Author: David Short

James 1:17 NASB
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Encouraging Words…
Yesterday at church we celebrated the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, a reminder of the love of the father for his “lost son”. As I read this verse from James I am reminded of how much the father of the prodigal son loved him. He spent every day of his absence looking down the road waiting for him to show back up. And when he did, expecting to be treated as a hired hand, the father poured out his love, his wealth, his all upon his lost son who has now been found. Isn’t this how our Father in heaven is with us…giving every good thing and perfect gift to us His lost, but found, children?

2 Corinthians 1:10 NIV
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us,

Encouraging Words…
It is all about Him (Jesus) and the work that He has done. It is He who has delivered us from death by His death. It is He who has been consistant and persistant in that deliverance. Thank God that it is not up to me…I would never be able to make it.

Luke 16:10 NLT
Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.


Personal Challenge…
So…what are the small matters in our lives that it is important to be faithful in? Our money and other resources? Our time? Our loved ones? Those strangers in our midst? Our thoughts? This verse is usually applied to how we use our wealth…but maybe, just maybe, it is meant to apply to every aspect of our life.

Jeremiah 9:23-23 NASB
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.


Personal Challenge… 
And the real question of the day is, “In what or whom do you boast?” I know that I need to truly assess this on a regular basis.

Galatians 5:1 NIV
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Encouraging Words…
It is such a wonderful thing to know that Jesus Christ died to set us free. I love how He proclaimed His ministry by quoting Isaiah 61:1-3, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Now, as a follower of Christ it is my responsibility to make sure that I do not let myself come under the yoke of slavery, whether that slavery is to sin, or to legalism, or to practices and beliefs that are oppressive. Praise God that we have been set free…and most importantly free from death.

Luke 18:13 NASB
“But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’”

Personal Challenge…
Yesterday our worship focused on the Publican and the Pharisee. I must shamefully admit that all too often I find myself puffed up and looking around to see who might be looking at me and all my “godly” stuff. In reality I have no “godly” stuff. I am a sinner and I must follow the lead of the Publican and fall on my face before my righteous God crying out, “Lord, have mercy!” I am redeemed from death only by the work of Jesus. His desire for me is to be humble with my fellow man and to always point them to Him.

Isaiah 66:1-2 NASB
Thus says the LORD, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

Personal Challenge…
God is not interested in the institutions and edifices that man has built for Him. He is not enamored by our practices or rubrics that we have established and follow for Him. He is interested in the state of our heart and spirit. Only from a contrite and humble heart and spirit comes worship that truly glorifies God. Only from this state will the practices, the rubrics, the institutions truly point to Him and glorify Him.

I know that I must constantly check my spirit, my heart, my intentions to make sure that it is God that I am worshipping and glorifying and not me that is looking to be recognized.

2 Corinthians 9:7-8 NASB
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

Personal Challenge…
Every once in a while I need to check my spirit in the giving of my resources and time to God. He has given me so much and in so many ways. What He wants more from me than the gifts that I give back to Him is a cheerful heart in the giving of those gifts. He owns it all anyway. What is important is the state of my heart when I am giving to Him.

Acts 20:29 NASB
I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

Personal Challenge…
Have you ever caught yourself asking the question, “What is going on in this church?” I have. And I am reminded by this verse that we were warned many years ago, at the beginning of the new church, that this would happen. It is so critical for us to know the Truth and to follow Him and what He established and not the institutions that individual men create. It is so critical that I stay grounded in His Word and see Him in the midst of everything…including my church.

Matthew 10:32-33 NASB
Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

Personal Challenge…
Contrary to popular belief the act of confessing Christ before men is not a one time event, like saying the “sinner’s prayer”. It is an active, ongoing profession of faith in Christ the Redeemer through words, actions, thoughts, and our entire being. Being a Christian is not a noun…it is an active verb.