Cup of Faith - Day 22

 Scripture of the Day

 

Mark 12:28-34 -  ²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[a] 30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^{[b] 31} The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”
³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

 

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is entitled "Power of Simplicity" by Bill Crowder. It is taken from the website "Our Daily Bread" found at odb.org.

Few people take time to study the US Internal Revenue Service income tax regulations—and for good reason. According to Forbes magazine, in 2013 tax codes surpassed the four million-word mark. In fact, the tax laws have become so complex that even the experts have a hard time processing all the regulations. It’s burdensome in its complexity.

The religious leaders in ancient Israel did the same thing in their relationship with God. They made it too complex with laws. The growing burden of religious regulations had increased to the point where even an expert in Moses’ law struggled to understand its core. When one such leader asked Jesus what mattered most in the Commandments, Jesus responded, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

The law of Moses was burdensome, but faith in Christ is simple and His “burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). It’s light because God was willing to forgive us and love us. Now He enables us to love Him and our neighbor.

God’s love in our heart gives us a heart for Him and others.

 

Focus Points of the Day

Question - Have you noticed a change in your heart that when you spend more time with the Lord...learning about him and his great love for you..that you have more of a heart for others?

Action - Focus on having a heart for others today. Make a point of trying to meet needs of others with a joyful heart. It might be a stranger at the store or your own kids at home.

Cup of Faith - Day 21

Scripture of the Day 

Psalm 77:14-20 -  

¹⁴ You are the God who performs miracles;
    you display your power among the peoples.
¹⁵ With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

¹⁶ The waters saw you, God,
    the waters saw you and writhed;
    the very depths were convulsed.
¹⁷ The clouds poured down water,
    the heavens resounded with thunder;
    your arrows flashed back and forth.
¹⁸ Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
    your lightning lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and quaked.
¹⁹ Your path led through the sea,
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰ You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is entitled "Finding God's Pathway" by David C. McCasland from the website Our Daily Bread (odb.org).

The Channel Tunnel opened on May 6, 1994, nearly two centuries after it was first proposed in 1802 by Napoleon’s engineer, Albert Mathieu. Today the 31-mile passage beneath the English Channel allows thousands of people, cars, and trucks to travel by train each day between England and France. For centuries, people had sailed across the Channel until this surprising new way to go under it was completed.

God planned an unexpected route for His people too—one we read about in Exodus 14:10-22. Faced with certain death, either from Pharaoh’s army or by drowning, the Israelites were near panic. 

But God parted the Red Sea and they walked through on dry land. Years later, the psalm writer Asaph used this event as evidence of God’s mighty power, “Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there! You led Your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds” (Ps. 77:19-20 nlt).

God can create roads where we see only obstacles. When the way ahead of us seems uncertain, it’s good to remember what God has done in the past. He specializes in pathways in any circumstance—pathways that point us to His love and power.

Focus Points for the Day

Question - Have you had a time in your life when God had an unexpected route for you?

Action -  Read this prayer today! Thank You, God, for the miraculous ways You have worked in the past. Help me to remember Your power and faithfulness when I can see only trouble and difficulty. The God who created a way for our salvation can certainly see us through our daily trials.

 

Cup of Faith - Day 20

Scripture of the Day 

Isaiah 55:6-9 - “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is entitled "Which Way Do I Go?" from shortdailydevotions.com

One of the biggest questions every follower of Jesus asks is “What is God’s will for my life?”  We can be reassured from Isaiah 55 that as we seek God, He wants to be found and He wants us to know His path.  We are also challenged by the idea that our desires and the paths we would ordinarily follow may often be radically different from what God desires. This scripture has several implications:

• Our perspective is limited. We cannot see anything beyond what our five senses tell us, right here and right now. We cannot see into people’s hearts around us. We don’t know with certainty what the future holds- not even 10 minutes from now. At any given time, we only see a small part of the big picture.
• Our perspective is broken. Due to selfishness, pride, and everything else that dwells in us under the banner of sin, we have a skewed perspective concerning ourselves and the surrounding world. Our inner compass points us towards what we want. The problem is that what we want may not be what is right and best.
• God’s perspective is perfect. God can see everything going on in the world right now. He sees everything going on in every person’s mind and heart. He views everything from eternity past and in eternity future with one glimpse. Additionally, His path is set on everything that is right and best.

Focus Points of the Day

Question - As you pray about God’s direction for your life, do you let go of what you think you know? 

Action - Today imagine your heart and mind as a blank slate...open to the Lord's writing for your life.

Cup of Faith - Day 19

Scripture of the Day

Psalm 34:15 - The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry;

 

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is titled "The Upright Thumb" by Jennifer Benson Schuldt from the devotional Our Daily Bread. It can be found at odb.org.

According to an African fable, four fingers and a thumb lived together on a hand. They were inseparable friends. One day, they noticed a gold ring lying next to them and conspired to take it. The thumb said it would be wrong to steal the ring, but the four fingers called him a self-righteous coward and refused to be his friend. That was just fine with the thumb; he wanted nothing to do with their mischief. This is why, the legend goes, the thumb still stands separate from the other fingers.

This tale reminds me that at times we may feel we’re standing alone when wrongdoing surrounds us. 

In Noah’s day, the earth was filled with violence; every thought in every heart was “evil continually” (Gen. 6:5,11). Yet “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (v.8). Fully devoted to God, Noah obeyed Him and built the ark. The Lord, in His grace, spared him and his family.

