DAY 141 Salt READ MATTHEW 5:13 Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Did you know that one of the most intense battles of the Civil War was fought over control of a salt mine in Virginia? Did you know that after Napoleon s attack on Moscow, thousands of his soldiers died during the retreat because their wounds wouldn t heal? They didn t have enough salt in their diet. Did you know that more wars have been fought over salt than over any other mineral including gold? In a country where news stories about salt usually center on high-blood pressure, many people do not realize the incredible value of salt. When Jesus told His followers, You are the salt of the earth, He was sharing a profound truth that people in His culture probably understood. Salt was used as a preservative. It kept things from decaying. It added flavor, making food enjoyable. It was used as a fertilizer, adding ions to the soil so that crops could grow. Those things, among tons of other uses, describe the value of salt in that culture (and in ours). Each one also describes the function of Christians in our decaying society. One more important point salt causes thirst. Hopefully, we live our lives in such a way that we create a thirst in others to know Jesus Christ. How do we act as preservatives in our world? How do we add flavor? What are some other ways that we are salt?
DAY 142 Light READ MATTHEW 5:14-16, JOHN 8:12 Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Yesterday we looked at why Jesus compared His followers to salt how we fulfill that function in our world. In that same passage, Jesus used a different analogy, declaring that His followers were also the light of the world. So how do we fulfill that challenge? To really grasp the concept, we need to consider the two things light does: reveals and enlightens. Light Reveals The light of Christ, revealed in Scripture and revealed in our lives, exposes the wickedness of the world. This is not a popular role for Christians but without this exposure, evil would grow unrestrained. Light Enlightens Very simply, light shows who God truly is. When people see salvation, when they see hope, when they see joy, when they see a fresh picture of God that brings light to their hearts. We are called to spread that light. In what ways can you (using the metaphor of light) be a revealing force for God in your circle of friends?
DAY 143 Holiness vs. Holier-Than-Thou READ MATTHEW 6:1, ROMANS 12:1 Matthew 6:1 Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God this is your true and proper worship. What is the purpose of doing the things that we do for God? Is it because He needs us? Of course God doesn t need us! He can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, however He wants He is omnipotent! So the things that we do are for the purpose, on some level, of worship. Look at Romans 12:1 the things that we do are supposed to bring glory back to Him that s how we WORSHIP Him. So what happens when we do the right things for the wrong reasons when we give and pray and act holy for our own glory? What does it mean when I do those things God commanded, but I do them to heap praise and adoration on myself? You know what I think? I think it means that I am worshipping myself that I have become the object of my worship. We have become a culture that ultimately worships itself, which is perhaps the most corrupt form of idolatry possible. I know it s hard to escape seeking the good opinions of those around us. We are often more aware of what they think than what God thinks, but that s the problem we need to get closer and closer to God so we can know what He thinks, and we need to make it our mission to be pleasing to Him. We are called by God to be pleasing to Him. The opinions of others must become of little consequence in our lives. Conversely Jesus said, How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (John 5:44) so He values our motives along with our actions. Read Matthew 6 all the way to verse 24. What are three areas in which Jesus requires the need for authenticity? Why is authenticity so important for a Christian s witness?
DAY 144 Praying for Conviction READ 1 JOHN 1:5, 1 JOHN 1:8 1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Here s something that I know about my deepest secrets my secrets love to stay hidden back in the darkness. They thrive and grow in the shadows. They don t like God s light, and you know why because light means exposure. It s like cleaning out a garage or some long-forgotten storage building. Who knows what kind of rodents you will uncover there but whatever you uncover, you can bet that they will not be happy about it. They will run for all they re worth because they don t like the danger of exposure. As Christians, we want (and need) to keep our heart clean even though we know that our hands and feet will get dirty through sin. We keep our hearts clean through confession and repentance, but we can t repent of sins that we don t acknowledge. That s why we pray for God to convict us of our sins to bring them to light and help us see them for what they really are. The prayer may be difficult, the light may be blinding, and the truth may be tough to accept. But when we allow the light of God s Truth to penetrate our heart, we will see God more clearly than ever before. Why do you think confessing our sins to God (and repenting) are such important disciplines in our Christian lives?
