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A Clear Picture of You

Q: Who has the most accurate opinion of your worth?
A. You
B. Strangers
C. The people who know you best
D. God’s Word

You’ll find an answer in this devotional message from The Great Rescue Bible (NIV).
-Adam Forrest

God’s picture of you

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When we look in the mirror, what do we see? Just an average person trying to get by in life? Know this: Visible-world mirrors are known for telling lies.

[READ]
There’s a huge difference between what we think of ourselves and what the Bible says about us. If we look with kingdom eyes, we’ll see our real reflection: A child of the King (see John 1:12; 1 John 3:1), God’s special possession (see 1 Peter 2:9), home to God’s Spirit (see John 14:17; Ephesians 1:13), and seated with Jesus in the heavenly realms (see Ephesians 2:6). When the kingdom comes in its fullness, we’ll even have a role in the judgment of the world and of angels (see 1 Corinthians 6:2–3). We might think we’re average, but that’s far from the truth.

[THINK]
Sometimes we think the Bible is just trying to encourage us with verses like those because we need something to lift us up when we’re down. But God is giving us a picture of who we really are.

We’re actually clothed in Christ, and his Spirit is actually living in us. Like two metals that have melted together, we blend. In The Real World, no one can tell exactly where Jesus ends and we begin. We can never be separated from who he is.

If we really believe that, we won’t be discouraged for very long, we’ll stand up to the giants in our lives, and we’ll see God working when others think he isn’t.

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The Bottom-line Motivation for Ministry

What motivates Jesus-followers to serve others? To find out, let’s look at a key conversation between Jesus and Peter. (This is a devotion excerpted from Once-a-Day Men and Women of the Bible Devotional.)

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The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time … Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” -John 21:17

Much has been made of the question Jesus asked Peter three times: “Do you love me?” Pastors and teachers talk about how this question intentionally parallels Peter’s three denials of Christ. Others stress the different Greek words translated as “love” in this passage. But we must also recognize the emphasis Jesus placed on ministering to others.

“Feed my sheep,” Jesus said each time Peter affirmed his love for Christ. If Peter really loved Jesus, he would care for those who belong to Jesus. Notice that not once did Jesus ask Peter if he loved Jesus’ sheep. The bottom-line motivation for ministry was and is love for Jesus and a willingness to act.

There is another message here as well. “Even if you have failed,” Jesus seems to be saying, “I can still use you in the lives of others.”

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Beginner’s Bible App for iPad: Making the Bible Fun and Interactive for Kids!

Beginner’s Bible App for iPad: Making the Bible Fun and Interactive for Kids!

The Bible is an exciting book, but sometimes it can be challenging to find new ways to keep little ones interested. That’s why Ruthie Spaans, a member of our Zonderkidz team, shares this exciting announcement about a new interactive storybook app from The Beginner’s Bible.

It’s here, it’s here! The eagerly awaited Beginner’s Bible App for iPad is now available for download in the Apple store!

The new app is based on The Beginner’s Bible, the bestselling storybook Bible of all time, having sold over 6 million copies since its release in 1989. The app contains stories, coloring pages, games, and audio, so children six and under can enjoy their favorite Bible stories all by themselves.

Why kids and parents love the app

The Beginner’s Bible App was designed for young children to easily use themselves but is also a great way for parents to connect with their kids, while teaching them biblical truths.

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Why Heaven is Both “Here” and “Not Yet”

Pop quiz: Will Jesus-followers become citizens in the kingdom of heaven someday? Or are they already citizens of the kingdom? Discover what Scripture says on the matter in this devotional from The Great Rescue Bible (NIV).

‘Round the bend

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Heaven is both here and not yet.

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While we’re on this fallen earth, Jesus is with us and within us (see Matthew 28:20; Colossians 1:27). But it also works the other way. We’re also “in him” and seated “with him” while he’s in heaven (see Romans 8:1; Ephesians 2:6).

Somehow we’re seated in heaven with Jesus. By knowing him, he serves as a portal to show us things of heaven. That means that as we walk with Jesus in this world, we’ll experience foretastes of what heaven will be like. When we come to him anxious and ask him to help, maybe that’s why we leave more peaceful.

Mysteriously, this next Scripture passage was written to believers still alive on fallen earth — and it’s not written in future tense, so it seems that it’s describing what is happening now: “You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Hebrews 12:22–23).

[THINK]
We’re already citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and we can learn to celebrate what heaven’s residents celebrate. In heaven, angels and people rejoice in God and in the things of his kingdom. They rejoice when people turn away from the ways of evil, when goodness is spread and when Jesus-followers make the world look more like his kingdom.

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Kiss Fear Goodbye (Here’s Why)

Pop quiz: Does God want us to “play it safe” in our lives? Does He want us to avoid all risk in our jobs, goals and desires?

Remember your answer as you read this devotional from The Great Rescue Bible (NIV). You may change your mind. -Adam Forrest

Does God Want You to “Play It Safe”?

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Your Dad is the King of all. There is no reason to fear.

[READ]
Jesus told a story of two people who illustrated what it looks like to live as a child of the King: “It will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money” (Matthew 25:14–18).

In this parable, two of the three servants went for it, trying to gain as much as they could with what they had been given. They could have lost everything by not playing it safe. But they knew the heart of their master and decided to take a risk. Jesus made it clear that they were the ones who were living the way he wanted.

