Promise for Today - Secure Supply

My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

Putting your trust in your bank account, your job, or your investments is a recipe for heartache. Why? Because you can lose all of those things. Where do you find your security?

You need to find security in something that cannot be taken from you: God! If you want God’s blessing on your life, you need to learn to trust in God’s wealth and not your own.

Here’s what the Bible says about God’s wealth: “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 ESV).

Your job may be where you get your income, but it shouldn’t be your security. Your job is a channel, but God is your source. If you understand this, you’ll have so much less stress in your life. Let me say it again: Your job is a channel, but God is the source of your supply.

If you turned on the faucet in your kitchen and no water came out, what would you do? Would you say, “Oh, the world has run out of water! There’s no water coming out of the faucet, so there must not be any left in the whole world”?

Of course not. You’d know the problem is not with the source. There’s plenty of water in the world. The problem is the channel; it’s gotten blocked one way or another.

It’s the same way in your life. If one channel gets blocked in your life and the “faucet” stops working, it doesn’t mean the whole supply has dried up. God can easily turn on another faucet.

God is not limited by your ability and capacity. You may be limited by your own capacity in the work you do. But your job is not what ultimately supplies your needs. Your job is just a channel for God to supply your needs.

If you think that your job is what keeps you financially secure, then you’re going to feel insecure your entire life. You need to understand that God is the source of your supply. You can depend on him to know exactly what you need and how to give it to you.

Jobs may come and go. Bank accounts rise and fall. Economies go up and down. Stock markets can go bull or bear. It doesn’t matter!

No matter what happens, you can trust in God’s wealth for your security.

Talk It Over

What have you been waiting for God to do in your life? How have you responded to the season of waiting?

Think of a time when you had to trust God’s timing. How did he work in your life during that time?

It’s easy to hurry—but God’s blessing often comes through waiting. How can you slow yourself down so that you learn patience and trust?

- by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,
          Strengthen us to endure this season with faith and joy, trusting that You are working all things for our good, even when we cannot see the outcome. Strengthen our hearts to remain steadfast and hopeful. Let us find courage in Your promises and joy in Your presence while we wait for Your guidance and blessings. As we face uncertainty by the world's standards, fill our hearts with peace as we stand on the rock-solid foundation of Your Word. Keep us ever mindful that You are always with us, guiding our steps and providing for our needs, and we are so grateful. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - God's Plan of Defense

I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God; he is my strong protector; he is my shelter. 

Psalm 62:5-7 (GNT)

You’ll always have people in your life who misunderstand you and don’t like you. Others will criticize you, judge you, attack you, and spread rumors about you. In all of these circumstances, your natural tendency will be to fight back. When you’re misunderstood, you’ll want to defend yourself. When you’re attacked, you’ll be tempted to launch your own attack. When people criticize you, you’ll want to criticize them. When people insult you, you’ll want to hurl back your own insults.

Don’t do it! Instead, let God be your defender. Every time you are attacked, criticized, ridiculed, or misunderstood, you have two choices: You can defend yourself, or you can let God defend you. Which will it be? Who do you think can do a better job defending you? You or God? Of course, God can.

Pay attention to this: You’re most like Christ when you say nothing in the face of attacks, lies, and unfair criticism. You’re most like Jesus when you remain silent and leave it in God’s hands. The Bible says, “When [Jesus] was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge” (1 Peter 2:23 GNT). In the face of his unjust conviction and persecution, Jesus did not fight back. When it mattered most, he trusted God to defend him and bring ultimate justice.

King David was criticized and attacked his entire life. In fact, people repeatedly wanted to kill him because they were jealous of him. But David said this: “I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God; he is my strong protector; he is my shelter” (Psalm 62:5-7 GNT).

People will be jealous of your success, and some will even want to attack you. But like David, you need to let God be your protector, your Savior, your defender, your victor, and your shelter.

Let God handle it. Let him be your defense.

Talk It Over

What practical things can you do in a tense moment to keep from speaking or acting in retaliation?

Why does God want you to remain silent when you are under attack? Why doesn’t he want you to try to prove that you’re right?

How does someone’s attack on your character say more about that person than it does about you?

- by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father, 

          You are our refuge and our shield, our strong tower in times of trouble. Stand before us, Lord, as our defender against every seen and unseen danger. Surround us with Your mighty presence, and let no weapon formed against us prosper. When fear tries to creep in, fill our hearts with Your peace that surpasses all understanding. Fight for us, Lord, and let Your justice prevail. We trust in Your unfailing love and rest in the safety of Your hands. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Promise for Today - Making the Choice to Wait

I trust the LORD God to save me, and I will wait for him to answer my prayer. 

Micah 7:7 (CEV)

The Bible is clear that you’ll go through different seasons in life. One season God talks about over and over is the season of waiting. But you can trust that while you’re waiting, God is working. A season of waiting doesn’t mean that God has stopped working. In fact, he’s taking you through that season because he’s using the time to work in your circumstances for your good.

The truth is, you’re going to spend much of your life waiting. And so, if you don’t figure out how to trust God while you’re waiting, you’ll spend a lot of your life not trusting God.

God is never in a hurry; he’s eternal! And as he’s working, he wants you to learn how to trust him.

You might be asking, “When, Lord? When is it going to happen?” And God’s saying something like, “You can trust me with this.”

It’s human nature to say, “Don’t wait! Get things as quickly as you can.” But that goes against God’s blessing in your life—because God’s blessing often comes through times of waiting. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “[God] has set the right time for everything” (GNT).

Are you in a time of waiting? Maybe it’s for school to end. Maybe it's for healing. Maybe it’s for the “right person” to come into your life. Maybe it’s for a marriage to happen, a baby to come, or a new job opportunity to arrive. And you’re frustrated with how slowly things are happening. We’ve all been there.

There’s a promise in the Bible that not only tells you God is working but also how God is working. You need to believe it while you’re waiting: “I am the LORD, and when it is time, I will make these things happen quickly” (Isaiah 60:22 NCV).

That’s how God worked when he sent Jesus into this world. The world waited thousands of years for him to come the first time. And then he came at just the right moment.

We’ve been waiting 2,000 years now for Jesus to come again. When will that happen? At just the right time—God’s time. That’s when he’s going to return.

You can apply this same truth to your time of waiting. Remember that a delay is not a denial. When you think God is saying, “No,” he may just be saying, “Not yet. Will you keep trusting me through this?”

Micah 7:7 says, “I trust the LORD God to save me, and I will wait for him to answer my prayer” (CEV).

That is the kind of faith God blesses.

Talk It Over

What have you been waiting for God to do in your life? How have you responded to the season of waiting?

Think of a time when you had to trust God’s timing. How did he work in your life during that time?

It’s easy to hurry—but God’s blessing often comes through waiting. How can you slow yourself down so that you learn patience and trust?

- by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

           In this hurry-up, instant-fix, same-day online order season of the world we live in, we often lose sight of and patience with a season of waiting. Forgive us for every time we gloss over, 'They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength". Forgive us for every time we equate waiting with being punished or ignored by You. Forgive us for believing that lie of the enemy of our souls to try to make us doubt You and weaken our faith and trust in You. Father, we declare the Truth of Your Word over the facts of our lives. From Psalm 62, Let all that we are wait quietly before You, God, for our hope is in You. You alone are our rock and our salvation, our fortress where we will not be shaken. Our victory and honor come from You alone. You are our refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach us. Father, we choose to trust You at all times.  Help us to stand strong upon Your Word. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Dependent Strength

You bless all who depend on you for their strength.
Psalm 84:5 (CEV)

Are you tired? Maybe you’re running on steam, and at the end of each day, you’ve run out of energy. The reason why is really simple: You’re a human being. Your strength is limited. But God’s strength is unlimited. Your strength is finite. But God’s strength is infinite. Your strength is exhaustible—that’s why you get exhausted! But God’s strength is inexhaustible. God never runs out of energy. God never gets tired.

Psalm 84:5 says, “You bless all who depend on you for their strength” (CEV). Do you want God’s blessing on your life? Then you need to depend on God for your strength.

Hudson Taylor was an influential missionary to China in the 19th century. He was a spiritual giant and a brilliant man. In his old age, he lost his health and became quite weak. He wrote a letter to a friend that said, “I am so weak I can no longer work. I am so weak I can no longer study. I am so weak I can no longer read my Bible. I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in the arms of God like a little child in trust.”

At some point in your life, you may be so weak that you can’t even pray, read the Bible, go to a Bible study, work, or really do anything. What do you do in those moments? You rest in the strength of the Lord—in his arms like a little child—and you trust.

Weakness can actually be a good thing in your life if it causes you to depend on God. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NLT, Paul says, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong”.

That’s the paradox of depending on God: The weaker you are, the more you depend on him. And the more you depend on him, the stronger you get.

Talk It Over

Why is it sometimes difficult to admit or show weakness?

How does your culture perpetuate the idea that you have to be strong all the time?

What does it mean to depend on God’s strength? What would that look like in your life?
- by Pastor Rick
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Prayer:

Father,
          Your Word promises that Your Strength is made perfect in our weakness. Isaiah teaches that when we wait upon You, our strength will be renewed; we will mount up with wings like eagles; we will run and not be weary and walk and not faint. And also that we don't have to fear, for You are with us. You are our God. You promise to strengthen and help us, and hold us up with Your righteous right hand. Fill our bodies with Your healing power and our spirits with unwavering faith. Grant us the peace and comfort found only in Your presence. Teach us to rest in Your timing, to trust Your plans, and to draw from the strength You provide so we can continue living for Your purpose. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Ask for It

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Proverbs 3:5-7 (NLT)

Have you ever had the feeling that something was so very, very right, but then when you did it, it ended up being so very, very wrong? Feelings often lie. There’s an old country song that says, “How can it be wrong when it feels so right?” Are you kidding me? There are a lot of things that are wrong that feel so right in the moment.

After six months in a relationship, you wonder, “What was I thinking?” Just a few weeks into a job, you think, “How in the world did I get caught up in this?” A quick decision that seemed harmless at the time leaves you broken and scarred years later.

If you want to experience fewer dead ends and failures in your life, you need to hear what Proverbs 3:5-7 NLT says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil”.

If you really want God’s blessing on your life, you have to depend on God’s wisdom and not on what your feelings say or what your gut says. In other words, trust in the Lord and not your own understanding.

So how do you get God’s wisdom?

You pray. You talk to God, and you let him talk to you as you read the Bible. That’s how you get his wisdom.

The Bible says in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (NIV).

God doesn’t want you to make foolish mistakes. He wants you to succeed. He wants you to make wise decisions with your time, money, and relationships. The truth is, you’re not waiting on God for his help; he’s waiting on you! It’s like he’s saying, “Hey! I’m here. I’ll give you wisdom, and I’ll give it generously. I want to make you wise. You’ve just got to ask.”

If you want to be blessed, you’ve got to get God’s wisdom. And if you want God's wisdom, you need to ask for it—and then be open to receive it.

Talk It Over

Think of a time in your life when you depended on your feelings to make a big decision. What was the result?

How does God speak to you? How do you know it’s him speaking to you?

Why is it important to spend time with God every day if you want to know his plans for your life?

- by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father, 

          Keep us ever mindful of walking in faith and not feelings. We actively and intentionally choose to believe Your Word over every emotion and circumstance. You are the Rock on which we can stand and not fall. We set You ever before us, and we will not be shaken. We stand in agreement with the writer of Hebrews and declare, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe." In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - More Than a Hope

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 

1 John 5:11-12 (NIV)

If you walked around a park today and asked people if they were going to heaven or hell, you’d likely hear many of them say, “I hope I’ll go to heaven.” But hope just isn’t good enough. I pray that’s not your answer. Your eternal destiny is too important not to know for sure.

You’re not guaranteed another minute on this planet, much less another hour. The most recent statistics show that mortality rates worldwide remain at 100 percent! Death is inevitable—so it’s foolish not to be prepared. Don’t put off the most important choice you’ll ever make.

Our Scripture for today tells us, 1 John 5:11-12, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (NIV). That’s about as clear as you can get. If you have Jesus, you have life. If you don’t have Jesus, you do not have life. You have a choice.

You won’t go to heaven because of someone else’s faith. You’ll never go to hell because of someone else’s choice.

It’s your choice! You get to decide where you’ll spend eternity.

This is why we celebrate Christmas and Easter. If Jesus hadn’t come at Christmas—and then if he hadn’t died and come back to life on Easter—our situation would be hopeless. Nothing you do would matter. You wouldn’t have this choice.

The Bible says, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14 NLT).

The cross is the answer to your deepest problem: your separation from God. Make the choice today to be reconciled to God through Jesus and secure your eternity in heaven.

Talk It Over

None of us are promised another second on earth. How does that reality give more urgency to either your decision to follow Jesus or the decision your friends and family need to make?

Who in your life needs to read the message in this devotional? How can you develop your relationship to a point where you can share this message with them?

If the decision to follow Jesus and have life—or reject Jesus and not have life—is so clear and stark, why is it still hard for some people to choose?

- by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

          Your Word tells us, “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!" We are blessed if we choose to follow Your commands and cursed if we choose to reject them. Father, we want the security of Your Word, Your promise of eternal life with You. Give us the wisdom and Your strength to daily walk out that choice. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Such Good News

Those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged.

John 5:24 Good News Translation

Maybe you’ve imagined a day of judgment that goes something like this: You’re standing outside the gates of heaven in a really long line. You’re slowly moving forward, one step at a time. As you get closer, you start to sweat and wonder, “Am I going to get in? Am I going to make it? Is God going to use a giant TV screen to show every foolish or wrong thing I’ve ever done? Will my every sin be exposed?” 

I have good news for you, promised by Jesus Christ himself: “Those who believe in the Son are not judged” (John 3:18 GNT).

Or, as he says it later in the book of John: “Those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged” (John 5:24 GNT).

Is that good news? Oh, yeah! Jesus’ death and resurrection release you from judgment! 

I have a friend named Buddy who said that, when he was a little kid, his Sunday school teacher taught him that God was sitting in heaven, writing down every bad thing that Buddy ever did. She actually made the class sing a song every week that went, “My Lord is writing all the time. Writing, writing, writing all the time.” Buddy said, “It scared me. I just thought, ‘I’m never going to make it to heaven. My list is getting longer and longer.’”

Is that the way God treats you when you come to him and put your faith in Christ? No! In fact, God is erasing, erasing, erasing all the time. Forgiving, forgiving, forgiving all the time. He’s sitting in heaven, hitting the “delete” button.

Why? Because the Bible says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8 NIV) and love “keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV). If you put your trust in the love of Jesus Christ, your sins are wiped out.

You can count on God to keep his promise: “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NLT).

Talk It Over

What do you think of when you hear people talk about a “day of judgment”?

How does confidence of a future in heaven shape your daily actions and choices?

If God doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, why is it still important to try to do the right thing?

- by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

           We are overwhelmed with Your goodness toward us and the miracle-working power of Your love in our lives. Thank You for transforming our hearts and minds to be holy reflections of You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen