Daily Archives: January 11, 2015

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – How does the renewing of my mind set me free?

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Romans 12:1-2

How does the Word of God teach us the truth that sets us free? The original Greek in Romans 12 helps explain the process.

The apostle Paul tells us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).

Another way of saying it is, “Stop allowing the world to shape you into its mold.” The meaning of the phrase is further deepened in the Greek. He used words that mean, “Stop assuming an outward appearance and lifestyle that is inconsistent with your inner being.”

Now that Jesus Christ lives within you, it is incompatible with your true identity to allow the world to influence you into old behaviors. You have been freed from those old thought patterns, insecurities, inadequacies, and inferiorities, and freed to become a fruitful, Spirit-filled child of God.

Paul tells us to “be transformed,” a Greek word from which the English word metamorphosis is derived. The believer is to have a metamorphosis by making his outward appearance and lifestyle consistent with who is within him and what he has become internally.

This metamorphosis comes by the renewing of our minds—when we replace old, erroneous thought patterns with the truth we find in God’s Word. And when truth becomes a part of your thinking, you become a free man or woman, a free saint, a free child of God fully apprised and confident of your position, personage, and possessions in Christ

 

Related Resources

Related Audio

How The Truth Can Set You Free

How does God renew your mind in order to set me free? (Listen to How The Truth Can Set You Free, Part 10.)

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — What’s Your Motto?

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READ: Luke 12:4-7,22-32

Do not fear . . . ; you are of more value than many sparrows. —Luke 12:7

Grug Crood, the dad of a caveman family in an animated movie, believes that there’s no safe place beyond their cave. They huddle together at night so he can protect them. He thinks his teenage daughter should give up her adventurous side because it can only lead to danger. His motto for his family is “Never not be afraid.” In other words, “Always be afraid.”

Jesus often told His followers the opposite: “Do not be afraid.” He said that to Simon when He called him to follow Him (Luke 5:10). When Jairus, a synagogue leader whose daughter was dying, came to Him, Jesus reassured him with those same words of care (8:50).

Luke 12 records Jesus telling His disciples not to be afraid when He taught them how God cared for them much more than for the sparrows (v.7). And after His resurrection, Jesus told the women who came to the tomb, “Rejoice! . . . Do not be afraid” (Matt. 28:9-10).

Fear is a universal feeling. We have concerns about loved ones, our needs, and the unknown future. How can we learn to have faith? The Lord has given us a foundation on which to build our confidence in Him: “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Heb. 13:5-6). —Anne Cetas

Father, life in this world can sometimes be scary.
Thank You for the promise that Your love and care
will never be taken away from us. When fear seems
overwhelming, help us to remember Your promises.

The love of God frees us from the prison of fear.

Bible in a year: Genesis 27-28; Matthew 8:18-34

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Soul Food

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These have no root.  Luke 8:13

 My soul, examine yourself this morning by the light of this text. You have received the Word with joy; your feelings have been stirred, and a lively impression has been made. But, remember, to receive the Word in the ear is one thing, and to receive Jesus into your very soul is quite another; superficial feeling is often joined to inward hardness of heart, and a lively impression of the Word is not always a lasting one.

In the parable, the seed in one case fell upon ground having a rocky bottom, covered over with a thin layer of earth; when the seed began to take root, its downward growth was hindered by the hard stone, and therefore it spent its strength in pushing its green shoot aloft as high as it could. But having no inward moisture derived from root nourishment, it withered away. Is this my case? Have I been making a fair show in the flesh without having a corresponding inner life? Good growth takes place upward and downward at the same time. Am I rooted in sincere fidelity and love to Jesus? If my heart remains unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may germinate for a season, but it must ultimately wither, for it cannot flourish on a rocky, unbroken, unsanctified heart.

Let me dread a godliness as rapid in growth and as lacking in endurance as Jonah’s vine; let me count the cost of being a follower of Jesus. Above all let me feel the energy of His Holy Spirit, and then I shall possess an abiding and enduring seed in my soul. If my mind remains as stubborn as it was by nature, the sun of trial will scorch, and my hard heart will help cast the heat the more terribly upon the ill-covered seed, and my religion will soon die, and my despair will be terrible.

Therefore, O heavenly Sower, plow me first, and then cast the truth into me, and let me yield a bounteous harvest.

Today’s Bible Reading

The family reading plan for January 11, 2015
* Genesis 12
* Matthew 11

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – The war of truth

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“And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.” Exodus 17:9

Suggested Further Reading: 2 Timothy 2:1-7

There are many things that should make you valiant for God and for his truth. The first thing I will bring to your remembrance is the fact, that this warfare in which you are engaged is an hereditary warfare; it is not one which you began, but it is one which has been handed to you from the moment when the blood of Abel cried aloud for vengeance. Each martyr that has died has passed the blood-red flag to the next, and he in his turn has passed it on to another. Every confessor who has been nailed to the stake to burn, has lit his candle, and handed it to another, and said, “Take care of that!” And now here is the old “sword of the Lord and of Gideon.” Remember what hands have handled the hilt; remember what arms have wielded it; remember how often it has “pierced to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow.” Will you disgrace it? There is the great banner: it has waved in many a breeze; long ere the flag of this our land was made, this flag of Christ was borne aloft. Will you stain it? Will you not hand it to your children, still unsullied, and say, “Go on, go on; we leave you the heritage of war; go on, and conquer. What your fathers did, do you again, still keep up the war, till time shall end.” I love my Bible because it is a Bible baptized with blood; I love it all the better, because it has the blood of Tyndale on it; I love it, because it has on it the blood of John Bradford, and Rowland Taylor, and Hooper; I love it, because it is stained with blood.

For meditation: The Christian faith does not change with the course of time; we are still to contend for the truth (Jude 3). The church today has no right to insult the memory of the martyrs by making friends with unbiblical teaching which they bravely opposed with their lives.

Sermon no. 112
11 January (1857)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – The Slavery That Frees

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“In [Christ] we have redemption” (Eph. 1:7).

Slavery to sin is bondage; slavery to God is freedom.

Freedom is a precious thing. People throughout history have prayed, fought, and even died for it. Our Declaration of Independence upholds it as one of our inalienable rights.

But the truth is, no matter what one’s political situation might be, everyone is a slave—either to sin or to God. Jesus said that “everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34). Paul added that all of creation is in slavery to corruption (Rom. 8:21). However, believers have “been freed from sin and enslaved to God” (Rom. 6:22).

The Roman Empire had as many as twenty million slaves; slave trade was a major industry. For a slave to gain his or her freedom, a redemption price had to be paid. The Greek word for such a transaction is lutroō, which Paul uses in Ephesians 1:7 to speak of our “redemption” from sin’s bondage.

Slavery to sin is bondage; slavery to God is freedom. That sounds paradoxical, but God is the Sovereign King, and true freedom means having the ability to bend your will to His and thereby become all He created you to be. Even though you will fail at times, your greatest desire and highest pursuit as a believer is to be like Christ (1 John 2:5-6). Those enslaved to sin cannot do that, nor do they want to.

Today you will have many opportunities to demonstrate your submission to Christ. Let your attitudes and actions speak clearly of your love for the Master.

Suggestions for Prayer; Thank the Lord that He is a faithful and just Master who always does what is best for His servants. G A self-seeking slave is a contradiction in terms. Ask the Lord to guard you from thoughts and actions that are contrary to His will.

For Further Study; According to 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 what key characteristic is required of a servant of Christ? G Read Matthew 24:42-51. How does Jesus describe a wise servant? G Read Philippians 2:5-11. How did Jesus demonstrate the heart of a servant? What implications does His example have for your life?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Which Way Will You Choose?

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Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it. But the gate is narrow (contracted by pressure) and the way is straitened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it. —Matthew 7:13-14

Here in this passage, Jesus speaks of two different ways: the broad way that leads to destruction and the narrow way that leads to life. As I was meditating on this passage, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, Joyce, on the broad way there is room for all kinds of fleshly things like bitterness and unforgiveness and resentment and vindictiveness. But on the narrow way there is only room for the Spirit.

In the flesh it is easy to take the broad path, but the end result is destruction. Emotions move us to take the easy way, to do what feels good for the moment. Wisdom moves us to take the hard way that leads to life. The question is: Which will we choose?

No matter what has happened to you in your lifetime, even if you have been abandoned by your spouse or abused by your parents or hurt by your children or others, if you’ll stay on that narrow path and leave all your excess baggage behind, sooner or later you will find the peace, joy, and fulfillment you seek.

Jesus is the Way, and He has shown us the way in which we are to walk. The Lord has sent upon us His Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in the way we are to go, the narrow way that leads to life and not the broad way that leads to destruction. We must keep walking in the ways of the Lord: And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. (Galatians 6:9)

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Love Without Limit

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“I have given them the glory You gave Me – the glorious unity of being one, as We are – I in them and You in Me, all being perfected into one – so that the world will know You sent Me and will understand that You love them as much as You love Me” (John 17:22,23).

One day, as I was reading this prayer of Jesus to God the Father, I leaped from my chair in excitement when I realized that God loves me as much as He loves His only begotten Son!

What is more, He loves us unconditionally. That means He loves us not because we are good, or worthy of His love, but simply because of who He is.

Of course, the miracle of it all is that when Jesus, who is the incarnation of God’s love, comes to live within us, that same supernatural love becomes operative within us, enabling us to love others supernaturally as well.

Agape (sacrificial, supernatural and unconditional love) is best described in the well-known and oft-quoted 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians:

“Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.”

Bible Reading: John 17:15-21

Today’s Action Point: When things go wrong today – or any day – I will choose to remember that God loves me just as much as He loves His only begotten Son! And I will tell everyone who will listen about God’s supernatural love for them.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Partnership Perils

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In the business world, a partnership is the most difficult form of organization to maintain successfully. If you are a sole proprietor, you call all the shots – success or failure is up to you. In a corporation, shareholders and a board of directors help shoulder the responsibilities and expenses. But in a partnership, you can be held fully liable for the acts or omissions of any other partner. If your partner incurs a debt, commits fraud, overpromises or under delivers, you will be equally responsible.

And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other.

Acts 15:39

The partnership of Paul and Barnabas didn’t work out. As recorded in Acts 15, they had a disagreement and went their separate ways. It’s impossible to tell from the Bible who was at fault, if anyone; but the end result was that there were two missionary journeys undertaken instead of one. Perhaps that’s what God intended.

There may be some relationships that need to be severed – graciously and biblically – in order for you to do the work that God has called you to do. It’s also possible God is preparing the way for new friends to come alongside you in your 2015 faith journey. As you pray today, ask Him to partner you with the right people.

Recommended Reading: Proverbs 18:15-21

Night Light - James & Shirley Dobson

Night Light – Love By Serving

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“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” John 13:14

Husband, we’re speaking especially to you tonight. Just as selfishness is a sure marriage killer, an attitude of service and sacrifice—the “I’m Third” philosophy—is an indisputable marriage builder. We urge you to study your wife. What is it that speaks to her heart?

Are you providing that for her? Would she appreciate help with the dishes, vacuuming, or changing the baby’s diaper? Should you be more romantic? Could you put off that weekend auto show so she can visit her sister? Maybe you’d rather go fishing on Saturday, but should you watch the kids instead so your wife can have a needed day out?

Jesus gave us a classic example of service when He washed His disciples’ feet and told them to do the same for one another. Is it time for some symbolic “foot washing” in your marriage? Women are romantic creatures. God made them that way. Have you tried to understand that tender nature and sought to meet the needs it expresses?

Here’s the personal payoff: If you as a husband will address this romantic longing, your wife, being a responder, will be drawn closer to you. You’ll get the kind of attention and admiration you hope for. Try it!

Just between us…

  • (husband) When have I done a good job of “foot washing” in our marriage?
  • (husband) Do you feel I understand your romantic nature? Why or why not?
  • (husband) Have I met your needs during the past week?
  • (husband) Dear Lord, I want to become an expert at meeting my wife’s needs.

Teach me to “wash her feet” and serve my way to a great marriage. Amen.