Verse of the Day 8/20

Psalm 16:11You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;   at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

English Standard Version (ESV)

I read today's verse in my devotions this morning and as I read the words "in your presence" I was reminded again of the hymn that  I quoted yesterday, "I Surrender All" and the line "in His presence daily  live".  This verse and this passage are all about living in the presence of God, being conscious of it, aware of it and following the path of life.

In verse 6 of the passage the psalmist writes, the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.  As David looks back over his life, He can see where God has led him and brought him.  It wasn't always the smoothest path but it was rewarding.   The word lines speaks of boundaries.  God sets the boundaries of  our lives.  I also thought of the word "lines" as if looking on a map of our lives where we've gone laid out before us bringing back memories of points along the way where God has brought the joys of family and the pleasures, the treasures of family and friends in our lives.

Yesterday we considered how our burdens can be relieved and released if we turn to God.  They can be replaced by His presence in our lives.  Billy Graham writes, "God's gift of redemption says, "I will buy you back with My blood because I love you. I will free you from the chains of sin. I will settle the conflict within and give peace to your soul. But you must come to Me with a repentant heart. You must be willing to be redeemed. You must exchange your sin-blackened heart for a new heart that is cleansed by My blood."

The question is are we willing to be redeemed?  If so, Christ will make the great exchange and will lead us, His presence to guide us in our lives.

I'll close with an old Fannie Crosby hymn, "All the Way My Savior Leads Me" it is a picture of someone who can look back at the paths taken the boundaries placed in a life and the grace that God gives allowing "fullness of joy" to blossom in that life.

1. All the way my Savior leads me,
   What have I to ask beside?
   Can I doubt His tender mercy,
   Who through life has been my Guide?
   Heav'nly peace, divinest comfort,
   Here by faith in Him to dwell!
   For I know, whate'er befall me,
   Jesus doeth all things well;
   For I know, whate'er befall me,
   Jesus doeth all things well.
2. All the way my Savior leads me,
   Cheers each winding path I tread,
   Gives me grace for every trial,
   Feeds me with the living Bread.
   Though my weary steps may falter
   And my soul athirst may be,
   Gushing from the Rock before me,
   Lo! A spring of joy I see;
   Gushing from the Rock before me,
   Lo! A spring of joy I see.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Psalm 16:5-11Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁵ The Lord is my chosen and assigned portion, my cup; You hold and maintain my lot.

⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good heritage.

⁷ I will bless the Lord, Who has given me counsel; yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.

⁸ I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety,

¹⁰ For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the place of the dead), neither will You suffer Your holy one [Holy One] to see corruption.

¹¹ You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

Verse of the Day 8/19

John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  English Standard Version (ESV) We all have burdens that we must bare, some are heavier than others, but we all have them.  They can be the nagging guilt of sin just the responsibilities of being a parent, a church leader or government official.  They are the things that can wake us up at night and keep us tossing and turning.  I've been there, done that.

Charles Stanley in a devotional on this verse stated that pack animals have no way of freeing themselves from the burdens on their backs. Unable to reach their heavy loads, they depended on others to remove them.  Don't we feel that way?  We just can't seem to get those problems off of our backs.  We need someone to help us remove them.  Sometimes fellow Christians can help in this regard, offering comfort, advice, especially based on God's Word and His teachings.  But ultimately only God can truly lift those burdens.

Dr. Stanley shared a prayer that we can pray, to seek His help.  It is a prayer of surrender, realizing that we cannot get those burdens off or our own backs.

"Lord, I cannot reach my emotional burdens, but You can. Thank You for liberating me from them and using them to make me whole, amen.

In His presence... release your burdens."

That last statement reminded me of a line in the hymn "I Surrender All",  it is "in His presence daily live".  If, and only if we will do that can we truly be set free.

1. All to Jesus I surrender;
   All to Him I freely give;
   I will ever love and trust Him,
   In His presence daily live.
   • Refrain:
     I surrender all,
     I surrender all;
     All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
     I surrender all.
2. All to Jesus I surrender;
   Humbly at His feet I bow,
   Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
   Take me, Jesus, take me now.
3. All to Jesus I surrender;
   Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
   Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
   Truly know that Thou art mine.
4. "If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you."  (v.31-32 The Message).  Are we willing to "stick with it"?
   

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

John 8:31-38The Message (MSG)

If the Son Sets You Free

^31-32 Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. "If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you."

³³ Surprised, they said, "But we're descendants of Abraham. We've never been slaves to anyone. How can you say, 'The truth will free you'?"

^34-38 Jesus said, "I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can't come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through. I know you are Abraham's descendants. But I also know that you are trying to kill me because my message hasn't yet penetrated your thick skulls. I'm talking about things I have seen while keeping company with the Father, and you just go on doing what you have heard from your father."

