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Tag: perspective

Greater Contentment: 4 Insights for Christians

October 8, 2019 MatthewRuttan

Do you struggle with contentment? This post highlights 4 biblical insights and practical suggestions to put them into practice.

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WITHness: “Help when it hurts” – Part 1 [Podcast]

June 9, 2019 MatthewRuttan

Let’s be honest. Life can hurt. There are worries, disappointments, broken dreams, challenging relationships, health problems, pain. Max Lucado once said: “If hurts were hairs,

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“Fear” God. Really? The “Up!” Devo for October 11 Last year a man came to a worship service I was leading because he was curious about this whole Christianity thing. The next week he emailed me because something had bothered him. He had read in the Bible that we should “fear God.” This made him uncomfortable. Perhaps he had read something like Psalm 33:8a that says, “Let all the earth fear the LORD…” We don’t usually like fear. We might fear war, violence or being abandoned… But fear God? I explained that "fear" as it is often used in the Bible has a certain nuance. The next part of the verse in Psalm 33:8 gives us some insight. In Hebrew poetry, the second line often amplifies or gives texture to the first: “Let all the earth fear the LORD, let all the people of the world revere him.” In the Bible, fear is closely related to reverence, a kind of powerful and awesome respect. We know this not only because of the context of this (and other) passages, but because in 1 John 4:18 we are told that as we love God and others “perfect love drives out fear.” I fear God. But not in the sense of being scared of him. I fear God in the sense that I am reverent toward him. I try to show him powerful and awesome respect. It’s the opposite of being flippant or dismissive. Our God is unequaled in goodness, supremacy, love, holiness, justice, and truth. With that in mind, I pray that I—and you—think, talk, act, and live in a way that honours the distinct privilege of being called one of his own. By Matthew Ruttan --"Up!" is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on October 14. #fearGod #fear #love #faithful #God #faith #inspiration #reverence

The opposite of ‘misery loves company’ The “Up!” Devo for October 10 Have you heard the expression that “misery loves company”? It’s the idea that people who are miserable find some sort of comfort by being around other people who are miserable. I’ve also heard it used to express the idea that people who are miserable find some sort of comfort by sucking other people into their own misery. But today I’d like to focus on something else. It is said that “misery loves company.” But couldn’t you rather say that the right company heals misery? Consider Proverbs 27:9 (NLT): “The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.” It doesn’t say that the “never-ending misery of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense,” it says the "heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense." If misery loves to enlarge itself with more misery, surely heartfelt friendship enlarges itself with more heartfelt friendship. So nurture healthy, faithful friendships. They say that misery loves company. But I think the right company helps heal misery too. By Matthew Ruttan #misery #miserylovescompany #dailydevotional #faith #inspiration #friendship #friends #relationships #family #proverbs #healing #positive

For when you’re struggling with contentment The “Up!” Devo for October 9 Psalm 62:1 is so honest: “From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint…” It reveals total desperation, and a request for help from the only One who can truly give it. Sometimes you just don’t feel great. I get it. Maybe you also feel like you’re at the end of yourself with a “faint” heart. Being content or at peace can seem like a dream from another world. So today I’d like to simply offer you a prayer. Why not make it your own? 'Good Shepherd, On the days when I obsess about what others have but I don’t, remind me that you have made me a spiritual billionaire in Christ. On the days when all I can hear is the constant comparisons to others, and the negative judgments, opinions and criticisms of others, remind me that my first job is simply to be faithful to you, and that you alone are my ultimate source of affirmation. On the days when I drown in apathy, or when I question my purpose, remind me that you have called me to be salt and light, to be useful to Jesus as his hands and feet in a hurting world, to be proactive about attending to the needs of others. On the days when I worry like a professional, remind me that worry and faith can’t both command the same brain at the same time. Remind me that you provide for my needs, and that in you, I have everything. In Jesus’ never-failing name I pray, Amen.' By Matthew Ruttan #desperate #psalms #prayer #pray #faith #inspiration #contentment #happy #help

A Bible in 23 pieces The “Up!” Devo for October 8 In July 2007, 23 missionaries were held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Two of those missionaries were killed by the Taliban before the rest were released back to South Korea. One of the survivors tells a little-known story about their time together in captivity as prisoners. On their last night together before they were separated, they figured that many, if not all of them, would be martyred for their faith. Each one of them surrendered totally to God and said they were willing to die for his glory. One of them had managed to keep a very small Bible from being confiscated. Knowing they were about to be separated, he ripped it into 23 different pieces, so that each of them could glace at a portion of the Bible when they needed God’s strength, comfort, wisdom or hope.* That’s how valuable the treasure of God’s word is to us! It’s his message of and about Jesus—of and about his saving, healing, loving, forgiving, reconciling, and renovating work for all people! It offers us strength and comfort and wisdom and hope! Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Is that true for us? Does the message of and about Jesus guide us through life’s darkness and uncertainty? Is it the source of our illuminating hope? Or is it something we leave on the shelf, willingly ignore, undervalue, or take for granted? In the Bible, not only does God teach you about who he is and what he does, but he teaches you who you are and about what he can do through you as he unceasingly breathes faithful, healing hope into a faltering, battered world. In Luke 1:37 the angel reminds us that “no word from God will ever fail.” Just because you’re not held captive by the Taliban doesn’t mean you need it any less. By Matthew Ruttan * Today’s story is told in: Francis Chan, Forgotten God, p. 107. #cherish #faith #Godsword #bible #truth #inspiration #spirituality #dailydevotional #JesusChrist #God

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