in anger, lies, hate and discord.  One way shows humility, the other is pride.

I realize that people, yes, even believers are not always going to think the same way.  They are not always going to agree.  Sometimes the matter is small and other times the matter seems to be big.  The Bible reading today tells us that nothing on this earth that we argue about is greater than the heavenly judgements to come.  God tells us to have unity and love one another in humility.

When
 you
 find
 yourself
 in
 a
 dispute
 with
 a
 fellow
 Christian,
 ask
 yourself if you can accept the way things are with the help of Christ and live in peace.  If you can not find peace, 
rather
 than
 brother
 against
 brother
 going
 to
 court
 before
 the
 civil
 court of
 the
 world, shaming the church; when
 necessary,
 Christian brother
s should
 together
 seek
 out
 a
 fellow
 Christian
.  Even then, if you don't agree... In the end of the scripture 1 Corinthians 6:7 says that it is better to allow yourself to be wronged and cheated than to take a believer to court of unbelievers.

The enemy is not your brother; remember who the enemy REALLY is.  We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the unseen enemy of evil.
Further reading: James 4

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Minstries