We then grab a clean shirt-new behavior that honors G.o.d and blesses people-and put it on. During this process, we let G.o.d's Word sink deep into our minds to refresh us and renew us. Without His truth, we wander around in dirty clothes, not knowing why people think we stink!

Don't be surprised when you recognize sinful att.i.tudes and actions in your life. They are part of your old nature, which will be with you until you see Jesus face-to-face. But do something about them. Change clothes!

What are some dirty clothes you've worn lately? When did you realize they were dirty?

What are some clean clothes you need to put on today?

"Let my heart be broken with the things that break G.o.d's heart."-BOB PIERCE

JULY 13.

TREASURES FROM THE DARK.

I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the G.o.d of Israel.

ISAIAH 45:3.

THE THOUGHT OF FINDING A TREASURE has thrilled people from the beginning of time. Ancient cultures told myths about it, and today, millions watch as lottery numbers are posted each day. Some treasures require years of search and sacrifice. Mel Fisher searched for the Atocha, a Spanish galleon, for seventeen years before he found the treasure, worth about four hundred million dollars, off the Florida Keys. And some people are instant millionaires from buying a one-dollar sweepstakes ticket.

In the book of Isaiah, G.o.d describes a completely different kind of treasure, but one that is worth more than all the gold, silver, and jewels in the world. In the most difficult and most excruciating moments of our lives, G.o.d wants us to find a treasure. When times are good, we roll along with only a superficial pursuit of G.o.d, but in our pain, we cry out to Him from the deepest recesses of our souls. We desperately need to know Him, His heart, and His purpose for us right then. In that cry for help, G.o.d reveals Himself to us so that we grasp more of His character. We may not know why something happened, but that matters less if we know we can trust the One who holds all things in His hands.

In our darkest moments, we develop intimacy with G.o.d. We're convinced that He is almighty and beyond comprehension, but more than ever, we're convinced that we can trust Him completely. That's true treasure.

We never manufacture times of darkness so that we can find this treasure, but when these times occur, we can have confidence that G.o.d will meet us there.

What are some times of darkness you've experienced?

In what ways is knowing G.o.d more deeply and intimately true treasure to you?

"Watch where G.o.d puts you into darkness, and when you are there, keep your mouth shut. . . . When you are in the dark, listen, and G.o.d will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light."-OSWALD CHAMBERS "Adversity is G.o.d's way of preparing me to help other people."-IKE REIGHARD

JULY 14.

THE ISSUES OF LIFE.

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

PROVERBS 4:23.

THEOLOGIANS SAY that, in the Bible, the word heart means "the seat of reflection," where we a.n.a.lyze every motive, every relationship, and every action in our lives. The heart, then, is like a lens that enables us to look at life either clearly or with distortions. This lens is so important that Solomon encourages us to protect it at all costs because our perceptions affect every aspect of our lives.

What's in our hearts? Even for the most mature believers, we'd have to say it's a mixed bag. We want to have pure motives, but if we're honest, we admit that some of our att.i.tudes are pretty selfish. We want to have impeccable integrity, but we realize we've exaggerated the truth more than once to make ourselves look a little better. The first step in keeping our hearts, then, is to be honest about what we find when we look inside.

We have the choice to let our hearts drift along or to focus them on G.o.d's truth, G.o.d's purposes, and G.o.d's ways. To keep our hearts with all diligence means that we long to honor G.o.d in all we do, and we treasure love and integrity as we deal with people. We can fill our hearts with these treasures, or we can leave them dry and empty. The choice is ours, but our decisions each day about our hearts will make all the difference in our relationships, our work, our directions in life, our peace of mind, our strength of spirit, and our sense of fulfillment.

Take a snapshot. What's the condition of your heart right now?

What are some ways you can fill your heart with faith, hope, and love, and then protect it?

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."-RALPH WALDO EMERSON

JULY 15.

ASK: ALWAYS SEEK KNOWLEDGE.

[Jesus said,] "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

MATTHEW 7:7.

SOME OF US READ a verse like this, and we a.s.sume that the Christian life should be like a cruise-where we're waited on hand and foot without a care in the world. When circ.u.mstances turn out to be not quite that way, we're disappointed. But our walk of faith is much more like a challenging hike. We have to prepare for it, and there are many unexpected twists and turns. Parts of it are exhilarating, and other parts require tenacity to keep going.

What, then, does Christ's invitation mean? It doesn't mean He'll make life as easy as a cruise; instead, He promises to equip us for the long hike. How? By giving us the knowledge and wisdom we need to take the next step at each point on the journey. All along the way we ASK; we always seek knowledge from G.o.d and about G.o.d. We ASK in order to take advantage of opportunities and to overcome obstacles. We ASK when we love life or when we feel like quitting, when we enjoy popularity or when we're alone. In every situation and at every moment, Christ invites us to tap into His heart and His wisdom. His plan isn't to make life as easy as a cruise, but to give us direction, encouragement, and the desire to enjoy walking with Him.

When you pray, what do you most often ask for?

Take some time now to ask G.o.d for knowledge and wisdom for today's hike.

"Decision is the spark that ignites action. Until a decision is made, nothing happens."-WILLARD PETERSON "Far too many people have no idea of what they can do because all they have been told is what they can't do. They don't know what they want because they don't know what is available to them."-ZIG ZIGLAR

JULY 16.

THE SECRET OF PERSEVERANCE.

Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

ISAIAH 40:31.

WAITING IS SUCH A DRAG. Most of us hate waiting with a pa.s.sion! When we get in any line (at a red light, at the grocery-store checkout, at a ticket window, or anywhere else), we first scan the available lines to see which one might move fastest, and after we make our choice, we watch the people who got in the other lines when we got in ours. If any of them move faster, we boil!

Waiting is an essential part of G.o.d's plan for our lives, but it's not just killing time. When we "wait on the LORD," our focus is on Him, His goals, and His path for us. We wait expectantly, not impatiently, because we are increasingly convinced that G.o.d is up to something-something good-that we haven't experienced before. We rivet our hearts on G.o.d's character, and we are sure that waiting on Him to act will be worth every second.

The secret of perseverance isn't to grit our teeth as time pa.s.ses. The secret is to focus. We wait expectantly, trusting that a good, wise, all-knowing G.o.d will accomplish His gracious purposes in His good time. We trust that while we wait He's preparing the situation, other people, or us for something special.

Describe a time when you had to wait on G.o.d.

What difference did it make (or will it make next time) for you to focus your heart on G.o.d's character and trust His purposes while waiting?

"The life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting. . . . Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading."-OSWALD CHAMBERS

JULY 17.

RUN YOUR OWN RACE.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

1 CORINTHIANS 9:24.

WHEN WE CONSTANTLY MEASURE OURSELVES by the successes and failures of others, we run the risk of losing our ident.i.ty. When we feel insecure, we try to copy those who look successful and we criticize those who mess up. Our goal is to be-and stay-one up on everybody else. Of course, this way of living forces us to be on guard all the time. We can't afford to let anybody look better than we do. We live in fear that somebody will find out that we aren't as "put together" as we want them to think, and our relationships suffer. We smile on the outside, but we're worried sick. Some of us have lived this way so long that we don't even realize there's another way to live.

When we meet Jesus face-to-face, He's not going to ask us if we were as successful as somebody else. He's going to ask only whether we did what He asked us to do in the way that He wanted us to do it. Each of us has our own race to run, and we need to devote our energies to running that race-and only that race-as well as we possibly can.

When you realize you're comparing yourself to others, either positively or negatively, remember that you are responsible to run your own race, not someone else's. Running your own race is doing the best you can every chance you get with what you have for a purpose that outlives you.

What are some ways that "comparison kills"?

How would it help you to focus on running your own race?

"Winners evaluate themselves in a positive manner and look for their strengths as they work to overcome weaknesses."-ZIG ZIGLAR

JULY 18.

WHEN MUCH IS GIVEN.

[Jesus said,] "To whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."

LUKE 12:48.

WE CAN ONLY SPECULATE how Jesus' statement about "much" sounded to poor, dusty shepherds and farmers in His day and what it must sound like to people in parts of the world today who are barely surviving. Most of us are, by historic and current standards of living, the wealthiest people the world has ever seen. No, we don't have the wealth of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, but we are fabulously rich.

We can look at our balance sheet in one of two ways: We can compare our net worth with those who have much more and feel inferior, hurt, and a little angry that things haven't worked out as well as we had hoped. Or we can watch the news of drought, famine, floods, and genocidal wars and breathe a deep sigh of relief, realizing we have it made!

There will come a day when we stand before Christ to give an account of all He has entrusted to us. On that day, He won't ask how our balance sheet compared with anyone else's. He'll ask, "What did you do with all I entrusted to you?"

Responsibility prods us to take action, but guilt makes a lousy motivator. A far better push comes from actually investing our resources in the causes G.o.d cares about and seeing lives changed. Making a difference in others' lives is a thrill! We want to give more, and G.o.d knows we have plenty to give.

Where do you see yourself on the scale of "haves" versus "have-nots"?