Charles Stanley – Surprising Opportunities

August 17, 2014 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

Do you like surprises? Some people don’t like unexpected opportunities and events because they feel out of control and insecure when receiving them. They want to be able to prepare, to have everything just as they like it, and to continue pursuing their goals without interruption. Unfortunately, that’s just not the way life is. A great deal happens daily that is simply beyond our control. Though this may make us feel anxious and vulnerable, we must realize that this is the manner by which God teaches us to rely upon Him.

A surprising encounter

Moses learned this firsthand. He had been on the west side of the desert in Midian for forty years, tending his father-in-law’s sheep and going about his daily life as a husband and father. Perhaps this is what he thought he would do for the rest of his life, having left Egypt far behind without any desire to return.

However, this changed once he saw something extraordinary blazing against the backdrop of the rugged, mountain landscape (Ex. 3). It was a burning bush that was not consumed. Even more astounding was that when he went to investigate the strange sight further, the Lord told him that he was standing on holy ground before the King of kings.

Can you imagine Moses’ amazement—his outright shock to be standing in the presence of Almighty God? He had never seen, heard, or experienced anything like this.

Yet this astonishing display was not without purpose. The Lord’s message to him was life changing, and He wanted this shepherd to take it seriously. God called Moses into ministry as the deliverer of the Hebrews, who were being held in bondage in Egypt. It was an assignment that would test everything within him. This is why this event was undeniably remarkable. It was an encounter Moses could never forget or question. It was 100 percent, cast-in-stone, indisputably real, and the knowledge of it would carry him back into the nation he least wanted to see again—Egypt.

A brilliant reminder

At times, the Lord will call you and I to some unexpected assignments. He doesn’t do it to destroy or consume us. Rather, He has certain goals and plans in mind for us, and He will sometimes make us aware of them in astounding ways so that they are undeniably affixed to our hearts.

God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. This became a visual reminder to the shepherd that by signs and wonders the Lord would deliver Israel from Egypt’s grasp. He said, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. . . The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst” (Ex. 7:3, 5). Moses understood that the task would not be simple or easy, but the burning bush was a brilliant reminder that God was able to accomplish all He had promised.

A wonderful opportunity

Likewise, the Lord has a good plan and purpose for everything He does in your life, and the surprising ways He speaks to you are meant to demonstrate what He will do through you. Like Moses, you cannot plan for or manipulate how the Father will speak or what He will communicate. All you can do is embrace what He says wholeheartedly.

Perhaps He is seeking to make you aware of His holiness, love, power, and wisdom. Or maybe He wants to demonstrate His great love for you by doing something very special in your life. Whatever the case, one thing is sure: The more dramatic the visitation, the more awesome the task He is calling you to. And like the burning bush, His call does not come to consume you, but to shine His glory through you in a wonderful way you never imagined possible.

Therefore, your challenge is to accept God’s surprise visits with obedience and faith. So today, pray that whenever the Lord calls you to an assignment (and He will!) you will respond in a manner that honors Him and brings Him great glory.

Adapted from the In Step With God workbook (2009).

Resources About Opportunities

Do you have a daily quiet time with God? Learn to make the most of it with the new Quiet Time Toolbox.

Our Daily Bread — Is Somebody Singing?

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John 17:20-26

[Bear] with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. —Ephesians 4:2-3

From 200 miles above Earth, Chris Hadfield, Canadian astronaut and commander of the International Space Station, joined in song with a group of students in a studio on Earth. Together they performed “Is Somebody Singing,” co-written by Hadfield and Ed Robertson.

One phrase of the song caught my attention: “You can’t make out borders from up here.” Although we humans draw many lines to separate ourselves from one another—national, ethnic, ideological—the song reminded me that God doesn’t see such distinctions. The important thing to God is that we love Him and each other (Mark 12:30-31).

Like a loving father, God wants His family united. We cannot accomplish what God has for us to do if we refuse to be reconciled with one another. In His most impassioned prayer, on the night before He was crucified, Jesus pleaded with God to unite His followers: “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21).

Singing illustrates unity as we agree on the lyrics, chords, and rhythms. Singing can also promote unity as it binds us together in peace, proclaims God’s power through praise, and demonstrates God’s glory to the world. —Julie Ackerman Link

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer’s praise,

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of His grace. —Wesley

Singing God’s praises will never go out of style.

