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

February 10, 2023

Friday

Stress and Thanks

Philippians 4:4

¹⁶ Rejoice evermore.

¹⁷ Pray without ceasing.

¹⁸ In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

It’s not a law of physics, but it is a law of common sense: No two objects can occupy the same space at the same time. (There are some exceptions in the realm of molecular matter, but let’s stick to everyday “stuff.”) That makes perfect sense to us and we have no reason to try to prove that idea wrong. We move one thing if we want to set another thing in its place.

Strangely, we are not as convinced when it comes to spiritual things. For example, we are willing to worry about a problem and proclaim our faith in God at the same time. We don’t have a spiritual law that invalidates our effort, but our experience says it’s contradictory to worry and to praise God simultaneously. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, the apostle Paul says there are three things we can do simultaneously since they support one another—rejoice, pray, and give thanks. The prayerful practice of joy and thanksgiving leaves no room for stress or worry.

At the first sign of stress, pray and give thanks to God for the joy that comes from trusting Him in all things. Not for all things, but in all things.

A point to ponder…

The measure of our spirituality is the amount of praise and thanksgiving in our prayer. 
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Read the Bible through in a year

Leviticus 26-27

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 9, 2023

Thursday

All You Need Is Love: Sacrifice

Romans 12:1

¹³ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

John 15:13

When Christians consider the word sacrifice, we often think of the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament. And we think of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world. Christ Himself said that sacrificing one’s life for friends is the greatest demonstration of love.

Most of us will never be called upon to sacrifice our entire life to the point of death. But there are many other ways that we can love sacrificially besides dying. It was the apostle Paul who wrote that Christians are called by God to be living sacrifices. That is, we are to be living examples of the greatest act of love by giving up ourselves for the well-being of another whether in life or in death. We are given countless opportunities to show love through sacrifice every day. We can sacrifice ungodly thoughts and actions for the glory of God. Or sacrifice self-centered time, talent, and treasure for the good of others.

Look today for a way to demonstrate sacrificial love for the sake of God’s glory or the good of another.

A point to ponder…

If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.
C. T. Studd

Read the Bible through in a year

Leviticus 24-25

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 8, 2023

Wednesday

Without Wavering

Hebrews 6: 9-12

¹² That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Hebrews 6:12

The book of Hebrews was especially written to veteran Christians who were battling new threats and troubles (see Hebrews 10:32-36). The writer kept pointing his readers to God’s powerful promises, which we can claim for ourselves just as personally as the original readers. Here are three of them:

• The Promise of His Care: He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.(Hebrews 7:25)
• The Promise of His Coming: For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. (Hebrews 10:37)
• The Promise of His Company: I will never leave you nor forsake you.(Hebrews 13:5)

Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews is also the book that reminds us the just will live by faith (Hebrews 10:38). Every book of the Bible contains great and mighty promises—especially Hebrews—and we need every promise God has given us so we can stand and look up without wavering.

A point to ponder…

Stand fast, without wishing for another trust, and without wavering in the trust you have.

Charles Spurgeon

Read the Bible through in a year

Leviticus 22-23

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 7, 2023

Tuesday

The Delightful Life

Psalm 37: 4-23

²³ The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”

Psalm 37:23

Being a follower of Christ is delightful. Psalm 37:4 tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord, and He will give us the desires of our heart. The psalmist said, “I delight to do Your will, O my God” (Psalm 40:8). We’re to delight in His Word day and night, to delight ourselves in His statutes (Psalm 1:2; Psalm 119:16). Our hearts find delight in the ways of the Lord (2 Chronicles 17:6) and in the abundance of peace (Psalm 37:11). We delight in doing His will (Psalm 40:8).

The best part, however, is knowing that, incredibly, the Lord delights in us! The psalmist said, “He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19). Proverbs 15:8 says that God delights in the prayers of the upright. First Kings 10:9 says, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you.”

Delighting in the Lord puts the worries of life into perspective. We should begin each day with the euphoria of God’s joy, and end each day with the assurance of God’s presence.

