Weekend Wisdom

March 11 – March 12, 2023

Strength in Weakness

⁹ And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10

How do people do it? How do they withstand the Hurricane Katrina–like blows that pummel their lives? The wind, the waves, the surges of heartbreak, crashing one after another, unrelenting in their destruction. How do these people survive . . . and still lift their faces to the Lord? How can they be so strong when they are at their weakest?

I know the answer. I know it because I’ve lived it. Over the course of my life, some violent storms have hit me. But somewhere in the middle of each storm, God’s voice reminds me that He provides sufficient grace for this trial. And when I am weak, He is always very strong. “Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Note that connection between my weakness and Christ’s power. “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” It’s the hard times and the unhealthy times and the hurting times that reveal my weaknesses. And it’s also during those times that God shows up strong.

We often treat suffering like a game of dodgeball. When anything hard comes at us, we jump out of the way. We duck, dive, and hide. We spend our whole lives trying to avoid anything painful or hard. But there’s a better kind of life—a deeper, more fulfilling kind of life—that isn’t about avoiding pain. It’s about finding God faithful and sufficient in the midst of whatever trials or thorns He allows. There’s something about our weakness that opens the flow of God’s strength. In the midst of a trial, there’s a power coming into your life that you’ve never experienced before, because you never needed it so desperately before. Only when you’re personally weak can you experience this supernatural strength.

When you see a hard thing coming your way, try a different reaction: I may not want this, I certainly didn’t choose it, but I can accept it and be content even now. I know God’s grace is sufficient to get me through it. I’m going to see the power of Christ in my life in an incredible way. I’m weak, but He’s strong.

God never allows a thorn without providing sufficient grace and strength in our weaknesses. Sufficient grace is not just enough to survive, but enough so that we can have supernatural joy in the midst of anything He allows us to go through. That’s strength.

Points to ponder…

• “My grace is sufficient for you,” God promises. What does grace look like? Describe how you’ve received God’s grace during a trial.
• “For when I am weak, then I am strong,” Paul admitted. How are you weak? How does this actually make you strong?

Saturday’s Reading

Joshua 1-4

Sunday’s Reading

 Joshua 5-8

 I love you!!!

© 2000-2021 B. Michael Goerlich

March 10, 2023

Friday

Knowing the Future

Isaiah 46: 8-13

⁹ Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”

Isaiah 46:9-10

In the fall of 2018, Business Insider ran an article on books that have predicted the future. For example, Gulliver’s Travels described a planet with two moons, and 150 years later astronomers noticed Mars had two moons. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea anticipated the invention of the submarine. H. G. Wells predicted the atomic bomb in his 1914 novel The World Set Free. Martin Caidin’s Cyborg envisioned bionic limbs. Science fiction writers use their imaginations to create scenarios that may later match reality.

But only one book predicts the future unfailingly, far in advance, and with a proven track record of total accuracy. God’s quality of omniscience (He is all-knowing) includes every future contingency and event. And He has revealed those future events for our preparation and anticipation. God has foretold the future because He knows it—and He controls it.

We have hope because God is in control of the future, and His every promise anticipates a fulfillment that will eventually culminate in His glorious return. Our hearts should overflow with gladness.

A point to ponder…

God, the architect of the ages, has seen fit to take us into His confidence concerning His plan for the future and has revealed His purpose and program in detail in the Word.

J. Dwight Pentecost

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 32-34

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

March 9, 2023

Thursday

A Biblical Course in Anger Management: Words

Proverbs 15: 1-4

“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”

Proverbs 15:1

Roger Dawson is known as “America’s Premier Business Negotiator.” He’s spent his life training business executives to negotiate good deals in tense settings. His advice: “Be careful what you say at the beginning. If the other person takes a position with which you totally disagree, don’t argue. Arguing always intensifies the other person’s desire to prove himself or herself right.”

Solomon said something similar nearly three thousand years ago. Never has society so needed this advice! Our world is filled with angry words between heads of state, between political leaders, between politicians, between newscasters and commentators. Our electronic media doesn’t help; it often amplifies the anger. If we aren’t careful, the world’s angry spirit can seep into our marriages, homes, and churches.

Proverbs 15:1 teaches us to underreact. If someone approaches you in an angry spirit, you gain the advantage over them by remaining calm. When you argue with someone, it makes them defensive and locks them into their position. That’s not a winning strategy.

It takes the Holy Spirit’s calmness within us, but we should take Proverbs 15:1 as our guide: “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.”

A point to ponder…

Hot heads and cold hearts never solved anything.
Billy Graham

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 30-31

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

March 8, 2023

Wednesday

First Responses

Psalm 107: 1-8

¹⁹ Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”

Daniel 2:19

Sadly, “first responders” is a term we know all too well today. They are the trained technicians who are the first on the scene of a tragedy or disaster: police, medical personnel, fire fighters, wilderness and water rescuers, various military units, humanitarian teams, and others. What is the first response of the first responders? It is to save, to help, to give aid and comfort wherever needed.

Christians might be considered “first responders” in the world as well, offering whatever practical help we can to those in need. But what about our “first response”? Paul gives three good ones in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: rejoice, pray, give thanks. Specifically, how often do we couple prayer and thanksgiving together? When we pray, and God answers, what is our first response? In Scripture, it is often praise before anything else. When Daniel and his three friends prayed for God’s intervention in Babylon, the answer came and Daniel’s first response was to praise God (Daniel 2:17-23).

God is to be praised and thanked in all things, as Paul wrote—but especially when He answers our prayers.

A point to ponder…

When all Thy mercies, O my God, my rising soul surveys, transported with the view, I’m lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Joseph Addison

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 28-29

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

March 7, 2023

Tuesday

The Need for Prayer

Daniel 2: 16-18

¹² And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”

Luke 6:12

Officially, church historians recognize seven ecumenical church councils held between A.D. 325 and A.D. 787. The first, the First Council of Nicaea, met to agree on the nature of Jesus of Nazareth as both Son of God and Son of Man, as both fully divine and fully human.

The humanity of Christ, while at the same time divine, is hard to understand. But thankfully, Scripture gives us illustrations: Like us, Jesus suffered, experienced hunger, required sleep, ate food, and had limits on His knowledge (Mark 13:32). One of the most striking and helpful illustrations of Jesus’ humanity was His prayer life. We might think that, if Jesus was truly divine, He would have had no need to pray for knowledge, guidance, or help. Yet He did, following the example of godly men like Daniel in Babylon (Daniel 2:16-18). Jesus repeatedly said that He only did what the Father showed Him to do (John 5:19), and prayer was His means.

If Jesus, the Son of God, needed to go to His Father in prayer for strengthening and guidance, how much more do we (Psalm 32:6)?

A point to ponder…

Prayer and a holy life are one.

E. M. Bounds

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 24-27

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

March 6, 2023

Monday

I’d Rather Be Hunting

Psalm 78: 70-71

⁷⁰ He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

⁷¹ From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.”

Psalm 78:70-71

When Jason Cruise was pastoring a church, he sometimes felt guilty because he wanted to be hunting. One day it dawned on him God was calling him to minister to sportsmen. In the NIV Outdoorsman Bible, he wrote of the moment, “God’s heart connected with mine and pushed me toward the idea that I could use my passion for hunting to bring him glory…. When I was a young boy stomping through the woods, I had no clue that God was preparing me to hunt with a purpose…or that I’d get the honor of speaking to hunters across the nation…and yet do it all in the name of Jesus.”

The Lord gives us passions, purposes, and life experiences—like hunting or shepherding—to prepare us for the personal and unique ministry He has for us. No experiences of life are wasted. He prepares us to stand up for Him, and every part of your background can fashion you for what He wants you to do today.

A point to ponder…

Monumental changes often occur in simple, quiet moments, and it’s in those few seconds that a person makes a clean break with an old way of living and never looks back.

Jason Cruise

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 21-23

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

Weekend Wisdom

March 4 – March 5, 2023

Awakening Love

⁴ I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.

Song of Solomon 8:4

But why?

Why does God insist on our being married before we can pursue intimate, sexual experiences with someone we love? Does marriage magically flip a switch that causes eros to go from being forbidden and wrong, to being encouraged and celebrated? (Eros is my preferred term for sex. It’s the Greek word describing the physical, affectionate, intimate relationship between a man and a woman.) 

Most people’s plan for how to make their sexual decisions in life is . . . not to have a plan. When the opportunity arises, when the conditions are right, when the person seems special enough, it’ll just happen. Natural as breathing. But that’s not God’s plan. Eros has a right time and a righteous place.

