Your Daily Devotional for July 31, 2007

 

July 31,  2007

 

 

God's Rewards

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."

 

1 Peter 3:7

 

 

A woman was at home doing some cleaning when the telephone rang. In going to answer it, she tripped on a rug and grabbing for something to hold onto, seized the telephone table. It fell over with a crash, jarring the receiver off the hook. As it fell, it hit the family dog, who leaped up, howling and barking. The woman's three-year-old son, startled by this noise, broke into loud screams. The woman mumbled some angry words. She finally managed to pick up the receiver and lift it to her ear, just in time to hear her husband's voice on the other end say, "Nobody's said hello yet, but I'm positive I have the right number."

 

This story can characterize our home life all too often. Have you ever felt as if one thing after another kept coming into your life and by the end of the day, you had no energy left to do anything? Our human nature desires to simply rest after working hard all day long. But God desires that we would use that time to develop a relationship with our families. We must spend time with our families to guard against indifference in our homes. When we make the choice to actively fight indifference, we will see God's rewards in our lives.

 

One reward we will see in our lives is answered prayer. The last part of our verse today says, "that your prayers be not hindered." When we have a right relationship with our spouses and families, God will hear our prayers.

 

Our prayers can be hindered by many things such as fighting, bitterness, anger, or sin. God desires that we would have a right relationship with Him and with the members of our families. Ephesians 4:26 says, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath." It is a good policy to have in your home that you would resolve any anger or hurt before going to sleep at night. It is true that the softest pillow is a clear conscience. God desires that we would keep sweet fellowship between the members of our family so our prayers will not be hindered.

 

Another reward we will see in our lives is the reward of God's blessings. Have you ever seen someone who had God's blessing on their family and wondered how they did it? I can tell you how! They followed His Word and spent time nurturing their family.

 

God promises that if we will follow Him and seek Him above all other things, He will bless us. That may mean giving up hobbies or favorite TV shows to spend time with our families, but God promises to reward us if we honor and obey Him! When we place God and the spiritual condition of our families above our own desires, we will see God's blessings.

 

Do you find yourself struggling to spend time with your family? In our fast-paced society, you almost need to make an appointment with your children to spend time with them! God desires that we would spend time nurturing our children's hearts into a loving relationship with Him. Ask God to help you battle indifference in your home today. Commit to spending time, one-on-one, with your spouse and with your children sometime in the next few days. As we honor the Lord by putting the families He has given us first in our lives, we will see God's rewards in our lives.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 54-56 • Romans 3

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Your Daily Devotional for July 30, 2007

 

July 30,  2007

 

 

Biblical Responsibility

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself."

 

Ephesians 5:22-28

 

 

A young couple was once informed that their Aunt Emma needed a place to stay. They graciously invited her to live with them until she found a place of her own. She lived with them for six years and nagged, complained, and griped about everything. One day, Aunt Emma died. On the way home from the cemetery the husband said, "Honey, if I didn't love you, I would have never let your Aunt Emma stay with us." The wife replied, "My Aunt Emma? I thought she was your Aunt Emma."

 

Much like this young couple, there is a lack of communication in many homes today. Many times the husband is busy working to provide for the family, and the wife is either busy working as well or is busy taking care of the children and the home. When a lack of communication takes place, indifference can come into the home.

 

As we learned yesterday, the devil desires for us to be so exhausted from work that we fail to spend time with our children and teach them God's Word. We are now seeing parents that would rather let the media and entertainment of today raise their children than to actively shepherd their children into a loving relationship with God. As parents, we have biblical responsibilities in our home.

 

The husband has the responsibility of working with the wife to lead his family. We learned yesterday that the husband has been given leadership in the home, and he is responsible for guiding the family spiritually. But God also desires that a husband would team together with his wife to guide and nurture their family.

 

Not only should a husband work together with his wife, but he should also love his wife. As we see in our verses today, a husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. God loved so much that He gave. How much do you love your wife? Do you give her your time, attention, and love? Someone once said, "Love is better displayed than defined." It is vital that a husband and wife work together and love each other in order to guard against indifference in the home.

 

Also, God desires that a wife would encourage her husband and support his role in the family. When the husband and wife are constantly competing, they will have little time to invest in combating indifference in their home. Just as a husband is to submit to God, a wife is to submit to her husband's leadership and seek to encourage him. A wife can encourage her husband through a note, a phone call, or simply an affirming word. As a wife, God desires that you encourage and support your husband.

