Love Worth Finding

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER 29

Be an Encourager

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;  Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Someone has well said that discouragement is a darkroom where the negatives of fear and failure are developed.

Some people are encouragers and others are discouragers. Have you ever met a discourager? They're like a drink of water to a drowning man. They can brighten up a room by leaving it. They leave you drained and depressed.

But an encourager leaves you full and refreshed. God has cornered the market on encouragement. All encouragement comes from God. You're never more like God than when you're encouraging people and never more like the devil than when you are discouraging people.

Find a needy person and enrich him; a lonely person and include him; a misunderstood person and affirm him; an undiscovered person and develop him; a failing person and restore him.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER 30

Eternity . . .

"That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

Your soul, made in the image of God, will exist forever. I think Billy Sunday, the evangelist, said it this way: "Imagine a little bird taking a grain of sand and flying to a distant planet. It would take him a million years to fly to that distant planet. Then he would drop that grain of sand. Then the little bird would fly back to the earth taking another million years. He gets another grain of sand and flies back to the distant planet.

"Back and forth, back and forth it goes. When he will have transplanted every speck of earth to that distant planet, it will only be breakfast time in eternity."

Your soul will go on, and on, and on.

Where do you plan on spending eternity? Where do your loved ones plan on spending it? If you don't know, ask them today and get their salvation on the right side of eternity.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER 31

Moving Forward Into the New Year

"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3

On this New Year's Eve, you may be wondering what is going to happen. Years ago, some men were on a leaky old ship in the middle of a rough and stormy sea. One of them asked the captain, "Are we safe?"  He said, "Well, the boilers are weak and may explode at any moment. The ship is taking on water. To be very honest with you, we may go up, or we may go down, but at any rate, we are going on."

And that's the way we are as we face this new year. Jesus may come; we may go up. We may die, and go down and then up, but at any rate, we are going on.

Reflecting on this past year, allow the Holy Spirit to invade your heart, convicting and drawing you to Himself. Ask for wisdom, courage, and faith to continue on, whatever happens this next year!

[Judy Harder]

January 1

Pressing Toward the Prize in This New Year

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:14

Do you want to win the prize that Paul talks about? He didn't want to fail. He strained with every inch, every ounce, every nerve, and every part of his body to win the prize. He had ambition. But it was more than just ambition, it was a holy ambition.

He said, "I want that prize and I'm going to have it. I'm going to be like an athlete who denies his own body worldly pleasures. I'm going to train like an athlete. I'm going to stay in shape for the Lord Jesus. I'm going to do all that is necessary that I may win."

Friend, the Bible clearly teaches that we ought to be ambitious, but for the right reason. And that reason is for Jesus. In this new year, may God deliver us from pint-sized ambitions and small-time aspirations.

[Judy Harder]

January 2

Giving the Devil His Due

"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

Mike Kolen, who played linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, told this story once. "When I graduated from Auburn University, Coach Shug Jordan asked me to do some scouting for him. I said, 'Sure coach, what kind of man do you need?'"

"Coach said, 'You know the guy you can knock down and he stays there?' I said, 'Sure!' Coach said, 'We don't need him. You know the guy you can knock down, he gets up, you knock him down again, and he gets up?' I said, 'Yes! You want him?' 'No,' said Coach, 'I want the guy that's knocking everybody down. That's the guy I want.' "

I am grateful that Jesus picks us up when we are knocked down. But wouldn't you like to do a little knocking down of the devil for a change? You can if you will learn to pray, "Lord, lead me not into temptation, but keep me from evil."

[Judy Harder]

January 3

Getting the Upper Hand Over Sin

"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." -  Romans 6:13

Did you know that if you let the devil be uppermost in your life today, it is because you are doing the letting? Before you were saved, you had no choice. You were a slave to sin. Now, you don't have to let sin have the upper hand in your life.

There is absolutely no power that says you must sin. When you entered into union with Christ, you no longer have to let sin reign in your mortal body. You have dethroned sin and enthroned Jesus Christ as Lord of your life.

We need to be like the man who prayed, "Lord, help me cooperate with You, so You won't have to operate on me."

[Judy Harder]

January 4

What is the Source of Your Joy?

"I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify Thy name for evermore." Psalm 86:12

What is bringing you joy today? You say, "The Lord is making me happy." How do you know it's not that nice automobile? Or that "special someone"? Or your good looks? Or your bank account? Or your popularity? Here's how you can know. By the process of elimination. Let God take away your health, your home, your job, and if you still have joy, then you know it is Jesus.

If you lose your joy when you lose any of these things, you are an idolater because that is where you are getting your joy. I don't mean that you cannot be temporarily upset over the loss, but if the joy goes out of your life, you weren't getting your joy from the Lord.

You'll never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.

[Judy Harder]

When Your Life Caves In

"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." - Mark 13:26

When we come to a place where we don't understand what's happening...when everything seems to be caving in, there is Jesus. We always have the forgiveness of the cross, the victory of the empty tomb, and the hope of Christ's imminent return.

When we go to the doctor and he tells us we have a malignancy. When we hear that we as a couple are infertile and cannot bear a child. When we have to declare bankruptcy. When we are laid off work. When we read a note that our spouse has left. When a loved one dies because of a terrorist act.

We have a Savior...and we have a choice to believe or not to believe! At that time we can begin to murmur, criticize, grumble, or despair. Or we can yield to the Savior and hear Him say, "My child, no matter what is happening, this is how much I love you. Look to the cross. Look to the empty tomb. Look for Me. I'm coming again."

[Judy Harder]

Redeem the Time!

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." - James 4:17

Procrastination. Just seeing the word makes me want to put off saying anything else. Are you under conviction in that area? One fellow said, "I started to procrastinate, then decided to put it off."

Procrastination is a form of disobedience. When God tells us to do something and we don't do it, we can label our actions with all kinds of fancy words, but the bottom line is, it's sin. The days are passing and time cannot be stopped. You can't call a "time out" in life. And time can't be stored like money in the bank.  Really, the only thing you can do with time is use it or lose it.

Someone has said, "Lost: One golden hour, studded with sixty diamond minutes. No reward offered, for it is lost forever." Redeem the time.

[Judy Harder]

Wholehearted or Halfhearted?

"The light of the body is the eye: Therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness." - Luke 11:34

Joshua chapter fourteen tells us something very interesting about a man named Caleb. Three times the Holy Spirit says Caleb "wholly followed the Lord God" (vv. 8, 9, 14). Every ounce of Caleb was given to the Lord.

This is the kind of heart you and I should have if we call ourselves Christians. The devil is going to intimidate a fainthearted man. And there's only one way to stand against the devil. That is to give everything to Jesus Christ.  Indeed, God does not accept half-hearted religion.

It would be better for you to say that there is no God than for you to say that He doesn't mean that much to you, He doesn't make a difference in your life, He doesn't stir your heart to love Him.

God is looking for wholeheartedness. "With my whole heart I have sought Thee." (Psalm 119:10) Can you say this to the Lord today?