So why does the context of eros matter so much?

• Because God says so.Again and again in the Bible, we’re told this in words similar to these, “Sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints”(Ephesians 5:3). “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). The only way for us to live in clear-conscience relationship with God is to let the authority of His Word be able to take us down. May He forgive us “every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Simply let Him be Lord.

• Because when God says, “Don’t,” He means, “Don’t hurt yourself.”I’ve made this statement countless times, but the expiration date on its truth never runs out. Choose to sin; choose to suffer. Stop thinking you’ll be the first person in human history to find an exception to this rule.

• Because relationships built upside-down don’t last. Physical attraction can never support a lifetime of marriage. So when that’s where marriage starts--even beforeit starts--the structure will need to be torn down and rebuilt if it hopes to survive. The proper way to construct a marriage is by beginning with love for Christ, committing to live under the authority of His Word, and deciding to obey Him. Erosis the topping on the sundae of an awesome marriage, not the first layer that’s sure to melt away.

4) Because relationships that involve sex before marriage are difficult to break. The introduction of eros prior to the commitment of marriage can make you desperate to keep maintaining and pursuing the relationship, even if it’s fraught with trouble. Your family and friends may see the problems, common sense may be waving red flags, but you’ll fight to keep it going in an effort to avoid watching the precious part of yourself that you’ve given to this person become a discarded waste.

That’s why the Song of Solomon says not to “stir up or awaken love” until the time when eros can settle into its appropriate place, where it can function as a generator of pure love and blessing in marriage. To awaken it too soon will only cause it to get ahead of itself and to impose undue control and influence over you.

There’s a reason why God designed eros to work this way. There’s a method to this alleged madness of marital exclusivity. And when we wake up one day to find He’s right--which we will--how much better to let it fall on us with the grateful recognition that God’s ways are best, than with the costly sadness of a life lived outside of His pleasant boundaries.

Points to ponder…

• Spend some time in payer asking God to show you any areas where you resist the authority of His Word.
• Whether you’re married or single, what are some ways you could come into greater agreement with the Lord’s design for eros?

Saturday’s Reading

Deuteronomy 14-16

Sunday’s Reading

 Deuteronomy 17-20

 I love you!!!

© 2000-2021 B. Michael Goerlich

March3, 2023

Friday

Committed to Our Commitments

Proverbs 20: 7-12

²¹ For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.”

Job 34:21

There’s an old folktale about a man who wanted to sneak into his neighbor’s fields to steal some wheat. He waited for a dark, moonless night, and he asked his young daughter to be the lookout. “Call if anyone sees me,” he told her. Just as he was stuffing grain into his apron, the little girl shouted, “Father, someone sees you!” The man dropped his grain and ran to her in a panic asking, “Who was it? Who saw me?” She replied, “Someone above is watching you.”

Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” Maintaining our integrity in times of pressure brings glory to God.

But God isn’t the only one watching us. Others see us more clearly than we think, and we can’t hide our deceit and infidelity forever. Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper.”

We have to be committed to our commitments, to keeping our word and honoring our pledges. A heart of integrity remains committed to the holy and omniscient God who desires honesty in our hearts.

A point to ponder…

Integrity is not so much what we do as much as who we are.

John Maxwell

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 11-13

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

March 2, 2023

Thursday

A Biblical Course in Anger Management: Our Thoughts

Ephesians 4: 25-32

⁹ Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.”

Ecclesiastes 7:9

There’s a time and place to be angry—at the right moment and to the right degree—but our anger is often destructive, for “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:20). We get angry about politics; our traffic snarls exasperate us; and daily life has its own tensions. Eruptions of anger may be understandable, but they can damage our most precious relationships.

The first way of dealing with madness this March is recognizing that the anger isn’t contained in our circumstances; it’s contained in our hearts. The circumstances—a rude caller, a bounced check, a burnt biscuit—may provoke our anger, but the real source is the underlying rage in our own spirits. Anger begins in our minds and thoughts.

The best way, then, for dealing with anger is to fill the mind with God’s Word. If you need some anger management, open your Bible and seriously search out its best verses about anger. Start with Ecclesiastes 7:9 and James 1:20, then check out Ephesians 4:25-32. Find some verses to commit to memory, and let God use His words to bring healing to your angry thoughts.

