“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.”
1 Peter 5:6 (NLT) When you’re successful, it’s much easier to fall hard than it is to maintain your success. We tend to get proud and forget about God, and success crumbles when we do that. If you’ve found yourself in that situation, the first step to take is absolutely critical. The Bible says, “Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you” (Revelation 2:5 NIV). If you’re getting proud, you must repent. That means you change your mind. You go from thinking one way about your life to thinking another way. Why repent? Because humility is a choice. We’re never told in Scripture to pray for God to make us humble. It’s something you choose for yourself. The Bible says, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor” (1 Peter 5:6 NLT). Here’s the difference between pride and humility: Pride is when you accept credit for things that God and other people did through you and for you. Humility doesn’t mean thinking of yourself less. It means thinking of others and God more. If you have experienced some success and are beginning to get prideful, then repent--today! Change your perspective about who you are and where your success comes from. The Bible says, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12 NIV).
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“Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant.”
Daniel 2:16 (NLT) When you’re asked to do something that’s impossible, you start by refusing to panic and by getting all the facts. Then, you ask for more time. Why? Because your biggest temptation in the midst of crisis is to be impulsive. You’re typically not thinking rationally. You’re thinking emotionally. You want to make a quick decision. But it’s more important to make the right decision than a fast decision. A wrong decision is wrong, no matter how quickly you make it. So step back, take a deep breath, calm down, and talk to God. Daniel did this when the king asked him to interpret a dream (after the king ordered the killing of the first few people who tried): “Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant” (Daniel 2:16 NLT). He gives us a great model for dealing with a high-pressure situation by asking for more time and then talking to God about it. You’re more likely to make a better decision when you don’t rush to make a quick one. Take your time. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV) When we follow Jesus, we will face trouble. It’s guaranteed! You’ll be harassed, persecuted, rejected, and ridiculed because of your faith. But that’s not the end of the story. The Bible says that Jesus endured the torture of the cross “for the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV). You, too, must focus on your future reward if you want to get through your temporary troubles. Imagine the scene at the end of history. Everyone who has ever lived will one day kneel before Jesus Christ. Everyone will say, “Jesus is Lord.” Some will praise him because they’ve done so all their lives. Others will praise him in judgment to themselves because they’ve denied him all their lives. Every professor who ridiculed you because of your faith and every friend who tried to convince you to abandon your faith will one day praise Jesus. Every entertainer who made a mockery of God’s name and every politician who opposed his ways will praise him (Philippians 2:9-11). Everyone will one day bow before Jesus. At that time God will also reward you for staying true to him despite the harassment and criticism you faced for your faith. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12 NIV). Whenever you face persecution, you’re in the same category as Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Moses. Just like those great prophets of old, you’ll one day experience an eternity with God, full of unimaginable joy. The harassment, persecution, rejection, and ridicule you face now for Jesus’ sake won’t compare to the reward of eternity with God. Put your hope in this truth so that when life gets tough, you can endure. “I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.”
Isaiah 48:10 (NLT) What’s got you tied up? What’s limiting you from being all God meant for you to be? God can use the trials in your life to eliminate what’s holding you back. No one likes those times when things get stressful, deadlines are coming too fast, and expectations seem unreachable. But sometimes God uses heat in your life to burn off the stuff that’s tying you down. You just need to trust God through the pain. God says in Isaiah 48:10, “I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering” (NLT). It’s unlikely you’ll literally go through a fiery furnace in your life, but you’ll go through the furnace of suffering many, many times. God promises to refine you with that fire. It’s like silver and gold. When it’s heated up, all the impurities are burned off. Then, you’re left with 100 percent gold or silver. If you ask a silversmith how to know when silver is pure, he’ll tell you it happens when you can see your reflection while looking into the cauldron. God knows you’re purified when he can see his own reflection in you, because you look more like Jesus Christ. Only the fire can do that in your life. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
James 1:22 (ESV) Do you know what the most difficult part of Bible study is? Personal application. What is application? It’s when you take the truth of God and apply it to your life. Satan doesn’t care if you study the Bible—as long as you don’t apply it to your life. Jesus taught the opposite: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:17 NIV). Just knowing God’s Word isn’t enough. You experience God’s blessings when you do what God’s Word says. The Bible tells us in James 1:22: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (ESV). So how can you become a doer of God’s Word? How can you learn to apply it to your life? When applying Scripture to your life, you might write out the application. Applications can have four characteristics. First, an application needs to be personal. That means it’s about you—not your spouse, kids, neighbor, or coworker. Your life is the only one you can change. So your application will start with the word “I,” not “we” or “you.” Second, it needs to be practical. It should be something you can actually do. It might be an entire project or a simple action step. Third, it needs to be possible. If you choose an application that you aren’t actually able to do, you’ll get discouraged. For instance, you might say, “I’m going to read through the entire Bible every single day.” That’s highly unlikely, if not impossible. Instead, you can choose to read one chapter from the Bible every day. Fourth, it needs to be provable. This means that it needs a deadline. Take Philippians 2:14 for example: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing” (ESV). You might write this personal application: “Lord, I need you to help me not to grumble at work. I’m going to stay accountable by asking a friend to check with me next week to see if I did this.” So, the next time you read a passage of Scripture, don’t be satisfied with just studying the passage. Instead, apply it by making it personal, practical, possible, and provable. Then you’ll start experiencing the blessings God promises to people who are doers of his Word. “I am determined to obey you until I die.”
Psalm 119:112 (TLB) Life is a marathon, not a 50-yard dash. And God wants you to commit to obeying him like a long-distance runner commits to a marathon. He wants you to be in it for the whole race. Psalm 119:112 says, “I am determined to obey you until I die” (TLB). Have you made that choice? Are you determined to obey God until you die? Psalm 119:33-34 says it well: “Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I’ll wholeheartedly obey” (TLB). “Just tell me what to do…” Do you ever feel like God doesn’t tell you what to do? That might be because you’re not doing what he’s already told you to do. Philippians 3:16 says, “We should continue following the truth we already have” (NCV). Until you obey what God has told you already, he’s not likely to teach you more things. God does not play games. You might say, “God, tell me what to do and then I’ll decide whether to do it or not.” But that’s not how God works. God wants you to say, “I will do whatever you tell me to do, no matter what.” That’s faith. Simply accumulating knowledge isn’t faith. Faith has to include action. In fact, the Bible says, “Faith without actions is dead” (James 2:26 GNT). What is your faith like? Are you refusing to follow some of God’s instructions and finding that your faith is dead? Or are you obeying what God has told you and growing in your faith? If you’ve realized there are some areas in your life where you’re not obeying what God has told you, maybe pray something like this: “Father, there are many areas in my life where I know what you want me to do, but I just haven’t done it. And I’m sorry. Please forgive me for my disobedience. I realize that it was a lack of faith. I wasn’t trusting that you knew best. I ask you to give me the strength to follow your directions immediately, completely, joyfully, and continually for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.” It doesn’t matter where you’ve been in the past. From today forward, you can commit to obeying God for the rest of your life. You won’t regret it. “Obey [God] gladly.”
Psalm 100:2 (TLB) When you think about obedience, is “joy” a word that immediately comes to mind? Probably not. But the Bible tells us to obey God joyfully. And as it turns out, there are lots of great reasons for being joyful as we obey God. First, look at what the Bible says about joyful obedience. Psalm 100:2 says, “Obey [God] gladly” (TLB). Another psalm says, “I enjoy obeying your demands” (Psalm 119:16 NCV). And later in that same psalm, you can read: “I find pleasure in obeying your commands” (Psalm 119:47 GNT). Over and over again you find the writers of these psalms instructing us to obey God gladly, and then saying that he actually enjoys obeying God’s commands. How is obeying God enjoyable? Here are three reasons: 1. When you obey God, you’ll have fewer problems. God made you and gave you the Bible—his instruction manual for life. If you follow his instruction manual, you’ll have fewer problems. It’s like putting together a bicycle—if you follow the instructions, the whole process will go more easily. If you follow life’s instruction manual, you’ll have fewer problems and find life more enjoyable. 2. You’ll eventually be rewarded in heaven and see God’s promises fulfilled. “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12 NLT). 3. When you love God, you naturally want to obey him. The Bible says, “Loving God means doing what he tells us to do”(1 John 5:3 TLB). Think of a marriage relationship. The longer two people are married, the more they know what offends the other. And they start choosing not to do those things so they won’t annoy the one they love. When you walk with the Lord through many years, you realize all he has done for you and how good he has been to you. So you want to offend him less. You enjoy keeping his commands. You do it because you love him. Do you know how God measures your love? It’s not by what you say. God measures your love by your obedience. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15 NIV). That’s how we prove our love. So start obeying God today. As you grow in your love for God, you’ll enjoy obeying his commands more and more. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do nit lean on your own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5 (ESV) Some people have a hard time giving attention to small parts of something for any significant period of time. What about you? Are you detail-oriented? Do you know who is? God. God cares about every little detail of life. Have you ever stopped to look closely at nature? Take a flower, for example. Each flower is filled with so many intricate details. And think of the human body. God says that he even numbers every hair on your head. He cares about the details. Because he is a God of detail, he not only wants you to obey him, he’s also interested in the details of how you obey. God wants you to obey him in the right way and for the right reasons. There’s an example of this in the Bible. A man named Naaman was ill with leprosy. He went to the prophet Elisha and asked what he should do. This is the message Elisha sent: “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed” (2 Kings 5:10 NIV). Naaman was insulted. He had expected a dramatic healing from the prophet—not bizarre, humiliating instructions. But his servants talked him into following God’s detailed instructions, even though he didn’t understand them. The result? “So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy” (2 Kings 5:14 NIV). Do you think there was special power in the water? Absolutely not. Naaman was healed because of his obedience. He had faith. He obeyed God completely. When you obey God completely, you’re showing that you love him and trust him. When you love someone, you often do something the way they want it done just because you love that person. And when you trust someone, you do something how they want it done because you trust they know best. So when you love and trust God, you do things the way he wants them done. You obey him completely. Faith is trusting God in the details of life. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own” (The Message). “LORD, you gave your orders to be obeyed completely.”
Psalm 119:4 (NCV) God wants you to obey him. That’s a pretty basic truth that you probably wouldn’t disagree with. But did you know that God has specific ways he wants you to obey him? One of those is that he wants you to obey him completely. God doesn’t want you to pick and choose which instructions you’ll follow. He wants you to be totally obedient. Psalm 119:4 says, “Lord, you gave your orders to be obeyed completely” (NCV). To obey God completely, you need to understand two truths. First, God’s standard of right and wrong has never changed, and it never will. Culture changes. Popular opinion changes. But truth does not change. If something was wrong 10,000 years ago, it’s still wrong today; if it was right then, it’s right now. Truth is eternal. Second, God has a bigger perspective than you do. He sees things that you can’t see. When you try to see from God’s perspective, that’s like an ant trying to see from your perspective. It’s just not going to happen. You’re not capable of seeing like God sees. So you need to trust him. James 4:11 says, “Your job is not to decide whether [God’s] law is right or wrong, but to obey it” (TLB). Humanity’s oldest temptation is to doubt God’s Word. When Satan came to Eve in the Garden of Eden, he said, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 NIV). When you’re tempted, Satan is trying to mess you up in the same way. You find yourself thinking, “I know the Bible says not to do this, but is this really for me?” Or you might ask yourself, “Did God really say that?” Just like he did for Eve, Satan will tempt you to doubt God’s Word. And when you’re tempted to doubt, remember these two truths: God’s truth never changes, and God’s perspective is bigger than yours. You just need to trust and obey. “I will quickly obey your commands.”
Psalm 119:32 (NCV) The Bible says a lot about obedience. God wants you to obey him so he can bless you. His instructions are for your good. But he also tells you how he wants you to obey. One of the most important things you learn about obedience in the Bible is that you must obey God immediately. Psalm 119:32 says, “I will quickly obey your commands” (NCV). Later on, that psalm gives the same message in a different way: “Without delay I hurry to obey your commands” (Psalm 119:60 GNT). When God tells you to do something, don’t procrastinate. Don’t make excuses. Don’t drag your feet. Just do it. Do it now. “But what if I don’t understand why God is asking me to do a particular thing?” you might ask. You don’t have to understand something to benefit from it. I don’t understand how heavy planes fly in the air, but I travel in them. I don’t understand how computers work, but I sure like email. You don’t have to understand God’s commands to obey them and benefit from them. Children often ask why they have to obey. And parents often say, “Because I said so.” What parents mean is this: “Today you’re not old enough to understand, but trust me—I know better. And I need you to do this for your own good.” Like a child, sometimes you’re tempted to ask God, “Why do I need to do that?” And like a loving parent, he might want to say, “Because I said so. I know more than you. One day you’ll understand, but today you don’t. And I need you to do it anyway, for your own good.” What if you can’t obey God with a good attitude? Should you still obey? Absolutely. That’s far better than disobedience. Mature people do the right thing in spite of their feelings. Here’s a principle: In the Bible, anytime God gives a stated command without a specific date, he wants you to do it now. When we delay obedience, we’re questioning God. We’re asking, “God, do you really know what’s best?” Delayed obedience is disobedience. If you want the blessings of God, quickly follow his instructions. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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