[THINK]
God is not a “play it safe” God. Do you have the kind of approach to life that says, “I’m gonna go for it, even if I fail, because God’s gonna catch me if I fall”? Child of the King, if God puts something on your heart, go after it. Do what you can to make it happen, ask for his help and guidance, and trust that he’s going to walk with you every step of the way.

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Announcing the Beginner’s Bible Storybook App for iPad (Watch the Video)

Announcing the Beginner’s Bible Storybook App for iPad (Watch the Video)

We’re excited to announce that the best-selling children’s Bible of all time, The Beginner’s Bible, is coming soon for iPad as a storybook app!

The Beginner’s Bible App will be free for all to download. It will include 6 Bible stories, coloring pages and a game.

Get your first look at the app when you watch the video, then sign up to be notified as soon as it’s available!

Watch the video

We are so excited about the app’s upcoming release!

A child’s first Bible is so important. It can set a child on a course of lifelong Bible exploration. The Beginner’s Bible is the first print Bible that many children receive in their life – and for good reason. The book is a vibrant, engaging introduction to the characters and stories in God’s Word.
We set out to create an app that captures the appeal of the book. From the app you can expect:

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A Heavenly Party [Excerpt]

Joni Eareckson Tada’s vision of heaven vibrates with joy, and C.S. Lewis asks what we really want, in this devotion from the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible: Voices from the Past and Present.  

My favorite part about Joni’s view is seeing the saints come together from across time: “There’s Moses toasting Martin Luther.” What Christians from history would you most like to meet, and what would you ask them?

-Adam Forrest, Zondervan

Joni Eareckson Tada

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Joni Eareckson Tada

Before we realize it … we shall find ourselves in the embrace of our Savior at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. Heaven will have arrived. The Lord’s overcoming of the world will be a lifting of the curtain of our five senses…

Now, enjoy an unseen divine reality. Rev up your heart and picture yourself taking a seat at the Wedding Supper. As you pull up a chair to the banquet table, take a look at what’s on the menu from Isaiah 25:6: “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine — the best of meats and the finest of wines” …

I get a charge just thinking about it! I wonder who will sit next to me, or across from me. I glance down the table and there’s my friend, Verna Estes, mother of seven, swapping baby stories with Susanna Wesley, mother of seventeen. There’s Moses toasting Martin Luther. St. Augustine giving a bear hug to that jungle missionary …

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Seek and Ye Shall be Surprised [Excerpt]

Yesterday Mark Batterson shared his experience with trying to Force a Miracle. Here’s the story’s unexpected conclusion — a real-life example of “seek and ye shall find,” and how the finding will often surprise … ye!

I love how this story hints that God is directing the scene, but Mark and his unnamed friends have their roles to play. That is exciting, because it’s true in our stories too!

This story is from Mark Batterson’s book The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears.

-Adam Forrest, Zondervan

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How Can We Share God’s Peace? [Excerpt]

What is the church’s role in extending God’s peace to the world? Mark Buchanan gives perspective in this excerpt from Your Church Is Too Safe: Why Following Christ Turns the World Upside-Down.

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The primary gift God gives to those who trust in him is reconciliation with him. But the primary gift the people of God give to those who are reconciled to God is a community of reconciled people. We give them the gift of our own wholeness and oneness. We give the gift of community. We invite them to be part of a people where everyone makes “every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” [Ephesians 4:3].

God calls us out of darkness and into marvelous light [1 Peter 2:9]. But his intent is that “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” [1 John 1:7]. So God prepares us to be a people who draw and who welcome every tribe and tongue and nation into the light by first making us light. And he does that, in part, by bringing those who are far away near. He does that by making the community of the converted also the community of the reconciled…

One sign that God has returned to dwell in the center of our lives and of our churches is that we become a living testimony of what we promise. We promise that in Christ all become new creations, no longer seeing others according to the flesh. We promise that in Christ we have the peace of God and the God of peace. We promise that we through Christ receive God’s love and forgiveness, and then extend it — with authority — to the whole world. We promise all this, but then claim exemption for ourselves in some petty matter or another.

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The Weight of Your Past (and What Jesus Thinks about It – Excerpt)

We begin our scene at Jacob’s well, as two people discuss what God desires. One of those people is the Son of God. This story is told by Mark Buchanan in his book Your Church Is Too Safe: Why Following Christ Turns the World Upside-Down. -Adam Forrest, Zondervan

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“Will you give me a drink?” Jesus asks.

The voice, the question, the man: they startle her. They startle her out of her silence and avoidance.

“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” [See John 4:1-42]

And then unfolds a remarkable encounter, a life-turning exchange. But not at first. At first, her speech is as cagey as her silence, a series of diversions and evasions. Jesus offers her living water, “the gift of God.” She’s puzzled and intrigued, but when Jesus exposes her condition, she scurries down a rabbit trail. She wants to talk about worship. That might be a good thing, but as so often happens with talk of worship, it bogs down quickly into hairsplitting and argument baiting. Is this style better than that style? Is old better than new? Is tradition better than innovation?

When Jesus exposes her condition, she scurries down a rabbit trail.

Jesus cuts through all that with a clear word about the heart of worship: it’s about the heart in worship. It’s about a heart that longs for God and seeks him wherever he might be found. It’s about a heart that wants truth in the inmost parts, and opens itself wide as a bird’s mouth to receive it, and steeps in it until it works its way to the outermost parts. Worship is not about a style or a form or a place. That’s not what God’s seeking. He’s seeking not a kind of music or liturgy or architecture but a kind of person: humble, hungry, wide awake, who comes in spirit and truth, bold and beseeching both, ready to live toward God out of their depths.

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