Sun – February 16 – Genesis 49, Luke 2, Job 15, 1 Corinthians 3
Mon – February 17 – Genesis 50, Luke 3, Job 16-17, 1 Corinthians 4
Tue – February 18 – Exodus 1, Luke 4, Job 18, 1 Corinthians 5
Wed – February 19 – Exodus 2, Luke 5, Job 19, 1 Corinthians 6
Thu – February 20 – Exodus 3, Luke 6, Job 20, 1 Corinthians 7
Fri – February 21 – Exodus 4, Luke 7, Job 21, 1 Corinthians 8
Sat – February 22 – Exodus 5, Luke 8, Job 22, 1 Corinthians 9
St. Valentine’s Day is one of the most highly celebrated times of the year. Who was St. Valentine anyway?
Valentine was a priest in Rome in the Third Century AD. The Emperor at that time, Claudius II, wanted to amass a powerful army, but could not get any volunteers. It seemed as though men wanted to stay home with their families. So, Claudius declared marriage to be illegal. Valentine defied the Emperor’s decree and secretly married young couples. He was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and on February 14, 269 he was beheaded. The jail keeper’s daughter visited him often and encouraged him. She too believed that true love was a just cause! The night before he was beheaded he left her a note thanking her for her encouragement and signed it “your dear Valentine.” Thus began a tradition!
What a challenge. What are we willing to risk to show love to others or to encourage others to love? The ultimate expression of love was when God sent His Son into the world to become the payment for our sins.Romans 5:8 says it this way, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
Did you catch that qualifying statement? “While we were still sinners.” Now that is unconditional love. God does not wait for us to love Him; He takes initiative. God does not wait for us to straighten up; He loves us as we are. God does not love us partially; He went all the way to the cross with His love.
We can follow God’s loving example by loving unconditionally. We find it easy to love those we like, but what about those we do not like, even those who mistreat us? True love extends even to those who are different from us, indifferent about us, or unloving toward us. True love is given for no reasons, it is just given.
Let me encourage you to become a St. Valentine to several people this year. Take the initiative to love unconditionally and without thought of how your love will be received or if it will be requited. Find someone who NEEDS love, take a risk and SHOW them love. You may be surprised at the results. True love is indeed a just cause.
Try to imagine this scene:
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
“ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“ Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Then the four living creatures said,
“Amen!”
And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
(Revelation 5:11-14)
If you are a follower of Jesus, one day you will no longer have to imagine this scene… you will experience it. Spend some time in praise today.
I love my wife’s tuna salad so much that she has to use a whole can of tuna just for me; one can all for me and one split between her and Bekah. But really tuna salad goes a long way. That little boy, who brought five barley loaves and two fish, must have brought tuna. What other fish can you spread out among 5000 men and their families? (Read the story in John 6:1-14)
***Denominational note: obviously this crowd was not Baptist. A Baptist crowd would not have gathered like this unless there was a pot-luck or covered dish meal already planned! ***
Can you imagine what it was like to be that little fellow? Maybe his lunch box originally contained more than the bread and fish. Maybe he didn’t care for them and they were just the leftovers. But whatever the case, he made his lunch box contents available and it was enough for Jesus to use. How must it have felt for the Master to take his leftovers and perform such an amazing miracle? Imagine what was going through his mind as he watched his lunch – only multiplied by the hand of God – pass through the crowd until everyone ate all they could hold and still leave 12 baskets of leftovers.
We can learn a valuable lesson from this kid about allowing God to use us. First we see the simplicity – he gave what he had. The boy could have rationalized that all he had was stinky fish and stale bread. He could have reasoned that no one in the crown that day would be interested in what he had; it just wasn’t as good as food at some of the other gatherings he attended. We may find it easy to compare ourselves to others and think we have little or nothing to offer, but all God asks is that we bring to Him the “us” He created. The only ability we need to have is availability.
But we also see the commitment – he gave all he had. He didn’t “share” his lunch, he handed it over, all of it. He could have held back a little for himself, but instead he placed it all in Jesus hands. And here is the amazing thing about that – Jesus didn’t need five loaves and two fish. Jesus could have performed the miracle without anything from the boy. The boy could have reserved a fish and piece of bread for himself, and Jesus still would have been able to feed the crowd with four loaves and one fish. But when the boy gave up all his lunch, in return he received a stomach full much bigger than he would have gotten had he eaten just the 2 fish and 5 loaves. When Jesus used what the boy brought, the boy received a blessing and became a blessing to others because of it.
If Jesus wants to make tuna salad out of you, the only ingredient he needs is YOU . . . ALL OF YOU.
We let the most trivial things come between us and God.
“Not me,” you say, “I don’t let things come between me and God.”
Really? Have you read your Bible today? If not, why not. That came between you and God.
Have you prayed today? If not, why not. That came between you and God.
Have you spent time meditating on God and realizing His place and presence in your life today? If not, why not. That came between you and God.
No time for Bible, no time to meditate, no time for prayer. Time for Facebook, email, texting, and Twitter. Nothing between?
As you read the lyrics to this old hymn, ask God to reveal to you what you have let slip in between you and Him.
Nothing Between by Charles A. Tindley (1905)
Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
Naught of this world’s delusive dream;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.
Refrain:
Nothing between my soul and my Savior,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor;
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.
Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;
Habits of life, though harmless they seem,
Must not my heart from Him ever sever;
He is my all, there’s nothing between.
