Charles Stanley – Experiencing God’s Faithfulness

August 31, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

What is the secret to enjoying the Lord’s best for your life? Whole-hearted obedience. Let’s study the story of Abraham to explore the rewards of following God’s voice and the consequences of disobedience.

Note: Abraham and Sarah are first introduced in Scripture as Abram and Sarai. God changed their names when He made a special covenant with them, which is described in Genesis 17. For simplicity, this Bible study uses the names “Abraham” and “Sarah.”

When God asks us to obey, He doesn’t always reveal the details. Read Genesis 12:1-3. Where did the Lord tell Abraham to go?

What enabled him to take such a risk? (Hebrews 11:8-9)
What is the definition of faith, according to Hebrews 11:1?

Hebrews 11:6 says “he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

What did the Lord promise Abraham? (Genesis 12:2-3)
Has your heavenly Father ever asked you to do something that seemed illogical to you at the time? If so, what did your experience teach you?

God’s guidance will not contradict His ways or His Word. Read Genesis 12:10-20.

What did Abraham do instead of trusting the Lord to take care of him? (Genesis 12:13)

Although the patriarch did not have the Bible or even the Ten Commandments, he knew his action was wrong.

In what area of your life are you currently tempted to disobey God instead of trusting Him? Explain your temptation.
What do you think God would have you do instead of trying to solve the problem using your own effort or reasoning?

When we disobey, other people suffer. In Genesis 15:4, God promises Abraham a son, not just an heir. But years later, Sarah is still childless.
God often gives us a second chance to obey. Some opportunities come only once in a lifetime. Once we miss them, they are gone forever. But many times, our gracious Father offers us another chance.
The Lord may ask us to surrender the dreams and plans He gives us. Read the story of the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22:1-14.

What did she suggest to Abraham? (Genesis 16:2)
What were some of the negative consequences of his action? (Genesis 16:4-6; 11-12)
When you live for yourself instead of seeking to follow God, how are those around you negatively affected?

What did Abraham do with his second chance in Genesis 20:1-13?
What three reasons does he give for using deception?
How are his excuses similar to the excuses we might use to justify sin?
Is God giving you a second chance? What is He asking you to do?

Why did God ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? (Genesis 22:12)

We can begin to value God-given possessions, relationships, dreams, or even ministry more than we treasure our relationship with Him. This is a form of idolatry.

What are the warning signs that a God-given gift has become too important?
Is God asking you to release an idol to Him so that He has your whole-hearted devotion? You may need to give it up literally or just surrender control of it in your heart. Write a prayer expressing your feelings and yielding to the lordship of Christ.

The rewards of obedience can last for generations. Because Abraham obeyed God, he became the father of the people of Israel. Years later, his descendants gave birth to the Messiah, through whom the entire world was blessed (Genesis 17: 4-8; Genesis 22:18).

How would you like to be remembered by your children and grandchildren (or by the next generation)?
What can you do in this next year to be one step closer to making that kind of impact on your world?

Closing: Like Abraham, you may impact the lives of those whom you never meet. Be obedient to God’s request, even if it doesn’t make sense from a worldly point of view. Perhaps the sacrifices you make today for Christ’s sake will bless others for generations to come.

Prayer: Father, I’m so grateful that You have a purpose and a plan for my life. Please reveal Your will to me and empower me to obey it willingly and faithfully. Increase my faith that I may be a blessing to the world around me for Your sake and for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Related Resources

Our Daily Bread — The Ultimate Sacrifice

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1 John 3:16-23

By this we know love, because [Jesus] laid down His life for us. —1 John 3:16

When Deng Jinjie saw people struggling in the water of the Sunshui River in the Hunan province of China, he didn’t just walk by. In an act of heroism, he jumped into the water and helped save four members of a family. Unfortunately, the family left the area while he was still in the water. Sadly, Jinjie, exhausted from his rescue efforts, was overwhelmed and swept away by the river current and drowned.

When we were drowning in our sin, Jesus Christ gave His life to come to our aid. We were the ones He came to rescue. He came down from heaven above and pulled us to safety. He did this by taking the punishment for all of our wrongdoing as He died on the cross (1 Peter 2:24) and 3 days later was resurrected. The Bible says, “By this we know love, because [Jesus] laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). Jesus’ sacrificial love for us now inspires us to show genuine love “in deed and in truth” (v.18) to others with whom we have relationships.

