Love Worth Finding

[Judy Harder]

FEBRUARY 27

The Lord Will Sustain You

"Man that is born of woman is full of trouble as the sparks that fly upward."

It starts almost the day we're born. We're born crying, and from there it just goes on and on. We have burdens. If you don't have burdens, the problem is you're probably not a thinking person. But I want to tell you today what to do with your burdens.

David wrote, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." David was a king; he was wealthy. What do we learn from this? That burdens come to the high as well as to the low. They come to saints as well as sinners. They come to the old as well as the young. What do we do with our burdens? We have to cast them upon the Lord,

Do you have a broken heart?  Has one of your children ripped your heart out? Is there a husband who has forsaken you? A physical malady gnawing away at your body? Is there a problem perplexing you? The Bible says you are to cast your burden upon the Lord (Psalm 55:22). He will sustain you.

[Judy Harder]

FEBRUARY 28

New Leaves

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Some people want to get everything in their life straightened out before they come to Christ. But you'll wake up in hell and still not have it straightened out. It's like trees that don't lose their leaves in the fall. The leaves wither and turn brown but hold on until the spring. And when the new leaf comes, it pushes the old leaf off.

That's exactly what happens to your old habits, your old life, when you find the Lord Jesus. The new life pushes your old life off. It's not a matter of plucking off this leaf and knocking off that one. You'll never do it that way. Let the new life within you do its work.

Have you come to grips yet with the fact that your "old nature" is dead and you are a new creature in Christ? You can't "kill" him on your own. You have to "reckon" him as dead and allow the "new nature"—the new creature you are in Christ—to come alive and be fed and nurtured by the Holy Spirit.

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 1

The Only Way to Live

"Now the just shall live by faith." - Hebrews 10:38

This great statement, so abundantly true, actually was first stated in the book of Habakkuk. The writer of Hebrews is quoting the prophet Habakkuk.

Habakkuk was perplexed. He lived in a day of violence, degradation, apostasy and danger. He bombarded Heaven, asking God to answer—to explain things so he could make sense of it all. But God said, "Habakkuk, you couldn't understand it anyway, if I told you what I'm up to. You think I'm not working? I'm working, and Habakkuk, here is your responsibility. You are to live in this uncertain age by faith. You want me to tell you how to live? Don't live by explanations. Live by faith."

Now, that's not hocus-pocus or smoke and mirrors. That has spiritual steel and concrete in it..."the just shall live by faith."

This is the only way to live. In fact, this verse is quoted three times in the Word of God. I wonder if God is trying to tell us something. I know He is. The challenge for us today—and every day—is to live by faith.

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 3

The Sword

"For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword..." - Hebrews 4:12

The Word of God is all-powerful. Satan fears the Word of God. He knows its overcoming power. We must learn to use it against Him. It's an offensive weapon. Many of us study the Bible, but it's not enough just to study it, we must learn to employ it. The Word of God is a sword, and it is meant to be used.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, tempted by Satan in the wilderness, took the Word of God—that sharp two-edged sword—and time after time ran Satan through with it. Jesus said, "It is written.... It is written.... It is written...." We can rely on the Word of God. We must!

Sharpen your Sword today. Read the Word. Stay in the Word. Memorize the Word. Begin today. If you only memorize one verse per week, by this time next year you'll have committed to memory 52 verses! How many will you have memorized if you don't? "Thy Word have I hid in my heart."

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 4

What If You're Wrong?

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." - Romans 10:13

Some of you are wondering whether or not you ought to give your heart to Jesus Christ. You may ask, "What if Adrian Rogers is not right? What if the Gospel is not true?" Let's suppose that what I believe is wrong—that the Bible is a bundle of blunders. Let's suppose there is no God and that Christ never died for our sins. Well, you're going to die anyway. So you're no worse off. But suppose I'm right and you're wrong. By coming to Jesus, you've got everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Now, it takes more than that kind of rationality to come to the Lord, but you need to do a little spiritual calculation. The Holy Spirit will prove to you that what I say is true.

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 5

The Word Cuts Anyway

"When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them." - Acts 5:33

Suppose you were on the battlefield and someone's coming at you. You warn him, "Don't come any further! I'll shoot!" He answers, "I don't believe in your gun. As a matter of fact," he says, "I don't believe in guns at all." That's not going to change anything, is it?

Likewise, the Bible is the Sword of the Spirit. Someone may say, "Well, I don't believe the Bible." But it will cut him anyway! The apostles preached the Bible, and when the people heard it, they were cut to the heart. The Word cuts even an unbeliever. It's a two-edged sword. It cuts to heal, or it cuts to judge. But it will cut—believe it or not.

Before going into battle, soldiers are dedicated to training in the use of their weapons. How foolish to go into battle without training. How familiar are you with your Sword?

God has given you a weapon for spiritual battles...the Sword of the Spirit. In the armor of God, it is the only offensive weapon—the rest are defensive. To have the victory God wants for you, you must see the sharpness of your sword, the Bible, and you must be trained in it.

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 7

Eggshells and Jell-O

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." - 1 John 5:4

Are you uncertain about some things? Are you walking on eggshells and Jell-O theologically? Don't do it! Get a bulldog grip on the truth and stand by it. Learn to feed your faith and starve your doubts.

If you don't come to church, read your Bible, and pray, then you have no shield of faith. Sometimes college students go off and let some ungodly, unbelieving man make fun of their faith. And they fall apart like a house of cards. That's because they don't have a strong, rock-ribbed faith in God. Feed your faith. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God," and it will be like a shield to you to protect you from all the fiery darts of the wicked. It gives the believer certainty.

Again, you must actively, consciously clothe yourself in the armor of God. How much are you dedicating yourself to being in His Word, learning how to wield your Sword?

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 8

It's Gotta Be the Shoes

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God...your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace...." - Ephesians 6:13-15

A Roman soldier had to have sandals with hobnails to give him standing, very much like a golfer's spikes. And because the devil would love to trip us up, we're told, as we're putting on our armor, to put on our shoes—and not just any shoes of peace.

You see, your enemy, the devil, can defeat some people through error. They don't have the belt of truth. Others he can defeat through sin because they don't have the breastplate of righteousness.

But some he'll get through discouragement; they'll lose their peace. He'll plant thorns, briars, holes, and stumbling blocks. And if we don't have on our shoes, our spiritual feet will be bruised and bleeding. Rather than leaping, we'll be limping because we don't have peace.

Your shoes are "the preparation of the gospel of peace," peace with God. The peace of God dwelling in your heart enables you to fight Satan. Do you have this peace?

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 10

Defeated Foe

"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He Who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." - 1 John 4:4

Praise God, Satan is a defeated foe! Satan's back has already been broken at the cross. When Jesus Christ prepared to go to that cross in anticipation, He said, "Now is the prince of this world cast out" (John 12:31).

"Is cast out." Satan has already been defeated, not will be defeated. Oh, we as Christians need to learn that! The devil hopes you never learn that "greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). The devil hopes you'll never learn that his power has been stripped from him and that Jesus said, "I give you authority over all of the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19).

Satan is a defeated foe; and when you pray, you do not pray for the victory, you pray from the victory.

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 11

Later Than It's Ever Been

"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." - Revelation 22:12

I believe we're living in the days of the coming of our Lord. We ought to be living as though Jesus died yesterday, rose this morning, and were coming back tonight.

No one can set a date, but I'm kind of like that old farmer who woke up in the middle of the night and heard the grandfather clock sounding the hour. Bong-1 o'clock; bong-2; bong-3; bong-4. On it went. Bong-10; bong-11; bong-12; bong-13; bong-14. That frightened him. He turned over, shook his wife, and said, "Old woman, wake up." She said, "Why? What time is it?" He said, "I don't know, but it's later than it's ever been before."

I believe it's late in the age, and you and I need to be prepared for the coming of our dear Lord.