Ephesians 4:4-6
...there is one body and one Spirit...one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.
 
The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians that God’s ultimate goal is to unite all things in Christ. This is because it is his desire to get things back to the way they were originally intended and designed. Wholeness, unity, oneness. There are many examples of this – Jesus’ teaching that he and the Father are one, his prayer for the disciples that they may be one, Paul’s emphasis on oneness and unity in Ephesians 4 – “there is one body and one Spirit…one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all.” God’s goal in this regard would also include the disparate and divided parts of a person’s life. There are times when I feel very disjointed – going in different directions at one time, pursuing different agendas,
drawn by competing affections. Part of this I know is due to sin – perhaps most of it is. James refers to the double-minded man. Sin causes me to be double-minded at times – a part of me wanting to follow Christ while the sinful part of me wanting to do its own thing; go its own way. I know that increased peace comes from eliminating all doublemindedness; having one direction, one focus, one heart, one mind, one Lord.

God, grant me the resolve and the strength, out of your glorious riches, to be undivided in all my ways. May my life have but one passion – even Christ.

Pastor Gary Brooks

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to weep, and a time to laugh.

One of the greatest gifts the Lord has given mankind is a sense of humor. Personally, I like nothing better than enjoying a hearty laugh, unless it is making someone else chuckle. It is fun, and it cheers everyone up, especially me. A recent article said the medical profession agrees that laughter helps patients heal faster and stay healthy longer. Someone said, "Laughter is like internal jogging for the organs." Of course, that is nothing new to God. That was part of His plan. You can read about it throughout the Bible:

The joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10) A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. (Proverbs 15:13) A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)

As we age, we often lose our sense of humor, perhaps through illness, pain, or multiple sorrows. But that is when we need laughter the most. God created our bodies to heal themselves; laughter is part of the cure. I frequently entertain at nursing homes and my program is filled with jokes, happy music, and humorous poetry (I'm known as "The Sunshine Lady"). I used to read some serious works, but I had to stop. I discovered the elderly cry very easily, and it was too difficult to make them smile again. And, I always wanted to leave them smiling. One way to make people laugh is to expose them to young children and animals. Not many suffering souls can resist their amusing antics. And, do not forget to smile - smiling is highly contagious; before they know it, others will find themselves smiling back. Once a person is smiling, laughter is sure to follow. Christians have the best reason of all to laugh: we know what the future brings - joy forever with our blessed Lord in heaven. Think of that, daily, and rejoice with God-given laughter. It is the season!

Ruth McDaniel

Me

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

“It’s all about me,” I kidded in response to praise on a video production. Joking because we all know it takes a whole team of people to make a video and the video is almost never about the people who make it. For me, a relationship with God was like that too. Salvation was about the main players. I was just behind-the-scenes, perhaps given credit at the end—like any movie. God loved the world, but not Me in particular. I just happened to be on the global ball with millions and millions of others in a history of millions and millions before Me. I wasn’t a David or a Paul and was insecure. I hadn’t amounted to anybody spiritual (or material for that matter). I was embarrassed I hadn’t become the great person that I was (or wanted to be). Until I had become that person, no one could ever really love Me. One day a woman in a church I was visiting broke my pride. She relayed how God had supernaturally healed her of diagnosed ovarian cancer. With tears streaming from her eyes she passionately affirmed God’s love for her. She was special I thought. Then, as if she were speaking to me, she told how some of us don’t believe God could love us or care about us as individuals, but He does. She believed God loved me. Me. At that moment, I believed He did too. And maybe for the first time, I think I loved Him. I began a life’s journey of trusting Him with the most personal things. Christianity was personal. God was personal. He was personal to Paul. “Christ…loved me and gave himself for me”. I found other places where He seems to truly care about the details of life (e.g., Ps 139, Luke 12:6-7). And the more I knew about His care for Me, the freer I found myself to be concerned about others. The life I am living is through faith in Christ. Jesus was all about Me so I could be free to be all about Him. Is He personal to you? Does he care about what you’re thinking? Saying? Feeling? Will you trust Him with it today? Ask yourself, “Is there anything in Me he doesn’t care about?” (cf. 2Cor10:5b). He loves you (Gal 2:20).

Dear Lord, I thank you that you care for every detail in my life. Thank you for loving me and dying for me. Help me to trust you today with every concern and decision I have to make so that I can more fully devote myself to you and not to Me.

Jeff Coleman

Romans 8:28

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

It is true: “There are times when distress enters our lives.” Something else that is true: “We do not always know how to pray when this happens. And in great distress we can’t even say words for a prayer.” Just such a time happened in my life. The doctor had informed me that my husband would not live beyond 18-24 months. We had been married less than 10 years and we had two small boys, one just a few weeks old. I was so distressed that I found myself unable to pray. Not being able to pray also distressed me. My precious pastor shared this passage from Romans with me. He then prayed with me. Even though I did not utter any words that day while praying with pastor, an assurance and peace descended upon me. It was a valuable lesson for me to learn. It happened during a time that some would call a “lowtime” in my life. But for me it was a valley where I found peace and comfort. Not only did God teach me something, He gave me peace and comfort while doing it; and He healed my husband who is still living 48 years later.

Father, God, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Please help me to allow the Holy Spirit to guide and direct me as I study your Word and seek your will for all aspects of my life, both great and small. Amen.

Barbara Underwood

Luke 16:11

Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you.

This is the first of 10 memory verses in the Crown Financial study. It is bed-rock for all believers. When we are saved by Grace through Faith in Christ we are adopted and are expected to live as He would have His sons and daughters do. We are instantly made new, but our ‘becoming’ is a life long process. In addition to salvation He gives us life and health and wealth and abilities. They are all His, and as part of the family, we are called to use them for His Glory. To do so, each of us must seek His will in our walk. He will speak to us as we grow through prayer, Bible study, fellow believers and His quiet voice within us. When they are in concert with each other, you are hearing Him. In the comfort of that place, it is easy to know His will and follow Him. The apostles didn’t lead easy lives. They did live simple lives because this was the course they chose. Luther, Bonheoffer and many others have done the same. They all had the comfort of knowing their direction was true and purpose set. They knew that our time on earth is only a time of testing and training.

Father, thank you for all your blessings which You share so prodigally out of boundless love. Make me the man you envision me to be.

John Stobbs

I used to like movies with Brad Pitt; I don’t know why....I guess I just thought he was really cool, brave and attractive. I used to have a 1994 Isuzu Rodeo; it was "beefy" and had handlebars on the outside of the car for "off-roading”, that made it look manly. I had a blanket when I was a child that I clung to; it made me feel safe....even when it was on the clothesline. Notice something here, I've moved on in all of these areas. Brad is cheezy, the beef mobile is most likely rusted out and my blanket was ripped up. You could say I "broke-up" with all of
these, but why? Answer: I change, and they changed. Things change. It's life. I’ve come to realize it's good to put your hope in something that doesn’t change....or you will be disappointed when it does. God is that hope. Malachi 3:6 says, "I am the Lord, and I do not change." Talk about comfort for you and for me. Then we read in James 1:17:

Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

If this God-breathed statement is true, it must be true that His love, forgiveness, compassion, grace and truth don’t change either. I like that. It’s hard though, isn’t it? It's hard to think that all the times I mess up, turn my back or fumble over His commands that He remains static and fixed in His promise. But He does. So carry this, if our hope is placed in the changing, our hearts will remain changeless but if we awe in His perfection, our hearts will be ever changing. I want to change for the Changeless. Try:It- Stand in the changeless shadow and be changed.