Bible in a year: Psalms 97-99; Romans 16

Insight

Jesus’ prayer for the unity of believers (17:20-26) is one of the beautiful theological passages of the gospel of John. It discusses both the relationship between God the Father and Jesus as well as the duration of that relationship. Jesus roots His desire for the church to be one in His own relationship with God the Father. Their relationship is characterized by mutual knowledge, love, and glory. Not only does this prayer call for unity in the church, but it shows the unique relationship between Jesus and the Father that existed before the foundation of the world (v.25).

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – This Far and No Further

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This illness does not lead to death. John 11:4

From our Lord’s words we learn that there is a limit to illness. Here is a “lead to” within which its ultimate end is restrained and beyond which it cannot go. Lazarus might pass through death, but death was not to be the conclusion of his illness. In all illness the Lord says to the waves of pain, “You may go so far, but no further.” His fixed purpose is not the destruction but the instruction of His people. Wisdom hangs up the thermometer at the furnace mouth and regulates the heat.

The limit is encouragingly comprehensive. The God of providence has limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition, and effects of all our sicknesses; each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestined, each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each sanctifying result eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes the ordaining hand of Him who numbers the hairs of our head.
This limit is wisely adjusted to our strength, to the purpose designed, and to the grace apportioned. Affliction is not haphazard—the weight of every stroke of the rod is accurately measured. He who made no mistakes in balancing the clouds and stretching out the heavens commits no errors in measuring out the ingredients that compose the medicine of souls. We cannot suffer too much nor be relieved too late.
The limit is tenderly appointed. The knife of the heavenly Surgeon never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary. “He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.”1 A mother’s heart cries, “Spare my child”; but no mother is more compassionate than our gracious God. When we consider how hardmouthed we are, it is a wonder that we are not driven with a sharper bit. The thought is full of comfort that He who has established the boundary lines of our lives has also determined the boundaries of our tribulation.

1) Lamentations 3:33

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The family reading plan for August 17, 2014 * Jeremiah 46 * Psalm 22

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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 – Pride and humility

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“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.” Proverbs 18:12

Suggested Further Reading: Romans 12:3-6

What is humility? The best definition I have ever met with is, “to think rightly of ourselves.” Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self. It is no humility for a man to think less of himself than he ought, though it might rather puzzle him to do that. Some persons, when they know they can do a thing, tell you they cannot; but you do not call that humility. A man is asked to take part in some meeting. “No,” he says, “I have no ability”; yet if you were to say so yourself, he would be offended at you. It is not humility for a man to stand up and depreciate himself and say he cannot do this, that, or the other, when he knows that he is lying. If God gives a man a talent, do you think the man does not know it? If a man has ten talents he has no right to be dishonest to his Maker, and to say, “Lord, thou hast only given me five.” It is not humility to underrate yourself. Humility is to think of yourself, if you can, as God thinks of you. It is to feel that if we have talents, God has given them to us, and let it be seen that, like freight in a vessel, they tend to sink us low. The more we have, the lower we ought to lie. Humility is not to say, “I have not this gift,” but it is to say, “I have the gift, and I must use it for my Master’s glory. I must never seek any honour for myself, for what have I that I have not received?”

For meditation: Pride can lead us to misuse God’s gifts for selfish ends. A false humility can lead to laziness and disobedience which causes someone else to have to do what we should be doing ourselves. The right balance is to serve the Lord with all humility as the apostle Paul could truthfully claim to have done (Acts 20:19).

Sermon no. 97

17 August (1856)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Becoming an Effective Minister

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“Love . . . is not arrogant” (1 Cor. 13:4).

Love is the key to effective ministry.

In 1 Corinthians 13:4 Paul says, “Love does not brag and is not arrogant.” We often equate bragging and arrogance, but in this passage there is a subtle difference. The Greek word translated “brag” emphasizes prideful speech or actions; “arrogant” emphasizes the attitude of pride motivating those actions.

The prideful attitudes of the Corinthians were evident in several areas. In 1 Corinthians 4:18-21 Paul says, “Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant, but their power. . . . What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness?” (1 Cor. 4:18- 21). Apparently, some thought they no longer needed his instruction. “After all,” they reasoned, “we’ve had the best teachers—Apollos, Peter, and even Paul himself (1 Cor. 1:12)—so what need do we have for more instruction?” The fact was, they had just enough knowledge to inflate their egos, but they were woefully ignorant of love (1 Cor. 8:1).

It was arrogance that led the Corinthian church to condone gross immorality: “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife [incest]. And you have become arrogant, and have not mourned instead, in order that the one who had done this deed might be removed from your midst” (1 Cor. 5:1- 2). They were too prideful to confront and correct that situation, so they bragged about it instead. Even pagans wouldn’t tolerate that kind of behavior!

That’s a tragic picture of people so blinded by pride that they refused to discern between good and evil. Consequently, all their spiritual activities were counterproductive. They were gifted by the Spirit and even flaunted their gifts, but lacked the love that transforms a gifted person into an effective minister.

Learn from the Corinthians’ mistakes. Never settle for mere spiritual activities. Let love motivate everything you do. Then God can honor your ministries and make them truly effective for His purposes.

Suggestions for Prayer; Ask God to make you a more effective minister and to protect you from the blindness of arrogance.

For Further Study; What do the following proverbs say about pride: Proverbs 8:13; 11:2; and 29:23?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Comfort for Mourning

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You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.—Psalm 30:11

In Isaiah 61:2 it was prophesied that the coming Messiah would “comfort all who mourn.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said those who mourn are blessed for they will be comforted (see Matthew 5:4). The comfort of God that is administered by His Holy Spirit is so awesome it is almost worth having a problem just to be able to experience it. It goes far beyond any kind of ordinary human comfort.

Let God be your source of comfort. In those times when you are hurting, just ask Him to comfort you. Then wait in His presence while He works in your heart and emotions. He will not fail you, if you will only give Him a chance to come to your aid.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Joy and Gladness

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“And the Lord will bless Israel again, and make her deserts blossom; her barren wilderness will become as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. Joy and gladness will be found there, thanksgiving and lovely songs” (Isaiah 51:3).

When the editors of a Christian publication came to Arrowhead Springs sometime ago to interview me, the discussion turned to the subject of problems in the Christian life. They were skeptical when I explained my way of handling difficult circumstances, potential sources of anxiety and frustration.

As you will note from this verse in Isaiah, thanksgiving is a spiritual way of singing to the Lord. As we sing with a thankful heart, we receive the joy of the Lord in return.

So it was that I explained to the editors: “Many years ago I learned to obey God’s command to be thankful in all things as an act of faith. And since I am assured from God’s Word that He rules in the affairs of men and nations, that He is all wise, all-powerful and compassionate and that He loves me dearly, I would be very foolish indeed to worry about my problems, cares and tribulations even for a few moments. I cast them upon the Lord as soon as they are brought to my attention.

“For example, I can list at least 25 major problems that I have given to the Lord today – some of which would crush me and destroy my effectiveness if I tried to carry them myself.”

Then I recalled an earlier week beset with illness, surgery and bereavement for loved ones and friends. “But,” I told them, “I chose to obey the Lord’s command to give them all to Him, and to retain a thankful spirit.”

Bible Reading: Ephesians 5:18-21

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will trust God’s Holy Spirit to establish a thankful spirit in my heart and life today and every day as a way of life.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.P. – Beyond Reproach

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Elizabeth bore reproach from her friends and relatives because she was barren. For many years, she endured criticism, accusations and shame, but God describes her as “walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” (Luke 1:6)

Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.

Luke 1:25

The angel revealed heady stuff about Elizabeth’s son John. “Many will rejoice at his birth…He will be great before the Lord…He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb…He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord.” (Luke 1:14-16) Yet when Mary, three months along in her pregnancy, came to visit her, Elizabeth humbly asked, “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43)

In her lifetime, Elizabeth had many reasons to be proud, bitter or depressed, but instead she walked humbly with God. The Father not only took reproach from Elizabeth – He also removes it from all who trust in Christ. Give thanks for this precious gift. Ask God to move the citizens and leaders of this country to humble themselves and pray.

DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION

Daily Archives: August 17, 2014

Charles Stanley – Surprising Opportunities

Our Daily Bread — Is Somebody Singing?

Alistair Begg – This Far and No Further

Charles Spurgeon – Pride and humility

John MacArthur – Becoming an Effective Minister

Joyce Meyer – Comfort for Mourning

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Joy and Gladness

Presidential Prayer Team; C.P. – Beyond Reproach

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