Antiphon

Text: 113:3

Put your voice to use and gladly sing

Praise the Lord, our God and king

The heavens are not too high

With gratitude His praise will fly

The earth is not too low

For His praise go grow

Put your voice to use and gladly sing

Praise the Lord, our God and king

Believers with psalms must shout

No door can keep them out

But above all, the heart

Must bear the longest part

*** Originally written by George Herbert | Edited by Jacobs Adewale ***

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A Broken Heart

Text: Psalm 34:18

Key Verse: "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

A broken heart,

A soul that shatters

Needs the One

Who really matters.

Though time cures,

The dejected heart

Jesus will heal . . .

The broken part

Life is unkind,

We all know this

And His compassion

We often miss.

Human affection,

Can be so cruel

But to Him we're like

A precious jewel.

Jesus loves,

The broken heart

From the sorrowful one

He'll never part!

*** Written by Deborah Ann Belka ***

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Forgiveness: When Discipline Ends

Text: 2 Corinthians 2:5-11

Key Verse: “If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven – if there was anything to forgive – I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake” (2 Corinthians 2:10).

Paul expresses no hard feelings or recriminations nor exhibits an I-can-forgive, but-I-can't-forget attitude. We often hear people speak about forgiveness in this way, and this attitude reveals a lack of understanding of what forgiveness is. Forgiveness, basically, is a promise that you make to three different individuals. This is true always, in every case of forgiveness.

First, it is a promise that you make to the individual who has offended you and now has repented, in which you are saying to him or her, I will not let my attitude toward you be governed any longer by this offense. It has been put aside. My treatment of you from here on will be as though this has never happened. It is a promise you make never to bring it up again. In marriage many problems go on for years because couples tend to go back and dig up the past, which is an indication that it has never been forgiven. Some mates don't get hysterical; they get historical! That is the problem, and that creates a problem.

Second, it is a promise not to pass it on to anybody else. When a matter is forgiven, it is to be forgotten. Now it may be that everyone knows about the matter, because, as in this case in Corinth, it had been told to the whole church. But what it means is that nobody brings up the issue again or holds it over a forgiven person's head or reminds him or her of it every time any further difficulty occurs. It is a promise to drop the matter, leave it in the past, and never bring it up to anybody again.

Third, and probably most important, it is a promise to yourself that when your memory goes back to it, as it will occasionally, you are not going to allow it to seize hold of your heart and make you angry all over again. The minute it comes back to mind, you put it aside as something that belongs to the past. You are not going to dwell on it. It is a promise, therefore, to repeat your act of forgiveness, no matter how often the memory comes up. That is what forgiveness is; and Paul is ready to do this.

The reason, of course, is because he himself has been forgiven. People tell me sometimes, I just can't forgive in this case. The person has admitted her wrongdoing and has asked me to forgive her, but I just can't do it. It hurt me too much. It is a revelation to me that the person who has been wronged has never realized how much he has been forgiven already. The basis for Christian forgiveness is always, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).

== Culled from Ray Stedman’s Ministry | www.raystedman.org

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Freedom To Remove The Mask

Text: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18

Key Verse: "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

The apostle reminds the Corinthians immediately that the Lord is in their hearts, in their human spirits. Their hope of freedom comes from that great fact, for the one who is within them is God Himself. Paul identifies Him: the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Freedom is being out in the open, having boldness, having nothing to hide. Those who are free are those who do not have any reputation to defend, no image to hide behind, nothing to preserve about themselves. They can be themselves. Everywhere today people are longing for this type of freedom. People want to be themselves. I've got to be me, we hear, and there is nothing wrong with that. God wants you to be you, too. The only thing wrong is the way we do it. We are being taught in the world that the way to be me is to think about my advantage, my efforts, and to defend and demand them.

The Word of God teaches us it is quite another process. Being yourself and having freedom does not mean denying the potential for all the evil that is possible in your heart and in your life, because you have another basis on which you receive God's acceptance and approval. His acceptance and approval are gifts to you. The faith He gives continually accepts anew the gift of righteousness of already being pleasing to God, and, on that basis, you serve Him out of a heart of gratitude for what you already have.

