HOW CAN GOD BE IN CHARGE WHEN SOME RULERS ARE SUCH TYRANTS?

Today's promise: God is in charge of the world

How can God be in charge when some rulers are such tyrants?

The king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he turns it wherever he pleases.

Proverbs 21:1 NLT

God's authority

God rules his creation. Nothing is outside his authority — not even the leaders of the nations and kingdoms of this world. No person is placed in a position of power outside of God's will. This can be a great comfort when we see leaders take over in various places, especially leaders with whom we do not agree.

So what does this mean for the cruel tyrants of the world? It means that they too are under God's authority. Satan may author their evil acts, but their wrongdoing can only occur within the boundaries God sets. Why those boundaries are where they are for some nations is a question only God can answer. But we can rest assured that no power is in authority outside of God's plan. God always accomplishes his will, even through the most wicked leaders. God is always the final authority.

WISE WAYS  How will you pray today for the leaders of your country, as well as for leaders around the world?

Today, Lord, may I trust that you are the sovereign authority over all that happens in my nation. May I trust you, even as I work on your behalf.

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Proverbs by Neil S. Wilson, Tyndale House Publishers (2002), entry for February 21

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A leader has two important characteristics: first, he knows where he is going; second, he is able to persuade other people to go with him.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN

A real leader faces the music when he doesn't like the tune.
ARNOLD H GLASGOW

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

HOW HAVE YOU KNOWN THE POWER OF GOD'S LOVE IN YOUR LIFE?

Today's promise: God pursues us with his love

How have you known the power of God's love in your life?

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

Romans 8:37 NLT

O Love that will not let me go

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Love That Will Not Let Me Go,
GEORGE MATHESON (1842-1906)

George Matheson went completely blind when he was eighteen years old. Still, he remained a star student. He went on to become a great preacher in the Church of Scotland, assisted by his sister, who learned Greek and Hebrew to help with his research.

This hymn was written on the evening of June 6, 1882. "I was at that time alone," Matheson later wrote. "It was the day of my sister's marriage.…Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering."

What was it that happened to him? Some think he was remembering the time he himself was engaged to be married and his fiancee broke the engagement when she learned that he would soon be completely blind. Or perhaps it was difficult for him to have his devoted sister getting married. In any case, he was led to ponder God's eternal love, which would turn his "flick'ring torch" into blazing daylight.

adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for March 8

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Love is not something you feel. It's something you do.
DAVID WILKERSON

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF LOVE?

Today's promise: God pursues us with his love

What is your definition of love?

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

John 14:2 NLT

About this week's promise

A healthy definition of love is crucial to understanding the central message of the Bible. According to the Bible, love is not confined to sexuality, nor is it primarily a feeling at all. The Bible teaches that love is a commitment. As a commitment, love is not dependent of good feelings, but rather on a consistent and courageous decision to extend oneself for the well-being of another. That commitment then produces good feelings, not the other way around. Jesus became the perfect demonstration of God's unconditional love for us by laying down his life for our benefit.

Adapted from TouchPoint Bible with devotional commentary by Ron Beers and Gilbert Beers, Tyndale House Publishers (1996), p 1227

Digging Deeper

For more on this week's promise, see Revelations of a Single Woman by Connally Gilliam, Tyndale House Publishers (2004).

Turning our culture's Sex in the City worldview completely upside down, Revelations of a Single Woman celebrates God's enticing, life-giving promises, even when life takes you down a path you didn't plan for. Through this collection of thoughtful, honest, and humorous memoirs, the author delves into what it really means to be "the remainder" in a world that caters to couples, and what it means to be the one who lives out moral values that her peers think died in the sixties.

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The love we give away is the only love we keep.
ELBERT HUBBARD

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED THE AMAZING GRACE THAT CHANGED JOHN NEWTON?

Today's promise: God is always willing to forgive us

Have you experienced the amazing grace that changed John Newton?

For God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.

Ephesians 2:4 NLT

Amazing grace

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound —
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
Amazing Grace , John Newton (1725-1807)

The gift of forgiveness is often best appreciated by those who need it the most. The Reverend John Newton experienced this truth firsthand. His tombstone tells the story: "John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had so long labored to destroy." These words were written by Newton himself, a testimony to God's transforming power. After years as a hardened slave trader, that "wretch" met Jesus Christ and abruptly turned to defend the gospel he had so long despised.

Throughout Newton's years of ministry, God's amazing grace remained central to Newton's thinking. When it was suggested he retire (at age eighty-two!) due to poor health and a failing memory, he responded, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior!"

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for March 17

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When a friend makes a mistake, don't rub it in. Rub it out.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

ARE YOU BREATHING THE SWEET AIR OF FORGIVENESS

Today's promise: God is always willing to forgive us

Are you breathing the sweet air of forgiveness?

Though our hearts are filled with sins, you forgive them all.

Psalm 65:3 NLT

The sweet air of forgiveness

If you doubt God's forgiveness, allow the words of Romans 8:32 to strengthen your faith. If God gave up his only Son for you, so surely he will not hold back his forgiveness!

Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?

God's forgiveness is different than human forgiveness. Isaiah 43:25 declares that when God forgives sin, he forgets them forever.

"I — yes, I alone — am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again."

Human forgiveness often comes with hidden strings. We say we forgive, but later, at a crucial time, we yank the string and pull the offense back into view. Saying "I forgive you" comes easily, but truly forgiving and forgetting is much more difficult. Knowing our tendency to store past offenses and hold grudges, we assume that God does the same.

But the Bible proclaims that God will never think of our sins again. Does God take sin seriously? Definitely! Sin is so serious that it deserves the death penalty, eternal death.

Does God want to forgive sinners? Certainly! God sent Jesus to take the punishment for sin, dying on the cross in our place. All who repent and trust in Christ can be forgiven.

Can we trust God to forgive us? Of course! Release that load of guilt. Stand tall and breathe the sweet air of forgiveness.

From Living Water for Those Who Thirst Tyndale House Publishers (2000), pp 37-8

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

HOW DOES YOUR LIFE REFLECT GOD'S FORGIVENESS?

Today's promise: God is always willing to forgive us

How does your life reflect God's forgiveness?

Brothers, listen! In this man Jesus there is forgiveness of sins.

Acts 13:38 NLT

Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:32 NLT

Proclaiming God's forgiveness

Proclamation of the Good News of God's forgiveness is what my Christian testimony is all about. That includes forgiveness within my marriage. There is great testimony of God's power when I forgive Teresa as He has forgiven me.

Nothing about myself wants to forgive. It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that I am able to forgive. Forgiveness is a divine reality that I must first receive from my Creator. Only then can the Spirit prompt me to share that forgiveness with others.

I remember when God humbled me with this truth through the words of Isaiah 53:4-6. Christ took on my sickness of selfishness and price and carried my pain to the cross. Jesus was pierced for my harsh words and snippy attitudes with my wife. He was crushed by my "white lies" and subtle dishonesty. The Savior took on the punishment for my years of neglecting my wife and forgetting my kids.

Because of Christ's forgiveness, Teresa and I can proclaim that it is possible to live in harmony with one another. We are grateful to be able to proclaim God's work in our marriage, to be able to demonstrate to those around us that we don't go to sleep with unforgiveness or bitterness in our hearts. This testimony has only been possible through the divine provision of His forgiveness.

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Devotions for Couples by David and Teresa Ferguson, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for June 5

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

THE TELLTALE HEART

THE TELLTALE HEART

READ:

1 John 3:16-24

If our heart condemns us,

God is greater than our

heart, and knows all things.

-1 John 3:20

Recently I read about a private investigator in the US who would know on a door, show his badge to whoever answered, and say, “I guess we don’t have to tell you why we’re here.”  Many times, the person would look stunned and say, “How did you find out?”  then go on to describe a undiscovered criminal act committed long ago.  Writing in Smithsonian magazine, Ron Rosenbaum described the reaction as “an opening for the primal force of conscience, the telltale heart’s internal monologue.”

We all know things about ourselves that no one else knows-failures, faults, sins-that although confessed to God and forgiven by Him may come back to accuse us again and again.  John, one of Jesus’ close followers, wrote about God’s love for us and the call to follow His commands, saying:  “By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.  For is our hearts condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (1 John 3:19-20).

Our confidence toward God grows out of His love and forgiveness in Christ, not our performance in life.  “We know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (v.24).

God, who knows everything about us, is greater than our self-condemnation.  –Wesley

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The one who receives Christ

will never receive God’s condemnation.

INSIGHT

Today’s reading establishes the benchmark for loving others by looking at what Jesus did for us on the cross (v.16).  We know love because of the willingness of Jesus to die for us, and the necessary response to this love is that we be willing to give of ourselves for others.  The context implies that this does not require a physical dying on another’s behalf.  It does, however, challenge us to sacrifice our own interests for the welfare of others as evidence that we have received God’s love (v.17).

Have a blessed day.

God Our Creator’s Love Always

Unity & Peace