Cup of Faith - Day 29

Scripture of the Day

Deuteronomy 10:9 - Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.

Devotion of the Day

Can you believe that today is our last day for our devotion of the day? It has been a wonderful 60 days together!! Today's devotion is from one of my new favorite sites shortdailydevotions.com.

Have you ever thought about how you will pay for your retirement when you get older? Maybe how long you have to work before your 401k is big enough that you don’t have to work anymore. If you haven’t yet, there will be a day when you do. 

When you are no longer on this Earth, that money you worked hard for and saved up for your whole life will go to your children as an inheritance. It will probably help pay off some debt or buy a new house or car for your kids. 

Inheritances can also rip families apart as they fight for who gets what and how much they get. What a shame that we work so hard and horde so much money for our retirement and an inheritance for our kids when there is the greatest inheritance of all to be fought for as a follower of Jesus.

“When the Lord divided Canaan among the tribes of Israel Levi received no share of the land. God said to him simply, “I am thy part and thine inheritance,” and by those words made him richer than all his brethren, richer than all the kings and rajas who have ever lived in the world. And there is a spiritual principle here, a principle still valid for every priest of the most high God.



The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. 

Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.” – A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Focus Points for the Day

Question - Are you working to leave a financial inheritance for your children or family members? Have you thought about their spiritual inheritance you can have an influence over?

Action - Live in a way today that your children or nieces or nephews will see that Jesus is the most important thing you are living for!

Cup of Faith - Day 28

Scripture of the Day

Psalm 103:1 -Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Psalm 103:1

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is taken from John Piper's daily devotional "Solid Joys".

The psalm begins and ends with the psalmist preaching to his soul to bless the Lord—and preaching to the angels and the hosts of heaven and the works of God’s hands. The psalm is overwhelmingly focused on blessing the Lord. What does it mean to bless the Lord? It means to speak well of his greatness and goodness.

What David is doing in the first and last verses of this psalm, when he says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” is saying that speaking about God’s goodness and greatness must come from the soul.

Blessing God with the mouth without the soul would be hypocrisy. Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). David knows that danger, and he is preaching to himself that it not happen.

Focus Points of the Day

Question - What would it look like to only speak about God's greatness from your lips and not from your soul?

Action - Take time today to look at the greatness and goodness of God.  Bless the Lord with your whole being.

Cup of Faith - Day 27

Scripture of the Day

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 -  ¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin  for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is called "Walking Billboard" from the website Our Daily Bread.

Pete Peterson’s first contact with Vietnam was in the Vietnam War. During a bombing raid in 1966, his plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner. Over 30 years later he returned as US Ambassador to Vietnam. One press article called him “a walking billboard for reconciliation.” He realized years ago that God had not saved his life for him to live in anger. Because he believed this, he used the rest of his life and his position to make a difference by pushing for better safety standards for children in Vietnam.

It is a great responsibility and honor to be appointed as a representative of your country to another. As followers of Christ we are “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor. 5:20). Just as God sent Christ to reconcile us to Himself (v.18), we now have the ministry of “reconciliation” (v.19). Our message is that all can be redeemed in Christ because God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (v.21).

In response to the reconciling love Jesus offers us, we can share that love with others. Let’s take our role seriously. Wherever God places us in this world, He can use us as walking billboards of reconciliation for Jesus Christ.

Good news kept silent is no news at all.

Focus Points for the Day 

Question - How are you a walking billboard for Christ?

Action - As you go out into the community today live in a such a way that others will see that you have been redeemed and live differently!

Cup of Faith - Day 26

Scripture of the Day

Mark 10:26-27 - "And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

 

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion entitled "God the True Hero" and is from the website shortdailydevotions.com.

Best sellers in box offices and book stores are filled with stories that mirror this sentiment. We love stories about the victorious underdog, about the person who is told he or she can’t do something, then works harder than everyone else around him or her and accomplishes it. Movies and novels about events like these are often heartfelt, wonderful and uplifting. But what do they really tell us about ourselves?



In today’s text, Jesus clearly stated that there is such a thing as “impossibility” for man “but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” What this means is that ultimately, God is the Hero. We, as His creation, have a part to play in His story, as little “h” heroes. We are the supporting cast that may have a brave scene or a series of profound lines, but in the real story, the real big “H” Hero is God. He graciously brings us into His wonderful story and gives us far more than front row seats, He gave us His Son and His shed blood.

The great thing about not being the hero is that we never have to worry about not being good enough. The true Hero in our life will never fail us like we can and will fail others. Rejoice in our grand Hero, God, from whom all good things flow, and never forget that not even death could hold Jesus.

Remember, the next time you encounter a story about overcoming the impossible, that we model in small what God is in big.

 

Focus Points for the Day

Question - How does it feel knowing that you don't have to worry about being "the hero"...that you don't have to worry about being "not good enough"?

Action - Make a list today of the IMPOSSIBLE things you would like to do WITH GOD. Talk to him about them today.

Cup of Faith - Day 25

Scripture of the Day

Matthew 1:23 - “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”)

John 10:10-11 - ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is taken from the book "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young. This is written from the perspective of Jesus talking to you.

Learn to enjoy life more. Relax, remembering that I am God with you. I crafted you with enormous capacity to know Me and enjoy My Presence. When My people wear sour faces and walk through their lives with resigned rigidity, I am displeased. When you walk through a day with childlike delight, savoring every blessing, you proclaim your trust in Me, your ever-present Shepherd. The more you focus on My Presence with you, the more fully you can enjoy life. Glorify me through your pleasure in Me. Thus you proclaim My Presence to the watching world.

Focus Points for the Day

Question - Do you ever think about your pleasure in God as something that proclaims who God is to the world?

Action - Try to live today with childlike delight...savor the blessings round you...tell the Lord how much you trust in Him. Allow your pleasure in God to shine to the world around you!

Cup of Faith - Day 24

Scripture of the Day

2 Timothy 2:1-7 - You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ² And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. ³ Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. ⁵ Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. ⁶ The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. ⁷ Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is entitled "Example That Encourages" by Albert Lee from the website Our Daily Bread (odb.org).

The story is told that in the late 1800s a group of European pastors attended D. L. Moody’s Bible conference in Massachusetts. Following their custom, they put their shoes outside their room before they slept, expecting them to be cleaned by hotel workers. When Moody saw the shoes, he mentioned the need to others because he knew their custom. But he was met with silence. Moody collected all the shoes and cleaned them himself. A friend who made an unexpected visit to his room revealed what Moody had done. The word spread, and the next few nights others took turns doing the cleaning.

Moody’s leadership style of humility inspired others to follow his example. The apostle Paul reminded Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Tim. 2:1-2 NIV). 

When we remember that our strength is a result of God’s grace, that keeps us humble. Then in humility we pass on God’s truth by being an example that encourages and inspires others to follow.

Humility is the result of knowing God and knowing yourself.

Focus Points for the Day

Question - Can you think of a leader you have known that lead in a humble way? Did you find that leader easy to follow?

Action - In this devotion we read about one man doing an act of service for others without them knowing it was him. Your challenge for today is to do an act of service for another without them knowing it was you!

Cup of Faith - Day 23

Scripture of the Day

Proverbs 16:9 - The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

 

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is entitled "God Draws Crooked Lines" from shortdailydevotions.com.

“The shortest distance between two points is a straight line”. We all learned this in geometry. The problem is, we often try to apply this geometric principle to our lives. We make our lists, set our goals, map out the path to get there and off we go, praying for God’s assistance in getting us there. Everything’s fine as long as it all goes according to plan.

But the truth is, we don’t live in some 2 dimensional, theoretical plane that adheres to these geometric laws. Life is messy. We live in a world of all kinds of forces. Relationships, finances, health issues, fears, desires, sin, injustice, and all kinds of things pulling us in different directions.
So what happens when our straight line from point A to point B is acted upon by all of these other forces? Our lines get crooked, and we don’t like crooked lines.

When our lines get crooked we get upset, disappointed, mad, frustrated, we play the “what if” or “if only” game. We have regrets, we give up, or we get depressed. Sometimes, we feel guilty and feel like we’ve let God down because after all, God draws these neat and tidy little straight lines from point A to point B, right?

Well, if God’s will is this straight line from point A to point B, what about Joseph? He became the most powerful man in Egypt only behind Pharaoh. But Joseph didn’t chart that course and map that out. He didn’t graduate from Egyptville High School with honors and attend the University of Egypt Law School. Nope, let’s see, he made his brothers mad, got thrown in a pit, was sold into slavery, got a good job, got taken advantage of by a bad woman, got thrown in jail, interpreted a dream, was forgotten, got another good job, became rich and powerful and saved his people. That circuitous route wasn’t Joseph’s plan, but it WAS God’s plan, and it took an entire lifetime.

So, maybe we should stop being disappointed that we haven’t gotten from point A to point B and stop feeling like we’ve let God down. Let’s acknowledge that His ways are not our ways and REST in the fact that, those straight lines… WE DREW THOSE… and GOD DRAWS CROOKED LINES.

 

Focus Points of the Day

Question - Have you ever thought about how God draws crooked lines? What is a time when God drew one in your life?

Action - Take a few moments and sketch out a few big life moments and then mark the "crooked line" stops along the way. It will be amazing to see how God used every step...even when it felt out of the way.