Monthly Archives: August 2015

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – Purpose Precedence

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The United States military is known for teaching young and often stubborn men and women to obey orders without question. The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are renowned for their development of strong individuals who will follow commands in the heat of battle to defend their country.

Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:38

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was not an Army soldier in training, but her adherence to follow God’s will in doing the impossible could rival the spirit of even the toughest of the Special Forces. When the angel told Mary a virgin birth was possible with God, Mary didn’t question or say, “I can’t do this.” She simply told the Lord she was His vessel and to “let it be.”

When God reveals His will to you, how often do you follow without question? May all Christians in this nation be as obedient and willing as the mother of Jesus. When you allow His purposes precedence over your own, great things are accomplished. Ask God to develop a willing spirit within you. Pray, too, for America’s leaders to recognize the will of God and develop a desire to follow Him.

Recommended Reading: Luke 1:46-55

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Your Spiritual Impact

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And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.—Jonah 1:7

One man or woman outside the will of God can be a menace to themselves and to everyone else. A case in point: Jonah. The Lord had told Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh, and Jonah said no. Then he boarded a boat going in the opposite direction. A storm came, and the boat was shaking and tossing back and forth in the sea. Everyone was affected because of Jonah, and they figured out that he was the problem. He told the men, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me” (Jonah 1:12). So off Jonah went, and the storm stopped.

One man, in his disobedience, affected all those other people. Think of the husband who is not being the man God has called him to be. He is not being the spiritual leader of the family. In so many Christian homes, the wife is the spiritual leader, and the husband kind of goes along for the ride. How wonderful it is when a husband recognizes that he is to lead spiritually.

I read about a study in which researchers found that if both parents attend church regularly, 33 percent of their children will become regular churchgoers, while 41 percent will be irregular churchgoers. And interestingly, even if a father attends church regularly and a mother does not, 38 percent of their children will become regular churchgoers.

Think of the impact parents have on their children. They are passing that legacy on. When parents say, “We are going to church” or “We are going to go to a midweek study,” what a great example it is for their kids.

Think of the spiritual impact you are having on others.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Doing What Comes Naturally

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My child’s feelings are hurt. I tell her she’s special. My child is afraid. I won’t go to sleep until she is secure. I’m not a hero. I’m a parent. When a child hurts, a parent does what comes naturally. He helps. As a father, I can tell you those moments are the sweetest in my day. They come naturally. They come willingly. They come joyfully.

If I know that one of the privileges of a father is to comfort a child, then why am I so reluctant to let my heavenly Father comfort me? Do I think he was just being poetic when he asked if the birds of the air and the grass of the field have a worry? And if they don’t, do I think God will? Why don’t I let my Father do for me what I’m more than willing to do for my children? Good question.

From The Applause of Heaven

Night Light - James & Shirley Dobson

Night Light for Couples – That’s the Way I Feel About You

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by Nancy Jo Sullivan

One hot July morning, I awoke to the clicks of a broken fan blowing humid air across my face. The well‐used fan had seen better days. It had only one setting, and its blades were worn and bent. It needed repair. So, I thought, did my life.

Earlier that year Sarah, our Down’s syndrome daughter, had undergone heart surgery. That was behind us, but now we faced mounting medical bills that insurance wouldn’t cover. On top of that, my husband’s job would be eliminated in just weeks, and losing our home seemed inevitable.

As I closed my eyes to try to put together a morning prayer, I felt a small hand nudge my arm. “Mommy,” Sarah said, “I g‐g‐got r‐r‐ready for v‐v‐vacation B‐B‐Bible school all by myself!”

Next to the bed stood five‐year‐old Sarah, her eyes twinkling through thick, pink‐framed glasses. Beaming, she turned both palms up and exclaimed, “Ta‐dah!”

Her red‐checked, seersucker shorts were on backward, with the drawstring stuck in the side waistband. A J. C. Penney price tag hung from a new, green polka‐dot top. It was inside out. She had chosen one red and one green winter sock to go with the outfit. Her tennis shoes were on the wrong feet, and she wore a baseball cap with the visor and emblem turned backward.

“I‐I‐I packed a b‐b‐backpack, t‐t‐too!” she stuttered while unzipping her bag so I could see what was inside. Curious, I peered in at the treasures she had so carefully packed: five Lego blocks, an unopened box of paper clips, a fork, a naked Cabbage Patch doll, three jigsaw puzzle pieces, and a crib sheet from the linen closet.