A point to ponder…

Anger is short-lived in a good man.
Thomas Fuller, Puritan

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 8-10

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

March 1, 2023

Wednesday

Pressing

Romans 5: 1-5

³ And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

⁴ And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

Romans 5:3-4

Recently a student was asked to give a talk at his church, and he spoke of the importance of perseverance, but he didn’t know how to correctly pronounce that word. Throughout his talk, he kept talking about presseverance. His listeners smiled and nodded in agreement because they fully understood that perseverance really is press-everance. It’s the quality of pressing forward whatever comes.

We demonstrate our integrity when we stick with our commitments without wavering, even when grueling times arrive. The apostle Paul emphasized this quality over and over. He told the Romans that the quality of perseverance created hopeful hearts (Romans 5:3-4). He told the Corinthians about his own perseverance as he labored among them and faced great opposition (2 Corinthians 12:12). He told the Ephesians to be “watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). And he reminded Timothy, “But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance” (2 Timothy 3:10).

Let’s be true to our commitments to God and others as we “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

A point to ponder…

Whenever God sends a trial with one hand, He gives grace with the other.

J. Sidlow Baxter

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 5-7

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 28, 2023

Tuesday

Faith in Faithless Times

Habakkuk 3:17-19

⁴ Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”

Habakkuk 2:4

The prophet Habakkuk left us an interesting book. Its three short chapters are essentially a counseling session between Habakkuk and God, for the prophet was troubled by the turbulent times in which he lived. He couldn’t understand why his culture had crumbled and why the streets of his city had become so lawless, so godless. He prayed about it in chapter 1; and in chapter 2, God told Habakkuk to trust Him and to live by faith (verse 4), for “the Lord is in His holy temple,” and one day “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (verses 20, 14).

In response Habakkuk composed a hymn of rejoicing in his third and final chapter, saying, “The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills” (verse 19).

When the way becomes rough, trust Him who is still in His holy temple. He will give you hinds’ feet on high places.

A point to ponder…

May all bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole earth be filled with His glory.

John Hancock, in a proclamation to Massachusetts, October 15, 1791

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 3-4

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 27, 2023

Monday

53 Seconds

Psalm 47

⁸ God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.”

Psalm 47:8

Does today’s breaking news frustrate you? Probably. The world’s headlines are enough to make our heads spin and our spirits sag. But lay aside the newspaper or turn off the cable news and read Psalm 47 aloud. It will only take 53 seconds at a reasonable speed.

The writer tells us to clap our hands and to shout in triumph (verse 1) for God is awesome, the King of the earth (verse 2). He will subdue peoples and nations (verse 3). We can sing His praises because He reigns over the nations and sits on His throne (verses 6-8). He is greater than all the leaders. He is highly exalted (verse 9).

Jesus came to die and rise again, ushering in His kingdom. We are His kingdom now, but one day His kingdom will fully come. Circumstances are aligning for His return and one day soon the kingdoms of this world will be the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

Jesus may come in the next 53 seconds. So let’s not lose a minute in anxious fretting about this world. Let’s hold tightly to the truth of Psalm 47 and remember Who is truly in charge.

A point to ponder…

When He reigns there will be no one to dispute His Word, for He will be the only Potentate.

Harry Ironside

Read the Bible through in a year

Deuteronomy 1-2

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

Weekend Wisdom

February 25– February 26, 2022

When in Doubt, Love

¹⁴ And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

Colossians 3:14

Sometime in the late 1990s, I began the habit of ending each of our worship services by declaring the same three-word benediction to our congregation--“I love you” --and I’ve been doing it ever since. It was a seemingly minor decision at the time, but it’s come to be of great importance to me. Little did I know then, as I know now, just how wonderful those words are to say--and not only to say, but to mean, to hear, and to live.

Because everything about being a Christian is tied up in love. It’s what “binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

The whole atmosphere of the Christian life is love. “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:4b–5), making us His “chosen ones, holy and beloved” (Colossians 3:12). That’s why we can join with Paul in asking the rhetorical question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ” (Romans 8:35)? The answer, of course, is no one. And nothing! Love is who Jesus is; love is what Jesus did; love is what Jesus gave; love is the ocean we are swimming in.

So as those who’ve been totally secured in His inseparable love by His grace and through faith in the Lord Jesus, love is what we’re now called to do--to love others, no matter what.