If we overlook Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on our behalf, we’ll fail to see and experience His love. Today, consider the connection between His sacrifice and His love for you. He has come for your rescue. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Rescued: By Jesus’ love;

Rescued: For life above;

Rescued: To serve my King;

Rescued: My praise to bring. —Verway

Jesus laid down His life to show His love for us.

Bible in a year: Psalms 132-134; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Insight

John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7) and to whom Jesus entrusted the care of His mother, Mary (19:26-27), was well qualified to write about love. In 1 John 2, he described the quality and authenticity of the love expected of the children of God. Here in 1 John 3, he pointed to the death of Christ and directed us to Him as our standard of Christian love (v.16). True Christian love is sacrificial action and selfless generosity displayed both in speech and in actions (vv.16-18).

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Walking in Light

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If we walk in the light, as he is in the light… 1 John 1:7

“As he is in the light”! Can we ever attain to this? Will we ever be able to walk as clearly in the light as He is whom we call “Our Father,” of whom it is written, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (verse 5)? Certainly this is the model that is set before us, for the Savior Himself said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”;1 and although we may feel that we can never rival the perfection of God, yet we are to seek after it and not be satisfied until we attain to it. The youthful artist as he grasps his newly sharpened pencil can hardly hope to equal Raphael or Michelangelo; but still, if he did not have a noble ideal before his mind, he would only attain to something very mean and ordinary.

But what is meant by the expression that the Christian is to walk in light as God is in the light? We conceive it to convey likeness but not degree. We are as truly in the light, we are as heartily in the light, we are as sincerely in the light, as honestly in the light, although we cannot be there in the same measure. I cannot dwell in the sun—it is too bright a place for my residence, but I can walk in the light of the sun; and so, though I cannot attain to that perfection of purity and truth that belongs to the Lord of hosts by nature as the infinitely good, yet I can set the Lord always before me and strive, by the help of the indwelling Spirit, to conform to His image.

The famous old commentator John Trapp says, “We may be in the light as God is in the light for quality, but not for equality.” We are to have the same light and are as truly to have it and walk in it as God does, though as for equality with God in His holiness and purity, that must be left until we cross the Jordan and enter into the perfection of the Most High. Notice how the blessings of sacred fellowship and perfect cleansing are bound up with walking in the light.

1) Matthew 5:48

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The family reading plan for August 31, 2014 * Ezekiel 3* Psalm 39

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Christ in the covenant

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“I will give thee for a covenant of the people.” Isaiah 49:8

Suggested Further Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:16-23

When tempted to sin, reply, “I cannot do this great wickedness. I cannot, for I am one of Christ’s.” When wealth is before you to be won by sin, touch it not; say that you are Christ’s else you would take it; but now you cannot. Tell Satan that you would not gain the world if you had to love Christ less. Are you exposed in the world to difficulties and dangers? Stand fast in the evil day, remembering that you are one of Christ’s. Are you in a field where much is to be done, and others are sitting down idly and lazily, doing nothing? Go at your work, and when the sweat stands upon your brow and you are bidden to stay, say, “No, I cannot stop; I am one of Christ’s. He had a baptism to be baptised with, and so have I, and I am in bondage until it is accomplished. I am one of Christ’s. If I were not one of his, and purchased by blood, I might be like Issachar, crouching between two burdens; but I am one of Christ’s.” When the siren song of pleasure would tempt you from the path of right, reply, “Hush your strains, O temptress; I am one of Christ’s. Your music cannot affect me; I am not my own, I am bought with a price.” When the cause of God needs you, give yourself to it, for you are Christ’s. When the poor need you, give yourself away, for you are one of Christ’s. When, at any time there is anything to be done for his church and for his cross, do it, remembering that you are one of Christ’s. I beseech you, never belie your profession. Go not where others could say, “He cannot be Christ’s.”

For meditation: The Christian is doubly Christ’s one—by his choice to bear fruit (John 15:16) and by his purchase to glorify God in the body (1 Corinthians 6:19,20). Are you giving him at present everything he paid for?

Sermon no. 103

31 August (1856)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Rejecting the World

August 31, 2014 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

“Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

The world is opposed to everything God stands for.

Loving the world begins with thinking that God doesn’t know what’s best for you and is trying to cheat you out of something you deserve. That thought soon blossoms into a willingness to disregard God’s warnings altogether and take whatever Satan has to offer.

Love of the world started in the Garden of Eden and continues to this day. Genesis 3:6 says, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” What made them think the fruit was good for food or able to make them wise? God didn’t tell them that. In fact, He warned them that they would die if they ate the fruit (Gen. 2:17). But Eve believed the serpent’s lie and Adam followed suit.

Satan continues to propagate his lies but you needn’t fall prey to them if you love God and remember that the world is opposed to everything He stands for. It is spiritually dead; void of the Spirit (John 14:17); morally defiled; and dominated by pride, greed, and evil desires. It produces wrong opinions, selfish aims, sinful pleasures, demoralizing influences, corrupt politics, empty honors, and fickle love.

You can’t love the world and God at the same time because love knows no rivals. It gives its object first place. If you love God, He will have first place in your life. If you love the world, the love of the Father isn’t in you (1 John 2:15).

Galatians 1:3-5 explains that Jesus says that “gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore.” Christ died to deliver us from Satan’s evil system. What greater motivation could there be to reject the world and live to God’s glory?

Suggestions for Prayer; Ask God for greater wisdom and grace to resist the world’s influences.

For Further Study; According to Ephesians 6:10-18, how can you as a believer protect yourself against Satan’s evil system?

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Power Over Nations

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“To everyone who overcomes – who to the very end keeps on doing things that please Me – I will give power over the nations. You will rule them with a rod of iron just as My Father gave Me the authority to rule them; they will be shattered like a pot of clay that is broken into tiny pieces. And I will give you the Morning Star!” (Revelation 2:26-28).

I marvel at the numerous promises made to the overcomer, the one “who to the very end keeps on doing things that please Me.” Now we are even promised power over the nations, as we rule and reign with our heavenly Father in that coming day.

As I ponder this verse, I see in a very few words the key to the entire Christian life – the one thing alone that will keep us victorious today, tomorrow, and throughout our lives. Again, it is that significant clause: “who to the very end keeps on doing things that please Me.”

Lest you think that is an over simplification of the victorious Christian life, can you think of anything else God requires of us? And He even provides His Holy Spirit as an indwelling reminder of the daily victory He makes possible. This is the supernatural life. Earlier, we are told of a conquering Christ who will rule the nations of the earth with a rod of iron. This promise tells us that Christ will turn this power over to the conqueror – the overcomer – and his victorious companions in death.

Bible Reading: Psalm 2:1-12

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will trust the Lord to make being an overcomer a reality for me as a way of life – by the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Give the Gift of Freedom

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Then you recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. —Jeremiah 34:15, NKJV

Have you ever experienced the wonderful feeling of being set free from something? Maybe someone has paid a debt for you or a boss has said, “Never mind. I don’t need you to do that after all.” If you have ever been dominated by another individual and you were set free, you know how wonderful freedom is. Whether it happens on a large scale or a small scale, being set free from an obligation or a burden is a great feeling.

In today’s scripture, the Bible says we can “proclaim liberty” to others. I encourage you to give the gift of freedom to your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers whenever possible. People will love you for it. Obviously, this does not mean letting others do whatever they want to do. But it does mean that you stop trying to control people and situations.

For years I tried desperately to control and remold my husband and children, until I finally realized that my efforts were acts of selfishness, not love. I told myself that I simply wanted God’s best for them; however, I had decided what His best was and was trying to force it on them.

At one point in my life, I wanted all my children to preach, just as I do. That did not happen, and, actually, I now realize that was not even what would have been best after all. God is in control, and I am glad.

Make sure the atmosphere in your home and your business is free and relaxed, not one that makes people feel that your relationship with them will be tense and disapproving if they do not please you all the time. When people make mistakes, do not make them feel rejected, but go the extra mile to make them feel forgiven, accepted—and free. Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Love Others Today: Proclaim liberty, and give everyone around you the gift of freedom.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; G.C. – Worry-free Approach

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Nearly one in five Americans – 40 million adults – suffer from a reported anxiety disorder. From personal life issues to concerns over governmental affairs, according to the World Mental Health Survey, American’s are the most anxiety-riddled people in the world.

