PSALM 26:1.

A CLEAR CONSCIENCE is a glorious thing. When we can go to bed at night without having to relive situations and rethink conversations to make sure we don't get caught in lies, we can enjoy sweet sleep. And when we talk to our spouse and children or look at a colleague at work, we can look them in the eye because we don't have any fear of being caught in fabrications of the truth. Only then can we pray, "Vindicate me, O LORD," with confidence when someone challenges us.

Why do we lie (or as we might say, exaggerate the truth)? We may be trying to look good to someone else, we may want to avoid blame for something we've done, or we may have developed a habit of shading the truth. As followers of Christ, we are called by G.o.d to live in truth. Sometimes that truth is glorious, but sometimes it shows our dark side. Either way, King David (who knew a thing or two about both glory and shame) encourages us to speak truth, live truth, and be an example of truth to others. Trusting G.o.d gives us strength to face the sometimes painful facts of our lives. When we've failed, we can embrace G.o.d's forgiveness, confess our deception to the person we've lied to, and choose the path of truth again.

How clear is your conscience today?

What would it mean for you to walk in integrity?

"Integrity is when you are one with G.o.d, yourself, and your loved ones."-IKE REIGHARD

JANUARY 31.

HIS STRENGTH.

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of G.o.d, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

EPHESIANS 6:10-11.

AUTHOR C. S. LEWIS SAID that we often make one of two mistakes about the devil: We either make too little of him or too much of him. We need to avoid those extremes. In the book of Ephesians, Paul writes beautifully about our new life in Christ and the way we work together as the body of Christ, and he gives us clear directions about how to relate to G.o.d, to our family members, to other believers, and to those who don't know Christ. Now, at the end of his letter, he addresses the issue of spiritual warfare.

"Don't be surprised to find yourself in a fight," Paul seems to be saying. "And remember all the rest of what I've written to you in this letter." Satan uses several different ploys to block our walks with G.o.d. He uses temptation-of s.e.x, money, power, pleasure, and possessions-like a fishing lure to get us to chase something that looks good but is very harmful to us. He tries to confuse us with conflicting teaching about G.o.d and His will so that we stop moving forward and drift in a cloud of uncertainty. And he attacks us with accusations ("You're rotten," "G.o.d will never forgive that," or "How can you call yourself a Christian?") to try to make us doubt G.o.d's love and forgiveness.

G.o.d has given us powerful armor to protect us and the sword of the Spirit, the Scriptures, to enable us to fight back (see Ephesians 6:13-17). We need to prepare ourselves for the fight with truth, grace, and faith, so that in the heat of battle, we have the resources we need to fight effectively.

In what ways can you identify Satan's ploys of temptation, confusion, and accusation in your own life?

Are you fighting effectively? Why or why not?

"To the degree that G.o.d will use you, the devil-to an equal degree-will try to destroy you." -IKE REIGHARD

February/

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FEBRUARY 1.

BE TRUE TO YOUR HEART.

As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.

PROVERBS 23:7, KJV.

WHAT DO YOU SPEND most of your time thinking about? Many of us never step back and a.n.a.lyze what's running through our minds; we just go with the flow. But when we stop to take notice, we may find that our thoughts are dominated by daydreams of success and worries of failure. A snapshot of our thoughts gives us a picture of the content of our hearts, and what we hold in our hearts serves as the ground, seed, and fertilizer for what grows into our att.i.tudes and actions.

A good a.n.a.lysis of our thoughts includes looking at both what we think about and how we think. We may be preoccupied with concerns about our children, conflict with our spouses, the expectations of a boss, or a hundred other worries. Or, we may daydream about escaping our problems by taking a cruise, playing the perfect game of golf, or finding a thrill in a secret affair.

All our thoughts, including our worries and desires to escape, can be filtered through faith, hope, and love. When we're worried, we can refocus our thoughts on the goodness and greatness of G.o.d so that we find faith to trust Him for wisdom. When we're bored and want to escape, we can choose to rivet our minds on the hope of G.o.d's purpose for us. And when we are thankful, we can let our thoughts roll on in grat.i.tude and love for our Lord.

Some would say that we can't control our thoughts. To some extent, that's true, but Martin Luther once said, "We can't keep a bird from flying over our heads, but we can keep it from building a nest in our hair!"

a.n.a.lyze your thoughts for the past twenty-four hours and put them into categories of worry, escape, determination to succeed, faith, hope, and love.

What can you do today to make better choices about what you think and how you think?

"A man is what he thinks about all day long."-RALPH WALDO EMERSON "You are what you are and where you are because of what's gone into your mind. You can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind."-ZIG ZIGLAR

FEBRUARY 2.

WHEN LIFE DOESN'T SEEM FAIR.

