June 14, 2023 

READ: Hebrews 11:32, 35–40 

We do not belong to those who shrink back . . . but to those who have faith and are saved. Hebrews 10:39

Jimmy hadn’t allowed the reality of social unrest, danger, and discomfort to keep him from traveling to one of the poorest countries in the world to encourage ministry couples. The steady stream of text messages to our team back home revealed the challenges he encountered. “Okay, boys, activate the prayer line. We’ve gone ten miles in the last two hours. . . . Car has overheated a dozen times.” Transportation setbacks meant that he arrived just before midnight to preach to those who’d waited for five hours. Later we received a text with a different tone. “Amazing, sweet time of fellowship. . . . About a dozen people came forward for prayer. It was a powerful night!”

Faithfully serving God can be challenging. The exemplars of faith listed in Hebrews 11 would agree. Compelled by their faith in God, ordinary men and women faced uncomfortable and unfathomable circumstances. “Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment” (v. 36). Their faith compelled them to take risks and rely on God for the outcome. The same is true for us. Living out our faith may not take us to risky places far away, but it may well take us across the street or across the campus or to an empty seat in a lunchroom or boardroom. Risky? Perhaps. But the rewards, now or later, will be well worth the risks as God helps us.

— Arthur Jackson

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I’ve recently become familiar with the growing popularity of the concept of “self-compassion”—accepting ourselves as we are and giving ourselves the compassion and grace to heal and grow, no matter how long that takes.

For believers, this idea might feel like common sense. After all, if the heart of the gospel is the truth of God’s forgiving love for ourselves and others (Ephesians 4:32), why wouldn’t we show ourselves grace? But in practice, it’s not uncommon for believers to be incredibly hard on themselves. Thinking it’s their duty to follow God perfectly, they beat themselves up for every little mistake, perhaps believing that being more understanding of their limitations and weaknesses is selfish. In this subtle way, like the older brother in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), we may leave a life of grace behind, striving for perfect obedience while doubting whether God even loves and approves of us (Luke 15:29).

The reality is that if we’re only allowed to experience God’s warm embrace when we’re perfectly obedient, when we haven’t made any recent bad choices, we never will.

This was the lesson Jesus taught to a crowd ready to sentence a woman to death for adultery. He powerfully reminded them that a world without forgiveness for sin isn’t a world in which any of us are safe (John 8:7). Then Jesus looked at the woman. The crowd could only see her guilt, but Jesus saw a person. He saw through her shame and bondage to sin to a person of value and worth. He looked with compassion, and He refused to condemn (John 8:11). By showing her she was unconditionally loved, Jesus also showed her a new way of life was possible.

Taken from “Our Daily Journey”

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June 13, 2023 

READ: Lamentations 1:1, 12–13, 16–20 

How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! Lamentations 1:1

My brothers and our families spent the day moving our parents’ belongings from our childhood home. Late in the afternoon, we went back for one last pickup and, knowing this would be our final time in our family home, posed for a picture on the back porch. I was fighting tears when my mom turned to me and said, “It’s all empty now.” That pushed me over the edge. The house that holds fifty-four years of memories is empty now. I try not to think of it.

The ache in my heart resonates with Jeremiah’s first words of Lamentations: “How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!” (1:1). An important difference is that Jerusalem was empty “because of her many sins” (v. 5). God exiled His people to Babylon because they rebelled against Him and refused to repent (v. 18). My parents weren’t moving because of sin, at least not directly. But ever since Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden, each person’s health has declined over their lifetime. As we age, it’s not unusual for us to downsize into homes that are easier to maintain. 

I’m thankful for the memories that made our modest home special. Pain is the price of love. I know the next goodbye won’t be to my parents’ home but to my parents themselves. And I cry. I cry out to Jesus to come, put an end to goodbyes, and restore all things. My hope is in Him.

— Mike Wittmer

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A Christian leader was once asked: “Who is your greatest enemy?” He replied, “Every morning I see him in the mirror.” Perhaps that’s the real reason why some of us are facing challenges in our marriage, school, work, or church. The person who’s giving us a hard time isn’t our spouse, our boss, or someone else. We are our own worst enemy.

Today’s reading in Galatians 5 explains why. Review the list of relational woes that Paul mentioned in Galatians 5:20-21, “hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, [and] envy.” The general impression created by these words is an absence of peace and joy, and the common feature is a root of self-centeredness or egocentricity.

Paul says that these are “acts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19 NIV). And he goes on to tell us that there’s a better way to live. He wrote, “Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves” (Galatians 5:16). In other words, we need to surrender control. Our conduct needs to be directed by the “Holy Spirit [who] produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

With that said, consider that the word guide in Galatians 5:16 can also be translated as “walk.” Bible scholar Leon Morris comments, “Even though walking was slow and unspectacular, walking meant progress. If anyone kept walking, she or he would certainly cover the ground and eventually reach the destination. So for the apostle, walking was an apt metaphor. If any believer was walking, that believer was going somewhere.”

How can you experience love, joy, and peace in your life? Walk by the Spirit!

Taken from “Our Daily Journey”

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