In step

[RiverOL]

Love cannot fail

John 13
"Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love." (v.1)

The love which flows in our hearts when we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit is not a general love but a specific one -- the love of Christ. This love dulls the edge of disappointment and enables us to be invulnerable to many things, not least a lack of appreciation. The poet was thinking of this high degree of love when he wrote: Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! It is an ever fixed mark,That looks on tempests and is never shaken.

Let's follow this thought through a little more deeply. The nine ingredients of the fruit of the Spirit were all exemplified in Jesus' life on earth, and it is the present purpose of the Holy Spirit to engraft them into us as we abide in Christ and maintain a close, day-by-day relationship with Him. When we do this, the very first evidence will be that of agape love. This is not a give-and-take kind of love, a love that is reciprocal; it is a love that descends from above and is showered on the deserving and the undeserving, the agreeable and the disagreeable. Christians who dwell deeply in God find that they are changed from people who just love occasionally, when it is convenient, to people whose controlling purpose is love. Love becomes the organizing motive and power in their lives. Such love "never fails," for it always finds a way of expressing itself -- and when it expresses itself, it is itself the success

Prayer:
O Father, I see that in expressing love, I become more loving even if the other person doesn't accept my love. I cannot fail in love even if love seems to fail in accomplishing the desired end. I am so thankful. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Risk

"Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me [Caleb] alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said".1

Caleb, because of his faith and determination was certainly a risk-taker. If we are not willing to risk losing by stepping out of our comfort zone to fulfill God's will for our life, we will lose all that God has in store for us. Or, as William Arthur Ward expressed it so poetically:

To Risk

"To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails."

As another has said, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The timid soul asks, 'What do I stand to lose if I do it?' The fruit-bearing Christian asks, 'What do I stand to lose if I don't do it?' Real life is lived on the cutting edge."

What will you and I risk for God and his work here on earth?

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, you didn't merely risk your life for me. You gave it willingly. Because you died for me, help me to risk living life to the full for you. Help me to always remember that 'he is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep in order to gain that which he cannot lose.' Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name. Amen."

1. Joshua 14:10-12 (NIV).

 

[RiverOL]

Love must be realized
Luke 23:32-46
"And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him ..." (v.33, NKJV)

How can we ensure that the love which surges in the heart of God surges also in us? We must not strain to love, but allow the love of God to love within us. Dr. W. E. Sangster, the famous Methodist preacher, said that those who best manifest God's love are those who have had a blinding realization of the love of God and whose own love flames in response.

If that is true, then how do we come to have a blinding realization of the love of God? We must go to Calvary. Here the heart of God is unveiled. We may have become used to the phrase "God is love" and after a while it is no more exciting than saying that the sun gives light -- it is simply part of the order of things. There is no wonder in it and no realization either. Then, one day, we stand at the foot of the Cross and the Spirit illuminates the love of God to our hearts in such a way that the scales fall away and we look into the eyes of the world's most aggressive Lover. The thing we knew all our lives -- namely, that God is love -- now takes hold of us and for the first time we realize it.

Have you ever had a moment in your life when you have been blinded by the love of God? If not, this may be the reason why love does not surge in you and through you. Stand at the foot of the Cross today and ask God to give you a blinding revelation of His love. You have known it for so long -- now realize it.

Prayer:
O Father, how can I realize it unless You reveal it to me? As I sit in contemplation before Calvary, let Your love take hold of me afresh. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen

 

[RiverOL]

Good . . . How?

. . . and he will give you
the desires of your heart—Psalm 37:4

When the Apostle Paul wrote the word “good” in the passage below, what did he mean?

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”(Ephesians 2:10).

He certainly meant the works—the things we are to do, the ways we are to serve—are good things, in and of themselves. And, of course, he meant the works are good for others, good for those people we are meant to serve. Going a bit further, though, could it be he also meant the things we are to do, the ways we are to serve . . . are good for us, too?