He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

MATTHEW 5:45.

YOU WORKED HARD in the company for years, but someone else got the promotion. You invested your money in funds your broker recommended, but they plunged to the bottom of the Morningstar ratings. You did your best to be a good parent, but your kids turned out to be no better than the children whose parents didn't seem to care about them.

Many times, unbelievers do just as well in life as believers. What's that about? If we take out our measuring stick too often, we can become angry because we think we deserve more than we're getting from G.o.d.

Jesus spent a lot of His time explaining the grace of G.o.d to people. Grace is a foreign concept to most of us. We operate by standards, rewards, and punishments, so grace just doesn't fit. But in this pa.s.sage, Jesus explains that the embracing arms of G.o.d's goodness reach out to everybody: the good and the evil, the righteous and the unrighteous, you and your neighbor, you and your spouse, you and the person who got the promotion instead of you.

When we see G.o.d's grace operate in the lives of people who we feel don't deserve it, we have a choice: Either we can complain and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can be thankful that the G.o.d of such goodness is the One we love and serve. Comparison kills because it always leaves us wanting more, but thankfulness brings life.

In your opinion, who are some people who are getting more than they deserve?

How does comparison kill, and how does thankfulness give life?

"Into each life some rain must fall."-HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

FEBRUARY 3.

WHEN OUR DISAPPOINTMENTS ARE G.o.d'S APPOINTMENTS

It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.

PSALM 119:71.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF US avoid suffering at all costs. We spend lots of money on electronics, entertainment, and events that make us feel comfortable, and we've developed the expectation that life "should" be fun, easy, and pleasant. We now have more "conveniences" than any other time in history, yet we complain as much or more than the people who lived before us.

From time to time, the G.o.d of love and truth steps into our misplaced expectations and shakes us up. He doesn't do this to be mean-just the opposite. He knows that the best way for us to learn life's most important lessons is through suffering. Sometimes, G.o.d wants to get our attention to redirect us. Sometimes, He needs to discipline us so that we stop a self-destructive behavior. Sometimes, He wants to display our courageous faith to others around us, and suffering lets them see into our hearts. No matter what the cause, G.o.d always wants to teach us to depend on Him, and difficulties have a marvelous way of directing the eyes of our hearts to G.o.d's love, truth, wisdom, and power.

If we develop spiritual eyes to see that G.o.d is doing something rich and wonderful in the midst of our suffering, we won't avoid it. Instead, we'll say with King David, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted"-not because it was fun, but because suffering is one of the best ways to learn life's most important lessons.

What are some disappointments you've experienced lately?

Examine your heart to determine if G.o.d might be using these difficulties to redirect you, discipline you, display your courage to others, or teach you to depend more on Him.

"Afflictions are but the shadows of G.o.d's wings."-GEORGE MACDONALD

FEBRUARY 4.

EVEN IF HE DOES NOT.

Our G.o.d whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your G.o.ds, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.

DANIEL 3:17-18.

SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABED-NEGO had stood up strong for G.o.d in a hostile, foreign land, and now they were facing the consequences. A royal decree demanded that they die for their faith. It was patently unfair. They could have been really angry with G.o.d, but instead they trusted Him. The statement they made in that critical moment articulates rock-solid faith in G.o.d's abilities without demanding that He act in a certain way.

Could G.o.d rescue them from the fire? Certainly. He could fix the problem in a dozen different ways. Would He? They didn't know. They didn't put a straitjacket on G.o.d and insist that He bail them out a certain way-or bail them out at all. They believed not only in the power of G.o.d to rescue but also in the wisdom of G.o.d to choose when, where, and how to demonstrate His power.

Church history tells us about countless men and women who have faced the same challenges. They served G.o.d faithfully and well, and when they were faced with persecution and death, they put themselves in G.o.d's hands to do whatever He chose to do. Sometimes, they were miraculously rescued; more often, they died for their faith. Either way, they were convinced that G.o.d is faithful. G.o.d was honored by their trust in Him, and that was enough for them.

When we stand up for G.o.d in our families, at work, and in our neighborhoods, we can expect some applause, but we can also expect opposition. When we face the consequences of our faith, will we trust in G.o.d's wisdom as well as in His power to rescue?

What kind of opposition do believers face today?

Do you face opposition? If so, how do you handle it? If you don't face opposition, why not?

"It is much easier to tell your story than to live your story."-IKE REIGHARD

FEBRUARY 5.

REALLY THANKFUL.

Thanks be to G.o.d who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

2 CORINTHIANS 2:14.

IT'S A DELIGHT to be around thankful people. They fill up a room with their optimism, thoughtfulness, and peace. In his letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul said that such people act as a fragrant perfume that brings pleasure to every corner of a room.