Daily Archives: April 12, 2014

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Passionate and Protective

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Charles Stanley

Mark 11:15-17

This wasn’t Jesus’ first time at the temple. His parents accidentally left Him there once when He was a boy, and He had often taught there at times during His ministry (Matt.26:55). But this visit was different. This time He surprised a temple audience with more than His words. This time He grew fiercely angry at the activities in the courtyard.

Fierce anger isn’t what we expect from Jesus. But God is passionate about His people, and His people were at the mercy of mercenaries at the temple. That had to stop. So Jesus turned tables, drove out the profiteers, and quoted phrases from the prophets to prove His point. God’s temple is a place of prayer for the nations, not a business venture.

This event clearly teaches us that God opposes deception and greed, but there’s a much deeper message in it. The intensity of Jesus’ reaction reflects the heart of the Father for His people. The passion He demonstrated at the temple wasn’t about the building; it was about the worshipers who have gathered and, on a larger scale, the nations they represented. Apparently, God isn’t just mildly interested in the hearts of human beings. He’s fiercely protective of them. He’s zealous for our worship and jealous for our love.

When Solomon dedicated the first temple in Jerusalem, priests fell on their faces as God powerfully filled the building with His presence. The building was holy ground, a place of purity and prayer. Centuries later when Jesus overthrew the money changers’ tables, He demonstrated God’s intense passion for this same holy ground. But what about now? Worshipers no longer gather at a temple in Jerusalem. Where does God direct His passion?

To us. In the New Testament, God’s people become the temple of His presence. The building gives way to the body. If Jesus could be so profoundly provoked over a stone temple, how much more fervent is He about His body of believers? The purity and prayerfulness of His dwelling place deeply matter to Him. He enters our hearts with zeal to drive out unholy influences and make us His own.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — New Beginnings

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Our Daily Bread

Isaiah 43:14-21

Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? —Isaiah 43:19

New beginnings are possible. Just ask Brayan, a young man who joined a gang in elementary school. Brayan ran away when he was 12 years old, and for 3 years was lost in gang and drug life. Although he left the gang and returned home, it was difficult for him, as he had been expelled from school for selling drugs. When he enrolled in a new high school, however, a teacher inspired and encouraged him to write about his experiences rather than repeat them. He embraced the challenge and is now experiencing a fresh start.

God, through the prophet Isaiah, encouraged Jewish exiles to think about a new beginning as well. God said, “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old” (Isa. 43:18). He told them to stop dwelling on their punishment and even on His display of power through the original exodus from Egypt. He wanted their attention to be focused on God who would give them a new beginning by bringing them home from Babylon through a new exodus (v.19).

With God, new beginnings are possible in our hearts. He can help us to let go of the past and start clinging to Him. Relationship with Him provides a new hope for all who will trust Him. —Marvin Williams

Lord, we need Your touch on our lives.

Work in our hearts in whatever areas need

a fresh start. Help us to do our part and to

trust You to do what only You can do.

God gives fresh starts from the inside out.

Bible in a year: 1 Samuel 19-21; Luke 11:29-54

Insight

In today’s reading, we see the Hebrew remnant facing the arduous trek back to the Promised Land and the demands of rebuilding their lives. Certainly, a feeling of insecurity must have filled their hearts. Yet the Lord was with them and would provide protection and success. Today, believers also need to trust in God’s provision. Inevitably, challenges of transition, new circumstances, and an uncertain future can cause anxiety. Yet the living God gives us this promise: “I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (v.19). No matter what difficulties we encounter, God will find a way for us.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg  – The King’s Garden

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Alistair Begg

…The king’s garden…

Nehemiah 3:15

Mention of the king’s garden by Nehemiah brings to mind the paradise that the King of kings prepared for Adam. Sin has utterly ruined that delightful dwelling and has driven out the children of men to till the ground, which yields thorns and thistles to them. My soul, remember the Fall, for it was your fall. Weep much because the Lord of love was so shamefully ill treated by the head of the human race, of which you are a member, as undeserving as any. Behold how dragons and demons dwell on this fair earth, which was once a garden of delights.

Look now at another King’s garden, which the King waters with His bloody sweat—Gethsemane, whose bitter herbs are far sweeter to renewed souls than the luscious fruits of Eden. In Gethsemane the mischief of the serpent in the first garden was undone: There the curse was lifted from earth and borne by the woman’s promised seed. My soul, learn to ponder Christ’s agony and passion; visit the garden of the olive-press, and view your great Redeemer rescuing you from your lost condition. This is the garden of gardens; indeed, here the soul may see the guilt of sin and the power of love, two sights that surpass all others.

Is there no other King’s garden? Yes, my heart, or should be. How do the flowers flourish? Do any choice fruits appear? Does the King walk there and rest in the arbor of my spirit? Let me ensure that the plants are trimmed and watered, and the mischievous foxes hunted out. Come, Lord, and let the heavenly wind blow at Your coming, that the spices of Your garden may cast their fragrance everywhere. I must not forget the King’s garden of the church. O Lord, send prosperity to it. Rebuild her walls, nourish her plants, ripen her fruits, and from the huge wilderness reclaim the wasteland and make of it a King’s garden.

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Good News Publishers and used by Truth For Life with written permission.

The family reading plan for  April 12, 2014  Proverbs 30 | 1 Timothy 1

 

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Spiritual resurrection

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“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Ephesians 2:1

Suggested Further Reading: Colossians 2:9-14

Does it not seem a strange thing, that you, who have walked to this place this morning, shall be carried to your graves; that the eyes with which you now behold me shall soon be glazed in everlasting darkness; that the tongues, which just now moved in song, shall soon be silent lumps of clay; and that your strong and stalwart frame, now standing in this place, will soon be unable to move a muscle, and become a loathsome thing, the brother of the worm and the sister of corruption? You can scarcely get hold of the idea; death does such awful work with us, it is such a vandal with this mortal fabric, it so rends to pieces this fair thing that God has built up, that we can scarcely bear to contemplate his works of ruin. Now, endeavour, as well as you can, to get the idea of a dead corpse, and when you have done so, please to understand, that this is the metaphor employed in my text, to set forth the condition of your soul by nature. Just as the body is dead, incapable, unable, unfeeling, and soon about to become corrupt and putrid, so are we if we be unquickened by divine grace; dead in trespasses and sins, having within us death, which is capable of developing itself in worse and worse stages of sin and wickedness, until all of us here, left by God’s grace, should become loathsome beings; loathsome through sin and wickedness, even as the corpse through natural decay. Understand, that the doctrine of the Holy Scripture is, that man by nature, since the fall, is dead; he is a corrupt and ruined thing; in a spiritual sense, utterly and entirely dead. And if any of us shall come to spiritual life, it must be by the quickening of God’s Spirit, given to us sovereignly through the good will of God the Father, not for any merits of our own, but entirely of his own abounding and infinite grace.

For meditation: Have you passed from death to life by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 5:24)? Better to be a nobody alive in Christ than a king dead in trespasses and sins (Ecclesiastes 9:4).

Sermon no. 127

12 April (Easter 1857)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Evaluating Your Righteousness

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John MacArthur

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6).

Righteousness means “to be right with God.” When you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you passionately desire an ongoing and ever-maturing relationship with God Himself.

Righteousness begins with salvation and continues in sanctification. Only after you abandon all self- righteousness and hunger for salvation, will you be cleansed from sin and made righteous in Christ. Then you embark on a lifelong process of becoming as righteous as Christ–a process that will culminate when you are in His presence fully glorified (Rom. 8:29-30; 1 John 3:2). There’s always need for improvement in this life (Phil. 3:12-14), but satisfaction comes in communing with Christ and growing in His grace.

You can know if you’re hungering and thirsting for righteousness by asking yourself some simple questions. First, are you dissatisfied with your sin? Self- satisfaction is impossible if you are aware of your sin and grieve when you fall short of God’s holy standard.

Second, do external things satisfy your longings? A hungry man isn’t satisfied until he eats. A thirsty man isn’t satisfied until he drinks. When you hunger and thirst after righteousness, only God’s righteousness can satisfy you.

Third, do you have an appetite for God’s Word? Hungry people don’t need to be told to eat. It’s instinctive! Spiritual hunger will drive you to feed on the Word to learn what God says about increasing in righteousness.

Fourth, are you content amid difficulties? A hungry soul is content despite the pain it goes through because it sees every trial as a means by which God is teaching greater righteousness. If you react with anger or resentment when things go wrong, you’re seeking superficial happiness.

Finally, are your hunger and thirst unconditional? The rich young ruler in Matthew 19 knew there was a void in his life but was unwilling to give up his possessions. His hunger was conditional.

Christ will fully satisfy every longing of your heart, yet you will also constantly desire more of His righteousness. That’s the blessed paradox of hungering and thirsting after righteousness.

Suggestions for Prayer: Read Psalm 112 as a hymn of praise to God.

For Further Study: Read the following verses, noting how God satisfies those who trust in Him: Psalm 34:10, Psalm 107:9, Isaiah 55:1-3, John 4:14, and John 6:35.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Be Fully Satisfied

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Joyce meyer

Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment]. —Psalm 92:13–14

Many people pursue possessions and awards to satisfy their inner need for contentment. But we can be fully satisfied in lean times and in times of abundance, whether we abase or abound (See Philippians 4:12), when we learn to enjoy fellowship with the Lord as soon as we wake up.

Before you are fully awake, you can start talking to God. Just thank Him for seeing you through yesterday, and for being with you today. Praise Him for providing for you, and for working out all the situations in your life for your good.

Ask Him to make you aware of His presence all day long. Peace fills your heart when your mind is on the Lord. Nothing is more satisfying than walking with God.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Without Me – Nothing

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“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4,5, KJV).

As a young man in college and later in business, I used to be very self-sufficient – proud of what I could do on my own. I believed that a man could do just about anything he wanted to do through his own effort, if he were willing to pay the price of hard word and sacrifice, and I experienced some considerable degree of success.

Then, when I became a Christian, the Bible introduced me to a whole new and different philosophy of life – a life of trusting God for His promises. It took me a while to see the fallacy and inadequacy of trying to serve God in my own strength and ability, but that new life of faith in God finally replaced my old life of self-sufficiency.

Now, I realize how totally incapable I am of living the Christian life, how really weak I am in my own strength, and yet how strong I am in Christ. God does not waste our ability and training. We do not lay aside our God-given gifts and talents. We give them back to Him in service, and He multiplies them for His glory.

As Paul says, “I can do all things through Him [Christ] who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13, NAS). In John 15, the Lord stresses the importance of drawing our strength from Him:

“Take care to live in Me, and let Me live in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from Me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from Me, you can’t do a thing” (John 15:4,5). Our strength, wisdom, love and power for the supernatural life come from the Lord alone.

Bible Reading: John 15:6-11

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  I will make it a special goal to abide in Christ so that His life-giving power for supernatural living will enable me to bear much fruit for His glory.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; H.L.M. – Sweet Aroma

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ppt_seal01

When Jesus was at the home of Simon the leper, a woman named Mary approached Him with a long-necked alabaster jar of costly perfume. This fragrant oil, made of pure nard, was considered a luxury item. Mary opened the jar and anointed the perfume over Jesus’ head. The house was filled with the sweet aroma of the ointment. However, some people in the room considered it an expensive waste – but not Jesus. He praised Mary for her sacrificial act of worship as she poured out her love for Him.

Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

Mark 14:6

Worshipping Christ means a willingness to sacrifice what is most precious. David understood this as he wrote, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!” (Psalm 141:2) He described his prayers as fragrant smoke that floats up to God’s throne like the offerings he presented on the altar in the Tabernacle.

As pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father each day, visualize your prayers as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God. Remember this, also, as you unselfishly intercede for your local and national leaders.

Recommended Reading: I Timothy 2:1-8

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Voice of Circumstance   

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Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said — look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” —Judges 6:36–37

Not only does God speak to us through His Word and not only will He never contradict His Word, but God also speaks through circumstances. Although I’m not one to base major life decisions on circumstances alone, clearly there have been times when I have sensed that something was the will of God and then things would fall into place circumstantially. At other times, circumstances have made it obvious that God was saying no.

A classic example of God speaking through circumstances was when God spoke to Gideon, who laid his fleece out on the ground, asking God to confirm His Word. Certainly Jonah got the right message when God brought his journey to an abrupt halt, and he found himself in the belly of a very large fish.

Of course, as a part of this process, God speaks to us through people. For example, there have been times when I’ve been listening to someone preach or have been talking with a friend, and suddenly what he is saying addresses the situation I’m going through, even though he is completely unaware of my circumstances. It makes me realize that it is God Himself speaking to me through those individuals.

Maybe God has spoken to you through a pastor or a Christian friend. Or perhaps He has been speaking to you through circumstances. Listen carefully, and remember that He never will contradict His Word.

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