DEVOTIONAL BY BILLY GRAHAM – HOPE FOR EACH DAY

God Takes the Burden

As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. – PSALM 103:13

As God’s children, we are His dependents. Dependent children spend little time worrying about meals, clothing, and shelter. They assume—and they have a right to—that their parents will provide everything they need.

Jesus said, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ …. But seek first the kingdom of God … and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:31, 33).

Unfortunately, worry is an ingrained habit for most of us. But because we are God’s children, He is responsible for our welfare. That is why you should be “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). In other words, let God do the worrying! He says, “I’ll take the burden—don’t give it a thought—leave it to Me.”

Never forget: God is bigger than your problems. Whatever worries press upon you today, put them in God’s hands—and leave them there.

DEVOTIONAL BY CHARLES STANLEY – ON HOLY GROUND

You Have It All!

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. – John 1:4

Every individual who has trusted Jesus for his salvation has received the Source for his most compelling needs in the person of the indwelling Christ.

Christ if the Bread of Life.  He is the Sustenance who nourishes our innermost being.  Our hunger for meaning and purpose in life is fully satisfied in Christ..  He is meaning; He is purpose.  We want not for significance in life when we have Christ s our life.

Christ is the Water of Life.  He channels His all-sufficient life through our earthen vessels – drenching us with His joy, peace, love, hope, contentment, strength, and steadfastness.  He quenches our thirst for self-worth, assuring us of our inestimable value to Him.  He freely gives us His abundant life.

Christ is the Light of Life.  He enlightens us with eternal truth, bequeathing us wisdom for the journey.  He sheds His light upon what is truly valuable so that we can pursue the things that are profitable, not foolishly chasing empty dreams or false, deceiving philosophies.

When you have Christ, you have it all – meaning, purpose, life in its fullest sense, truth, and wisdom.  You belong to the Creator, Sustainer, and End of all things.

DEVOTIONAL FROM POSTCARDS FROM HEAVEN – CLAIRE CLONINGER

I Will Do It

My dear one,

You spend tremendous energy on trying to be a good Christian.  But self-effort will never produce the completed saint.  Instead, spend that same amount of time and effort just sitting at my feet.  Read my Word.  Listen to my voice.  Absorb my truth.  Let the lifeblood of my gospel begin to flow through your veins, and you will begin to be remade.  A person will most surely become like those with whom he or she keeps company.  Trust me.  I am faithful, and I will never ask of yuoou what I am not willing to perform in your life.

I will do it! – God

Luke 4:14-21

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹ and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Psalm 145:8-13

⁸ The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
⁹ The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
¹⁰ All you have made will praise you, O Lord;
your saints will extol you.
¹¹ They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
¹² so that all men may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is faithful to all his promises
and loving toward all he has made.^[a]

DEVOTIONAL BY OSWALD CHAMBERS – MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST

Yielding

. . . you are that one’s slaves whom you obey . . . —Romans 6:16

The first thing I must be willing to admit when I begin to examine what controls and dominates me is that I am the one responsible for having yielded myself to whatever it may be. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because somewhere in the past I yielded to myself. Likewise, if I obey God I do so because at some point in my life I yielded myself to Him.

If a child gives in to selfishness, he will find it to be the most enslaving tyranny on earth. There is no power within the human soul itself that is capable of breaking the bondage of the nature created by yielding. For example, yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust, and although you may hate yourself for having yielded, you become enslaved to that thing. (Remember what lust is— “I must have it now,” whether it is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind.) No release or escape from it will ever come from any human power, but only through the power of redemption. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One who can break the dominating power in your life, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. “. . . He has anointed Me . . . to proclaim liberty to the captives . . .” (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1).

When you yield to something, you will soon realize the tremendous control it has over you. Even though you say, “Oh, I can give up that habit whenever I like,” you will know you can’t. You will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you willingly yielded to it. It is easy to sing, “He will break every fetter,” while at the same time living a life of obvious slavery to yourself. But yielding to Jesus will break every kind of slavery in any person’s life.