Each of us, whatever our circumstances or situation, shares at least a portion of our lives with someone who presses us to the edge of our capacity to love. Putting up with what they do to us or demand of us can sometimes feel nearly impossible to handle. But in those exasperating moments when you ask yourself, What should I do about all this?, let the Word of God speak your answer: “Put on love.” Love is what you should do.

But that is what I’ve been doing, you might say. Then keep on doing it! Because love will be the making of you. Whatever sense of relief or revenge you think would be gained by turning away and giving up on this person, will only actually result in regrettable loss compared to what love--and only love--can achieve.

When you don’t know what to do, love.

If we’d ever let God really convince us to live out this conviction . . . if word ever got out that our churches were places where, if someone were to bring all their mess and nonsense to us, they could know we would sit with them, cry with them, pray with them--love them--imagine the enormity of what might happen.

Love is not out there in the world for people to find. Love is not what they’re accustomed to experiencing. So, if it’s not here, with us, where is it? If it can’t be found in the church, coming from God’s beloved children, where else can anyone go to get it?

If you want to be a person whose influence can help change people’s lives, and if you want your church to become a powerhouse of blessing and impact, the choice is very clear.

What to do?

You should love.

Points to ponder…

• Who in your life is hardest to love?
• What would it look like for you to choose to increase your love for him or her?

Saturday’s Reading

Numbers 33-34

Sunday’s Reading

 Numbers 35-36

 I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 24, 2023

Friday

It’s Not Complicated

Psalm 119: 1-16

⁸ This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

Joshua 1:8

The primary lesson of life with God is not complicated: His Word (His leading and instruction) is given for our blessing and our benefit. God honors those who honor Him and follow His instruction in this life.

After the Exodus from Egypt, Israel was in the wilderness on the way to the land God had promised them. But when they approached Canaan, fear overtook them; they failed to believe God’s promise of blessing in their new homeland. So that generation spent the next forty years in the wilderness until their children reached adulthood and could enter the land (Numbers 13–14). When that time came, Joshua, their new leader, reminded them of the primary principle of success in walking with God: Follow His Word in all things (Joshua 1:8).

Today, life in this world can seem like a wilderness, but the principle of success remains the same: Trust the Lord; obey His Word; follow His direction in all things.

A point to ponder…

The Bible is the book of my life. It’s the book I live with, the book I live by, the book I want to die by.

N. T. Wright

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 31-32

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 23, 2023

Thursday

All You Need Is Love: Forgiveness

Colossians 2:13

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”

Mark 2:5

The hardest part of forgiving another person is acting like the offense never occurred. But that is what forgiving someone means—restoring relationships to the status they enjoyed before the offense took place. It’s one thing to say, “I forgive you,” but it’s another to act like all the effects of an offense are completely erased. After all, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, love is known by its actions more than its words.

Jesus faced this dilemma when He healed a paralytic man. When He told the man that his sins were forgiven (and by extension, he was healed), He was criticized. He was accused of blaspheming by saying He had the authority to forgive sins—something only God can do. So, Jesus proved He had the authority to say, “I forgive you,” by doing something harder. He healed the man’s paralysis. After all, as Jesus explained, actions speak louder than words (Mark 2:8-11).

We cannot go through life without being hurt by others, so we should learn to forgive. Even more, we should practice demonstrating our forgiveness by our acts of lovingkindness. Look for opportunities to do both.

A point to ponder…

Forgiveness is to be set loose from sins.
G. Campbell Morgan

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 28-30

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 22, 2023

Wednesday

“But I Did Not”

Proverbs 10: 9-17

¹⁵ But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.”

Nehemiah 5:15

When Nehemiah became governor of the land of Judah, he and his family refused the common practice of having their meals provided from government funds. While there may have been nothing wrong with taxpayer-funded food for the nation’s leader, former governors had abused the practice. Their excessive lifestyles had burdened the people, and Nehemiah wanted to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing. So he paid his own way because he feared God and wanted to protect his integrity for God’s sake.

Are there areas of your life in which you should draw some lines, erect some barriers, build some fences, and establish some standards? Any habits you should change? Our society has no established moral code, and the standards keep changing. We must not let the world keep rubbing out the lines we draw for ourselves. The Bible calls us to personal holiness, and our integrity comes from the standards we adopt.

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within” (Romans 12:2).