Verse of the Day 8/18

Philippians 1:21  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  English Standard Version (ESV)

Today's verse is probably one of the easiest verses in the Bible to memorize but among the most difficult to put into practice.  To live as Christ is loving, caring, persevering, comforting, involves submission, forgiveness while trusting and depending on God the Father to supply all that we  need.

We all realize that we only have one life to live, at least at some point we will.  When we are young we may feel indestructible and may live life with abandon, not thinking
of the consequences.  But as we grow older we see the frailty of life, the brevity of these 70 or 80 years and as time goes we want to be able to leave behind some kind of
legacy.  It will be about how we lived.

Charles Orr writes, "This world is not a play-ground--or a place to trifle with time. Life is not given us to squander nor fritter away. To trifle away time, is indeed, to be the greatest of spendthrifts. If you squander a dollar--you may regain it; but a moment wasted--can never be regained. God gives us all the time we need to accomplish all that He purposes us to accomplish--but He does not give us one moment to trifle away.  We have only one life to live--only one!"

There was a soap opera that ran for many years, "One Life to Live", I don't know what it was about, but it was a soap opera.  All too often our lives could be soap operas, filled
with busyness and a revolving cast of characters that are soon forgotten.  Paul is encouraging, challenging us to live the life that Christ has for us, it will mean something, "He
who started the work will be faithful to complete it in me".  Philippians 1:6.  We are thinking about today, He is thinking about tomorrow and what can be accomplished with
the "one life" for all of us.

The Apostle Paul realized this as he penned today's verse and in other writings.  His goal was to persevere, to finish the race, to win the prize, the upward call of Christ which
is the ultimate gain which comes at the end of this life.

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever;
One day He's coming—oh, glorious day!

If we live for Him, we will love and we will experience "life versus even more life!  I can't lose".(The Message)  --   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Philippians 1:21The Message (MSG)

^18-21 So how am I to respond? I've decided that I really don't care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!

And I'm going to keep that celebration going because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn't shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dead, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose.

Verse of the Day 8/14

Romans 12:1-2 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.   English Standard Version (ESV)

  Along with Romans 8 and Hebrews 11, today's verses come from one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament.  Paul transitions from teaching doctrine and now   turns to the application of what he has taught.  The verses are probably familiar to most of us but the content is inexhaustible.  Full sermons and even books   have been devoted to these verses.    The words that we'll consider this morning are "transformed" and "renewal".  The word for transformed in the Greek is metamorpho from which we get the word   metamorphysis.  This transformation is best captured in real life is the visual and physical change from the caterpillar to the  butterfly.  What we need to  think about is not only that change but what it means for the butterfly.  The caterpiller previously had inched along  in life.  It moved slowly, faced severe   limitations and could not easily avoid trouble.  The butterfly, flies.  It can move about with new freedom, soaring above the landscape and quickly going   where it wants to go and out of reach of (but not immune to) many troubles on the ground.    I have often thought of the renewal spoke of in these verses as something mainly internal, which they are, a changing of our minds of the way we think.  But it  is more than that, it is a change a renewal on the inside that changes what we are, who we are, more importantly Whose we are that leads to a change in the way  we live and act in the world.  We no longer inch along in life and in our faith, but through the Spirit's leading applying God's Word, we can soar.  The change  in us should be evident to others.    All of this is sobering and should cause us to examine are lives looking for the evidence of change.  May we and others see how "God brings the best out of you,   develops well-formed maturity in you", "changed from the inside out".  The Message  --   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Romans 12:1-2The Message (MSG)

Place Your Life Before God

12 ^1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Verse of the Day 8/13

Mark 8:17-18 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?  English Standard Version (ESV)

Our men's Bible study has been going through the book of John one passage at a time.  One of the focuses as we've gone through John's gospel has been on the questions that Jesus asks, of the disciples, of Pharisees and of people that come across Jesus path in the course of life, questions like "do you love me more than these? and after He stated I am the resurrection and the life "do you believe this".

In today's passage in Mark 8 we have perhaps the most condensed group of questions that Jesus asks of anyone in the Bible.  It is addressed to his disciples in the midst of performing miracles of feeding the four thousand in the beginning of Mark 8 and healing a blind man immediately following this exchange.  The way this is done is in keeping with the gospel of Mark in general.  It is a rapid fire book, going from encounter to encounter, often using the word "immediately" to join events together.

It is easy to read these questions in rapid fire order and not stop to think of what He is asking and what it meant to the disciples.  It would not hurt, and perhaps we should ask these same questions of ourselves as a check up on how we are doing at following.

Looking at these questions, when was the last time you found yourself asking why you didn't have, why hadn't God given you something you "need", need being the operative word?  Based on our Bible knowledge and Jesus' teachings how often do we not perceive or understand things as we fail to apply what we've learned in our lives?  Could our hearts have been hardened, calloused by the world we live in?  Don't we see in His Word and hear from in in sermons and yet fail to implement these things in our lives?  Do we remember what we've learned and apply it in situation?