Of course he did; of course they are.That’s precisely what Jesus was getting at when he said it’s “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) . . . or, as Eugene Peterson translates: “You’re far happier giving than getting” (Acts 20:35 MSG). It’s been nearly two thousand years and that notion is still counterculture. But the truth is . . . to give, to serve, to notice, to care, to love, to offer our strength to others, to live for others, is actually what brings purpose, fulfillment, joy to our lives. It’s how we men actually get to fully-alive and what-you’ve-always-dreamed-of kind of stuff. It’s one important reason why King David sang,

“Delight yourself in the Lord;
and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).



It’s simple. The only way to figure out whether Jesus was right on this or not, is to test it—personally. Someone needs you today. Someone needs you, right now. Look around. Who is it? Reach out. Go ahead and help him or her . . . and then, examine the state of your heart after you do.

 

[RiverOL]

Obeying
Morning Encounter:
Read:
Fig trees may no longer bloom, or vineyards produce grapes; olive trees may be fruitless, and harvest time a failure; sheep pens may be empty, and cattle stalls vacant – but I will still celebrate because the Lord God saves me.
The Lord gives me strength. He makes my feet sure as those of a deer, and he helps me stand on the mountains.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)
Reflect:
Dallas Willard says the goal of Christian spiritual formation is routine easy obedience. We will only choose to obey God if we know him in the way Habakkuk knows him. Habakkuk closes these conversations with God with these memorable words, words which show how Habakkuk’s knowledge of God comes directly from his experience of God.
Respond:
If you knew that you could trust God in the way Habakkuk does, how would it change the way you act today?
Midday Meditation:
You should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, help us to honour your name. Come and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. Give us our food for today. Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others. Keep us from being tempted and protect us from evil.
(Matthew 6.9-13)
Evening Reflection:
In CS Lewis’ fictional book The Screwtape Letters, a senior devil is training a junior devil to lead people away from God (their enemy). At one point he says: 'Do not be deceived, our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do the Enemy’s will, looks round a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.'

 

[RiverOL]

God -- the aggressive Lover
1 John 4:7-21
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us ..." (v.10)
When we perceive how much God loves us, an amazing effect is produced in our personalities -- we begin to love like Him. We cannot help it. Love -- agape love -- is not the fruit of labor; it is a response. When we stand at the foot of Calvary, the place where the love of God is fully focused and caught up, the scales drop from our eyes and our own love flames in response. We love Him because He first loved us.

Teresa of Avila tells how one day, going into her private room, she noticed a picture of our Lord being scourged before His crucifixion. She must have seen it hundreds of times, but in that moment of revelation she saw it as she had never seen it before. She saw God suffering -- suffering for love and suffering for her. The revelation sent her to her knees sobbing in pain and wonder, and when she arose, she was a changed woman. The revelation of Calvary's love was the great divide in her life. She said that she arose with a sense of "unpayable debt" and went out to share God's realized love with others.

Don't try to manufacture love. Linger in the shadow of the Cross. The love of God finds its most burning expression there. Meditate on it. Contemplate it. Remember that heaven knows no higher strategy for begetting love in mortal hearts than by granting us a vision of how much we are loved, a vision strong enough to evoke a response in our hearts -- and by that answering love begotten in us by the Holy Spirit, we are freed and purged and saved.

Prayer

​

Gracious Father, I see that before I can love, I must comprehend how much I am loved. Help me be aware that in my heart I have the most aggressive Lover in the universe. I am eternally grateful. Amen

​

 

[RiverOL]

Carrying the Right Stuff?

Strength is for service—Romans 15:1-2

Carrying burdens is something we do . . . as husbands, fathers, friends . . . as men. It’s hardwired into how God designed us, built us. We carry literal burdens; we carry figurative ones. Very little of our life is not spent carrying some burden or another. We’re made to find purpose and meaning in the carrying.