Nothing between, like pride or station;
Self or friends shall not intervene;
Though it may cost me much tribulation,
I am resolved, there’s nothing between.
Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,
Though the whole world against me convene;
Watching with prayer and much self-denial,
I’ll triumph at last, there’s nothing between.
We use the word “love” in some pretty interesting ways. I can say that I love Mexican food and that I love my wife. Same word, totally different meanings.
The New Testament uses a few different words for love ranging in meaning from a utilitarian love to an unconditional sacrificial love. One thing I have come to notice, however, about love in the New Testament is that it rarely, if ever, speaks of love as an emotion. New Testament love is always an attitude that results in definitive action.
The NT employs other words that encompass the emotion that we often call love – words such as affection, loving kindness, and the ever popular KJV “bowels.” “Love” in the New Testament seems to always indicate something more objective.
The qualities listed 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 – that chapter to which we ascribe love’s definition – describe attitudes and actions, not feelings and emotion. If I love, I AM patient and kind. If I love, I naturally behave with certain actions like rejoicing with the object of my love, not keeping score of their shortcomings, etc. These are attitudes and actions. Other places in the NT teach us to DEMONSTRATE love rather than encouraging us to FEEL love.
During this week that culminates Friday with Valentine’s Day, many of us will be thinking about love. My challenge to you this week is to be intentional in demonstrating love. Look at that list in 1 Corinthians 13 again and choose one or two of those qualities to practice toward others each day this week. Don’t be content “feeling” love. That is selfish. Show your love by your attitudes and actions toward your family, friends, co-workers, and those you meet along your way.
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. – 1 John 3:18
Sun – February 9 – Genesis 42, Mark 12, Job 8, Romans 12
Mon – February 10 – Genesis 43, Mark 13, Job 9, Romans 13
Tue – February 11 – Genesis 44, Mark 14, Job 10, Romans 14
Wed – February 12 – Genesis 45, Mark 15, Job 11, Romans 15
Thu – February 13 – Genesis 46, Mark 16, Job 12, Romans 16
Fri – February 14 – Genesis 47, Luke 1:1-38, Job 13, 1 Corinthians 1
Sat – February 15 – Genesis 48, Luke1:39-80, Job 14, 1 Corinthians 2
Watching the Ken Ham / Bill Nye Creationism debate tonight reinforced what I knew to be a fundamental issue in our society, and unfortunately even with our churches. The great divide in culture is what one believes about the nature and authority of the Bible.
Many times during the debate, Ham stood on his belief that the Word of God was both the beginning point and the final authority for an accurate worldview. Each time, Nye challenged that presupposition, his disbelief every bit a strong as Ham’s assertion.
One of the devil’s oldest tricks is to create doubt and confusion about what God has said and what authority His Word carries. Genesis 3:1-5 describes the first ever challenge to God’s Word.
Unfortunately this confusion and doubt concerning the content and authority of God’s Word is not limited to those outside the church, but it rears its ugly head among those who comprise the Church as well. Many believers demonstrate through their behavior that they either do not know what’s in God’s Word, believe what’s in God’s Word, or don’t care what’s in God’s Word.
We desperately need to get back to the Bible. We need God’s Word to saturate our lives to the point that Biblical truth oozes from every fiber of our being.
I want to challenge you to discipline yourselves to engage God’s Word systematically in two ways. First, read larger portions of the Bible to get the over all story of God’s redemption from beginning to end. If you begin in Genesis and read for about 15 minutes, about 4 chapters at a time, you can read through the entire Bible in a year.
Second, meditate daily on a smaller portion of Scripture. Consider its meaning in its immediate context then make practical application to your life. Think about the passage throughout the day, looking for ways to put its truths to work immediately.
We cannot be casual about something as divine and important as God’s Word. I truly believe if we seriously begin to study and apply God’s Word to our lives, our lost world will see its power and our lives will demonstrate its authority. This will be the only way our culture will ever gain a respect for the authority of God’s Word – when they see it alive and active in our lives on a regular basis.
Read it. Believe it. Heed it.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. – Joshua 1:8
1. Broncos and Seahawks are created animals. Jesus is the Creator.
2. Super Bowl Teams need 15 break at halftime to rest. Jesus never sleeps or slumbers.
3. Super bowl features different teams and players each year. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
4. Super Bowl refs call penalties and take off yardage. Jesus offers grace and forgiveness
5. Boring announcers bring you the Super Bowl. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus.
6. Super Bowl includes entertaining commercials encouraging us to spend money. Jesus offers eternal rewards for
investing ourselves.
7. Super Bowl halftime show ignorantly glorifies sin. Jesus offers victory over sin.
8. Super Bowl lasts 60 minutes. Jesus is eternal.
9. Super Bowl played in New York. Jesus is on the Throne of Heaven.
10. Super Bowl results in a winner and loser. Everyone who comes to Jesus is a winner.
Feel free to add your own in the comments section below.
Sun – February 2 – Genesis 34, Mark 5, Job 1, Romans 5
Mon – February 3 – Genesis 35-36, Mark 6, Job 2, Romans 6
Tue – February 4 – Genesis 37, Mark 7, Job 3, Romans 7
Wed – February 5 – Genesis 38, Mark 8, Job 4, Romans 8
Thu – February 6 – Genesis 39, Mark 9, Job 5, Romans 9
Fri – February 7 – Genesis 40, Mark 10, Job 6, Romans 10
Sat – February 8 – Genesis 41, Mark 11, Job 7, Romans 11
