The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

Isn’t it tragic that so many highly educated, brilliant people are actually fools? I know that is putting it rather bluntly, but when it comes to denying the reality of my awesome Lord, I don’t care to be polite. King David from his heart cried about the foolishness of the way of the person who says, “No God.” How many people do you know living that way? When it comes to their morals, they say, “No God.” When it comes to the decisions that greatly impact their lives, they say, “No God.” When it comes to their core beliefs they say, “No God.” A person standing in a clock shop can say, “No Clock.” A person in a candy factory can say, “No candy.” But it surely would say a lot about their wisdom! You and I deeply believe in the Lord. Here’s the challenge. We need to live in such a way that our lives are not communicating “No God.” We need to live for Christ and communicate by our lives that “There is one God and to Him we belong!”

For today: May Christ be seen in our lives daily. That’s the wise way to live.

“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4).

What a terrible thing for us to read today! On the other hand what a practical lesson we can learn from it! Elijah performs valiantly in ministry in 1 Kings 18. Now, exhausted and discouraged, he flees from the threats of wicked Jezebel and collapses under a juniper tree as he asks the Lord to die. Here is the lesson for every servant of the Lord. After valiant ministry comes the very real possibility of deep discouragement. I have met many pastors who have experienced very similar despair. You don’t need to be pastors to have this happen to you. It is possible to serve the Lord with great success. Then not too far off in the future, discouragement can come with significance. For help, please go to my website www.michaelpeck.org. Click Pastors and then click Resources. Please take a few minutes to read “When You are the Busiest and the Ministry is Demanding.”

For today: How patient the Lord is with us. I am so thankful for that. How about you?

“Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy father hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 6:3).

What a mighty statement that Moses proclaimed to the children of Israel! The first generation had passed away in the wilderness because of their sin and rebellion (Numbers 13, 14). Now the second generation of the children of Israel is ready to leave the wilderness and proceed to the land that had been promised by the Lord to them. Moses witnessed the terrible sin and rebellion of the earlier generation. Here Moses shares how important it is for them to listen to, pay attention to, and then obey what God tells them to do. Likewise, it will be so wise for us today to pay attention to what God says and obey His Word. How will this play out in your life today?

For today: I will be asking the Lord to please help me to obey His Word today. How about you?

“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16).

“Come on in make yourself at home, Richard,” the Markums said to the visiting missionary. “We’re so glad to have you staying with us during the conference. We do hope that you will be right at home with us,” Hank Markum said to the speaker. Hank’s wife, Jenny, informed the guest that her husband would show him to his room and that supper would be ready shortly. The Markums were a delightful couple, and the speaker found their home to be a wonderful place in which to stay. But would you like to know something? It was not until the missionary speaker returned to his home at the end of the week that he really would feel at home again! Likewise, Paul writes to the Colossian believers that they needed to live in such a way that Christ’s Word was residing comfortably in their hearts without experiencing conflict. May we everyday be like the Markums. May we say to the Lord Jesus that we want His Word to dwell richly, or to literally “make itself at home” in our lives!

For today: May the Word of the Lord be clearly seen in our lives today.

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33:3).

Don and Lucy were brand new Christians. Neither grew up in homes that were Christian. In fact Lucy best described her upbringing as being totally pagan. “Pastor, until we started attending this church, I didn’t know it was possible to talk to God. The first Sunday we attended, you spoke on Jeremiah 33:3. We were stunned to learn that God would ever allow us to call on Him,” Lucy told the smiling pastor. “I do remember that first day I met you folks. You told me that you didn’t know God’s number, so how could you possibly call upon Him?” Pastor Kenward reminded them as they smiled together. How about you? You no doubt know that you can call upon the Lord. The question is, “Will you call upon the Lord today?” Don’t allow anything to keep you away.

For today: Calling upon the Lord must be my highest priority as well as privilege.