Read: Psalm 42

What voices are you listening to?  So often people tend to listen to the voice in their head that brings them down, discourages them, or paints a distorted view of the world.  That voice is the enemy of God trying to distract us from the hope of God.  Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones commented on this one time when referring to Psalm 42 and he wrote….

“The first thing we have to learn is what the Psalmist learned, we must learn to take ourselves to hand.  This man was not content to just lie down and commiserate himself.  He does something about it, he takes himself in hand…He talks to himself….”   Lloyd-Jones goes on to say, “I say that we must talk to ourselves instead of allowing ‘ourselves’ to talk to us!  Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?”

In Psalm 42 the Psalmist is having one of those moments Lloyd-Jones is referring to.  He seems disturbed, downcast, and hopeless because he is listening to himself.  He even hears people asking “Where is your God?”  He then realizes his error and he begins to speak words of hope from heaven into his life and into his situation.  The Psalmist says, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”  Let’s join him this week and speak words of heavenly hope into our downcast days.

Make It Personal:  If you find yourself listening to negative voices in your mind this week call them out.  Instead of listening to those choose to speak words of heavenly hope with your own voice.  Drown out the darkness with light of Christ and the hope of God. Christian or Worship music can often help us to keep those words in our ears as well.

“There was not a needy person among them.”  Acts 4:34

There are needs everywhere in our world! Often our definition of the word “need” gets caught up in our selfish desires instead of the real needs that are around us. When we say we “need” a new cell phone it often means that we “want” a new cell phone.  For many in our world however the needs are very real.  Some do not have enough to eat, others do not have clean water, and others do not have a place to sleep at night. So, how as followers of Jesus Christ are we responding to the example in Acts 4 of sharing our love, compassion, and resources with others?

It may be money to build a community water well in Africa, it may be a child sponsored through Compassion International, or it may be a neighbor who is in need across the street.  It could even be the person who sits next to us on Sunday morning in church.  Acts 4:32 says, “Everything they owned was held in common.”  This testifies that they were truly “One” together in their life in Christ and looked after each other because of the example of  Jesus.

It’s often hard to live in a “me-first” world and yet keep this wonderful concept of serving others in perspective.  The early Christians had seen the compassion, love, and concern that Jesus had for the needy people around him.  They knew that this was an integral part of their faith in Christ and their testimony for him.  Perhaps the next time we label something a “need” we should read this passage and then ask ourselves if it is really a need or just a want.  We should also think about how our wants could be given up to meet someone else’s needs.  What a wonderful statement to hear… “there was not a needy person among them.”  We may not get to the point that every person in the world will have their needs met but we can definitely do our part in trying.

Make It Personal: Lord Jesus, help me/us to be thankful for the ways you have blessed me/us. Help me/us Lord, to use those blessings to help those who truly are in need!

Read: Colossians 3:12-14

Some years ago when the space shuttle Discovery was getting ready to head into space the mission had to be aborted and grounded.  It wasn’t technical difficulties or lack of government funding, but woodpeckers that caused the delay.  Yellow-shafted flicker woodpeckers found the insulating foam on the shuttle’s external fuel tank irresistible material for pecking. The foam was critical to the shuttle’s performance.  Without it, ice would form on the tank when it was filled with super cold fuel, ice that could then break free during liftoff and damage the giant spacecraft.  The shuttle was grounded until the damage was repaired.

Marriages and other relationships are frequently damaged not only by big things like infidelity , abuse, or abandonment; but by little things as well like criticism, lack of respect, and taking each other for granted.  Those things can peck away at the relationship and keep us from loving, supporting, and caring for each other in a way that is healthy and encouraged in the Bible.  In Colossians 3:12-14 it says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

In the Bible, husbands, wives, and children are all encouraged to love, submit, obey, and serve each other in ways that are not domineering or self-serving.  Looking out for the best of the other person is always a way to foster the love of Jesus in our families instead of picking and pecking away at all of the little things that really don’t matter in the big picture.  To produce a healthy Christ-like environment in our families, marriages, and other relationships we would do well to stop and think about how we are relating to each other.  Is it uplifting and encouraging or is it always deflating and discouraging?  Our words and our attitudes can be very huge things sometimes even though we treat them as the little things.

Make It Personal: Think about ways that you have been affecting your family or marriage with words and attitudes that are not helpful.  Try to catch yourself in the midst of those and change them for the better.  In the end you will be amazed at how it changes the atmosphere of your home and your relationships.

Read: Matthew 5:3-10

In a recent devotional in Our Daily Bread, David H. Roper shared some interesting thoughts from Matthew 5 and the beatitudes on what it looks like to be an authentic Christian.  He writes….

“I applied for a position in a Christian organization years ago and was presented with a list of legalistic rules having to do with the use of alcohol, tobacco, and certain forms of entertainment. “We expect Christian behavior from our employees” was the explanation. I could agree with this list because I, for reasons mostly unrelated to my faith, didn’t do those things. But my argumentative side thought, Why don’t they have a list about not being arrogant, insensitive, harsh, spiritually indifferent, and critical? None of these were addressed.

Following Jesus can’t be defined by a list of rules. It’s a subtle quality of life that’s difficult to quantify but can best be described as “beautiful.”  The Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3–10 sum up that beauty: Those who are indwelt by and dependent on the Spirit of Jesus are humble and self-effacing. 

They’re deeply touched by the suffering of others. They’re gentle and kind. They long for goodness in themselves and in others. They’re merciful to those who struggle and fail. They’re single-minded in their love for Jesus. They’re peaceful and leave behind a legacy of peace. They’re kind to those who misuse them, returning good for evil. And they’re blessed, a word that means “happy” in the deepest sense.  This kind of life attracts the attention of others and belongs to those who come to Jesus and ask Him for it.”  David’s thoughts are good things to consider when we think about what is right and wrong in our world.  Let’s look like Jesus authentically through and through!

Make It Personal: The kind of life described in the beatitudes and in the devotional above attracts the attention of others and belongs to those who come to Jesus and ask Him for it.  Which attributes from Matthew 5 do you especially need in your life?  How can you grow in this?