Today’s reading is Philippians 1:1-2:30.

“…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

I can relax today. I don’t have to give myself ulcers worrying about how I’m ever going to be pleasing to God. I don’t have to fret that I’m just not ever going to be good enough for Him. He’s working on that. He is working in me both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Part of me wants to rebel against that. Part of me wants to say, “NO! I will do this.” But a very real part of me has come face to face with exactly how badly it goes when I am trying to do this. I have failed again and again and again. Today, instead of failing, I can just give up. That’s right. I can quit. I can surrender. I can admit I am powerless and only botch things myself, so I’ll just have to surrender my life to God and let Him be in control, simply doing what He says.

No, this doesn’t mean I sit on my backside and wait for the cosmic puppet master to pull my strings. It means I can have confidence to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. Why? Because God is working in me. It means all I have to do is learn God’s will and surrender to that. My job is simply to do the next right thing. God is working in me. I can trust that He will get me where I need to go if I simply surrender to Him today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Ephesians 1:1-2:22.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

What a thought! I am not my workmanship. I am God’s workmanship. Obviously, I’m making choices in my daily life. This doesn’t mean I’m nothing more than a puppet with God literally pulling the strings. But it does mean I’m not alone. It means I don’t have to direct the way for me to be all that God wants me to be, all that I want me to be.

God has created me in Christ Jesus to walk in His good works. But is His workmanship merely a moment in time switcheroo? Does Paul simply mean when I was baptized into Christ, God did some work but now He is sitting back hoping the switch took? I don’t think so. This verse means God is still working in me. He is providing me with progressive victory over sin and progressive victory in righteousness.

This doesn’t mean I sit on my backside and wait for God to pull the strings. But it does mean I can take comfort today that God is working in me. I am His workmanship and He is the Master Craftsman. He may not always work on my timetable, but He is working.

I think today, I’ll just surrender to God’s way. I’m pretty sure it works. And I’m pretty sure it will work on me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. For those who haven’t seen it elsewhere, here is a great video from the Skit Guys about God working on us. Even if you have seen it, you may want to watch it again. Enjoy.

God’s Chisel by the Skit Guys

Here is the link for my e-mail subscribers: http://giveattentiontoreading.com/?p=1620

Today’s reading is Galatians 3:1-4:31.

“So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Galatians 4:7).

This is great! Do I need to obey and honor my Father? Of course. That is what sons do. But I don’t have to crawl around on my hands and knees in constant fear of getting whipped because I’m a slave. In fact, my great privilege is there is an inheritance waiting for me because I’m a son.

How did I get to be a son? Because the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world to redeem me, to purchase me, to adopt me. God wanted me to be His son so badly, He let his “biological son,” if you will, die so I could become His adopted son. I get the inheritance and I don’t have to pay for it. I simply need to live like a son. I need to revel that i’m part of the family of the king of the universe. I should honor and glorify Him for bringing me into the family.

Wow! What a privilege I’ve been given. I need to remember that privilege today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Romans 7:1-8:39.

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

What a thought! God was willing to give up Jesus in order to save me. If He was willing to go that far just to bring me into His family, how much farther will He go to protect me now that I’m in the family? No wonder I can cry out, “If God is for me, who can be against me?” I have nothing to fear. I simply need to hang on to God and He will carry me through to eternity.

No matter what comes my way, God has already proven that He will do whatever is necessary to conform me to the image of Christ. Since that is the case, today, I’m just going to hang on to God and follow Him wherever He leads me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Romans 3:1-4:25.

“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20-21).

Over and over again the Bible stories make one strong point. God does what He promises. Abraham’s family became a great nation in the land He promised and He blessed all nations in Abraham’s seed through Jesus Christ. I need to remember that today. God is able and will do what He has promised me. I need to build my faith in that.

It appears one of the best ways to do that is to give glory to God. Today, I give glory to God for what He has done in my life, building my confidence that He will continue to work in my life accomplishing what He has promised–that I will be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-30).

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Luke 21:1-22:71.

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

For me, this should be the model prayer. I know I need to pray for my daily bread and for forgiveness, but at the heart of everything I do, I need this prayer. “Not my will but Yours be done.” I need a daily reminder that today is about God and not about me. A friend once shared a prayer he prays with me, “Lord, let me know your will for today and grant me the strength to do it.”

