Daily Archives: April 15, 2015

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Resurrection: Does It Matter?

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 Acts 2:22-24

Believing that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead is essential for Christians. Merely recognizing that He died for our sins is not enough; we must accept His resurrection in order to receive eternal life. Christ paid our debt, but His sacrifice on the cross means nothing unless He possesses power over the grave. In vanquishing evil and death, the Lord made our salvation possible.

Jesus’ resurrection proved He was able to remove sin and its penalty. Assuming Christ remained dead would mean accepting the opposite—that believers are still in sin. And the inevitable end of a sinful life is death. Consequently, a person who denies Christ’s eternal nature looks toward a void future. Bertrand Russell, a famous atheist philosopher, offered this sad description of such hopelessness: “Brief and powerless is Man’s life; on him and all his race, the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark.”

Instead of enjoying Christian liberty and anticipating a home in heaven, those who reject resurrection are slaves to the present, with no real hope or meaning in life. Career, family, and good works can offer brief pleasure but not the kind of joy that comes from knowing we are right with the Lord and working in His will.

Resurrection is not a denominational issue or a point for theological debate. Either we believe Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven or we do not. If we reject His victory over the grave, we deny ourselves a place in eternity. But if we accept the truth, we will be saved.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Too Much For Me

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Read: Matthew 26:36-46
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 27-29; Luke 13:1-22

O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. —Matthew 26:39

“God never gives us more than we can handle,” someone said to a father whose 5-year-old son had just lost his battle with cancer. These words, which were intended to encourage him, instead depressed him and caused him to wonder why he wasn’t “handling” the loss of his boy at all. The pain was so much to bear that he could hardly even breathe. He knew his grief was too much for him and that he desperately needed God to hold him tight.

The verse that some use to support the statement “God never gives us more than we can handle” is 1 Corinthians 10:13, “When you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (niv). But the context of these words is temptation, not suffering. We can choose the way out of temptation that God provides, but we can’t choose a way out of suffering.

Jesus Himself wanted a way out of His upcoming suffering when He prayed, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. . . . O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matt. 26:38-39). Yet He willingly went through this for our salvation.

When life seems too much to bear, that’s when we throw ourselves on God’s mercy, and He holds on to us. —Anne Cetas

Father, I feel vulnerable and weak. I know You are my refuge and strength, my help in trouble. I call upon Your name, Lord. Hold on to me.

With God behind you and His arms beneath you, you can face whatever lies ahead.

INSIGHT: Despite the fact that the crucifixion of Jesus was part of the divine plan for the restoration of humanity, Jesus was still apprehensive about the physical suffering He was about to endure. This fear is one of the strongest evidences of His humanity.
Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – GOD AS GARDNER

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Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? …

When the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of

God shouted for joy?

These are just two of the long list of questions asked of the ancient character Job. God’s interrogation bursts forth like thunder, breaking God’s long, unnerving silence with a clap that seems to drown out Job himself. I can read them as a harsh sting, as a silencing gavel to Job’s objections, akin to the response of an exasperated parent putting an end to the child’s inquisitive clamoring with the trump card of a louder sovereignty: Because I’m the parent, that’s why. It is God as Creator imagined something more like God as tyrant.

Our imagining of God is often a complicated collection of stories, images, memories, and emotions, some of which may well be more accurate—or heightened in our minds for whatever reason—than others. I long read God’s response to Job’s pain and questions with the sting of an angry or weary parent. It was the imagination of another that helped me ask: what if these words aren’t said angrily, but with gentle lament for the created world in the life of even one wilting soul? What if these words respond to both the vast pain of creation where it groans in need and the vast beauty of creation where it remains a wonder of good? Such questions thunder a bit differently.

A theology professor of mine who grew up farming speaks readily about the creation of the world through the landscape of gardening. I remember the first time I heard him simply read from the creation story. As he read aloud and commented on the story, it was as if I was hearing it again for the first time. Parts of it, I am certain, I had never heard before. Genesis chapter 2, the account of creation that Christians and Jews hold as sacred text, says that God planted a garden in Eden to the east. God, the gardener.

I can’t say that I have ever heard a sermon about creation as gardening, the creator as gardener. I had never considered what such an identity of God might mean to me or to the world around me. Yet here is one of the first passages in the Bible where we are introduced to who God is—and God is not a warrior or a judge or even a sovereign, but first, a gardener, a nurturer of all life, protector and planter, a designer, keeper, and pruner concerned with life’s flourishing. My own experiences with gardening bring to mind an entirely different set of emotions and dispositions than I typically consider God as having: delight in dirty hands and my own investment into the life I’ve planted, the thrill of fruit, the gentle attention to life, the compilation and cooperation with so many different factors—wind and rain, sun and predators—and the pleasure of simply being near it. “Gardens are a form of autobiography,” someone said. God as gardener, the intimate vision at creation’s beginning, can be traced throughout the Old Testament, in the psalms and in the prophets. Jesus, too, concurs: I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

Such a reading of the world’s creation and the thought of a gardener tending to me, stirs a response akin to that of the man after God’s own heart:

When I survey this vast world, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars and all that you have established, what are mortals that you are mindful of them, human beings in whatever state of despair or joy or smallness that you still care for them?

Magnificent and intimate, powerful and gentle, God as gardener, whose deepest concern is life’s flourishing, makes no clearer a case than in Easter’s undoing of death and the vicarious humanity of the resurrected Son. How fitting that the place of the tomb and resurrection is also described as a garden, and Jesus himself is mistaken as the gardener on that creative morning. The Maker of all creation, the Gardener who tends to the world, carefully continues to make things new.

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

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Has He Forsaken You?

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My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?Psalm 22:1

Here we view the Savior in the depth of His sorrows. No other place displays the griefs of Christ like this, and no other moment at Calvary is so full of agony as when His cry rends the air–“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” At this moment physical weakness was united with acute mental torture from the shame and ignominy through which He had to pass; His grief culminated in suffering the spiritual agony beyond all telling that resulted from the departure of His Father’s presence. This was the black midnight of His horror–when He descended the abyss of suffering.

No man can enter into the full meaning of these words. Some of us think at times that we could cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” There are seasons when the brightness of our Father’s smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness; but let us remember that God never really does forsake us. It is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ’s case it was a real forsaking. We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father’s love; but the real turning away of God’s face from His Son–who can calculate how deep the agony that caused Him?

In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief: In His case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from Him for a season. Poor, distressed soul who once lived in the sunshine of God’s face but now in darkness, remember that He has not really forsaken you. God in the clouds is as much our God as when He shines forth in all the beauty of His grace; but since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the suffering of the Savior have been when He exclaimed, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

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

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – The parable of the sower

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“A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:5-8

Suggested Further Reading: Colossians 1:1-10

The ground was good; not that it was good by nature, but it had been made good by grace. God had ploughed it; he had stirred it up with the plough of conviction, and there it lay in ridge and furrow as it should be. And when the Gospel was preached, the heart received it, for the man said, “That’s just the Christ I want. Mercy!” said he, “it’s just what a needy sinner requires. A refuge! God help me to fly to it, for a refuge I sorely want.” The preaching of the gospel was the vital thing which gave comfort to this disturbed and ploughed soil. Down fell the seed; it sprung up. In some cases it produced a fervency of love, a largeness of heart, a devotedness of purpose, like seed which produced a hundredfold. The man became a mighty servant for God, he spent himself and was spent. He took his place in the vanguard of Christ’s army, stood in the hottest of the battle, and did deeds of daring which few could accomplish,—the seed produced a hundredfold. It fell in another heart of like character;—the man could not do the most, still he did much. He gave himself, just as he was, up to God, and in his business he had a word to say for the business of the world to come. In his daily walk, he quietly adorned the doctrine of God his Saviour,—he brought forth sixtyfold. Then it fell on another, whose abilities and talents were but small; he could not be a star, but he would be a glow-worm; he could not do as the greatest, but he was content to do something, even though it were the least. The seed had brought forth in him tenfold, perhaps twentyfold.

For meditation: Quantity of fruit is desirable, but quality of fruit is essential—fruit that has gone mouldy is useless. The Lord Jesus Christ is looking for fruit in quantity and fruit which lasts (John 15:5,16).

Sermon no. 308
15 April (1860)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Showing Mercy

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“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matt. 5:7).

There are many ways to show mercy.

God delights in mercy, and as a believer you have the privilege of showing mercy in many ways. In the physical realm you can give money to the poor, food to the hungry, or a bed to the homeless. God has always wanted His people to be that way. Deuteronomy 15 says, “If there is a poor man with you . . . you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from [him]; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks” (vv. 7-8). Verses 12-14 instruct Israelites who release a slave to provide for the slave’s needs. That was the merciful thing to do.

In the spiritual realm you can show mercy by pitying the lost. St. Augustine said, “If I weep for that body from which the soul is departed, how should I weep for that soul from which God is departed?” (cited by Thomas Watson in The Beatitudes, p. 144). We mourn over the dead but do we mourn as much for lost souls? When Stephen was being stoned, he pitied his wretched murderers, asking God to forgive them (Acts 7:60). Jesus did the same (Luke 23:34). That should be our attitude as well.

Another way of showing mercy is to rebuke sin. Second Timothy 2:24-25 says, “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all . . . with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.” It is merciful and loving to rebuke sinners because it gives them a chance to repent and be forgiven.

Prayer is also an act of mercy, as is preaching the gospel. In fact, sharing Christ with someone is the most merciful thing you can do!

There are many more ways to be merciful, but I hope these will stimulate your thinking and encourage you to discover as many ways as possible to pass on the abundant mercy God has shown to you.

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Thank God for the mercies you have received from others.
  • Take advantage of every opportunity to minister to others.

For Further Study

Determine who receives mercy according to the following verses: Matthew 6:14; Titus 3:5-6; Hebrews 4:14-16; James 2:13; and 1 Peter 2:9-10.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Lord Is My Rock

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The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower. Psalm 18:2

Why do you think Jesus is referred to as “the Rock”? Because He is stable and never-changing, just like a rock. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever—and we’re supposed to imitate Him.

Waiting to see how you feel each day is never a good idea. Has anyone ever invited you to do something and you responded, “Let me wait and see how I feel”? That just gives the devil room to make sure you don’t feel like doing what you need to do or what can benefit you. We will sometimes have unpleasant times, but we don’t have to live by our feelings; we can choose to stand firm and be stable when we find our strength in the One Who never changes.

Power Thought: In Christ, I am strong and stable

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – His Rich Storehouse 

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“However, Christ has given each of us special abilities – whatever He wants us to have out of His rich storehouse of gifts” (Ephesians 4:7).

Roger and Len read a popular book on spiritual gifts. Instead of being blessed, they were distressed. They came for counsel.

“What is our gift?” they pleaded, as though I had the ability to immediately discern God’s supernatural provision for them.

“First of all,” I explained, “you should not be exercised over the undue emphasis on gifts, which has been of somewhat recent origin. For centuries, until recent times, men did not make a great deal of that particular emphasis in the Word of God.

“The emphasis was on the authority of the Scripture, the lordship of Christ, the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Great servants of God were mightily used as preachers, missionaries, teachers and godly laymen, without ever being made particularly aware that spiritual gifts were something that needed to be emphasized. The feeling was, ‘Whatever God calls me to do, He will enable me to do, if I am willing to surrender my will to Christ, study the Word of God, obey the leading of the Holy Spirit, work hard and trust God to guide me.'”

I gave them my own testimony of how, though I had been a Christian for more than 30 years and God had graciously used my life in many ways – sometimes my preaching, other times my teaching or administrative gifts, or in the area of helps – I quite honestly did not know my spiritual gift nor did I seek to “discover” my gift. I was very content to know, with the apostle Paul, that I could do all things through Christ who strengthened me, who keeps pouring His power into me. I showed them a quotation from a book on gifts, in which a famous Christian leader declared that for 25 years he had believed he had a particular gift but recently had cause to question whether he possessed it, and concluded finally that he did not.

My word to you, then, as to Roger and Len, is not to be distressed if you do not know your gift. Simply continue to walk in faith and obedience, make Christ the Lord of every part of your life, be sure you are filled with the Spirit, and hide the Word of God in your heart daily.

Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:1-6

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  For the rest of my life I shall seek the Giver and not the gift, depending upon Him to give me the necessary wisdom and ability and whatever else is needed to accomplish the task which He has called me to do. I shall share this concept with other Christians who are confused over the matter of spiritual gifts.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; A.W. – Cloudy Days

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On April 5, NBC launched a miniseries entitled “A.D.” a follow up to the “The Bible” produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett. It was reported during filming that while the actors were depicting a scene from Acts, they noticed clouds in the sky formed in the perfect shape of a cross. Downey said they felt it was a sign and a blessing over the work they were doing to bring the Bible to the screen.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.

Revelation 1:7

Clouds are mentioned often in the Bible. A cloud guided the Israelites through the wilderness (Exodus 40:36). God spoke from a cloud to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24:16) and to the select witnesses at the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:5). Jesus ascended to Heaven after His resurrection in a cloud (Acts 1:9). Today’s verse tells how Christ will return – on clouds of glory.

How many will be ready for His return? Pray today for the nation’s citizens and leaders to trust Christ as their Savior. Ask, too, for revival…so that all may hear of and prepare for His coming.

Recommended Reading: Mark 13:4-13, 24-27

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – How’s Your Service?

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“I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” —Acts 20:35

Some believers have known the Lord for years, yet they think it is all about everyone catering to them. But my question is this: When are they going to grow up and start serving other people?

Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive (see Acts 20:35). In fact, a sign of spiritual growth is that you want to serve—not be served.

I will let you in on a little secret: I have found that as I give, God blesses and replenishes me. As I give, He gives to me. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. . . . For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

If we go through life thinking, I need this or I want that, we will never quite have enough. That is why we need to learn the joy of giving and the joy of serving. The church isn’t a place where we simply have our needs met; it’s a place where we help to meet the needs of others.

The church is also a place where we discover our spiritual gifts. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men’ ” (verses 7–8). God wants to give you (or has given you) spiritual gifts—gifts to use for His glory.

I think we need to start saying, “How can I help? What can I do? I want to be serving the Lord in some way, shape, or form.” That is a mark of spiritual maturity.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Let God Have You

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How long has it been since you let God have you? I mean really have you? How long since you gave him a portion of undiluted, uninterrupted time listening for his voice?

Apparently, Jesus did. He made a deliberate effort to spend time with God. Spend much time reading about the listening life of Jesus and a distinct pattern emerges. He spent regular time with God, praying and listening. Mark 1:35 says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Luke tells us, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Let me ask the obvious. If Jesus, the Son of God, the sinless Savior of humankind, thought it worthwhile to clear his calendar to pray, wouldn’t we be wise to do the same?

From Just Like Jesus

Encouragement for Today

Encouragement for Today – The Danger of an Empty Heart by Lynn Cowell.

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“You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” Psalm 145:16 (NIV)

I’ve come to the realization that every choice I make is actually a trade.

Some trades are good. On the days I trade a half hour of sleep for extra time with Jesus in God’s Word … that’s a great trade. The time I chose to keep dusting as my daughter shared her heart with me … that was a horrible trade. Taking care of my body or indulging in a little more dessert? It’s all about what trade I will make.

There’s a guy in the Bible, not much different than me, who also made a trade. His name was Esau, and the story of his dealings are found in Genesis 25.

Esau was the twin brother of Jacob. Esau, like me, was an outdoorsy type. Jacob, unlike me, liked to hang out in the kitchen.

One day, after being out in the open country, Esau returned home exhausted and famished to find Jacob cooking some stew. He said, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew!” (Genesis 25:30, NIV).

Jacob, being the conniving type, saw an opportunity to play let’s-make-a-deal with his older brother. He made a proposition, “First, sell me your birthright”(Genesis 25:31, NIV).

According to Jewish tradition, fathers gave the birthright to the firstborn son. The eldest would receive the title of the family name (maybe something like the way royalty passes on the family title) and a double portion of his father’s inheritance.

Maybe Esau thought Jacob’s proposition was a lighthearted toss, so he threw back an exaggerated, sarcastic response: “Look, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?” (Genesis 25:32, NIV)

That’s all it took. He swore an oath and got his bowl of stew.

Some trade.

When I first read this account I thought: Really? Give away all of your rights for a bowl of stew?

What would possess Esau to make such an uneven exchange?

Take a closer look at the word describing Esau’s condition: famished. Extremely hungry, starving, empty, hollow. I think Esau’s condition had a lot to do with his decision. Past the point of being hungry, he was empty.

Hollow.

If Esau would have grabbed a snack while waiting for the meal preparation, he could have been sated until all was ready. The temptation to give up the best of later for the quick fix of now wouldn’t have had such a tantalizing pull.

Esau and I are a lot alike. When I’m “hungry” — whether that looks like loneliness, fear or tiredness — I can make some unwise decisions. When my heart is empty, I can make an unequal trade out of desperation. In this condition, I am tempted to:

Make quick decisions
Speed had everything to do with Esau’s choice. He wanted his problem fixed now! It wasn’t hard for Jacob to manipulate a man who wouldn’t wait.

Exaggerate my condition
Esau told his brother he was about to die. Someone who has been out in the open country all day doesn’t seem to be at death’s door.

Make unwise decisions
Esau gave up the best of what he had for a bowl of stew.

What’s the trade you’re facing? Does it have to do with how you spend your time, invest in relationships, or take care of yourself? Maybe you find yourself trading intimacy with your husband for a romance novel? Sacrificing financial freedom for “having it all”? Bypassing time with your kids for the project at work? The trade presents itself in many different ways.

Today’s key verse in Psalm 145:16 tells us, “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” Jesus will satisfy our hungers and allow us to see the truth of the trade if we turn to Him. Then, we can see the exchange for what it is.

What trades are you tempted to make today? Let’s learn from Esau. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is worth the trade if it means giving up God’s very best.

Father, I think often I am unaware that I am making a trade. Open my eyes to see the temptation for what it is and empower me by Your Holy Spirit to make the right choices for Your honor and glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Psalm 90:14, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” (NIV)

Isaiah 58:11, “The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” (NIV)

RELATED RESOURCES:
Do you know a young woman making some unhealthy trades? Magnetic: Becoming the Girl He Wants by Lynn Cowell can help her learn to make wise choices.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
What are some of the trades, good or bad, that you make on a regular basis?

Take a moment to ask the Lord to help you see these choices and give you the strength to make the best trades in the week ahead.

Night Light - James & Shirley Dobson

Night Light for Couples – Your Father’s Arms

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“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father… encourage your hearts and strengthen you.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17

A talented young athlete, the son of a star baseball player, was struggling in the minor leagues and expected to be released any day. During one game, he came to bat having already struck out once and quickly rang up two more strikes. Then the catcher trotted away for a conference with the pitcher. The umpire, standing behind the plate, spoke to the young man. “You hold the bat just the way your dad held it,” he said. “I can see his genes in you. You have your father’s arms.” On the next pitch, the young man knocked the ball out of the park. His play improved remarkably, and soon he was called up to the major leagues. When asked what changed his game, the young man gave credit to the umpire’s words. “After that,” he explained, “whenever I swung the bat, I just imagined that I was using Dad’s arms instead of my own.”

In your ministry of encouragement in your marriage, remember to use your Father’s arms. Maybe you recall the biblical example of Barnabas, whose name means “son of encouragement.” The Bible says he was “full of the Holy Spirit and faith” (Acts 11:24), and his gift was invaluable in helping the apostle Paul lead others to Christ during their missionary journeys.

Do you sometimes feel inadequate to help others? God Himself is ready to encourage you—and to bless you with His strength to encourage those you love.

Just between us…

  • What’s your favorite form of encouragement?
  • In what ways do I encourage you without words?
  • How can we best tap into God’s resources to encourage each other?

Almighty God, thank You for Your gifts of encouragement and comfort to us. Help us to draw on Your strength as we encourage one another. Amen.

From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson