Monthly Archives: February 2015

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – The Joy of Sacrificial Giving

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“Saints . . . who are in Philippi” (Phil. 1:1).

As you give toward the needs of others, God will supply your needs.

Perhaps more than any other New Testament church, the Philippian church was characterized by generous, sacrificial giving. Their support for Paul extended throughout his missionary travels and was a source of great joy to him. In addition to money, they also sent Epaphroditus, a godly man who ministered to Paul during his imprisonment (Phil. 2:25-30; 4:18).

Paul was selective about accepting financial support from churches because he didn’t want to be a burden or have his motives misunderstood. First Corinthians 9:6-14 tells us he had the right to receive support from those he ministered to, but he waived that right so the gospel would not be hindered in any way. In 2 Corinthians 11:9 he says, “When I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone . . . in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.”

Similarly he wrote to the Thessalonians, “We did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we might not be a burden to any of you” (2 Thess. 3:7-9).

In contrast, Paul’s willingness to accept support from the Philippian church speaks of the special trust and affection they shared.

Apparently the Philippians’ generosity was so great, it left them with needs of their own. Paul assured them that their sacrifices were well-pleasing to God and that He would supply all their needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:18- 19).

Like the Philippians, you should be characterized by generous, sacrificial support of those who minister God’s Word to you. Faithful pastors and elders are worthy of such honor (1 Tim. 5:17- 18), and generous giving brings joy to you and to others.

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Thank God for those who faithfully minister to you.
  • Ask for wisdom in how you might best support the financial needs of your church.

For Further Study

Read 1 Corinthians 9:1-14, 2 Corinthians 9:6-14, and 1 Timothy 6:6-9.

  • What attitudes and principles are reflected in those passages?
  • How might you incorporate them into your financial practices?
Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Paraclete

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But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future]. – John 16:13

God knew you would need help in understanding His plan for you, so He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell inside you. He is your Guide, your Teacher of truth, your Comfort, and your Helper. He is also the Parakletos (Paraclete), which means counselor, advocate, and intercessor.

Jesus was confined to a body and could be only one place at a time. But He knew the Holy Spirit would be with you everywhere you go, all the time, leading and guiding you. Embrace the Holy Spirit in you, resting in the knowledge that in Him you are becoming everything God planned for you to be.

 

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Refuge for the Oppressed

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“All who are oppressed may come to Him. He is a refuge for them in their time of trouble” (Psalm 9:9).

The late evangelist Henry Moorehouse once faced a disturbing dilemma. His little paralyzed daughter greeted him as he entered the house bearing a package for his wife.

“Where is Mother?” he asked, after kissing and embracing his daughter.

“Mother is upstairs,” the girl responded.

“Well,” Moorehouse said, “I have a package for her.”

“Oh,” the girl pleaded, “let me carry the package to Mother.”

“Why, Minnie dear,” her father replied, “how can you carry the package? You can’t carry yourself.”

With a smile, the girl continued, “That is true, Papa. But you can give me the package, and I will carry the package – and you will carry me.”

Taking her up in his arms, Moorehouse carried his daughter upstairs – little Minnie and the package, too. Then he saw his own position before the Lord; he had been carrying a heavy burden in recent days, but was not God carrying Him?

In similar fashion, you and I often feel the weight of heavy burdens – sometimes forgetting that even as we carry them we are being carried by our heavenly Father, who is a “refuge for them in their time of trouble.”

Bible Reading: Psalm 9:10-14

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: As I carry my burdens today – large or small – I will recognize that my heavenly Father is carrying me, and I will pass this wonderful truth on to others who are weighted down with the loads and cares of daily living.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; G.C. – His Perfect Way

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For many baby boomers the phrase “Love Hurts” turns on the radio in their mind to that aching Nazareth hit: “Love hurts / love scars / love wounds and mars / any heart not tough or strong enough / to take a lot of pain.” For many today, loving America’s government has become painful. It’s difficult to watch those that reject God clamor for power and have success in passing laws that stifle His presence.

Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful.

