Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

What is God’s agenda for us? What does He want for us this afternoon, tomorrow morning, or next week? Well, His plans for us are clearly set forth. He wrote them originally for Israel, but they apply to us too.

With the teachings of Christ and Paul as a backdrop, we are better able to understand and appreciate Peter’s comments about love and unity. Remember, he was writing to hurting people. They were scattered, many of them far from home (1 Peter 1:1).

Before Andrew Jackson became the seventh president of the United States, he served as a major general in the Tennessee militia. During the War of 1812 his troops reached an all-time low in morale. As a result, they began arguing, bickering, and fighting among themselves.

The physical world upon which we have our feet planted is visible. It can be measured. It can be felt. It has color and odor and texture. It’s tangible . . . obvious. What is not so obvious is the system that permeates and operates within lives on this earth.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God would save us and then, within a matter of seconds, take us on to glory? Wouldn’t that be a great relief? We would never have any temptations. We would never have to battle with the flesh.

While most of us are not afflicted by horrible persecution for our faith, we do know what it means to face various forms of suffering, pain, disappointment, and grief. Fortunately, in the letter of 1 Peter we can find comfort and consolation for our own brand of suffering.

Joseph Parker, a great preacher of yesteryear, once said to a group of aspiring young ministers, “Preach to the suffering and you will never lack a congregation. There is a broken heart in every pew.”

Hope. It is something as important to us as water is to a fish, as vital as electricity is to a light bulb, as essential as air is to a jumbo jet. Hope is that basic to life.

Hope is a wonderful gift from God, a source of strength and courage in the face of life’s harshest trials. When we are trapped in a tunnel of misery, hope points to the light at the end.

God’s sense of humor has intrigued me for years. What amazes me, however, is the number of people who don’t think He has one. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why they can’t see it. He made you and me, didn’t He?

Surrounded by so many who are down in the mouth, convinced we are headed for doom (with statistics to prove it), we need the reminder that Christ is still triumphant.

What’s necessary if we hope to break the selfish syndrome and accelerate our growth toward maturity? Let me leave you three bones to chew on:  First, look within . . . and release.

The longer I live the more I become convinced that our major battle in life is not with age but with maturity. All of us are involuntary victims of the former. There is no choice involved in growing older.

Do you realize that God has a sure-cure solution to worry? Has anyone ever told you that if you perfect the process, you will be able to live a worry-free existence?

Americans did not invent the idea of freedom. Even though we have fought wars for it and built monuments to it, it is not original with us. It began with God, way back in the Garden of Eden when He made Adam and Eve.

The word “pleasures” doesn't sound very hostile, does it? Maybe not in our English language, but the Greek word is the one from which we get “hedonism.”

It is one thing for us to survive the blows of a world that is hostile to the things of Christ, but to be in disharmony with one another, fighting and arguing among ourselves—unthinkable.

If you and I are ever going to get involved in sharing the joys of knowing and walking with Christ, we must come to terms with the fact that people without Christ in their lives are lost—absolutely and undeniably L-O-S-T.

Ours is an arduous, long, and sometimes tedious journey through Cesspool Cosmos. And, observe, it is a walk, not a sprint.

Trials and tests come that impact our patience and give it a chance to grow (do they ever!). As patience begins to develop, strong character is cultivated, moving us ever onward toward maturity.