Daily Bread

[HeavenBesideYou]

December 27th

"A parable of mercy..."

Jesus once told a parable of a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. One servant came before him who owed him ten thousand talents, a debt far beyond the means of a servant. When he couldn't pay, the king ordered that he and his family be sold into slavery, but the servant begged for mercy. Then the king took pity on him, canceled the debt, and set the servant free.

The servant did not show similar mercy to another slave who owed him money and had the man thrown into prison. The master heard what had happened, reinstated the debt and threw him into prison.

"That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters in your heart," Jesus said, summing up the moral to the story ( Matthew 18:23-35 ).

Jesus' point is simple: Those who have been forgiven of so much should learn to forgive. People redeemed from certain death should act like redeemed people. Those who have received the ultimate act of mercy should learn to be merciful.

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 5:7

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

December 28th

"Where two or three come together."

Before there were churches, before there were preachers, before Christ came to this earth, God had created His sanctuaries. On the mountaintops, God was worshipped. In the valleys, God was worshipped. In the forests, by lakesides, in caves; wherever God's handiwork was found, there He was worshipped.

Remember, we can praise God anywhere. Church isn't a place, it is an entity made up of living parts.Wherever we gather in the name of God, there is His sanctuary. Lift your voices to the Lord. Praise Him wherever you may be. He is with you where you are.

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Psalm 150:1

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

December 29th

"Peace is a person."

"His peace of mind came not from building on the future but from resting in what he called "the holy Present."

~C.S. Lewis on George Macdonald

If you were navigating in strange waters or tracking through the wilderness, you would feel at peace with a competent navigator. As we move through spiritual territory that's frightening, new to us, or full of trouble, what a comfort and support to have the Lord God, creator of peace, walking with us. He knows the way!

A child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David. The passionate commitment of the Lord Almighty will guarantee this!

Isaiah 9:6-7

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Isaiah 26:3

I am leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give you isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid.

John 14:27 NLT

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

December 30th

"This world is a place of struggle."

Yes, we can live above the struggle for awhile or can find a way to simply ignore or re-label the struggle for a time. But in the end, the struggle will find us. But in the midst of struggle, we can remind ourselves that our victory is secure. Jesus has won! We will share in his great triumph. In case you didn't know, the final outcome is already determined and Christians win big through Jesus.

[Jesus said,] "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

December 31st

"End of another year..."

The year is gone, finished, past. We cannot reclaim it or undo it. We cannot rest on the things it has brought us. If tomorrow dawns, it will be another day, a new opportunity, and the time to show our faith in Jesus as Lord. Let's journey forward, knowing that God already inhabits the future and promises to provide us refreshment.

This is what the Lord says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:16 and 18-19

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

"New Years Day 2007!"

We all like "do-overs" or second chances. God does much better than that! He allows us to become new again. Being the "God of new things" he can even make us new. Beyond forgiveness, beyond cleansing, he makes us holy through Jesus. Let's use the opportunity of a New Year as a springboard to living a life fresh and new and alive to God!

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 2nd

"Patience..."

It's hard to look around and see so many undeserving people receive such wonderful rewards. We like to feel that justice is going to be done, but we hardly ever see it. Luckily, our trust is in the Lord and His promises. Those who receive all their blessings now have nothing more to come, while those who patiently wait upon God and His justice will find themselves face-to-face with an eternity of joy and peace. Nothing escapes the watchful eye of God. He sees the way of the righteous, and He will surely reward them.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalm 1:6

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 3rd

"Rich in mercy."

Everyone deserves to be punished for sin, but God's punishment is always tempered with mercy because of his great love for us. Ephesians 2:4-5 explains that we are saved from our sin only because of God's mercy.

-But 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. (It is only by God's special favor that you have been saved.)

Although we do not deserve to enter his presence, God wants us to come boldly before him. Hebrews 4:16 promises that we will find mercy and grace—all that we need, exactly when we need it.

-So let us come boldly to the throne of our Gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.

