Your Daily Devotional for November 29, 2007

 

November 29,  2007

 

 

Lost Keys

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul."

 

Deuteronomy 4:29

 

 

Car keys! I tend to think that car keys have legs, and wherever you initially put them, they sneakily use their legs to get up and walk away. Have you ever searched for your car keys, and still could not find them? You continued searching diligently, but for some reason you still had no keys in your hand. The worst part about this scenario is if you were late for work. In this case, you would be opening every drawer, shuffling through every pile of papers, and looking in every pocket just to find those keys. Why? Because you needed those keys to get you to a specific place.

 

When you seek God, do you feel the same way? Do you feel as if you are searching, searching, and searching, but you still don't have what you are looking for? The worst part about this scenario is if you are in the midst of a trial. In this case you would seek, search, and read the Scriptures fervently, because you would need God to help you get through the trial.

 

Some of us may have the "seeking" part down. We may know the best places to search for our keys, and we may know how to pray and read our Bibles each morning, but why the continual feeling of I just can't get a hold of God? Deuteronomy has the answer. God promises that if we seek Him, we will find Him, but under one condition. We are to seek Him with all of our heart and soul.

 

Sometimes we give our hearts to so many different desires, and we only save a small portion of it for God. If we give all of ourselves—our heart and soul—to the dream of success, to the aspiration of a promotion, to the comfort of friends and family, or to the cares of this world, then what is left for God?

 

Giving your whole heart to God when you spend time with Him in the morning is needful, but is it common for you to forget about Him throughout the day? A good way to answer this question is to ask yourself how many times God entered your conversation yesterday. How many times do you speak of Him, think of Him, and slip away to talk with Him? Is God your whole heart's desire? If you want to find Him, then your answer should be yes!

 

God loves you. He does! He watched you wake up and prepare for the day. He is with you right now, hoping and wishing you would seek Him with your whole heart and soul. Losing keys is always frustrating. Not being able to find God is even more frustrating and disappointing. But, the Scriptures give hope. They show us a simple way to find God! May we all seek Him with all of our heart and soul today!  

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Ezekiel 35-34 • 1 Peter 5

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Your Daily Devotional for November 28, 2007

 

November 28,  2007

 

 

Examining, Maturing, and Changing

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

 

Psalm 139:23–24

 

 

What would it take for you to be like a John Wesley, Amy Carmichael, Paul Bunyan, or George Whitefield? What is it that separates the heroic saint from the average Christian? These godly saints had one thing in common—they committed themselves to grow in the Lord. They ignored the pull of mediocrity and dedicated themselves to mature spiritually.

 

You and I have the same potential to be used of God. The questions to ask that differentiate the average from the stagnant are, "Are you growing or maturing spiritually? Are you doing something today to better mature yourself in the Lord?" Carefully consider each question below, examine your spiritual growth, and ask the Holy Spirit to convict you in areas that need to be changed:

 

Am I faithful to spend time in God's Word and in prayer?

Do I smile and have a kind word for people, regardless of how I feel physically?

Do I tell the truth?

Do I ask the Lord for wisdom, knowledge, patience, and longsuffering to handle the problems and circumstances of each day?

Do I have anything (book, tool, money, etc.) in my possession that does not rightly belong to me?

Do I get easily offended and have my feelings hurt when something in the church does not suit me?

Is the reputation or character of another person safe in my hands?

Can I be trusted in an emergency?

Is jealousy in my own heart causing problems with other people?

Have I hurt someone in my church or in my family by needless talk about them or their faults?

Do I have secret sins that I make excuses for?

Do I read the Bible with a goal to find Scripture that justifies my sins?

Do I worry over things that I absolutely have no control over?

 

First John 1:8–10 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." Don't let today be just another day. Before facing your daily routines, determine to make today different! Examine your Christian life, mature in your spiritual walk, and ask the Holy Spirit for strength to help you change to be more like our Lord.

 

Daily Bible Reading

Ezekiel 33-34 • 1 Peter 5

 

 

 

 

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Your Daily Devotional for November 28, 2007

 

November 28,  2007

 

 

Examining, Maturing, and Changing

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

 

Psalm 139:23–24

 

 

What would it take for you to be like a John Wesley, Amy Carmichael, Paul Bunyan, or George Whitefield? What is it that separates the heroic saint from the average Christian? These godly saints had one thing in common—they committed themselves to grow in the Lord. They ignored the pull of mediocrity and dedicated themselves to mature spiritually.

 

You and I have the same potential to be used of God. The questions to ask that differentiate the average from the stagnant are, "Are you growing or maturing spiritually? Are you doing something today to better mature yourself in the Lord?" Carefully consider each question below, examine your spiritual growth, and ask the Holy Spirit to convict you in areas that need to be changed:

 

Am I faithful to spend time in God's Word and in prayer?

Do I smile and have a kind word for people, regardless of how I feel physically?

Do I tell the truth?

Do I ask the Lord for wisdom, knowledge, patience, and longsuffering to handle the problems and circumstances of each day?

Do I have anything (book, tool, money, etc.) in my possession that does not rightly belong to me?

Do I get easily offended and have my feelings hurt when something in the church does not suit me?

Is the reputation or character of another person safe in my hands?

Can I be trusted in an emergency?

Is jealousy in my own heart causing problems with other people?

Have I hurt someone in my church or in my family by needless talk about them or their faults?

Do I have secret sins that I make excuses for?

Do I read the Bible with a goal to find Scripture that justifies my sins?

Do I worry over things that I absolutely have no control over?

 

First John 1:8–10 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." Don't let today be just another day. Before facing your daily routines, determine to make today different! Examine your Christian life, mature in your spiritual walk, and ask the Holy Spirit for strength to help you change to be more like our Lord.

 

Daily Bible Reading

Ezekiel 33-34 • 1 Peter 5

 

 

 

 

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Your Daily Devotional for November 27, 2007

 

November 27,  2007

 

 

Dying to Self

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

 

Galatians 2:20

 

 

We are to worship God as the Creator and the Giver of all gifts. Everything we receive is a gift from Him, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."—James 1:17

 

Just as God gives gifts to His children, so we ought to give Him gifts as an expression of our thanks and worship. The most important gift you and I can give Him is our lives. We can die to self, ask for the Spirit's filling, and let Christ live through us! This sounds simple, right? After reading the poem below, ask yourself if you are sincerely living a life that is dying to self.

 

Dying to Self

When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don't sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ

That is dying to self.

 

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient loving silence,

That is dying to self.

 

When you are content with any food, any offering, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, and interruption by the will of God,

That is dying to self.

 

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works, or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown,

That is dying to self.

 

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances,

That is dying to self.

 

When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself, and humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart,

That is dying to self.

—Bill Britton

 

It is time that we die to self. Will this be easy? Not really. Dying to our selfish nature is hard; it is a constant battle. This is why the Holy Spirit is present, filling us with His power, and giving us strength to deny our flesh. 

 

The best part about dying to self is the result: "…Not I, but Christ liveth in me."  Once we rid ourselves of our own ambitions, desires, dreams, and plans, Christ takes over and makes all things new. Through this process of dying to self Christ is glorified and supremely worshiped. As you conclude your quiet time with the Lord, are you willing to die to self today?

 

Daily Bible Reading

Ezekiel 30-32 • 1 Peter 4

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