A problem arises, though, when we carry the wrong ones. It’s easy to do. Sometimes we carry them for selfish and self-serving reasons. Sometimes we carry burdens for others, but only to get credit from the original owners—bosses, co-workers, acquaintances of some strategic value. Sometimes we carry burdens for others simply because we can . . . and because we hate to say, “no.” Sometimes we carry them because we don’t trust that anyone else will, if we do not. Make no mistake: none of these is a good reason to pick up and carry a burden.

God designed us, built us, to be able to lend strength to others, to those in need. It’s one way we fulfill the second of the two great commandments: love other people at least as much as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39). So there’s no question about it, we must carry burdens for others. But, we must also bear the right burdens, and for the right reasons. We mustn’t let burdens that we aren’t meant to carry weigh us down, wear us down, and occupy our strength . . . while the burdens we are meant to carry go unborne.



Look around you today. What real, practical needs do you see? Which of them fit your talents, your gifts? Which ones move your heart, make it rise? Which ones cause your heart to fall? Let that intersection—needs, talents/gifts, heart—guide you. And then move in and lighten someone else’s load.

 

[RiverOL]

Feasting & Festivals
Morning Encounter:
Introduction:
The Christmas season is upon us! Parties are being planned, decorations and lights brought down from the attic, food and drink is being ordered and stocked up. Celebration is an important spiritual practice for Christians, but often overlooked for being too hedonistic. But God calls us to celebrate (with him) and to express thanks, gratitude and delight in his provision and love for us. During this party season, let’s explore the practice of celebration.
Read:
Look toward the mountains,
people of Judah!
Here comes a messenger
with good news of peace.
Celebrate your festivals.
Keep your promises to God.
Your evil enemies are destroyed
and will never again
invade your country (Nahum 1:15)
Reflect:
Throughout the Scriptures we are reminded of the importance of festivals and celebrations throughout the year. These are times where God’s people gathered together to offer sacrifices and thanks and to renew their commitment to him. Like these festivals our seasonal celebrations (including Christmas) are an important part of our calendar, occasions to remember God together.
Respond:
A prayer: Lord as we approach the Christmas season and celebrations, I pray you would help me see through the superficiality of this time and once again reflect on the wonder of God coming to be with us through the birth of your Son Jesus.
Midday Meditation:
‘We engage in celebration when we enjoy ourselves, our life, our world, in conjunction with our faith and confidence in God’s greatness, beauty and goodness. We concentrate on our life and world as God’s work and God’s gift to us.’
(Dallas Willard)
Evening Reflection:
Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing frighten you.
All things pass away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Those who have God
Find they lack nothing;
God alone suffices.

 

[RiverOL]

Always a reason to rejoice
Psalms 105
"Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice." (v.3)

The second fruit of the Spirit is joy. It is no mere accident that "joy" follows the first, love. Joy is a by-product of love. If you concentrate on getting joy, it will elude you. But if you concentrate on getting love, then joy will seek you out -- you will be automatically joyful.

The nine qualities of the fruit of the Spirit are not natural attributes, but supernatural ones. You cannot manufacture them -- they just appear in our lives as we allow the Holy Spirit to have His way within us. I know many Christians who find it difficult to embrace the fact that the fruit of the Spirit is joy. They not only don't expect joy -- they don't want it. One grim Christian said to me once: "At the heart of our faith is a Cross.

This means we ought to be spending our time weeping, not laughing."Well, it is true that there is a Cross at the heart of the Christian faith, and that following Christ involves some rigorous self-denials, but it does not alter -- and cannot alter -- the fact that the fruit of the Spirit is joy. We cannot deny that there is a good deal of suffering in Christianity, but beneath the suffering is a joy that will, if we allow it, burst upward through everything. I am bound to say that if there is no joy, there is no Christianity, for Christianity is inherent joy. The empty tomb takes away our empty gloom. We have an Easter morning in our faith, and that means there is always a reason to rejoice.

Prayer
Father, I am so thankful that Your Holy Spirit applies redemption right to the roots of my being. Thus I can be glad even when I am sad. Thank You, dear Father. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Asking For Help Stinks!

God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble—James 4:6

So, carrying burdens is something for which we are built . . . and something which we are supposed to do, as men. God designed us, built us, intends us—to lend our strength to others, to those who need it. “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). The problem is, most of us read Scripture one way only: that we are to carry burdens for others. Few read it the other way: that we must allow others to carry ourburdens too. We don’t really like that reading. That reading causes our pride to rise up.

Like it or not, though, any one of us can carry only so much. Sure, we can “gut it out” with burdens that are too heavy . . . for a while, at least. Before long, however, they begin to grind us down. Anger, anxiety, burnout, depression and despondency, isolation and loneliness, or rebellion and sin emerge . . . simply because we’re neither designed, nor built, nor intended to carry our burdens alone. “One's pride will bring him low” (Proverbs 29:23).



Is there something you’re carrying that’s feeling too heavy? The burden of being a provider? Fears about finances . . . about work? The burden of children living up to expectations, in school, in athletics? A hidden sin? A hidden addiction? Another burden, perhaps?

If so, look around for that person with whom God intends you to share it . . . your friend, your wife. Go to them today. Die to pride. Let them in. Explain the situation and let them respond. Fulfilling the law of Christ also means that we must, sometimes, surrender our pride, surrender the images we have of ourselves, get over ourselves, and ask for help. We are meant to live free and fast and light . . . and together.

 

[RiverOL]

Thanksgiving (27 November 2018)
Morning Encounter:
Read:
Moses and the Israelites sang this song in praise of the Lord:
I sing praises to the Lord
for his great victory!
He has thrown the horses
and their riders
into the sea.
The Lord is my strength,
the reason for my song,
because he has saved me.
I praise and honour the Lord—
he is my God
and the God
of my ancestors.
(Exodus 15.1-2)
Reflect:
The Israelites witnessed God’s power and intervention as they made their escape from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. They are free from slavery and they celebrate with triumphant song, dance and thanksgiving. Throughout the scriptures, God’s people celebrate as they remember famous victories, miracles and special occasions. If you have time, look up Hannah’s song at the birth of Samuel (1 Samuel 2.1-10), Mary’s response to the angel’s news (Luke 1.46-55) and Zechariah’s prophecy after the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1.68-79).
Respond:
What are you thankful for today? Make thanksgiving the main focus of your prayers today.
Midday Meditation:
We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.”
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together)


Evening Reflection:
Light of light,
Lord of Lords,
God of this world
and the next,
We give you thanks
for the promise of this day,
We give you thanks
for the challenge of this day,
We give you thanks
for the blessings of this day.
Light of light,
Lord of Lords,
God of this world
and the next,
We give you thanks

 

[RiverOL]

Joy -- always there
Psalms 30
"... Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." (v.5)

Joy is a central characteristic of the Christian -- and yet so many know nothing of it. They are under the lash of duty, and not unabashed delight. They are artificial, not artesian. Someone once described such Christians as "creaking in body and soul as they limp along the highway toward glory." They walk the road to glory but they are certainly not walking the glory road.

The word "joy" (Greek: chara) is a strong and robust word. It is not resignation wearing a wan smile. It means a joy that is exuberant and overflowing. The summons to rejoice is sounded no less than seventy times in the New Testament and the word chara occurs close on sixty times. The New Testament is a book of joy. Dr. William Barclay says that joy is the distinguishing atmosphere of the Christian life. He wrote: "We may put it this way -- whatever the ingredients of Christian experience and in whatever proportions they are mixed together, joy is one of them."Even in the first year after the death of my wife, I was wonderfully conscious of Christ's joy quietly breaking through the layers of my sadness and grief. Joy is always present in the heart of a Christian. It may not always be felt or recognized -- but it is always there. And eventually it will break the surface, no matter what our situation or our circumstances. I have always maintained that joy is an inevitable part of the Christian life. Now I am sure. Oh, so very sure.