Gently lifting her chin until our eyes met, I said very slowly, “You look beautiful!”

“Thank y‐y‐you.” Sarah smiled as she began to twirl around like a ballerina.

Just then the living room clock chimed eight, which meant I had forty‐five minutes to get Sarah, a toddler, and a baby out the door. As I hurried to feed the kids while rocking a crying infant, the morning minutes dissolved into urgent seconds. I knew I was not going to have time to change Sarah’s outfit.

Buckling each child into a car seat, I tried to reason with Sarah. “Honey, I don’t think you’ll be needing your backpack for vacation Bible school. Why don’t you let me keep it in the car for you.”

“No‐o‐o‐o. I n‐n‐need it!”

I finally surrendered, telling myself her self‐esteem was more important than what people might think of her knapsack full of useless stuff. When we got to church, I attempted to redo Sarah’s outfit with one hand while I held my baby in the other. But Sarah pulled away, reminding me of my early morning words, “No‐o‐o‐o… I l‐l‐look beautiful!” Overhearing our conversation, a young teacher joined us. “You do look beautiful!” the woman told Sarah. Then she took Sarah’s hand and said to me, “You can pick up Sarah at 11:30. We’ll take good care of her.”

As I watched them walk away, I knew Sarah was in good hands. While Sarah was in school, I took the other two children and ran errands. As I dropped late payments into the mailbox and shopped with coupons at the grocery store, my thoughts raced with anxiety and disjointed prayer. What did the future hold? How would we provide for our three small children? Would we lose our home? Does God really care about us? I got back to the church a few minutes early. A door to the sun‐filled chapel had been propped open, and I could see the children seated inside in a semicircle listening to a Bible story.

Sarah, sitting with her back to me, was still clutching the canvas straps that secured her backpack. Her baseball cap, shorts, and shirt were still on backwards and inside out.

As I watched her, one simple thought came to mind: “I sure do love her.”

As I stood there, I heard that still, comforting voice that I have come to understand is God’s: “That’s the way I feel about you.”

I closed my eyes and imagined my Creator looking at me from a distance: my life so much like Sarah’s outfit—backward, unmatched, mixed up.

“Why are you holding that useless ‘backpack’ full of anxiety, doubt, and fear?” I could imagine God saying to me. “Let Me carry it.”

That night as I once again turned on our crippled fan, I felt a renewed sense of hope. Sarah had reminded me that God’s presence remains even when life needs repair. I might not have the answers to all my problems—but I would always be able to count on Him to help carry the load.

Looking ahead…

Thanks to her five‐year‐old daughter, Nancy Jo Sullivan rediscovered the reality of God’s all‐powerful presence. Many never understand that He is in our midst, ready to love us and pick up our backpacks full of troubles and fears. These people doubt, neglect to ask for His help, or fail to see how the Lord provides in their time of need. But He is there—the Unfailing Presence—always watching, always ready to share in our strife and lovingly guide us, no matter how difficult our circumstances.

When hardship and crises strike, you may be tempted to feel that God has let you down or no longer cares. Resist this thinking! Even when His solution is not the one you seek, be assured that it is just what you need for the trials you face.

We’ll spend this week talking about the trustworthiness of the Lord. Sooner or later in every Christian marriage, it’s a truth that matters more than life itself!

– James C Dobson

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

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis Daily – Today’s Reading

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TO MARY WILLIS SHELBURNE: On the need to cry; on the need to remember God’s past mercies; on the suitability of his Ransom trilogy, especially That Hideous Strength, for children; and on the kinds of snobbery. Lewis asks if he may dedicate The Magician’s Nephew to her friends.

22 February 1954

I am very sorry indeed to hear that anxieties again assail you. (By the way, don’t ‘weep inwardly’ and get a sore throat. If you must weep, weep: a good honest howl! I suspect we—and especially, my sex—don’t cry enough nowadays. Aeneas and Hector and Beowulf and Roland and Lancelot blubbered like school-girls, so why shouldn’t we?) You were wonderfully supported in your worries last time: I shall indeed pray that it may be so again.

Would the Kilmer family like to have the next story but one dedicated to them? Let me know: the site is still vacant.

I didn’t object to the family reading the trilogy on the ground that it would be too difficult—that would do no harm—but because in the last one there is so much evil, in a form not, I think, suitable for their age, and many specifically sexual problems which it would do them no good to think of at present. I daresay the Silent Planet is alright: Perelandra, little less so: T.H.S. most unsuitable.

I don’t think that an appreciation of ancient and noble blood is ‘snobbery’ at all. What is snobbery is a greedy desire to know those who have it, or a mean desire to flatter them, or a conceited desire to boast of their acquaintance. I think it quite legitimate to feel that such things give an added interest to a person who is nice on other grounds, just as a hotel which was nice on other grounds would have an added charm for me if it was also a building with ‘historic interest’.

I write in great haste—I can’t, like you, do it in working hours! But you’re nothing to [Charles] Lamb: as far as I can make out all his letters, which now fill two volumes, were written in the office. Happy days those.

Well I hope I shall have better news in your next. God bless you.

From The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume III

Compiled in Yours, Jack

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Hindrances to Prayer

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Ephesians 3:14-21

When you pray, are you confident that God is listening and will answer? Or do you, like many other believers, feel doubtful that your words are even heard?

Let’s consider some obstacles to a healthy prayer life. First, poor concentration can inhibit our communication with the Lord. Human minds are prone to wander, and it is common for our thoughts to drift from prayer to other topics. One antidote for this is to realize with whom we are speaking. The more we grasp God’s power, love, omniscience, and holiness, the easier it will be for us stay focused.

Second, we may feel unworthy to talk with the God of all creation. Guilt over sin in our life can tempt us to avoid time alone with Him, but He wants us to bring our wrongs into His light. On our own, we will never be worthy to be in the presence of pure perfection. But Jesus’ death and resurrection brought us forgiveness and acceptance, so we can come to the Father without fear or embarrassment.

Third, fear can stand in our way. Some people worry, What if I don’t pray correctly? The truth is, none of us knows how to pray in a manner worthy of a holy God. That’s why the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf. The Lord desires our hearts, not perfect words.

The Lord has made Himself available to us through prayer. Do you realize that the most powerful tool and greatest privilege is accessible to us? We can come before almighty God in prayer. Our heavenly Father is waiting to listen to our praise, confession, and requests.

Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 37-40

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Who Is My Neighbor?

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Read: Luke 10:30-37

Bible in a Year: Psalms 105-106; 1 Corinthians 3

Go and do likewise. —Luke 10:37

Mary enjoyed her midweek church group meeting when she and several friends gathered to pray, worship, and discuss questions from the previous week’s sermon. This week they were going to talk about the difference between “going” to church and “being” the church in a hurting world. She was looking forward to seeing her friends and having a lively discussion.

As she picked up her car keys, the doorbell rang. “I’m so sorry to bother you,” said her neighbor Sue, “but are you free this morning?” Mary was about to say that she was going out when Sue continued, “I have to take my car to the repair shop. Normally I would walk or cycle home, but I’ve hurt my back and can’t do either at the moment.” Mary hesitated for a heartbeat and then smiled. “Of course,” she said.

Mary knew her neighbor only by sight. But as she drove her home, she learned about Sue’s husband’s battle with dementia and the utter exhaustion that being a caregiver can bring with it. She listened, sympathized, and promised to pray. She offered to help in any way she could.

Mary didn’t get to church that morning to talk about sharing her faith. Instead she took a little bit of Jesus’ love to her neighbor who was in a difficult situation. —Marion Stroud

Lord, help me to be ready at any time to be Your hands and feet to those in need.

Faith is seen in our actions.

INSIGHT: Samaritans lived in the territory between Galilee (to the north) and Judea (to the south). Historically, they were Jews who, when conquered by the Assyrians, intermarried with their conquerors and lost their ethnic purity as Jews. For this reason Samaritans were despised by Jews who would not even travel through Samaria, choosing instead to travel around that land. This makes it stunning that Jesus would choose a hated Samaritan as the hero of this parable and an example of one who was a neighbor. Bill Crowder

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Alienation and Embrace

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Vincenzo Ricardo. If that name does not mean much to you, you are not alone. It does not seem to have meant much to anyone else except, perhaps, him who bore it. In fact it was not even his name. His real name was Vincenzo Riccardi, and nobody seemed to get it right after the sensational discovery of his mummified body in Southampton, New York. He had been dead for 13 months, but his television was still on, and his body was propped up in a chair in front of it.(1) The television was his only companion, and though it had much to tell him, it did not care whether he lived or died.

Riccardi’s story raises many unsettling questions. How can a human being vanish for over a year and not be missed by anyone? Where was his family? What about his relatives? Why was the power still on in his house? Whatever the answers are to these and other questions, one thing is clear: Riccardi was a lonely individual whose life can be summed up in one word, alienation. You see, Riccardi was blind, so he never really watched television; he needed this virtual reality to feed his need for real companionship. Moreover, his frequent “outbursts and paranoid behavior” may have played a role in driving people away from him.(2)

This is indeed a tragic and extreme tale, but it makes a powerful statement about how cold and lonely life can be for millions across the globe. Even those who seem to have all of their ducks in a row are not immune to the pangs of loneliness and alienation. The Christian story attests that alienation affects us at three different levels. We are alienated from ourselves, from others, and most significantly, we are alienated from God. That is the reality in which we exist. The restoration process involves all three dimensions, but it begins with a proper relationship with God. We cannot get along with ourselves or with others until we are properly related to God. The good news of the Christian gospel is that abundant restoration is available to all who want it.

This process is well illustrated in an encounter Jesus had with another deeply wounded man who lived in a cemetery. Relatives, and perhaps friends, had tried unsuccessfully to bind him with iron chains to keep him home. He preferred to live among the tombs (alienation from others), cutting himself with stones, his identity concealed in his new name—”Legion” (alienation from self). His mind and body were hopelessly enslaved by Satan’s agents, and his life was no longer his own (alienation from God). It took an encounter with Jesus for the man to be fully restored, “dressed and in his right mind” (Mark 5:15). Only then could he follow Jesus’s command to go back to his family and tell them what God had done for him.

The restoration process remains the same today. Until we are properly related to God, our true identity and potential will always elude us. No virtual reality or gadget can even begin to address the problem, for they only give back to us what we have put into them. They are like the message in a bottle which a castaway on a remote island excitedly received, only to realize that it was a cry for help that he himself had sent out months before. As Augustine prayed, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.” We are finite creatures, created for a relationship with an Infinite Being, and no finite substitute can ever meet our deepest needs. Trying to meet our real needs without Christ is like trying to satisfy our thirst with salty water: the more we drink, the thirstier we become. This is a sure path to various sorts of addictions.

But when we turn toward the Bread of Life who offers himself up, calling each one of us to the table by name, loneliness is countered with the hope of embrace. We become members of God’s extended family. With Abraham, we look “forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). Day by day, we learn to trust God as we travel with others along a heavily trodden path that never disappoints. Friends and relatives may desert us, but we are never alone. We may grieve and lament, but never like those without hope. We have peace and joy within, and even in our own hour of need, others can still find their way to God through us. The alternative is a crippling sense of isolation and alienation within a worldly system whose offerings, however sophisticated and well-intentioned, can never arouse us from spiritual death.

J.M. Njoroge is a member of the speaking team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Erika Hayasaki, “He Died in Vast Isolation,” LA Times, March 31, 2007.

(2) Ibid.

 

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – David, The Psalmist

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The sweet psalmist of Israel. 2 Samuel 23:1

Among all the saints whose lives are recorded in Holy Scripture, David possesses an experience of the most striking, varied, and instructive character. In his history we meet with trials and temptations that are not found, as a whole, in other saints of ancient times, and as a result he provides us with a shadowy picture of our Lord. David knew the trials of all ranks and conditions of men. Kings have their troubles, and David wore a crown. The peasant has his cares, and David handled a shepherd’s crook. The wanderer has many hardships, and David hid in the caves of Engedi. The captain has his difficulties, and David found the sons of Zeruiah too hard for him.

The psalmist also faced trials from his friends; his counselor Ahithophel forsook him: “[He] who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”1 His worst foes came from his own household: His children were his greatest affliction. The temptations of poverty and wealth, of honor and reproach, of health and weakness all tried their power upon him. He had temptations from without to disturb his peace and from within to mar his joy. David no sooner escaped from one trial than he fell into another, no sooner emerged from one season of despondency and alarm than he was again brought into the lowest depths and all God’s waves and billows rolled over him. This is probably the reason that David’s psalms are so universally the delight of experienced Christians. Whatever our frame of mind, whether ecstasy or depression, David has exactly described our emotions. He was an able master of the human heart because he had been tutored in the best of all schools-the school of heartfelt, personal experience.

As we are instructed in the same school, as we grow mature in grace and in years, we increasingly appreciate David’s psalms and find them to be “green pastures.”2 My soul, let David’s experience cheer and counsel you today.

1) Psalm 41:9

2) Psalm 23:2

The Family Bible Reading Plan

  • 1 Samuel 12
  • Romans 10

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

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Christ’s first and last subject

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“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17. “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47

Suggested Further Reading: Philippians 3:1-14

If you are renewed by grace, and were to meet your old self, I am sure you would be very anxious to get out of his company. “No,” say you, “No, sir, I cannot accompany you.” “Why, you used to swear!” “I cannot now.” “Well, but,” says he, “You and I are very near companions.” “Yes, I know we are, and I wish we were not. You are a deal of trouble to me every day. I wish I could be rid of you for ever.” “But,” says Old Self, “you used to drink very well.” “Yes, I know it. I know you did, indeed, Old Self. You could sing a song as merrily as any one. You were ringleader in all sorts of vice, but I am no relation of yours now. You are of the old Adam, and I of the new Adam. You are of your old father, the devil; but I have another—my Father, who is in heaven.” I tell you, brethren, there is no man in the world you will hate so much as your old self, and there will be nothing you will so much long to get rid of as that old man who once was dragging you down to hell, and who will try his hand at it over and over again every day you live, and who will accomplish it yet, unless that divine grace which has made you a new man shall keep you a new man even to the end. Good Rowland Hill, in his “Village Dialogues,” gives the Christian, whom he describes in the first part of the book, the name of Thomas Newman. Every man who goes to heaven must have the name of new-man. We must not expect to enter there unless we are created anew in Christ Jesus.

For meditation: In our testimonies we should own up to what we used to be, but in such a way that we also disown the people we used to be. Don’t be like the biography of a Christian which seems to glory in the sin of the past—reserve all the glory for your Saviour (1 Corinthians 15:9,10; 1 Timothy 1:13-17).

Sermon no. 329

20 August (Preached 19 August 1860)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Godly Anger Versus Selfish Anger

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“[Love] is not provoked” (1 Cor. 13:5).

Self-centered anger cannot coexist with love.

The great eighteenth-century preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards had a daughter with an uncontrollable temper. When a young man asked Dr. Edwards for his daughter’s hand in marriage, he said no. The young man was crushed. “But I love her and she loves me,” he pleaded. “That makes no difference,” Edwards replied, “she isn’t worthy of you.” “But she is a Christian, isn’t she,” the young man argued. “Yes,” said Edwards, “but the grace of God can live with some people with whom no one else could ever live.”

That may seem harsh, but Jonathan Edwards knew what his would-be son-in-law hadn’t yet learned: the presence of selfish anger indicates the absence of genuine love. “Love,” said Paul, “is not provoked.” It isn’t given to sudden outbursts of emotion or action. It doesn’t respond in anger to offenses committed against it.

Paul wasn’t talking about anger over sin and its terrible consequences. That’s righteous indignation, which Christians are expected to have. When Jesus drove the merchants and moneychangers out of the temple (John 2:14-15), He was genuinely angry because His Father’s house was being desecrated. But He never reacted that way when He was personally attacked or maligned. In the same way, it’s right for you to be angry when others are mistreated, when God is offended, or when His Word is misrepresented. But love always bears up under personal attacks.

Such graciousness is foreign to our society, which teaches us to fight for our personal rights and retaliate when we don’t get what we think we deserve. That has produced greedy and loveless people who want little more than personal success and comfort. Anyone who dares to stand in their way is in danger of incurring their wrath.

As a Christian, you must resist such influences by focusing on your spiritual duty rather than your rights. If you expect nothing from the world, you won’t be angered or disappointed when nothing comes. Remember, God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). So humble yourself before Him and He will exalt you at the proper time (James 4:10).

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask God for the grace to forgive those who wrong you.

For Further Study

According to Ephesians 4:26-27, how should you deal with anger?

 

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – A New Creature 

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“As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12, KJV).

At the conclusion of one of my messages at a pastor’s conference, a pastor stood to take issue with me concerning a statement that I had made. I had said that there is a great hunger for God throughout the world, and that more people are now hearing the gospel and receiving Christ than at any time since the Great Commission was given almost 2,000 years ago.

“How can you say that,” he objected, “when the Scripture clearly teaches that no man seeketh after God?”

“That is exactly what the Bible teaches,” I responded, “and I agree with the Word of God 100 percent, but do not forget that – though in his natural inclination man does not have a hunger for God – the Holy Spirit sends conviction and creates within the human heart a desire for the Savior.”

As Jesus put it, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me, draws him” (John 6:44, NAS). There are three things that we can learn about the human race from this passage. First, no one is righteous. Second, no one understands the things of God; and third, no one seeks God. What a contrast between what man is like in his natural state and what man becomes at spiritual birth when he is liberated from the darkness and gloom of Satan’s kingdom and ushered into the light of God’s glorious kingdom through Jesus Christ. That man becomes a new creature. Old things are passed away and behold all things become new.

What a contrast between the natural and the supernatural. The natural man must depend upon his own resources, his own wisdom, to find meaning and purpose in his life, inevitably resulting in a life of conflict, discord and frustration. But the one who trusts in God has the privilege of drawing upon the supernatural resources of God daily; resources of joy, peace, love; resources that provide meaning and purpose, assurance of eternal life.

Most people live lives of quiet desperation in self- imposed poverty because those of us who know the truth of the supernatural are strangely silent. God forgive us.

Bible Reading: Romans 3:13-20

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: With God’s help I refuse to remain silent any longer, but will seek to proclaim “the most joyful news ever announced” (Luke 2:10-11), to all who will listen in order that others may join me in living the supernatural life.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – Purpose Precedence

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The United States military is known for teaching young and often stubborn men and women to obey orders without question. The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are renowned for their development of strong individuals who will follow commands in the heat of battle to defend their country.

Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:38

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was not an Army soldier in training, but her adherence to follow God’s will in doing the impossible could rival the spirit of even the toughest of the Special Forces. When the angel told Mary a virgin birth was possible with God, Mary didn’t question or say, “I can’t do this.” She simply told the Lord she was His vessel and to “let it be.”

When God reveals His will to you, how often do you follow without question? May all Christians in this nation be as obedient and willing as the mother of Jesus. When you allow His purposes precedence over your own, great things are accomplished. Ask God to develop a willing spirit within you. Pray, too, for America’s leaders to recognize the will of God and develop a desire to follow Him.

Recommended Reading: Luke 1:46-55

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – It’s All His

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Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.—1 Corinthians 6:19–20

You belong to God. I belong to God. We belong to God. The Bible says, “You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). Your career belongs to God. Your family belongs to God. Your home belongs to God. So does your car, your health, the beat of your heart, and the breath you draw in your lungs. It is all a gift from God to you.

Often we will forget and neglect God, but is it too much to dedicate some time every day to pray and read the Word of God? God gave you everything that you have. You can give thanks. Is it that big of a deal to say, before you start eating, “Lord, thank You for this food”? It doesn’t have to be a long prayer. You don’t have to pray for every missionary around the world. But it is important to give thanks to the Lord for all that you have, acknowledging that you have received it from Him.

Is it asking too much to take a percentage of your income and give it to God’s work? That is called tithing. The Bible talks about tithes and offerings. Tithe means “a tenth.” In fact, Jesus commended the Pharisees for their tithing, while at the same time saying they were simply missing the point (see Matthew 23:23). Every Christian should tithe and bring offerings (see Malachi 3:10).

What if all the church was just like you? No individual Christian can sin without affecting the whole body of Christ. No child of God can grow cold in the spiritual life without lowering the spiritual temperature of everyone else around him or her. You affect others, and others affect you.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A Clear Message

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As long as Jesus is one of many options, He is no option. As long as you can carry your burdens alone, you don’t need a burden bearer. As long as your situation brings you no grief, you will receive no comfort. As long as you can take him or leave him, you might as well leave him because Jesus won’t be taken half-heartedly.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn. . .” (Matthew 5:4).  When you get to the point of sorrow for your sins, when you admit that you have no other option but to cast all your cares on him, and when there is truly no other name that you can call, then do as Jesus said to do. “Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). And he’s waiting for you in the midst of the storm!

From The Applause of Heaven

 

 

Night Light - James & Shirley Dobson

Night Light for Couples – That Proverbs 31 Woman…

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“A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30

Are you ever intimidated by the “Proverbs 31 woman”? Sometimes I am. How can we compete? Here’s a woman who brings her husband “good, not harm, all the days of her life”; gets up before the morning light; feeds her family; shows good judgment in her purchases; works “vigorously”; helps the poor; has time to make bed coverings for her household and garments for sale; has enough faith to “laugh at the days to come”; “speaks with wisdom”; has no use for idleness; and earns blessing and praise from her husband and children!

Let’s be honest, we can’t compete… but maybe we don’t have to. I’m not convinced, for example, that the woman described in Proverbs 31 is one literal person. Or, if she is, that she achieved all her accomplishments during the same period of life. Rather, I think that through the writings of Solomon, the Lord has provided us women with specific examples of the behavior to which we should continually aspire—just as all Christians aspire to be like Jesus, even though we’ll never actually reach His level of perfection.

I believe that the key to understanding Proverbs 31 is found in verse 30, the next to last passage in Proverbs: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” According to this verse, a “woman who fears the Lord,”—who seeks His will for her as wife, mother, and follower of Jesus—is the Proverbs 31 woman, no matter how a particular day or season of her life is going.

My encouragement to you as a wife is to seek God and submit to His direction—and add a dash of love in the process. I promise you that you’ll please your Maker, bring honor to your husband and family, and find a personal contentedness that will never be matched.

– Shirley M Dobson

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

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Our Helper in Prayer

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John 14:16-17
One of the most painful emotions is loneliness. Of course, there are times in life when being alone is unavoidable. But since God has sent His Spirit to live within us, we are never truly on our own. The Holy Spirit—whom Jesus referred to as our “Helper”—is with us and available every second of every day.
Let’s think about ways that the Spirit of God helps us in our prayer life. First, He burdens us to pray. Have you ever felt a strong sense that you needed to spend time with the Lord? Perhaps you weren’t even sure why. That is the Spirit convicting you. He has many reasons for doing this. For instance, He may know that you need strength because of an imminent difficulty. Or He sometimes encourages us to confess sin so that our fellowship with the Father is not hindered.
Second, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. There are times when we do not know how to pray—when sorrow or helplessness overwhelms us to the point that words are impossible to speak, even to the Lord. Thankfully, when all we can do is cry to Jesus, the Spirit will lead on our behalf. He understands the depth of our thoughts, feelings, and needs, and He translates them into effective supplication according to God’s will.
The Savior loves you intimately—enough to die in your place and send a Helper to reside within you. What a privilege to have God’s Spirit dwelling in your heart. Do you recognize His power and love throughout your day? He longs to comfort, enable, and guide you each and every moment.
Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 33-36

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Reflecting God’s Glory

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Read: Exodus 31:1-11
Bible in a Year: Psalms 103-104; 1 Corinthians 2
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. —Psalm 19:1
The 12th-century Chinese artist Li Tang painted landscapes animated with people, birds, and water buffalo. Because of his genius with fine line sketches on silk, Li Tang is considered a master of Chinese landscape art. For centuries, artists from around the world have depicted what they see in God’s art gallery of creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps. 19:1). The Bible tells us that our creativity as human beings comes from being made in the image of the Master Creator (Gen. 1:27).
God chose artists who worked with wood, gold, silver, bronze, and gems to create the furnishings, utensils, altars, and garments that were to be used when the ancient Israelites worshiped Him in the tabernacle (Ex. 31:1-11). These artistic renderings of spiritual realities prompted and guided the priests and the people in their worship of the Lord who had called them to be His people.
Through many types of artistic expression, we reflect the beauty of creation and honor the Creator and Redeemer of this marvelous world. —Dennis Fisher
Lord of the universe, You are the Creator and have given us creative abilities. May we honor You through them.
We were created to bring God the glory.
INSIGHT: Not only did God give Moses the exact blueprint for the tabernacle (Ex. 25-30), He also provided all the craftsmen needed to build it (31:1-11). Bezalal (v. 2) and Aholiab (v. 6) were probably the leaders of these craftsmen (vv. 3-6) and are mentioned again in Exodus 35:31-35. Bezalal is said to be filled with “the Spirit of God” (31:3; 35:31). God divinely empowered these men to do things that were clearly beyond normal human ability. God said, “I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you” (31:6). Likewise, God has given every believer special abilities and skills to build up the church for His glory (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:11-15; 1 Peter 4:10-11). Sim Kay Tee

Ravi Zacharias

Slice of Infinity – In Stone and Sand

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Each of us, in an instant, can drudge up a snapshot of humanity at its worst. Images of genocide in Germany, Rwanda, Bosnia, or the Sudan come readily to mind. Other impressions are not far off: students planning deadly attacks at school, looters taking advantage of natural disasters, the greed that paved the Trail of Tears. They are visions that challenge the widespread hope that people are generally good, leaving in its wake the sinking feeling of human depravity. But ironically, such snapshots of humanity also seem to grant permission to distance ourselves from this depravity. Whether with theory or judgment, we place ourselves in different categories. Perhaps even unconsciously, we consider their inferior virtue, their primitive sense of morality, or their distinctively depraved character. And it is rare that we see the stones in our hands as a problem.
As Jesus stood with a girl at his feet in the middle of a group armed with rocks and morality, he crouched down in the sand and with his finger wrote something that caused a fuming crowd to drop their stones and a devastated girl to get up. No one knows what he wrote on the ground that day with the Pharisees and the woman caught in adultery, and yet we often emerge from the story not with curiosity but with satisfaction. This public conviction of the Pharisees strikes most of us with the force of victory. Their air of superiority is palpable, and it is satisfying to picture them owning up to their own shortfall. If we imagine ourselves in the scene at all, it is most likely in a crumpled heap of shame with the woman at Jesus’s feet; it is rarely, if ever, with the Pharisees.
There are those who mock the idea of human depravity, insisting that it wastes our potential for good with unnecessary and demeaning guilt. According to Richard Dawkins, if God would just stop policing the world, then people would be good. But I suspect most of us recognize in ourselves the potential for something other than good, for greed or for cruelty, for vice just as easily as virtue. Even those who disapprove of the word “sin” have seen its expressions in their lives and in others. Looking below the surface of our good days or friendly moments, it is hard not to admit that who we really are at the heart of things—on bad days or even average days, when life runs amok or temptations overwhelm us—is complicated to say the very least. Thus, for most of us, it is not a giant mental leap to see ourselves in the adulterous woman.
It is far more difficult, however, to consider how well we play the role of the Pharisee. We have perhaps so villainized the lives of these religious leaders that we consider their self-righteousness as unreachable as the crimes of infamous war criminals. Hence, sometimes standing with stones, other times simply putting one’s self in lesser categories of depravity, we can look at the crumpled, errant world around us with an air of disgust. In fact, often no matter one’s profession of belief or practice of faith, we can rally together in circles of righteousness, surrounding those whose lack of whatever virtue we value is far more obvious. We can name their sins publically and consider their humiliation well deserved, perhaps even beneficial for them. And all the while we fail to see our pharisaical similarities, Jesus crouches beside us writing something in the sand that fails to catch our attention.
Whatever profession of faith or absence of faith we proclaim, in the worst images of humanity, we cannot afford to leave ourselves out. In his words to the Pharisees that day, Jesus was calling those who were morally awake to greater awareness. Beside him, even in the best among us is a picture of how far the distortion extends within, and how great is the hopeful reach of God’s restoration. Considering any sort of human depravity without seeing ourselves somewhere troublingly in the picture is failing to see the true depths. Viewing the flaws and sins of the world with a position of superiority—whether we profess Christianity, general spirituality, or atheism—is like picking up the stones God has saved you from and lobbing them at someone else. Jesus very indiscriminately calls us to examine both the stones in our hands and the rockiness of our hearts, and to drop our guard at his feet.
After each of the Pharisees had released the rocks they held and walked away one by one, Jesus straightened up and asked the girl beside him, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” And the stones and sand, they left behind.
Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – What are the clouds?

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“The clouds are the dust of his feet.” Nahum 1:3
Suggested Further Reading: Isaiah 40:12-26
Great things with us are little things with God. What great things clouds are to us! There we see them sweeping along the skies! Then they rapidly increase till the entire sky becomes black and a dark shadow is cast upon the world; we foresee the coming storm, and we tremble at the mountains of cloud, for they are great. Great things are they? No, they are only the dust of God’s feet. The greatest cloud that ever swept the face of the skies, was but one single particle of dust starting from the feet of the Almighty Jehovah. When clouds roll over clouds, and the storm is very terrible, it is only the chariot of God, as it speeds along the heavens, raising a little dust around him! “The clouds are the dust of his feet.” Oh! Could you grasp this idea my friends, or had I words in which to put it into your souls, I am sure you would sit down in solemn awe of that great God who is our Father, or who will be our Judge. Consider, that the greatest things with man are little things with God. We call the mountains great, but what are they? They are but “the small dust of the balance.” We call the nations great, and we speak of mighty empires; but the nations before him are but as “a drop of a bucket.” We call the islands great and talk of ours boastingly—”He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” We speak of great men and of mighty—”The inhabitants [of the earth] in his sight are as grasshoppers.” We talk of ponderous orbs moving millions of miles from us—in God’s sight they are but little atoms dancing up and down in the sunbeam of existence. Compared with God there is nothing great.
For meditation: Are you experiencing great distress or great success? Try to look at both kinds of circumstances from the viewpoint of God (Zechariah 4:6-7).
Sermon no. 36
19 August (1855)