Getting our joy back

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Song of Songs 5:1–8:14 
2 Corinthians 9:1-15 
Psalm 51:1-19 
Proverbs 22:24-25


TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Psalm 51:12 (ESV) “Restore to me the joy of your salvation…”

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Psalm 51 is rugged and honest. David, who penned it, had engaged in lust and then sex with another man’s wife and then took measures (including murder) to cover it up.

This psalm gives us insight into the internal turmoil that David was experiencing. He felt dirty in need of cleansing. He felt depressed. He was physically weakened by that depression. He felt distant from God.

This Psalm reminds us that sin (whether or big or small) will cause havoc in our spirit’s. Between our conscience and the Holy Spirit, the Jesus-follower will not be able to get past the sin. Everything in us demands that it be dealt with. If we can repeatedly sin and not be bothered by it, we aren’t God’s children (see Hebrews 12:5-8).

In our Verse for Today, we see one of the desires that brought the Psalmist back to the Lord. He wanted his joy back. He wanted to experience and be happy in the relationship he had previously had with his God. He wanted or God to “restore to me the joy of your salvation…”

Our relationship with God is something that is intended to bring us happiness. It is intended to satisfy a deep longing within our spirit. And that joy is strangely absent when we have sinned (or are sinning) and have not taken steps to make it right.

Do you want to be restored to the joy, the happiness, of God’s salvation? Is there some unconfessed sin(s) that is the reason for the loss of joy? Then reread Psalm 51 reflectively and allow the words of that Psalm to be your own words offered up to God. Call out to Him, asking Him to restore the joy.

Yesterday, I was reflectively reading through the Old Testament book of Joel. I meditated for quite some time on the refreshing and hopeful truths in Joel 2:12-14. Why not read through those verses and hear God giving you some steps to come back to Him.

The importance of integrity

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Song of Songs 1:1–4:16 
2 Corinthians 8:16-24 
Psalm 50:1-23 
Proverbs 22:22-23

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

2 Corinthians 8:20–21 "We are traveling together to guard against any criticism for the way we are handling this generous gift. We are careful to be honorable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to see that we are honorable."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

In 2 Corinthians 8:19, we read that the Apostle Paul was carrying a large financial gift from the Macedonian churches to the poor saints in Jerusalem. The saints in Jerusalem were being (financially, etc,) persecuted for their faith and so Christians in other countries wanted to give to help them.

But Paul knew the sinfulness of the human heart. Paul knew of the precious financial gift that they were carrying and the incredible worthy cause for which it was given. The money needed to be protected. 

But it wasn't just the money that needed to be protected. The guys traveling with that money needed to be protected from even the appearance of evil. Because it's quite possible that every penny could end up in the hands of the Jerusalem saints and yet there might be some who would allege that some money was taken – even when it wasn't.

So Paul, in our Verses for Today, noted that he had taken extra precautions to protect the money and the integrity of everyone traveling with that money.

APPLICATION

While we should not be consumed with what others think about us and what we are doing, we must take precautions to protect our integrity. Because if we lose our integrity, we lose so much more!

So if you are handling someone else's money, take precautions to protect the money and your integrity. 

If you are meeting with someone of the opposite gender, take precautions to protect your integrity and the integrity of the one you are meeting with.

If you are overseeing someone else's little children, take precautions to protect the children and your integrity. 

Just as the Apostle Paul saw fit to take precautions to protect his integrity, so must we do the same.

Sharpen your ax!

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Ecclesiastes 10:1–12:14 
2 Corinthians 8:1-15 
Psalm 49:1-20 
Proverbs 22:20-21

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Ecclesiastes 10:10 (NLT) "Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Imagine someone who is using an ax to cut down a tree. That ax, at one time, was razor sharp. When it was aimed at the side of the tree, it always dug deep into the wood.

But, after much use, it had become dull. The edge was no longer sharp. So might even exaggerate a bit and say that it couldn't cut butter.

Here's the question: Whick takes more effort to cut the tree down, the guy with the razor sharp ax or the guy with the dull ax? The answer is clear, isn't it? The duller the ax becomes, the more effort is required.

This is a very simple principle to understand and it applies to so many areas of our life.

It essentially means that there are times that you need to stop working in order to get things back into good working order. While there may be much work to be done, you are doing yourself a favor in that 'downtime' because you were rejuvenating the resources.

This principle applies to so many areas of life:

Take one day off a week (Sabbath) to get rested and rejuvenated for the next week (Exodus 20:8–11). You will be much more effective in those six days if you rest (sharpen the saw) on the seventh.

Read or take a course to improve a needed skill. Even though you are not working during the self-improvement (sharpening the saw), it will enable you to be much more effective.

Essentially, that last point was what Solomon was encouraging in our Verse for Today. While taking time out of your busy schedule to read and gain wisdom may be looked down on by others (maybe some even looked on as laziness), it is a brilliant use of time if your intention is to gain information in order to be more effective when you are working.

Look for those areas of your life in which you are much less effective than you used to be. Consider why you were having to exert more energy just to accomplish what once took much less effort. When you discover what has grown dull from use, "sharpen the ax."

On gossip and eavesdropping

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Ecclesiastes 7: 1– 9: 18 
2 Corinthians 7: 8-16 
Psalm 48: 1-14 
Proverbs 22: 17-19

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Ecclesiastes 7:21–22 (NLT) "Don't eavesdrop on others – you may hear your servant curse you. But you know how often you yourself as cursed others."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Let's cut right to the chase. What Solomon said in our Verse for Todaywouldn't even be necessary if gossip didn't exist. If "servants" didn't gossip about their "masters," and vice versa, there would be no need for these two verses.

The fact of the matter is that people do gossip. They do talk badly about others behind their back. They do say bad things to others that they don't have the compassionate courage to say to the one they are talking about.

So, these verses become necessary.

Essentially, we are instructed not to eavesdrop from around the corner. We are forbidden to listen in on other people's phone calls. We are forbidden to browse through someone's emails when they accidentally left their account open on a public computer. 

Why?

Because we live in a sinful world and you just might realize that others are talking badly about you.

(Principal: Others don't talk about us nearly as much as we think they do.)

There is humility in these verses, though. The writer says that we shouldn't be so quick to condemn others when we hear that they are talking about us behind our backs. Why? Because we have probably done the same thing. We are not innocent, either. 

So what is the answer?

When you are talking about someone:

• Try to say only those things that you wouldn't be ashamed to say if the person you're talking about walked into the room during the conversation.
• Apologize to the offended person if they come to realize that you have gossiped about them.
• When you were talking about someone else, make sure that the purpose is constructive in this for the purpose of identifying and fixing a problem.
• Talk only to those people who need to know or could be helpful in solving the problem.

When others are talking about you or someone else:

• If it is a small thing, let it go. Forget it. Some fires are so small that they quickly burn themselves out.
• If it is an ongoing problem or the words are very distructive in nature, (they do not fit the criteria listed above,) then hold that person accountable for their words. Tell them that what they are doing is wrong and they must stop. Confront them in love and be quick to acknowledge your own failures, but hold them accountable for what they have said or are saying.
• Gossip is such a big deal that if the offender continues in the sin, then pursue the steps found in Matthew 18:15–17.

Gossip is not a small thing and directly undermines the unity that Jesus desires for his church (John 17:20–23). Don't tolerate it in yourself or in others.

Working together for success

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Ecclesiastes 4:1–6:12 

2 Corinthians 6:14–7:7 

Psalm 47:1-9 

Proverbs 22:16

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NLT) "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Too many of us are far too individualistic. Maybe it's because of insecurity. Maybe it's because of pride. Maybe it's because we don't want to be a bother.

But the end result is often that we try to do things ourselves. And the fact of the matter is that when we fail to invite others into the journey with us, we greatly diminish the degree of success that we could have had.

As I write this, we are in the middle of moving from a house that we have rented for four years into a house that we recently purchased. Left to ourselves, this move would be overwhelming and take a month of Sundays. But some folks from our church have been showing up to help make the task much less stressful. It is also taking much less time.

But this principle applies on a grander scale, too. As I write this, Houston, Texas has recently experienced flooding of biblical portions. As a Southern Baptist, I am part of a denomination that long ago realized that many churches working together can accomplish so much more than a church working on its own. My heart has been overwhelmed with gratitude as I have seen truckloads of resources and buses of disaster relief workers heading to Texas to help. Those people are Southern Baptists and those resources are made possible as individual Southern Baptists partner together and give to the Cooperative Program.

Is there some task that you're wanting to accomplish? Or some task that you even believe that God is calling you to do? Then consider inviting someone to join you.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NLT) "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed."

God is Our Refuge

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Psalm 46:1-11

Proverbs 22:15

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Psalm 46:1 (NLT) "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

If the Pauline epistles of the New Testament are directed at the mind of the God-follower, then the book of Psalms is directed at the heart of the God-follower.

The Pauline epistles deal with what is objectively true. The Psalms deal with what is subjectively felt.

This is one of the blessings of reading the book of Psalms. It's rugged. It's real. It asks the same questions and struggles with the same issues that we often do with our own life. 

Further, it is comforting to know that while the psalmists periodically questioned God and sometimes expressed their exasperation at what he was or was not doing, we are also told that one of the writers was "a man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22).

So, when we read passages like our Verse for Today, we realize that it's not simply theory. It's not untested truth. It is something that the writer has experienced. He knows it to be true and the words are coming from his heart.

He had been in times of trouble and God had been a "refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

What about you, friend? Have you experienced God's love and provision when life got tough? He is the same God that He was when the Psalmist pinned this verse (Hebrew 13:8).

Maybe you need to spend more time in prayer "casting your cares upon him for he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). Maybe you need to ask the Lord to increase your faith and open your eyes so that you can see what He is doing even as He allows the trials to continue.

But even if you cannot make sense of it, God has not changed. He is your refuge and strength! And He loves you so much that He would rather die (on the cross) than spend eternity without you. So rest in Him today.

Forgiven and righteous

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Job 40:1–42:17 
2 Corinthians 5:11-21 
Psalm 45:1-17 
Proverbs 22:14

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Being forgiven isn't enough to go to Heaven. We must be completely perfect. We must obey every single applicable law in Scripture.

"But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!" (Matthew 5:20 - NLT)

"But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48 - NLT)

It's not enough to be forgiven. We must also be thoroughly righteous.

As we look to the cross of Jesus in faith, we are saved by being forgiven of all our sins against God and His holy law. His death was the payment for the sin debt of everyone who would put their trust in Him.

Yet, forgiveness isn't enough. We also need to be righteous, a status that can only be obtained by having obeyed every single applicable law in Scripture.

That is how we are saved through Jesus' life. If the cross was all that was necessary, then why would Jesus wait some 33 years to get there? Why wouldn't he have died as a young child if forgiveness of sin is all we needed.

As we read the Bible, we come to realize that His life was absolutely essential because it was in His life that He obeyed every single applicable law of God. He gained a righteousness for Himself that He can credit to our account when we trust in Him.

His cross offers forgiveness. His life offers the righteousness that we need.

That's what our Verse for Today is all about. It refers to the Divine Swap. At the moment we are saved, Jesus takes our sins and lets his death on the cross pay for them while He also credits us with His own righteousness. 

So, we get forgiven and then credited with His righteousness.

It's not just forgiven people that get to Heaven. Only righteous people can get there. And if you are saved, both of these things are true of you.

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21 - ESV)

Friend, if you are saved, God doesn't just see a forgiven sinner when He looks at you. Instead, He sees someone who has perfectly lived according to every law He has commanded us to live by. That's because Jesus has forgiven us and then credited us with His righteousness.

So, live that way! Don't live in defeat! Don't feel as if you are a disappointment to God! When God looks at you, He sees Jesus, and He smiles!