Asides

June 9
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Uncategorized Aside

“Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death.” (Proverbs 10:2, NIV)

It is a sign of Christian maturity to be content with as little, or as much, as you’ve been given. 

Today’s lesson from Proverbs tells us that every person risks trouble when he or she is dissatisfied and begins to justify crooked schemes to acquire more. This is particularly perilous for the disciple of Jesus, because if we don’t have it, we don’t need it.  (Really.  We don’t neeeeeeed it.)  God will supply all of our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

A right relationship with God ensures that we shall have all that we need; with the added blessing of knowing that we shall be delivered in, and through, situations that destroy the unscrupulous. Take care to be honest and true in both your actions and in your ambitions.   – Luther

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June 7
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“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NIV)

The disciple of Jesus should fear only one thing: The displeasure of his or her heavenly Father. 

Our world is a marketplace of fear and trouble.  If we forget for even a moment that God is bigger than any trouble or peril we shall ever face in our lifetime, we will lose heart.

Jesus has plainly told us that we will face trouble in this world, so any trouble we encounter should not come as a surprise. However, He has also told us that we should not fear or lose heart: “I have overcome the world.”

Face each day with this confidence!  – Luther

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June 6
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“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4, NIV)

According to God’s word (Galatians 5:22-23a), the fruit of the Spirit — that is, the outward expression of God’s presence within us — is this: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

It may take a while for a tree to actually produce the fruit it was created to bear; and it may take us a while to mature into the disciple whose life is known for love, joy, peace, and the other manifestations of God’s life within us. However, we shall never realize our destiny in this regard without abiding in Christ.

Make Him the One in whom you “live, move, and have your being” (Acts 17:28), and your life will bear fruit. Guaranteed.  – Luther

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