She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.

Proverbs 31:21

Do you suffer from fear and worry? If so, you will identify with quite a few Bible characters who faced circumstances seemingly out of their control and beyond resolve. For example, young David was pursued by the most powerful man in his world, Saul the King. The apostle Paul was literally shipwrecked in the middle of his most important missionary journey. Both situations were genuinely life threatening!

Proverbs 31 describes a woman who is the opposite of an anxious soul. Her lack of fear and worry come from two basic and vital attributes: she did what she could with what she had, and then left what she could not control in the hands of God. As you intercede for America today, take a Proverbs 31 approach. Do all you absolutely can through prayer, then diligently prepare and take your peaceful rest in the providence of God’s care.

Charles Stanley – How the Truth Can Set You Free

August 30, 2014 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

2 Peter 1:1-4

Galatians 5:1 tells us “Christ has truly set us free” (NLT). The reason we can know genuine freedom is that Jesus “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us” (2 Peter 1:3).

Oftentimes people say, “I would like to become a Christian, but I don’t dare start because I know I couldn’t live up to all that is required.” Of course they couldn’t. And that is precisely why this generous assurance is given. God says that you and I have been granted everything we will ever need to live a triumphant Christian life.

The Lord’s glorious provision, however, begins only after we trust Christ for salvation. We have to take the plunge of faith before His divine power is released into our life. Once we’ve taken the step of believing in Jesus, all things are available, including courage, forgiveness, vision, wisdom, and a deepening trust in God.

Such a promise is hard to comprehend because it seems too good to be true. Many people pass it by with hardly an acknowledgement. Others look askance and wonder what needs to happen for it to become a reality in their life. As with all of God’s promises, you must accept it before you can act upon it. And while recognizing the promise as yours is one thing, applying it in daily life can be quite another matter. Ultimately, the promise is realized by the full experiential knowledge of Jesus as we hunger and thirst for the living water He supplies. Only when we refuse to be content with the world’s broken cisterns (Jer. 2:13) will we find the fullness of this promise working in us.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Step Up!

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2 Chronicles 15:1-12

[Asa] took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land . . . ; and he restored the altar of the LORD. —2 Chronicles 15:8

When a woodchuck started eating our garage (well, just the trim), I bought a live trap with plans to transplant the little guy to a park. I baited it with an assortment of goodies and opened the trap door. The next morning, I was excited to see a little critter in my trap—until I noticed that it was no woodchuck. I had snared a skunk.

I went online to see how to untrap the skunk without having it . . . well, you know. The solutions were extremely cautious in their descriptions of how to protect yourself while releasing the animal. Plastic bags. Gloves. Tarps. Blankets. Goggles. The task looked daunting and dangerous.

Then my son-in-law Ewing stepped up. He simply walked over to the trap, opened the door, and coaxed our striped friend on its way with a few sprays from the garden hose.

Sometimes our fears can lead to inaction. We worry so much about protecting ourselves that we fail to simply step up. When King Asa learned that the Lord wanted him to remove the idols from Israel, he “took courage” (2 Chron. 15:8). He could have had a rebellion on his hands for doing this. But he stepped up, and as a result the nation rejoiced (v.15).

Facing a spiritual challenge? The Lord will help you step up with courage and trust Him for the outcome. —Dave Branon

Let the road be rough and dreary,

And its end far out of sight,

Foot it bravely, strong or weary;

Trust in God and do the right. —Macleod

Courage is fear that has said its prayers.

Bible in a year: Psalms 129-131; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

Insight

While the books of Samuel and Kings follow the monarchy from the days of Saul all the way into the divided kingdom, the books of Chronicles devote only one chapter to Saul (1 Chron. 10). The writer spends most of his time and effort recording the reigns of David and Solomon, presenting their reigns as the high point of Israel’s history.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Spiritual Doctor

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Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. Jeremiah 17:14

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him. Isaiah 57:18

It is the sole prerogative of God to remove spiritual disease. Natural disease may be instrumentally healed by men, but even then the honor is to be given to God who grants wisdom to doctors and bestows power to enable the human frame to cast off disease. As for spiritual sicknesses, these remain with the Great Physician alone; He claims it as His prerogative: “I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal”;1 and one of the Lord’s choice titles is Jehovah-Rophi, “the Lord who heals you.” “I will heal your wounds” is a promise that could not come from the lips of man but only from the mouth of the eternal God.

On this account the psalmist cried unto the Lord, “Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled,”2 and again, “Heal me, for I have sinned against you!”3 For this also the godly praise the name of the Lord, saying, “[He] heals all your diseases.”4 He who made man can restore man; He who was at first the creator of our nature can re-create it. What a transcendent comfort it is that in the person of Jesus “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”5

My soul, whatever your disease may be, this Great Physician can heal you. If He is God, there can be no limit to His power. Come then with the blind eye of darkened understanding; come with the limping foot of wasted energy; come with the disabled hand of weak faith, the fever of an angry temper, or the fit of shivering despondency; come just as you are, for He who is God can certainly restore you. No one can restrain the healing power that proceeds from Jesus our Lord. Legions of devils have attempted to overcome the power of the beloved Physician, and never once has He been hindered. All His patients have been cured in the past and shall be in the future, and you may be counted among them, my friend, if you will but rest yourself in Him tonight.

1) Deuteronomy 32:39 2) Psalm 6:2 3) Psalm 41:4 4) Psalm 103:3 5) Colossians 2:9

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The family reading plan for August 30, 2014 * Ezekiel 2* Psalm 38

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – The Love God Hates

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“Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

If you love the world, you’re engaging in a love God hates.

Satan, from the very beginning of his rebellious activities, has been developing an invisible spiritual system of evil designed to oppose God and enslave people to sin. The apostle John identified that system as “the world,” and warned us not to love it.

Satan has had many centuries to develop his evil system, so it is very effective on those who reject Christ. First John 5:19 explains that while we as Christians belong to God, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one,” whom Jesus called, “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31). In John 8:44 He identified certain unbelievers as children of their father, the devil, who is a murderer and the father of lies. That’s how completely unbelievers are identified with Satan.

As a believer, you are identified with God. You have been delivered out of the domain of darkness and placed into the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13). You are from God and have overcome the evil one because the Holy Spirit who indwells you is greater than he who controls the world (1 John 4:4).

Sadly, Christians sometimes flirt with the very things they’ve been saved from. Don’t do that. Satan and his system have nothing to offer you. They are doomed! First John 2:17 says, “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”

Suggestions for Prayer

If you’ve been flirting with the world, ask God’s forgiveness.
Praise God that someday Satan and his evil system will be vanquished.

For Further Study; Read the epistle of 1 John, noting the contrasts between the children of God and the children of Satan.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Truth Precedes Change

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And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free. —John 8:32

Is there something you’d like to change about yourself or the way you live? Change begins with truth. It’s almost impossible to see the need for change or to know how we should change if we don’t face the truth about where we are. In the process of change, admitting the truth about ourselves is often the hardest part. We don’t need to feel guilty about the way we are, we just need to ask for God’s forgiveness and be excited about change.

Let me share a practical example of how facing truth and changing has worked in my life. If I’m eating too much and don’t want to face the truth about that, I will make excuses. “I don’t eat as much as some people.” “My metabolism must be slowing down.” “The dry cleaners shrank my pants.” Excuses can be endless! Excuses, though, are actually reasons stuffed with lies.

Once I decide to stop making excuses, I can admit the truth. Concerning eating, I might say to a friend, “I’ve been eating too much and that’s why I’ve gained weight.” When I do that I am taking responsibility for the problem. That’s the truth, and it will set me free.

I have had to face many truths’ in my past and still do. When I have a bad attitude or am angry with someone and yet pretending not to be, it is only truth that will set me free. The same principles and processes apply to any challenge we face in life. If we want to change, we have to start with the truth. Ask God to reveal truth to you about you! When He does if it begins to hurt just realize that the pain you feel is actually a healing pain that is working toward your freedom and increased peace and joy.

Love Yourself Today: Lord, help me to see and admit the truth about every area in my life, and, with your help, make the changes I need to make.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Protection From Accidents

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“The good man does not escape all troubles – he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one. God even protects him from accidents” (Psalm 34:19,20).