A point to ponder…

Everyone with integrity has drawn some lines and said, “Everyone else did these things, but I did not do so.”

David Jeremiah

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 26-27

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 21, 2023

Tuesday

Hear, O Israel

Colossians 3: 12-14

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called…

³ Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Ephesians 4:1, 3

Shema Israel—“Hear, [O] Israel”—are the first two words in the Hebrew prayer known as “the Shema.” They are found in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” The prayer was central to the Jewish faith as the nation entered Canaan, a land filled with multitudes of “gods” The Shema affirmed that the God of Israel was one God, not many. To violate that belief was to violate the integrity of the Jewish faith.

The apostle Paul echoed the Shema in his call to Christian unity: “There is one body and one Spirit . . . one hope . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). To disrupt the unity of the Body of Christ with dissension or anger is to violate the integrity of God: Father, Son, and Spirit. Because God is one, His people must be one in “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (see Ephesians 4:3).

Let the words of Richard Baxter (below) inspire your thinking today about love and unity.

A point to ponder…

In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity.

Richard Baxter

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 23-25

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 20, 2023

Monday

Praising God for Us!

Psalm 139: 13-18

¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”

Psalm 139:14

The city of Corinth was one of the most modern and beautiful cities in the world in its day. As one of the best-located cities on earth for shipping, great masses of people were coming and going all the time. It was also famous for its sexuality, sensuality, and depravity. The entire city worshiped Aphrodite, the goddess of love and pleasure and the patron goddess of prostitution. Her temple sat on the acropolis looking down on a city in the grip of runaway sexual immorality.

The omniscient Engineer has designed our bodies with breathtaking complexity, and we should praise Him for that. Psalm 139:14 says, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous.”

Have you made an inventory and praised God for how He created your hands, feet, lungs, heart, brain, ears, kidneys, ribs, and eyes? What about your circulatory system, digestive system, nervous system, and immune system? Perhaps if we were more thankful for our bodies we’d be better stewards of them, taking care of them for His purposes and using them for His glory.

A point to ponder…

The basic chemicals in our body, can be found in the “dust of the ground.” However, these chemicals cannot arrange themselves into cell tissues, organs and systems. This can only happen with an input of intelligence.

Joseph Paturi

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 21-22

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

Weekend Wisdom

February 18– February 19, 2023

Reality Check

³ For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

⁴ But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

1 Thessalonians 5:3–4

How many individual words do you think are being spoken all around the face of the globe in this precise moment?

Based on a current world population of 7.5 billion people, multiplied by an average of 16,000 words spoken per day, divided by waking hours and other basic standards of time measurement . . . the estimated total is somewhere around 2.1 billion words per second.

That’s what being spoken, right this second.

Billions of words.

But this number is about much more than math. It’s actually of substantial importance. Because if you could drain away the small talk from each of those conversations, boiling them down to their basic messages, here’s what nearly all those words are communicating: “There is peace and security.” The cacophony of ceaseless human chatter is collectively saying what the Bible summarized years ago as the hypnotic drumbeat of earthly life. As far as the future goes, as far as any need for God is concerned, people whose understanding is darkened are saying, I’m just fine. I’m good. I’ll be safe. Nothing to worry about--I’ve got this.

In other words, “peace and security.”

Yet a day is coming--“the day of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) --when those who are not in Christ will realize the falsity of the comfort they’ve been banking on. This first judgment the lost will experience consists of the shock of instantly awaking to the stark totality of their error. All opinions to the contrary will suddenly be rendered inaccurate in the fearful realization that (1) there is a God, (2) it’s not me, (3) a record of my rebellion exists, (4) I pay the penalty for it, and (5) God’s wrath is falling--now.

In that moment, “peace and security” will prove to have been a traitorous mantra.

But this does not have to be your future. “You are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.” We know full well--from Scripture as well as personal experience--that Christians are certainly not exempt from suffering in this life. But there is zero chance--absolutely zero--that God will leave His children on earth to experience what the day of the Lord will be like. Those who turn from their sin and embrace Jesus Christ by faith will not be standing under the deluge when God’s wrath toward human evil starts raining down.

So don’t fall for the easygoing nonchalance of a “peace and security” posture toward life. Don’t be tempted to find your peace and security in anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ. If the apostle Paul could say things like, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12b), and, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5), and, “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27), then each of us should assume a need for reflecting often and honestly on the condition of our souls.

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10). Wake up from whatever spiritual slumber may be tugging you down toward laxity, and face reality while there’s still time to embrace Jesus Christ--the only source of peace and security that won’t ever disappoint, from now into eternity.

Points to ponder…

• Under what conditions do you most often recognize a tendency toward spiritual apathy and casualness?
• How would you share this message with someone who seems unruffled about their spiritual danger without Christ?

Saturday’s Reading

Numbers 16-17

Sunday’s Reading

 Numbers 18-20

 I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 17, 2023

Friday

Wait With Certainty

Isaiah 40:31

¹⁴ Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Psalm 27:14

We wait a year for a birthday or an anniversary. We wait nine months for babies to be born. We wait days to attend a sporting event. We wait minutes for a taxi to arrive. In all that waiting, we rarely wait anxiously because we are usually confident in the outcome. The baby will be born, the game will begin, the taxi will arrive, the celebration will be held. Certainty of outcome can make the difference in how we wait.

In life, sometimes we are anxious about the future because we aren’t certain of what it holds. And we too often wait anxiously; our heart grows weak with uncertainty and fear. But God knows the future; indeed, His knowledge is unlimited. We may not know the future, but we know Who does. Therefore, we have every reason to wait with courage, certainty, and confidence. God promises to give courage and strength to those who wait upon Him.

Are you looking to the future, unsure of what it holds? Trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6). Receive His strength for your heart as you wait upon Him.

A point to ponder…

The great secret of a right waiting upon God is to be brought down to utter impotence. 
Andrew Murray

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 14-15

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 16, 2023

Thursday

All You Need Is Love: Compassion

John 3:16

³⁶ But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

Matthew 9:36

The northwest part of England—the so-called “hill country”—is sheep country. A stranger traveling in those parts might wonder at the large number of sheep grazing seemingly unattended, on the rugged fells (hills). But a closer look will reveal miles of dry-stone walls that provide boundaries to their grazing, and color markings that indicate their owner. Hill-country sheep do not lack for a shepherd; they are far too valuable.

And so are the people of God whom the Bible calls sheep. As Jesus moved throughout the towns of Israel, preaching and ministering, He saw people who seemed to be wandering through life without a divine Shepherd. And “He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered” (Matthew 9:36). These were the very people He came into the world to save, people who were disconnected from the love of God. And Jesus’ compassion prompted Him to action—He raised up workers to take His reconciling Gospel into the world.

Let your love manifest itself in compassion and let compassion result in action on behalf of those in need.

A point to ponder…

Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.
Francis Schaeffer

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 11-13

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 15, 2023

Wednesday

In Quietness and Confidence

Isaiah 30: 1-15

¹⁵ For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”

Isaiah 30:15

Isaiah was dismayed when he saw the royal delegation leaving Jerusalem for Egypt. King Hezekiah was sending envoys to form a military alliance instead of trusting God’s protection. Hezekiah hadn’t asked Isaiah’s advice, nor had he sought God’s counsel (Isaiah 30:2). Instead, the king’s diplomats treaded through the desert (verse 6) on a mission doomed to failure (verse 7). Isaiah advised the caravan to turn back, saying: “In returning and rest you shall be saved.” He told them to turn around and return home, to rest in God’s protection, to quiet themselves, and to trust God’s promises. That, he said, would be their strength (verse 15).

That’s our strength too.

We can’t solve all the problems facing us; and sometimes the more we try, the deeper the mess. We find little help in “Egypt.” But in returning to the Lord and resting in Him, we find deliverance. And in quietness and confidence we find strength.

A point to ponder…

This quietness and confidence is… an abiding frame of mind, an all-enduring and an all-pervading spirit…. Indeed it’s priceless value lies in the fact that it pervades the anxious activities of life.

George Wilson, Edinburgh preacher of an earlier era

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 8-10

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 14, 2023

Tuesday

The Blacksmith’s Advice

Colossians 1:24-29

²⁷ To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”

Colossians 1:27

One of Finland’s most unusual preachers was Paavo Ruotsalainen, who was born into a poor family in 1777 and became a farmer. As a young man, he sought a deeper Christian life. Hearing about a distant blacksmith known for his godliness, Ruotsalainen traveled many miles to meet him, begging for food and lodging along the way. As they conversed, the blacksmith, Jacob Hogman, told the lad he lacked an inner awareness of Christ. From that point, Ruotsalainen focused on the truth of Christ within him—the hope of glory. In the years that followed, he traveled incessantly throughout Finland, sparking revival in many areas. It’s said he traveled more miles in Finland than the apostle Paul covered in all his missionary journeys.¹

Take it from the blacksmith. To have peace and power in our lives, we must focus our minds on Christ and saturate them with His Word. Colossians 3:1-2 says, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above.”

Christ in you—the hope of glory!

A point to ponder…

One thing you lack and therewith you lack all else: the inner awareness of Christ.

Jacob Hogman

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 7

I love you!!!

¹Siglind Bruhn, Saints in the Limelight (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2003), 305-307.

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 13, 2023

Monday

Good Thoughts

Philippians 4: 8-9

³ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

Isaiah 26:3

When you are pouring a gallon jug of water into a larger container, you get that “glug glug glug” effect as the water leaves the narrow neck of the gallon jug. That happens because water and air are colliding in the neck of the jug. Water is leaving and air is rushing in to fill the empty space.

Our minds are like that gallon jug; they have to be filled with something. The more we fill our mind with godly thoughts, the less room there will be for ungodly thoughts. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, when our minds are focused on God we will be at peace (Isaiah 26:3). There will be no room for its opposite—worry and anxiety. The apostle Paul went further with a list of things to meditate on: things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8-9). That’s an expansive list—lots of things to choose from; lots of ways to remain free of worry.

Empty your mind of negative, ungodly thinking and let the good and godly thoughts rush in. There is no better source for good thoughts than the Word of God.

A point to ponder…

When anger enters the mind, wisdom departs.

Thomas à Kempis

Read the Bible through in a year

Numbers 5-6

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

Weekend Wisdom

February 11– February 12, 2023

Outrageous Counting

² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

James 1:2

I’d like to nominate James 1:2 as one of the most outrageous statements in the Bible: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” Count it all . . . joy?! Those are the words James wrote, through the inspiration of God’s Spirit, but from our perspective, it doesn’t add up.

Perhaps that’s because we tend to confuse joy with happiness, and this verse does not say, “Be happy about your trials.” Happiness is a fleeting, circumstantial, in-the-moment, excited feeling--an emotional high.

Joy is very different. You can’t make yourself joyful. Joy comes only from God. Joy is a supernatural delight in the Person, purposes, and people of God.

Have you ever sensed God at work in you or seen His obvious hand in a situation and knew in your heart that God did that? Have you ever stared up into starry space and sensed your soul being eclipsed by the God who made it all? What you felt in that moment was joy in who God is.

Joy is also something we exchange as brothers and sisters in Christ, a oneness of heart. We all belong to the same Master, follow the same Book, are filled with the same Spirit. We can experience a moving, connected, wonderful resonance with people we don’t even know; that too is joy.

A supernatural delight in the purposes of God means you know there’s something bigger going on here, something so far beyond the temporal that’s unfolding according to God’s plan. And you can take joy in God’s purposes.

Only Christ-followers would ever consider trials joy. If life is only about here, now, and your happiness, then trials would make zero sense and be worthless. If all you are living for is the next fifteen minutes, then unfortunately those fifteen minutes of happiness are almost over, and you would have good reason to resent a fly in that ointment. But those of us who are committed to a higher purpose and see this short life in its eternal perspective can get our thinking to a place of joy--no matter what.

Points to ponder…

Let’s get very practical with this. If you want to quit the pity party and get back on the joy train, then try this method. On four notecards, write the following:

What happened to me? On the first card, write the details of your trial.

Why am I here on earth? On the second card, write the purpose of your life, according to God’s Word.

How can this trial advance that purpose? On the third card, write what you can do today to advance the purpose of displaying the superiority of a life lived in God.

What resources can I access this moment to help me? On the fourth card, inventory all that’s available to you as a follower of Christ: the strength and comfort of the Holy Spirit; the Word of God giving you wisdom to direct your path; supportive Christian relationships; the grace of God, which allows you to begin again when you fail. Think through how you can draw down upon those resources as you plow through this trial.

Then keep going over these cards so that God’s purpose in your life will not be lost. This is a practical exercise to help you consider your trials joy.

Pray

Saturday’s Reading

Numbers 1-2

Sunday’s Reading

 Numbers 3-4

 I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich