Many religions and New Age philosophies promote the
old lie that we are divine or can become gods. The truth is, you will never become God or even a god.

That prideful lie is Satan’s oldest temptation. Satan promised Adam and Eve that if they followed his advice, “You shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5).

This desire to be a god shows up every time we try to control our circumstances, our future, and people around us. But as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn’t want us to become a god; He wants us to become godly, taking on His values, attitudes, and character. We are meant to “take on an entirely new way of life — a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

God’s ultimate goal for your life on Earth is not comfort but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing your personality or becoming a mindless clone.

God created your uniqueness, so He certainly doesn’t want to destroy it. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality.

Every time you forget that character is one of God’s purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances. You’ll wonder, “Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time?” One answer is that life is supposed to be difficult! It’s what enables us to grow. Remember, Earth is not Heaven.

Many Christians misinterpret Jesus’ promise of the “abundant life” (John 10:10) to mean perfect health, a comfortable lifestyle, constant happiness, full realization of your dreams, and instant relief from problems through faith and prayer.

In a word, they expect the Christian life to be easy. They expect Heaven on Earth.

This self-absorbed perspective treats God as a genie who simply exists to serve you in your selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment. But God is not your servant, and if you fall for the idea that life is supposed to be easy, either you will become severely disillusioned or you will live in denial of reality.

Never forget that life is not about you! You exist for God’s purposes, not vice versa. Why would God provide Heaven on Earth when He’s planned the real thing for you in eternity? God gives us our time on Earth to build and strengthen our character for Heaven.

THINK IT OVER
•    How does this devotional encourage you in light of the ways that the world is changing, often not for the better?
•    What Scripture verses will you memorize to help you when you are facing discouragement or difficult circumstances?
•    What do you expect from God? Where does the motivation for those expectations come from?                                                            (RICK WARREN)

When Jesus says we’re to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” He’s talking about far more than just bread. In fact, the Bible tells us that bread represents four things.

1.Bread represents the necessities of life.
This is the economy of God. God says, “I supply it. You gather it.” When you pray, “Give us this day         our daily bread,”  it doesn’t mean you sit on the couch and wait for God to throw you money. You’ve got to work! Even the Israelites had to go out and pick up the manna. Work is a part of God’s purpose for your life. It builds character. Proverbs 14:23 says, “Hard work always pays off; mere talk puts no bread on the table” (MSG).

2.Bread represents God’s Word. The Bible is spiritual food. Bread is a symbol for Scripture. The Bible says,  “People do not live by bread alone;  rather,  we live
by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3b NLT). When the children of Israel were walking to the Promised Land, God dropped manna from Heaven for the people to pick up because they had nothing to eat. God gave them this bread to teach them that people need more than bread for their life. Real life comes by feeding on every word of the Lord. You don’t just need physical nourishment; you also need spiritual nourishment.

3.Bread represents God’s family and fellowship. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:16, “Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ?” (AMP) Bread is a metaphor for the family of God. You need God’s people in your life! Whether or not you have a physical family,  God wants you to
be part of His family that will last forever — the Church. It is to be a place of fellowship.

4.Bread represents salvation. Jesus chose bread to represent His sacrifice in communion. Every time we eat the bread and drink the wine or juice, it is a reminder of how much God loves us and the sacrifice He made so that we can go to Heaven.

Whatever your need is — physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual — God will take care of it if you will depend on Him. Pray today, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and trust God to provide for you in every way.

Think It Over
•Understanding these four representations, how can you more specifically pray when you ask, “Give us this day our daily bread”?

•In what ways does God’s Word “feed” your spiritual growth?

•How does your life reflect that you need God’s supply, Word, family, and salvation to live?                                                     (RICK WARREN)

As a teenager, Daniel was carried off to Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar. There he was selected to be trained for service in the king’s court, along
with three of his friends and some other young men from Israel – chosen because of their intelligence, handsome appearance and aptitude for learning. They were each appointed a daily ration of choice food and wine from the king’s table, and were to be in training for three years, before entering the king’s service.

However, Daniel (and his three friends) showed courage, bravery and integrity when they refused the prime cuts of meat and wine from the king’s table so they wouldn’t defile themselves before God. Daniel requested a ten day trial where they would eat vegetables and drink water, and at the end of the ten days Daniel and his friends were found to be healthier than the rest of the men. God had rewarded their obedience with physical health and vitality!

Daniel was unwilling to compromise on his convictions, even in the midst of a hostile land. As Christians living in a fallen world, we’re also in the midst of a hostile land. Do we serve God without compromise, refusing to defile ourselves by submitting to the ways of the world? Or do we compromise our godliness and submit to the world instead of to God? Compromise happens when the lines between good and evil become blurred, and when we try to stretch the boundaries that God has set for us, losing sight of the righteous path that God’s marked out for us.

This is exactly what’s happening in society today. People are becoming increasingly hostile towards God, and towards those who stand for Him. Moral truth has become subjective and there are very few absolutes. The Word of God is seen by many to be irrelevant, and sin is protected by political correctness. Christians are under constant pressure to compromise their loyalty to God and indulge themselves in the things of the world. It takes courage, discipline and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to stand firm against all kinds of temptation and remain steadfast in our commitment to ‘be holy, as He is holy’ (1 Peter 1:15-16).

What would we have done in Daniel’s shoes? Would we have had the courage and discipline to say no to the things of the world that defile? Living without compromise means standing firm, even in the face of opposition and temptation. As Christ’s ambassadors here on earth, we’ve been given the opportunity to uphold the name of Jesus and His Word of truth. We’ve been filled with the Spirit of God, and in His power we are able to overcome all things – including the temptation to compromise – because ‘greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world’ (1 John 4:4).

Let’s make a new commitment today, to live a radical life in Christ! Let’s stand for truth without compromise, refusing to submit to the defilement of the world, that we might be salt and light in an increasingly dark world. Today, let’s dare to be a Daniel!                                                           (PETER HORROBIN – ELLEL MINISTRIES)

The Christian practice of baptism is confusing for a lot of people.  They wonder, “What does it accomplish?  Does it wash away my sin?  If not, then why should I do it?   Will I go to hell if
don’t?  For those who didn’t grow up in church, it can all seem pretty mysterious. Even for those who did, its true significance is not always recognized.  So what is baptism good for, anyway?

Baptism is public identification with Christ.  It’s standing up in front of a group of people and saying, “Do you know what? I’m a follower of Jesus Christ. I am in Him, and He is in me.  I am not my own; I have been bought with a price.  I am a card-carrying, flag-flying member of the family of God.  I don’t care who knows it!  He is my Savior!”

It is essential for every new believer to go public like this.  If you see a person walking around with a badge on, you think to yourself, “Wow, he must be the sheriff.”  Or if you see a woman wearing a wedding ring, you think, “Oh, she must be married.” The ring on her hand says, “I belong to someone else.”  In the same way, by being baptized you are saying to the world, “I am a Christian; I belong to Jesus.”  Baptism is the biblical way to profess your faith in Christ.

Biblical Christianity emphasizes the importance of public confession.  Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  This shows that holding it privately in your heart isn’t good enough; you also have to confess it with your mouth. You’re supposed to testify publicly.  Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33?  “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.”  Jesus is saying, “If you live your life as though we’re not plugged in together, either by verbally denying Me or failing to confess Me before men, then I will deny you before My Father.”  This matter of confessing Christ publicly is very serious.

Does this mean that baptism saves a person? No.  Not everyone who wears a badge is a sheriff and not everyone who wears a ring is married.  Some people go through the motions, but without faith in their heart.  Such people were unbelievers when they got into the water, and they were still unbelievers when they got out.  The only difference is that now they’re wet. Salvation occurs when a person believes in their heart and confesses with their mouth (Romans 10:9).

So how about you? Have you taken this important first step as a Christian?  Have you stood before a group of people and made known to them that you belong to Jesus? If not, I encourage you to get that done.  It is the most basic step in the Christian life.  If you have been baptized, I encourage to think back on that day.  Do you remember the love that you had for Christ then? Is it burning just as strong today? If not, maybe you need to reaffirm your commitment to walk with Him and to let the world know that you are His.
(JAMES MACDONALD)

I’m not sure why we always think of Jesus in terms of His soft side—the meek and mild, gentle, peaceful Jesus. While I’m thankful for that side of Him, I can’t help but notice that there’s more to Him
than that. He came to earth to effect radical change. To be sure, there was a clash of civilizations when He brought the values and culture of heaven into enemy territory that was under the management and direction of Beelzebub himself. Jesus did not come to coexist with hell on earth, nor did He come to negotiate a compromise. Rather, He came to conquer hell on earth, to overthrow the regime and set the captives free! He died a revolutionary’s death and rose as a victorious revolutionary who had once and for all de-fanged the enemy of our souls and set us free. And once freed, we are recruited to join the revolution, to get involved in the goal of setting other captives free, and to follow our leader Jesus and take up the rally cry of His revolution: “People matter most!”

“People matter most” is the point Jesus was trying to get across when He told the now-familiar story of the Good Samaritan. Let’s face it: Joining the heavenly revolution is a challenge. We live in a world where personal happiness is more important than the welfare of others; in a world where pleasure trumps people; in a world where corporate value and stock prices eclipse the importance of the value of people, their pension plans, and personal welfare. It’s why the crime of genocide still exists; why the problem of abortion continues to thrive; why the question of euthanasia still haunts us. It’s why dads leave their families for the fling of what initially seems like a more-fulfilling relationship. It’s why the affluent can be blind to the needs of the poor and the oppressed.

We’re living in enemy territory where people are often pawns and chips on the game table of someone else’s happiness and gain. Jesus came to change all of that: to teach us that people matter most, that eternal destinies are worth sacrificing for, that others count, and that love trumps self-centeredness! The familiar story of the Good Samaritan teaches us that even religious people can miss the point of the importance of “loving our neighbor.” But Jesus is still looking for good Samaritans who will join the revolution and live to prove—as Jesus died to prove—that above everything else, people matter most.

Join the revolution today!

YOUR JOURNEY…

•    Read the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. How are you doing in terms of obeying Jesus’ command to “Go and do likewise”? (In other words, which of the three passersby would most characterize you?)

•    What circumstances or challenges might distract you from the rally cry: “People matter most”? What can you do to eliminate the things that keep you from rallying to Jesus’ cause to care for others?

•    Think of someone you know who might be “bleeding by the side of the road” today. Take the time to stop what you’re doing and lend a helping hand in the name of Jesus.                                                                            (JOE STOWELL)

Perhaps at no time in history has the temptation to overwork been greater than it is today. We live in a 24/7 world. Today’s communication    technology    (cell phones,
text messaging, mobile devices, email) have made it possible and sometimes even expected that we will be available for work 24/7.

But the truth is we were not created to work around the clock! We were created in the image of God—and even God stopped to rest on the seventh day. God stopped to rest to enjoy all that He had created.

In fact, God thought that Sabbath is so important that it is one of the 10 Commandments. It’s interesting that the third commandment has the longest explanation of any of the commandments. “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you will labor but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord.” The Hebrew word “Sabbath” means rest. The gift of Sabbath, a day of rest, is given by God so that we will rest to spend time with God, to rest to take care of our bodies, our health, to take time to appreciate God and His creation and the people we love in our lives.

Sabbath rest is not just about slowing down or clearing our schedules. It is about setting the right priorities for our time. If we say that our faith and our relationship with God is top priority in our lives, then our schedule should reflect that. If we say that our family is the most important thing in our lives, then spending time with our family should be a priority.

Several years ago, I asked a potter to make a new bowl for our Baptismal font. The potter worked with clay and “hand throws” her work. It was really interesting to watch her throw some clay. She took a lump of clay and plopped it onto her wheel, only to look at it carefully and then take it off again. She did this several times. Finally, I asked her why she kept plopping the clay on her wheel and then picking it up again. She told me something quite profound: “If the clay isn’t centered right, no matter what you do, it won’t work. Centering the clay is the single most important part of my work.”

Sabbath rest, is a gift from God to help us “center our lives.” We were not created by God to work 24/7. It is in the quietness, the solitude, the stillness that God so often speaks to us. It is in the quiet spaces that we reconnect and nurture the relationships with those we love. It is slowing down and really seeing God’s creation that we appreciate the Creator. It is in honoring Sabbath—in resting—that we are truly centered and grounded in our identity as children of God. It is in the quiet times and places that we are refilled and renewed for our life’s mission.

Life is a precious gift and it is indeed too short to work all the time. Centering our life—like centering the clay is the most important thing we can do to make the most of the gift of life we’ve been given.                        (PASTOR BRENT CAMPBELL)

Right after the Korean War took place a woman in Korea had gotten pregnant by an American soldier. She gave birth to a little girl. This woman kept her baby and tried her best to raise this child for seven years. But the rejection, the humiliation, the taunting and the harassment that she experienced was too much for her. She abandoned that seven-year-old girl to the streets. For two years the girl lived on the streets. Finally there was a new orphanage that opened up. They took her into the orphanage. Pretty soon word came that a couple from America was going to come to that orphanage and they were going to adopt a little baby boy.

The next week this American man and his wife came. He saw her out of the corner of his eye. She was nine years old but didn’t even weigh thirty pounds. She was a scrawny thing, with worms in her body, lice in her hair, boils all over and was full of scars. But the man came over to her and laid his hand on her face. He was saying, ‘I want this child. This is the child who I want’.”

The hand on her face felt so good and inside she said, ‘Keep that up, don’t let your hand go.’ But nobody had ever showed that kind of affection to her before and she didn’t know how to respond. She yanked his hand off her face, looked up at him and spat at him and ran away. The next day they came back to the orphanage. They understood what was behind that little girl’s hurt, the trauma she had gone through and all the things she had suffered. In spite of her initial rejection of them, they looked at all the children in the orphanage and they went back to that little girl and they said, “We still want this child.” And they adopted her. They raised that child like she was their own. She’s married today and she’s a follower of Jesus Christ.

That little scrawny 9 year old girl with lice, boils and worms, weighing less than 30 pounds, who pulled her hand away, who spat at them, and ran away mattered to that American couple, was valuable to them, and they desired to take her home.

OKAY – what does God want you to do with this story….

Stop hiding because you matter to God. You are valuable to God. And God would like nothing better than to clean you up, give you all the attention you need and take you home.

Start being Christ to the people of this world!

You see, in many ways our world is just one huge orphanage. Full of people – (you work with them, live with them, go to school with them) who need to know that it is safe for them to come out of hiding too.                            (STEVE MALONE)

The Bible doesn’t have any single exhaustive list of ideal fatherly traits. However, there’s no mystery to what makes a good father.  A good father is one whose priorities in his
family life match those that Jesus described in Matthew 22:37-40: You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.

If love is owed to God and to our neighbor, it is surely also the guiding principle in fathering children. The Bible is also clear in its definition of this love: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Patience, kindness, and endurance are challenging virtues to embody when your child is throwing a temper tantrum, disobeying you, or wrecking the family car. But this selfless love is to characterize a father’s relationship with his children, just as it ought to characterize his relationship with his spouse and neighbors. It’s an ideal to aim for, not an achievement that can be easily grasped—which means that recognizing that you sometimes fall short of biblical fatherhood is an important part of working your way toward it.

There is much we can learn about godly fatherhood by noting the father-like traits that the Bible ascribes to God, using the language of fatherhood:
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”  (Luke 11:11-13)

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy.  (Psalm 68:5)

For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.  (Proverbs 3:12)

And there’s another source of fatherhood wisdom in the Bible: taking note of the many biblical fathers who failed in some way, and prayerfully considering how to avoid the (usually self-created) traps into which they fell: the miserable example of Laban; the priest Eli, who failed to speak out against or restrain his sons’ outrageous behaviour; and even the great Bible hero David, whose troubled relationship with his son Absalom brought sorrow to his family.

This Father’s Day, your relationship with your children (or perhaps with your own father) may be healthy and fulfilling, or it may be strained and uncertain. It’s probably a little bit of both. Regardless, now is an excellent time to commit yourself to making Christlike love the defining element of those relationships. Have a blessed Father’s Day—and dads, may you grow daily in grace as you navigate the joys and trials of fatherhood!                                             (ANDY RAU)