Daily Bread

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 7th

"Resisting forbidden fruit."

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first volume of C. S. Lewis's famous Chronicles of Narnia series, which features four British children during World War II who are magically transported into the world of Narnia. There they are given the heroic task of helping to undo the curse cast by an evil witch, which has kept the land frozen in a perpetual winter.

Soon after arriving in Narnia, Edmund is separated from the other children and encounters the White Witch. She offers him a magical candy that he finds addicting; eating it puts him under her power. With deadly accuracy Lewis paints a picture of the way sin affects us. It doesn't announce itself as sin; it draws us in with something that seems pleasant and comforting but becomes addictive, blinding us to what is good and attracting us to what is evil.

The charms of the magical candy eventually wear off. The turning point comes when Edmund is finally moved to compassion for someone besides himself. The story echoes the parable of the lost son, who succumbs to sin and then comes to his senses, repents, and returns home to his overjoyed father.

When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, "At home even the hired men have food enough to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger!"

Luke 15:17

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 8th

"Our Sheperd."

The shepherd will go looking for a lost sheep, no matter where it might have wandered. Regardless of ravine, cavern, raging river, steep cliff, the shepherd will endeavor to save even the scrawniest, mangiest sheep. His devotion to his flock is total and absolute.

God's devotion to us is even greater. We can never be separated from the love and care of God. No matter how far we might stray from Him, He is continually on the lookout for us, and He will rescue us from whatever our peril might be. Rest sure and secure in the love of God. He will never give you up for lost.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek they servant; for I do not forget they commandments.

Psalm 119:176

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 9th

"Pacifism in a modern world."

It is hard to be a peace-loving person these days. It seems like someone is always trying to get us stirred up. Sometimes we must take a total stand for peace no matter what may happen to us. In either case, we need the guidance and support of God in our lives. His wisdom is the only wisdom that will suffice. Our defense is in the Lord, and He will protect us in every situation.

I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

Psalm 120:7

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 10th

"The domino affect."

Have you ever felt as though the problems in your life were like a series of dominoes? One domino falls down, and it sets off a chain reaction that knocks down the rest of the dominoes. David felt that his problems were going from bad to worse—his enemies had surrounded him, waiting for his ultimate demise. David could see no way out. But even in his despair, he knew there was one whom he could always trust to help him. He turned to God, confessed his sins, asked for forgiveness, and pleaded for mercy.

When we are separated from God because of our sins, we need to repent and ask for forgiveness. Then, with a clean heart, we can come before him and ask for help. He will hear and answer us for the honor of his name.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied;
free me from my anguish.
18 Look upon my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.

Psalm 25:16-18

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 11th

"In the beginning" (Gen. 1:1)

Genesis 1:1, although the start, is not the only place in the Bible where we read about creation. The remarkable work of God's creation is not a one-passage phenomenon. Woven throughout Scripture are reminders that God fashioned our world–telling us again and again how vital it is to believe that the universe and everything in it came through the masterful work of His mighty hand.

We need that reminder. Otherwise, we could easily be influenced by the teaching we hear continually from some educators who hold to a view of origins that rules out God.

Yet that's not the primary reason to explore what God's Word says about creation. No, the main reason we need to acknowledge God's role in bringing everything into existence is so that we will give Him praise.

You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, . . . the earth and everything on it.

Nehemiah 9:6

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg."

~C. S. Lewis

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 12th

"Love your enemies."

When followers of Jesus spend more time condemning their enemies than praying for them or showing love to them, they lose their spiritual credibility...

Jesus expects us to stand out from the world by letting our "light so shine before men, that they may see [our] good works and glorify [our] Father in heaven" ( Matthew 5:16 ). One way we live that out is by obeying His command to love our enemies (v.44).

The warmth of love can melt the heart of an enemy.

Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you.

Matthew 5:44

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 13th

"Iraqi Constitution threat elevated."

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9674935/

The Lord watches over all His children. He is with us in safe times as well as the dangerous ones. He guards our steps from the day we are born until we are ushered into our heavenly home. Know that the Lord is with you. He will never leave you alone.

Guard our troops this day, Lord. Be with all the people who serve in dangerous positions, and keep them safe.

Watch over them all... Amen.

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Psalm 121:8

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 14th

"Don't be molded by the world."

Wow, isn't that a tough one to obey? It's a reminder that what we think is one of the places of greatest spiritual warfare. Sloppy thinking is more than sloppy, it's dangerous because we are fed messages constantly that distort God's truth and holy values. But rather than being incensed by the world acting like the world, let's be transformed by renewing our minds and doing what Paul said he did... take every thought, every word, captive for Christ. We often think a tithe is giving ten percent of our money, but an even more vital tithe is giving ten percent of our thought time totally to the things of God!

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 15th

"What else is there to say?"

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.The Lord God Almighty said at the beginning of the Ten Commandments!

How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.

2 Samuel 7:22

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 16th

"Worship involves every aspect of life."

God does so much for us. He is the strength and promise that undergirds our lives. He is the one who has saved us from sin and death. Our worship comes from our gratitude for what he has done and recognition of who he is. But worship can never be compartmentalized and fit into church places or quiet times.

That is why it is so important for us to tune the words of our mouths and the motives of our hearts to God's will and work. Then private worship, whether alone in quiet or in a group of Christians, becomes the tuning time for our hearts and lives so that our public worship, our lives lived out in the world, will play the song of God to a world who has not yet really heard it.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 17th

"Where does true deliverance come from?"

Only from God.

Salvation is found in God through deep reverential respect for his holiness and might, through living in covenant relationship with him, and through maintaining our focus on him. Any other roads to salvation and deliverance are false and ultimately prove themselves to be a snare.

The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Psalm 25:14-15

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 18th

"Why wait?"

If there is anything we don't like to do, it's wait. Maybe that is why God is so interested in us learning to do it! There is something purifying about remaining strong in tough times and remaining faithful when ill winds blow. So God gives us times of waiting to see if our search is really for him or merely for something new.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:14

Heaven

[eusebioCBR]

- Needed this today.

Quote: (Originally Posted by HeavenBesideYou)

October 18th

"Why wait?"

If there is anything we don't like to do, it's wait. Maybe that is why God is so interested in us learning to do it! There is something purifying about remaining strong in tough times and remaining faithful when ill winds blow. So God gives us times of waiting to see if our search is really for him or merely for something new.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:14

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

Quote: (Originally Posted by eusebio)

- Needed this today.

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

October 19th

"God is not a genie in a bottle..."

Rather than seeing this as a way to get our wish list granted, let's see it for what it really is. An invitation to seek a love relationship with God above all other things. In finding him, we will find our priorities properly aligned and our hearts tuned to know what is really valuable and what is not. Then we will see that what we have in him is our heart's greatest desire.

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:10

Heaven