Quiet Please

Isa 30:15 “…in quietness and confidence is your strength…" (TLB)

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How Much Do I Love Jesus?

Every so often we should take a personal spiritual inventory of our relationship with God. One of the questions we should ask ourselves is, “How much do I really love Jesus?” You may not always pleased with the results of this spiritual inventory. Use Luke 7:36-38 as a measuring stick of your love for Him. The woman in this passage is a great example of what true love for Jesus looks like.

Her love for Jesus was bold (v.37). Her expression of love for Jesus seemed to break all the cultural rules of that day. But she didn’t care who saw her or what people said about her. She wanted to show Jesus how much she appreciated His forgiveness. How bold is your love? Do you let cultural norms prevent you from showing Jesus how much you love Him?

Her love for Jesus was emotional (v.38). She was overcome with emotion because Jesus had shown her much love and forgiveness. When you experience God’s great forgiveness in your life, you can’t help but show it outwardly. When was the last time you reflected on how much God loves you and has forgiven you? If you do, you may not be able to contain the emotions that well up inside of you.

Her love for Jesus was more than respect. In this story, Luke plays two people off one another. Simon, the Pharisee, respected who Jesus was, but he didn’t truly love Him. True love is different from respect. True love expresses itself in tangible ways. I have to ask myself periodically: “Do you simply respect Jesus as a good teacher and leader, or do you truly love Him as Savior and Lord?”

Her love for Jesus was sacrificial. Simon didn’t even do what was required or expected (vv.44-46). This woman gave everything she had to show her love for Jesus (v.47). What have you given up lately to show your love for Him?

Take time for your own personal spiritual inventory today—test your love for Jesus.

Dear Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, are you worried about your sins being forgiven? If so read what Charles Spurgeon had to say about our forgiveness as he comments below on the verse for today.

“Cleanses,” says the text – not “shall” cleanse.” There are multitudes who think that as a dying hope they may look forward to pardon. Oh, how infinitely better to have cleansing now than to depend on the bare possibility of forgiveness when I come to die. Some imagine that a sense of pardon is an attainment only obtainable after many years of Christian experience. But forgiveness of sin is a present reality – a privilege for this day, a joy for this very hour. The moment a sinner trusts Jesus he is fully forgiven. The text, being written in the present tense, also indicates continuance; it was “cleanses” yesterday, it is “cleanses” today, it will be ‘cleanses´ tomorrow. This is the way it will always be with you, Christian, until you cross the river; every hour you may come to this fountain, for it cleanses still…Our iniquity is gone, all gone at once, and all gone forever.”

Are you reading this devotional today and you do not know the forgiveness that Jesus offers? If so, click here to find out how you too can know the full cleansing power of the Savior.

Proverbs 3:5-6 are two of those verses of scripture that are well known to Believers. Many have even committed them to memory. But knowing them, memorizing them, and actually practicing them are very different things. I was once coming home from a men’s retreat and was trying to use a way that was different from that which I usually used. I drove down the road with confidence that I was going the right way. But after some time on this road I found I was not headed home. In fact, I had no idea where I was. I stopped in a convenience store to get directions to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The workers there had no idea how to get me to it. Finally I found a Pennsylvania State Trooper’s office and they were able to direct me.

We all make wrong turns or travel down wrong roads in life at one time or another in our pilgrim journey through this world. We either assume we know the way we should go and not consult the Lord or we think we know a better way than God has laid out for us. Our choices seem right at the time but later we find we’ve been led away from the Lord and His will for us. We need to turn around and get back on the correct road.

If we had put Proverbs 3:5-6 into practice we wouldn’t have lost our way and wasted valuable time. Acknowledge God in your ways today and allow Him to direct you down life’s correct road.

Focus! That’s something we do with a camera isn’t it? Yes, but it is also something we do with our minds as we try to work through a problem, or when we place our attention upon something so we can deal with it. Where is your mental focus when passing through difficult times? Some Believers become so obsessed with the trial they focus on the experience and not on the Lord. They become like Peter when walking on the water when he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink in the waves around him.

In Psalm 71 the psalmist was able to keep his focus on the Lord. Over and over in this psalm he brings to mind the character and attributes of God. He sees God’s glory, power, strength, and faithfulness. Five times he mentions God’s righteousness. The one thing we must never lose sight of in the midst of our trials are the righteousness and goodness of God. It is because of His righteousness and goodness that we are able to trust Him.

