EquipU Online Library

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust” (Psalm 91:1–2).

Have you ever had a secret place that you enjoyed going to all by yourself? According to Psalm 91, God is inviting you to a special “secret place” that He has made just for you. Imagine that! The Almighty God of the universe loves you so much that He wants to spend time with you in His secret place! If you have trusted your life to His Son, Jesus, you can actually live or “dwell” in His “secret place” all the time!

The secret place of the Most High (God) can be visited anytime and from anywhere. You can be at school, in your home, in the car, with friends, or any place at all! It is a secret between God and you. You can meet God in His secret place right now through a quiet time of prayer and reading your Bible. God is waiting for you.

My response:
» How can I make time every day this week to meet God in His “secret place”?
» What passage from the Bible will I read slowly today and ask God to speak to me through it?
» Will I spend some time talking to God and asking Him to speak to me?

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:3).

“Strike three; you’re out!” The umpire shouted the dreaded words. The small crowd of parents and siblings was silent as Gabe shuffled back to the bench, tossing his bat in the dirt.

Gabe sat down on the far end of the bench and sighed. He was sure that last pitch had been a ball—that’s why he hadn’t swung. He couldn’t believe he’d struck out for the second time in one game. Why couldn’t he come through when all that his team needed was a simple base hit?

As Gabe felt more and more discouraged, his teammate Jackson walked over and sat down beside him. “Hey Gabe, don’t worry about it. You did your best. Remember last week when we had guys on second and third and two outs, and I was up? I smacked the ball right into the pitcher’s glove. Three outs; game over. I was so bummed. I was ashamed that I messed up and let everybody down.”

Gabe looked over at Jackson, one of the team’s best players. Jackson had felt ashamed? “But that night, I was reading my Bible,” Jackson said. “And I read this verse that said if we look to God, we won’t be weighed down, and our faces won’t be ashamed [Ps. 34:5]. I thought it was great how the verse talked about exactly what I was feeling that day.”

Jackson understood how Gabe felt, because Jackson had been there himself. And when he’d been there, he’d gotten comfort from God, through His Word. Now he could share that comfort with Gabe.

One of the reasons God lets us go through hard times is so He can show us His strength by the way He comforts us. Sometimes He does that not by taking the hard times away, but by giving us strength to face them. Then when our Christian friends are facing similar hard times, we can share with them how God strengthened us—and how He’ll strengthen them too.

God comforts us in our hard times so we can comfort others in their hard times.

My response:
» How did God help me when I was facing hard times?
» How can I pass on that comfort to Christian friends who are facing hard times right now?

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Who is the light of the world? In the Bible, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). But Jesus also tells His disciples, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

How can both Jesus and His followers be the light of the world?

Think of a mirror. Have you ever held up a mirror and seen sunlight reflect off of it? It looks as if a beam of light is coming from the mirror. But the light didn’t really come from the mirror. It came from the sun. The mirror just reflected it. The sun was the source of the light.

It’s similar with Christians. Jesus is the source of their light. As Christians become more like Jesus Christ, they shine their light by reflecting (“showing”) what Jesus is like. It is not a Christian’s goodness that shines, but Jesus’ goodness.

When others see the good things Christians do, such as being kind, loving, or patient, they should think of Jesus and praise God the Father. God should always get the glory for the good things we do.

The goodness of Jesus should shine through Christians.

My response:
» Do I shine my light by showing others what Jesus is like?
» Do I give God glory for the good things I do?

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:3–4).

On my family’s mantel, which is a shelf above a fireplace, sat a set of encyclopedias. My brother and I often used them when we wrote reports about people, places, or animals. Most of the time the encyclopedias were helpful. As we got older though, they did not always have up-to-date information. For instance, when I look in that same set of encyclopedias today, it tells me that the president of the United States is Jimmy Carter and that a little over four billion people live in the world. That information is not true for today, because we have a different president now and the world’s population is over seven billion people. However, other information is still correct, such as the number of states in the U.S.A. and the names of the oceans of the world. So the encyclopedia set is helpful for some things, but not everything.

There is, however, a book that is always relevant, helpful, and current regardless of how old it is. That book is the Bible. Some people seem to think the Bible is like a set of outdated encyclopedias. They say that the Bible is helpful for some things but that it does not contain everything we need to know. Or they claim it is not relevant, meaning that because it was written in an ancient time and place, it is not useful for every area of our lives today, because we live in a different time and a different place.