God loves to show mercy! He eagerly waits for us to repent so that he can shower us with forgiveness. Micah 7:18 declares:

-Where is another God like you, who pardons the sins of the survivors among his people? You cannot stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing mercy.

Long ago the Lord said to Israel: "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself."

Jeremiah 31:3

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 4th

"God's desires for us are not hard to discern."

He wants to bless us with salvation. The incredible gift of his Son is powerful testimony to this truth. But salvation from sin and death is not something he wants to happen in our lives only once. He wants our lives to daily reflect his salvation and to share it with others. We should act justly and pursue mercy in our relationships, and honor him with our worship from a humble heart.

[God] has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 5th

"Pardoned."

The essential act of mercy was to pardon; and pardon in its very essence involves the recognition of guilt and ill-desert in the recipient. If crime is only a disease which needs cure, not sin which deserves punishment, it cannot be pardoned. How can you pardon a man for having a gumboil or a club foot? But the Humanitarian theory wants simply to abolish Justice and substitute Mercy for it. This means that you start being "kind" to people before you have considered their rights, and then force upon them supposed kindnesses which no one but you will recognize as kindnesses and which the recipient will feel as abominable cruelties. You have overshot the mark. Mercy, detached from Justice, grows unmerciful. That is the important paradox. As there are plants which will flourish only in mountain soil, so it appears that Mercy will flower only when it grows in the crannies of the rock of Justice: transplanted to the marshlands of mere Humanitarianism, it becomes a man-eating weed, all the more dangerous because it is still called by the same name as the mountain variety.

~C. S. LEWIS in God in the Dock

Praise the Lord, I tell myself; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, I tell myself, and never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives my sins and heals all my diseases. He ransoms me from death and surrounds me with love and tender mercies.

Psalm 103:1-4

Having chosen [his people], he called them to come to him. And he gave them right standing with himself, and he promised them his glory.

Romans 8:30

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 6th

"The Rider on the white horse."

When Jesus came the first time, he came to reveal God ( John 1:18 ). As wonderful, powerful, and gracious as he was in his earthly ministry, it did not fully reveal Jesus our Lord. Our hope is tied to his return. When he comes this time, he won't come to reveal God, but to reveal himself; the conquering Lord, the Rider on the white horse. Every knee will bow. And we will see him as he really and fully is in power and grace. With this as our hope, we can be ready for active service to our king as people who live their lives under his leadership and control.

Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter 1:13

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 7th

"A wonderful inheritance."

What will your children inherit? What about your grandchildren? Would you like them to know God's mercy as you have or even more so?

What a wonderful inheritance to pass on from generation to generation. If this is what we want for our children, we must help them to reverence the Lord.

Mercy is God's gift to us; reverence is our gift to God. The two work together to leave a legacy of faithfulness to future generations.

His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who fear him.

Luke 1:50

But as for me, I will sing about your power. I will shout with joy each morning because of your unfailing love.
For you have been my refuge, a place of safety in the day of distress.
O My strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.

Psalm 59:16-17

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 8th

"False advertising."

A whole bunch of folks claim that God is on their side. In reality, that's not important at all. The real question is whether we are on God's side! That's determined more by what we seek and do rather than what we say and believe. God longs to be with us, but he will not sacrifice his character to extend us cheap grace, a grace that does not call us to be like him. He's looking for believers who put their character where their mouth is.

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.

Amos 5:14-15

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 9th

"We are all capable of great things in time of distress."

The Lord gives to His children the ability to serve one another, even so much as to save another life. It is important that we continually pray for God to guide our actions and show us ways to serve. When we open ourselves to the will of God, we will be surprised at the wonderful things we can do.

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Psalm 4:1

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 10th

"Holy china?"

"Holy" is one of those words we generally associate with the "stained glass ghetto"; a word only "church folks" use. That may be true, but it's still a great concept. Every kid knows that you don't eat hot dogs and potato chips on china. Mom's china is reserved for "special company" or "special occasions." Hot dogs are for paper plates and every day, china is for special events. When God is calling us to be holy, he's calling us to be china... something special just for him, and as Peter emphasizes, just like him.

Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

1 Peter 1:15-16

Heaven