As you go through trials you will find many people who will have a suggestion, a remedy, or a word of direction. If these are people you can trust you should consider what they have to say. But remember, after all is said and done, there is only one thing you can put your trust in and that is the character of God.

Get to know Him. Develop an intimate, trusting relationship with Him. Trust in His character. Then you can say with the Psalmist “For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.”

Have you been singing lately? Do you realize that Christianity is a faith that has given birth to music? You don’t find other religions singing as Christians do. We live in a day where we are surrounded with good Christian music. We have in our churches, radios, music players of one kind or another and other media music that lifts the soul. We need to make good use of all this music.

Dr. David Jeremiah wrote, “Music helps you transport your spirit from mundane corners to majestic splendor. The body follows where the heart leads – and vice versa, as a matter of fact. … Do you want to know how to incorporate worship into every moment of your day? Music is an excellent place to start.”

So let’s sing unto the Lord. Let’s sing because music expresses levels of adoration and wonder we can’t find in spoken words. It is no accident that the largest book in the Bible is the Psalms. Let’s sing because the people of the world will be attracted to our music. And let’s sing because we absolutely can’t help it.

When Roger Williams arrived in the New world seeking religious freedom, he was opposed by some Puritans who were unfriendly to his views. He fled to Narragansett Bay where he purchased land and founded a settlement that later became the capital of Rhode Island. He named it Providence. It was a name he felt that described God’s ordering and overruling of his life.

We often find ourselves in difficult circumstances. But we can trust in the overruling hand of God Who turns negatives into positives, valleys into hills, and questions into exclamation marks. We can trust the providence of Him who promised to work all things together for our good.

Do you have a burden today? Are you worried about something? A. W. Tozer wrote that the child of God travels in a appointed way. He wrote, “Accidents may indeed appear to befall him but these evils will be so in appearance only and will seem evils only because we cannot read the secret script of God’s providence.”

So, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov 3:5-6)

One day a grandfather was helping his young grandson to ride his new tricycle. They were in the grandfather’s driveway that had a slight decline toward the street. The grandfather would stand behind the tricycle and gently push it up the incline with his foot. His grandson would turn around at the top of the hill, pedal a little, and take off down the incline as fast as he could. Then it happened. On one trip down the driveway he started heading for the rose bushes, thorns and all. He called out, “Pop Pop, Pop Pop, - help!” His grandfather ran up to him, grabbed the handlebars, and steered him to safety.

Isn’t that what God is willing to do for His children? He is available to His own any where, any time, in any kind of weather, or in any kind of distress. It can be in a time of clam, a time of storm, when our hearts are cold and feel broken, or in times of joy. He is willing to step in, grab the handlebars of our life, and steer us to safety and put us on the right road. When our life is rolling downhill and things get out of control all we need do is cry out, “Abba, Abba, help me!” And He will, no doubt about it. He loves each of His children so much that He will come to their aid whenever they ask for it.

Peter told us to “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

Whew, what a last few weeks this has been! I don't have to rehearse the troubles our nation has seen nor the worries it has caused. People are insecure, wondering where the next attack, incident, or plague will hit. "What is a body to do?" Is there any security? Do we have any rock to stand upon in this sea of frightening events?

Of course there is. Chuck Swindoll, in his book Living on the Ragged Edge, wrote:
"God has the whole world in His hands. Remember the old gospel song? He's got the wind, the rain; the tiny little baby, yes, even you and me in His hands. How easy it is to forget that! And it isn't limited to our geography or our culture, you know. He's got the Middle East in His hands (that's a relief, isn't it?), not to mention Central America and Red China, Ethiopia and India, Indonesia and Russia - all right there is the palms of His sovereign hands. And while we're at it, He's got our future, our children, our circumstances, our friends, and our foes in His hands ... within His grasp ... under His control. Even when imaginary fears slip in like morning frost to blight our faith. He's there – in charge....

"He has yesterday’s failures. He has today's challenges. He has tomorrow's surprises right there in His hands. And not one of them causes Him to gasp."

As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "For the earth is the Lord's, and all it contains" (1 Corinthians 10:26.)

And as the Psalmist sang"

Ps 18:2 "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

Ps 18:31 "For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?"
Take heart dear Believer, you are secure!!!