Love Worth Finding

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 13

Are you...Available? Expendable? Adaptable?

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." Colossians 2:8

Jesus never approved of putting the traditions of men above the Word of God (see Mark 7:1-13). What about you? Are you willing to change your life in order that God may use you, or had you rather hold onto your traditions? There are three qualities I believe every Christian should exhibit: availability, expendability, and adaptability. We need to be walking with the Lord so closely that we ought to be ready to witness at a moment's notice. It is God's ability and your availability. It is His power and your personality. It is His work and your witness. That's God's plan!

Let's pretend that someone is walking toward you right now with the sole purpose of asking you how they can have a personal relationship with God. What would you say? Get ready today to give an answer for the hope that is within you (see 1 Peter 3:15).

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 14

Willing to Travel Under Sealed Orders

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." Hebrews 11:8

Who knows what marvelous opportunity God has waiting for you if you are sensitive enough to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you right now. Don't say, "Show me what You want me to do; then I'll decide whether or not to do it." Instead, we need to say, "I'll do it—whatever it is. You tell me. If You explain it, fine. If You don't explain it, fine. But God, I'm going to do it." It's just as bad to run ahead of God as it is to run behind Him. The Bible says that Abraham went out without knowing where God was sending him. Are you ready to travel under sealed orders?

Are you married? Talk to your spouse this week about your availability to God. Are you willing to sell your home, take your children, and go to the remotest corner of the world to share God's plan of salvation if He called you there? If not, ask God to change your heart. He is the potter; you are the clay.

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 15

Who is in the Spotlight?

"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me." John 15:26

The Holy Spirit has one cause: to testify of Jesus Christ. He is very single-minded. He's not interested in doing ten things for God – just one.

There are some who get caught up in the Holy Spirit. They focus on what He is doing – through miracles, healings, tongues, and more. Friend, beware of those who focus on making the Holy Spirit the figurehead of their faith.

The mark that a man is filled with the Holy Spirit is that he is always talking about Jesus Christ. He can't do any more. He can do no less.

I challenge you to make this pledge to God: I will bring my talents, my business, my time, and my resources – all for the cause of Christ. This one thing I do – sink or swim, live or die – Jesus will be glorified in my life today and every day

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 16

Victory Is Just a Prayer Away

"Uphold me according unto Thy Word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope." Psalm 119:116

Paul did much of his writing from a prison cell. Maybe you also feel like you are in a prison of sorts today with every door shut in your face. Maybe you are in a prison of despair and doubt. Perhaps you just heard from the doctor and received a bad report, or are dreading a visit this week. Maybe you're in a financial prison of debt or a domestic prison of abuse and you feel there is no way out. Friend, I want to tell you that there is a way out for you. God is still on His throne. He hears and answers every prayer.

Victory over your situation is just a prayer away. The circumstances may not change, but your perspective and attitude will change as you begin to pray and praise God. You and I don't have a need that God cannot meet.

Pray this prayer today: "Father, I need You. I need You to forgive me where I have failed You. I need You to change my heart and strengthen my faith so I see my prison as a palace. Change my attitude from dread to joy, from jealousy to contentment, from worry to trust. I love You. In Jesus' name. Amen."

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 17

Saved from Sin's Penalty, Power, and Presence

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Some people get confused about when salvation happens. Let me see if I can shed some light on this subject. Salvation can be explained by using three verbal tenses in the English language. The moment you repent and believe upon Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are saved from the penalty of sin. After that, you enter a process of sanctification where you are being saved from the power of sin. When you get to heaven, you will be saved from the presence of sin.

What happens when you enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ? You are justified immediately in your spirit. You are sanctified progressively in your soul. And you will be ultimately glorified in your body.

Using Psalm 32:7, 41:2, 121:7-8, praise God that the preservation of your salvation is His job and not yours.

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 18

"I'm Okay—You're Okay"?

"Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him." Proverbs 30:5

Postmodernism tells us that there is no absolute truth. Whatever you believe is okay. Whatever I believe is okay, too. Whether they agree or not doesn't matter.

But in this age of postmodern thought, we must contend with this basic truth: Truth stands alone. It doesn't require human interpretation. And let me add that in discussing Christian Truth, there is a divine disturbance that occurs. I don't believe we can be neutral about real truth. If Jesus is God, then we must bow down and worship. If Jesus is not God, we ought to boot Him out the door as a liar and a lunatic. You must decide. There is no neutral ground. Either you are with Him, or you are against Him.

Pray for the hundreds of believers who are in jail around the world because they did not stand on neutral ground. They boldly proclaimed Christ knowing that doing so would cause them to be imprisoned or even killed.

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 19

Parenting Isn't for Cowards!

"Thou shalt keep therefore His statutes, and His commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever." Deuteronomy 4:40

What happened to letting children be children? May God have mercy on us who stand by while boys and girls date at the age of ten, go steady by the time they're thirteen, get married by the age of seventeen, and get divorced before they're old enough to vote. As Dr. James Dobson has written, "Parenting isn't for Cowards." May God give us wisdom to help young people who are standing in tall dry grass with boxes of matches!

Are you a parent? I challenge you today to get back to the Word of God. Stand up to the pressures of society. Corral your teens into your home with love. Form a prayer group of parents and teens. Do whatever it takes to rescue your children before it's too late.

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 20

Practicing Purity

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:5

Christian young people have asked me what specific things they can do to practice moral purity. Three of those are:

¨    First, watch the crowd they hang out with. Choose their friends wisely (see Proverbs 13:20).

¨    Second, guard what they put into their minds from books, movies, and music (see Psalm 101:3a, Proverbs 6:27).

¨    Lastly, control their thought life (see Proverbs 23:7a, Philippians 4:. The thought is the father of the deed. Someone has well said, "We cannot keep the birds from flying over our heads, but we can keep them from making a nest in our hair."

Walk with God today as you never have before. Guard your heart (Proverbs 4:23, Ephesians 5:3-5). Make a covenant with your eyes (Job 31:1). Set a guard over your lips (Psalm 141:3). Take charge of your thought life: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 21

Are You in the "School of Trials"?

"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 1 Peter 4:12-13

Andrew Murray said, "Every child of God must at one time or another enter the school of trial." And the Scriptures teach us that we are to count it a joy when God takes us into this school.

Just as there is no profit in the ground being made wet by rain or broken up by the plough if no seed is cast into it, so are children of God who enter into trial and have little blessing from it. The heart is softened for a time, but they know not how to obtain an abiding blessing from it. They know not what the Father has in view since they are in the school of trial.

Are you in the middle of a trial? Trust that the Lord will bring blessing as you trust in Him with all your heart.

Let 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 encourage you: "For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!], Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting." (Amplified Bible)

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 22

Living Beneath Your Privilege

"For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work: I will triumph in the works of Thy hands." Psalm 92:4

God has given the victory to every Christian – not just in the hereafter, but in the here and now. You say, "But Pastor Rogers, I know some Christians who aren't living a victorious life. And, umm, I'm one."

Then I hate to break it to you, but you are living beneath your privilege. God's Word admits the possibility of failure in our lives, but it never assumes the necessity of failure. As a matter of fact, 2 Corinthians 2:14a says, "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ."

Do you know what you need to do? You need to possess the possessions that God has already given to you in Christ. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).