| Today's Bible Verse |
| "For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
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John 3:16 King James
Version (KJV)
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| Today's Bible Study |
Most long-time Christians have
memorized today’s verse, John 3:16.
That verse is easy to memorize but its truth can be
hard to accept.
I have never lived anywhere except the United
States. Here, in this western culture, we are
taught from a young age that people should earn
what they receive.
As a child, I routinely heard statements like
these: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. If
a
man won’t work, he shouldn’t eat. God helps
those
who help themselves.
My parents and teachers said these things to me to
discourage laziness. They emphasized the need for
me to carry my share of the load and not to expect
handouts.
This mindset of “earning what you get” causes some
people to struggle with John 3:16. They say or
think things like this: “God can’t possibly love
me. I don’t deserve it.”
Nowhere in the Bible are we told we must earn God’s
love. We don’t need to earn it because it is
already ours.
Until we believe and really soak up the truth that
God loves us, we will find obedience hard. We will
always work to perform a little bit better, trying
to earn His love.
Know that God loves you now, wherever and whoever
you are. Then determine to live an obedient life,
not so you can earn God’s love, but because you
already have it.
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| Today's Prayer |
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| God, I make my Christian walk hard when I
doubt Your love for me. Help me live with a deep, permeating belief
in Your unearned love. Help me serve You from a heart of gratitude
and not from a desire to earn Your love. Amen.
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| Yesterday's Bible
Verse |
| "Finally, brethren,
whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be
any praise, think on these things.
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Philippians 4:8 King
James Version (KJV)
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| Yesterday's Bible
Study |
I am plagued by the belief
that if I keep rearranging the items inside my
closets, cabinets and dresser drawers, I will
reach the Eden of organization.
I move things around so often that my husband
asks questions like this: Where is the cheese
slicer living this week?
Originally, I stashed my basket of leftover
yarn inside a closet in our home office. It
stood out conspicuously among the reams of
paper and packets of pens. I moved it to my
clothes closet, where it was not a good fit on
the shelf that holds my winter boots.
I know the cereal shelf in my kitchen cupboard
isn’t the right spot for a basket of yarn, but
what is?
This ongoing shuffling of things has taught me
that nature does, indeed, abhor a vacuum. If I
have an empty spot in my storage areas, I will
find something to put there. Should my husband
build me a new cabinet today, I would have it
filled by tonight.
Have you ever tried to empty your brain of
every thought? It can’t be done. Some idea will
move into what you wanted to be an empty space.
Then it will be joined by more.
Instead of trying to create an empty space
inside my head, I must work to fill that brain
space with good thoughts. Today’s verse gives
me a good starting place. If I don’t choose to
think on these things, Satan will rush in and
fill my head with his ideas: worry, lust,
discontentment, greed, and other specialties of
his. May it never be!
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| Yesterday's Prayer |
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| Lord, help me control my thoughts. Honoring You in all I say and do will be much easier if I first honor You in my thoughts. Through Jesus I pray, Amen.
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