Daily Archives: March 29, 2014

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – How to Conquer Your Fears

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Charles Stanley

Psalm 27:1-3

I’ve walked with the Lord for nearly seven decades. I have read the Bible cover to cover many times, preached thousands of sermons, and written pages upon pages of study material. But let me tell you something that may surprise you: In spite of all that, sometimes I’m afraid. And I imagine you are, on occasion, as well. After all, we live in a scary world!

Any of us can feel frightened by failure, ridicule, loneliness, or something else entirely. For me, one area of vulnerability relates to preaching. Sometimes, early in the week, I get a nagging feeling that I won’t have everything I need to deliver Sunday’s message, and the uneasiness persists throughout the week.

In response to that, I pray harder, study longer, and read my Bible more closely. I am driven to do absolutely everything I can to succeed whenever I stand to proclaim God’s Word. I decided long ago that I wouldn’t let apprehension stop me from doing what God calls me to do. However, before I take my stand against fear, I must first admit it is there. That’s the key to conquering feelings of trepidation.

There’s no shame in admitting you are fearful. In the Psalms, King David confesses several times that he is afraid (Ps. 34:4; 55:4-5). However, his confession is wrapped in prayer, acknowledging the Lord’s power over both his apprehension and his enemies.

That same power is available to you today. God wants to cast out the fear and doubt in your life. Go before Him right now and say, “Lord, this is what I am afraid of . . .”

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — A Better World

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Our Daily Bread

1 Peter 2:9-12

[Keep] your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that . . . they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God. —1 Peter 2:12

In one of my favorite Peanuts cartoons featuring Charlie Brown, the always confident Lucy declares, “How could the world be getting worse with me in it? Ever since I was born the world has shown a distinct improvement!”

Of course, Lucy is displaying an unrealistic and elevated opinion of herself, but she makes an interesting point. What if we were to try to make the world a better place by displaying the love of Christ wherever God has placed us?

When Peter wrote to persecuted believers, he advised them to “[keep] your conduct honorable” (1 Peter 2:12) by doing good deeds that will ultimately bring glory to God. In other words, we can make our world a better place through our actions. Think of the difference that Christlike deeds of love, mercy, forgiveness, justice, and peace would make in our world. I’ve always thought that if we lived out this verse, people might say, “Our office is a better place because ______ works here.” Or, “Our neighborhood is a better neighborhood.” Or, “Our school is a better school.”

We can’t change the entire world singlehandedly, but by God’s grace we can let the difference Christ has made in us make a difference in the world around us. —Joe Stowell

Love is giving for the world’s needs,

Love is sharing as the Spirit leads,

Love is caring when the world cries,

Love is compassion with Christlike eyes. —Brandt

Everyone can do something to make the world better—we can let Christ shine through us.

Bible in a year: Judges 7-8; Luke 5:1-16

Insight

Peter wrote to encourage believers in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) who were being persecuted because they were Christians. Verses 11-12 contain the summary application of Peter’s exhortation: Christians are to live honorable and blameless lives and do good works before an unbelieving and hostile world so that those who don’t believe can be won to the Lord. Peter reminded them that they were chosen by God to be His people for this purpose of witnessing and testifying to God’s love (vv.9-10) and were to be ready to share the gospel when the opportunity presented itself (3:15-16). The apostle Paul also exhorted his readers to live godly lives (Rom. 13:12-13; Phil. 2:15; Col. 4:3-6; 1 Thess. 4:12; Titus 2:7-8; 3:8,14).

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg  – The Delay of Unanswered Prayers

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Alistair Begg

I called him, but he gave no answer.

Song of Songs 5:6

Prayer sometimes lingers, like a petitioner at the gate, until the King comes with the blessings that she seeks. The Lord, when He has given great faith, has been known to test it by long delays. He has allowed His servants’ voices to echo in their ears as if the heavens were brass. They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has remained immovable, as though it were rusted upon its hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, “You have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.”3

In this manner true saints have continued to wait patiently without a reply, not because their prayers were not strong, nor because they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign and who gives according to His own pleasure. If it pleases Him to test our patience, shall He not do as He wishes with His children? Beggars must not be choosers either as to time, place, or form.

But we must be careful not to take delays in prayer for denials. God’s postdated checks will be punctually honored; we must not allow Satan to shake our confidence in the God of truth by pointing to our unanswered prayers. Unanswered petitions are not unheard. God keeps a file for our prayers–they are not blown away by the wind; they are treasured in the King’s archives. This is a registry in the court of heaven in which every prayer is recorded.

Struggling believer, your Lord has as it were a tear-bottle in which the costly drops of your sacred grief are put away, and a book in which your holy groanings are numbered. By-and-by your case shall prevail. Can you not be content to wait a little? Will the Lord’s time not be better than yours? By-and-by He will comfortably appear, to your soul’s joy, and will cause you to put away the sackcloth and ashes of long waiting and put on the scarlet and fine linen of full fruition.

3 Lamentations 3:44

The family reading plan for  March 29, 2014  Proverbs 16 | Philippians 3

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – The snare of the fowler

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“Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.” Psalm 91:3

Suggested Further Reading: 2 Corinthians 11:1-20

It was once said by a talented writer, that the old devil was dead, and that there was a new devil now; by which he meant to say, that the devil of old times was a rather different devil from the deceiver of these times. We believe that it is the same evil spirit; but there is a difference in his mode of attack. The devil of five hundred years ago was a black and grimy thing, well portrayed in our old pictures of that evil spirit. He was a persecutor, who cast men into the furnace, and put them to death for serving Christ. The devil of this day is a well-spoken gentleman: he does not persecute—he rather attempts to persuade and to beguile. He is not now the furious Romanist, so much as the insinuating unbeliever, attempting to overturn our religion, whilst at the same time he pretends he would but make it more rational, and so more triumphant. He would only link worldliness with religion; and so he would really make religion void, under the cover of developing the great power of the gospel, and bringing out secrets which our forefathers had never discovered. Satan is always a fowler; whatever his tactics may be, his object is still the same—to catch men in his net. Men are here compared to silly, weak birds, that have not skill enough to avoid the snare, and have not strength enough to escape from it. Satan is the fowler; he has been so and is so still; and if he does not attack us as the roaring lion, roaring against us in persecution, he attacks us as the adder, creeping silently along the path, endeavouring to bite our heel with his poisoned fangs, and weaken the power of grace and ruin the life of godliness within us. Our text is a very comforting one to all believers, when they are beset by temptation.

For meditation: We should be on our guard against falling into the snare of the devil (1 Timothy 3:7), but take courage from the fact that God is able to enable us to escape from it (2 Timothy 2:26).

Sermon no. 124

29 March (1857)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Seeking God’s Protection

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John MacArthur

“Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13).

At the moment of your salvation, judicial forgiveness covered all of your sins–past, present, and future. Parental forgiveness restores the joy and sweet fellowship broken by any subsequent sins. But concurrent with the joy of being forgiven is the desire to be protected from any future sins. That’s the desire expressed in Matthew 6:13: “Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

That petition seems simple enough at first glance, but it raises some important questions. According to James 1:13, God doesn’t tempt anyone to commit sin, so why ask Him to protect us from something He apparently wouldn’t lead us into in the first place?

Some say the word “temptation” in Matthew 6:13 means “trials.” But trials strengthen us and prove the genuineness of our faith. We are to rejoice in them, not avoid them (James 1:2-4).

The solution to this paradox has to do with the nature of the petition. It is not so much a technical theological statement as it is an emotional plea from one who hates sin and wants to be protected from it. Chrysostom, the early church father, said it is a natural appeal of human weakness as it faces danger (Homily 19.10).

I don’t know about you, but I have a healthy sense of self-distrust. That’s why I carefully guard what I think, say, watch, read, and listen to. If I sense spiritual danger I run into the presence of God and say, “Lord, I will be overwhelmed by this situation unless You come to my aid.” That’s the spirit of Matthew 6:13.

We live in a fallen world that throws temptation after temptation our way. Therefore it’s only natural and proper for us as Christians to continually confess our sins, receive the Father’s forgiveness, and plead with Him to deliver us from the possibility of sinning against Him in the future.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Thank the Lord that He loves you and ministers through you despite your human weaknesses.

Ask Him to protect you today from any situation that might cause you to sin.

For Further Study:

Read 1 Corinthians 10:13 and James 1:13-16.

To what degree will God allow you to be tempted?

What is a common source of temptation?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Say “Thank You”

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Joyce meyer

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever! —1 Chronicles 16:34

Thanksgiving should be a regular part of our lives. It is something that creates an atmosphere where God can speak; it is a type of prayer, and it should flow out of us in a natural way that is pure and easy. We can take time each evening and thank God for the things He helped us with that day, but we should also continually breathe out simple prayers of thanksgiving every time we see Him working in our lives or blessing us. We might say, “Lord, thank You for a good night’s sleep,” or “God, I thank You that my visit to the dentist didn’t hurt as much as I thought it might,” or “Father, thank You for helping me make good decisions today,” or “Lord, thank You for keeping me encouraged.”

God is always good to us, always faithful, and always working diligently in our lives to help us in every possible way. We need to respond by letting Him know we appreciate Him and everything He is doing for us. We should thank God silently in our hearts and we should also voice our thankfulness aloud because that helps us stay conscious and aware of God’s love, which He demonstrates through His goodness to us.

God’s word for you today: Thank God for twenty things today before you ask Him for anything.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – As a Man Thinketh

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“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…. (Proverbs 23:7, KJV).

“Every day in every way I am becoming better and better,” declared the French philosopher Emile Coue. But it is said that he committed suicide.

Positive thinking by a nonbeliever without a biblical basis is often an exercise in futility. Though I agree with the basic concept of positive thinking, so long as it is related to the Word of God, there is a difference between positive thinking and supernatural thinking. We do not think positively so that we can know Christ better; we come to know Christ better, which results in supernatural thinking. The basis of our thinking is God’s Word; supernatural thinking is based upon the attributes of God.

When a man says, “I am going to be enthusiastic, by faith, as an act of the will,” or “I am going to rejoice, by faith, as an act of the will,” he is simply drawing upon his rights as a child of God, according to the promises of God.

In supernatural thinking, we apply the promises of God, knowing with certainty that if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear and answer us.

Some well-known Christian leaders emphasize “positive thinking” and “possibility thinking.” They are men whom I admire and with whom I agree basically in this regard because the Christian life is a positive life. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

But I prefer to use what I believe to be the more scriptural definition of the Christian life – supernatural thinking, which includes – but goes far beyond – both positive thinking and possibility thinking.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 23:1-6

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  Today I will claim by faith a promise or promises from God’s Word which will help me to live a supernatural life.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team;  C.H. –  The Big Reveal

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A reality show where contestants compete to lose weight is so popular in the United States, 25 other countries decided to start versions of the show. Participants make dramatic lifestyle changes and lose large amounts of weight. At the final big reveal, final contestants show off their whole body makeovers with stylish clothes and hairstyles.

The new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Colossians 3:10

Today’s passage speaks of a similar makeover – one where you put away “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” (Colossian 3:8) Instead, you are encouraged to “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2) You are a new creation.

How easy it is to get mad and irritated just trying to get through traffic on the way to work. Then there are those people who rub you the wrong way. Before letting nasty words fly, stop and pray. Ask God to help you become more Christ-like in your thoughts, words and actions. Pray, too, for the others in your workplace as well as all who work in government offices, including our nation’s leaders. Ask God to have a “big reveal” in all of you.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 19:7-14

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Against All Odds    

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greglaurie

Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. —2 Chronicles 20:3–4

Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, faced a dilemma. His enemies greatly outnumbered him. To make matters worse, his enemies had joined forces with the other enemies of Israel and were coming to destroy him. One day, someone came to King Jehoshaphat and warned him that a gigantic army was headed his way, bent on his destruction. It was hopeless. There was no way that he could meet this army with what he had. He was going to be destroyed. What did Jehoshaphat do? The Bible says that he “set himself to seek the Lord.” He prayed, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (2 Chronicles 20:12).

The Lord told Jehoshaphat, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. . . . Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you” (2 Chronicles 20:15-17).

Jehoshaphat and his army went out to meet their enemies, but they put the worship team out front. The Bible says that when they began to sing and praise the Lord, the enemy started fighting among themselves and destroyed each other.

Maybe you are facing what seems like an impossible situation right now. You may not be able to see a way out. But God can. Call on Him. Then stand still and see what He will do.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013