DAY 145 Joy and Peace READ ROMANS 5:1, 15:13 Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, joy and peace often go together. King Solomon wrote, Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy (Proverbs 12:20). Paul wrote,... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace... (Galations 5:22). Joy and peace are by-products of a life filled with Christ but in our culture, we often misunderstand the real power of those two little words. In our society we use the word peace to describe a time without war or an inner sense of calm, but in the Bible peace means more than that. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, which means wholeness or well-being. Likewise the Bible definition of joy goes beyond our cultural meaning, which is something like happiness. Happiness depends on circumstances, but when the Bible describes joy, it defines a state of well-being where spiritual truth and eternal perspective supersede earthly conditions. This causes the one who is joyful to live above the highs and lows of life in a fallen world. For instance Paul and Silas praised God while they were imprisoned and being beaten! Now that is JOY! So how do I grab hold of joy and peace? According to Romans 5:1, peace comes from being justified with God. Because Jesus is both my Savior and my Lord, I have peace with God a peace that surpasses all understanding. That peace leads to joy, and the combination of joy and peace brings hope. (Romans 15:13). There is no greater testimony for God no greater witness in our lives than hope, brought on by the peace and joy of God. Look again at Romans 15:13. Paul wrote that trust leads to peace, which leads to joy, which leads to hope. That is true in an eternal sense, and it is also true in the specific areas of your life. What places do you need to learn to trust God, so that you can finally find peace, joy, and hope? What are some things that rob our peace?
DAY 146 Holding Up the Law READ PSALM 130:3, ROMANS 3:23 Psalm 130:3 If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What place do the Ten Commandments have in our lives today? After all, in the Old Testament, we read that God gave Moses the law and insisted that His people follow it to the letter. They couldn t, of course, which is why God allowed sacrifices to cleanse them of sin. Later in the New Testament, it almost seems like Paul dismisses God s old rules. So why did God give the law in the first place? There are two answers to that question. The first reason God gave the law is to show His standard. God is Holy He is without sin and to be with Him, we must be spotless too. So what does it mean to be spotless? God shows us that in the Ten Commandments they are the standard of perfection. Jesus taught us how to apply these commandments DEEPLY in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. God cares what we do His standard should always be our aim! The second reason God gave the law, however, was to demonstrate how futile our efforts are to reach the perfection it requires His standard is our aim, but we ll never get there on this side of heaven. The law is like a mirror, which means that it shows us the truth. It can t cleanse us, but it can reveal our imperfections. God gave the law so that we can see just how much we need a Savior. Read Matthew 5:21-30. What did Jesus reveal about God s standard?
DAY 147 Holding Up the Law READ JAMES 1:25, MARK 10:18 James 1:25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it they will be blessed in what they do. Mark 10:18 Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No one is good except God alone. At some time or another, we ve all caught a glimpse of our physical reflection in a mirror and winced. Maybe it was a bad hair day, or maybe you were just out of bed. Maybe you had just sweated through yard work or ball practice. Maybe you just came in from the beach. Whatever the reason, though, the result of seeing that image was probably immediate. More than likely, you got to work with a hairbrush, washcloth, make-up kit, or whatever trying your best to improve what you just saw. According to James, that same principle is true spiritually the Bible is like a mirror and the image it reflects is not always pretty. Read James 1:22-25 James wrote when we look into God s perfect law when we hold up His standard and use it to measure ourselves, that the truth of what we see will be life-changing. Do you know what we see? We see our sinfulness and we see God s goodness. We also see the mark to which God wants us to aspire. As Christians, our witness to others is two-fold. On one hand, we are called to be people who are pursuing God that means that our actions matter. We are called to live in a way that brings honor to God to keep His principles and commands at the front of our mind and to make decisions based on them. When we do this, we stand out from the rest of the world. But the other part of our witness is our recognition that we will never arrive. We will never be good enough to earn salvation. God doesn t love us because we are good. He loves us because He is good. As we acknowledge that, in front of the world, we point away from ourselves and towards the only One who is actually good. Why do our actions matter to God? Why is it important for Christians to acknowledge their inability to achieve God s standard of perfection?