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How Suffering Produces Hope
Daily Bible Reading – 1 Kings 9; 2 Chronicles 8; Psalm 136; Romans 5
Today’s Key Passage – Romans 5:1-11
I wish I were better at golf. I have played since I was a child, but despite my efforts, I have never been very good. For the most part, I can play without embarrassing myself too badly or slowing down play for everyone behind me, but I am certainly never going to win any tournaments. The problem with my golf game is really a matter of commitment. I do not spend nearly enough time practicing to ever be very good. I am sure that if I got some lessons and spent countless hours practicing the different elements of the game, I could probably improve dramatically. Who knows, with enough time and practice, I might even become quite good. The problem is that I simply do not want to expend that much time and energy on the sport, even though I know that the only way to ever get better is with extensive practice. In this regard, most things in life work a lot like golf. In most matters, if we want to improve we need to practice. If I want to be a better golfer, I need to golf more. If I want to be a better cook, I need to cook more. This concept is also true with character. If I want to become more patient, I need to endure times when my patience is tested. If I want to worry less, I need to endure times when I am tempted to worry. If I want to have more faith, I need to endure times when my faith is tested.
This concept is carried over in today’s key passage as Paul explains how suffering produces hope. He says, “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Vs. 3-4) Most people do not like to suffer, but as Paul explains, we can actually rejoice in our suffering not because we like pain, but because we know that God is using our suffering to produce hope. Imagine if you will a flow chart that begins with suffering. The suffering that we face in terms of life’s difficulties or attacks from the enemy produces perseverance in much the same way that practicing golf makes you a better golfer. The more we suffer, the more perseverance we build. This perseverance strengthens our character by building our trust and our faith in God, because the more we suffer, the more we must lean on God’s strength to get through difficult times. As our faith and trust in God builds, our hope will also build as we gain greater and greater confidence in our future. In this way, though it might sound counterintuitive, suffering produces hope.
The next time you face suffering, think of it in these terms. Instead of wondering why God is allowing you to suffer, thank Him for giving you the opportunity to build your perseverance, character, and hope. Thank Him for helping you grow and mature. Thank Him for loving you enough to give you hope.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
Related articles
- Why Persevere Through Pain and Trials? Because God Perseveres with Us (chronicillnesspaindevotionals.wordpress.com)
- Into this Grace in which we stand (leadmeintheeverlastingway.com)
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Chosen by God
Daily Bible Reading – 2 Samuel 21-23; 1 Thessalonians 1
Today’s Key Passage – 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10
There are a few concepts in Biblical Christianity that can be difficult if not impossible for human beings to fully understand. There are three concepts that immediately come to mind. The first is the Trinity. It is difficult for us to fully comprehend God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit completely one and also completely separate. Another example is the concept of eternal life in Heaven. Think for a second about what it will be like to live for eternity. If you think about it long enough, you will find that your mind will be running in circles because eternity is an idea that our human minds simply cannot fully understand. The final example that immediately comes to mind is the doctrine of election. In today’s key passage, Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you” (Vs. 4). He is telling the Thessalonians that they were chosen by God. Simply stated, the doctrine of election holds that before the creation of the world, God predestined certain people to be His chosen people. In Ephesians 1:3-6 we read, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” It can be difficult for many of us to simultaneously understand the concept of God choosing us and our human responsibility of choosing to follow Him. It is almost impossible for us to understand how these two seemingly opposite things can both be true at the same time. Like the other examples above, our minds simply cannot fully understand all of the ways of God.
Now before we get too deep into a discussion of the five points of Calvinism, my point today is to simply ask you to think about one thing. If you are reading this and have been saved by God’s grace, then you are one of His chosen people. Before you even existed, God chose you to be one of His children. He chose you to be saved. He chose you to live for eternity with Him in Heaven. How does that make you feel? When we truly begin to embrace this idea of election, we cannot help but to be simply awestruck by God’s grace. We cannot help but to feel completely blessed. We cannot help but to feel totally loved. We cannot help but to want to obey Him and serve Him. Think about God’s election of you today, and thank Him for choosing you as one of His children.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
To become a fan of The Daily Bible Plan’s Facebook Page, CLICK HERE.
To follow me on Twitter for inspirational tweets, click the follow button – Follow @kevin_griggs
If you like this post, please SHARE it with others to spread the Word of God.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
Related articles
- Chosen by the Father (loopyloo305.com)
- A Marvelous Thing (sparksofreformation.wordpress.com)
- 1 Thessalonians 1 (saltthroughlight.wordpress.com)
- Jesus IS Lord in Colossians, and 1st & 2nd Thessalonians (defendingcontending.com)
- Chosen by the Father (thechristiangazette.wordpress.com)
Dangerous Knowledge
Daily Bible Reading – Joshua 15-17; 1 Corinthians 8
Today’s Key Passage – 1 Corinthians 8:1-3
I heard a piece of tongue-in-cheek marital advice the other day, and it went something like this: “When you are wrong, confess it to your spouse immediately. When you are right, do not say a word.” I thought about that advice today as I read Paul’s remarks to the church in Corinth. In our key passage today, Paul says, “We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.” (1 Corinthians 8:1-3) Paul is giving the Corinthians similar advice to the humorous marital advice above – no one likes a no-it-all. Do not get me wrong here; we all know that knowledge is a good thing. The more we learn about a particular topic, the better off we are, at least up to a point. What Paul is talking about is what I like to refer to as dangerous knowledge.
So, what makes knowledge dangerous? In our key passage, Paul says that knowledge “puffs up”. When you hear that term, what kind of a person do you picture? I picture a proud man – a man who thinks he knows it all. I picture a man who believes he is right almost 100% of the time, and is not afraid to tell you about it. I picture a man who believes being right is more important than being compassionate and loving. In the interest of honesty, I have to admit at this point that I have struggled with this issue (as the people closest to me can attest). I have felt this compulsive need to be right for as long as I can remember, and there are still times when I am acting in the flesh when this comes out of me. It is something that God continues to work on in me, and I know that eventually He will rid me of it completely. See, the issue here is really an issue of pride, and this pride is what makes knowledge dangerous. When you get to the point where being right is more important than compassion, you have entered dangerous territory. When you resist any kind of correction, you have entered dangerous territory. When you have intolerance for opposing views, you have entered dangerous territory. Dangerous knowledge can be toxic, both to yourself and to the people around you. If left unchecked, this dangerous knowledge can lead to a condition where you stop putting your faith in God to provide for your needs. When you wrongly believe that YOU can control your own destiny, you have definitely entered into VERY dangerous territory.
With all of that being said, what is the answer? How can we ensure that our knowledge does not turn into dangerous knowledge? The first step comes in understanding the sovereignty of God. When you realize that He is control of everything and that He is the only one who is always right, you can start to escape the snare of dangerous knowledge and pride. The second step is putting our focus on the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Compared to Jesus, who among us can claim to be perfect? Who among us can claim to be right? Christ came to this earth and lived a perfect life, and then died on a cross because of our sinfulness. When we begin to exalt Him instead of ourselves, we can begin to get out of the danger zone. Finally, the last step is love. When we realize that God loves us unconditionally regardless of what we do, we can in turn begin to love others in this same way. When you love another person unconditionally, you will want to build them up with that love instead of “puffing up” yourself. At that point, being right loses all importance.
The next time you feel the overwhelming need to be right; I hope you will remember today’s key passage. I hope that, like me, you will stop and remind yourself of Paul’s words. Aside from that, if all else fails – when you are right, do not say a word.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
To become a fan of The Daily Bible Plan’s Facebook Page, CLICK HERE.
