Inside Out Living

This week’s theme is on courage. In the readings this week we will read about the courage of people like Esther and Mordecai whose actions saved the Jewish people. We will also examine the courage of the Jews who began to return to Jerusalem after the time of captivity to rebuild the temple of the Lord

Today's Devotional:

In the past few years I have watched Dr. Phil on a number of occasions. I appreciate his bluntness and what I call ‘drphilisms’. One of my favorite ‘isms’ is when he asks his guest ‘how’s that working for ya?’. Having read Haggai again I realize that he didn’t come up with the question. Apparently God used that question as an effective tool to show his people that they were not meeting his standard (Hag. 1:5, 7).

This question is a tool to help someone see the deficiency in tier own actions. Once that objective has been accomplished the real work of change begins. Zerubbabel and the remnant of God’s people responded in obedience and had the courage to change.

We all will realize at some point that either our actions, beliefs, or thoughts will need to be changed because they are in conflict with God’s will. The question you are faced with is do you have the courage to change. To make a change requires admitting mistakes and humbling ourselves to see that God’s way is best.

May you have the courage to do just that.

“All our righteous acts are like filthy rags” – Isaiah 64:6

In Ezekiel 14, the Lord patiently reveals to His people that they have no hope of avoiding His judgments. The point that He is repeatedly making is that your righteousness cannot save you from God’s judgment. He further strengthens the point by declaring that even the righteousness of Noah, Daniel and Job would not spare the people of judgment. This statement rings true for us as well because our righteousness is not sufficient to save us in the face of God’s judgment.

Praise be to God that the story does not end there, for we have a glorious hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus we can, through faith, have His righteousness credited to our account. This is the only way we can know and experience the hope of salvation. Attempting to avoid God’s wrath by our own righteousness is as futile for us today as it was in Ezekiel’s day.