Promise for Today - Held Hostage

Love is . . . never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 TLB

One of the best things you can do for your family and friends is to show them mercy. Mercy is love in action. So when you overlook irritations and choose to be kind to those closest to you—even when they don’t deserve it—you’re being merciful. 

Another important way you can show mercy is to let go of past hurts. Do you keep a mental record every time someone in your family does something wrong? Are you quick to remind a friend of how they’ve hurt you? The Bible says that real love doesn’t store up hurts and offenses to be used later for revenge. When you hold on to a hurt like that, you are not being loving.

In today's text, notice how “rude” and “does not hold grudges” appear in the same passage. That’s why people are rude: they’re reacting to an old hurt and taking it out on others. And when they react to a past hurt, they can’t relate to the present.

Leviticus 19:18 says, “Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself” (GNT).

Are past grudges holding you hostage today? Don’t hold grudges over your loved ones' heads. And don’t tell other people about your grudges, either. That’s gossip! Instead, just let them go. Sometimes it’s hardest to show mercy to the people who are closest to you. But when you can let it go and be merciful, you become more like Jesus.

Talk It Over

What grudge have you been nursing? Why? How can you be intentional about letting it go?

There are many steps you can take to find healing from past pain—including seeking biblical counseling and mentoring, praying through Scripture, and obeying the Holy Spirit. What is one step you can take today, however big or small, toward healing?

Why do you think it’s sometimes more difficult to show mercy to your family than to anyone else?
 - written by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

          You sent Your Son to pay for our sins so that we could live in freedom - freedom from the darkness and pain of sin. Freedom from holding onto past hurts and grudges. Your Word tells us that Your mercies are new every morning. Teach us to love and to be merciful like You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - The AAA Walk

Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. 

Genesis 6:9 (NLT)

There’s only one way to get the kind of courage it took for Noah to keep going after receiving such a big dream from God: He had to stay close to God. Hebrews 11:7 says, “Faith led Noah to listen when God warned him about the things that he could not see.”  Noah heard God speak. 

Walking with God is affiliation, agreement, and alignment with His Word and his will. Noah walked with God, and he wasn't afraid of disapproval or rejection or criticism or even a worldwide flood. 

Do you ever wonder why you don’t hear God speak? You hear God by getting near to God. You can't hear God when you're far away. You’ve got to get near to God. That means you spend time with God every day—reading and studying the Bible, talking to him in prayer, being quiet, and just listening to God.

The Bible says that Noah “walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9 NIV). Another translation of this verse says that Noah “walked in close fellowship with God” (NLT). When you walk with someone, that means you are near to them. Walking with someone implies several other things. 

First, it implies AFFILIATION. In other words, you're not ashamed to be with them. You're not worried about telling people you follow Jesus.

Second, the Bible tells us in Amos 3:3 that two people cannot walk together unless they AGREE. When you walk with God, you agree to go where he wants to go and do what he wants you to do. You are obedient to his will.

Third, walking with God means you are in ALIGNMENT. If you're walking with God, you'll be out of step with the world. You’ll do things differently than other people because God’s way is countercultural.

Noah knew that when you’re walking with God, you're near to God, and there is nothing to fear.

Talk It Over

What will you have to give up or take out of your schedule to have more time to get to know God?

In what ways is it obvious to others that you are out of step with the world because you follow Jesus?

What should you do when you start to feel fear creep into your mind?

 - written by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

          I'm reminded of the old hymn, "Just a Closer Walk with Thee." However, in deeper understanding of Your Word, we realize that the closer walk depends on our footsteps, not Yours; our choice to follow IN Your footsteps and walk with You. Not ask You to walk with us. Only You can lead us where we need to be. It's Your plan for our lives that we are to fulfill and You are the WayMaker. Help us to keep our eyes on You at all times. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - To be Different

This is the account of Noah and his descendants. Noah had God's approval and was a man of integrity among the people of his time. He walked with God. 