 

Husband, are you seeking to work together with your wife? Do you show her how much you love and value her? Wife, are you encouraging your husband? Are you supporting him or fighting him? When we realize our biblical responsibilities and seek God's help in fulfilling them, we will be able to guard against indifference in our homes.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 51-53 • Romans 2

 

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Your Daily Devotional for July 29, 2007

 

July 29,  2007

 

 

The Enemy of Indifference

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light."

 

Ephesians 5:6-8

 

 

John Underwood, a former senior sports writer and editor, wrote, "Civilizations do not give out; they give in. They come apart, not in a flash, but by the inch. In a society where anything goes, everything eventually will."

 

There is no question that the last twenty years have brought unprecedented attacks on the home and Christian values in our country. It seems as though our culture has been waging a civil war against the home. The bombardment of lesser values from the media combined with schedules filled with stress have left many husbands and wives indifferent, dazed, and numb toward biblical values and responsibilities.

 

In our society, work has taken precedence over the home. We work so hard each day that we are left spent and lifeless when we come home. But it is often those times when our children need us the most. It is those times when we need to ask God for more energy to teach our children God's Word. The world wants us to be indifferent, but God calls us to be interested in our children's lives. Over the next few days, we will see three areas in which God wants us to guard against indifference. Today we will see that God wants us to guard against indifference toward the biblical roles in the family.

 

First, the husbands must provide leadership in the home. Ephesians 5:23 says, "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." God has set up the man as the head of the house, and He desires that the husband lead the family spiritually. He is not to be a dictator, but a guide.

 

God has placed us husbands in the home as authority figures, but that does not mean we are always right. Sometimes we can think that because God has put us in a role of leadership any decision we make is right, but we are only humans! God still desires for us to seek Him each day for help. We can only lead our families correctly as we seek guidance from God.

 

Wives, in turn, are required to submit to their husbands. This is not a very popular idea in our culture today, and it can be a very touchy subject for some people, yet God shows us in His Word that He desires for wives to place themselves under their husband's authority. Ephesians 5:22 says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." As wives, you are to submit to your husband as you submit to the Lord. A godly wife seeks to complete her husband by submitting to him rather than competing with him.

 

Our world desperately needs husbands who will provide loving leadership and wives who will fulfill the biblical role of completers and supporters of their husbands. When wives submit to their husbands and husbands submit to God, we will be able to guard against indifference in the home.

 

Husbands, are you fulfilling your biblical role of leadership in your home? Are you seeking help from God each day to guide your family spiritually? Wives, are you submitting to your husband and seeking to complete Him? When we recognize our biblical roles in the family and we seek help from God each day, we will be able to be the godly families Christ desires us to be. Spend time with God today and seek His help to guard against indifference in your home.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 49-50 • Romans 1

 

 

 

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Your Daily Devotional for July 28, 2007

 

July 28,  2007

 

 

Experiencing God's Help

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake."

 

Psalm 6:1-4

 

 

A mother and her four-year-old son were looking through an old family photo album. The boy pointed at a picture of a handsome young man with dark, curly hair. He asked, "Who's that?" She told him, "That's your father." The boy looked confused. "Then who is that bald guy who lives with us now?"

 

Over time our physical appearance can change as this young boy realized. Even so, as time goes by, our spiritual condition can change as well. As we learned yesterday, problems or sin can arise in our lives. If we do not take care of these problems, they will pull us away from God. God desires to help us take care of these problems but we must seek Him first. Today we will see the three things that we must do in order to experience God's help.

 

First, we must admit our need for Him. Romans 7:18 says, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." We all have tendencies to fall into sin, yet with God's help, we can overcome those temptations. We must admit that we need God to help us defeat the devil's temptations.

 

Second, we must be willing to lay aside any hindrances to our walk with God. The devil is crafty in devising ways to distract us from living for God. He knows our weaknesses and will often attack those weaknesses to make us fall. There are things the devil will throw our way that will hinder our walk with God.

 

There may be some things in our lives that hinder our walk with God that are not necessarily bad. It may be a hobby, a favorite activity, or something else, but if it takes us away from God and hinders our walk with Him, we must lay it aside. Philippians 3:13-14 says, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Paul realized the importance of laying aside those things which hindered him. We must lay aside those things that hinder our walk with God and seek Him for help.

 

Last, we must hear the truth of God's Word. God tells us in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." When we spend time in God's Word and hear from Him, He will help us overcome our sin and problems.

 

Friend, we must seek God's help for our problems while we still can, before they grow out of control. If we do not seek God's help, the sin and problems will pull us away from Him. Is there something in your life that is pulling you away from God? The devil places things into our lives to distract us from serving God. We must seek God's help to overcome these distractions. Seek God's help today, and let Him help you as you seek to live for Him.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 46-48 • Acts 28

 

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