These thoughts brought me to the old hymn "Open My Eyes that I May See", I'll close with some of the words.

Open my eyes that I may see Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me; Place in my hands the wonderful key That shall unclasp and set me free.
	Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready, my God, Thy will to see; Open my eyes, illumine me,     Spirit Divine!
	Open my ears that I may hear Voices of truth Thou sendest clear; And while the wave notes fall on my ear, Everything false will disappear.
	Open my mind that I may read More of Thy love in word and deed; What shall I fear while yet Thou dost lead? Only for light from Thee I plead.

 

Blessings, Mike

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Mark 8:14-21English Standard Version (ESV)

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴ Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."^[a] 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?¹⁸ Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve." ²⁰ "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." ²¹ And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

Verse of the Day 8/12

 

Jeremiah 17:7-8

⁷ 

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.

⁸ 

For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear^[a] when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit. New King James Version (NKJV)

Today's verses from Jeremiah 17 remind us of Psalm chapter 1 and the tree firmly planted.  The idea is of the tree being "planted", not there randomly.  We are not here randomly, God has planted us where we are and He provides for us day by day, where we are.  There may be a drought, the land may be parched but the tree has roots that go down deep, and reach the waters below the surface of the parched ground.

So it is with God's Word in us.  We may be facing times of drought, rough spots in our lives where on the surface it may not look like we'd be able to survive.  But if we are rooted in God, His Word and have His Spirit in our lives, we have a source of strength that is not visible to the naked eye.

The passage goes on to say in verse 10 that God searches the heart and tests the mind.  He knows our situation, the condition of our heart.  Blessed are the ones who place their hope and trust in God.  Sometimes we need to look below the surface to see the blessings, but if we open our eyes and our hearts and look closely we will see the faithfulness of God and be able to count His blessings.

Max Lucado writes, "Make this your thank God day.  Focus on the blessings, whether they are as simple as a beautiful tree or as profound as peace of mind.  Perhaps you could thank Him for your old neighbor, your stubborn child, your gas guzzling car, your boss - thank God for all things."  These words bring the lines from the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" to mind, "blessings all mine with ten thousand beside".

"
	Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! "Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"   Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—     "Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Blessings,
Mike
Follow the verse of the day at www.mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Jeremiah 17:5-10The Message (MSG)

^5-6 God's Message:

"Cursed is the strong one
    who depends on mere humans,
Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone
    and sets God aside as dead weight.
He's like a tumbleweed on the prairie,
    out of touch with the good earth.
He lives rootless and aimless
    in a land where nothing grows.

^7-8 "But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
    the woman who sticks with God.
They're like trees replanted in Eden,
    putting down roots near the rivers—
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
    never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
    bearing fresh fruit every season.

^9-10 

"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
    a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
    and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
    I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
    not as they pretend to be."

Verse of the Day 8/11

Numbers 6:26

the Lord lift up his countenance^[a] upon you and give you peace.  English Standard Version (ESV)

Today's verse comes from the end of the blessing that Moses conveys to Aaron and his sons.  It is often given as a benediction to sermons with the intent of sending the congregation off with a blessing.  They are encouraging words, words of comfort and hope as we head back out into the real world.

As so often is the case with some of the verses that we hear quite often, it is easy for us to gloss over some of the words, especially if we read them in "old English".  The word countenance is not one that we often use in modern day conversation.  The Message below translates it as God looking at you "straight in the face".  Greg Laurie notes that" it means to "lift up His face.  Another way to translate it is "to look, to see. to know, to be interested and to have one's full attention."   His words paint a picture of a parent looking at their child who is downcast, disappointed, perhaps even guilty of something, putting both hands on their cheeks you raise their head and tell them "I love you and its gonna be all right.   Most likely you've done that to a child, perhaps a spouse or a close friend.  Can you recall the last time someone did that for you?  How did it make you feel?

That is how God is with us, when we are downcast unsure of what the day may hold, the prayer, the blessing for you is that God will lift up your face and tell you "I love you, it is gonna be all right".  He says this with tenderness, with eyes of love, and He lays hold of you with the nail scarred hands that give evidence of just how much He does love you and how far He's gone to make you know and to assure you that He truly cares for you and will to the end.

Read the full blessing below, may it add a bounce to your step today as God looks you full in the face to give you peace.

 

Blessings,
Mike
Follow the verse of the day at www.mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Numbers 6:22-26The Message (MSG)

The Aaronic Blessing

^22-23 God spoke to Moses: "Tell Aaron and his sons, This is how you are to bless the People of Israel. Say to them,

²⁴ God bless you and keep you,

²⁵ God smile on you and gift you,

²⁶ 

God look you full in the face
    and make you prosper.