We too have been shown God’s grace through His Son Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We have every reason to bring Him honor and stand strong for Him in our daily lives. He is always near, even abiding in us, so we never really stand alone. His “ears are open to [our] cry” (Ps. 34:15).

 

It’s easy to stand with a crowd; it takes courage to stand alone.

 

Focus Points of the Day 

Question - Do you ever feel like you are standing alone in your faith?

Action - In our scripture today we are told that God sees the righteous and hears the cries of the righteous. This can be a great comfort to us when we feel like we are standing alone. When you speak to God today know that he hears your prayer. 

Cup of Faith - Day 18

Scripture of the Day

Joshua 1:5 - No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

 

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is taken from shortdailydevotions.com.

Joshua 1:1-9 is one of the most often quoted, cited, and even commercialized of Old Testament texts; specifically verses six through nine. Here we find the Lord encouraging and emboldening Israel’s new leader using powerful phrases like, “Be strong and courageous,” and that he would “have good success wherever” he went. 

Joshua was to be a great man in Israel, blessed by God and exalted before the people (Joshua 3:7). But when we consider a man or woman of God’s prestige we should never forget about their verse five!

Here’s what we mean: Joshua’s greatness, like Moses’ before him, was to be a direct result of God’s constant presence.

Moses and Joshua may have each grown to be exceptional individuals in their own right, but it was God’s presence that made them great. It was God’s presence that molded them into becoming great leaders of men. God’s presence precedes greatness. God’s presence precedes effectiveness. And it’s God’s presence that precedes anything of eternal worth at all.

Don’t fall for the trap of seeing men and women as great in and of themselves (or seeing yourself that way). Remember, it is by God’s presence and favor first that we can accomplish the work He has set before us. “Be strong and very courageous” is always preceded by a verse five, action is always made both possible and effective by God’s presence first.

 

Focus Points of the Day

Question - Do you fall into the trap of seeing men and women as great in and of themselves?

Action -  Look for your verse five and remain focused on God’s presence in your life today.

Cup of Faith - Day 17

Scripture of the Day

Jeremiah 18:1-6 - This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴ But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
           ⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me. ⁶ He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is from "Our Daily Bread" devotional online odb.org. The title of the devo is called "Broken But Beautiful" by Cindy Hess Kasper.


Recently, my daughter showed me her collection of sea glass. Also known as beach glass, the varied bits of colored glass are sometimes pieces of pottery but often they are pieces of shattered glass bottles.

Originally the glass had a purpose, but then it was casually thrown away and became broken.
If the discarded glass ends up in an ocean, its journey is just beginning. As it is relentlessly tossed about by currents and tides, its jagged edges are ground down by the sand and waves and eventually are smoothed away and rounded off. The result is something beautiful. The jewel-like sea glass has found new life and is treasured by collectors and artists.

In a similar way, a broken life can be renewed when it is touched by God’s love and grace. In the Old Testament, we read that when the prophet Jeremiah watched a potter working, he noticed that if an object was marred the potter simply reshaped it (Jer. 18:1-6). God explained that in His hands the people of ancient Israel were like clay, which He would shape as He saw best.

We are never too badly broken for God to reshape. He loves us in spite of our imperfections and past mistakes, and He desires to make us beautiful.

When melted by trial, we can be fully molded by the Potter....this is the same message that Paul delivers to the church of Corinth. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). God takes the old and broken and fashions it into something new and useful.

Focus Points of the Day

Question - What is something "old and broken" that you need God's help to fashion into something "new and useful"? 

Action - Ask God today to take your broken spots and reshape them into something beautiful. This may be a past mistake, a sin you struggle with or even hurt feelings. Talk to him about today. He has the power to simply reshape your life!

Cup of Faith - Day 16

Scripture of the Day

2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

 

Devotion of the Day

Today's devotion is taken from the website shortdailydevotions.com.

Notice the phrase breathed out? Some translations render it given by inspiration. These phrases come from the Greek word theopneustos, which is the combination of theos, meaning God, and pneuma, coming from the root pneu, which describes a dynamic movement of air (wow that was a long sentence). There are instances where it can be translated to breathe or emit a fragrance as well. So in this simple phrase, breathed out, there is a depth we don’t often perceive. This word theopneustos then is really the picture of God breathing or emitting His own substance into something. Read how Rick Renner, a great author and teacher, described this word:

“Let me give you this very simple example of the word theopneustos. If I hold a deflated balloon that is without form to my lips and breathe into it, the balloon will inflate. The blowing of my breath into that deflated little piece of rubber causes it to fill up so that its true form becomes visible. When the balloon is fully inflated, I tie a knot at the base to trap the air within. Now the air that filled up the balloon and caused it to take form is the same substance that empowers it to sustain its form. It was my breath that created its form, and it is my breath that now sustains it. And if the molecules inside the balloon were analyzed, it would be found that a part of me is held inside in the form of the air I breathed into it.”

Today, the same essence, energy, and power that breathed out God’s Word still resides in it. God Himself breathed upon men who wrote as He moved in and upon them, and the Scriptures took form. Just as Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us, or took form, so God’s life took form in Scripture and will do the same in us.

Expect God’s word to powerfully move and sustain you today.

 

Focus Points for the Day

Question - Do you expect God's word to move you or sustain you when you read it?

Action - Since the devotion talks about God's breath filling the Word like our breath fills a balloon take this opportunity to either imagine or actually blow up a balloon focusing on this concept. It is a powerful image to capture in our minds.