Love Worth Finding

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 2

Do You Want victory?

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." 2 Corinthians 10:4

I believe that many of us are experiencing limited or no victory because we have not learned to press the battle on through to victory. "But wait a minute, Dr. Rogers, I want the victory." Do you really?

Then you need to know this: First, God wants you to have the victory. Second, the measuring cup of your victory is in the palm of your hands. That is, you can be as victorious as you want to be. Daily make Ephesians 6:10-18 a part of your morning routine.

The devil does not have a stronghold that we cannot pull down if we will use God's weapons. But we may be trying to wield those spiritual weapons in our own strength. The Bible is your sword, but Ephesians 6:17 tells us it is the sword of whom? The Spirit. It's not your sword. Take it up, but rely fully on Him.

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 3

Total Surrender to Living for Jesus

"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." John 12:25

Two men were discussing the issue of tithing. The first one asked, "How do you figure your tithe? Before taxes or after taxes?" The second answered, "Oh, I figure my tithe before taxes." "Why do you figure it that way?" he asked. His friend responded, "Because the Lord gets more that way."

That's the kind of man who is going to get a blessing from the Lord. Jesus said the Pharisees tithed from the mint plants (see Matthew 23:23). They would have an herb in their hand and count out each leaf one by one to give their exact tithe to the Lord—just enough, yet not too much. How precise they were!

Oh God, give us men and women who say, "Dear God, I'm going for You with all that I am. I'm getting out of the boat with both feet. If You tell me to hit the ground, I'm going to hit it until You tell me to stop."

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 4

Praying for God's Protection

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." - Matthew 6:13

Why do you think we return to God time and time again asking Him to forgive us? I think it is partly because we fail to pray the other part of the Lord's Prayer: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

We wake up in the morning, come to the end of the day, and we say, "God, forgive me. I blew it." And He does. Do you know why we fail? We've learned how to pray "Lord, forgive me." But we're not praying, "Lord, protect me."

You wouldn't come to the end of the day and say, "Lord, give me this day my daily bread." The day is over. "Lord, protect me" is not a prayer for the end of the day; this is the prayer to begin your day.

Each day this week, begin your day with this prayer. Let it become a habit. Expand your prayer to encompass putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 5

A Sweet Aroma to God

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish." - 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

"Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ!" And when we are enjoying this victory, we will be sending off a sweet, pervasive perfume of His glory.

Do you know how incense is made? By cutting or breaking herbs, then crushing them into a fine powder. Then water is added to this powder to create a clay to form into sticks or cones. What is the purpose of incense? To burn and create a fragrant aroma.

When we are praising God in the midst of trials, singing songs of glory in the midst of persecution, claiming His victory when a problem arises, then we are emitting a sweet aroma that is unmistakable to the nostrils of God. This is the sweet smell of victory!

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 6

You Walk In Newness of Life

"Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." - Romans 6:4

When Jesus Christ died, not only did He die for us, but also we died with Him. You may say, "Well, what difference does it make whether He died for me or I died with Him? It's just a play on words." Oh no it's not, dear friend.

When you're dead, then death has no dominion over you. You can't kill a man who is already dead. Let's suppose a man is put to death for a capital crime he has committed, and yet somehow he is raised back to life. Do you think he can be arrested again for his crime? Absolutely not. That would be double jeopardy. He paid the penalty for his crime.

It is necessary that you understand that when Jesus died, you died, and the law has no more hold on you! Your sin debt has been paid in full because He died for you. You died with Him.

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 7

Be Alert!

"But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation." - 1 Thessalonians 5:8

A preacher friend was walking away from another friend when this friend called out to him, "Well, so long! Love God. Hate sin. And watch out for trucks!" Now, that's good advice. Trucks will hurt you if they hit you. It doesn't matter whether you're saved or lost.

We all need to love God. We all need to hate sin. But I want to tell you we are also human and we need to watch out for the things in life that may hurt us. God has given us the mind of Christ and we need to use that mind (see 1 Corinthians 2:16).

Is your head in the clouds today? Are you alert to the things of this world that could harm you? Be sober. Be alert. And watch out for trucks!

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 8

What to Do When You're Not Sure What to Do

"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only usenot liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." - Galatians 5:13

One of the signs that you have stopped trusting God is that you cease to function. You simply drop out of life's activities. You start fretting over this and that; you get distressed over a loss; you get oppressed by the devil. And what do you do? Close up shop, draw the drapes, go to sleep, get up late. Have you ever been that way? Worry will do that to you.

When you worry it is because you are not trusting God. You may say, "I lost my job." Well, what are you doing? "I'm sitting around the house." Well, quit it! You have more opportunity to serve God.

Go down to the church and ask them to put you to work. Go to your local mission and volunteer. Mow a neighbor's yard. Go shopping for an elderly person. Do what you need to do to find a job and when you're done...do good! Do good because you're trusting in the Lord.

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 9

Our Only Business in This World

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." -  Romans 3:28

If God the Father chose us and the Holy Spirit set us aside for His holy purposes, then what part do you and I have? There is divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

You have been sanctified unto obedience. Salvation is free, but you must obey. God's divine sovereignty in choosing us does not nullify our response to His call. You have been saved out of this world, sent back into this world to witness to the world, and that is the only business you have in this world.

Now, you do not work to be saved. You work because you are saved. Someone has said and I agree: "I will not work my soul to save. That work, my Lord has done. But I will work like any slave for the love of God's dear Son."

[Judy Harder]

JUNE 10

Sinning All You Want to

"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." - 2 Peter 1:4

Some people distort the doctrine that when a man is saved he is always saved. They get the idea that if this is true, then he will sin all he wants to. Friend, I sin all I want to. The thing is, I don't want to!

If the only thing that keeps you from sinning is fear of losing your salvation, I wonder if you have really surrendered yourself to God and asked Him to save you.

Peter tells us that we have become "partakers of the divine nature." Does that mean that you don't sin any more? No. Before I was saved, I was running to sin. Now, I'm running from it. I may slip, but I'm saved. I have a desire to live pure and clean to the glory of God.

What about you? Do you have a desire to be holy? Or do you treat the doctrine of assurance as a license to live a sinful life?

[Judy Harder]

June 11

Making Pain Your Servant, Not Your master

"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

There are three possible ways to pray when you are hurting. First, you can pray that God will give you an escape from the pain. That's normal—in fact, that's how drug stores stay in business! Second, you can pray that God will give you the strength to endure the pain. And that, too, is a natural response. If we can't escape the pain, we can pray to endure the pain.

The third way we can pray is to ask God to enlist the pain in our lives for our good and His glory.

If we pray to escape our pain, then we see pain as our enemy. If we pray to endure our pain, then pain is seen as a master. But if we pray to enlist our pain, we see it as our servant. We are able to find God's grace to glory in our infirmities, that the power of God may be manifest in our lives.