We know that the Bible says, “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15). It was wrong to steal back when Moses lived, and it is wrong to steal today. But what if someone wanted to know what music to listen to, what websites to look at, or what books to read? When the Bible was written, there were no bookstores, computers, or iPods. How do we know what we should do? If something is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, should we make a decision based on personal likes or dislikes? Some have said, “Let your conscience be your guide.” That kind of advice takes our attention away from the Bible. The Bible directs us to what we should do, and we must look to the Bible first rather than making a decision based on our own thoughts and desires.

Christians are commanded to live in a godly way, which means their behavior should follow what the Bible says. The all-powerful, all-knowing God has given us everything we need to live a life of godliness. If you have confessed your sinfulness to God, believed in His provision of eternal life through Jesus Christ, and received salvation by grace through faith without relying on your own works, then you are able to live a godly life by God’s power.

As a Christian, you are complete in Christ, which means God has given you everything you need to live a godly life. God has given you the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ, and the continual presence of the Holy Spirit. As you study God’s Word with the motive of loving Jesus, the Holy Spirit helps you understand what you should do and Jesus’ righteousness enables you to obey. So God’s Word should be the final decision maker in your life, rather than your conscience.

You will not find a verse that says, “Thou shalt not read, listen to, or look at a particular book, song, or website.” But you will find verses that tell you what kinds of things should be before your eyes or in your mind. God has given us everything necessary for life and godliness; nothing has been left out (2 Timothy 3:16–17). And what God has given us is never outdated or irrelevant.

God’s Word was helpful in the past, is helpful in the present, and will be helpful in the future.

My response:
» Do I regularly think about things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and worthy of praise—the way Philippians 4:8 says to do?
» Today will I consider what I watch, listen to, and read; and will I ask if, according to the Bible, those things should be on my mind?

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:6–9).

“Say ‘Mama,’ Stella. ‘Mama!’”

“No, Stella. You can say ‘Daddy,’ better, can’t you! Say ‘Daddy’!”

Jimmy laughed at the expression on his baby sister’s face as she looked back and forth from her mom to her dad. “You guys are going to confuse her!” Jimmy said to his parents. “Stella’s going to come out with something like ‘Dama’ or ‘Maddy’ if you keep saying your names!”

Dad laughed too. “You’re right, Jimmy. We probably ought to give her brain a little break. We don’t want to make her dizzy just trying to make one of us happy.”

“True,” said Mom. “Besides, she doesn’t really have to say our names to please us. Both of us will love her whether she says our names or not!” Then Mom grinned. “But she’s going to say ‘Mama’ first!”

Do you ever get the feeling that there are too many people to please? Your siblings want you to share with them. Your friends want you to play with them. Your parents expect you to behave a certain way. Your teachers assign you projects and want you to listen in class. You might have chores to do, and family to visit, and pets to take care of. Have you ever thought about how many “rules” there are just for good manners? Saying “please,” saying “thank you,” holding a certain fork a certain way, chewing with your mouth closed, and the list goes on! Sometimes keeping track of all you have to do and say can become overwhelming!

Colossians 2:6–9 says that if our trust is in Christ Jesus the Lord, we ought to walk in a way that pleases Him. It says that all kinds of people have all kinds of opinions, and you might meet people who will try to spoil (ruin) you with their godless opinions and worthless ideas. But Christians ought to be rooted in Christ, living to please Him. This passage says that Christ is the fulness of the Godhead bodily, which means that Christ is God! He is the Creator. He is the Redeemer. He is the highest Authority, and all other authorities (like your parents and teachers) were put in their positions by Him! Christ is God. If your goal in life is to please God above everyone else, you will be obeying His Word. You can be sure that you will be doing what you ought to be doing!

Did you ever think about how God is really the only one we have to think about pleasing? Yes, of course, it is good to practice good manners and be concerned about other people. But ultimately, if we are growing in the knowledge of God’s Son and walking worthy of Christ, we can trust that we are living in a way that pleases Him. And God is the most important one to please. If we please God, we will usually make our parents and other people happy automatically.

God is the main one we have to be concerned about pleasing.

My response:
» Is my life pleasing God right now?
» How can I show that I am more concerned about pleasing God than about pleasing others?