Love Worth Finding

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 1

Character—It's An Inside Job

"The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him." - Proverbs 20:7

This world says if we could just arrange conditions where we never have any sorrow, pain, or hurts, then we could change men. If we can change conditions we can change character. But the Bible teaches just the opposite.

The world puts the emphasis on condition—God puts the emphasis on character. Someone has well said you can't purify the water by painting the pump. And yet that's what we try to do. We think that if we can change the exterior or make conditions such that we never have any hurts, then we're going to be okay. But, Jesus put the emphasis upon character. Upon what you are, not what you have.

Is there someone in your life you admire? Someone who is a person of integrity? Praise God for His work in that person's life and give him or her a word of encouragement.

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 2

Praying from the Heart—Not on Auto-Pilot

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." - Matthew 6:7

It was a very long, tiring day. I had preached three sermons and dictated a stack of letters. And at the close of each letter I ended it, "In Jesus' name, Adrian Rogers."

A man came to me at the end of a service and said, "I must see you. I have a severe problem." I was bone weary but I said, "Very well, come on back and let's talk."

We talked and I listened. My heart was moved with compassion. I said, "Let me pray for you." And when I finished I said, "In Jesus' name, Adrian Rogers." And then I thought, "Oh my! Did I say that? Did he hear me say that?" How easy we slip and rattle off our prayers.

Do you find yourself using repetitive phrases in your prayer life? Today, just talk with God. Don't think too much about your words. Follow your heart.

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 4

The Lesson of Prayer

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." - Matthew 6:10

Some time ago I was invited to preach in another state, but my schedule was such that I couldn't arrange it. When they offered to send a private plane, I could do it.

As we flew over Arkansas, the pilot asked me if I wanted to try my hand at flying the plane, and I said, "Yes!"

Of course, he was sitting right next to me. He could fly the plane without me, but I couldn't fly it without him. He had his hands on his controls all the while, and he allowed me to participate with him.

That's the way prayer is. God can do it without you, but God enables you to have fellowship with Him and teaches you a dependency upon Him through prayer.

Kneel before Him today. Meditate on 1 Chronicles 16:23-36. Glory in His presence:

23Sing to the LORD, all the earth; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. 24 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. 25 For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods.  26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 5

Put on the Righteousness of Christ

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering." - Colossians 3:12

Sometimes people will ask if I'm a preacher.

How do they know I'm a preacher before I've said anything "spiritual"?

I don't want them to know that I am a preacher by the way I look. Now, I'm not ashamed that I'm a preacher, but I think a preacher ought to dress and act so that nobody will suspect he's a preacher. We ought to be transparent vessels of the Lord's anointing.

We're not posturing, posing, or somehow going through life trying to look holy or trying to act holy. We just simply are what we are by the grace of God.

What does your outer appearance say about who you are in Christ? Dress in His robes of righteousness and His countenance of glory today.

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 6

The Master Designer

"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." - Matthew 5:18

How did it happen? How did the Bible get written apart from divine inspiration?

Suppose we decided to build a monument to the 50 states in Washington and use native stone from each state. We would hammer out the stones from individual quarries in each state.

Then, ship them.
Uncrate them.
Then fit the stones together.

As the stones were assembled, we discovered that there was not one stone too many. Not one stone too few. When completed, we had a magnificently symmetrical monument.

The only answer to this perfection is that there was a master architect who designed everything. In the same way, you cannot explain the unity of the Bible apart from divine inspiration.

Praise God for His Master Design of the universe — of the stars, the planets, the skies, the seas...and you!

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 7

The Treasure We Have in Jesus Christ

"In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." - Colossians 2:3

Many years ago, the Spanish Armada was sailing off the coast of Florida. A hurricane struck, and the ships laden with gold and silver ingots sunk to the bottom. People knew the treasure had been lost and believed one ship went down near Vero Beach in Fort Pierce, Florida. Fishermen fished over that spot, sometimes doubtless hanging a hook on a lump of gold.

One day some explorers went diving, and there it was in the shallow water. In fact the water was so shallow that any of us could have swum to the bottom and brought up millions of dollars. In the same way, I believe there are many of us yet to discover the full treasure we have in Jesus Christ.

Have you plunged your heart deep into the treasure of the Lord? Or are you living life in the shallow end, wondering if the treasure will ever come to you?

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 8

What's at the Heart

"Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom." - Psalm 51:6

Have you ever gone to a sawmill and watched them process timber? They take a big log out of the woods that may have bumps and knots on it, and they lay it on a cradle, running it through a saw, cutting off one side. Then they bring it back, turn it, and run it through again to cut off another side. When they're finished, if you stand and look down it, it's perfectly straight. But if you look at the end of it, the heart is still crooked. That's the way it is with some individuals who are outwardly living the Christian life. But Jeremiah 17:9 warns the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. We need regeneration. We must be born again.

Read Psalm 19:14—

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."

Pray it from your heart—that today you would desire with everything within you to be pure in thought, word, and deed.

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 9

Believing In the Living God

"If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son." - 1 John 5:9

I've been asked, "Pastor Rogers, do you expect me to believe in Jesus Christ just because your book says that He lived? That's not enough for me."

I agree. You need something else. If you want to know who Jesus Christ is, ask the Holy Spirit.

God says, "If you want to believe, I will help you to understand and to know that these things are true."

Don't tell me that you cannot believe. You may refuse to believe, but I will tell you this. If you want to believe in Jesus Christ and if you seek Truth, God the Holy Spirit will speak to you and confirm to you that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Read Deuteronomy 4:29—

"But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul."

Do you want to know the living God? He is there if you seek Him with all your heart.

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 10

Discovering His Will for Your Life

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." - Philippians 3:13

Nehemiah was a man who knew how to get alone with God. He fasted, prayed, and wept; then God told him what to do.

Have you done that? Have you sacrificed and surrendered to the Lord to discover His will for your life? Or are you just putting yourself into neutral and letting life happen to you? Do you have a focus?

God has something that He wants you to do. You are special to God. Nehemiah said, "God had laid something on my heart."  If you'll listen, God will lay something on your heart.

Get alone with God this week. Discover what He wants from your life to do His will.

[Judy Harder]

June 11

Working Together In Unity

"For we are laborers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." - 1 Corinthians 3:9

How powerful it is when we work together in unity! I was reading about how Canadian geese always fly in a "V" formation. Have you ever wondered why? Because the lead goose is moving the wind resistance for the rest of them. So while he is flapping real hard, the rest of them are cruising. After awhile, the lead goose gets tired and he falls back and the next goose moves up.

Do you know what scientists have discovered in the wind tunnel experiments? That geese flying in a "V" formation can fly 72% farther than one goose could fly by himself. Now who taught them to do that? God did.

What are you trying to do by yourself that could be more efficiently accomplished when the task is shared?