Psalm 31:23

Corrie ten Boom speaks to the pain in love, recalling a conversation with her father. One day he said, “Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so it stops hurting. But then, of course, part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel…Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, Corrie, God can give us His perfect way.”

Ask the Lord to help you pray for America with a renewed heart of compassion. Expand your worship of God to include petitions for the nation’s decision makers to know and follow Him.

Recommended Reading: I Corinthians 13:1-7

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Where World History Ends

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On the same day the Lord #made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates. . .”—Genesis 15:18

What on earth is happening in the Middle East? It seems that all we hear about in the news from this region is another outburst of violence—or a threat of one.

In his address at the U.N., then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had threatened once again to eliminate Israel. Also in another speech, he spoke of some Islamic “messiah,” as well as a new world order.

As we look at the attacks on our embassies around the world, and specifically the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, it is now clear that the war on terror has not been won.

When Osama bin Laden was killed, we hoped that might be the end of it. But after Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, were murdered in Libya, there were people rioting in the streets and burning American flags. As they waited for their close-ups from the American media, they chanted together to the cameras, “Take a picture, Obama! We are all Osama!” That pretty much says it all. The message of Osama bin Laden and the terrorists appears to be alive and well.

And what about the so-called Arab Spring? What some thought might be a hopeful sign, perhaps a surge of democracy in the Middle East, has not turned out so well. So what is the explanation of all of this chaos and confusion? What in the world is happening?

The short answer is that Bible prophecy is being lived out in real time before our very eyes. The Bible has predicted the things that are happening in this part of the world. Scripture is very clear in pointing out that the end of the world will be centered in the Middle East. And it has all been foretold in the only book that accurately predicts the future: the Bible.

Thousands of years ago, Hebrew prophets predicted the Jewish people would be scattered across the earth and then later regathered. Jesus, in fact, gave a very specific prediction when He said the temple in Jerusalem that was being rebuilt by Herod at the time would not only be destroyed, but also would be dismantled, stone by stone (see Matthew 24:1).

Did that prediction reach fulfillment? Yes, it did. Because all historians agree that in A.D. 70, Titus and the Roman legions marched into Jerusalem, slaughtered thousands of Jews and dismantled the temple. Why did they dismantle it? Because there was gold in the temple, which had been burned, and they had to dismantle it to extract the melted gold. This fulfilled, to the letter, the prophecy of Christ. Also at this time, the Jews were scattered.

Fast-forward many years to the Holocaust, when Hitler sought to eradicate the Jewish people from the face of the earth. Thankfully, the United States, Great Britain, and their allies stopped the Nazi war machine. And what happened in the aftermath of the Holocaust was nothing short of amazing. The Jewish people began to return to their homeland. And on May 14, 1948, a modern miracle happened. The state of Israel was officially declared.

Here was a nation that had been dispersed for centuries, and then it was regathered. This has never happened again in history. And this was a super-sign that started the prophetic clock ticking. The people of Israel were back in their homeland again.

But there was still a problem. Israel did not have control of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem plays a key role in the end-times scenario. Although they had declared their statehood, Jordan was still controlling the old city of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and most of the historic sites. Then, the Six Day War broke out in 1967, in which Israel was attacked. No one expected her to survive. Not only did Israel survive the attack, but she won the war and gained back a lot of the things she had lost, including the old city. And for the first time in more than 2,000 years, the city of Jerusalem was under Jewish control.

Yet to this present day, Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Arab leaders worldwide insisting that Jerusalem and the entire West Bank are rightfully Palestinian territory and ultimately must be given back as a condition of peace.

Of course, I am going to side with God on this issue. God gave Jerusalem to Israel. He said to Abraham in Genesis 15:18, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates. . .” (NKJV). He gave that land to Israel, and the Israelis are not going to give up the city of Jerusalem.

The Bible predicts that the city of Jerusalem will be at the epicenter of it all, and the attention of the planet will be directed toward Israel and toward the city of Jerusalem.

Is this happening now? Yes, it is. All of this is happening just as the Bible predicted it would.

So let’s go over the chronology of events the Bible has predicted: Israel will be scattered. Has this happened? Yes. Israel will be regathered after her people are scattered. Has this happened? Again, yes. Israel will regain the city of Jerusalem. Has this happened? Yes. Israel will be isolated from the other nations of the world and basically will stand alone. Has that happened? Not quite, but it appears to be moving in that direction. Lastly, Israel will be attacked. Has that happened? Not yet, and not on the scale the Bible predicts. This is still in the future, but perhaps the near future.

Scripture specifically tells us that world history, as we know it, will culminate in this part of the world. Some people would assert that it is not important to study Bible prophecy, but I beg to differ. We must study Bible prophecy. The reason we should want to learn about the future is so we will be motivated to live rightly in the present.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – God’s Protection and Peace in Life’s Storms

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John 14:27

Emotional storms within us can be as hard to handle as external physical ones. Grief, fear, and worry can cause us to be in great turmoil.

To see us through the rough times of life, God provides His protection and peace. But protection does not mean that troubles won’t occur. Jesus allowed the disciples to experience the fear and anxiety of being in a boat on a turbulent sea. He permitted them to suffer because He had something far more important in mind. He wanted to teach them to recognize their own helplessness, His sufficiency, and their need of Him.

The peace that God provides is not dependent upon the quieting of our circumstances or the removal of external pressures. Nor does it mean the absence of conflict. The promised peace comes in three ways. First, Jesus Himself becomes our peace. Through His death, He has reconciled us to the Father, and we are no longer His enemies (Rom. 5:1). In God, we can be at rest. Second, when in right relationship with the Father, we have the ability to live at peace with our fellow man (Eph. 2:14). Through God, we have the power to choose to forgive, to keep no record of wrongs, and to show love to people who oppose us. Third, the transforming work of the Holy Spirit enables us to experience an increasing sense of inner tranquility (Phil. 4:7).

The heavenly Father will provide what we need spiritually to both endure and grow stronger in our Christian faith. What challenges do you face? Are you using what God has provided?

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – In Disguise

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Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You.  —Psalm 31:19

 

Read: Genesis 45:4-8
Bible in a Year: Exodus 39-40; Matthew 23:23-39

In the weeks after my husband survived a heart attack, we often thanked God for sparing his life. I was asked many times during the next few months how I was doing. My answer was often a simple one: “Blessed. I feel blessed.”

Blessings, however, come in different sizes and shapes. In fact, we don’t always recognize them. Even when we are doing everything we think God wants us to do, we may still experience suffering. We are sometimes surprised that God does not answer the way we want or that His timing appears to be tardy.

We see this in Joseph’s life. From a human perspective, we would think that God had forgotten all about him. For more than a decade, Joseph experienced suffering. He was tossed in a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused, unjustly put in prison. Finally, however, God’s faithfulness to him became evident to all as he was lifted up as a ruler of Egypt and saved many people from famine (Gen. 37–46). C. S. Lewis wrote: “When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.”

God had always had His hand of blessing on Joseph, as He does for all who trust Him. “Oh, how great is Your goodness” (Ps. 31:19). —Cindy Hess Kasper

Lord, You love us with an extravagant love, but so often we don’t trust You in the crisis. Help us to learn and appreciate that You have everything we need—and so much more.

True happiness is knowing that God is good.

INSIGHT: Because of severe and widespread famine, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy grain to take home to feed their families (Gen. 42–45). Though Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. It seems that from this point forward he set out to bring reconciliation to his broken family. Eventually, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers (45:4-8), forgives them, and promises to care for them (50:16-21). Joseph’s story is one of the great reconciliation stories of all time.
Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Squinting at Light

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A Christian believer in the fourth century by the name of Gregory of Nazianzen observed that it is difficult to conceive of God, but that to define God in words is an impossibility. Gregory was not implying that the impossibility of the task means that we should not try. Rather, his words mean to suggest that the subject of theology is, in fact, a Subject. That is to say, Christian theology is the precarious act of peering into the light and glory of a Person. The great councils that gathered in antiquity, the list of faithful pilgrims in the book of Hebrews, men and women in history who have dared to do the work of theology—each of them, and any of us who consider it, are squinting at the mystery of light.

But we do so because the light first shined in the darkness and gave us eyes to see. Who is God? What are God’s attributes? Is Jesus equal to God or subordinate? How do we put into words the logistics of the Trinity? These are questions at very the foundation of theology and the heart of revelation. God has made claims regarding who God is, and theology is looking at what we are to do with them. In this sense, theology is one of the most practical disciplines. It was once even called the Queen of the sciences. Peering into the light, looking at the Person of God, coming to know the one has been revealed to us, we ourselves are changed, reoriented by the one we encounter.

Despite changing centuries and theological concerns, the church affirms it is this same one who has been encountered since the beginning. The people of Israel were shown the power of God to save in Egypt and given the powerful command of the Shema: Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. *The words distinguish God as one, the one Lord beside whom there is no other. The early church professed the same Shema, the same confession of God as one, along with the encounter of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through whom they believed they saw the Father. “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,* full of grace and truth.” Adding to this encounter, the early church was also moved by God at Pentecost, where “suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” The encounter of a saving God in history, the knowledge of the glory of the God in the face of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit came together in the lives of believers in what they were eventually convicted to call the Trinity—the presence of three in one.(1)

If it were not yet clear that the work of Christian theology is uncircumscribable, any study of the Trinity will hone in this point. Of course, this is not to say that squinting at this illumined mystery is fruitless except in its capacity to blind our eyes. On the contrary, there is much here to see and consider, much that is both compelling and instructive. Though the word “Trinity” itself does not appear in Scripture, there are several places in the New Testament where Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are described as working together. Asking Jesus to show them the Father so that they could be satisfied, Philip was likely startled, but quite satisfied with the answer. Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Not long after this, Jesus promised his disciples, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you” (John 14:16-17). Similar references to such “triadic formulas” of the Trinity appear in the story of the baptism of Jesus, the Great Commission, Paul’s account of spiritual gifts to the church, his words of benediction to the Corinthians, and Peter’s description of God’s work in salvation.

It is indeed clear in the New Testament writings that there are three Persons described in the experience of the one God of the Shema and other confessions. But how are they distinct? And how are they then still one? And what is their relationship with one another? These are questions at the heart of some of the earliest theological controversies in the church, questions which led to some of the church’s earliest creeds. Building on the words of Scripture and Tertullian’s third-century use of the term “Trinity,” the fourth-century writers of the Nicene Creed described the Father as “maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible,” the Lord Jesus Christ as “the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages,” and the Holy Spirit as “the Lord, the giver of Life” who “proceeds from the Father and the Son and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.” In the fifth century, Augustine further developed the doctrine of the Trinity, helping the church to see God’s absolute unity in the Trinity. While all three members were understood as fully and equally God and identical in substance, they were likewise confessed as distinct in person.

Today, with believers past and present, Christians confess the same, experiencing each of the three persons distinctively, yet receiving one God. God is one, though three; God is unity expressed in community, and the implications of the doctrine of the Trinity are caught up in this divine picture. United with Christ we are brought into communion with the Trinity, which adds a certain and heavenly dimension to our lives; one that indeed correctly and profoundly orients us here and now to the world around us. It means humanity is at its best reflection of God when we are drawn through Christ into redemptive relationships with one another, modeling the love that has been modeled to us in the divine communion of the Trinity.

For those willing to squint along the journey to sight, illumination still begins with Light itself, God unobscured, though incomprehensible, revealed by the Spirit through the glory of the Son. There is indeed a source for all illumination. God is one; the Father who called light into existence, the Spirit who illumines, and Christ who is light of the world.

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

(1) The Shema appears in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, the Incarnation of the Word is described in John 1, and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost is recorded in Acts 2.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – How Many Prayers?

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Praying at all times.   Ephesians 6:18

 

What countless prayers we have offered from the first moment we learned to pray. Our first prayer was a prayer for ourselves; we asked that God would have mercy upon us and blot out our sin. He heard us. But when He had blotted out our sins like a cloud, then we had more prayers for ourselves. We have had to pray for sanctifying grace, for constraining and restraining grace; we have been led to crave for a fresh assurance of faith, for the comfortable application of the promise, for deliverance in the hour of temptation, for help in the line of duty, and for comfort in the day of trial. We have been compelled to go to God for our souls, as constant beggars asking for everything.

Remember, child of God, you have never been able to get anything for your soul anywhere else. All the bread your soul has eaten has come down from heaven, and all the water it has drunk has flowed from the living rock–Christ Jesus the Lord. Your soul has never grown rich in itself; it has always been dependent upon the daily provision of God; and consequently your prayers have ascended to heaven for a vast range of spiritual mercies. Your wants were innumerable, and therefore the supplies have been infinitely great, and your prayers have been as varied as the mercies have been countless.

So then have you not reason to say, “I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy”? For as your prayers have been many, so also have God’s answers been. He has heard you in the day of trouble, has strengthened you and helped you, even when you dishonored Him by trembling and doubting at His throne. Remember this, and let it fill your heart with gratitude to God, who has graciously heard your poor, weak prayers. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”1

1) Psalm 103:2

Today’s Bible Reading

The family reading plan for February 6, 2015
* Genesis 39
* Mark 9

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

Charles Spurgeon – Hypocrisy

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“Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1

Suggested Further Reading: Matthew 23:23-28

Some people I know of are like inns, which have an angel hanging outside for a sign, but they have a devil within for a landlord. There are many men of that kind; they take good care to have an excellent sign hanging out; they must be known by all men to be strictly religious; but within, which is the all-important matter, they are full of wickedness. But I have sometimes heard persons mistake this matter. They say, “Ah! well, poor man, he is a sad drunkard, certainly, but he is a very good-hearted man at bottom.” Now, as Rowland Hill used to say, that is a most astonishing thing for any man to say of another, that he was bad at top and good at bottom. When men take their fruit to market they cannot make their customers believe, if they see rotten apples at the top, that there are good ones at the bottom. A man’s outward conduct is generally a little better than his heart. Very few men sell better goods than they put in the window. Therefore, do not misunderstand me. When I say we must attend more to the inward than the outward, I would not have you leave the outward to itself. “Make clean the outside of the cup and platter”—make it as clean as you can, but take care also that the inward is made clean. Look to that first. Ask yourself such questions as these—“Have I been born again? Am I passed from darkness to light? Have I been brought out of the realms of Satan into the kingdom of God’s dear Son? Do I live by private communion near to the side of Jesus? Can I say that my heart panteth after the Lord, even as the hart does after the water-brooks?”

For meditation: A true work of God both starts on the inside and shows on the outside (Philippians 2:12-13). The Christian is one who is “inside out”; the hypocrite is only “out”.

Sermon no. 237

6 February (1859)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – The Joy of Sainthood

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“To all the saints in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:1).

Every Christian is a saint.

Many people think of saints as men and women who are especially holy or who have been canonized by an official church body. Usually only those who have been long dead and have extraordinary religious accomplishments to their credit qualify.

God, however, has a different perspective on sainthood. Paul called the Corinthian believers saints (1 Cor. 1:2) then went on for many chapters correcting their sinful practices. He called the Roman, Ephesian, and Colossian believers saints but they weren’t perfect either.

What then qualifies someone as a saint? The answer is in Philippians 1:1: “To the saints in Christ Jesus” (emphasis added). That’s the criterion. Sainthood is not reserved for the spiritually elite. It belongs to every believer because every believer is in Christ Jesus.

If you love Christ you also are a saint. That might come as a surprise to those who know you best, but it’s true nonetheless!

The hallmark of sainthood is holiness. In fact, the Greek word translated “saints” in Philippians 1:1 (hagios) literally means “holy ones.” It is used throughout the New Testament to speak of anyone or anything that represents God’s holiness: Christ as the Holy One of God, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Father, holy Scriptures, holy angels, holy brethren, and so on.

To God, you are holy and beloved in Christ (Col. 3:12). You have received a saintly calling (1 Cor. 1:2) and a saintly inheritance (Col. 1:12). You have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14), and every other spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3).

With that privilege comes the responsibility of living a holy life. That’s why Scripture admonishes you to present your body as a living and holy sacrifice (Rom. 12:1) and to live in a manner worthy of your saintly status (Eph. 5:3).

The power for godly living is the Holy Spirit, who indwells you. As you yield to Him through prayer and obedience to God’s Word, the characteristics of a true saint become increasingly evident in your life. Make that your commitment today.

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Thank God for choosing you as one of His holy ones.
  • Pray that your life will be a consistent testimony to the reality of true sainthood.

For Further Study

What are the privileges and responsibilities of saints as outlined in Psalm 34?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Make Adjustments

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Adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence). – 2 Peter 1:5

Sometimes we have to make a few adjustments in our lifestyle to follow wisdom. We may have to say no to too much activity. He¬brews 11:1 teaches that faith is the assurance of things we do not see now. But, like God, we can call “those things that be not, as though they are” (see Romans 4:17). This spiritual principle applies in the negative realm as well as in the positive realm. So we may need to make some adjustments to the things we say.

If you feel that it is hard to get up in the morning, don’t say, “I am too tired.” Get all of that weak, tired, wimpy, quitter, give-up talk out of your vocabulary. Instead, say, “Because the Lord is my strength, I can do whatever I need to do today.”

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Children of God

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“But to all who received Him, He gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust Him to save them” (John 1:12).

My wife, Vonette, had been active in the church since she was a little girl, and I assumed that she was a Christian. However, after my proposal and during our engagement, I realized she had never received Christ, though she was a very moral, religious person.

Because of the emotional involvement, I hesitated to press her to receive Christ because I was afraid she would go through the motions of receiving Him to please me, which certainly would not be pleasing to our Lord. So I asked the Lord to send someone who could introduce her to Christ. He clearly led me to call upon a dear friend, the late Dr. Henrietta Mears, who had played such a vital role in my own spiritual growth.

One day at Forest Home, a Christian conference center in California, Dr. Mears took time to talk with Vonette. “Receiving Christ,” she explained, “is simply a matter of turning your life – your will, your emotions, your intellect – completely over to Him.” With that, the great transaction took place and Vonette became a new creature in Christ.

Similarly, in India, a convert from Hinduism could neither read nor write, so he asked others to read the Bible to him. His favorite verse was John 1:12.

“I have received Him,” he said, “so I have become a son of God.”

Radiantly happy, he returned to his village.

“I have become a son of God,”he proclaimed. And his life was so transformed and his simple witness so effective that the other villagers all wanted to become “sons of God,” too.

That radiant convert led the whole village to Christ – and hundreds of others besides. A poor, illiterate, former Hindu, he realized that he had indeed become a son of God and he longed for others to become sons as well.

Bible Reading: John 1:6-11

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will make certain first of all that I have truly received Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord by faith – with the intellect, the emotions, the will. Then I will seek to be God’s instrument in helping to introduce others to Him as well.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – Added Protection

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In ancient Greece, a hoplite, or citizen-soldier, carried a shield and sword for protection. The shield was considered personal armor used to deflect any weapons of battle. These Greek soldiers carried a type of shield called an aspis. The Spartans used the aspis to create the Greek Phalanx formation, where shields were locked together to create one large barrier – providing protection for comrades on the right and left of the holder.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalm 28:7

When David wrote today’s passage, he praised the Lord for being his shield. David knew God was his personal protection. He trusted his Heavenly Father to keep him and the people of Israel safe. God sheltered David, and He will shelter you. He “is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

Praise the Lord for the many times He has kept you safe. With your song of praise, give Him thanks. Ask Him for your continued protection, and don’t forget to add in prayer for those citizens on your right and left. Finally, pray for President Obama and his family to recognize God’s protection in their own lives.

Recommended Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – God with Us

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We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.—1 John 1:3

I’ve seen a number of celebrities in person over the years, and they always seem a little smaller or different than what I expected. It’s funny how certain people actually look better in pictures than they do in real life—or look better in real life than they do in pictures. It’s strange the way the camera reads people.

Imagine the disciples walking and talking with Jesus Himself. I wonder if Jesus sometimes woke up in the morning to find all the disciples standing there staring at Him. The apostle John, who spent a lot of time with Christ, said, “We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). The phrase John used for “saw . . . with our own eyes” means “to view with attention, to contemplate, to gaze upon as a spectacle.”

John was saying, “We still see Him in our mind’s eye. We still hear the sound of His voice in our ears.” What a privilege! It’s an amazing thing to realize that God incarnate walked among us.

You might think, Oh man, I wish I could have been one of them! But John went on to say, “We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy” (verses 3–4).

John was saying, “This isn’t a privilege only for us. Yes, we walked and talked with Him, but you can know God in an intimate way as well.”

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Worry is Anti-Trust

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What would parents do without worry? It almost seems as if it’s in the job description. “Parents Wanted. Must be able to perform sleepless nights and meaningless pacing, wringing their hands and biting their nails.”

In Matthew 6:27, Jesus asked, “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” Worry has no positive side effects. In fact, it subtracts moments from your life in heart stress and rising blood pressure.

Worry is anti-trust. If you’re worried, you don’t trust something: your kids, their friends, strangers, the church, even God. Can He take care of your children? Certainly. Jesus says, “I tell you, stop being anxious and worried about your life.” Pretty blunt. Stop it! Easier said than done, huh? Worry tests your trust, so hand your children to God and let him babysit your babies when you’re not around. He’s pretty good at it!

From Max on Life

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Making Decisions God’s Way

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Psalm 119:103-105

Have you ever chosen a certain path, only to find yourself regretting that decision later? Life consists of a series of choices, some as small as what to eat for dinner, and others with eternal impact.

Facing these crossroads can seem overwhelming, but Scripture offers guidelines to give us confidence and direction. Therefore, when decisions are imminent, we should keep the following in mind:

First, God promises wisdom to His children who ask with faith (James 1:5-6). Remember, His Spirit resides within believers and is available for guidance. Too many Christians try to weigh the pros and cons themselves, and they miss out on the magnificent help from the all-knowing One.

Second, we should delve into the Bible, asking God to open our eyes to His truth and His way. The Lord promises that His Word never returns void (Isa. 55:11). And if we memorize and meditate on Scripture, He will bring the truth to our minds at the appropriate time.

Third, we are wise to be aware of our mental state as we approach decisions. The acronym “H.A.L.T.” stands for hungry, angry, lonely, and tired—four states in which we will likely make poor choices. When considering options, it is well worth waiting until a better time.

Our choices determine our direction, so consider carefully how you make decisions. Scripture is clear that we see dimly (1 Cor. 13:12); God alone views the whole picture. It is vital, therefore, to rely upon His wisdom, truth, and direction every time we select an option before us.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread  – Habits Of A Healthy Mind

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Trust in the Lord, and do good.  —Psalm 37:3

 

Read: Psalm 37:1-8
Bible in a Year: Exodus 36-38; Matthew 23:1-22

There is much said today about improving our health by developing habits of optimism, whether facing a difficult medical diagnosis or a pile of dirty laundry. Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina, says we should try activities that build joy, gratitude, love, and other positive feelings. We know, however, that more is required than a general wish for good feelings. We need a strong conviction that there is a source of joy, peace, and love upon which we can depend.

Psalm 37:1-8 gives positive actions we can take as an antidote to pessimism and discouragement. Consider these mood boosters: Trust in the Lord, do good, dwell in the land, feed on His faithfulness (v.3); delight in the Lord (v.4); commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him (v.5); rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him, do not fret (v.7); cease from anger, forsake wrath (v.8).

Because they are connected to the phrase “in the Lord,” those directives are more than wishful thinking or unrealistic suggestions. It’s because of Jesus, and in His strength, that they become possible.

Our one true source for optimism is the redemption that is in Jesus. He is our reason for hope!
—David C. McCasland

Lord, we can’t manufacture hope, and even if we tried it wouldn’t be real. Help us to find hope in You because of what Jesus has done for us. We know You are walking beside us.

When there’s bad news, our hope is the good news of Jesus.

INSIGHT: Psalm 37 is one of the many “wisdom psalms”—psalms that give instructions on how to live wisely. In this psalm, David deals with the perennial perplexity of the injustice of life—the wicked go unpunished while the righteous suffer. He tells the righteous not to fret, be envious, or be angry, for God will ultimately bring justice (vv.1-2,9-10,20,35-36,38). Instead, they are to be patient, to trust, to delight, to rest fully in God, and to continue to live godly lives (vv.3-8). For the “Lord upholds the righteous” (v.17), takes delight in them (v.23), and will not forsake them (vv.28-29).
Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Love Sought

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How do you know that God exists? How do you know that God loves you? These questions, upon the hearts of so many, have answers as real as the formative moments in your life.

As I have aged I seem to grow more and more prone to nostalgia. Many of us do this instinctively, clinging to memories past, perhaps looking backwards with the hope of seeing a purpose for our lives. When I travel to India, I make it a point to revisit time and again those significant marking points of my own life. As I recall these moments past but not forgotten, I hear the gentle voice of the God very much in the present. And God says: I was there. When on you were on your bike contemplating suicide, I was there. When you were but nine years old and your grandmother died, I arranged for her gravestone to hold in time the very verse that would lead you to conversion. I was there.

It is often in these harrowing moments—your parents’ divorce, your child’s birth, the death of a loved one—where God leaves a defining mark. There is reason you remember such moments so vividly. We have a choice to hear or to ignore, but regardless his voice cries out in our memories, I was there. God has been in our past. God is here today. God will be there in our future.

God exists, as Lewis worded it so well, in the “eternal now.” And the psalmist, always writing with feet firmly planted in time, but arms ever reaching for the eternal, beautifully explains, “Thou art God from age to age the same.” And while hindsight is often God’s means of gently revealing his presence all along, we can be comforted in the peril of the moment nonetheless. As we encounter these markers in time, our sorrow is held in the beautiful mystery of one who wept with a friend, who answered her question “Where were you?” with tears of his own. Beside Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus offered Mary a glimpse of the present love of God, though he knew a greater future. God was with you then. God is there with you now. And He loves you.

William Shakespeare once reasoned, “Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.” How do you know that God loves you? While you and I were yet wandering, Christ was wandering after us, by way of the cross. Love seeking the lost. And this sacrifice stands as the greatest marker in all time.

Ravi Zacharias is founder and chairman of the board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – The Father’s Role

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The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  1 John 4:14

It is a sweet thought that Jesus Christ did not appear without His Father’s permission, authority, consent, and assistance. He was sent by the Father, that He might be the Savior of men.

We are too apt to forget that while there are distinctions as to the persons in the Trinity, there are no distinctions of honor. We are prone to ascribe the honor of our salvation, or at least the depths of its benevolence, more to Jesus Christ than to the Father. This is a very great mistake. Yes, Jesus came, but didn’t His Father send Him? He spoke powerfully, but didn’t His Father pour grace into His lips, that He might be an able minister of the new covenant? Whoever knows the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit as they should know them never sets one before another in his love; he sees them together at Bethlehem, at Gethsemane, and on Calvary, all equally engaged in the work of salvation.

O Christian, have you put your confidence in the Man Christ Jesus? Have you placed your trust solely on Him? And are you united with Him? Then believe that you are united with the God of heaven. Since to the Man Christ Jesus you are brother and live in close fellowship, you are in this way linked with God the Eternal, and “the Ancient of days” is your Father and your friend.

Did you ever consider the depth of love in the heart of Jehovah, when God the Father equipped His Son for the great enterprise of mercy? If not, meditate today on this: The Father sent Him! Contemplate that subject. Think how Jesus works what the Father wills. In the wounds of the dying Savior view the love of the great I AM. Let every thought of Jesus be also connected with the Eternal, ever-blessed God, for “It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.”1

1) Isaiah 53:10

Today’s Bible Reading

The family reading plan for February 5, 2015
* Genesis 38
* Mark 8

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