Daily Readings at Southeast

Patience You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. — James 5:8 Waiting is something all of us do in life. And while some people like to claim that waiting is a great learning experience, in reality, it feels more like a mental and emotional torture chamber. If you can’t tell, I dislike waiting. I’ve never been good at it. I’ve always liked to get things done as soon as possible and at a time convenient to my schedule. In my impatience, what I fail to realize is that the fourth fruit of the Spirit is patience (Gal 5:22). Christians are not called to be impatient people. Technically, the more we allow the Spirit to be active in our lives, the more patient we should become. Over the years, I’ve grasped that life doesn’t revolve around me. Time does not click in parallel to my heart. And what I think, what I’m impatient about, will never be more important than what God already knows. Never in all of history has anyone rushed ahead of God’s plan and experi...

Compassion Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation. — Henry Ward Beecher Jesus rose from the dead and freed us from the bondage of our sins. And in doing so, He opened the door for anyone wanting to find a relationship with his Father in heaven. Jesus’ message has never changed. And to anyone who has never felt the warmth of compassion, His voice is calling out, wherever you might be. Jesus’ great desire is that you would come to Him with all your faults, all your cares, and all your struggles. He doesn’t seek to harshly judge you but to gracefully and compassionately help you. He wishes to take hold of your pain and shower you with unfathomable love and grace. He speaks with a voice of compassion and understanding. He will lift you from the lowest of lows and bring light to your darkened soul. He died for all your mistakes, and He brings healing to all of your wounds. The word “compassion” comes from a Latin word that means “co-suffering.” It isn’t merely “feeling sorry for s...

Prayer We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense.— Oswald Chambers If you grew up praying, you might not think twice about it. But for those who were introduced to prayer later in life, well . . . it can feel a little weird. How can whispering your thoughts out into the air—or just thinking thoughts in your head—allow you to communicate with God? How does this practice lead to any meaningful change? No doubt, from the outside, prayer seems a little complicated. But in reality, it’s a simple way of communicating with our heavenly Father. Just like any other conversation with someone you love, prayer is an intimate time of communication when we truly get to learn about one another. (That’s right. Prayer isn’t just about you talking to God. It’s also about listening to what God has to say to you.) Although God already knows everything there is to know about us, prayer is given to us as a gift to learn about Him. Prayer is the li...

Worship Without worship, we go about miserable. — A. W. Tozer Worship is something that at first might seem a bit confusing, but in reality, it isn’t. It is within our human nature to worship something or someone. The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky (also a Christian) once said, “Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than to find as quickly as possible someone to worship.” [1] It’s a fundamental part of what it means to be human—just like eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. The act of worship is a demonstration of respect, honor, or homage toward a certain object or person. Regarding our faith as Christians, our worship is to be directed toward our Lord and Savior. Worship is a time when we pay deep, sincere, awesome respect, love, and fear to the One who created us. Our worship not only honors and magnifies God but it is also for our own edification and strength. Worship helps us develop God-like and Christlike characteristics. When we w...

Change There is need of a great revival of spiritual life, of truly fervent devotion to our Lord Jesus, of entire consecration to His service. It is only in a church in which this spirit of revival has at least begun, that there is any hope of radical change in the relation of the majority of our Christian people to mission work. — Andrew Murray When Jesus was born into the world, everything changed. Life came to conquer death. And of course, even Jesus Himself experienced some dramatic changes. The son of God took on the weak body of a newborn baby, the awkwardness of puberty, and the aches and pains of adulthood. He allowed His circumstances and His very being to be changed from one of heavenly perfection to one of earthly imperfection. That’s a huge change—bigger than any physical change you or I will ever know. We can’t even fully comprehend what that change must have been like. The change of the world started with Jesus, and it will also end with Jesus when He comes back to establ...

Obedience God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to. — Elisabeth Elliot The phrase “live like Jesus” is something we as believers often hear but do we really understand what it means? Are we really living a life that radiates Christ? And are we truly abandoning our fleshly desires to pick up the cross that changed the destiny of all humanity? When I was younger, I once heard a pastor say, “Partial obedience is disobedience.” And while everyone around me began to get up from their chairs, clapping and saying, “Amen!” I quietly sat in my seat. The phrase smacked me across the face and pierced me to the core. It is so true. We cannot go about our lives half-heartedly walking with God in hopes that He will give us a full-heart transformation. It just doesn’t work. If we are truly living like Jesus, then why are we still sinning? The depth behind the p...

  Faith True faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God’s fidelity to his promises. — Francis Chan The idea of “having faith” is something we often throw around. Our culture has deemed “just have faith” the answer to just about every problem that doesn’t have a clear solution.  And although I do believe our faith lays the foundation for our walk with Jesus, faith without internal and external action is profitless. We can say, “I have faith,” but if our hearts and souls aren’t ready to back up that statement, then what good is it? Faith is a living, bold trust in God’s grace—so certain of God’s existence that it would risk death a million times. Looking to Scripture, a man named Peter gives us a wonderful example of faith initiation. Although Peter was mocked on various occasions for his childlike actions, he was a faithful servant who loved Jesus with all of his heart. Matthew 14:25–29 paints a beautiful picture of Peter’s faith and trust in Jesus. He...