Jerry was a new Christian and for the first time was hearing about the importance of the Spirit-filled life. His was a logical question, put to me following one of my lectures on a large university campus.

“Does the Spirit-filled Christian have problems, testings, temptations like the non-believer and the disobedient Christian?” he asked.

“No,” I replied, “the Spirit-filled Christian does not have the same kind of problems that the non-believer and the carnal Christian have, because most of the problems we experience in life are self-imposed. The Spirit-filled person is one who seeks to do the will of God and lives by faith drawing upon the supernatural resources of God the Holy Spirit for every attitude, motive and desire of his life.”

There may be many problems, such as loss of loved ones, financial reverses, illness and disappointments. The Spirit- filled Christian does not escape all troubles. But the Lord is always there with him, undergirding, helping, inspiring, motivating, encouraging, imparting to him wisdom – physical, mental and spiritual resources. Even when tragedy, heartache, sorrow and disappointment come, the Spirit-filled person knows that God is still in control.

Therefore, by faith and obedience to the command of 1 Thessalonians 5:18, he can say, “In all things I give thanks.”

We can know that God helps us in each and every trouble and that He even protects us from accidents.

Bible Reading: Psalm 35:1-9

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Today I will look for opportunities to remind myself and my friends that our loving God and Father is working in and through every problem we face each day, so that we might mature and become more like our Lord Jesus Christ.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.K. – You Cannot Know

August 30, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Oh, if you could only examine your life in light of what God has planned for you! Would your faith be stronger? Have you given every part of your being over to the One who takes care of you in every situation?

Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Revelation 2:10

Looking at the apostle John, imagine what he thought as his life unfolded. One of the youngest of the disciples, he witnessed Jesus’ miracles and was close to Him throughout His ministry. He faithfully stood nearby during Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. John experienced the exhilarating resurrection moments and Pentecost. He and Peter preached in Samaria. Then persecution took the lives of his friends. Sometime later, he took up Paul’s work in Ephesus. Biblically obscure for many years, John then was inspired to write his exceptional Gospel, the epistles and Revelation.

Beloved, John could not have imagined what his life would be like…and you cannot know how God will use you if you are faithful to Him. Turn yourself wholly over to Him and let Him work through you. As you do that, intercede for this nation and its leaders that they may do likewise…for great is the reward!

Recommended Reading: II Corinthians 5:1-10

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – “Fullness of Joy”

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I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. —1 Corinthians 13:12

People sometimes ask, “What will we know in heaven? Will we recognize each other?” That question always amazes me. As if we’re going to forget everything—or be walking around in a fuzzy cloud of semi-awareness! We still will love, but our love will be perfected. We still will think and remember, but our thoughts will be perfected too. We certainly will know each other in heaven—and infinitely better than we knew each other on earth.

How do I know that? In Matthew 17 we read the account of Jesus on the mountaintop with Peter, James, and John. In those moments when He was transfigured before them, with His face shining like the sun and His clothes white as the light, He was seen talking to both Moses and Elijah.

From the account, it’s obvious that the disciples knew it was Moses and Elijah, though they were never told that fact or introduced to them. I doubt these two visitors from heaven had little name tags on: “Hi. My name is Moses.” Do you think Moses was standing with two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments under his arm, just to give them a little hint? No, but there was something about these two that made them instantly recognizable.

The disciples knew Moses and Elijah. And when we have been changed and encounter one another on the other side, we will know too. But I’d like to add just one thing. If you ever want to look me up in heaven, don’t look for a bald guy. Look for a guy with lots and lots of hair.

Think of the purest, highest, most ecstatic joy on earth, multiply it a thousand times, and you’ll get a fleeting glimpse of heaven’s euphoria. That is why David wrote, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

We will be aware in heaven—more aware than we’ve ever been before.

You will know more there. You will love more there. Your love for family and friends will be a stronger, sweeter, purer love. Death breaks ties on earth, but they will be renewed in heaven. Heaven is a perfecting of the highest moments of our present Christian experience.

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

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Waiting for God to Meet Our Needs

August 29, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Philippians 4:18-20

Every need we will experience in life is already met in Christ Jesus. By His power, God has prepared blessings to fill each of our needs in His perfect timing. Sometimes, when life is not exactly as we hoped it would be, we begin to despair. We think that we must have certain things in a particular time frame, but the Lord knows better.

