God Almighty

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer} CLICK THE TITLE ABOVE FOR THE FULL DAILY READING.

• S: By His power He made earth. His wisdom gave shape to the world. He crafted the cosmos. He thunders and rain pours down. He sends the clouds soaring. He embellishes the storm with lightnings, launches the wind from His warehouse. Stick-god worshipers look mighty foolish! god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods! Their gods are frauds, dead sticks— deadwood gods, tasteless jokes. They're nothing but stale smoke. When the smoke clears, they're gone. But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing; He put the whole universe together, With special attention to Israel. His name? God-of-the-Angel-Armies! Jeremiah 51:15-19 [MSG]
• O: Wow! What a powerful description of an Almighty God!
• A: We grow pretty comfortable pretty quickly with God. All cake and cookies, we think, expecting Him to meet our every need, grant our every wish, fulfill our every desire. We think that He is here to serve us, and while Jesus showed His disciples the concept of servant leadership, by no means should we believe that the Almighty God is here to serve us. The vain and selfish nature of the human race so easily convinces us that all of nature is at our disposal, to do with what we wish, regardless of the outcome. Yes it was only after God -- the Almighty, all knowing -- created everything else that He made man in His own image. He didn't make earth and nature and all that it consists of to suit our needs. God made man last because He wanted someone to care for His vast creation. He wanted a steward of the earth. God didn't make man Because He wanted to serve someone. God made man to worship Him -- to love Him and spend eternity with Him. We are His. His creation, His people. He is our God -- to worship -- not our servant. Lest we ever forget.
• P: Almighty God, we see You in everything around us, in nature wherever we go, in love, in the songs of birds and the blowing breeze. You are our God, and we worship You.

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The Richest Fortune

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: No doubt about it! God is good— good to good people, good to the good-hearted. But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. I was looking the other way, looking up to the people At the top, envying the wicked who have it made, Who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world. Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence, Pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness. They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words. They're full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace. People actually listen to them—can you believe it? Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words. What's going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody's tending the store. The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches. I've been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me? A long run of bad luck, that's what— a slap in the face every time I walk out the door. If I'd have given in and talked like this, I would have betrayed your dear children. Still, when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache . . . Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture: The slippery road you've put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions. In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare! We wake up and rub our eyes....Nothing. There's nothing to them. And there never was. When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy, I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in your very presence. I'm still in your presence, but you've taken my hand. You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me. You're all I want in heaven! You're all I want on earth! When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful. Look! Those who left you are falling apart! Deserters, they'll never be heard from again. But I'm in the very presence of God— oh, how refreshing it is! I've made Lord God my home. God, I'm telling the world what you do! Psalm 73 [MSG]
• O: Those who seem to have it made -- with all of the money, the fine cars, the fancy houses -- are really missing out on the big prize.
• A: We run into people every day who are more concerned with appearances and with impressing others than just doing what's right and being themselves. The media flaunts it at us every day, it's no wonder. Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight, all of the magazines in the checkout lanes -- even the local evening news seems to have turned into The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. We can find ourselves green with envy so easily. Hummer, Lexus, Mercedes. Cadillac, Lincoln, Infiniti. Fine suits, nice house -- all for what? We don't see their private lives often -- and when we do it's either been glossed over or the result of a tragedy. While my meager existence seems to sail smoothly. The peaks and valleys are more of a straight line than the mountains and canyons of the uber rich. Because I have what they may not. I have what their fame and fortune cannot buy. I have what the world can't take away from me. I have the richest of riches -- a fortune that won't preish with my physical body. I have the riches of Salvation and Eternal Life with God through Jesus Christ His Son. All the riches in the world pale by comparison.
• P: Father, help me to share the wealth of your love. Make it more in my life than just a silent prayer. Help me to make it a way of life -- to share your wonderful gift freely and openly.

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Keep God's Earth Beautiful

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Isaiah 24:1-6
• O: See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants- it will be the same for priest as for people, for master as for servant, for mistress as for maid, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor. The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The LORD has spoken this word. The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish. The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth's inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left. [ISAIAH 24:1-6 NIV]
• A: We have not taken care of the Earth that God has given us. He gave it to us (through Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden) to be good stewards of, and we have caused pollution and broken the laws of nature. We have destroyed the forests and plowed the fields under to make way for progress. We have developed equipment and machinery to improve our lives while at the same time destroying the bounty that God has given us. God's green Earth has been wrapped in gray skies by the pollution we keep pumping into the air. I'm no "tree-hugger," and could not be labeled an environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do believe that man will one day pay the price for our poor stewardship of God's Earth.
• P: Lord, for what little that we might be able to do to become better stewards of your Earth, I and my family want to help. From cleaning up the trash around the pond, to turning off unused lights more, reducing driving by consolidating or eliminating errand trips, and trying to reuse and recycle to eliminate landfill waste, please help us to inspire others to be more conscious of how our actions affect the Earth and those around us.

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Epiphany

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: "These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their hearts aren't in it. Because they act like they're worshiping me but don't mean it, I'm going to step in and shock them awake, astonish them, stand them on their ears. The wise ones who had it all figured out will be exposed as fools. The smart people who thought they knew everything will turn out to know nothing." [Isaiah 29:13-14 MSG]
• O: Today was a very stressful day. The past week, in fact, has led up to it with some unusual happenings at work. First, last week there was a meeting of several District Managers and above at our corporate headquarters. This week, I have a visit scheduled with some people from our corporate headquarters and from a liquidation company that is coming in to pick up several clearance items as part of a test that will likely be rolled out to the entire company if it is successful in my store. I also received word that My District Manager and Loss Prevention Manager will be in my store on Wednesday to look into some high merchandise shrink numbers. And, there is a Store Manager meeting tomorrow for the entire District. It's been a hectic week. My company closed nearly three dozen stores several months ago, and has been struggling financially for quite some time. With a new CEO and Executive Council, the company is trying to reinvent itself. Any time a company is in this situation, it can be difficult not to worry about what might happen next -- restructuring, job eliminations, store closures, etc. All of the unusual coincidences happening at the same time have had me wondering a bit. I say all of that to say this: WOW! Did I have an epiphany today. After stressing over much of this and calling my wife to let out the stress, I sat in my car during a very short lunch and spent some time reading through the Bible. I read several chapters, and shortly after starting what I had planned to be the last chapter, I read the passage quoted above. It felt amazingly like God was trying to speak to me.
• A: "These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their hearts aren't in it." I want my heart to be "in it," but clearly there are distractions and preoccupations in life that tend to steal attention away from God and family. "Because they act like they're worshiping me but don't mean it,..." Of course I worship God. But, when I'm in church, and we're singing, do I feel it? Am I worshipping and praising -- or just singing? And what of the rest of the week? Where is the praise and worship then? "I'm going to step in and shock them awake, astonish them, stand them on their ears." The message is coming through loud and clear now. How easy it could be for my whole world to be turned on it's end by things such as lost jobs or store closures. "The wise ones who had it all figured out will be exposed as fools. The smart people who thought they knew everything will turn out to know nothing." Now I know. See, I felt as if God was trying to get through to me, to tell me that I'm not quite living the life that He would want me to live. Like He had stood me on my ears with all of the uncertainty at work. When my wife and I were looking for our new house, we made several commitments to each other -- and to God -- that we haven't been doing a very good job of living up to. In some cases, we have actually used the new house as one of the excuses for not living up to these commitments. Through this passage in Isaiah, I feel that God has opened up my eyes and made me realize that there are some things that I need to be doing for Him. Funny thing of it is, when I spoke with my wife about it afterward and told her of my epiphany, she said she had been thinking the very same thing last night.
• P: God, I hear You. I hear You and I understand. Thank You for bringing me to the realization that we haven't been honoring our commitments to You. Whatever Your Will might be regarding the situation at work, I put my faith in You to see us through it.

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Provisions

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Isaiah 55:1-5
• O: God has already provided for us more than money can give.
• A: More on treasures. As man has made money the currency of life, God has made love the currency of life. By His love and grace He provided everything man needed in the Garden of Eden: fruit, vegetables, meat, all manner of food sources. Man, unfortunately, chose the forbidden fruit, and God took away the Garden of Eden. He did not, however, take away those other provisions. Plant a seed and the earth will yield produce. Take a cup down to a stream and find the refreshment of clear water (it is only in need of filtration now because of our own doing, not God's). And any patient, determined hunter can find meat for the next meal. Clothing is available from all of these sources, with a little ingenuity. This is not to say that we should live like "savages" and shun all modern conveniences. It is merely to illustrate that God has provided, and continues to provide, for those who trust in Him to provide. Upon banishment from the Garden of Eden, God gave man the curse having to toil for his sustenance. We must work for our food. He took away the ease with which we could partake of His provisions, but He has not taken away the actual provisions. Money is a creation of man. It is something that we have created and assigned a value to in order to facilitate easy and meaningful trade. Instead of bartering for how many potatoes this rug is worth, or how many sheep to trade for that, we now have currency in the form of paper money, which has meaning only because man has assigned it a value. If we did not hold money in such high esteem, the richest among us would quickly become the poorest, and those rich in the trust and love of God would be the wealthiest among us in every way.
• P: Lord, help me to recognize the ways in which You provide, to be thankful for those provisions, and to use them wisely. Help me to avoid the trap of assigning too much importance to money in my life, and to invest my time and energies in the truly important things like God and family.

