Daily Archives: October 29, 2014

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Walking Through God’s Open Door

1 Comment

Charles Stanley

2 Corinthians 5:20-21

Man’s redemption has always been of supreme importance to God. But because of our sin, divine justice had to be satisfied—that is, sin’s penalty needed to be paid. In addition, forgiveness had to be provided for everyone guilty of sinning against the Lord. The solution was costly: To redeem mankind, the Father sacrificed His one and only Son, who died in our place. All who believe in the saving work of Jesus Christ have received incalculable blessing. They’ve been reconciled to the Lord, made part of His family, and given eternal life.

God has charged believers to spread the good news of salvation around the globe and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19). When He opens doors of service for us, we can walk through them confidently. We have His indwelling Spirit to strengthen, guide, and equip us. We will be able to carry out our assignment because of His amazing divine power (Rom. 8:11; Eph. 3:16).

So why should we ever be reluctant to do as God asks? Many times our perspective is shortsighted: Perhaps we cannot see how to add one more task to our schedule, or we allow insecurity about criticism, failure, or finances to drive our decisions. None of these things prove an obstacle for the Lord, however. He can open up windows of time, stretch our paycheck, and give us victories in ways we couldn’t imagine in our human thinking.

God is waiting for His children to accept the high calling of serving Him as ambassadors for Jesus Christ. What answer will you give Him?

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Shadowed

Leave a comment

Our Daily Bread

Jeremiah 42:1-12

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? —Psalm 27:1

Someone was shadowing me. In a darkened hallway, I turned the corner to go up a flight of stairs and was alarmed by what I saw, stopping dead in my tracks. It happened again a few days later. I came around the back of a favorite coffee shop and saw the large shape of a person coming at me. Both incidents ended with a smile, however. I’d been frightened by my own shadow!

The prophet Jeremiah talked about the difference between real and imagined fears. A group of his Jewish countrymen asked him to find out whether the Lord wanted them to stay in Jerusalem or return to Egypt for safety because they feared the king of Babylon (Jer. 42:1-3). Jeremiah told them that if they stayed and trusted God, they didn’t need to be afraid (vv.10-12). But if they returned to Egypt, the king of Babylon would find them (vv.15-16).

In a world of real dangers, God had given Israel reason to trust Him in Jerusalem. He had already rescued them from Egypt. Centuries later, the long-awaited Messiah died for us to deliver us from our own sin and fear of death. May our Almighty God show us today how to live in the security of His shadow, rather than in shadowy fears of our own making. —Mart DeHaan

Trust when your skies are darkening,

Trust when your light grows dim,

Trust when the shadows gather,

Trust and look up to Him. —Anon.

Under the protecting shadow of God’s wing, the little shadows of life lose their terror.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 18-19; 2 Timothy 3

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Between Endings and Beginnings

Leave a comment

Ravi Z

The dictionary defines the word “vacation” as “a period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, or relaxation.” Though I imagine it happens less often than not, it seems the ideal vacation would come to an end just as the life we left behind begins to seem preferable. Yet even if it is with reluctance that we let go of our last vacation day, most of us can imagine why we must. By definition, a vacation is something that must come to an end. To vacate life as we know it on a permanent basis would be called something different entirely.

Though we know that the days of a vacation or holiday are short-lived, we nevertheless enjoy them. Even as they fade away into the calendar, they are remembered (and often nostalgically). That they were few does not hinder their impact. On the contrary, a few days devoted to relaxation are made valuable because of the many that are not.

And we know this to be true of life as well—that it is fleeting, makes it all the more momentous.

The artists among us often give voice to the things we seem collectively to work at putting out of our minds, sometimes simply stating something obvious. Musician Dave Matthews admits, “There are arbitrary lines between bad and good that often don’t make a lot of sense to me. I don’t want to die, obviously, but really, the wonder of life is amplified by the fact that it ends.”(1)

Like withering grass and dwindling summers, fading flowers and holidays, life cannot escape its end. Like the seasons we live through, generations spring forth and die away. Like the vacations we take, so our days pass away into the calendar. If we refuse to look at any of these endings we live foolishly; if we look only to their ends we miss something about living.

The voice of the psalmist is not unlike the artist who sees life as it is and the importance of reckoning with the harder parts of it. “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life” (Psalm 39:4). It is a cry aware of the fleeting and even painful nature of time and the mystery of the many things that seem to heighten a sense of something richer. “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you” (39:7).

The Christian story of that hope doesn’t provide an escape from the harsh glimpse of fragility but an invitation to see that we live somewhere between fleeting dust and the mystery of the one who brought it to life. It includes the fearful but hopeful thought that gaining one’s life might somehow involve losing it, that endings though painful are often necessary, that somehow a broken body may offer the reviving bread of life itself.

When Jesus stood with the disciples staring down the very hour he came to face, he told his friends that his time with them was coming to an end. He told them that his departing would usher in the Great Comforter, that he was leaving to prepare a place for them, and that in his coming and going the world would see that he finished exactly what the Father sent him to do. He reminded them that in the ending of this season was the budding mystery of another.

The psalmist writes of the death of God’s own as ‘precious’ in the sight of the LORD. Into that difficult mystery of seemingly arbitrary lines of life and death, the self-giving love of the Father invites us to consider the precious death of the Son.

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

(1) Dave Matthews, Washington Post, August 16, 1998.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Do You See Him?

Leave a comment

Alistair Begg

But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.    Luke 24:16

The disciples ought to have known Jesus; they had heard His voice so often and gazed upon that marred face so frequently that it is incredible they did not discover Him. Yet is it not also with you? You have not seen Jesus lately. You have been to His table, and yet you have not met Him there. You are in a dark trouble this evening, and though He plainly says, “It is I, do not be afraid,” yet you cannot discern Him. Sadly, our eyes are kept from seeing Him. We know His voice, we have looked into His face, we have leaned our head upon His shoulder, and yet, though Christ is very near us, we are saying, “I wish I knew where I could find Him!”

We should know Jesus, for we have the Scriptures to reflect His image, and yet how possible it is for us to open that precious book and have no glimpse of our loving Lord! Dear child of God, are you in that state? Jesus feeds among the lilies of the Word, and you walk among those lilies, and yet you do not behold Him. He is accustomed to walking through the glades of Scripture and communing with His people, as the Father did with Adam in the cool of the day, and yet you are in the garden of Scripture but cannot see Him, although He is always there.

And why do we not see Him? This must be ascribed in our case, as in the disciples’, to unbelief. They evidently did not expect to see Jesus, and therefore they did not know Him. To a great extent in spiritual things we get what we expect from the Lord. Only faith can bring us to see Jesus. Make it your prayer, “Lord, open my eyes, that I may see my Savior present with me.” It is a blessed thing to want to see Him; but it is far better to gaze upon Him. To those who seek Him He is kind; but to those who find Him, He is dear beyond expression!

________________________________________

The family reading plan for October 29, 2014 * Hosea 2 * Psalm 119:97-120

________________________________________

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

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – A basket of summer fruit

Leave a comment

CharlesSpurgeon

“Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.” Amos 8:1,2

Suggested Further Reading: 2 Peter 3:1-10

For thousands of years the Lord came not, although sin was rampant and the darkness dense, nothing could excite the Lord to an unwise haste. Nor on the other hand did he stay beyond the proper hour; for when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, made under the law. In heaven we shall probably discover that Christ came to die for our sins precisely at the only fitting moment, that in fact redemption’s work could not have been so wisely accomplished at the gates of the garden of Eden as on Calvary; and that the reign of Herod and the Roman Caesar afforded the most fitting era for the sacrifice of the Cross. And so shall it be with regard to the second advent of our blessed Lord and Master. We are apt to say, “Why are his chariots so long in coming? Do not the virgins sleep because the bridegroom tarries, the wise as well as the foolish, have they not all slumbered and slept?” And many are the servants who say in their heart, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” and are ready therefore to beat their fellow-servants, to drink and to be drunken; but cheer your hearts, you who look for his appearing. He will not come too hastily, for why should the sun arise until darkness has had its hour? Nor will he delay his appearing one moment beyond the proper time, for should not the sun beam forth in the morning? We know and are persuaded that when he shall stand a second time upon the earth, it shall be as much the fulness of time for him to come, as it was the fulness of time when he came at first.

For meditation: We know that Christ was born at the right time (Galatians 4:4) and that he died for us at the right time (Romans 5:6). We cannot tell when he will come again, but it will be at the right time (Acts 17:31). The right time to trust in him is now (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Sermon no. 343

29 October (Preached 28 October 1860)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Reproving Sinful Conduct

1 Comment

John MacArthur

“All Scripture is . . . profitable for . . . reproof” (2 Tim. 3:16).

People who aren’t interested in holy living will avoid being exposed to sound doctrine.

Paul instructed Timothy to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2). He knew a time was coming when many people would reject sound doctrine, and “wanting to have their ears tickled, [would] accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and . . . turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths” (vv. 3-4).

That’s certainly true of our day. Many who profess to love Christ seem intolerant of His Word. Often they fall into spiritual complacency and surround themselves with teachers who tell them exactly what they want to hear. If they can’t find a comfortable message, they drift from church to church or simply abandon it altogether.

Such people have exchanged conviction for comfort, and need to examine themselves to see if they are genuine believers (2 Cor. 13:5). Their attitude toward the Word is in stark contrast to those who truly love Christ and come to the Word with an earnest desire to learn its truths and live accordingly.

But even true believers can fall into the trap of negligence and compromise. Perhaps you’ve noticed how sinning Christians often try to avoid exposure to God’s Word. Sometimes they’ll temporarily stop attending church or Bible studies. They also try to avoid other believers—especially those who will hold them accountable to what they know to be true.

But like any loving parent, God won’t allow His children to remain in sin for long without disciplining them (Heb. 12:5-11). Sooner or later they must repent and be reconciled to Him.

An important element in reconciling sinning Christians to God is the faithful prayers of other believers. God may choose to use you in that way, so always be ready to pray, and eager to restore others in a spirit of gentleness (Gal. 6:1).

Suggestions for Prayer; Do you know a Christian who is being disobedient to God’s Word? If so, ask God to bring him or her to repentance. Assure the person of your prayers and concern, and be available to be further used in the restoration process if the Lord wills.

For Further Study; What does Matthew 18:15-20 say about how to confront a sinning Christian?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Overcoming Passivity

Leave a comment

Joyce meyer

Jesus said] When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest (release, refreshment, ease); and finding none it says, I will go back to my house from which I came. And when it arrives, it finds [the place] swept and put in order and furnished and decorated. And it goes and brings other spirits, seven [of them], more evil than itself, and they enter in, settle down, and dwell there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. —Luke 11:24-26

This word from Jesus can be frightening. His purpose for the warning is not to cause us to cringe and worry about unclean spirits coming back. It’s a warning to tell us that it’s not enough to get rid of wrong thoughts-we must keep the door locked so our enemy can’t return. Not only does evil come back, but it comes back worse than before.

I once read an article about diets, and the author said that most people who diet actually lose weight-until they stop dieting. Then they regain the weight they lost and about 5 percent more. When they stop working at the problem, they not only stop losing, but they’re worse than before they started. The author went on to say that the only way to win the battle of being overweight is to make a lifestyle change by becoming aware of the danger areas and guarding ourselves against making wrong choices.

It works that way spiritually; as well. One way to keep wrong thoughts out of your mind is to keep the mind active and alert and full of right things. You can cast out the devil, but then you must remain alert, always aware of his tricks.

As I point out in my book Battlefield of the Mind, there are aggressive sins (or sins of commission) and there are passive sins (sins of omission). That is, there are things we do that hurt a relationship, such as speaking careless words. But it is just as true that we hurt relationships by the omission of kind words, those thoughtful words that express appreciation, affection, or awareness of kind deeds others have done.

When confronted, passive individuals yell, “But I didn’t do anything!” That’s exactly the point. It’s what they don’t do. Their lack of action actually invites the devil back into their lives.

That’s a strong statement, so I will say it a different way. You can win any time you take action and push away the thoughts and desires that don’t come from God. You may do this on your own through prayer, reading the Bible, or even by resisting the passivity that may be natural for you. But once you’ve been set free, that’s only the beginning. It’s not just one victory that lasts forever. It’s an ongoing battle-it’s constantly rebuking the devil.

The best, easiest, and most effective way to rebuke the devil is to fill your mind and your heart with praises to God. When you worship and praise God, you’ve slammed the door in the enemy’s face and put up a “No Trespassing” sign.

I don’t want to make it sound as if you have to fight demons every second of your life. That’s a trick of the devil himself to make you think like that. But when you fill your life with praise and positive, healthy thoughts, you can live in victory.

Please read this verse again-aloud-and hear the message of the Holy Spirit: “Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8 CEV).

Victory over passivity is just that simple: Focus your mind on the good and you will have no space left for the passive or the bad.

God, thank You for showing me the way to win over passivity and live in victory every day. In the name of Jesus, I ask You to remind me each day so that I can fill my mind and heart with only worthy thoughts. Amen.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – A Prosperous Land

Leave a comment

dr_bright

“If my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

On April 29, 1980, 500,000 men and women gathered on the Washington Mall to fast and pray and claim this promise of God.

For years, I have had a growing conviction in my heart that, because the Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading and prayer in our schools is unconstitutional, our nation has turned more and more away from God – immorality has become the “new morality”; homosexuality has become the “alternative life-style”; drug addiction and alcoholism are no longer treated as evil; even violent criminals are being declared “not guilty by reason of insanity.” The decaying of our society is evident on all sides.

One of the more alarming, documented facts is that the Soviet Union has been accelerating its production of armaments of war, including nuclear weapons. And through a massive move toward peace through disarmament and through neglect on the part of our leaders, we have allowed our military power to disintegrate to the point of vulnerability.

During the late 60’s and 70’s I genuinely believed that unless God supernaturally met with us and we repented as a nation and turned from our sin, the boast of Nikita S. Khrushchev, former head of the Soviet Union, “We will bury you!” could well come true. For this reason I agreed, along with Pat Robertson, founder and president of Christian Broadcasting Network, and John Gimenez, to cosponsor that great gathering on the Washington Mall.

As 500,000 people spent the day from early in the morning until late in the afternoon, praying, fasting and crying out to God, I sensed that God lifted my load. And, as I sat on the platform joining with my brothers and sisters from all over America, including millions who were joining us in prayer over radio and television, God lifted the burden that had been on my heart for at least fifteen years. he gave me the assurance that the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 would be fulfilled as a direct result of our gathering on that day.

Since that time, there has been no question in my mind but what God heard our prayers and laid the groundwork for a dramatic turnaround in our nation.

Bible Reading: Leviticus 23:3-12

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Claiming the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14, I will pray for God’s supernatural release of blessing and power upon this nation, that we might experience a continuous revival from each individual in the smallest community of America to our leaders in the halls of Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – Real Message

Leave a comment

ppt_seal01

Look up conspiracy theories, and you’ll find enough to make your head spin. The topics range from JFK’s assassination to global warming to the 9/11 attacks. Conspiracy, by Webster’s definition, is a secret plan by two or more people to do something harmful or illegal.

Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.

Isaiah 8:12

While there are many current theories, conspiracies aren’t a modern idea. They date back to Bible times. Today’s key passage gives good advice when it comes to considering a notion of this sort. God told Isaiah not to believe the wild ideas of the world. The Lord’s counsel continued in the next verse. “But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” (Isaiah 8:13)

Don’t get caught up in conspiracy theories or, more likely, vain arguments or even political debates that will only cause you to lose focus on your real message – “[God] loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Then pray for this nation and its leaders to seek and find real Truth. Ask God to turn all fear and reverence towards Him.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 25:1-12

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – More and More Like Him  

Leave a comment

greglaurie

We Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.—2 Corinthians 3:18

When two people have been married for a while, they start becoming like each other. This has happened with my wife and me. We know each other so well that I can start a sentence, and she can finish it. She knows what I’m thinking, even when I’m not saying it. I’m just amazed at her intuition. But I can usually read her as well. Having been married for more than three decades now, we’ve spent a long time together.

This is even more the case when we have been spending time with Jesus Christ. We become like Him, “a chip off of the ol’ Rock,” we might say. This is God’s ultimate plan for every Christian—to make us like Jesus.

We see this in the life of Peter. He was burned by the enemy’s fire when he denied the Lord. But when touched with the Spirit’s fire at Pentecost, he became the new-and-improved Peter. The same thing that happened to him can happen to you. The same power is available to every believer. That’s because when someone has been with Jesus—and by that I mean, when they spend time in the Lord’s presence and spend time growing spiritually—they will become more like Him.

Before you ever made your appearance on earth, God chose you. God knew there would come a day when you would put your faith in Him, and He chose you before you chose Him. And what is His goal for you? His goal is that you might become like Jesus.

Many of us know and can quote Romans 8:28—the verse that starts, “And we know that in all things God works for the good. . . .” But the verse that follows, Romans 8:29, is every bit as important. Here are the two verses together: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (NIV).

We are being shaped and conformed—sometimes through our hardships and trials—to be more and more like God’s Son.

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

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Pray About Everything

Leave a comment

Max Lucado

The moment you sense a problem, however large or small, take it to Christ.

“Max, if I take my problems to Jesus every time I have one, I’m going to be talking to Jesus all day long.”

Now you’re getting the point! An un-prayed for problem is an embedded thorn. It festers and infects the finger, then the hand, then the entire arm. Best to go straight to the person who has the tweezers. We can only wonder how many disasters would be averted if we would go first to Jesus?

Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers.”

Sign on at BeforeAmen.com and every day for 4 weeks, pray 4 minutes—simple, powerful prayers.  It’ll change your prayer life forever!