You do not have to earn His favor, and your performance is not going to affect it. When you start looking at the one who is doing this in your life, the Lord Jesus, and beholding Him with all your veils taken away so you are not afraid to look at your own evil capacity, then a wonderful thing happens. Without even knowing that you are doing it, just by rejoicing in what you have and serving the Lord who gave it to you, you suddenly discover--and other people will discover--that you are becoming a loving person. And love is the fulfilling of the Law; the very demand that God made in the Law that you tried so hard to fulfill by your self-effort will be fulfilled without your even realizing it when you begin to love out of the grace and forgiveness of God.

It is a process of growth. It does not happen in one great transformation when you are suddenly sanctified, filled with the Spirit, or baptized. It happens as you keep your eyes on the glory of the Lord and not on the face of Moses, not on self-effort but on what He is already giving you. When you do, you suddenly discover the Spirit of God has been at work making gradual changes. You are becoming a loving person, easier to live with, more attractive, more compelling. Your life is deepening as it is losing its shallowness; you are more understanding of things. That is the work of the Spirit. Notice what he says: this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. It is not you who does it; it is He.

*** Culled from Ray Stedman's Ministry Devotional | www.raystedman.org ***

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Where Could You Go?

Text: Matthew 11:28

Living below in this old sinful world,

Hardly a comfort can afford;

Striving alone to face temptations sore,

Where could you go but to the Lord?

Where could you go, O where could you go,

Seeking a refuge for your soul?

Needing a friend to help you in the end,

Where could you go but to the Lord?

Neighbours are kind, you love them ev'ry one,

You get along in sweet accord;

But when your soul needs manna from above,

Where could you go but to the Lord?

Life here is grand with friends you love so dear,

Comfort you get from God's own Word;

Yet when you face the chilling hand of death,

Where could you go but to the Lord?

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Trials That Don't Make Sense

Text: 1 Corinthians 10:13

We all know the parable about the man who built his house on the rock. Did you ever notice that even though this man had a firm foundation in Christ that the storm still came? Being strong in the Lord does not mean trials won't come your way. Just the opposite. You'll probably have more trials that what you know to do with. What it does mean is that you won't crumble when they do come. Through years and years of experience I have come to realize that there are two types of trials. There are trials that make sense and there are trials that don't make sense. Let me explain...

For example, your car not starting in the cold, frigid temperatures of winter time makes sense. It's still a trial but it makes sense. You can understand why your car didn't start. It's the same scenario when you get laid off at work during times of economic hardship or if you get sick during the flu season. These are all trials but they make sense.

And then, my dear friend, there are trials that don't make sense. There is absolutely no reason or explanation for what you're going through but yet the trial is there. I have found out over the years that more times than not these type of trials happen when God moves and progress is made in the call that is on my life. Therefore, I have come to believe that trials that make sense happen because you are a born-again believer and trials that don't make sense happen because you have made the decision to be a servant of the Most High God.

Yes, there are trials aimed at believers and there are trials that are aimed at servants. I am here to tell you that the servant's trial is much more severe than the believer's trial. Just look what happened to Jesus and the apostle Paul.

God has moved mightily in my life and ministry in recent times and your mouth would drop open were I to tell you everything that's happened to me. The fact that I am writing you this letter today is proof that I have not crumbled under the onslaught of the enemy. No, I did not crumble and neither will you. The Bible says, "Many are called but few are chosen." The chosen few are the ones who will stand strong on the Rock of our salvation during times of tribulation and with a gut-like determination refuse to give up.

When trials that don't make sense happen to me I know immediately that the enemy is trying to hinder God's work in my life. This makes me hang on to Jesus even tighter. I have found that there is very little, if anything, you can do about trials that don't make sense. I mean, if your car don't start you can go get some jumper cables, right? Or if you're sick you can take some pills and call your doctor in the morning. But with trials that don't make sense all you can do is hold on to Jesus and weather the storm. Yes, sometimes you have to take the pain but if you don't give up God will move in a mighty way.

We know the trials are coming, don't we? Jesus said they would. But when you hang on to our Master your mega-storm will be replaced with a mega-calm. You'll have a peace that passes all understanding. And as you bask in His presence God will move. That what you set out to do will be fulfilled. People will get blessed and God will be glorified. This is what it's all about, my friend. So hang in there! Cling to Jesus and never let go. As you do, you can rest assured that He will lead you in triumph in Christ Jesus. Amen.

*** Written by Randall Brewer ***

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Living Dangerously In The Hands Of God

Text: 2 Chronicles 16:9

How easily Jesus is forgotten amid the comfort of our lives

How the flames become a flicker, and faith a brilliant disguise

Our Sundays become a holiday, they're an empty exercise

And the cost of real devotion seems so foreign to our lives

Oh, to gladly risk it all, oh to be faithful to His call

Abandoned to grace yet anchored in His love

Living dangerously in the hands of God

Our Lord He is a hiding place, His hold is strong and sure

Though the storms may rage around you, in His love you stand secure

So live like you believe it, and though your faith is prone to fail

Though you cower under trial, by His grace you shall prevail

Oh, to gladly risk it all, oh to be faithful to His call

Abandoned to grace yet anchored in His love

Living dangerously in the hands of God

There's safety in complacency, but God is calling us

Out of our comfort zone into a life of complete surrender to the cross.

To live dangerously

Is not to live recklessly but righteously.

And it is because of God's radical grace

For us that we can risk living

A life of radical obedience for Him.

You've got to walk on for the Lord He walks with us

You've got to walk on though it costs you everything

You've got to pray on

Oh, to gladly risk it all, oh to be faithful to His call

Abandoned to grace yet anchored in His love

Living dangerously in the hands of God

Living dangerously

Are you living dangerously?

Oh we ought to be living dangerously in the hands of God

*** Written by Steve Camp ***

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Contending For Holiness

TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-4

Key Verse: “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3)

When the head of government of a country who was visiting another nation was told of a crisis back home, he cut short his trip and returned to address the domestic challenge. It would have been cruel and heartless of him to have continued the journey while his country was engulfed with unrest. A good and caring leader or shepherd in the household of God would behave the same way.

Our text today identifies Paul the apostle as a concerned guardian. About to close his three-year ministry in Ephesus during his third missionary journey, he was told about the divisive tendencies creeping into the Church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). It was a disheartening news for Paul who had spent one and a half years with the Corinthian Church teaching the brethren the pure and undiluted word of God (Acts 18:11). Now, he heard that these Corinthian Christians were poised to adapt to the low standards around them. Some of them had already compromised by breaking into factions engaging in incest, resorting to lawsuits to settle disputes between them, abusing spiritual gifts and manifesting unholy conduct at home, in the Church and in the public.

Although Paul could not stop his work in Ephesus to visit Corinth, he quickly dispatched a grave letter to the brethren to draw them back to the uncorrupted teaching of Christ. He warns that what they have been accused of are acts of carnality that should not be seen among genuine Christians. As a true shepherd, Paul told them the truth that liberates. He delivered to them “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

Fighting the good fight of faith, defending Christ’s doctrine of outward and inward holiness as qualification for entry into heaven is the responsibility of all believers. Wherever we are, God enjoins us to “contend for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). It is our primary and sacred duty.

THOUGHT FOR YOU: A firm stand for holiness is a courageous stand for Christ.

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Take The Pain

TEXT: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Several years ago a very graphic movie was made about the horrors of the Vietnam war. There was one scene in the movie where a foot soldier stepped on a land mine and half of his leg was blown away. Frantically he fell down and began to scream hysterically. So loud was his outburst of pain that he put the rest of his comrades in danger by giving their position away. To prevent this from happening the master sergeant jumped on top of him, cupped his hand over the fallen soldier's mouth, and said through gritted teeth, "Take the pain! Take the pain!"

Forgive me for using this gut-wrenching illustration to make my point but sometimes we all face brutal trials that for us are equally severe. Also, I am wondering if God sometimes asks us to do the same thing. "Take the pain!"

