Love Worth Finding

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 24

Clothed with the Righteousness of Christ

"And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Philippians 3:9

A woman worked as a maid in the house of a mean innkeeper. One day God saved her and she could not hide her happiness. What used to be drudgery turned into joy. The innkeeper was furious and began to belittle her. He hated her for being happy.

Finally, he said to her, "You say you're saved and I can see your happiness. Can you tell me what being saved means?"

And she said, "To me, it feels as though I am standing in Jesus' shoes, and He is standing in mine." A theologian couldn't have said it better.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

Have you come to realize that, in Jesus, you have been made "the righteousness of God"? It is the gift of God, in Him.

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 25

From Crimson to Wool, from Scarlet to White

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Romans10:9

Have you ever done something so awful that you are serving or have served time

in prison? Maybe you murdered someone, abused a child, embezzled money, or raped someone. To many, you are a heinous criminal and the judicial system has declared you have no redeeming value to humanity. Well, I'm here to tell you, God can change all that.

God says, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18b). Every blur, every blemish, every stain that ever came upon your soul can be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

Jesus said, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). Jesus will save you if you ask Him.

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 26

The Captain Comes to Take Over

"Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." James 4:8

Joshua had an encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ in the Old Testament near Jericho (see Joshua 5). His first words to Him were, "Art Thou for us, or for our adversaries?" (v.13). Joshua was on his guard, not wanting anyone to harm God's people. Notice the Lord's response, "Nay; but as Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come" (v. 14). Basically, He didn't come to take sides, He came to take over.

Jesus is the Captain of the host of heaven, and this Conqueror with the drawn sword came to give Joshua a message of victory.

You will never know victory until you lay your sword at His feet, bow yourself prostrate before His Mighty Throne, and worship Him. Before you can be a conqueror, you must be conquered. I pray you will soon be on the sunny side of Hallelujah Avenue where the glory roads intersect!

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 27

God Never Takes His Eyes from You

"O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me." Psalm 139:1

God sees everything you do. God knows all about you. God loves you. It is an amazing thing that the Lord would feel this way about any of us, when we are about the size of a grain of sand compared to the universe that He created.

There is no more reason for God to be interested in us than for the President of the United States to be interested in an ant floating on a piece of cheesecake in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. And yet God is interested...very interested.

The sun that stays in the sky and warms the earth will ripen a bunch of bananas like it has nothing better to do. In the same way, Almighty God runs the universe and is concerned about you as though you were His only concern.

Don't close this page until that sinks deep into your heart

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 28

Head-Belief Is One Thing—Action Is Another!

"And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight." Colossians 1:21-22

A man stretched a tightrope across Niagara Falls and pushed a wheelbarrow across it. Next, he filled the wheelbarrow with 200 lbs. of cement and pushed it across. The onlookers were astounded.

Then the tightrope walker asked the crowd, "How many of you believe I could do this with a man in the wheelbarrow?" The hands flew into the air. He pointed to a man who had his hand up and he said, "All right sir. You get in first." Well, you couldn't see the man for the trail of dust he left behind.

It's not enough for you to say you believe in God. Are you willing to act upon your belief? God is calling you to a relationship with Him. Will you answer His call?

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 29

In The Shelter of His Wings

"For Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of Thy wings." Psalm 61:3-4

Of the 6500 hymns written by Charles Wesley, surely none is considered finer than the one titled "Jesus, Lover of My Soul." Many accounts have been shared as to the inspiration behind this song, but whether any are true, indeed the song's lyrics are a poignant picture of a young man's journey into discovering the love of his life—Jesus.

The third verse of this great hymn begins, "Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find."

Where is your heart today? Are you suffering from a broken relationship or the loss of a loved one? Run, don't walk, into His waiting arms of love. He wants to bind up your hurt and bring hope to your heart.

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 30

Salvation: Not An Attainment, But An Atonement

"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." - Romans 3:25-26

When I was a little boy, I thought that God was like Santa Claus with a long beard sitting up in heaven—making a list and checking it twice, trying to find out if I was naughty or nice. Then when my life was over, I would face Him and He would pull out these massive scales and weigh my good works against my bad to see if I made it into heaven.

Do you know what this thinking did? It made me fearful that at the end of my life I would face God and He would say, "Adrian. I'm sorry, but according to My calculations, you didn't make it." Then, I would have to turn and ashamedly walk past family and friends.

Friend, maybe you even believe this, but let me set the record straight: Salvation is not an attainment, it is an atonement.

You cannot atone for your sins. Your good works cannot do it. None of us could produce works good-enough and fast enough to atone for sin. Don't even try. Rest in the finished work of the Cross.

[Judy Harder]

MARCH 31

Dead And Buried

"And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." - 1 Corinthians 15:4

One of the grandest blessings in the entire Bible is often missed by believers. It is the burial of Jesus Christ! That's right! The burial of Jesus is a blessing to you. Because not only have we died with Him, we have been buried with Him.

When Jewish people died in Bible times, they were immediately embalmed with special oils and wrapped in linen. The body was hidden and buried in a tomb. That is what Jesus has done with our old body of sin.

Not only have we been crucified with Christ, we have been buried with Christ. Why the emphasis? So that you will not be haunted by the ghost of guilt. Your old life is not just dead, it's buried!

The devil will try to remind you what you were. Don't let him. Don't go prowling around in the dead bones of your old life. It is gone by the grace of God!

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 1

Chosen Before Time Began

"According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." Ephesians 1:4

Did you know that God chose you before He laid the foundations of the earth? You talk about "old time religion," well friend you can't get much older than that! Before there were any trees, mountains, birds, and bees – God chose you to be one of His children.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, "God certainly must have chosen me before I came into this world because He never would have chosen me afterward." That means you and I cannot take credit for our salvation. First John 4:19 says, "We love Him, because He first loved us."

Somebody asked a little boy, "Have you found the Lord?" And the little boy said, "I didn't know He was lost." How wonderful God chose us, so that we could chose Him.

Though election is a divine mystery, it can bring great assurance to a believer's heart. Allow God's Word to teach you further what it means to be chosen. Read Matthew 20:16, 24:22; Luke 10:20; John 6:37-39; Romans 8:28-39; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Ephesians 1:9-11; 2 Timothy 1:9.

[Judy Harder]

APRIL 2

What Separates You from the Love of God?

"Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:39

A historian tells us that after the Spanish Inquisition, Napoleon's soldiers uncovered a dungeon. They went down into the dungeon and found a skeleton with chains still on it. To their surprise, they looked on the wall and saw a cross. At the apex of the cross, was the word "height." At the foot of the cross, was the word "depth." And on either side of the cross were the words "breadth" and "length." To this prisoner, the cross was a picture of the dimensions of God's love. God's love is expansive and everlasting.

Jesus Christ went to the Cross to demonstrate the depth and height, length and breadth of the love of God. God went to extremes to show His love for you.What are you doing today to lead others to Jesus Christ?