Prayer:
Father, thank You for reminding me that when joy has its roots in You, then its fruits will eventually appear -- no matter what happens. Eternal honor and praise be to Your wonderful Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Burdens . . . Bad?

Count it all joy, my brothers—James 1:2-4

This age regards the burdens of struggle/hardship/pain as simply bad, to be avoided at all cost—the loss of a job, loss of a career, loss of financial stability, loss of an image, loss of a marriage. So we medicate, distract, deny—anything to make them go away. And, when we just can’t, we direct our frustration toward God: “Where are you?” “How could you allow this?”

But . . . what if . . . these burdens are actually good things? Constructive things? What if they have a purpose? What if they’re not random things, but parts of a program to make us more mature, more focused, more rugged, more fruitful? Jesus taught that God prunes “every branch that does bear fruit,” so that “it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). And, indeed, most men will concede that—while they’ve certainly not enjoyed the struggle/hardship/pain of the past—they do like the people they’ve become as a result. They prefer their post-burden selves to the men they were before.

Maybe we’ve got this upside down. Maybe we need to think differently about struggle/hardship/pain? Maybe the words of James aren’t so crazy?

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).



Are you going through something tough, right now? If not, enjoy this time. If you are, recognize the pain. Talk about it with trusted friends. But don’t try to escape it. Let it do its work. And, trust that it will not last forever. Trust that, after a little while, it’ll go away and you’ll emerge a better version of you.

 

[RiverOL]

MIB III, Time Travel, and The Book of Life

What if you could travel back in time? Where would you go? What would you do? Many would seek to avert a personal wrong suffered and/or given and others would try to invent Facebook before Mark Zuckerberg - right?

And then there are those who would attempt to stop some catastrophic event, like talking Adolf Hitler into becoming a professional ballerina rather than an evil dictator? Or maybe even.

​

Saving someone's life?

That's what Men in Black III's Agent J (Will Smith) has to for his partner Agent K in the long awaited threequel of the MIB series.

It's been ten years since our alien fighting duo have teamed up to save the planet from the oooey gooey interplanetary illegal immigrants from all over the Milky Way, but you'll feel as though it hasn't even been 10 minutes.

And yes, MIB III is back.in time - not only to give us a fresh movie in a summer cinematic sea of spideys, bats, cats, capes, and battleships - but also to capture our imagination and refresh our memories about the golden decade of the 1960s.

The alien antagonist in this film has time warped back to knock off Agent K to prevent the doom of his race, so our legendary Hancock hero Agent J must jump back to save a young Tommy Lee.and perhaps reboot the franchise?

But while you're being entertained by Brolin, Willy and the boys, remember that time travel is not only possible, but has already taken place:​

After this, I looked and saw a door that opened into heaven. Then the voice that had spoken to me at first and that sounded like a trumpet said, "Come up here! I will show you what must happen next." Right then the Spirit took control of me, and there in heaven I saw a throne and someone sitting on it (Revelation 4:1-2).​

This was written nearly 2000 years ago by one of Jesus' best friends named John. He had the phenomenal privilege of being transported into the future and granted a heavenly box

​

seat to see how it all will go down in the end.

In other words, he went forward in time so he could come back in time and warn us about the end of time!

And really, all this time jumping is very similar to the plot in MIB III, because John's message can save not only our own lives for eternity, but the lives of our race as well.

How?

Well, John's record of the future is recorded in the Book of Revelation - the last book in the Bible. It is a swirling array of both glorious and downright disturbing imagery, and for thousands of years Bible scholars have made agonizing attempts to make heads or tails out of his writings. But there is one scene that is not unclear in any way, and it's the most important detail recorded in the entire book:​

I saw a great white throne with someone sitting on it. Earth and heaven tried to run away, but there was no place for them to go. I also saw all the dead people standing in front of that throne. Every one of them was there, no matter who they had once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of life was opened. The dead were judged by what those books said they had done.

