1/1/02 Genesis 1:27
So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.
I am made in the image of God. The Lord made me to have fellowship with Him and to be His representative. He knows everything about me. His love is focused on me.
1/2/02 Genesis 2:23-24
“At last!” Adam exclaimed. “She is part of my own flesh and bone! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of a man.” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
I have been married more than thirty years. My wife and I complete each other. She is strong where I am weak. The Lord created both man and woman. We do not compete, we compliment.
1/3/02 Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love covers all offenses.
I have learned that my attitude causes a lot of my problems. People are important. When I make others important it enables me to deal with them in a Christian manner. It also helps me to see things from their viewpoint. I am wiser and happier when I deal with others kindly.
1/4/02 Proverbs 17:9
Disregarding another person’s faults preserves love; telling about them separates close friends.
I once thought that giving others a piece of my mind was smart. It isn’t, it is actually stupid. Prejudice and bias are best when forgotten. The golden rule applies here. I am to be forgiving and understanding. I never have to apologize for what I don’t say.
1/5/02 John 13:14-15
“And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”
I am called to be a servant. I am equipped to serve others. Sin will always stand in the way. I will see myself as too important or too busy. The truth is that what I really need is to serve. Serving is my business. My joy and peace are nurtured by service.
1/6/02 John 13: 34-35
“I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Jesus Christ has delivered me from the power of evil. The presence of darkness lurks near my heart. The biggest stumbling block in my life will always be a hard heart and a hateful spirit. Only Jesus can give me a loving spirit. A loving spirit can only rule in a conquered heart. Jesus is Lord.
1/7/02 John 15: 12-13
I command you to love each other in the same way I love you. And here is how to measure it— the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.
Jesus died for me. He gave His life that I might have life. His death, burial and resurrection enabled me to come into the family of God. I accepted His free gift of life. Now I must die to self. When I look at others I know their need, a savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. I will spend my life on earth learning to die for my friends.
1/8/02 Romans 12:9-10
Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
People count. All people count. I am to watch and pray. I am called to do what I can for people. I am responsible for how I live.
1/9/02 Romans 13: 8-9
Pay all your debts, except for the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting—and any other commandment—are all summed up in this one commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
I am a child of God. The Lord loves me. I am His. In Jesus I am victorious. He has a plan for my life and it is an important, vital plan. What I do has eternal consequences.
1/10/02 I Corinthians 13: 1-3
If I could speak with any language in heaven or earth, but didn’t love others, I would only be making meaningless noises like a loud gong or a clanging symbol. If I had the gift of prophecy, and I knew all the mysteries, but didn’t love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and cause it to move, without love I would be no good to anybody. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever.
Love is an action. I am responsible for the way I act towards the most helpless and the least powerful. Love makes me useful. Love enables me to be a good servant. If I do not love others everything I do is mechanical and without eternal benefit.
1/11/02 I Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
If I love others I will not always be trying to get my way. If I am acting out of love I will not focus on the things I like to do but instead focus on the things that others need done. I will change from the way I normally act to the way God’s servant would act.
1/12/02 1 Corinthians 13:5-6
Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
My life finds meaning when I am committed to serving others. Their need speaks deeply to my soul. My sacrifice equips me to grow in grace. My surrender is an absolute declaration of His victory and my peace. There is joy in the journey when I am on my knees before the King.
1/13/02 I Corinthians 13:7
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
The world is constantly seeking to influence us. I can be an influence for good, an encouragement for peace when I love people. Love knocks down barricades and builds bridges across vast differences between people. I can love others. The question is am I willing to love?
1/14/02 Ephesians 5:21, 24-26
And further, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ…As the church submits to Christ, so you wives must submit to your husbands in everything. And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s word.
I have everything I need for the Christian journey in Jesus. The key is my submission. Will I do what Jesus has called me to do? Will I care for people? Am I committed to service? I must die to self and live for the Lord Jesus Christ.
1/15/02 Galatians 5:13
For you, dear friends, have been called to live in freedom—not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.
When I surrendered my life to Jesus, He set me free. It was a gift that could not be earned but must be accepted. Real freedom, and lasting victory are found in surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ.
1/16/02 Psalm 27:5-6
For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
There is power in the presence of Jesus. Satan wants me to lead an unproductive, frustrated life. When I do things by myself, frustration, fear and foolishness reign. When I go to Jesus and spend time with Him seeking His control of my life; joy, peace and victory are the result. Praise ye the Lord.
1/17/02 Psalm 27:7-9
Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.” Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!
I am always on the road to the throne of God. Jesus forged the pathway for me. I can call out to my Father. He will listen. He will always respond.
1/18/02 Genesis 1:3
Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Light is basic to everything we do. God provided light for His creation. His light calls us to recognition of His care and concern. God is light and in Him there is no darkness.
1/19/02 Genesis 1:4
And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.
Light and dark never mix. When light enters darkness leaves. When I am struggling with issues, I only have to sit down with Jesus to get the right slant. Darkness extols hate, mean spiritedness and self. Light teaches forgiveness, care and love. It is easy to tell the difference.
1/20/02 Amos 5:18
How terrible it will be for you who say, “If only the day of the LORD were here! For then the LORD would rescue us from all our enemies.” But you have no idea what you are wishing for. That day will not bring light and prosperity, but darkness and disaster.
I must be careful as I express my faith. It is easy for me to get caught up with self. Sin is so deceptive that it can easily fool me. Lord help me to evaluate my actions by your Word and not my feelings.
1/21/02 2 Samuel 22:29
O LORD, you are my light; yes, LORD, you light up my darkness.
Pain and heartache arrive un-requested. Life happens and disappointment dogs my steps. The Lord’s solution is to come to Him. I can live with heartache and survive pain if I will let Jesus have control of my heart. Life isn’t hard. Sin makes it hard.
1/22/02 Romans 6:17
Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given you.
I grew up without a Christian background. I have learned that I must always square my passions with the Word of God. Things that I feel are right may just be self asserting its control. I’ve never had to say I was sorry for acting the way that God’s Word directs.
1/23/02 Hebrews 9:15
That is why he is the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, so that all who are invited can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.
Christ is God’s everything. I may worry about many things but I never have to worry about my position with the Lord. I am a child of God. Grafted in by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He saved me and He holds me for eternity.
1/24/02 Psalm 13:3
Turn and answer me, O LORD my God! Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die.
The activity of daily life will often overwhelm me. I stand there overrun. What do I do Lord? Then the Holy Spirit will give me the direction I need. Jesus enables me to do the right thing.
1/25/02 Psalm 18:28
LORD, you have brought light to my life; my God, you light up my darkness.
I am limited by time and space. I am always operating in the now. God knows all things. He can guide me in the now so that I will arrive at His plan in the future on time. God my Father loves me and is interested in my best good.
1/26/02 Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation – so why should I be afraid? The LORD protects me from danger – so why should I tremble?
Fear is an evil enemy. All of us at one time or another experience fear. It may be fear of rejection, misunderstanding, uncertainty, sickness, or death. Whatever fear we face Jesus will go through it with us and bring us to a point of freedom from our fear.
1/27/02 Matthew 23: 8-12
Don’t ever let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are on the same level as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Master,’ for there is only one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
I am restricted by my human condition. Even under the best of situations I must bring my reasons for what I do under the scrutiny of Jesus. I must make sure that my service is not self-service. I must surrender my ego at the altar of the Lord. If I don’t I will find myself on a private journey ignoring the Lord and serving self.
1/28/02 Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is our light and protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will the LORD withhold from those who do what is right.
I am limited in the way that I can think about the Lord. He has graced me with His own explanation about Himself in Jesus. God loves me.
1/29/02 Psalm 36:9
For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.
Everything I say and do can be measured by Jesus. He is life. He is the life giver. My life finds value and worth in Him.
1/30/02 1 John 2:10
Anyone who loves other Christians is living in the light and does not cause anyone to stumble.
My actions always give me away. When I am doing wrong I can know it. When I am forging my own path I can know it. All I have to do is look at how I am dealing with others. People count most of all.
1/31/02 Psalm 32:1-2
Oh, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
I am a great sinner. You are too. Jesus forgives my sin. He puts me back in a position of fellowship. I don’t earn forgiveness, Jesus freely gives it to me when I ask.