To follow me on Twitter for inspirational tweets, click the follow button – Follow @kevin_griggs
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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
Related articles
- Will We Arrive Blameless on the Day of Christ? (pjcockrell.wordpress.com)
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The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ
Daily Bible Reading – Deuteronomy 3,4; Psalm 36; Mark 13
Today’s Key Passage – Mark 13:24-37
When you think of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, what comes to mind? Do you think of the images presented in movies such as The Passion of the Christ of Jesus being beaten? Do you think about the Roman officers spitting on Him and mocking Him? Do you think about the crown of thorns He was forced to wear, the nails that were driven into His hands and feet, or the sword that pierced His side? Do you think about His death and placement in the tomb and the three days He spent separated from God? For most of us, when we think about His sacrifice, these are the images that flood our minds. While all of these things are true and all of them are part of His sacrifice for us, they do not tell the whole story. If we look in bigger terms, Jesus sacrifice for us involved a lot more than just His crucifixion and death.
In today’s key passage, Jesus tells His disciples about the future. He speaks of the end times and about His return to glory, and tells His disciples (and us) not to be deceived by false teachers. Near the end of our passage, Jesus provides a warning to the disciples (and us) to remain watchful for Christ’s return. He says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Note that He includes Himself here and says that even He does not know when the end will come. How can this be since Jesus and God are equal parts of the Holy Trinity? If the Father knows when this day will come, why does Jesus not know? The answers to these questions can be found in the sacrifice of Jesus.
We know from Scripture that Jesus was with the Father at creation. We read in John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Later, Jesus himself said, “I tell you the truth,…before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58) Before He became a man, Jesus was with God in Heaven. He was with God watching the state of the world and was one with God. As part of this three-part Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit reigned supreme in the universe. The Trinity created all things and is sovereign over all things. When Jesus became a man, He voluntarily gave up his divine powers for a time. He gave up some of His abilities and attributes of being God so that He could be a man. When Jesus said that He did not know the time when the end would come, He was affirming His own humanity. He was confirming to us the sacrifice He made to become a man and take away our sins.
Never underestimate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He did not have to give up everything to come here and live as a man. He did not have to come here to be beaten, mocked, and killed. He did this – He made this sacrifice – out of love. Imagine if a man walked up to you today, handed you one million dollars, and told you that the money was a gift to you from someone that loves you. What would you think about that man? Jesus gave up so much more than we can possibly imagine just to provide us a way to have eternal life, and He did it simply because He loves us. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was not just for the greats either. It was not just for people like Moses, David, John, or Paul. Jesus sacrifice was for me, and Jesus sacrifice was for YOU. Jesus sacrificed everything to give YOU eternal life. Think about that today, and praise Him for His sacrifice.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
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A Barren Fig Tree That Bears No Fruit
Daily Bible Reading – Numbers 34-36; Mark 11
Today’s Key Passage – Mark 11:12-26
In today’s key passage, we find two events that took place during the week in which Jesus would be crucified. The first event involves a fig tree. Jesus saw from a distance that the fig tree was mature and was filled with leaves, but when he got close, it did not have any figs growing on it. He cursed the fig tree for not bearing fruit, saying, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” The next day when Jesus and the disciples passed by the fig tree, they noticed that it had withered from the roots. The second event in our key passage is when Jesus entered the temple and began driving out the people who were doing business there. He overturned tables and benches and stopped people from carrying merchandise, saying, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” At first glance, these two events might appear to be unrelated. Upon further review, however, we will find that these two stories are very much related because they both teach us the same lesson. In fact, the event with the fig tree is really a live version of a parable regarding what happened in the temple.
So what is the lesson? What is Jesus trying to teach us with these two stories? Both stories talk about appearances differing from reality. The fig tree appeared to be mature. It was filled with leaves and should have been capable of bearing fruit. In reality, though, it had no fruit to offer. From a distance, the tree appeared to be fine, but up close, something was definitely wrong with it. The “hypocrisy” of the fig tree hurt Jesus’ heart and he cursed the tree causing it to wither and die. When he went to the temple, he was surrounded by “religious” people. On the outside, these people appeared to be believers. In reality, though, the moneychangers and the merchants often cheated people by charging inflated exchange rates and prices. They basically extorted others during Passover in an effort to gain wealth, and used the temple to do it. From a distance, the merchants appeared to be religious, but up close, something was definitely wrong with them. The hypocrisy of the merchants hurt Jesus’ heart and he turned over their tables and called them a den of robbers.
As you can see, both of these stories teach us the same lesson. When appearances do not match up to reality, it hurts Jesus’ heart. It is not enough for us to “appear” to be religious. It is not enough for us to “appear” to love Jesus. It is not enough for us to “appear” to follow Him. If we do not actually have faith in him deep down in our hearts, we are like the fig tree that bears no fruit or the moneychangers cheating people. Going to church, having a relative who is a pastor or trying our best to be nice to others does not make us believers. Acting one way when you are at church and then acting completely different at work is not what Jesus is looking for in a disciple. God does not look at the externals. Unlike people, He does not care about how we try to appear before others. He only cares about our hearts. He only cares about how we truly feel about him and about others. Some people believe they can fake it until they make it, but Jesus knows better. When we have great faith – true faith – it shows up in our hearts and we will bear fruit for the Kingdom. If not, we will wither from the roots.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
To become a fan of The Daily Bible Plan’s Facebook Page, CLICK HERE.
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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
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Jesus Restores Sight to a Blind Man
Daily Bible Reading – Numbers 28,29; Mark 8
Today’s Key Passage – Mark 8:22-26
In today’s key passage, a blind man is brought to Jesus asking for healing. Jesus touches the blind man and asks him if he can see, to which the blind man replies, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Jesus then put his hands on the blind man’s eyes a second time and the man could see clearly. So why was it necessary for Jesus to touch the man’s eyes twice? Was healing this blind man too difficult for Jesus to do in one try? Obviously, since we know that God is all-powerful, this cannot be the case. God can do tremendous miracles. He created the heavens and the earth and has the power to bring the dead back to life, so I am pretty sure Jesus could have healed this man with a single touch. In fact, in some cases Jesus did not even have to touch people to heal them – he simply spoke the word and they were healed. Since we know all of this, there must be a lesson in why he chose to touch the blind man twice. There are two lessons that I learn from this story:
The first lesson I learn from this story is that not all healing will be instantaneous. Jesus will always heal us eventually from everything that ails us, but sometimes He might not choose to do it right away. Sometimes the healing will occur in stages. For example, when we are born again, we do not wake up the next day and find that we never sin again. That would be an immediate healing, and maybe some people see that, but for me the process seems to work more in stages. The longer I walk with Christ, the better I become at overcoming temptation. When I do inadvertently sin (like when I’m cut off in traffic and my flesh immediately responds in anger), I have found I am much quicker to repent of this sin than I was when I first started out. If you are hurt deeply by another person, while you may be able to forgive them rather quickly it might take some time to actually forget about the offense. We must not get discouraged if our healing is not immediate. Sometimes, Jesus chooses to heal us in steps.
The second lesson is that sometimes we do not immediately perceive things the way God wants us to perceive them. When we read an email from a friend and take offense to something that is said, it may be that our perception of what he was trying to say was simply wrong. Sometimes when we get busy, we can easily begin to look at other people as if they are “trees” instead of looking at them as the people they are. When we see others as a distraction or a burden, that is counterintuitive to how God wants us to see other people – as His children deserving of love. At times, our immediate response to situations (like feeling anger over being cut off in traffic) is due to our flesh leading us instead of our spirit leading us. When we choose to live in the spirit by keeping our focus on Christ, we can avoid many situations of having incorrect initial perceptions. Strive to see things the way God sees them, and strive to act as He would in a given situation.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
To become a fan of The Daily Bible Plan’s Facebook Page, CLICK HERE.
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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
Not Saying What Others Want to Hear
Daily Bible Reading - Numbers 24-27
Today’s Key Passage - Numbers 24:10-25
Balaam was a sorcerer who was often called upon to place a curse on others. Balak summoned him to place a curse on the Israelites, and offered to reward him handsomely in return. Balaam was a greedy man who used his religion as a source of profit, so ordinarily he would have likely done what Balak asked, but God spoke to him directly. God told Balaam to only say what He told him to say. God even spoke to Balaam through his donkey (See Numbers 22:21-35). After being asked several times by Balak to curse the Israelites, Balaam refused to go against God. He chose to only speak what the Lord told him to speak. While he could have simply said, what Balak wanted to hear and would have received riches for it, he chose instead to do what was right and speak the truth. (Later in the Bible, we will learn that Balaam would eventually go back to his evil ways and allow his greed to turn him away from God, but in this case, he stood firm.)
Today, we are often put in situations where we can say what others want to hear or we can say what is true. What do you say when your wife asks if you like the new blouse she bought even when you really do not? What do you say to your friend who asks if he should try out for the worship team even though he was not blessed with the gift of music? In situations like these, often the easiest thing to do is to simply say what the person wants to hear. You could easily say that the blouse is beautiful or that your friend has a great voice, even though you do not really feel these things are true, and your wife or your friend would walk away feeling great about what you said. It sounds like a good plan, right? The problem is, when relationships are built on lies they will eventually fall apart. What happens when your wife decides to buy more blouses exactly like the one you did not really like? Will you ever say anything? Solid relationships with other people are built on trust, and the only way to build that trust is by telling the truth. Even when it might not profit us, we are still called to tell the truth. Of course, there are ways to speak the truth in love and ways to speak the truth in hate, and we should always choose to speak in love while also saying what is true. When we begin to practice radical honesty in a loving way, we will begin to see our relationships grow and prosper like never before. The next time you are asked a question where you are tempted to say what the person wants to hear, remember the story of Balaam and remember to speak the truth in love.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
Overflowing Generosity
Daily Bible Reading - Exodus 35,36; Acts 10
Today’s Key Passage - Exodus 35:4 – 36:7
God had given Moses very specific instructions for building the Tent of Meeting (also called the Tabernacle). It was a huge job, and obviously not one that Moses could complete all alone. After he received his instructions from God, Moses went back to the Israelites and told them all about the tabernacle. He told the people that everyone who was willing should bring an offering to help build the tabernacle. Some people brought their possessions – gold, silver, bronze, yarn, fine linen, goat hair, skins and hides, wood, oil, spices, and gems. Other people brought their time and their talents. All of the people who gave, though, shared a common trait. They gave from the heart out of their own free will. God did not demand that these people give of their time, possessions, and talent and neither did Moses. Instead, God only invited the people who wanted to give to participate in the building of the tabernacle. The people gave because they knew how important their giving was going to be – after all, they were building God’s house. In the end, the Israelites gave so much that Moses had to ask them politely to stop. The people had gone above and beyond what was needed to build the tabernacle. That, my friends, is overflowing generosity.
This is the type of giving that God wants from us. He does not want us to give because we think we have to, and He does not want us to give with bitterness in our hearts. God is looking for us to give because we want to do it. He wants us to find ways to be generous with our time, possessions, and talents to the point of overflowing. He wants us to give because we know how important our giving can be. When we give to the church, we are helping to build God’s house. When we give to missionaries, we are helping to spread the Gospel. When we give to the needy, we are helping to make their lives a little bit better. All of these activities should pull on our hearts. We should give because we want so badly to help in these areas that we cannot help but give. What has God put on your heart? Where in your life has He asked you to give if you are willing? How will you answer that call? Imagine what would happen if every follower of Christ gave with the same overflowing generosity as the Israelites in this story. What could we as the body of Christ accomplish if we all gave more than what was needed? I believe that this type of overflowing generosity would change the world, and we can begin that process one person at a time.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
The Glory of God
Daily Bible Reading - Exodus 33,34; Psalm 16; Acts 9
Today’s Key Passage - Exodus 33:18 – 34:10
In today’s key passage, Moses asked to see God’s glory because he wanted to know that God was with him and he wanted to experience God’s presence. Because of our sinfulness and imperfections, we are unable to stand in the presence of a perfect God and see His face, we are only able to see where He has passed by through the things that He has done, so God agreed to pass by Moses and allow him to experience His glory. God’s glory is the summation of His character and His nature, so when God came down in the cloud and passed by Moses to reveal His glory to him, we should pay special attention to exactly what God said. God could have shown Moses His power and His authority. He could have demonstrated His vengeance and wrath. Instead, God showed Moses His love. As God passed by Moses, He described his glory – His very character and being when He said, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” In these simple two sentences, God explains His entire character to us. He is compassionate and gracious. He is slow to anger. He loves all of us and is faithful to us. He forgives us, but also believes in justice for the guilty. If you have been looking for a way to describe God, then these two sentences are for you.