Sometimes a need in our life—whether it is physical, spiritual, relational, emotional, or financial—persists because the Lord is trying to get our attention. He wants us to focus on Him so that He can correct our thinking. He desires that we experience abundance, but He knows we cannot enjoy blessing until He has been allowed to work in our life. Like a fruit tree, we must be pruned; sometimes the cutting back hurts, but it is always followed by a more bountiful harvest.

At other times, the way we approach God may be what hinders His promised blessings. Perhaps our prayers reflect feelings of inferiority and insecurity, though as members of God’s family, we have absolutely no reason to come crawling like a beggar to our Father. He wants His children to come with confidence, anticipating the blessings He longs to give!

Do not misunderstand. We can expect blessings, but we cannot dictate when or how or what they should be. God knows what’s best and is intently interested in our well-being. And while He does not promise ease, God is certainly steadfast in providing us spiritual comfort and meeting our every need. Look in anticipation; He will do something far beyond what you could have imagined.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Terms Of Service

August 29, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Luke 6:27-37

Forgive, and you will be forgiven. —Luke 6:37

If you’re like me, you seldom read the full text of contracts for online services before you agree to them. They go on for pages, and most of the legal jargon makes no sense to ordinary people like me.

I was quite surprised, therefore, when a friend from Africa made me aware of this one-of-a-kind service agreement for online software. Instead of a wordy license telling people how not to use it, the developer offers a simple blessing urging people to use it for good:

May you do good and not evil. May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others. May you share freely, never taking more than you give.

At first I thought, Wow. Imagine if more terms of service agreements were written as blessings instead of legal documents. Then I thought, The agreement Jesus makes with us is like that. He offers us forgiveness of sin, peace with God, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. In return, all He asks is that we do good (Gal. 6:10), forgive as we’ve been forgiven (Luke 6:37), and love others as He loves us (John 13:34).

The beauty of Jesus’ agreement with us is that even though we fail to live up to the terms, we still receive the blessing. —Julie Ackerman Link

Bestowed with benefits daily,

Sent from the Father above;

Mercies and blessings abounding,

Gifts of His marvelous love. —Anon.

As we have opportunity, let us do good to all. —Galatians 6:10

Bible in a year: Psalms 126-128; 1 Corinthians 10:19-33

Insight

In Luke 6:20-49, Luke recorded a sermon by Jesus that is similar to the sermon recorded in Matthew 5–7. Some scholars believe it was the same sermon, while others say that Jesus taught in two different settings. In Matthew, he taught it “on a mountain” (5:1), while here, Jesus taught these same truths “on a level place” (Luke 6:17).

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Breaking In

August 29, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

The hometown of Jesus was a small village tucked between the hills of the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean, located away from the main centers of the population. The Gospel of Mark describes the first time Jesus visited his hometown after he had become a public figure (Mark 6:1-6). His public ministry had, up until then, been based largely in Capernaum.

The townspeople had undoubtedly heard stories. Whispers of miracles and strange events were being reported from neighboring cities. His teaching was being called different, holding a different sort of authority among rabbis. I imagine the people of his hometown took a proud interest in all of the murmuring, anxious to see why everyone was talking about Jesus, anxious to claim him as their own. Now he was coming back home and they were excited about it. Invitations to teach in the synagogue were usually extended to distinguished visitors; he was, no doubt, in many eyes, the local boy done good, and now they would see for themselves.

According to Mark they were not disappointed. In fact, he reports, “they were astounded” (6:2). Making reference to the wisdom they heard and power they beheld, they clearly took notice that he was a man out of the ordinary. And yet, they couldn’t take the man at face value, for it was not just any man; it was Jesus. They could not get past the fact that this seeming authority in front of them was Mary’s son, the carpenter, the boy next door. And so Mark notes, they “took offense” at him, stumbling over the commonality of the extraordinary one before them (6:3).

During his tenure as a professor at Magdalen College in Oxford, C.S. Lewis delivered a memorial oration to the students of King’s College, the University of London. It was titled, “The Inner Ring.” Addressing his young audience as “the middle-aged moralist,” Lewis warned: “Of all passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.”(1)

Lewis spoke of the natural desire to find ourselves a part of the inner circles that exist endlessly and tauntingly throughout life. He cautioned about the consuming ambition to be an insider, and not an outsider, though the lines we chase are invisible, and the circle is never as charming from within as it looks from without. Like the taunting mirage the weary traveler chases through the desert, the quest for the Inner Ring will break your heart unless you break it, he insisted. For “it is the mark of a very perverse desire that seeks what can not be had.”(2)

Yet it is no doubt a desire that touches us all. There are those we will never truly see because they are within our circles. And there are those we will never see because they are without. Our invisible lines will continue to exclude the majority, and our pursuit of the inside will keep us in confined by our own impervious parameters of sight. Unless we allow them to be broken.

The kinfolk of Jesus chose to belittle the depth of his teaching, the compassion of his hands, and the significance of his power because they could not see past the circles they were certain he was excluded from. Throughout his testimony, Mark gives witness to the close ties between faith and healing, expectation and eyesight. This hometown crowd could not see Jesus for who he was because they were blinded by lines that told them what he could not be. “Isn’t this Mary’s son?” they scoffed in fear and disgust (6:3). Excluding mention of Joseph, their words were intended to belittle Jesus and his origins, to put him on the wrong side of the line with one who was sexually suspect.

And yet ironically, in pointing to Mary, they unwittingly point to the miracle of the virgin birth, the first evidence of Christ’s breaking of an inner ring. Where his hometown saw scandal and commonality, where we see circles that exclude, this human Son breaks the lines of separation, and extraordinarily offers the world an invitation into the presence of Father, Son, and Spirit.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1980), 154.

(2) Ibid., 154.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – The Reward of Careful Walking

August 29, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins. Numbers 6:4

Nazirites had taken, among other vows, one that debarred them from the use of wine. In order that they might not violate the obligation, they were forbidden to drink the vinegar of wine or strong liquors; and to make the rule even clearer, they were not to touch the unfermented juice of grapes, nor even to eat the fruit either fresh or dried. In order to secure the integrity of the vow, they were not even allowed anything that had to do with the vine; they were, in fact, to avoid the appearance of evil.

Surely this is a lesson to the Lord’s separated ones, teaching them to come away from sin in every form, to avoid not merely its grosser shapes but even its spirit and likeness. Such strict walking is much despised in these days, but rest assured, dear reader, it is the safest and happiest path. He who yields a point or two to the world is in fearful peril; he who eats the grapes of Sodom will soon drink the wine of Gomorrah. A little crevice in the seawall in Holland lets in the sea, and the gap soon swells until a province is drowned.

Worldly conformity, in any degree, is a snare to the soul and makes it more and more liable to presumptuous sins. The Nazirite who drank grape juice could not be completely certain whether or not it had fermented and consequently could not be clear in heart that his vow was intact. In a similar way the yielding, vacillating Christian cannot have a clear conscience but is constantly aware of his double standard. Doubtful things we need not wonder about; they are wrong for us. Tempting things we must not play with, but run from them speedily. Better to be sneered at as a Puritan than to be despised as a hypocrite. Careful walking may involve much self-denial, but it has pleasures of its own that are more than a sufficient reward.

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The family reading plan for August 29, 2014 * Ezekiel 1 * Psalm 37

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION

Monthly Archives: August 2014

Charles Stanley – Experiencing God’s Faithfulness

Our Daily Bread — The Ultimate Sacrifice

Alistair Begg – Walking in Light

Charles Spurgeon – Christ in the covenant

John MacArthur – Rejecting the World

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Power Over Nations

Joyce Meyer – Give the Gift of Freedom

Presidential Prayer Team; G.C. – Worry-free Approach

Charles Stanley – How the Truth Can Set You Free

Our Daily Bread — Step Up!

Alistair Begg – Spiritual Doctor

John MacArthur – The Love God Hates

Joyce Meyer – Truth Precedes Change

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Protection From Accidents

Presidential Prayer Team; J.K. – You Cannot Know

Greg Laurie – “Fullness of Joy”

Charles Stanley – Waiting for God to Meet Our Needs

Our Daily Bread — Terms Of Service

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Breaking In

Alistair Begg – The Reward of Careful Walking

Scriptures, Lessons, News and Links to help you survive.