Daily Archives: October 4, 2014

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Guidance Toward a Fruitful Life

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Charles Stanley

Matthew 28:16-20

As believers, we long for a fruitful life that pleases the Lord. To live this way, we need a guide who will help us. Imagine having this conversation with God, and then aim to follow Him closely:

Lord, won’t You be our guide?

Yes, I am willing. As we travel, I want you to remember that I know where I am going. Every stop along the way is designed to make you into the fruitful branch you long to be. Dear one, the way may be through snow-covered mountains, over rock-strewn paths, or down into green valleys that will tempt you to linger. Will you keep your eyes on Me and follow whether it’s easy or hard?

Yes, Lord.

Then let’s begin your first lesson: You need to step where I step.

But, Lord, Your footprints are too far apart for me.

I will adjust them for you.

I know You’ll walk too fast.

I’ll never walk faster than I know you can travel.

I get tired easily.

I’ll lend you My arm when you need help.

What if I stumble?

I’ll pick you up and heal your hurts. The second lesson is this: You are to follow Me even though you cannot see Me.

Lord, how will I know where to walk?

Use My Word, the Bible. Refer to it often for direction and for reassurance that I am with You and continue to guide you.

Lord, what if I become confused?

Remember My teachings. Remember who I am and trust Me. Call out to Me, and I will answer you.

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Disposable Culture

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Our Daily Bread

Psalm 136:1-9,23-26

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. —Psalm 136:1

More than ever, we live in a disposable culture. Think for a minute about some of the things that are made to be thrown away—razors, water bottles, lighters, paper plates, plastic eating utensils. Products are used, tossed, and then replaced.

This disposable culture is also reflected in more significant ways. Many times true commitment in relationships is seen as optional. Marriages struggle to survive. Long-term employees are discharged just before retirement for cheaper options. A highly revered athlete leaves to join another team. It seems as if nothing lasts.

Our unchanging God, however, has promised that His loving mercy endures forever. In Psalm 136, the singer celebrates this wonderful promise by making statements about God’s wonder, work, and character. He then punctuates each statement about God with the phrase, “For His mercy endures forever.” Whether it is the wonder of His creation (vv.4-9), the rescue of His people (vv.10-22), or His tender care for His own (vv.23-26), we can trust Him because His mercy will never fail. In a temporary world, the permanence of God’s mercy gives us hope. We can sing with the psalmist, “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (v.1). —Bill Crowder

I sing of mercies that endure,

Forever builded firm and sure,

Of faithfulness that never dies,

Established changeless in the skies. —Psalter

God’s grace is immeasurable; His mercy inexhaustible; His peace inexpressible.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 20-22; Ephesians 6

Insight

Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote of Psalm 136, “We know not by whom this Psalm was written, but we do know that it was sung in Solomon’s temple (2 Chron. 7:3,6), and by the armies of Jehoshaphat when they sang themselves into victory in the wilderness of Tekoa. From the striking form of it we should infer that it was a popular hymn among the Lord’s ancient people. Most hymns with a solid, simple chorus become favourites with congregations, and this is sure to have been one of the best beloved.” (Treasury of David)

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – We Have an Advocate

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Alistair Begg

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  1 John 2:1

“If anyone does sin, we have an advocate.” Yes, though we sin, we have Him still. John does not say, “If anyone sins, they have forfeited their advocate,” but “we have an advocate,” even though we are sinners. All the sin that a believer ever did or can be allowed to commit cannot destroy his interest in the Lord Jesus Christ as his advocate. The name given here to our Lord is suggestive. “Jesus.” He is the kind of advocate we need, for Jesus is the name of one whose business and delight it is to save. “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”1 His sweetest name implies His success.

Next, it is “Jesus Christ”—Christos, the anointed. This shows His authority to plead. Christ has a right to plead, for He is the Father’s own appointed advocate and elected priest. If He were our choice He might fail, but if God has laid help on one who is mighty, we may safely place our trouble where God has laid His help. He is Christ, and therefore authorized; He is Christ, and therefore qualified, for the anointing has fitted Him fully for His work. He can plead in such a way as to move the heart of God and prevail. What words of tenderness, what sentences of persuasion will the anointed use when He stands up to plead for me!

One more aspect of His name remains: “Jesus Christ the righteous.” This is not only His character but His plea. It is His character, and if the Righteous One is my advocate, then my cause is good or He would not have represented it. It is His plea, for He meets the charge of unrighteousness against me by the plea that He is righteous. He declares Himself my substitute and puts His obedience to my account. My soul, you have a friend perfectly fitted to be your advocate—He cannot but succeed; leave yourself entirely in His hands.

