Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Forgive us, our Father, for being attracted to the pleasures of sin . . . to what appears to be full of ecstasy and satisfaction but is, in fact, empty and stupid.

It's a pretty awesome thing, Lord, to be in Your service. It's a lot easier to begin and run a company, even a big corporation, than it is to serve the body of Christ.

How precious is Your Word to us, our Father. The older we get, the more we realize its value and treasure its truths.

Our Lord and Master, we live in a world that's lost its way. We are impacted by it, we are influenced by it, and we are sometimes intimidated by it.

Quiet our hearts, dear Father, and in so doing, remind us that You are sovereign—not almost sovereign but altogether sovereign.

Lord God, thank You for being more than a friend. Thank You for Your sovereign hand upon us, for Your mercies that are new every morning, for Your great faithfulness.

We are very thankful, Father, that in the process of our spiritual growth You remind us of the importance of gentleness: Your Word not only instructs us in what we're to do, it also shows us how to do it.

Mediocrity is fast becoming the byword of our times. Every imaginable excuse is now used to make it acceptable, hopefully preferred. Budget cuts, time deadlines, majority opinion, and hard-nosed practicality are outshouting and outrunning excellence.

We live in a negative, hostile world. Face it, my friend, the system that surrounds us focuses on the negatives: what is wrong, not what is right; what is missing, not what is present.

Let's take a brief look at greed. Practically speaking, greed is an inordinate desire for more, an excessive, unsatisfied hunger to possess.

The essential question isn't difficult to state: How can I, a person who has absorbed so many years of mediocre thinking, change?

The world in which one person lives is too limited and restricted. When rubbing shoulders with another, we gain a panoramic view, which allows us to see the whole picture. "As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man" (Prov. 27:19). That's so picturesque!

May I remind you of four of the more powerful perils that can level even the mightiest? They are fortune, fame, power, and pleasure.

Picture for a moment the barrenness and bleakness that happens in a life when compromise occurs. It doesn't come immediately. At first it's fun to run with the wrong crowd.

I think we need to sign a mental declaration of independence. Let's put our names on the line, pledging ourselves with firm resolve, much like those brave men did on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia when they signed the Declaration of Independence.

Someone once wrote, "Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap your character. Sow your character, reap your destiny." Standing tall when tested takes courage—constant, relentless, never-give-up courage!

What do we mean by accountability? In the simplest terms, it is answering the hard questions. Accountability includes opening one's life to a few carefully selected, trusted, loyal confidants who speak the truth.

God offers instruction, but then it's our move. We must accept His instruction and apply it to our lives. Then, and only then, can we expect to cash in on the benefits of His instruction.

Almost every week I come into contact with people who have been misled, thinking that success depends solely upon talent or brilliance or education. But the list doesn't end there.

Can you remember a recent "gray slush" day? Of course you can. So can I. The laws of fairness and justice were displaced by a couple of Murphy's Laws. Your dream dissolved into a nightmare.