I hear many people say that the God of the Old Testament is a vengeful God who is full of wrath and the God of the New Testament is a God of love. These two sentences prove that this thinking is false. Our God is a never-changing God. He has always been the same and will always be the same, even if our perceptions of Him change over time. Since the beginning, though, God has really been about one thing more than any other – Love. He created us out of love. He gave us His only Son out of love. He will one day allow us all to live with Him in paradise because of His love. His love is our whole reason for being. The best part is that we can share that love with others. We can love others as He loves us – not on our own of course, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we can share His unending love with everyone we meet. The next time anyone asks you to describe God, you can do so with one simple word – Love.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
To become a fan of The Daily Bible Plan’s Facebook Page, CLICK HERE.
To follow me on Twitter for inspirational tweets, click the follow button – Follow @kevin_griggs
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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
The Giving Father
Daily Bible Reading - Genesis 27,28; Psalm 4; Luke 11
Today’s Key Passage - Luke 11:1-13
When I first met my wife, her daughter Regan was three years old. I can still remember how awkward I was around her at first. I had little experience with kids (other than my nephews) and so it was quite strange in the beginning. I remember times when I would try to have a conversation with her in the early days, but I never really knew what to say to a three year old. Typically, my topics of conversation were things like “how was your day” or “what does that toy do”. As time progressed, things got easier. I got to know her and she got to know me, and the awkwardness went away. Eventually, she stopped calling me Kevin and started calling me Dad, and I thank God every day for this gift he brought into my life.
Over the years, I have come to understand and appreciate the love a parent has for a child. When I was a kid, I always knew my parents loved me unconditionally. I knew they would always take care of me and that I would always have everything that I needed. As I think back to my childhood, I can remember a couple of things that I wanted that I did not receive, but I cannot remember a single thing that I actually needed that my parents did not provide for me. If it was a necessity, all I had to do was ask and it was given to me. With Regan, I try to be the parent to her that my parents were to me. I try to make sure that she always feels loved unconditionally, and I make sure that she always gets what she needs. My love for her is unending. If she asks me for something that she needs, I know that I will do everything in my earthly power to give it to her as long as she is not asking for something that might ultimately be bad for her. While there are times when Maria and I cannot justify giving her some of the things she might “want”, we will always provide for her needs.
As much as I love my daughter, my earthly heart simply does not have the capacity to love as God loves. While He shares His capacity for love with us and allows us to love others in an unconditional way, His love for us must still be infinitely greater than anything we can ever imagine. With that kind of love for me, I know that God will do everything in His Heavenly power to give me what I need as long as it will not harm me in the end. He provides for us every single day, just as a loving father provides for his children. In addition to all the wonderful blessings He provides for us daily, He has also given us the greatest gift of all – the Holy Spirit. This “comforter” lives within us every day helping us as we walk through our lives on earth. The Holy Spirit gives us just a small taste of what life will be like in Heaven when we will finally get to stand with Jesus Christ and walk with Him. Whatever you are doing right now, I ask that you stop for just a few minutes and take some time to thank God for the gifts He has given you. Thank Him for the gift of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. Thank Him for sending us the Holy Spirit to live with us daily. Thank Him for his daily provisions and for providing us with everything we need. In short, thank Him for being the giving Father that He is.
During your Bible reading today, what “key passages” stood out to you? Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you about His Word today.
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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
