APRIL 24, 2010

OBEDIENCE IN

THE NEST

Scripture Reading - Luke 2:41-52

"And he [Jesus} went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was

subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And

Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man "

( vv. 51-52 ).

For the wood duck, obedience is a matter of life or death. A duckling who doesn't obey will die.

Wood ducks lay their eggs in a hollow tree, sometimes using a tree hole 40 feet above ground. A female wood duck lays one egg each day for 11 days. As hatching time approaches, she communicates to her unhatched ducklings, and they respond with "cheeping" sounds. It is important for them to learn the voice of their mother.

The mother signals to her babies when hatching time has come. The babies use a small " egg tooth, " a small bump on the end of their bill, to break their egg open. Though the mother lays her eggs over 11 days, the babies hatch within minutes.

Within 24 hours, the mother duck flies to the base of the tree and calls to her young to join her. Unable to fly, the duckling must jump to the ground, landing on the forest floor with their mother. If a duckling has not learned the voice of his mother or chooses not to come when she calls, he will be left alone in the nest to starve to death or to be eaten by a predator.

The duckling who obeys his parents discovers that they will provide direction, protection, and provision until he is old enough to strike out on his own. Young people must learn as Jesus did ( v. 51 )- and as wood ducklings do--that obedience is the key to a safe and happy life. Obedience is part of God's plan in nature and in our homes. Children need to obey their parents.

ACTION POINT: Get a book about birds and do a more in-depth study about the wood duck.

-Tom Palmer-

APRIL 8, 2010

BE YE HOLY-

AND REPLACE

Scripture Reading - 1 Kings 18:25-30

Some assume that holy living is all negative. They falsely conclude that a holy way of life is a list of all the activities we can't do. Yet there's another dimension of holy living we cannot overlook. The principle of replacement means we not only "put off" but also "put on" ( Eph. 4:22-24 ).

In Luke 11, Jesus told the story of a man who had an unclean spirit ( vv. 24-26 ). The unclean spirit departed but eventually returned to find the "house" still unoccupied. Jesus said that the unclean spirit-actually a demon-returned with seven like himself, and "the last state of that man is worse than the first" ( v. 26 ). The basic application is this: The good will overcome the bad, the right will crowd out the wrong, and holiness will replace impurity.

A teen who destroys a secular music collection must replace it with sacred music. The family that eliminates the TV must develop new ways to fill their home with wholesome activity. The man who discontinues the input of lustful mental images must memorize and mediate on God's Word. Doing spiritual housecleaning is a wonderful spiritual step, but we must not stop there. We must aggressively pursue putting quality replacements into our lives.

In Ephesus, believers publicly burned items used in pagan worship ( Acts 19:18-19 ). The next verse says that the Word of God "mighty grew...and prevailed." The city became better not just because pagan worship was gone but because the worship of God had come. When Elijah repaired the altar of God, he put the altar of God in the place of the altar of Baal. At that point, the nation of Israel was ready to again acknowledge that God was truly God. The nation was again a holy nation.

EXERCISE: List three items that will keep your family focused on God and will cause you to think more of Him.

-Tom Palmer-

APRIL 2, 2010

BE YE HOLY-

AND REPENT

Scripture Reading- Psalm 51:1-10

David was guilty! He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong person, and doing the wrong thing. Second Samuel 11:27 says that "the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." His adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah, were secret sins; but God knew about them. Nathan the prophet exposed the scandal in the palace when he confronted David about his sin. Under God's conviction, David declared in 2 Samuel 12:13, "I have sinned against the Lord."

Nathan followed David's simple confession by saying, "The Lord also hath put away thy sin" ( v. 13 ). David could and would be clean before God again. Some people are afraid to confess their sin to God because they fear they're letting God in on a secret. For this reason, they allow their life to remain contaminated and corrupted by unconfessed sin. David's sins were severe, but he refused to blame, defend, or explain them away.

Human beings hate to admit wrongdoing. Just watch the typical toddler try to talk his way out of something he did wrong. He didn't touch the birthday cake-or so he says. Yet there's icing all over his face. He didn't write on the wall, he says, but there's marker on his hand. The evidence is obvious, but fallen human nature causes us to struggle with being honest about our sin.

David was a man who enjoyed God. Just read the Psalms. Yet in Psalm 51, he didn't enjoy God. He was guilty of sin, and he knew it. Rather than making excuses, he sought in this prayer to be holy, as pure as God is, by agreeing with God about his sin. Needless to say, David soon knew the excitement and enjoyment of the God he'd known before.

APPLICATION: Read 1 John 1:8-10. What two events occur when we say we have no sin?

-Tom Palmer-

APRIL 1, 2010

IT'S IN

THE WORKS

Scripture Reading- Psalm 9:1

"I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart;

I will shew forth all they marvellous works."

As we come to appreciate something of the glory of God, the only proper response is that we will tell others about Him. We may bear witness in any of the following ways: by singing hymns, by witnessing to others orally, and by allowing the Lord to work in our lives so others see something different in us-something that could have come only from God.

It's impossible to grit our teeth and to work up such a demonstration of God's glory in our lives. Rather this demonstration comes automatically as we spend time in His presence, learning more about Him from His Word and through prayer. If we don't allow God to work in our lives in these ways, we prevent the means by which He desires to manifest His glory that He placed in us at salvation.

When others observe us as we praise God in the midst of trying circumstances, exhibiting godly choices when irritations and difficult relationships confront us, we increase God's glory.

Many Christians struggle with knowing God's will for their lives. Yet if they would make glorifying God the focus of their lives, His will would fall into place step by step. First Corinthians 10:31 exhorts us, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." If our focus is on glorifying God in everything-even the small things of life-it will be impossible for us to miss God's will!

Perhaps the most exciting benefit of glorifying God is that when we glorify Him, we become more like Him. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

SELAH: What is there about your life that you can explain only by God's working in you?

-T.P. Johnston, Jr.-