The Mirror of the Word: A Daily Devotional Podcast from C.E. White

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“Were you called as a slave? Do not let it concern you. But if you are also able to become free, take advantage of that.”

—1 Corinthians 7:21

Imagine this advice today with society’s focus on success, prestige, and accomplishment.

It’s not that God wants us to be in slavery or to be held back (“if you are able to become free, take advantage of that”). What he’s telling us here is that our circumstances don’t define the value of our lives.

We tend to focus on all the reasons we think we can’t serve him well or do anything meaningful for the kingdom. God’s making sure we know those reasons don’t matter. In fact, the Bible essentially says, “Are you a slave? Be a really good slave, as if God himself were your master” (Ephesians 6:5; 1 Peter 2:18; Colossians 3:22).

The servant can be great in the kingdom of God. Those in poverty and those with terrible jobs, bad bosses, and difficult families can all be great in the kingdom of God. Our position, status, and power in this world are not factors in how well we can live for Christ.

Our circumstances might be less than ideal. He can use us anyway. He knows where we are. He hasn’t abandoned us.

Don’t focus on your circumstances. Focus on who you are in Christ. Focus on becoming who the Lord made you to be right where you are.

The post September 23-Serving Well Anyway appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”

—1 Peter 5:5

What does “humility toward one another” look like?

I think it looks like listening even when we disagree, living out kindness, gentleness, compassion, truth, and love.

The humble are teachable; they listen to the Lord’s correction and direction. They do not choose their own way but allow themselves to be led by the Word of the Lord and the Holy Spirit.

What does “humility toward one another” not look like?

Gloating, selfishness, ignoring the wisdom of others, belittling, insulting, or controlling.

Philippians 2:3 tells us that humility looks like considering others more important than ourselves.

When we look objectively and honestly at our attitudes and the words we choose in our interactions with others, it’s easy to see who we’re considering more important.

And this verse tells us that God is not only displeased with the prideful; he actively opposes them.

When we walk in pride, we’re making ourselves an enemy to our perfectly loving, wholly good, almighty God. Outside of his grace is a terrible place to be.

Our humility is based on the fact that we know we are nothing in and of ourselves. All that we are and all that we have is a gift from our God. There is nothing in ourselves worth being prideful over; we boast only in the Lord (Psalm 34:2; 1 Corinthians 1:31).

Let’s be careful to approach God and others with the humility Christ himself showed to those around him. 

The post September 22-The Posture God Honors appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.’”

—John 14:6

This world is broken, and we all want a way to fix it. We strain and claw at all kinds of means, mostly focused on the external. But the brokenness begins within us, and there is only one way to heal it: Jesus.

Without him, we try to concoct our own versions of becoming good enough for salvation. This will always be an impossibility . . . like a three–year–old trying to bake a cake. They might know a few of the ingredients, but they can’t read the directions or operate the oven. They aren’t capable, so the cake isn’t going to be edible, and in the attempt, they’ll probably get burned.

We will never find our own way to God. The recipe we end up with will not be “good,” and in the process of trying to do it without him, we’re probably going to injure ourselves and others.

History is full of people defining their own rules for getting to God. Even those who call themselves Christians have been establishing codes of morality that only serve to make those successful at it prideful and those who fail miserable.

But Jesus paid the ransom for us not being good enough, so we can stop trying to blaze a new trail to goodness. There is only one way, and it has been made ready for us. Following Jesus is the only thing that clears the path to our perfect King.

The post September 21-Truth, Life, and the Way appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are two sparrows not sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.”

—Matthew 10:28–31

It seems odd to our human minds that this says not to fear right before we’re told that we may indeed be killed. It’s hard to see how being murdered isn’t something we should worry about, but God is telling us that being killed is not the worst thing that could happen. 

We may face terrible things here—even to the point of being murdered.

But our soul’s eternal destiny should be of far more concern to us than any earthly suffering or death. This life is not our highest priority; it will pass away.

But no matter what happens, we can trust that God loves us and he’s paying attention. He knows every detail about our lives, down to each time we lose a hair. He even sees when a sparrow dies, and we’re worth far more.

He cares when we are harmed even in body, but ultimately, the desire of his great love is to bring all of us to be with him in eternity.

Our earthly trials and sufferings do not mean he has abandoned us, even if we’re being killed, because death is not the end.

The post September 20-Safe Beyond Death appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eye–service, as people–pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With goodwill render service, as to the Lord, and not to people, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, whether slave or free.”

—Ephesians 6:5–8

We may not be slaves of earthly masters, but we can think of this as the responsibilities we have in our lives, whether to our employers, friends, or families. How do we serve the people in our lives?

If we’re doing it begrudgingly or so that others will think well of us, we’re missing the point.

Our duties toward others should be performed as if that person were Christ himself.

The Bible makes it clear here and in Matthew 25:31–46 that whatever service we do for others is done as to the Lord.

It also makes it clear that our reward will come from the Lord, not the people we’re serving. Those people are fallen, and we may never get the desired response of gratitude or the same amount of effort and service in return. They may even fall into the category of “evil masters,” as spoken of in 1 Peter 2:18.

The Bible doesn’t change its requirements even for those evil masters. We must serve them with diligence and integrity, taking Daniel, Esther, and Joseph as our examples.

If we perform our service and work “as to the Lord,” the reward from him will be greater than any we would’ve received from that earthly master.

The post September 19-The Reward That Lasts appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.”