Genesis 6:9 (GW)

You can't fit in with culture and fit in with God's plan for your life.

Noah did something significant with his life despite his culture, not because of it. He knew the culture’s temptation to distract him from God's purpose for his life. Our world is living for fun, comfort, and entertainment. You can't live for those things and live for God. You can’t judge your success by your possessions, pleasures, or profits. You can't focus on pleasing people and doing what God has called you to do with your life.

In Noah's day, humans had hit bottom morally. Genesis 6:11-12 says, “The world was corrupt in God's sight and full of violence . . . all people on earth lived evil lives” (GW). God saw how broken the world had become, with people turning more and more toward evil. It broke God’s heart. But even then, Noah stood out. When God made the earth, he said it was good, but it didn’t stay that way. Sound familiar? Our culture today is moving toward incivility, much like it did in Noah’s day.

The one bright spot in Genesis 6 was Noah. Verse 8 says God was pleased with Noah, which means Noah was different. All of culture was headed in the wrong direction, but Noah was moving toward righteousness as he followed God. He was living counterculturally.

It's not important to be on the right side of a trend. What’s important is doing what is right. If you're going to be all that God created you to be and fulfill the purpose he created you for, then you must be willing to be different.

Do you want to make a difference in this world? Do you want to make a difference in your family, in your community, in your school, or in your business? Noah fulfilled his destiny by ignoring cultural distractions and refusing to follow the crowd.

You can only make a difference by being different.
- written by Pastor Rick

Talk It Over

What are some specific ways you will go against culture if you follow God in your work or school or family?

How can you know if something pleases God or just goes along with culture?

Who can encourage you to reject the waves of culture when they go against God’s Word? Who can you encourage in this way? Why do we need each other to follow Jesus faithfully?
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Prayer

Father, 

          Give us Your wisdom and strength to live counterculturally. Help us to stay focused and keep our eyes, hearts, and thoughts on what we can do to live pleasing to You. Continue to cross our life paths with those who encourage us to reject the unrighteous ways, and give us divine appointments so we may encourage others to follow You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - The Most Powerful Witness Pt 2 of 2

When you talk, you should always be kind and pleasant so you will be able to answer everyone in the way you should. 

Colossians 4:6 (NCV)

One of the best ways to be a witness for Jesus in a world that’s becoming more judgmental, selfish, and unforgiving is to show mercy to others.

Yesterday we looked at two things you can do to build a lifestyle of mercy: Watch and listen for the needs of others, and don’t be offended by the sins of others.

Here are two more ways to show mercy:

Choose your words carefully. If you’re going to show mercy, there are some things you just can’t say. You can’t be rude or sarcastic. Mercy puts a filter on your mouth and helps you choose words that build people up instead of tearing them down.

Maybe you grew up in a family where it was common to put each other down, and now you’ve developed the same pattern in your own life. How do you break that habit? Ask God for wisdom because “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy” (James 3:17 ESV).

The wiser you become, the more merciful you’ll be to the people around you—no matter how much they disagree with you or dislike you. That’s because the more you understand the hurts of other people, the more likely you are to cut them slack and show them mercy.

Value people’s salvation over keeping rules. Jesus modeled this over and over. A good example is found in the book of Matthew. Jesus says this to the legalistic Pharisees: “You are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things” (Matthew 23:23 NLT).

Jesus didn’t like how the Pharisees prioritized tithing over more important things, such as treating people fairly, showing mercy, and having faith. He wants us to “not neglect the more important things” too. He would rather see our kindness break through to others so that, one day, they will give their lives to him. Jesus is more interested in kingdom building than in rule following.

Every time you show mercy, it’s your greatest Christian witness to the world.
Written by Pastor Rick.

Talk It Over

When you were a child, how did your family model mercy with their words? How did they not model mercy with their words?

What situation do you anticipate being in this week that will require you to extend mercy?

Have you ever struggled to show mercy to someone, but when you learned about their past, showing mercy became easier? Why do you think that was? 