How delightful to live such a life!

A point to ponder…

Christ [is] the very essence of all delights and pleasures, the very soul and substance of them.

John Flavel

Read the Bible through in a year

Leviticus 19-21

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 6, 2023

Monday

Behind the Hearth

Jeremiah 20: 7-13

²⁹ Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?”

Jeremiah 23:29

In The Pilgrim’s Progress, the character named Interpreter showed Christian a large fire burning against a wall with a roaring flame. A man was throwing water on the fire, trying to quench the flame. Yet the fire blazed all the greater. Christian asked, “What means this?” Interpreter explained that the devil stands in front of us trying to quench our flame for Christ; but then he led Christian behind the wall where a man with a supply of oil was secretly and constantly feeding the fire.

A lot of things can happen today to quench our motivation and morale, but we have a secret fuel constantly being piped into our hearts by the Holy Spirit—the flammable Word of God. In Jeremiah 20, the prophet Jeremiah grew discouraged and said, “I am in derision daily; everyone mocks me” (verse 7). He wanted to give up, but he went on to say, “But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not” (verse 9).

Make sure your heart is always blazing with fresh truths from God’s Word.

A point to ponder…

No word ever spoken by God to His own was ever yet broken; ‘Tis firm as His throne.

Leander W. Munhall, hymnist

Read the Bible through in a year

Leviticus 16-18

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

Weekend Wisdom

February 4– February 5, 2023

Glimpses of Gold

¹⁰ But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Job 23:10

Job knew suffering. This one man absorbed more pain than most of us ever have to imagine. In a single day, Job lost his wealth and all ten of his children. Then he was stripped of his health and honor. Did he have anything left? Sure, a bitter wife who advised him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die” (Job 2:9) and a handful of self-righteous friends who were “miserable comforters” (16:2).

Yet Job clung to God, saw past the trial, and by faith declared, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (23:10). Refining hurts, but the result: pure gold. Trials draw sin out of our lives, as illustrated in this picture of the refining process. Allow me to give you a little lesson in Gold 101.

First, when gold is being refined, it must be melted. Gold ore is mixed with other metals and impurities when it comes out of the ground. So the goldsmiths crank up the furnaces to 1064ºC (degrees Celsius), the temperature at which gold melts.

The second process is binding. Once the gold is molten, the goldsmiths mix in a special flux to make it more fluid and to bind the impurities together. Then, when they pour the gold into a mold, the impurities, called slag, rise to the top.

Lastly, they separate it. After the gold has cooled, the slag is broken off, and the steps are repeated—sometimes multiple times for greater purity. This process hasn’t changed significantly in thousands of years. Technology hasn’t improved it. God has given us a lasting illustration of His methods with us.

This process of refining gold is what filled Job’s mind as he wrote those words: “when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” Job’s trials were refining him. Your trials are refining you. Do you feel the heat? Do you see the slag rising to the top? The biblical word for slag is sin, and it’s what makes you restless, miserable, fearful, and selfish. Is God drawing the impurities in your life to the surface?

When some people go into the furnace of affliction, it burns them; when others go in, the experience purifies them. If you submit to the Lord, as painful as the crisis may be, your suffering will refine you and make you better. If you resist what God is doing, the furnace will only scorch you.

If the trial is making your faith purer and stronger, if you have not grown bitter toward the Lord but are loving Him more, then no doubt about it, you “shall come out as gold.”

Points to ponder…

• When some people go into the furnace of affliction, it burns them; when others go in, the experience purifies them. What’s the difference?
• What trial are you enduring? How are you responding—resisting or submitting? Growing bitter or better?

Saturday’s Reading

Leviticus 11-13

Sunday’s Reading

 Leviticus 14-15

 I love you!!!

© 2000-2021 B. Michael Goerlich

February 3, 2023

Friday

Going With the Flow

Isaiah 40:11

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Psalm 23:1-2

In the Summer Olympic sport of kayaking, contestants mostly go with the current, navigating through gates. At times they are asked to reverse course, paddle against the whitewater current, go through the gate, then reverse direction back into the mainstream current. Going with the current is easier than going against the current.

The same is true in the Christian life. James 4:6 says that God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud. Humility is going with God’s “current” while pride is resisting His “current.” Think of God’s role as a shepherd of His sheep. One of a shepherd’s responsibilities is to lead his sheep. Following the shepherd is to go with the flow; going one’s own way is to risk danger. The Bible is filled with images of God as a shepherd who leads His sheep. Contented, peaceful sheep are those who follow God into places of rest and provision.

When life gets challenging, check to see if you are following God or not. Even if He leads us into a storm, as long as He is there we can be at rest (Mark 4:37-41).

A point to ponder…

It costs to follow Jesus Christ, but costs more not to.

Anonymous

Read the Bible through in a year

Leviticus 8-10

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 2, 2023

Thursday

All You Need Is Love: Humility

John 17:26

“Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”

John 13:1

Love calls for humility in lots of different ways. Sometimes we have to apologize and ask for forgiveness when we have wounded someone we love. Or we have to set aside our own preferences and priorities in order to help another person accomplish a goal or agenda.

On the last night He spent with His disciples before His crucifixion, Jesus humbled Himself before them. To show them that He loved them right up to the end of His life, He took on the role of a servant. At their last supper together, He took a towel and basin of water and washed their feet. They must have been shocked at this display of servitude. But there were two lessons: One, they should love each other the same way. And two, it prepared them for the love He would demonstrate the next day by dying for their sins.

There are many grand ways to demonstrate love. But none is more powerful than the humility of a willing servant.

A point to ponder…

The surest mark of true conversion is humility.
J. C. Ryle

Read the Bible through in a year

Leviticus 5-7

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

February 1, 2023

Wednesday

Rest in Him

Genesis 2: 2-3

²⁸ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

When the Interstate Highway System began in 1956, commercial interests (gas stations, food stores, motels) were not allowed except at exits. To provide access to facilities along the freeways, rest stops were built. But the rest provided was only temporary; once refreshed, it was back on the freeway again until the next rest stop.

All of us need rest. So when Jesus invites us to come to Him—saying He will give us rest—exactly what kind of rest is He offering? Like the Samaritan woman who wanted to be cured permanently of thirst (John 4:15), we might desire for Jesus to give us perpetual rest such that we never grow weary again. But that is not the rest Jesus offers us. His rest is the same rest described in Genesis 2:2-3. God rested from His creating, not because He was tired, but because He had finished creating an environment in which He and mankind could fellowship together. Our union with God through Christ offers that same rest through renewed fellowship with God.

Have you accepted Jesus’ invitation to enjoy eternal rest in Him? His spiritual rest is never-ending and always available.

A point to ponder…

Our rest lies in looking to the Lord, not to ourselves.

Watchman Nee

Read the Bible through in a year

Leviticus 1-4

I love you!!!

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich

January 30, 2023

Monday

In the Zone

Isaiah 26: 1-4

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

Isaiah 26:3

Quarterback Kirk Cousins has a brain coach who helps him sharpen his focus. During the 2016 off-season, for example, Kirk watched every Star Wars movie with EEG monitors attached to his head. If his brain lost focus, the movie would shut down. To enjoy the film, Cousins had to stay focused on it. In so doing, he was training his mind to stay “in the zone.”

We have to train our thoughts to focus on the Lord. This year is bound to be distracting and distressing, but instead of obsessing about people or politics, let’s keep our thoughts fixed on Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14 says in the New Living Translation: “I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

He keeps those in perfect peace whose minds are focused on Him.

A point to ponder…

We should invest our time, finances, and talents in the coming kingdom and focus on Christ as the center, source, and goal of our lives.

Charles Swindoll

Read the Bible through in a year

Exodus 36-38

I love you!!!

¹www.startribune.com/kirk-cousins/brain-coach-helps-him-cope-with-pressure

© 2000-2023 B. Michael Goerlich