#062026

God, I confess that I have not always been the person You've created me to be. There are times when I fail to love You with my whole heart, mind and soul. I don't walways love my neighbors as You love them. Please forgive me, God. Transform my heart and renew my mind so that I can draw closer to You, and point others to the redemption You offer. In Jesus' name, Amen.

DAILY BIBLE READING: ESTHER 1-2 ACTS 5:1-21 THE KING'S BANQUET QUEEN VASHTI DEPOSED ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN MORDECAI'S LOYALTY TO THE KING ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA THE APOSTLES HEAL MANY THE APOSTLES MEET OPPOSITION But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross. 31Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. 32We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.” 38“So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!” The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. 42And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”

GALATIANS 5:13-25 FREEDOM IN CHRIST 13For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. LIVING BY THE SPIRIT'S POWER 16So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. INSIGHT In Galatians, Paul sternly warns against believing that the law will make us right with God. He wrote, “A person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ” (2:16). But the apostle knew this might cause some to believe it no longer matters how we live (v. 17). So he cautioned, “Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh” (5:13). The role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is crucial here. As we yield to the Spirit, He’ll fill us. The apostle urges, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (v. 25).

By: Tim Gustafson

RECEIVING FROM GOD In his 1937 book Think and Grow Rich, author Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Hill’s quote epitomizes the American Dream: If you work hard, you can achieve your wildest dreams.

Hard work may lead to earthly benefits; many passages of Scripture—especially in Proverbs—link those things. But as I grow older, I also see a real danger in following Hill’s ideas: My grasping attempts to achieve my dreams can be a self-focused attempt to live independently from God.

In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts two ways of life: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (v. 16). Eugene Petersen paraphrases it this way: “Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness” (The Message). A few verses later, Paul describes what a flourishing life in Christ looks like: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (vv. 22-23).

Many voices in this world compel us to grasp our desires with both hands. The life we long for, though, is not one we earn but one we receive as we yield to the Holy Spirit—freely walking with Him—rather than striving desperately to grasp blessing on our own terms.

By: Adam R. Holz

REFLECT AND PRAY How have you tried to achieve your dreams? What habits help you to be in a posture to receive blessings from God?

Dear Father, sometimes I try to fill myself apart from You. Please help me yield to Your Spirit’s guidance and trust You to fill me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

THE OLD STORIES: MOSES- 15 DAYS IN THE WILDERNESS WHEN YOU RUN FROM YOUR CALLING Moses had everything. A palace. A future. A name that carried weight in the most powerful country on earth. And he threw it all away on a single swing of his fist.

What he did was not calculated heroism — it was impulsive, private, and terrified. He looked around before he struck. He buried the body after. These are not the actions of a man at peace with what he's doing. They're the actions of a man acting out of unchecked emotion, governed by his gut rather than his God. And then, when the moment was exposed, he ran.

The uncomfortable thing is that Moses was right about what he saw. The injustice was real. The suffering was real. His grief on behalf of his people was not wrong. But the method was broken, and the timing was his, not God's. He was forty years old and hadn't yet learned that the fire in your chest for justice — however legitimate — does not automatically authorize your next action.

God would use this broken moment. He always does. But Moses would spend forty more years in the wilderness of Midian, tending someone else's sheep, before God would speak to him again. Wilderness is not always punishment. Sometimes it is preparation. Sometimes God has to drain us of our own speed before He can fill us with His.

You may be sitting in a wilderness right now that feels like abandonment. It may be the very place God is forming in you what He cannot simply give you.