May 6, 2026 – Disciple
The Lorax – Funny and sweet how kids’ shows can speak to the issues of life.
Simpson – “Reckon ye also yourselves to be alive unto God” (Rom. vi. 11). Simpson reminds us that, “Death is but for a moment. Life is forevermore. [It hurts me when I hear people say they don’t believe in an afterlife. How do they live so freely here on earth? Maybe they don’t and they just cover it well. How can they say goodbye to loved ones at death and not be wrecked? How do they even anticipate death (someone else’s or theirs) and are ok with it just being the end?] Live, then, ye children of the resurrection, on His glorious life, more and more abundantly, and the fulness of your life will repel the intrusion of self and sin, and overcome evil with good, and your existence will be, not the dreary repression of your own struggling, but the springing tide of Christ’s spontaneous overcoming life.”
Power – John 21:15 NIV – “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’” Joyce asks, “What are you doing to help someone else? Are you making a difference in someone’s life? Because that is how you show your love for God. The cycle of love God pours into your life is not complete until it is pouring out of you to meet other people’s needs…. Don’t wait until you feel like being a blessing; rather, start doing it on purpose, and you will realize that it adds joy to your life.”
Streams – Psalm 25:14 – “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.” Cowman shares these thoughts from A. B. Simpson, “There are secrets of Providence which God’s dear children may learn. His dealings with them often seem, to the outward eye, dark and terrible. Faith looks deeper and says, ‘This is God’s secret. You look only on the outside; I can look deeper and see the hidden meaning.’ [This makes me think of Joyce’s question about making a difference. Based on how things look, we, and others, may not think we are making a difference, but the help is definitely felt and seen by the recipient.] …When the Tabernacle was built in the wilderness there was nothing rich in its outside appearance. The costly things were all within, and its outward covering of rough badger skin gave no hint of the valuable things which it contained…. If we take what He sends, and trust Him for the goodness in it, even in the dark, we shall learn the meaning of the secrets of Providence.”
Utmost – Chambers has an interesting and helpful answer to my questions about speaking with unbelievers. “A spiritually minded man will never come to you with the demand – ‘Believe this and that’; but with the demand that you square your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One Whom the Bible reveals. (cf. John 5: 39-40). We are called to present liberty of conscience, not liberty of view. If we are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty – the liberty of realizing the dominance of Jesus Christ…. It takes God a long time to get us out of the way of thinking that unless everyone sees as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view…. Don’t get impatient, remember how God dealt with you – with patience and with gentleness; but never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, ‘Go…and make disciples’ (RV) not – make converts to your opinions.’”
