Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
Read Philippians 4:6–7
Paul wanted to be in heaven but needed to be on earth. In a temporal sort of way, in the time of year coming up, I share his frustration.
I am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and watch the NFL...yet to remain in the pulpit is more necessary for your sake. (Philippians 1:23-24, Swindoll paraphrase)
Read Amos 7:14–15
There is only one you. In our overly-populated, identity-crisis era it is easy to forget this. Individuality is played down. We are asked to conform to the “system.”
Read Acts 16:1–3
Years ago, when I pastored in California, an usher met me as I was leaving the church. He had been involved in counting the morning offering. He smiled as he walked up to me, stuck out his hand, and said, “I’ve got something for you. It came in the offering.”
He handed me a note from a child who had been in our service. It read:
TO PASTER CHUCK SWINDOL
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17
All of us have practiced certain areas of wrong from our youth. It is a pattern of life that comes “second nature” to us. As a result, it strongly resists change. We gloss over our resistance with the varnish of excuses:
“Well, nobody’s perfect.”
“I’ll never be any different; that’s just the way I am.”
“I was born this way—nothing can be done about it.”
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
Jeremiah tells us why such excuses come easily:
Read Psalm 103:8–12
It happens to all of us. Teachers as well as students. Cops as well as criminals. Parents as well as kids. The diligent as well as the lazy. Not even presidents are immune. Or corporation heads who earn six-figure salaries.
What am I talking about? Making mistakes, that’s what. Doing the wrong thing, usually with the best of motives. And it happens with remarkable regularity.
Read Romans 5:8
Whoever is soft on depravity should watch Schindler’s List.
It’s not for the fainthearted, I should warn you. It is a raw, harsh, shocking exposé of unbridled prejudice, the kind of anti-Semitic brutality spawned in hellish hate among the Nazis prior to and during World War II.
How could such hatred fill the minds of those wearing swastikas? How could they walk back into their barracks or offices or homes wearing blood-splattered uniforms and forget what just happened?
Read 1 Peter 5:1, 5
Ours is fast becoming a success-saturated society. The telltale signs are everywhere. Check the magazine racks at airports, hotels, and drugstores. Click on the webinars and podcasts. Seminars by the hundreds are held every year, offering ideas, motivation, techniques, and mainly promises of prosperity. Books by the dozens and scores of audio and videotapes promoting the dream are published on an annual basis.
Read Romans 2:1–2, 4
“My treat!”
Nice words to hear, huh? They have flowed into my ears from any number of places—yours, too.
Treats are neat. Spontaneous. Unexpected. Pleasant moments that communicate: “You are special...loved, appreciated, affirmed, deserving,” and a half a dozen other warm fuzzies we need to hear but seldom hand out. Normally, they don’t come on holidays, birthdays, or anniversaries, but rather during the run-of-the-mill, no-big-deal times in our lives.
Read Proverbs 15:32–33
In a world where everyone is out to serve self, it’s refreshing to read these ancient words from the pen of one of the most powerful men who ever lived: Solomon.
If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding. Fear of the LORD teaches wisdom; humility precedes honor. (Proverbs 15:32-33)
In different words, Jesus says virtually the same thing:
Read Hebrews 12:14–15
There is no torment like the inner torment of an unforgiving spirit. Without question, it is one of the most miserable attitudes to experience in life.
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