Free With Purchase

But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:22-23

Advertisements are designed to inform and motivate us to purchase something. I received an email advertisement yesterday that caught my attention. The ad was for a free satellite radio. Now this radio is reconditioned which means that its parts were used previously somewhere else and you have 30 days to return it if some of those reconditioned parts don’t work.

The thing that interested me about this advertisement was the way it was presented. In the heading of the advertisement it said free satellite radio but when you got to the body of the ad it said in fine print at the bottom “minimum 3-month recurring subscription required.”

So if I am required to get a subscription how does that make this “free.” There is a condition to this advertisement that requires me to pay something to get the item that is supposedly “free” and to top it off, I have to get a recurring subscription that will most likely cost me postage to send them a notice after the 3 months of the recurring subscription is over to cancel the subscription that I didn’t want in the first place for the reconditioned radio that may or may not work.

The thing is we can get salvation for “FREE”. There are no hidden fees for us to pay or the need to purchase a subscription for three months or make a deposit or take the chance that the reconditioned parts won’t work. It is just what it says. “FREE.” Except there is one thing we need to remember. Someone else paid the price for us. Jesus paid it all for us to have salvation. So when someone says there is nothing in life for free remind them of the price that was paid to set us “FREE.”

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You gave us the ultimate gift. Your Son died on a cross for our sins and we don’t deserve it. How can we not make the choice to accept this amazing gift? Thank You for the gift of salvation that was paid at a high cost by Your Son.

Scripture: Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Romans 5:12-17

Forgotten    

We may sometimes think we're a forgotten commodity, but God remembers every one of us who serve Him. Shelton Smith

Have you ever felt like God has forgotten you?  Most of the time I think it is our impatience that often makes us think that God is not there for us.  We want an instant response from our Heavenly Father on everything don’t we? 

I think about the times in my life when I didn’t take my pain, grief, anger and frustrations to God over the years.  To many times we either think that God doesn’t want to hear it, or we think it is not acceptable for us to lay our pain at his feet.  So if we don’t lay it at His feet, what do we do with it?

When we don’t allow God in and tell him about our hurts and pain, we are basically saying that we don’t think God can handle it and we assume that He doesn’t want to hear it.  We then take that pain out on others in our life or we ignore the pain and it hinders our health, breaks relationships and causes all kinds of additional grief. 

One example of someone going to the Lord with his grief and sorrow was Jeremiah in the Book of Lamentations.  The word lament means to mourn or a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.  Jeremiah spent a whole book in the Bible telling God about his sorrow and grief for his people.  In Lamentations 3:18 he even says, “My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord.”

What I find interesting is that in the very same chapter a few verses later Lamentations 3:22-27 he says, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.  It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth.”

When we feel like giving up is the best time for us to turn to God.  He is listening and will be our strength through the tough times in our lives.  If we ever give up our hope in God our strength will fail.  Take your worries, pain, suffering and problems to God.  He will not fail you and He hasn’t forgotten you.  He wants to hear from you.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often forget that You are there for me in painful times as well as joyful times.  Remind me that You are my strength in times of trouble and you are always there.  You may not answer in the time frame I think You should but help me to wait patiently on Your timing.  I praise You for allowing me to lay all my troubles at Your feet and for never forgetting me.

Scripture: For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief,
yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. Lamentations 3:31-33

Animals

If we neglect almost any of the domestic animals, they will rapidly revert to wild and worthless forms. Now, the same thing exactly would happen in the case of you or me. Why should man be an exception to any of the laws of nature?  Henry Drummond

I was driving to work this morning and I could see several police SUV’s up ahead with their lights on at the intersection where I turn.  As I drove up closer I saw something black in the road.  It looked like a piece of rubber off of a tire.  As I pulled up to the intersection the object in the road moved.  It was a dog.  There were two policemen standing on the side of the road near the dog.  The dog was lying down but didn’t appear to be injured.  Both of the policemen had pulled their cars into the intersection to protect the dog from getting hit.  The dog appeared to be older and was panting so I am guessing it had collapsed and couldn’t go any further. Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched the two men protect the animal.

I am a sap when it comes to animals.  When it comes to dogs I just can’t help myself, I just want to love them all.  Have you ever noticed how much you can tell about a person by the way they treat animals?  It kind of gives others a character reference of who the person really is inside.  I watched the news this morning where two people were arrested for burning three puppies.  I’ve seen stories of kids throwing acid on dogs and recently young adults taped a dogs mouth closed with duct tape and left him to starve.  

  

If we look in the Bible, God talks a lot about animals.  He even allows some to talk.  God entrusted animals to us, and our relationships with animals are a significant part of our lives.  Isaiah 11:6-9 talks about the wolf dwelling with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the young goat.  The cow and bear will graze and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  It says that they shall not hurt or destroy in God’s holy mountain because the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. Can you imagine a place where we all worship God even the animals because even they know God and understand his Greatness? 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You created everything around me and I am in awe of You and Your Greatness.  The very idea that I can train my dog to sit is a testament to what an amazing creation this world is and the things that inhabit it.  If I can give the love that my dog shows me to people around me, then I am becoming more like Christ each day.  By the same token if I treat those around me with less love than I show my dog, then I am in trouble.  

   

Scripture: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.  The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  Isaiah 11:6-9

Fog

In order to know God, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure.  Nicholas Herman

The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it.  D.A. Carson

This week it has been rather humid around the Dallas area so on my drive to work there is a lot of open slightly hilly land where the fog will form and hover just above the ground.  I find fog interesting because you can see it obscure trees, cars, buildings and anything it covers.  The thing is if you were to walk across the field where it hovers even though you can’t see past it you can walk through it. 

The fog made me think of God’s wisdom.  Anyone can have knowledge.  It is not so easy to gain wisdom.  Wisdom is like the fog that hovers over the ground obscuring whatever it surrounds.  When you open the Bible there is treasure beyond our comprehension.  Notice I said “beyond our comprehension” not beyond God’s.  God tells us he will give us wisdom if we search for it. 

The problem with our search for wisdom is that we give up too soon and we don’t take the proper tools for our search.  Here is an analogy to put it in perspective.  If you are mining for gold, what tools would you take with you?  You might take a chisel, hammer and a pan to put the pieces of rock in.  But if instead you decided to take duct tape, a string and a lawn chair, you won’t find much gold.  You’ll be able to fix anything, tie it up and have a place to sit while you do it, but you won’t come away with much treasure. 

God’s Word is as great as He is.  It is a treasure beyond compare to what we have on earth. The smartest scientist, theologian or person with the highest IQ cannot match what is in God’s Word.  When we realize that nothing we do or create will even come close to what God’s Word can do; we are on the path to finding an amazing treasure.  Knowledge is great, money is green, but the treasure in God’s Word: PRICELESS.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, as I drove by the fog near the freeway, I thought of You. You give me the book that contains amazing treasure.  If I don’t get past the fog that obscures my vision of You, I will never find the hidden treasure in Your Word.  If I search Your Word diligently, You will reveal great things.  Thank You for giving me the opportunity to have wisdom.  What I do with it can change the world. 

Scripture: The Value of Wisdom

My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk uprightly; he guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked; whose ways are crooked, and who are devious in their paths; to deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words, who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house leads down to death, and her paths to the dead; none who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life—so you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the paths of righteousness. For the upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the earth, and the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.  Proverbs 2:1-22

Teach Me How to Fail

Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little further down the road. Failing is not a disgrace unless you make it the last chapter of your book. Jack Hyles

I read an article recently in our local newspaper that was written by a senior at a local high school. The statement that caught my attention was this:  “There is still one thing I fear I never learned: how to fail.”  Marisa Charpentier

As I read the article this high school senior talked about how school teaches students how to solve math problems, write essays and formulate experiments based on guidelines given to students by the teacher. Structure prevents students from exploring their own creative abilities and problem-solving skills. Students often ask the teacher what will be covered on the test or what an assignment should look like so that they can achieve a high grade.

When I read this I started thinking about how this was true when I was in school.  We are taught to color inside the lines and if we go outside the lines we fail.  We were taught from the time we entered school that failure was unacceptable and we learned to fear failure. 

I recently read an article about Thomas Edison. Edison attended public school for 12 weeks.  During that time he was perceived as hyperactive and prone to distraction and his teacher deemed him difficult so his mother pulled him out of school and taught him at home.  Most of what he learned came from reading and his interest in various subjects.  At the age of 12 he published his own newspaper that he distributed to passengers riding the train.  He had failures including an electronic voting recorder that would quickly tally votes in the legislature.  The thing he never did was stop trying.  By the end of his life he had invented and patented the light bulb, phonograph and the first motion picture camera and the alkaline battery.  He had over 1000 patents.

If we look at it from a biblical perspective, there were many failures there too.  Peter failed Jesus when he denied Him.  David failed God when he had Uriah killed and committed adultery with Bathsheba. 

What can we learn from failure?  We learn that it doesn’t have to be our final chapter.  

    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I fail over and over again. Sometimes I fail in my job, other times I fail my family and most importantly I fail You.  One of the most important things I have learned is that through my failure I have a choice.  I can decide to sit down and quit or get up again and move forward.  When I fail in life, help me to get back up and pursue You with all my heart.

     

Scripture: Pressing Toward the Goal

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-13

AIY, ODS & NYOH

Imperfection is the prerequisite for grace. Light only gets in through the cracks.  Philip Yancey

The one marvelous secret of a holy life lies not in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfections of Jesus manifest themselves in my mortal flesh. Sanctification is "Christ in you."... Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness that was manifested in Him, and He manifests it in me.  Oswald Chambers

Do you ever strive for perfection in things that you do?  It might be in your job, your family life or any number of things.  I admit I struggle with this on a daily basis.  I work in a busy environment with a lot of things going on every day.  This alone hinders the chance of ever doing anything perfect by the mere fact that it is busy.  Then I have the outside influences like other people who may thwart my pursuit of perfection. Have you ever worked with someone who you depended on to get you figures for a report or information to complete the report where you have a deadline to meet and they failed to meet the deadline?  It can be frustrating.

One of the things that I see happening more and more is the fact that there are so many different generations working together.  There are all kinds of studies and names assigned to the different generations.  For the purpose of this devotional I will call them by my own made up names, “Advanced in Years” or AIY, “On the Downhill Side” or ODS, and “Not Yet Over the Hill” or NYOH. So when a NYOH starts working with a ODS there are some things that occur due to the age difference.  An NYOH doesn’t like working with a time clock, whereas an ODS only knows how to work with a time clock.  So when you try to get these two to work together there can be problems.  You have an ODS who is always on time and an NYOH who shows up whenever.  The thing is they will both get the job done just not the same way or in the same timeframe. Too many times I expect perfection from the other person and when they aren’t I am disappointed.  Why should I expect perfection from another, when I understand and know that I am not perfect?

One of the things I have learned about perfection is that it has taught me how imperfect I am.  I will say, this is a very humbling experience.  When I begin to see the imperfectness in myself, I can then more easily see and accept the imperfectness in another. The most important statement I read about myself is the following:

“A person demanding perfect justice and fairness will always feel dissatisfied and will tend to be more preoccupied with getting their just treatment than they are with loving and being loved.” If I give up my right for fairness and justice, I can then begin to live in grace.  

          

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I have pursued perfection in my life over and over again. Father, I pray for you to make me weak, because You tell me that in my weakness, I am strong.  Thank you for having patience with me when I fail you over and over again.  I want to be like Jesus, but I know my failings.  Help me to work on the things I can change about me to become more like You.

Scripture: And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:7-10

A Product of the 70’s

Our songs are not the cause of our loss of the sense of God's greatness, though songs are surprisingly influential. No, our songs reflect this loss. Singing God-centered hymns is desirable, but more than that is needed. We sing what we feel, what we believe. When once we rediscover the greatness of God, we will sing it. Our song will echo our conviction. Tom Wells

I am a product of the 70’s.  I often wonder why people say that.  Maybe because those were my formative years where outside influences are the things that stick with you because the world is in your face.  Some of you may have heard of the things I am going to list about the times of the 70’s and others will have to Google it to figure out what I am talking about. 

The 70’s were a time of parachute pants and earth shoes, Farrah Fawcett hair, platform shoes and eight track players.  The Trans Am was the favorite muscle car and video games like Pong and the Atari were the rage.  There were no cell phones so you had to depend on a stranger for help if you got stranded on the road.  DOS was the operating system for those who even owned one. 

Music was different then.  Everything centered around peace and love.  Joy to the World was a big hit and One Bad Apple wouldn’t spoil the whole bunch.  We all wanted to go to Sweet Home Alabama to find out How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.  Everyone wanted to do the Crocodile Rock and the Monster Mash.  For those of us who couldn’t spell there was ABC and YMCA.  Then there were the love songs.  I’m All By Myself, Pickin Up the Pieces.  Don’t Go Breaking My Heart was a common theme but we then sang Love Will Keep Us Together.  

If you think about it things haven’t changed much.  We still get broken hearts and we still look for love in all the wrong places. One of my best memories from growing up during these formative years was singing in church.  Songs from church weren’t about the angst of life.  They were about turning to the One who made us for deliverance.  We could Have a Little Talk with Jesus, I Saw the Light and take A Closer Walk with Thee.  There was Power in the Blood, In the Sweet By and By and Precious Lord Take My Hand.  There was Victory in Jesus, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms and What a Day That Will Be. 

The thing about the old hymns is that I remember the words to all the songs.  When I return to listen to them it is like I am returning home.  Bart Millard from the group Mercy Me has a cd that is just old hymns.  It is one of my favorites because it brings back those long ago memories of Jesus my Lord and Savior and reminds me of how much I owe Him. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I thank you for blessing me with parents who knew the value of a Christian life.  When I was in church all those years ago, I can still remember the songs of praise for You.  Thank You for reminding me of the importance of worship and loving You.  

    

Scripture: For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him.  You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.  Psalm 32:6-8