Read Ecclesiastes 12:8-14
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (v. 13).
The phone rang. Answering it, I found a telemarketer offering a product/service that interested me. We talked about it for a little while, but I was in a hurry. I wanted to get to the bottom line. What would this cost me? The telemarketer had different ideas. His goal was to set up an appointment so I could spend twenty minutes online and on the phone talking to someone about the benefits of the product.
We ended the phone call with the telemarketer promising to email information, including prices, to me and to call the next week.
Reading Ecclesiastes can be a challenging assignment. The emphasis on vanity, emptiness, can be almost enough to bring discouragement to an optimist. Times were hard for Solomon. He had started his reign as king by doing the right things, but along the way he lost his focus. Now, coming down to the end of this book, he weighed what is really important.
Here is the bottom line; here is what is really important. “Fear God, and keep his commandments.” Finally, Solomon realized this. He had allowed his life to be full of emptiness. It was the wrong choice. Make a better choice than Solomon made. Give your life to God and do His will. “This is the whole duty of man.” (Mark Avery)

Fulfill your duty to God.

This week’s featured devotional is the Monday, August 11, 2014 entry of Opening the Word. Order your copy!
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Read Romans 6:12-23
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (v. 22).
“And now . . .” What a blessed contrast! Because He came to me and died on Calvary, my whole life has been changed. No longer am I a slave to sin! And because of that change the fruit of my life has changed! No longer do I bear the fruit of bitterness, conflict, and impurity. Instead, I bear the fruit of forgiveness, peace, and genuineness. How can this be?
A few years ago, while we lived in Ukraine, a friend brought us some of the largest and sweetest grapes I had ever seen. They were the fruit of his own harvest, so I immediately asked him if he could help me grow such luscious fruit. He soon brought me a young vine with a sheet of directions for planting. The first thing he required was that I dig a hole one meter deep by one meter wide. When I had removed all the old soil, I was to plant that little vine in a carefully prepared mixture of compost and sand. Even if I had a new vine, the fruit would be determined by the soil it grew in.
The Christian life requires a radical change. I can be assured of everlasting life only when I have allowed God to change the soil in which my life grows. If you allow your life to grow in natural soil, the result will be inferior fruit! (Gordon Snider)

The Christian life requires a radical change.

This week’s featured devotional is the Wednesday, August 6, 2014 entry of Opening the Word. Order your copy!
Photo credit: "Day 55/366.....Grapes" by Denise Cross Photography used under CC BY 2.0 / Cropped.

Read Hebrews 4:14-16
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (v. 16).
These verses are truly encouraging us to pray. “Come boldly” simply means we do not necessarily have to be great orators, but we have freedom to express to God our feelings, needs, and confidence that He hears us. He has invited us to share with Him our need for forgiveness so that we can receive His mercy. We also can bring to Him every burden we bear, every trial we are enduring, every temptation that we face, and every need we encounter. He has grace sufficient for whatever life hands us.
Throughout my life, I have “come boldly” to God’s throne. I came boldly when a family member was diagnosed with cancer. I came boldly in one of the darkest times of my life when a pregnancy ended three weeks early in a stillbirth. I came boldly when there was not enough money to pay taxes. I have come boldly when my daughter had a very high fever. This list could keep going, but the simple truth is this: Every time I have come boldly to the throne of grace I have obtained mercy and found grace to help. Every prayer was answered, and every need has been supplied! (Marla Cook)

Every need supplied
Every need supplied
He gives healing, cleansing, sweet peace inside
Every need supplied.

Come boldly! After all, this is your Father you are talking to!

This week’s featured devotional is the Sunday, August 3, 2014 entry of Opening the Word. Order your copy!

Read Isaiah 25:6-9
“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it” (v. 8).
“I wanted you to know that your talks with me in college were not in vain. I now believe and am going to church.” These words were from Russ, a young professional man who in the university had been a skeptic. He and I had long discussions about Jesus and His truth claims. When he claimed that he had come to faith, I was surprised. I had not felt I had done much in the way of convincing him. What changed him? It certainly had not been my arguments, which were inadequate. Rather, it was small bits of truth that in an incremental way lodged in his heart and eventually bore the fruit of faith. That young man experienced a kind of progressive revelation of truth.
God, through progressive revelation, “precept upon precept; line upon line,” has shown man about heaven. The lines in Isaiah 25:8 foreshadowed what John would more clearly reveal in Revelation 21. There will be no tears in heaven, and God’s people will enter into a glory that will never fade away. This clearer depiction of coming blessings prompted Charles H. Gabriel’s inspirational words of what awaits believers. (Dave Gordeuk)

Oh, that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me,
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me.
— Charles H. Gabriel

Glimpses of heaven greet those who look for them.

This week’s featured devotional is the Monday, August 25, 2014 entry of Opening the Word. Order your copy!
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Read Deuteronomy 30:1-10
“And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (v. 6).

As a child, my mother would say that a rule (law) was because she loved me. I would think, “How can she love me if she doesn’t let me do that?”
As a parent myself, I fully understand her logic. We did not allow certain behavior because we knew it would result in harm. Playing with matches resulted in burns. Playing with knives could injure as well.
The restrictions were not because we wanted to be mean or demanding but because we felt we knew what was best for our children. Our goal was to raise godly young men, of value to ministry and the community.
The laws of God can be viewed in the same light. No doubt the Israelites felt they were being confined by the laws of Jehovah. To them, the concept of God loving them enough to keep them from evil, was probably unbelievable. They feared God, and “served” Him, lest judgment fall at the smallest infraction.
In our lives, however, if we truly love God, His law is not a burden to us. We love to follow His commands, because we love Him, and want to please Him. We serve Him out of love, not fear. We realize that His laws are designed for our good, as well as His glory. (Sue Colburn)
When we love God with all our heart, we find abundant life!
This week’s featured devotional is the Monday, July 21, 2014 entry of Opening the Word. Order your copy!
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Read Psalm 51:1-10
“Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom” (v. 6).
I am extremely fond of genuine leather. It is no wonder I was a Day-Timer® guy; so much so that when my secretary hid it one day, I nearly went berserk before she and my staff coughed it up. If I recall, their practical joking was not worth the risk of repeating! Even though my electronic Outlook calendar has replaced the need for my Day-Timer®, be assured my brown, brushed cowhide, senior pocket binder is always tucked securely in my computer bag. Ah, the aroma of six square inches of supple leather; twenty years since unwrapping it, the smell is as fresh today as it was then.
My point? Today’s verse expresses the never-failing desire for the genuineness that is derived from the truth revealed in God himself through His enduring Word. This truth has no substitute; it is deeply riveted on the heart. It settles for nothing short of claiming Almighty God as its source of wisdom. It is genuine. Its aroma is a sweet-smelling savor to the Father, who is full of truth and grace. This is my God! The methods to convey His truth may change, but the principles of its reliability remain constant. (RB Kuhn)

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also.
The body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still.
His kingdom is forever. — Martin Luther

Just like the enduring attractiveness of genuine leather, so is the everpresent recognition of abiding in His truth.

This week’s featured devotional is the Tuesday, July 15, 2014 entry of Opening the Word. Order your copy!
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