—James 2:8

When we think of loving our neighbors, we often think of the story of the Good Samaritan—helping those “neighbors” who need help even when they might not be in the category of people we consider desirable, even when it’s inconvenient, and even when it costs us personally. 

But we also need to think about what it means to love them “as we love ourselves.”

This requires forgiving others the same way we want to be forgiven, without holding grudges or continually bringing up past failures. We don’t punish them with our ongoing displeasure and irritation (1 Corinthians 13).

It requires considering how we hope others will treat us when we’re having a bad day and aren’t at our best. It’s treating them with grace and gentleness.

We also love ourselves by taking care of our needs. To love others this way, we must pay attention to them. Our neighbors may not always tell us about their needs, but if we’re attentive, we’ll be able to see if they need our time, financial help, friendship, listening ear, or something else that is within our power to give.

Loving our neighbors as ourselves requires sacrifice.

This is the kind of grace–filled love we would do well to show others—the kind that says, “I’m willing to go out of my way to help you in your trouble.” “I see your weakness and your failure, and I love you anyway.” “You’re not alone; I’m here to help.” 

It’s the kind of love that Christ extends to us all the time.

The post September 18-Not Alone in the Struggle appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

—1 John 2:1

When believers sin, Jesus stands at our defense. God is faithful and just to forgive us when we confess and repent (1 John 1:9). None of us are perfect for, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).

But there is also much expected of us as believers. Further down, 1 John 2:4 says, “The one who says, ‘I have come to know him,’ and does not keep his commandments, is a liar,” and 1 John 2:9 says, “The one who says that he is in the light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now.”

Many who say they know God live in hatred of those around them, or they live without taking the Lord’s commandments into consideration at all.

Though every believer will stumble, if we allow hatred to reign in our lives or make no effort to walk as Jesus walked, we are not in the light. The truth is revealed in our lives.

These passages are both a comfort and a warning—when we sin, we go straight to Jesus and repent. We aren’t condemned because he paid our debt. At the same time, some who say and believe they’re in the light are not.

This isn’t contradictory; it’s about lordship. Do we strive to follow God’s commands and to love our fellow man? Do we live like God is our master, though we sometimes fail, or do we say God is our master without attempting to make him so?

The post September 17-Grace with a Call appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

—Romans 8:24–25

We tend to think of waiting as bad but hope as good. The truth is, we can’t have one without the other. In fact, the words “hope” and “wait” are often translated interchangeably in the Bible.

If we are hoping, we are waiting, because we do not hope for what we already have.

Here’s the difference: waiting can be done with a bad attitude and might lead to discontentment, anger, bitterness, or harmful behavior; hoping requires peace, trust, and confidence. In order to wait well, we must have hope. And hope requires trust and confidence.

If our hope is truly already placed where the Lord tells us it should be—in the lasting, eternal things of his Word, his promises, and our infinite inheritance with him—then we will endure and persevere even in our waiting. We will only become angry, in a hurry, and discontent where our trust and confidence in the Lord falters.

So when we’re frustrated by a season of waiting, we can reflect on who God is—unchangeable, sovereign, true—and change the word “wait” to “hope” in our minds. “We’re hoping, persevering, eagerly waiting, and trusting the Lord for what he has promised he will accomplish in his Word.”

Some of what we wait and hope for will not be realized in this life (Hebrews 11:13), but we can still live with undying hope.

Our Lord has promised that the best is always yet to come.

The post September 16-The Best Ahead appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“So that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brothers and sisters, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.”

—Philippians 1:13–14

What does it look like to others when we suffer? Does it look like we’ve bound ourselves to Christ and believe that the suffering in our path will be used for his glory? Or does it look exactly like the world deals with suffering—in hopelessness, anger, confusion, overwhelm, and bitterness?

Would our attitude in imprisonment bring others to trust God or push them away from faith?

As Christians, our suffering should look different than the world’s. We don’t have to pretend we’re enjoying it, but where others can see our strength and hope in the midst of difficulty, it will encourage and inspire them to overcome as well. It will show that our hope truly is in the Lord and not in what this world has to offer.

Paul’s suffering didn’t look hopeless nor inspire fear. Instead, it showed the power and truth of the Gospel he suffered for, and those around him were encouraged to greater trust in the Lord and more boldness to speak the Word—the very things which caused Paul’s suffering in the first place.

Our confidence in the Lord even in our suffering will shine as a beacon of relentless hope to others, and our example will press them to a deeper trust in God that strengthens them and leads them to a heroic pursuit of his will even in their own sufferings.

The post September 15-Hope in Chains appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

—Psalm 73:26

It’s not a surprise that, in this life, we will have times of weariness, struggle, pain, or illness. We are told it will happen (1 Peter 4:12).

Our bodies get tired and fail. Our hearts will grow heavy, seeing and enduring all the difficult things in this world. Our emotions will rise and fall like the tide.

But even in the middle of all that, God is our strength. Where we fail, he will not. Where we grow weary, he will not. Even if there are times we can see only sorrow in this world, we can hope in the next one, because he is our portion forever.

He is our strength in weakness, and when we bring that weakness to him and hand it over, we can trust that he will make something beautiful out of it.

And when this flesh fails completely, it’s not the end for those who are in the Lord, but the beginning of our eternal inheritance. We will join him in perfect rest and joy.

There is no loss on this earth that will have the power to tarnish that joy in the slightest once we reach heaven (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Let’s hold fast to the Lord’s strength in the moments our own strength fails and continue to hope in that eternal portion he has ensured for those who trust in him.

The post Septemebr 14-He Holds Me appeared first on C. E. White.