The sea gave up the dead people who were in it, and death and its kingdom also gave up their dead. Then everyone was judged by what they had done. Afterwards, death and its kingdom were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Anyone whose name wasn't written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20: 11-15).​

Right there, clear as day, in black and white, the doom of all mankind is forever documented. No matter where or in what time period you existed, if your name isn't "written in the Book of Life," you will spend eternity in hell. No one can save you at that point, and there are no second chances.

​

But you do have a chance to change that destiny. Place your trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and the hand of God will inscribe your name in the book. You still might worry about 2012 or alien invasion or a second hit video by Rebecca Black.but your concerns over eternity can be forever erased.

And if I were you, my main concern would be for my friends and family whose names are missing from the Book of Life. You don't have to jump back in time to save your friends like Will Smith. All it takes is a simple conversation about Jesus Christ and His free offer of salvation to anyone who trusts in him.

Let's get as desperate as Agent J and make THE Cause the center of our lives today!​

While it would awesome to have time travel, it is critical that we focus on the opportunities God gives us in the present to share the gospel. One thing is for sure, we don't want to wake up in the future with the memory of lost opportunities we had to give all we have to THE Cause.

Jesus, we praise You that You are the beginning and the end, and You hold all time in Your hands. Give us a vision of the future that breaks our hearts for those whose names are not in the Book of Life, and may we see each day as a present from You to share Your offer of salvation.

John 3:16-18. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

 

[RiverOL]

Joy: More Than Pleasure
John 16:17-33
"... I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy." (v.22)

One of the reasons why so many Christians do not experience the delights of spiritual joy is because they do not expect to. A woman who came into the experience of Christian conversion: "Strange, but I never associated joy with God before." How sad that many do not expect their faith to make them basically and fully joyful now. They think that joy is reserved for the hereafter. Our Lord pointed out to the disciples that it was for the present.

We can better understand this supernatural joy if we distinguish it from the pleasures of life with which it is sometimes confused. Spiritual or supernatural joy is quite different from pleasure or happiness. A worldling can experience pleasure and happiness but he cannot experience supernatural joy. Indeed, worldly people often pride themselves in knowing how to experience pleasure. Yet pleasure and Christian joy cannot be equated. Look with me at some of the differences. Pleasure depends on circumstances. It requires a measure of health and wealth. It demands that the life conditions be kindly and thus it can be stolen from us by things like lack of money -- or even a toothache.

Christian joy is completely independent of circumstances. It is there in the believer even when "strength and health and friends" are gone; when circumstances are not only unkind but savage. Out of all the miracles I have witnessed in my life, none is more wonderful than the miracle of seeing Christ's exuberant joy burst forth in those who are caught up in pain or persecution. The springs of Christian joy are deep within and can exist, no matter what the circumstances
O Father, how can I thank You enough for imparting into my sadness Your unconquerable gladness. No matter what happens -- all is well with my soul. I am so grateful. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. —Matthew 6:14 NLT
The Message paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 reminds us that love “doesn’t fly off the handle” and “doesn’t keep score of the sins of others.” It “trusts God always” and “always looks for the best.”
Take a few minutes to ask God to search your heart. Have you tended to be irritable or fly off the handle lately? Have you been keeping score of all the ways people have wronged you and offended you?
Now ask God to fill your heart with His Holy Spirit, manifesting love, joy, peace, and the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit in your life (Galatians 5:22-23). And then you must make a conscious decision to let go of any offenses.
How often must you forgive a person? When Peter asked this, he suggested that seven times might be often enough. But Jesus replied, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22 NLT). In other words, it’s time to quit keeping score!

 

[RiverOL]

I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. —Psalm 51:16-17 MSG
What is the opposite of humility? It is arrogance, conceit, self-importance, and pride. This kind of cocky attitude may seem perfectly fine to us, but God deals with pride quite severely: “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble’” (1 Peter 5:5 NIV).
Notice that God actively resists—fights, confronts, and disregards—those who are proud. He takes a dim view of those who have an exaggerated view of their own importance. He opposes those who attribute their successes to their own labors and fail to admit that everything they possess comes directly from the benevolent hand of a loving Heavenly Father.
We can summarize God’s message on humility in five little words: “I’m God, and you’re not!” But look at the wonderful converse of this: He “shows favor to the humble.”

 

[RiverOL]

Songs of Praise
Morning Encounter:
Read:
After the battle was over that day, Deborah and Barak sang this song:
We praise you, Lord!
Our soldiers volunteered,
ready to follow you.
Listen, kings and rulers,
while I sing for the Lord,
the God of Israel.
Our Lord, God of Israel,
when you came from Seir,
where the Edomites live,
rain poured from the sky,
the earth trembled,
and mountains shook.
(Judges 5.1-5)

Reflect:
Deborah was a leader and prophet in the time of Judges and Barak was the military leader. Their song is considered to be one of the most beautiful and ancient pieces of writing in the Old Testament. Its poetry recalls the victory over the Canaanite army in Judges 4. A cloudburst changed the Kishon region into a torrent of rain, sweeping away the army and their chariots. God had delivered the Israelites again and they celebrate in song as the nation once again worships God and places themselves into his hands.

Respond:
Allow songs of thankfulness and praise to be your focus throughout this day.
Midday Meditation:
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All, here in the love of Christ I stand.
(From the hymn ‘In Christ Alone’ by Stuart Townend)

Evening Reflection:
You are Christ,
my Holy Father,
my Tender God,
my Great King,
my Good Shepherd,
my Only Master,
my Best Helper,
my Most Beautiful and my Beloved,
my Living Bread,
my Priest Forever,
my Leader to my Country,
my True Light,
my Holy Sweetness,
my Straight Way,
my Excellent Wisdom,
my Pure Simplicity,
my Peaceful Harmony,
my Entire Protection,
my Good Portion,
my Everlasting Salvation. (Prayer of St Augustine )

 

[RiverOL]

Changing pleasures
Hebrews 13
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (v.8)

We said yesterday that pleasure and Christian joy cannot be equated because pleasure depends on circumstances -- Christian joy does not. Another difference is this -- pleasures come and go. Look back over your life for a moment and think of the changing things that have given you pleasure over the years. Perhaps, when you were a child, it was a bicycle that brought you pleasure. Or a football. Or a doll. Then when you entered your teens, it was something else. A relationship, perhaps -- or a sport. In later years, the things that gave you pleasure changed again. The theatre, books, an armchair ... the things that give us pleasure change with changing years. But the joy of God is constant.

Yet another difference between pleasure and joy is this -- pleasure satiates. It is easy to have too much. And when the point of satiety is passed, a sense of revulsion sets in. The things for which we crave become repulsive to us. Joy, however, never satiates. A Christian says: "We have enough, yet not too much to long for more." A final difference between pleasure and joy is that pleasure always remains superficial. It is like a Christmas party in a home where there is no true understanding of Christmas -- a party, but a party without purpose; a coronation, but no monarch. Joy, however, is deep. It bubbles beneath the personality, no matter what the circumstances. Joy, supernatural joy, is true bliss

Prayer:
Gracious Father, fill me with this joy as I go out to face the world today. For the world is sad and I must not add to its gloom. Help me to radiate Your joy wherever I go. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. —Proverbs 13:20 NLT
Moses’ extraordinary power stemmed from the fact that he trusted God. He recognized how small he was and how big his God was. He acknowledged that his reputation and integrity must be based not on his own efforts, but on God’s love and mercy.

Moses exhibited three of the most important characteristics of humility: 1) He accepted wise counsel; 2) He placed himself under God’s authority, and 3) He was teachable.
Humble people don’t think it beneath them to seek wise counsel from others. Solomon wrote in Proverbs: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers, they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22 NIV).
Take a few minutes to consider whether your life reflects the traits of true humility. Do you accept wise counsel? Are you submitting to God’s authority? Are you teachable? The level of God’s favor in your life will be largely shaped by your answers to these questions.