Why do I say that? The Bible does tell us to endure hardship like a good soldier in Christ. If we are enduring hardship then that means the hardship is not taken away. Right? Let's also not forget that He never did take away Paul's thorn in the flesh. When God told Paul "My grace is sufficient for you" was He telling him to "Take the pain"?

I believe He was and now we must ask the question "Why?" When you think about it, this is not a hard question to answer. What it all comes down to is that God insists on being number one in our lives. He wants us to seek Him more than anything else.

Here's what I'm saying. Sometimes our trials get so bad that we seek the answer to our problem more than we seek Him. We crave the solution so much that it becomes a god-like idol to us and God says we are to have no other gods before Him.

The enemy sends trials our way to distract us from God and from fulfilling the call on our lives. The devil is hoping we'll get so distracted by the trial that we'll spend more time seeking the solution to our problem than we do God. We are told in scripture to not be deceived by the wiles of the devil and this is one of his most cunning and successful strategies against the body of Christ.

So what should we do? Keep doing what we were doing before the trial began. Learn to seek God more than the solution to all our problems. Seek His face and not His hand. Trust me, when you do this you are showing the devil that he cannot and will not win this battle.

God will not leave you stranded and before you know it the victory will come rushing into your life like a mighty wave on the open sea. I say again, don't make the same mistake I've made several times over by making a god or an idol out of the solution to your problem. Seek God and for sure the victory will be yours. After all, it is He Who always leads us to triumph in Christ Jesus.

*** Written by Randall J. Brewer ***

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The Path Of Love

TEXT: 1 John 3:11-14

Key Verse: "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death" (1 John 3:14).

It is rather fascinating that the apostle who wrote this has become known as the apostle of love. But if you read the gospel records of John, you will note that this is not his nature at all. He and his brother James earned from Jesus the title Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17) because they were constantly wanting to blast back at those who opposed them. John's temperament was not naturally inclined to show love. But when he was born again, there was born into his heart the life of God, and this man began to show love.

Jacob De Shazer bombed Tokyo early in World War II. He was captured by the Japanese and put in prison. He hated his Japanese captors and was so violent and vicious that they feared him. They kept him in solitary confinement because of the hatred with which he lashed out against them. But he obtained a copy of the Bible and began to read it through.

In the loneliness of his cell, he came to realize the life that is in Jesus Christ. An amazing change came over this man. His hatred of the Japanese changed completely. He began to love his captors and to show love toward them, and they were utterly astonished by what had happened to him. Instead of burning with wrath, resentment, and viciousness against them, he became the most docile of prisoners, eagerly cooperating with his captors and praying for them.

Eventually, the story of his change of heart was written up in a little tract, and, after the war, it fell into the hands of a young Japanese captain, Mitsuo Fuchida, the man who led the air raid against Pearl Harbor and gave the command to drop the bombs on that fateful day of December 7.

Mitsuo Fuchida was a hero in Japan after the war because of that exploit and others, but his own heart was empty. Somehow he read the tract that told the story of De Shazer's amazing change of heart. He was arrested and puzzled by the story. From somewhere he obtained a New Testament and began to read it with growing interest.

At last he came to the story of the crucifixion. When he read the Lord's words from the cross, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34), his heart broke. He realized that this one who could love His enemies and pray for those who persecuted Him was manifesting a quality of life that no natural human being could possibly show. Mitsuo Fuchida became a Christian and an evangelist, telling the story of a love that can change human hearts.

Such love is the sign of the new life. It is a love that you not only extend toward those who love you, but toward those who do not love you. It is a love that does not depend upon a reciprocal relationship but loves the unlovely, the unqualified, the ungrateful, the selfish, and the difficult.

This, then, is the character of true love, and it is always evidence that a new life has come, the life born of God.

Food for Thought: This is the character of true love: It does not depend upon a reciprocal relationship but loves the unlovely, the unqualified, the ungrateful, the selfish, and the difficult.

*** Culled from Ray Stedman Ministry | www.raystedman.org

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