Daily Archives: March 24, 2015

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Obeying God

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Daniel 1:1-8

The story of Daniel illustrates some key elements of obedience. We see the wise young man doing what the Lord commanded, both in the right manner and with the right timing.

Daniel knew that God’s law prohibited eating food that had been offered to idols. But he was living in captivity in Babylon—a nation that worshiped false gods—and soon faced a hard decision. King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered that the choicest of foods be sent for Daniel’s meals after first being presented to idols. Was it better to obey the Lord and risk angering the king—or to disobey God and please the ruler?

On the surface, the question for Daniel was about unacceptable food. But the underlying issue was allegiance to God. He could have rationalized breaking the divine command by telling himself he was a servant and had no choice. Instead, Daniel resolved not to eat the royal food and sought a way that would honor the Lord and keep His law.

Today, many things that our world finds acceptable are outside of God’s protective boundaries for His children. Some are not good for us, while others do not honor Him. Our desire as Christians is to obey the Lord, but our fleshly side wants to please ourselves and others. It’s important to realize that obeying God is always the right choice.

To become like Daniel, we must make a wholehearted commitment to follow the Lord and consistently apply Scripture to our decision making. Then, when challenges come, we will have the courage to obey God’s commands.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Simply Trusting

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Read: Psalm 56
Bible in a Year: Joshua 16-18; Luke 2:1-24

 

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. —Psalm 56:3

When our children were young, taking them to the doctor’s office was an interesting experience. The waiting room was filled with toys they could play with and children’s magazines I would read to them. So getting that far with them was no problem. But as soon as I picked them up to carry them into the appointment, everything changed. Suddenly the fun turned into fear as the nurse approached with the needle for the needed shot. The closer she got, the tighter they hugged my neck. They would cling to me for comfort, probably hoping for rescue, not knowing that it was for their own good.

Sometimes in this fallen world we move from times of peace and tranquility into the painful realm of trouble. At that point, the question is, “How will I respond?” We can be fearful and wonder why God allowed this to happen to us, or we can trust that in the midst of this trouble He is doing something that in the end is for our best, even if it hurts. We would do well to remember the words of the psalmist who wrote, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Ps. 56:3).

Like my children, the tougher it gets, the tighter we should hug His neck. Trust Him. His love never fails! —Joe Stowell

Come quickly, Lord, to help me. Teach me to trust You in times of trouble. Remind me of Your presence and of the fact that You hold me in Your loving arms.

Cling to your heavenly Father; He is your only hope.

INSIGHT: Psalm 56 was written by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath, as stated in the superscription. One of the ironies of David’s life is that he killed the Philistine champion Goliath who was from Gath, but in fleeing from Saul he sought refuge in that same city. In both circumstances, his ultimate refuge was found in God.

 

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Mountain and a Trench

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As a young girl, one of my favorite Bible stories was the epic encounter between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. With David-meets-Goliath odds, Elijah faces off against 450 prophets of Baal in a contest pitting the God of Israel against the Canaanite god Baal. Which deity would answer the prayers of the respective prophets to consume the altar sacrifice?

This is an incident filled with dramatic tension and awesome displays of power. The Lord answers Elijah with fire from heaven that not only consumes the sacrifice, but also licks up every last drop of water poured out from not one, but four pitchers of water. The story ends with the destruction of the prophets of Baal and the peoples’ declaration that the Lord is God.

Now, as a grownup, I still love this story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, but not for the reasons I loved it as a young girl. Instead, I love what seems to be an anti-climactic postscript to the story. Despite seeing the glory and power of God on display in such dramatic fashion, and winning a great victory, Elijah falls into what could likely be called depression. Threatened by Queen Jezebel, he runs for his life into the wilderness. There, under a lone broom tree, he prays to God to take his life, not once but two times. As one commentator notes, “Those who have suffered mental anguish in their lives know all too well the depths to which Elijah has descended. He (and they) has entered the deep spots in the psychological ocean, and then has found a narrow slit in the ocean floor, a Marianas Trench of the soul, where he descends further still into the inky abyss. All he can think of is his desire to die.”(2)

Anyone reading this story might find Elijah’s descent a surprising turn of events. How could Elijah feel this way? After all, didn’t he just see God mightily answer his prayer? One might expect a God who would reproach Elijah for feeling this way, for his lack of faith, for his despair and hopelessness. And yet, the narrative offers no exhortation or chastening. Instead, an angelic messenger is touching Elijah, urging him to eat bread and water prepared for him by a heavenly servant. Indeed, the angel comes again and feeds Elijah a second time urging him to “Arise, eat for the journey is too great for you.”

Given God’s fiery display from heaven in the encounter with the prophets of Baal, the reader might expect another dramatic display from God to rouse Elijah. And indeed, as Elijah waits on Mount Horeb, the Mountain of God, he experiences a strong wind, and a mighty earthquake, and then a consuming fire; but with each of these cataclysms the narrator repeats a refrain: The Lord was not in the wind, or the earthquake or the fire. Instead, the Lord comes to Elijah in a gentle blowing. God meets Elijah at the very place of his despair, not with correction or reprimand, not with a “buck up and get going” or a “keep your chin up” but with a grace as gentle as a soft breeze.

Like Elijah, there are days when I might feel at the height of heights, assured of answers, victorious in daily battles, maybe even confident of God’s saving activity all around. But there are also days when I know my own Marianas Trench of despair or disappointment or lament. It is deeply encouraging to see that even in this place, God draws near with gentleness.

The gentleness of God on display in Elijah’s dark depression is the same God sung about in one of Israel’s ancient psalms:

“Where can I go from your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I make my bed in the nether world,

behold you are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn,

if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

even there your hand will lead me and your right hand will lay hold of me.

 

If I say, ‘surely the darkness will overwhelm me,

and the light around me will be night’

Even the darkness is not dark to you,

and the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are alike to you.”

The comforting news of Christianity is that God is not only available to us when we feel good, but makes his dwelling with us even in the darkness of despair. We often feel in our distress that we simply have to avoid the problem, to “get out” of feeling any sort of sadness. But, in fact, what is happening is that even in sorrow, even in our despair, we have the hope that we are still being drawn by the gracious arms of God into closer communion. As one author notes, “What God wants is not so much our victories, but our life in the wilderness.”(3) As the story of Elijah bears witness, even in the wilderness of despair, God will prepare a meal, provide shelter, and speak gently into all our fears.

Margaret Manning Shull is a member of the writing and speaking team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Bellingham, Washington.

(1) See 1 Kings 18-19:18.

(2) Bill Long, “Man on the Run,” June 9, 2007, http://www.drbilllong.com/LectionaryII/IKi19.html, accessed October 10, 2011.

(3) Ibid.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Heard in His Trial

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He was heard because of his reverence. Hebrews 5:7

How amazing is this reverence in light of the infernal suggestion that He was utterly forsaken. There may be sterner trials than this, but surely it is one of the worst to be utterly forsaken. “See,” said Satan, “you have a friend nowhere! Your Father has closed the door of His compassion against you. Not an angel in His courts will stretch out his hand to help you. All heaven is alienated from You; You are left alone. The companions from whom You have taken sweet counsel, what are they worth? Son of Mary, see there Your brother James, see there Your loved disciple John, and Your bold apostle Peter, how the cowards sleep when You are in Your sufferings! Look! You have no friend left in heaven or earth. All hell is against You. I have stirred up my infernal den. I have sent my letters throughout all regions summoning every prince of darkness to set upon You this night, and we will spare no arrows–we will use all our infernal might to overwhelm You; and what will You do, You solitary one?”

In the face of his cruel trial an angel appears to strengthen Him. “He was heard because of His reverence.” He was no more alone, but heaven was with Him. Perhaps this is the reason why He came three times to His disciples.

Backwards and forwards thrice He ran,

As if He sought some help from man.

He would see for Himself whether it were really true that all men had forsaken Him. He found them all asleep; but perhaps He gained some faint comfort from the thought that they were sleeping not from treachery, but from sorrow; the spirit indeed was willing, but the flesh was weak. In that dark valley He was heard because of His reverence. Jesus was heard in His deepest trial; my soul, you shall be heard also.

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

 

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11).

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God is glorified when He meets your needs.

In America, praying for our daily bread hardly seems necessary. Most people need to pray for self-control to avoid overeating! But Matthew 6:11 isn’t talking about food only. It is a statement of dependency on God and an acknowledgment that He alone provides all of life’s basic necessities.

Sad to say, however, many people today have reduced prayer to a means of self-fulfillment. Recently a woman sent me a booklet and wrote, “I don’t think you understand the true resource we have in prayer. You should read this booklet.” The booklet repeatedly emphasized our right as Christians to demand things of God. But that misses the point of prayer altogether, which is to glorify God (John 14:13). We are to give God the privilege of revealing His glory by meeting our needs in whatever way He chooses. If we demand things of Him, we are likely to become frustrated or to question Him when we don’t get what we want. That’s a serious sin!

David G. Myers, in his book The Human Puzzle (N.Y.: Harper and Row, 1978) said, “Some petitionary prayers seem not only to lack faith in the inherent goodness of God but also to elevate humankind to a position of control over God. God, the Scriptures remind us, is omniscient and omnipotent, the sovereign ruler of the universe. For Christians to pray as if God were a puppet whose strings they yank with their prayers seems not only potentially superstitious but blasphemous as well.

“When prayer is sold as a device for eliciting health, success, and other favors from a celestial vending machine, we may wonder what is really being merchandised. Is this faith or is it faith’s counterfeit, a glib caricature of true Christianity?”

Guard your prayers! Always be aware of the enormous privilege you have to approach the infinite God and receive His gracious provisions. Yet always do so with His glory as your highest goal.

Suggestions for Prayer; Read Proverbs 30:8-9. What attitude toward God do those verses convey? Is that your attitude in prayer?

For Further Study; Read Matthew 6:19-34 and James 4:3. How might you respond to someone who says Christians have the right to demand favors from God?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Higher Things

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If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. – Colossians 3:1–2

A confident woman does not live in “if only” and “what if.” The world is filled with people who feel empty and unfulfilled because they have spent their lives bemoaning what they did not have, instead of using what they do have. Don’t live in the tyranny of “if only.” If only I had more education, more money, more opportunity or someone to help me. If only I had a better start in life; if only I had not been abused; if only I were taller. If only I weren’t so tall. If only, if only, if only. . .

Where the mind goes, the man follows. Pay more attention to your thoughts and choose to think on things that will help you instead of hinder you, and God’s power will be released to help you be the confident woman God wants you to be. Think confident and you will be confident!

Lord, make me aware of where I am hanging on to old thoughts of “if only” or “what if.” Help me to focus on what will propel me forward and release Your power in me rather than what will hinder me. Amen.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – According to Your Faith

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“Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29, KJV).

A poor heathen woman, after receiving Christ as her Savior, was remarkable for her simple faith. She decided to take Him literally at His word.

A few months after her conversion her little child became ill, and recovery was doubtful. Ice was needed for the little one, but in that tropical country, away from the world’s large cities, such a thing was not to be had.

“I’m going to ask God to send ice,” the mother said to a missionary.

“Oh,” came the quick reply, “but you can’t expect that He will do that.”

“Why not?” asked the simple-hearted believer. “He has all the power, and He loves us. You told us so. I’ll ask Him, and I believe He’ll send it.”

She did ask Him, and strange things began to happen. Soon there came up a heavy thunderstorm, accompanied by hail. The woman was able to gather a large quantity of hailstones. The cold application was just what the child needed. Recovery of the sick child soon followed. In our sophistication and intellectualism we, like the missionary and most other Christians, would tend to question the audacity of such a prayer.

Faith as a little child always brings the desired answer. “According to your faith be it unto you.” And where does such faith originate? “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

Bible Reading: Matthew 9:27-31

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  If my storehouse of faith proves insufficient to enable me to live supernaturally or to believe God for a specific need, I will spend time in His Word to build up that storehouse of faith.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Moving Hearts

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Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.—Nehemiah 2:4

Did you know the Lord can move the heart of a king? Or a prime minister? Or a president? The Bible says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1).

The Bible tells the story of Nehemiah, who was cupbearer to the king of Persia. A cupbearer tasted all of the king’s food in case someone was trying to poison him. But in reality, Nehemiah was more than that. Being in such close proximity to the king, the cupbearer would end up being a counselor to the king. So the position of cupbearer became one of great influence. And someone in that situation wouldn’t have wanted to do anything to jeopardize it.

Nehemiah, however, was a Jew. He had heard about how the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins, and his heart went out to his fellow Jews. He thought that perhaps God had put him where he was to do something good for his people. Yet to approach the king and incur his disfavor could cost him his life.

As Nehemiah pondered all this, it made him sad. The king noticed this one day and asked Nehemiah why he was depressed, so Nehemiah explained what was bothering him. Then the king said, “What do you request?”

I love what happened next: “So I [Nehemiah] prayed to the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 2:4). No doubt it was one of those prayers on the fly, the kind you pray when you’re suddenly summoned to the boss’s or principal’s office. Nehemiah prayed, and the Lord moved the king’s heart.

We need to pray for those who are in authority over us. Pray that God would help them make the right decisions and guide and lead their steps.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Temple Curtain Torn

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On Calvary’s Hill, Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died. Then the curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom. What did fifteen-hundred years of a curtain-draped Holy of Holies communicate? Simple: God is holy! God IS holy—separate from us and unapproachable. Even Moses was told, “You cannot see my face because no one can see me and live.” God is holy and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us.

But Jesus hasn’t left us with an unapproachable God. 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.” When Jesus’ flesh was torn on the cross, the curtain was torn in two. With no hesitation, we are welcome into God’s presence—any day, any time. The barrier of sin is down. No more curtain!

From On Calvary’s Hill

Night Light - James & Shirley Dobson

Night Light for Couples – Is Honor Overdue?

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“Humility comes before honor.” Proverbs 15:33

Mr. Smith learned that his neighbor, Mr. Jones, had presented flowers and a gift to Mrs. Jones five nights in a row. He thought, That must be what wins a woman’s heart. So Smith went out and bought a big box of candy and a bouquet of his wife’s favorite flowers. Arriving home a little early that afternoon, he rang the doorbell. When Mrs. Smith appeared, he passionately embraced her. Suddenly she sagged and fell in a heap on the floor. “My goodness! What’s wrong?” he exclaimed. When she regained consciousness, she explained. “Oh, this has been the worst day! Our son received a terrible report card; Mother was admitted to the hospital; the roast burned; the washing machine broke. Now to top it off, you come home drunk!”

If your partner can’t even fathom the possibility that you would bring her flowers or a gift (or some similar surprise), take the hint. It’s time to work on honoring your mate!

Just between us…

  • Would you be shocked if I brought you flowers or some other gift?
  • What’s the best surprise I ever gave you?
  • What kind of thoughtful gesture would be enjoyable and honoring to you?
  • Do you prefer being surprised in front of friends or in private?

Lord, we confess that the hurly-burly pace of living often threatens to suffo- cate our relationship. Remind us to care for each other. Help us to encourage others who are struggling in their marriages. Amen.