Love Worth Finding

[Judy Harder]

MAY 13

Be Happy

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance..." - Proverbs 15:13

There are three things animals don't do that humans do:

Animals don't blush. Mark Twain once wryly observed, "Man's the only animal who can blush—or needs to."

Animals don't cry.

And animals don't laugh. This tells me that man, made in the image of God, reflects the character of God. And God is a God of joy.

Laughter is a gift from God. There's nothing wrong with laughter. As a matter of fact, laughter comes innately. You don't have to teach children to laugh; you have to teach children when not to laugh. And if you really have the joy of the Lord in your heart, it's going to show up on your face.

Does your face today reflect the joy of the Lord? Or something else?

[Judy Harder]

MAY 14

You Can Control Your Speech

"If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain." - James 1:26

We must watch what we say, because one word builds upon another, and it can get worse and worse. You have the snowball effect.

You say, "Well, I can't control it." You're a liar! You can control it, and I can prove it. For example, sometimes in a home a husband and wife are just snarling, fighting, snapping down one another's throat. Their voices are full of hostility. Then right in the middle of that kind of an argument, the phone rings. They answer the phone and say so sweet and nicely, "H-e-l-l-o..."

You can control it. And you'd better learn to control it. If you don't, you're going to be out of control.

This week, memorize Proverbs 29:20: "Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him."

[Judy Harder]

MAY 15

Financial Freedom

"The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in His season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow." - Deuteronomy 28:12

Financial bondage is not God's plan for His people. (Nor is it a good plan for any nation!) Whoever you are in debt to, you are the servant of.

God doesn't want you, His child, to be the borrower; He wants you to be the lender. God doesn't want you to be the tail; God wants you to be the head.

God wants to bless His people above all the nations of the world, and He wants to give His people financial freedom. But so many people don't have financial freedom—they're in financial bondage. The devil wants to keep you in bondage, and he doesn't care what kind of bondage you're in.

Are you in financial bondage? God wants you out of that so you can serve Him freely. Today we are blessed to have a number of godly Christian ministries guiding believers to sound, biblical teaching and freedom from debt. If you are under financial stress, contact one of them today. The Lord Jesus said, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:36).

[Judy Harder]

MAY 16

What is Reality?

"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:18

A man may say, "It's hard for me to have faith—I deal in reality." So, what is real? Your house? Your car? Your money? No, reality is not in something you can see, taste, touch, smell, or feel. Those things are not real because they are not lasting. Reality is in God.

If you're putting your trust in things you can see, touch and count, you're living in a world of illusion. The things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal. The only "real" things are those things that will last eternally.

Only when we put God first will we come in contact with reality.

[Judy Harder]

MAY 17

An Open Bible

"Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine." - 2 Timothy 4:2

Something that really bothers me is to go to church and hear somebody stand up and preach without an open Bible. Or maybe he will quote a text and close the Bible and then make a speech.

What we need to do is to read the book and study it. Let me tell you what I think preaching the Word of God is. I think it is taking a passage of Scripture, reading that passage, analyzing it, organizing it, illustrating it, and applying it.

I believe there's a famine in the land today for that kind of preaching, where people can understand the Bible. That is the kind of preaching that will ultimately build great Christians.

When you heed the Word of God, it is going to produce three things. First, sorrow. Then joy. And then obedience—just obey the Word of God.

[Judy Harder]

MAY 19

My Burden is Light

"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ... for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." - Matthew 11:28, 30

I've heard it said so many times that it's hard to be a Christian. Where did you get that? You didn't get it out of the Word of God. It's not hard to be a Christian.

Listen, the Bible says that "the way of the transgressor is hard" (Proverbs 13:15), but it's not hard to be a Christian. I'm having a wonderful time serving the Lord Jesus.

You say, "You mean there's no suffering?" There's suffering in this world whether you're saved or lost. You're not going to get out unbent, unbloodied, or unbowed.  But I want to tell you, there is joy in the Lord Jesus Christ; and Jesus is the One who makes the sufferings of this life worth it all.

If you are struggling and straining today to "lead the Christian life." then something is out of whack. Jesus said, "I will give you rest." Come to Him right now in humility and lay down the heavy burden.

[Judy Harder]

MAY 20

It's Your Fault!

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." - 2 Peter 3:9

Suppose you were deathly sick and the only cure was a very rare and costly medicine. Yet you had no money.

Your doctor leaves and is gone for several days. When he comes back, there are dark circles under his eyes, his hands are trembling, and his clothing is torn and blood-stained.

The doctor holds out a vial of the medicine. "I went to secure this medicine for you. I withdrew my life savings. In my hurry, I wrecked my automobile. The blood on my shirt is that of my only son who was with me and was killed in the accident. Here is the cure. Take it, and you'll live."

Suppose you took that medicine, dashed it on the floor, and said, "Doctor, if I die, it will be your fault."

This is exactly what God has done for mankind. God offered His Son so that no one has to be lost. But we must accept His gift. Have you accepted it?

[Judy Harder]

MAY 21

Rubbed the "Right" Way

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

There are some people who say, "Well, I come to church on Sunday to feel good. I don't want some man up there ranting, raving, and pointing his finger at me, telling me I've got to repent and get right with God and all that business."

Billy Sunday, a great fire-eating preacher of yesteryear, once preached an excoriating message against sin. When he finished, somebody said, "Billy, you better tone it down a little bit. You're rubbing the fur on the cat the wrong way." He said, "Well, the old cat is headed towards hell! If she'd turn around, I'd be rubbing it the right way."

Does the truth of God rub you the wrong way? Then it's time to turn around.

[Judy Harder]

MAY 22

You're Too Late!

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, 'It is finished,' and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost." - John 19:30

Evangelist Billy Sunday preached in tent meetings. It is told that one time after a meeting had ended, a young man who had been in the services and under great conviction found Billy Sunday and said, "Oh Mister Sunday, I need to be saved. What can I do to be saved?"

Billy said, "I'm sorry. You're too late." The young man said, "Oh, but I wanted to be saved. I should have been saved. What must I do to be saved?"

And Billy Sunday said, "You're too late to do anything to be saved, for Jesus has already done it all. It's finished. All you need to do is receive what He's already done," and he led the young man to Jesus.

It is finished.  All you need to do is receive what Jesus has already done.

[Judy Harder]

MAY 23

Unbelief

"He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." - John 3:18

Men don't go to hell primarily because they lie, steal, or cheat. It's much worse than that! Men go to hell because of unbelief. Unbelief is the major sin—the mother sin, the father sin, the sin out of which all other sins grow. It is the one sin that will damn you and send you to hell.

Unbelief is a terrible, horrible sin. It's never an intellectual matter; it's always a moral matter.

Can you think of any sin greater than to point the finger of unbelief at God and say, "You lie!"  There is no greater sin than to aim the gun of unbelief at the Christ on the cross and refuse to receive Him.