That’s really all I need for today. I need simply to do the next right thing. What does God want me to do next and may I surrender to God’s strength and power to accomplish it.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Romans 3:1-4:25.

Today’s reading is a great comfort to me. Especially Romans 4:20-21:

“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”

In this context, Abraham was trusting that God would bring about his promise through Isaac, even if he sacrificed Isaac on the altar. Because of that, Abraham surrendered his life to God even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his own son if God asked. What great faith.

I need to grow in this faith as well. Later in this book, we’ll read God’s promise to us: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first born among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).

Here is God’s promise to me. If I love Him, He will conform me to the image of His Son. I struggle daily with all kinds of problems, temptations, and sins. Sometimes it causes me to want to throw my hands in the air and say, “Forget it. Why even keep trying? I’ll never make it.” But God has promised me that I will. God is working within me to accomplish growth and conformation. I may have botched things today, but God is working on me and will get me there if I simply keep loving Him. God isn’t crossing His fingers behind His back. He’s making a promise and He will keep it.

So the question is am I convinced God will do what He has promised? Am I so convinced that I’ll completely surrender my life to Him in faith, just doing what He asks me to do? That is what I need to work on today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Luke 11:1-12:59.

What father among us would give his children a snake or a scorpion when they are asking for a fish or an egg. Even though we can mess things up pretty royally, we’re generally smarter than handing our child a rattlesnake or scorpion. Generally.

However, the great thing is that for God it is not “generally.” It is always. This teaching in Luke 11:11-13 is a powerful statement about God. God gives good gifts. He doesn’t give bad gifts.

Here are the two really important aspects of this that I have to learn.

1) Even when I think the gift is bad, I need to trust God that it is good. That is, some tough things happen in life. Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out how what is going on is really good for me. In fact, I may not be able to figure it out. That is when I simply have to trust God. His gifts are good. Since He’s God, He can see the good from them. Since I’m not God, I can’t always see the good. But His gifts are good.

2) This text says God won’t give me a snake when I ask for a fish and He won’t give me a scorpion when I ask for an egg. Here’s the great thing. Sometimes, due to my own immaturity, I’ve asked for the snake and the scorpion without realizing it. God will give me the fish and the egg anyway. God’s gifts are good.

We can trust God. When things aren’t going our way, that is when we need to simply trust that our refuge really is taking care of us. He really is helping us grow. His way will work best if we just trust it. All I know is this, when I quit trusting God and start trying to fix things on my own, I really mess them up. Today, I’m going to trust that God’s gifts really are good. One day I may see that. Today, I’m just going to walk by faith.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Revelation 19:1-20:15.

Sadly, these two chapters are argued about and disagreed upon in many ways. I am decidedly amillennial. But no matter your view, the thing God wants us to see in these chapters is He wins. Glory and power belong to Him. Because of that, we ought to glorify Him and be on His side. God reigns and those who stay on His side will reign with Him.

The beast and the false prophet may think they have the upper hand, but they will be destroyed in the pit. Satan may think he is going to win with his mediocre copies of God’s things, but he will be bound and then ultimately damned. He can gather an unimaginable army, but all his power cannot remotely threaten God. 

GOD WINS!!!

I need to remember that today. Sometimes it seems the battle is just going to keep raging and there is no end. Sometimes it seems that every defense or offense is useless. The enemies of Christ keep pouring forth. Why keep fighting? 

I need to carry a banner to remind me why we keep up the fight. GOD WINS!!! 

Keep working, keep striving, keep fighting the fight of faith. GOD WINS!!! You want to be on His side.

***Question: How do you stay on God’s side every day?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Revelation 7:1-8:13.

Revelation 7:10 shows a great multitude crying out: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

What a powerful statement. What a directive statement. Think about it. This says salvation does not belong to me. I can’t own salvation in the sense that somehow I get it for myself. Salvation is God’s. Salvation is the Lamb’s. If I want salvation, I have to go to God and the Lamb to get it.

So, what should be my top priority today? Trying to get salvation from me and my effort? Absolutely not. I can’t get it that way. Instead, my top priority should be striving to get close to God and the Lamb. They have salvation. If I am in them, then I’ll have salvation.

***Question: What do you do to get close to God and the Lamb?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC