Turning Point with David Jeremiah

[Judy Harder]

Friday, April 15

How Blessed Is the Man

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Romans 13:1

Recommended Reading
1 Peter 2:13-14


Most people look forward to Fridays--but not this Friday. Today is the most dreaded day of the year: Tax Day, April 15. Not only do we have to labor through the tax forms (or pay someone else to do it for us), we have to bid a formal and fond farewell to a portion of our hard-earned money. And yet it would pay us well to be a cheerful giver on this day since God's will for every Christian is to "be subject to the governing authorities" (Romans 13:1).

There is always a blessing, directly or indirectly, in submitting to the will of God even when it seems uncomfortable or undesirable--like paying taxes. Blessed are those, Jesus said, who manifest a submissive spirit toward God as Lord in their life: humble in spirit, mourning over sin, meekness, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, making peace (Matthew 5:3-9). To obey the governing authorities is just one more way of submitting to the will of God and living a blessed (happy) life.

Whether on Tax Day or any day, find ultimate happiness by submitting to the will of God in all things.

Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God.
William Temple

Read-Thru-the-Bible
1 Kings 22:1-2 Kings 2:25

[Judy Harder]

Weekend, April 16 & 17

Cross Word Puzzles: God Cannot Look on Sin

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Matthew 27:46

Recommended Reading
Psalm 22:1-2


A young, innocent female character is shocked at something she hears or sees--so she screams and covers her face with her hands as if to say, "Out of sight, out of mind." That's not just an acting gag--it happens in real life all the time. We know when we're looking at something shocking or shameful.

If we occasionally cover our eyes at the sight of sin, think how much more sensitive God's "eyes" must be. We see exactly how sensitive when He turned away from His own Son as He hung on Calvary's cross--the Son who bore in His body the sins of the world. What must the Father have seen and felt when He looked upon His pure and innocent Son who became a sacrifice for all the sins, great and small, of humanity? God turned away from sin and the Sin-bearer, causing Christ to cry out, "Why have You forsaken Me?" The fact that Christ bore your sins means God will never turn away from you. Instead of your sins, He sees only Christ's righteousness.

If you haven't yet exchanged your sins for Christ's righteousness, wouldn't this be a good day to do so?

If you can look on sin without sorrow then you have never looked on Christ.
C. H. Spurgeon

Read-Thru-the-Bible
2 Kings 3:1-8:29

[Judy Harder]

Monday, April 18

Meek, Not Weak

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.
1 Peter 3:15

Recommended Reading
Psalm 37:9-11


It is one of the ironies of the English lexicon that a word that rhymes with "meekness" is actually the opposite of it in meaning: weakness. Perhaps because the two words sound alike, many confuse meekness with weakness. But the two are in no way similar.

Perhaps the best place to look to prove that meekness is not weakness is in the life of Moses. The King James Version of Numbers 12:3 says, "(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)" Moses the meekest man on earth? All we have to do is track his biography from Exodus through Deuteronomy to dispel the notion that meek equals weak. Moses killed an Egyptian guard who was abusing a Hebrew slave. He demanded that Pharaoh let the Hebrews go. And he called down judgment on the Hebrews when they sinned against God in the wilderness. Moses was meek (meaning humble and submissive to God), but he was not weak.

Don't confuse meekness with weakness. Instead, "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10).

To be truly meek means we no longer protect ourselves because we see there is nothing worth defending.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Read-Thru-the-Bible
2 Kings 9:1-11:21

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, April 19

Eating Scripture

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4

Recommended Reading
Revelation 10:9-10


It's amazing what companies try to sell us to eat. A food importer in North Carolina is now offering a potato chip that mimics haggis, Scotland's national delicacy. Real haggis is a rare treat--a blend of various sheep organs (like heart, liver, and lungs) traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach or intestines for several hours. It's doubtlessly more delicious than it sounds; but for those who aren't into sheep innards, we can now sample the taste in potato chip form.

It's amazing what the world wants to put into our minds. Just as our bodies need nourishment, our minds need to be well fed. We need the milk of the Word, the meat of sound doctrine, the Bread of Life, and the sustenance of Scripture. Instead, many people are addicted to video games, Internet searches, streaming movies, and television programs. According to the New York Times, people at home consume an average of twelve hours of media a day.

Stop filling your mind with junk food. Develop a personal plan to study your Bible every day. Eat His Book.

Reading is an immense gift, but only if the words are assimilated, taken into the soul--eaten, chewed, gnawed, received in unhurried delight.
Eugene Peterson

Read-Thru-the-Bible
2 Kings 12:1-15:16

[Judy Harder]

Wednesday, April 20

Heavenly Honey

The judgments of the LORD are... sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
Psalm 19:9-11

Recommended Reading
Psalm 19:7-11


An old commentary suggests that the great abundance of honey in the ancient land of Israel made it a more prominent part of the daily diet than is generally true for most of us today. It was pleasant to the taste, served as a natural sweetener, and was highly nutritious. Amazing what God can do with a simple bee!

The psalmist viewed honey as an apt metaphor for the Scripture. God's Word is pleasant to the mind and highly nourishing to the soul. But according to the 1892 Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary on the Old Testament, there are also some contrasts. Honey may be eaten until it makes the eater sick, but not so with the Word of God. The more we eat of it, the healthier we become. And though honey is a God-given food that helps sustain and nourish a healthy person, it cannot cure a diseased body or prevent the inroads of sickness and decay. But the Scripture can restore us, heal us, and save us from death by giving us the Gospel of Christ.

Honey is sweet; but God's Word is sweeter!

Well, then, may we count those the sweetest hours which are spent reading the Holy Scriptures.
Puritan Thomas Watson

Read-Thru-the-Bible
2 Kings 15:17-17:41

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, April 21

Looking Back, Looking Forward

...saying, "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."
Luke 24:7

Recommended Reading
Matthew 16:21-28


Suppose someone told you of two unlikely events that would happen in the future--one in a few days, the other at an undetermined time in the future. In spite of the details he gave about each event, you found it hard to believe that he could predict the future with that kind of accuracy. Within a few days you learn that the first predicted event took place exactly as the man said. How would that change your thinking about the likelihood of the second event?

It would probably change your thinking radically. Strangely enough, even though Jesus Christ predicted His own death and resurrection on the third day--both of which were fulfilled in detail--many people don't take seriously His promise to return to earth. On the same occasion in which Jesus told His disciples of His impending death and resurrection, He said, "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works" (Matthew 16:27).

It would be unwise to look back at Christ's death and resurrection in belief, and not look forward to His Second Coming with expectation.

The future is as bright as the promises of God.
Adoniram Judson

Read-Thru-the-Bible
2 Kings 18:1-20:21

[Judy Harder]

Friday, April 22

Called to Live

..."These who have turned the world upside down have come here too."
Acts 17:6

Recommended Reading
Luke 24:13-35


Peter: crucified upside down. James: beheaded. John: natural causes. Andrew: crucified on X-shaped cross. Philip: crucified. Bartholomew: skinned alive, beheaded. Matthew: stabbed to death. Thomas: speared to death. James: stoned, crucified, beaten to death. Jude: crucified. Simon: crucified. Matthias (replacement for Judas Iscariot): stoned and beheaded. Paul: beheaded.

Jesus warned His original disciples before He was killed, "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20b). And when their faith was finally tested, when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, "...they all forsook Him and fled" (Mark 14:50). What happened to turn a group of cowards into a core of courageous couriers of the Gospel who turned the world upside down and were willing to die for their beliefs? One thing: they witnessed the Resurrection. This event had a transforming effect on the disciples, transforming them into apostles--"sent ones." When they saw the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3-8), they were no longer afraid.

You may not be called to die for Christ, but you are called to live for Him--the resurrected Lord.

The Christian church has the resurrection written all over it.
F. G. Robinson

Read-Thru-the-Bible
2 Kings 21:1-23:37

[Judy Harder]

Weekend, April 23 & 24

Cross Word Puzzles: Human and Divine

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"
John 19:28

Recommended Reading
Hebrews 5:8-9


One of the biggest mistakes we make when thinking about Christ is to think more of His divinity than of His humanity. Because He worked miracles over nature, was born of a virgin, and was declared to be the Son of God by the Father (Matthew 3:17), we naturally think of Him more as "God" than "man." And yet He was equally both: the God-Man. Perfect God and perfect Man. The divine to represent God's interests at the cross, the human to represent man's.

Throughout the brutal treatment of Christ during His arrest, trial, and conviction, we are witnesses to His human suffering. But perhaps it is demonstrated most poignantly when He whispered, "I thirst!" just before He expired. If Jesus thirsted, then He must have experienced every other level of human pain and suffering imaginable. He suffered in His human body what we deserve to suffer for our sins.

No greater love has ever been shown than when one Perfect Human stood to die for imperfect humanity. To drink from His living water means never to thirst again.

Fallen human nature has neither grace nor truth in it, but the human nature of Christ was full of grace and truth.
W. E. Best

Read-Thru-the-Bible
2 Kings 24:1-1 Chronicles 3:24

 

[Judy Harder]

Monday, April 25

Have Mercy!

And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
Luke 17:13

Recommended Reading
Luke 18:35-43


If you grew up decades ago in the southern United States (the deeper the better), you likely remember hearing the expression, "Lord, have mercy!" whenever life took a turn for the worse. It was a familiar expression in the deep South because "the South" is synonymous with "the Bible belt," and "Lord, have mercy!" is a biblical expression.

"Have mercy" occurs 46 times in Scripture, 12 times in Psalms alone--the book in which authors were often found imploring God for relief or help. Jesus was called upon to "have mercy" on several occasions by those in need. And He responded by granting healing or deliverance as required. What is mercy? It is when we don't get what we deserve. Being sinners, we deserve all manner of judgment. So when we feel we're in the middle of a judgment of circumstances, we call out to God to "have mercy" and take the bad situation away. By grace, God often does--grace being giving us something (relief) we don't deserve. Grace and mercy are opposite sides of God's coin called love.

Find someone this week to show mercy to. If someone does something wrong and thus deserves judgment, extend mercy instead.

The name Jehovah carries majesty in it; the name Father carries mercy in it.
Thomas Watson

Read-Thru-the-Bible
1 Chronicles 4:1-6:48

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, April 26

Sowing Seeds of Kindness

Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Galatians 6:9-10

Recommended Reading
1 Peter 3:8-9


Good deeds have a way of coming back to bless us. John Wooden, the great basketball coach who passed away last summer at the age of 99, was admired for the inspirational influence he left on players and fans alike. His life was shaped by a seven-point creed. He often passed it along to others, explaining that his father had given him this bit of advice upon his graduation from grammar school.

Be true to yourself. Make each day your masterpiece. Help others. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible. Make friendship a fine art. Build a shelter against a rainy day. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

When we are kind to others and practice a merciful attitude, we become recipients of mercy ourselves. Just as the sower reaps the crop he has sown, so do merciful people reap what has been planted in the lives of others.

Don't get tired of doing good!

Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be grateful. Conceit is self-given; be careful.
John Wooden

Read-Thru-the-Bible
1 Chronicles 6:49-8:40