Love Worth Finding

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 27

Christianity, More Than a Creed or Code

"...and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

Are Christians fools for believing in Jesus? Are we serving a false God? If you go to the tomb of Confucius, you'll find it's occupied. If you go to the tomb of Buddha, you'll find it's occupied. If you go to the tomb of Jesus, you'll find it empty. He is a risen Savior.  Now that's very important, because you can take Confucius out of Confucianism and still have Confucianism, and you can take Buddha out of Buddhism and still have Buddhism. But you cannot take Jesus Christ out of Christianity and still have Christianity because Christianity is not a code. It's not a creed. It's not a cause. It is Christ Himself.

You have a hope that the world needs to hear about. Who can you share that hope with today?

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 28

Being Spirit-Filled

"...Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" Acts 9:6

So many Christians want to be Spirit-filled, but have they ever asked why God should fill them with His Spirit?

I want you to imagine a man pushing a car into a service station. It has no battery in it. The car has four flat tires, a hole in the gas tank, and half the wires are disconnected. The attendant comes out, looks at this rattle trap, and says, "May I help you?"

The man says, "Yeah, fill 'er up."

What do you think that attendant would say? "What for?" would be appropriate.

I think God sometimes says, "What for?" to us. Instead, we need to just sign the contract at the bottom and say, "Lord, You fill it in."

Bow before the Lord, open your hands, and say, "Lord, It's all You. I am nothing but a vessel for You to use. Use me as You will."

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 29

Authority in a Generation Gone Astray

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." Romans 13:1

Our generation doesn't like the word authority. We don't like to be under anybody. We stick out our chests and talk about being free-born Americans.

If you're a baby boomer, you're of a generation of anti-authority figures. In your lifetime you've gone through the hula hoop, the Barbie doll, pop psychology, Dr. Spock, Donahue, and the Beatles. It was all anti-authority! Fathers were Archie Bunker. Preachers were Flip Wilson. The anthem was, "Do your thing. If it feels good, do it." Many of us dare not realize the vestiges of rebellion that still lurk down in our hearts.

Give some serious thought to the question: Who is on the throne of my life today?

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 30

One Way to Salvation

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." John 14:6

Materialism says, "Buy your way out." The politician says, "Legislate." The army says, "Fight." Industry says, "Work." The philosopher says, "Think." But Jesus says, "There's no way out but through Me."

Jesus will save you by His grace, and He'll save you all by Himself or you won't be saved at all.

When you are saved by the grace of God, you are saved instantly, and you are saved eternally. Your goodness is not enough to save you, and your badness is not enough to keep you away. Jesus loves you so much that He died to save you.

Have you taken Jesus at His Word and followed His way of salvation? Maybe you have a friend who needs this truth today. Share it; don't suppress it.

[Judy Harder]

JULY 1

Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord

"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8

A man named Solomon Peas died. His tombstone in London reads:

"Beneath these clouds and beneath these trees
Lies the body of Solomon Peas.
But this ain't Peas - it's just the pod.
Peas shelled out and went to God."

I like that. That's what your body is. It's just a pod. What happens to a child of God who has trusted Christ as his personal Savior? When he closes his eyes in this life, he opens them in the next. Jesus did not say, "After two or three thousand years, you'll be with Me in paradise." Jesus said, "Today, truly, you'll be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).

Are you confident that, if you died today, you'd be with Jesus in paradise? If not, then confess your sins and believe upon His name to save you. Now, go and tell someone!

[Judy Harder]

JULY 2

This World Is Not My Home

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God." Colossians 3:1

First Peter 2:11 says that we are aliens and strangers in this world. We are in the world, but we are not of the world. We are twice-born in a world of once-born people, and we're going to find ourselves going against the tide most of the time.

It's like a deep sea diver who is underwater and outside his natural environment. He could not live if he weren't linked to his life supply above. That's the way we need to live. If we are to survive, we must stay linked to Jesus who is our life.

The Bible says we're not to set our affections on things beneath, but on things above where Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. (Colossians 3:1)

It's time to check your lifeline...are you trusting in anything in this world? Are you making friends with the things of this world?

[Judy Harder]

JULY 3

Bringing Up Godly Children in an Ungodly World

"O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works." Psalm 71:17

Satan is on a killing spree — he wants to kill our memory and set us awash in the sea of forgetfulness without any recollection of our Christian heritage as a nation.

Tragically, he's aiming his artillery at our children, and particularly in the place where they used to grow in the knowledge of good things — the public school. Prayer is out. Police are in. Bibles are out. Values clarification is in. The Ten Commandments are out. Social engineering is in. Creation is out. Evolution is in. History is out. Revisionism is in. God says we need to remember the generation to come.

You have an important job — to influence the lives of those who will come after you. Teach them to walk in the ways of the Lord and against the tide of the world.

[Judy Harder]

JULY 4

Remembering Our Spiritual and Political Heritage

"That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments." Psalm 78:7

On June 8, 1845, Andrew Jackson said, "The Bible is the rock upon which our Republic rests." Just a few years prior, in 1820, another of our forefathers, Daniel Webster, said, "Let us not forget the religious character of our origin." In the days of our founding fathers, people didn't quibble about the Bible's importance. Our forefathers brought hither their high veneration for the Christian religion, being journeyed in its light and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate, listen to, and infuse its influence through all their institutions: civil, political, and literary.

American heritage is important, but so is your personal spiritual heritage as a believer and as a family. Why not take some time this week to write down the spiritual heritage of your family?

[Judy Harder]

JULY 5

Jesus Lives Forevermore

"I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore." Revelation 1:18

I went to see Lenin's tomb when I was in Moscow. He is sealed in a crystal case. You can see his waxen face and his trimmed beard, and on that tomb these words are written: "He was the greatest leader of all peoples of all countries of all times. He was the lord of the new humanity. He was the savior of the world."

Do you notice it's all past tense? He was. Jesus is alive. He is the great I AM. It is an encounter with the living Christ that makes the difference in our lives. We serve a Savior who is alive and listening to our every prayer. He is bottling every tear and rejoicing with every victory.

Thank God for His plan of love that sent His Son to die for you. Praise Him that Jesus lives forevermore!

[Judy Harder]

JULY 6

Surrender First

". . . now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness." Romans 6:19

After a splendid victory at sea, Lord Nelson confronted the French admiral who was surrendering. Dressed in all his regalia, the admiral approached Nelson to surrender.

With his sword swinging by his side, the admiral put out his hand to the British commander.

Lord Nelson stepped back and said, "Your sword first."

There are a lot of people who think they can walk up and glad-hand the Lord Jesus Christ.  He says, "Your sword first." Surrender first! Jesus is not an appeaser, and He will never make a truce with sin. Never! We have to abdicate the throne. We have to surrender.

Read Romans 6. Count the number of times the word "yield" is written. What does Paul want us to yield?