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Treasures

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Ecclesiastes 2:17-26, Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 12:22-32
• O: Treasures on earth are fleeting. You can't take it with you.
• A: The Bible says that where you treasure is, there your heart is also. Modern society has us trapped into a hectic work schedule. Whether you're trying to build up wealth, or just trying to make ends meet, you probably spend more time working for a wage than you do with your family. It is the curse of modern society. But it is a curse we have put on ourselves. Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." He told his disciples, "do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes." We must remember that there is so much more to life than work and wealth. "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work." All of the wealth that we store up on earth, though it might make our time on this planet seem a little better, is meaningless. For getting caught up in building riches on earth is merely a distraction from building those riches where they will really pay off -- in Eternity. My wife and I, like most couples raising children, frequently find ourselves wanting for more money, to buy this or that, to do this or that. Usually not for things that we simply cannot do without. Usually it's for the wants in life, not the needs. Jesus tells us to "seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to [us] as well." God provides for His children. We cannot take with us the physical wealth of this world. But the spiritual treasures that God wants us to build will determine where we spend Eternity. Where do you store your treasures?
• P: God, help me to keep perspective when it comes to building riches on earth. While wealth can seem to make life on earth so much easier, it can just as easily bring difficulty to those who are not good stewards of what they have been given. You have always provided the necessities for us. Help me to remember that, and to be a good steward of all that You have given me in this world, so that I can focus on storing up my treasures in Heaven.

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The Envy Beast

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: 2 Samuel 12:1-13
• O: David, the King, wants everything. In fact, he has everything. But wants more. He wants it all to himself, while at the same time wanting to appear generous and kind. Though David had land, and servants, and wives, he wanted more. And he had grown accustomed to taking what he wanted. He killed a man to take his wife. And David was fine with it all, and felt that he himself could do no wrong. In fact, when David's friend Nathan came to him with the story of a man who had stolen a poor man's sheep to feed a rich friend, rather than feeding the rich friend from his own flock, David was furious. Rather than recognize that the story was about him, David insisted that the thief be hunted down and lynched -- that he pay four times the price as punishment for his stinginess (of not feeding the guest his own lamb). Only after Nathan pointed out that the man in the story was he, did David realize his sins. This realization led him immediately to repentance, to ask God for forgiveness. As a man of God, Nathan spoke the obvious, that God would forgive David's sin. God, speaking through Nathan, told David that he would still pay a price for the blasphemy of his behavior.
• A: Envy. It's so easy to see something and what it for myself. A house, a car, a new electronic gadget. I'm not an overly worldly man. I've never been plagued much with envy. I don't often see something someone else -- or see something in the store -- and just have to have one for my own. But I'm a gadget geek. And I love to read. And frequently I'll see a new book out, or the latest tech toy, or some similar item, and the desire for that new gadget or that new book can be almost overwhelming. While I would never kill or steal to satisfy the envy, it can be quite tempting at times to take money from one line in the budget and put it toward my latest gadget desire. And isn't that a form of stealing? Stealing from myself, sure, or from the needs of my family. Maybe waiting one payday longer to pay a bill so I can have a shiny new this or that? And in the end, who suffers? I'm happy with my new book or tech toy, and all is well in my world, right? But that bill might be earning interest or late fees, or my family might be doing without something that they need or want. And when my family suffers, who really loses? All of us.
• P: Lord, help me to realize that the things of the world are just that, the things of the world. Help me to turn my desires toward You, and inward toward my family. Help me to overcome the Envy beast, and to know when that new book or that tech toy will fit into the budget without sacrificing elsewhere -- and when it won't fit into the budget at all. Help me to recognize the importance of being a good steward of all that you've given me and my family, and to manage our belongings in a way that would please and serve you.

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