Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Easter and hope are synonymous. That special day never arrives without its refreshing reminder that there is life beyond this one. True life. Eternal life. Glorious life.

I love music! Choral music, instrumental music, popular music, classical music . . . folk tunes, ballads, country western and bluegrass . . . the patriotic and romantic. For me, music is a must.

People don't want to listen to a recording of some sermon when the bottom drops out. They want a place to cry, a person to care, someone to bind up their wounds, someone to listen, the security of a few close, intimate friends.

My favorite verse about how God faithfully takes special note of those who serve Him is Hebrews 6:10: "For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name . . ."

In several places through the New Testament, there are statements of promise from God to faithful servants. I'm thinking of three in particular.

Serving God by serving others definitely has rewards, and they are numerous. They far outweigh the consequences. When we think about them, they motivate us to keep going.

I'll be candid with you. I have never read anywhere else in the Bible what God revealed to me in 2 Corinthians: "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body."

Someone once counted all the promises in the Bible and came up with an amazing figure of almost 7500. Among that large number are some specific promises servants can claim today.

Perhaps the most well-known promises Christians have as their ultimate hope are found in two places in the book of Revelation. Here's the first set of promises.

What does it mean to say that God is faithful? It means He is steadfast in His allegiance to His people. He will not leave us in the lurch. It also means He is firm in His adherence to His promises. He keeps His word.

While preparing the Twelve for a lifetime of serving others, Christ promised an eternal reward even for holding out a cup of cool water.

Yesterday, we began our look at five eternal "crowns" set aside for God's servants. After listing the first three crowns again, I'll add the final two and offer a brief explanation of each.

As those who serve the living God, we occasionally need to consider the eternal "crowns" being set aside for God's servants. What an intriguing study! There are at least five crowns promised in the Bible.

Based on 1 Corinthians 3:10–14, I see three facts about our eternal rewards for serving God. Let's review the first two facts I mentioned yesterday, and then I'll complete the list with the third.

Scripture not only supports the idea of eternal rewards, it spells out the specifics. In 1 Corinthians 3:10–14, I find three primary facts about rewards. We'll look at the first two today and complete the list tomorrow.

The most difficult discipline in the Christian life, in my opinion, is waiting. But God used that to force us to lean on Him . . . to trust Him . . . to believe in Him . . . to release our will and accept His.

I have found great help from two truths God gave me at a time in my life when I was bombarded with a series of unexpected and unfair blows (from my perspective).

Paul was no criminal. The man was innocent of wrong . . . yet he was misunderstood, mistreated, hunted like a wounded deer, and hated by those who once respected him. In 2 Corinthians 4:9, Paul states we are "struck down."

It's hard for me to read Paul's words without wincing: "Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep."

Elie Wiesel gives readers a tragic perspective on the horror of the holocaust. Wiesel's book, Night, will grab you and not let you go. In terse, tightly packed sentences, he describes those scenes and his own confusion.