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Prayer:

Father,

          Thank You for the unlimited mercy that You bestow on us. Open our eyes to see as You see, and please open our hearts to love as You love. Help us to never miss the opportunity to show mercy to those in need. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - The Most Powerful Witness-part 1of 2

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:36 (NIV)

Have you noticed how unmerciful and unforgiving our world is? It seems the highest form of humor is the put-down. Even comedians get paid for their sarcastic and cynical jabs at others. In an increasingly unkind world, your greatest Christian witness can be showing people mercy. For when people see you showing mercy, especially considering how rude and mean society has become, they’ll say, “That’s what I expect a Christian to be like—like Jesus.”

Jesus said it, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (NIV).

There are four things you can do to build a lifestyle of mercy. We’ll look at two today and two tomorrow.

Watch and listen for the needs of others. Whose needs? The needs of people in your neighborhood, at your work, and in your family. Mercy always begins with awareness. If you’re not aware, then you don’t care. 

The Bible says, “Look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own” (Philippians 2:4 GNT).

You don’t struggle to be merciful because you’re a bad person. It’s because you’re too busy. Busyness is the number one destroyer of mercy in your life. When you’re moving from event to event and task to task, it’s hard to pay attention to the people around you. And when you’re not looking and listening for people’s needs, it’s nearly impossible to be merciful.

Don’t be offended by the sins of others. You can’t say, “Go clean up your life, and then I will accept you.” No - mercy is unconditional! If you’re going to show mercy to people, you can’t be offended by them. You can’t minister to people if you’re looking down on them.

Jesus wasn’t offended by people’s sins. In fact, he hung out with the worst kinds of sinners. He was even accused of “guilt by association” because he spent time with people who were corrupt, unloving, and manipulative.

This doesn’t mean Jesus approved of everything they did. God doesn’t approve of everything you do, but he accepts you completely. Showing mercy doesn’t mean you say everything someone does is okay. Drug addiction and adultery, for example, are not okay.

But you can still show mercy. You can do for others what Christ has done for you.

1 Peter 4:8 ICB reads, “Most importantly, love each other deeply. Love has a way of not looking at others’ sins.”  - written by Pastor Rick

Talk It Over

Why is mercy so hard to find in the world today?

Who has shown you mercy, even when you didn’t deserve it? What were the circumstances?

Have you ever withheld mercy from someone because you didn’t agree with their lifestyle? If so, how might you react to them differently today?

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Prayer:

Father, 

          Thank You for Your Grace - it truly is amazing! Please help us to fully grasp the miracle of Your mercy and grace toward us. And teach us how to be merciful and full of grace toward others. Forgive us for all the times we missed it. Let us see with Your eyes of love - to recognize needs in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our jobs, and for those in our church. Provide us the wherewithal to be Your hands and feet to those You have placed within our sphere of influence. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - What Exactly is Salvation?

Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 CEV

Because of God’s great mercy, Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10 NIV). He showed you how much you matter to him by sending his Son to die on the cross for your sins. That’s the kind of love God has for you.

You may have heard people say, “I’m saved.” You may even say that yourself when you talk about your relationship with Jesus. But what does it mean to be saved? What happens when you accept God’s gift of salvation? Salvation rescues you from your sinful self. Many people don’t think they need to be saved or “rescued” from anything. And I ask them, “Really? You have no pain in your life? You have no resentment, pressures, guilt, or anxiety?” Everyone has problems they can’t solve on their own. Everyone needs to be rescued. Everyone needs Jesus.

In Psalm 50:15 (GW), The Bible says, “Call on me in times of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor me”.

Salvation reconnects you to God. When you surrender your life to God, Jesus makes peace between you and him. He tears down all the barriers that once separated you from your Creator. There’s a word for that: reconciliation.

Salvation recovers what you lost. What would you like to get back? Maybe you’ve lost your confidence, your joy, your reputation, your dream, or your innocence. Jesus came to recover what you’ve lost.

If you’re familiar with farming, you probably know how damaging a swarm of locusts can be. They can destroy a field of corn in about two hours. What has eaten away at your life? What has destroyed your plans or relationships? Only God can restore it all. Joel 2:25 says, “I will give you back what you lost in the years when swarms of locusts ate your crops” (GNT).

Being reconciled to God also means you will live with him forever. You won’t spend eternity in hell, separated from God; instead, you will have a secure home in heaven! That’s why preparing for the next life is the most important thing you can do in this life. - written by Pastor Rick

Talk It Over
Do you struggle to admit you need God to rescue you? In what ways do you sometimes try to rescue yourself?

What have you lost in life? Take time to thank God for being a God of restoration and ask him to restore “what you lost in the years when swarms of locusts ate your crops.”

If you are already a Christian, in what ways did your salvation reconnect you to God? 

If you haven’t decided to follow Jesus yet, in what areas of your life do you see a need for connection to God? It’s never too late to seek God’s rescue. If you haven’t yet accepted God’s gift of salvation through Jesus, you can do that today. Are you ready to commit your life to Jesus? If so, then pray this prayer:

Father,

           Your Word declares in Romans 10:9-10 ( ESV) that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that You raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. You have promised that if I believe and make You Lord of my life, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and You will accept me into Your eternal home in heaven one day.

“I confess my sin, and I believe that You are God, my Savior. Today I’m turning every part of my life over to You. I want to follow You and do what You tell me to do.

“Jesus, I am grateful for your love, for your sacrifice on the cross, and for your resurrection that makes it possible for me to join you in heaven. I know I don’t deserve it. And I thank you that it is a gift of grace. I want to use the rest of my life to serve you instead of serving myself. I commit my life to you, and I ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.”

Promise for Today - You're Not Alone

Jacob’s sons became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him and brought him safely through all his troubles.

 Acts 7:9-10 (GNT)

When faced with great adversity and hardship, Joseph remained resilient because he depended on God’s presence, no matter where he was. There’s a phrase that’s used five times in Joseph’s story—and anytime something is said five times in Scripture, God wants you to pay close attention. This phrase is essentially, “The Lord was with Joseph.”

Joseph knew that no matter what the setback was, God was with him. God was with Joseph when his brothers threw him in the pit and when they sold him to the traders. God brought him safely through all his troubles. 

Notice that it doesn’t say God spared Joseph from his troubles. It says God brought him safely through.

When you have God’s presence, it doesn’t mean he’s going to keep bad or hard things from happening to you. It means he’s going to bring you through it. If God had spared Joseph from all the terrible things that happened to him, then Joseph would not have made it to Egypt, where he became a powerful leader who saved his people from famine. He would have never had his comeback.

God doesn’t cause your problems, but he can use them for his purposes.

Whatever you’re facing today, God could have taken you around it or kept you out of it altogether. But he’s taking you through it for your good and for his glory. Even when you don’t feel it, God’s presence has never left you. He was with Joseph in the pit, on the path to Egypt, in Potiphar’s palazzo, in prison, and in Pharaoh’s palace. There is no place you can go that he will not be with you too.

There is always something to learn in the setbacks of life. Maybe the only thing you learn in your troubles is how to depend on God’s presence and power—but that means a deeper, stronger faith will be one of your greatest comebacks. - written by Pastor Rick

Talk It Over

Who or what can help remind you of God’s presence when you are going through a setback?

What do you think God wants you to do when you don’t feel his presence?

Think of some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned through the setbacks in your life. How does remembering God’s faithfulness through them help you trust in his presence now?

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Prayer:

Father, 

          I'm reminded of the old gospel song "He'll Do It Again" - we KNOW You can, and You will do it again. You will bring us through all of life's issues when we place our faith and trust in You. It's Your Plan. Your Purpose. And all for Your glory. Because of Your faithfulness - knowing we are never alone - we freely offer You our praise and thanksgiving in the midst of it all. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen