PEACE-FILLED HEARTS

Peace-Filled Hearts

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Proverbs 14:30

READ PROVERBS 14:29–35

For forty-five years after his career as a professional athlete ended, Jerry Kramer wasn’t inducted into his sport’s hall of fame (the highest recognition). He enjoyed many other honors and achievements, but this one eluded him. Although he’d been nominated for the honor ten times, it had never been bestowed. Despite having his hopes dashed so many times, Kramer was gracious, saying, “I felt like [the National Football League] had given me 100 presents in my lifetime and to be upset or angry about one I didn’t get was kind of stupid!”

Where others might have grown bitter after being denied so many times in favor of other players, Kramer wasn’t. His attitude illustrates the way we can safeguard our hearts against the corrosive nature of envy, which “rots the bones” (Proverbs 14:30). When we become preoccupied with what we don’t have—and fail to recognize the many things we do—the peace of God will elude us.

After an eleventh nomination, Jerry Kramer ultimately was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in February 2018. Our earthly desires may not be fulfilled as his finally were. Yet we can all have a “heart at peace” when we instead focus our attention on the many ways God has been generous toward us. No matter what we want but do not have, we can always enjoy the life-giving peace He brings to our lives.

By Kirsten Holmberg

REFLECT & PRAY

God gives our hearts peace and so much more.

In what area of life are you tempted to focus on what you don’t have? What steps can you take this week to focus on what God has provided?

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INSIGHT

When considering the Wisdom Books of the Bible, an understanding of Hebrew poetry is helpful. This form of poetry was built on literary devices such as metaphors, similes, acrostics, and alliteration. Among the more complex devices found in the Proverbs are parallelisms, where the basic idea of the first half of the proverb is repeated in the second half.

Antithetical parallelism is found in six of the seven proverbs in today’s reading (vv. 29,30,31,32,34,35). In this form, an idea is presented in two different ways that are opposite to each other, using the conjunction but to show contrast. Synonymous parallelism is found in the other proverb (v. 33). Here an idea is presented by repeating it with different words and using the conjunction and to show comparison.

For more on the book of Proverbs, read Knowing God Through Proverbs at discoveryseries.org/sb130. Bill Crowder

KEEP ON ASKING

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREA

KEEP ON ASKING

READ:  Luke 11:1-13

I say to you, ask, and it will be given

to you.  Luke 11:9

I heard a woman say that she never prayed more than once for anything.  She didn’t want to weary God with her repeated requests.

The Lord’s teaching on prayer in Luke 11 contradicts this notion.  He told a parable about a man who went to his friends’ house at midnight and asked for some bread to feed his unexpected visitor.  At first the friend refused, for he and his family were in bed.  Finally he got up and gave him the bread-not out of friendship but because the caller was so persistent (vv. 5-10).

Jesus used this parable to contrast this reluctant friend with our generous heavenly Father.  If an irritated neighbor will give in to his friend’s persistence and grant his request, how much more readily will our heavenly Father give us all we need!

It’s true that God, in His great wisdom, may sometimes delay His answers to prayer.  It’s also true that we must pray in harmony with the Scriptures and God’s will.  But Jesus moved beyond those facts to urge us to persist in prayer.  He told us to ask, seek, and knock until the answer comes (v.9).

So don’t worry about wearying God.  He will never tire of your persistent prayer!   JY

God never tires of our asking.

THROUGH THE VALLEY

Through the Valley

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Psalm 23:4

READ PSALM 23

Hae Woo (not her real name) was imprisoned in a North Korean labor camp for crossing the border into China. The days and nights were torture, she said, with brutal guards, backbreaking work, and little sleep on an ice-cold floor with rats and lice. But God helped her daily, including showing her which prisoners to befriend and share her faith with.

After she was released from the camp and living in South Korea, Woo reflected on her time of imprisonment, saying that Psalm 23 summed up her experience. Although she’d been trapped in a dark valley, Jesus was her Shepherd who gave her peace: “Even though it felt as if I was literally in a valley full of the shadow of death, I wasn’t afraid of anything. God comforted me every day.” She experienced God’s goodness and love as He reassured her that she was His beloved daughter. “I was in a terrible place, but I knew . . . I would experience God’s goodness and love.” And she knew she’d stay in the Lord’s presence forever.

We can find encouragement in Woo’s story. Despite her dire circumstances, she felt God’s love and leading; and He sustained her and took away her fear. If we follow Jesus, He will lead us gently through our times of trouble. We need not fear, for “[we] will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (23:6).

By Amy Boucher Pye

REFLECT & PRAY

O God, when I walk through the valley, You are near me and take away my fear. You comfort me and set before me a feast, and I will dwell in Your house forever.

When have you experienced God’s presence in a dark valley? Who can you encourage today?

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

In the ancient Near East, shepherding was not only a familiar image but also had royal connotations, sometimes used metaphorically to describe the role of gods and kings in leading and caring for their people. Psalm 23, therefore, is not only an intimate description of a vibrant relationship with God, but a bold proclamation that the psalmist trusts in and is committed to following only “the Lord” (YHWH), not earthly rulers.

At the very center of Psalm 23 are the words “you are with me” (v. 4), echoing the repeated scriptural theme of God’s comforting and guiding presence with us as the reason we need not fear (see Genesis 15:1; Joshua 1:9). When Jesus came, He emphasized that He was the Good Shepherd, the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to be with us (Matthew 1:23; John 10:11). Monica Brands

GIVE HIM YOUR BURDEN

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

GIVE HIM YOUR BURDEN

READ:  Psalm 55:16-23

Cast your burdens on the Lord, and

He shall sustain you.  Psalm 55:22

A poor man in Ireland was plodding along toward home, carrying a huge bag of potatoes.  A horse and wagon finally drew up alongside him on the road, and the driver invited the man to climb aboard.  After getting on the wagon, he sat down but continued to hold the heavy bag.

When the driver suggested that the man set the bag down in the wagon, he replied, “I don’t want to trouble you too much, sir.  You are giving me a ride already, so I’ll just carry the potatoes.”

“How foolish of him!” we say.  Yet sometimes we do the same thing when we attempt to bear the burdens of our lives in our own strength.  No wonder we become weary and overwhelmed with anxiety and fear.

In Psalm 55, David spoke of the anxiety he felt because his enemies were attacking him (vv.1-15).  But then he gave his concerns to the Lord and was filled with renewed hope and confidence (vv. 16-23).  That’s why he could write, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you” (v.22).

When you recall the story of the man and his bag of potatoes, remember the simple lesson it illustrates:  Rather than trying to bear your burdens by yourself, set them down in God’s hands.   HGB

Give Him each perplexing problem,

All your needs to Him make known;

Bring to Him your daily burdens-

Never carry them alone! -Adams

God invites us to burden Him with what burdens us.

GOOD NEWS TO TELL

Good News to Tell

Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

Acts 8:35

READ ACTS 8:26–35

“What’s your name?” asked Arman, an Iranian student. After I told him my name is Estera, his face lit up as he exclaimed, “We have a similar name in Farsi, it’s Setare!” That small connection opened up an amazing conversation. I told him I was named after a Bible character, “Esther,” a Jewish queen in Persia (present-day Iran). Starting with her story, I shared the good news of Jesus. As a result of our conversation, Arman started attending a weekly Bible study to learn more about Christ.

One of Jesus’s followers, Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit, asked a question that ignited a conversation with an Ethiopian official traveling in his chariot: “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). The Ethiopian man was reading a passage from the book of Isaiah and seeking spiritual insight. So Philip’s question came at the right time. He invited Philip to sit next to him and in humility listened. Philip, realizing what an amazing opportunity this was, “began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus” (v. 35).

Like Philip, we too have good news to tell. Let’s seize the daily occasions we encounter in our workplace, at the grocery store, or in our neighborhood. May we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our steps and give us the words to share our hope and joy in Jesus.

By Estera Pirosca Escobar

REFLECT & PRAY

God, guide my steps today toward someone who needs the hope that only comes from Jesus.

How will you prepare yourself to be more open to speaking to others about Jesus? What encouragement do you gain from Philip’s example?

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

All Scripture points to Jesus and is about Him. In today’s passage (Acts 8:26-35), it’s easy to identify the quote from Isaiah 53 as pointing to Jesus because of prophetic hindsight. But Jesus Himself reminds us that all Scripture, not just the prophecies, point to Him. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). J.R. Hudberg

LOSS AND GAIN

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

LOSS AND GAIN

READ:  Luke 24:13-35

Their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He

vanished from their sight.  Luke 24:31

A Texas high school football team began the 2002 season with a 57-game winning streak and hopes for an unprecedented fifth consecutive state championship.  In spite of losing their longtime coach and competing against larger schools, the Celina Bobcats remained undefeated through the regular season.  But then they lost a quarterfinal playoff game by one point.  It felt like the end of the world-even though they had won 68 straight games and five state championships in seven years.

When our dreams are shattered and our hearts are broken, we may feel that all has been lost and nothing has been gained.  It takes the touch of God to open our eyes to the greater glory of His plan.

When the crucified and risen Christ joined two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they were grieving over His death.  “We were hoping that it was He who was gaining to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21), they told Jesus, whom they didn’t recognize.  But Jesus said, “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (v. 26).  Later they realized they had been talking with Jesus.  He was alive!

In our time of loss, the risen Lord comes to us with comfort and peace, revealing His glory and the eternal gain that is ours because of His cross.    DCM

When circumstances overwhelm

And seem too much to bear,

Depend upon the Lord for strength

And trust His tender care. -Sper

Present pains can lead to permanent gains.  

UNEXPECTED WINNERS

Unexpected Winners

Many who are first will be last.

Matthew 19:30

READ MATTHEW 19:17–30

Perhaps the most preposterous, spellbinding moment in the 2018 Winter Olympics was when the Czech Republic’s world champion snowboarder Ester Ledecka won an event in a completely different sport: skiing! And she took the first-place gold medal even though she had the unenviable position of skiing 26th—a feat believed to be basically impossible.

Amazingly, Ledecka qualified to race the women’s super-G—an event that combines downhill skiing with a slalom course. After she won by .01 of a second on borrowed skis, she was just as shocked as the media and other contestants who had assumed the winner would be one of the top skiers.

This is how the world works. We assume the winners will keep winning while all the others will lose. It was a jolt, then, when the disciples heard Jesus say how “hard [it is] for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23). Jesus turned everything upside down. How could being rich (a winner) offer a roadblock? Apparently, if we trust in what we have (what we can do, who we are), then it’s not only hard but actually impossible to trust God.

The kingdom of God doesn’t play by our rules.

 “Many who are first,” Jesus says, “will be last, and many who are last will be first” (v. 30). And, whether you’re first or last, everything we receive is purely by grace—by God’s unmerited favor.

By Winn Collier

REFLECT & PRAY

Winning and losing are turned upside down in God’s kingdom.

Consider how you view people, or how you view your own life. How does Jesus’s way of seeing so-called losers and winners change your perspective?

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

Jesus answered the question “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” with commands from the second portion of the Ten Commandments, which focuses on our dealings with each other. The first portion, regarding our relationship with God, is clearly more difficult to keep. Bill Crowder