1) Matthew 1:21

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The family reading plan for October 4, 2014 * Ezekiel 37 * Psalm 87, 88

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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 – Fear not

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CharlesSpurgeon

“Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 41:14

Suggested Further Reading: Psalm 8

Behold the heavens, the work of God’s fingers; behold the sun guided in his daily march; go ye forth at midnight, and behold the heavens, consider the stars and the moon; look upon these works of God’s hands, and if ye be men of sense and your souls are attuned to the high music of the spheres, ye will say, “What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him?” My God! When I survey the boundless fields of heaven, and see those ponderous orbs rolling therein—when I consider how vast are thy dominions—so wide that an angel’s wing might flap to all eternity and never reach a boundary—I marvel that thou shouldst look on insects so obscure as man. I have taken the microscope and seen the insect upon the leaf, and I have called him small. I will not call him so again; compared with me he is great, if I put myself into comparison with God. I am so little, that I shrink into nothingness when I behold the almightiness of Jehovah—so little, that the difference between the microscopic creature and man dwindles into nothing, when compared with the infinite chasm between God and man. Let the mind rove upon the great doctrines of the Godhead; consider the existence of God from before the foundations of the world; behold him who is, and was, and is to come, the Almighty; let the soul comprehend as much as it can of the Infinite, and grasp as much as possible of the Eternal, and I am sure if you have minds at all, they will shrink with awe. The tall archangel bows himself before his Master’s throne, and we shall cast ourselves into the lowest dust when we feel what base nothings, what insignificant specks we are, when compared with our all-adorable Creator.

For meditation: Nothing is too big for God (Proverbs 30:4); nothing is too small for God (Proverbs 30:24-28). What is man? Both weak and wicked (Proverbs 30:2,3,32). But God still cares (Proverbs 30:5).

Sermon no. 156

4 October (1857)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Why Study the Bible?

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John MacArthur

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).

The Holy Spirit protects you from false doctrine, but that doesn’t eliminate the need for diligent Bible study.

For the next few days we’ll consider several benefits of Bible study. Today we’ll address the broader question of why Bible study is necessary at all.

Perhaps you know believers who think Bible study is unnecessary. Bible reading, they say, is sufficient because we have the Holy Spirit, who teaches us all things. Often they cite 1 John 2:27 in support of their view: “As for you, the anointing [the Holy Spirit] which you received from [God] abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”

That passage, however, isn’t implying that Bible study or Bible teachers aren’t necessary. On the contrary, John was exhorting his readers to abide in what they’d already learned (v. 24) and shun only those teachers who deny Christ and try to deceive believers.

The Holy Spirit is the believer’s resident lie detector, granting discernment to shield him or her from false doctrine. Although a Christian may be temporarily confused by false teachers, ultimately he can never drift into apostasy or deny Christ. If anyone does depart from the faith, his departure is proof that he was never a true believer in the first place (v. 19).

The Spirit protects you from error, but you must fulfill your responsibility as a student of the Word. Even a man of Timothy’s spiritual stature needed to study the Word diligently and handle it accurately (2 Tim. 2:15).

I pray that the psalmist’s attitude toward Scripture will be yours as well: “O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97).

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Thank God for His precious Word.
  • Ask Him to give you a deeper love for its truths.

For Further Study

Read Titus 1:7-16 and 2 Timothy 2:2.

  • What skills must an overseer have regarding God’s Word?
  • Why are those skills necessary?
  • Do those skills apply to church leaders only? Explain.
  • Are you skilled in handling God’s Word?
Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Are You Hard of Hearing?

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Joyce meyer

I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am. I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance, —Philippians 4:11–12

We are always willing to follow the Holy Spirit into blessings, but we can get “hard of hearing” if His leading means we are not going to get what we want.

After his conversion and baptism in the Holy Spirit, Paul heard from the Spirit about some of the difficulties he would be required to endure (see Acts 9:15,16). Paul went through many difficult situations, but he was also to be blessed in his lifetime. He was privileged to write a large portion of the New Testament, under divine inspiration. He had spiritual experiences so magnificent he could not even describe them. He saw visions, received angelic visitations, and many other wonderful things. Yes, he was blessed, but He also had to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit when things weren’t so full of blessing. He heard and obeyed the voice of God whether it was convenient or inconvenient, comfortable or uncomfortable, to his advantage or not to his advantage.

In today’s verses, Paul wrote of being content whether he was enjoying blessings or facing struggles. In the following verse, he declared that he could do all things through Christ Who gave him strength. Paul had learned to draw on the strength of God that was in him. He was strengthened for good times, to enjoy them and keep a right attitude, and also for hard times, to endure them and keep the proper attitude in the midst of them, too.

The Holy Spirit leads us during good times and during difficult times. We can count on Him to speak to us, teach us, and help us—no matter what is going on in our lives.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Gives Special Abilities

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dr_bright

“Now God gives us many kinds of special abilities, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. ” (1 Corinthians 12:4).

The late Dr. William Evans, famous Bible teacher and pulpit orator, was one of the most eloquent preachers I have ever heard. He serves as an example of a person who developed his spiritual gift.

Dr. Evans shared with me how he believed as a young man that he had been called of God to be a preacher. But he spoke in a high, squeaky, English cockney accent that was not particularly pleasant to the ear and certainly not conducive to preaching the most “joyful news ever announced.”

So when young Evans told Dwight L. Moody (under whose ministry he had been influenced for Christ) about his calling to be a preacher. Moody unhesitatingly advised him, “Forget it! You don’t have the ability to speak, and no one would listen to you.”

But William Evans determined that he would become a great preacher for the glory of God. So, like Demosthenes of old, he began to practice speaking with pebbles in his mouth and to practice deep diaphragmatic breathing.

After several years, he developed a deep, resonant, bass voice – one of the most beautiful speaking voices I have ever heard. Wherever he went, congregations would pack the pews to hear him preach.

William Evans was an example of Philippians 2:13 in action. Did he have the spiritual gift of preaching? Of course he did! But it did not come to him overnight. He had to work long and hard, by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit, to develop his spiritual gift.

Philippians 2:13 reminds us that whatever God calls us to do He will enable us to do. Be assured that you do not need to depend on your own abilities to serve Him.

Bible Reading: I Corinthians 12:5-11

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Instead of spending fruitless time searching for my spiritual gifts, I will depend on the Holy Spirit to guide me, apply myself diligently to excel in whatever He leads me to do and trust God for a fruitful life and witness.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Contract Cons

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ppt_seal01

Contracts aren’t what they used to be – especially in college and professional sports. If a coach, for example, has a successful season, he will often demand that his contract be renegotiated for higher pay. On the other hand, a losing coach may find himself promptly fired even with years remaining on his agreement. These kinds of shenanigans leave most Americans with a low view of contracts.

Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.

Genesis 15:1

It’s important to understand that God’s contract – His covenant with Abraham – was infinitely more substantial than the frivolous agreements prevalent today. God promised Abraham He would make a great nation through his son Isaac. And then, in a spectacular test of faith, God told Abraham to put Isaac on the altar and sacrifice him. Why was Abraham willing to do this without fear? Because he knew God’s covenant was so absolutely unbreakable, that even if he had been ordered to follow through with the sacrifice, God would obviously raise his son from the dead.

Do you have that kind of trust in God and His Word? As you pray for America today, ask for greater faith in Him, that your life may be a fearless testimony to His truth.

Recommended Reading: Genesis 22:1-13

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – “Be All There”       

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greglaurie

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. —Psalm 90:12

It’s hard to explain when someone’s life has been cut short, dying at a relatively young age. We expected that person to live a much longer life. But who is to say that it wasn’t his or her appointed time to go? Who is to say that it wasn’t the exact length of life that God had preordained for that man or woman from the very beginning?

In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul says of King David, “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors” (Acts 13:36, NIV). David, great a man as he may have been, served God’s purpose in his own generation and then was taken off the scene.

That is why we want to make every day count. To paraphrase the words of Moses in Psalm 90:12, “Lord, help us to realize our lives can end on any day, so please show us how to use each day wisely.”

We don’t know when our day will come. We don’t know when we will have “served God’s purpose in our own generation.” When God calls you home, you’re going home! You can live on vitamin C, zinc, and echinacea. You can drink green tea, eat tofu, and avoid all the toxins you can, but when your number is up, your number is up.

On the other hand, you will be around until God is done with you. You won’t go before your time. You may or may not be the healthiest person, but you will live to the time that God has appointed for you—and worrying about it won’t extend your life for one moment.

At the same time, however, we aren’t to take foolish risks and “put the Lord to the test.” We can be assured that we are here until God is done with us. As the apostle Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). So let’s make the most of the lives God has given us. As missionary Jim Elliot once wrote, “Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”

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