Love Worth Finding

[Judy Harder]

September 15

Why Is a Question We Cannot Answer—Yet

"Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." - Isaiah 50:10

We can endure almost anything if we know why it is happening. Wouldn't you agree? But we don't always get the luxury of knowing why things happen.

You can't be a pastor as long as I have without having heartbroken questions asked of you. "Why did my baby die?" "Why did I lose my business?" "Why am I so sick?"

Job felt this way. He said, "I deserve an answer why this is happening to me! The bottom has fallen out of my life. And I don't know why."

Have you ever been plunged into darkness? Don't get the idea that if you're right with God, you'll have all the answers. Never doubt in the dark what God has shown you in the light.

[Judy Harder]

September 16

What Do You Make Time For?

"For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard." - Acts 22:15

What is more important in your life today? Seeing your daytime soap opera or asking an unsaved neighbor over for a chance to love them to Jesus? Joining your buddies for a round of golf, or visiting your unsaved father? Going shopping with your friends, or taking the time to read the Bible to a lost person in a nursing home? Someone wisely observed, "We managed to make time during the day for what's really important to us."

Friend, the time is running out. We will not be witnessing in heaven. This is our earthly duty and privilege now. None of us knows how many hours we have left. We must seize the golden opportunities that God gives us daily to witness.

A line from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is our challenge: "Oh, be swift, my soul to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on."

[Judy Harder]

September 17

The Battle Between Faith and Worry

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." - Philippians 4:6

Do you ever worry? Don't look around and point your finger at someone else. Do you ever worry—even the least little bit? And yet the Bible so clearly tells us not to worry about anything but to pray about everything.

There are really only two classes of things for which we ought not to worry: those things we cannot do anything about and the things we can do something about. The best thing you can say about worry is that it is useless. The worst thing you can say about it is that it dishonors God.

Worry is the opposite of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

[Judy Harder]

September 18

Do You Have Only A "Prayer Life"?

"Pray without ceasing." - 1 Thessalonians 5:17

You are to pray when you are adding up prices in the grocery store line. You are to pray when you are changing a tire. You are to pray when you are singing a song. You are to pray when you are teaching a little one how to read.

We are commanded to pray all the time. But how do we do this? Think of a mother who has a child who is ill with a fever. Finally, the fever breaks and the mother and child settle down for some much-needed sleep. Not a noise from the television, from the street, or from the phone could awaken that mother. But one whimper from her child and she's awake, right? That's because even when she is asleep, she is in tune with that child—just as we are to be with God...constantly communing and attuned to His voice.

Prayer to us should be as natural and continual as breathing. Jennifer Kennedy Dean asks an important question: "Do you 'have a prayer life'—or are you living a praying life?" Think about the difference.

[Judy Harder]

September 19

Willing to Be Thought A Fool

"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise." - 1 Corinthians 3:18

One day, the great preacher of yesteryear Harry Ironside was traveling with friends on a ferry. They were having a glorious time singing praises to the Lord when someone critically interrupted them saying, "Who are you people? What are you doing?"

Dr. Ironside replied, "We're just some Christians having a good time praising the Lord." And the heckler replied, "You're a bunch of fools!" Ironside said, "You're right! We're fools for Christ's sake."

The way of the Christian is sometimes foolishness in the eyes of the world. When was the last time you made a fool of yourself for Christ's sake?

[Judy Harder]

September 20

First, Read How It All Turns Out!

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." - Revelation 1:8

A boy was reading a murder mystery one day, and he became anxious about whether the heroine was going to live. To alleviate his anxiety, he read the last chapter and discovered that she survived!

Afterwards, when he read that the villain was planning a dastardly deed, he chuckled to himself and thought, "If you knew what I know, you wouldn't be so haughty."

Christians know the last chapter, and that helps us cope with the present. Indeed, the glories of the future can help dilute the sorrows of the present. The devil's doom is pronounced in Genesis—and it's executed in Revelation.

[Judy Harder]

September 22

"Artist At Work"—on Your Life

"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." - Philippians 1:6

In Scotland some men were sitting around drinking tea and swapping fishing stories. One man, with a flamboyant gesture of his hand, knocked another man's hand, splattering his tea on the white plastered wall, creating an ugly brown stain. He was horrified, but the man said, "Never mind." And he took out his crayons and started to sketch around that stain. Suddenly there emerged a royal stag with his antlers spread.

The artist was Sir Edwin Lancier—England's foremost painter of animals. He was able to take that old stain and make something beautiful out of it.

Jesus Christ is that kind of an artist. He can take a life that has been stained, and by His transforming power He can make something beautiful out of it.

[Judy Harder]

September 23

Sharing Jesus with Your Children

"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." - Deuteronomy 6:7

Have you ever tried to take a tasty bone away from a dog? It's a good way to get bitten! But what if you put a steak down on the ground? The dog will drop the bone to get that steak.

This is the mistake so many parents are making today. They spend their time telling their children "Don't do this. Don't do that. That's wrong." By such behavior, these parents are failing an entire generation. Many times, children are never shown the riches of Jesus Christ. In every 24-hour cycle, there are a multitude of teachable moments for sharing and modeling life in Christ.

Children must be shown that what they have in the Lord Jesus Christ is so much better than what this world has to offer. But are they seeing that in your life?

[Judy Harder]

September 24

Is It Time to Refresh and Renew?

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit." - Psalm 51:10-12

So many people have the idea that being a Christian is like taking foul-tasting medicine—it tastes awful, but you know you'll feel better one day.

They're like the young man who prayed at a prayer meeting with few in attendance: "Oh God, be with us now, and help us while the rest of the people are out there having a good time."

Do you ever feel that going to church or having a quiet time is like going to the dentist? Then you're getting your satisfaction in life outside of a relationship with God. It's time to spend some time in prayer and ask God to renew your spirit.

[Judy Harder]

September 25

Murmuring or Grateful?

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world." - Philippians 2:14-15

Do you know the problem with many of us when we obey God? We murmur about it while we are doing it! And God is taking notes, because halfhearted obedience isn't obedience at all. Remember, God is looking at the heart, not the deed (see 1 Samuel 16:7).

Do you know why we murmur? Because we've taken our eyes off Calvary. Jesus didn't murmur on the way to the cross. Oh no. Do you thank God for the pains in life? Or only the gains?

Ephesians 5:20 says, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."