Daily Archives: October 28, 2015

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Giving Jesus First Place

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Philippians 2:9-11

When Christ has first place in our lives, we will experience many blessings. These include . . .

A quiet spirit. As we turn our attention to the Lord and meditate on His Word, He “leads [us] beside quiet waters,” where we find rest for our souls (Ps. 23:2). The Holy Spirit will help us shut out the noise of worldly distractions so He can provide assurance of our Father’s love and support. With a quieted heart and mind, we will be able to discern what God is saying to us.

A stronger faith.Studying Scripture will enlarge our view of God and give us insight and direction. Reading how the Lord has helped others, we will gain confidence that He is at our side, enabling us to meet life’s demands. Our faith will grow as we follow His direction and watch how He works on our behalf.

A purified heart. Like a mirror, the Bible reflects back to us who we truly are and reveals where we need to change. When we confess our sin, God promises to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

A prepared mind. We don’t know what’s in our tomorrows, but God does. He wants to prepare us for the future—both the joyous times and the hard ones. Through the Holy Spirit’s ministry, we will be equipped for whatever life brings (2 Peter 1:3).

Paul’s life demonstrates what it means to give Jesus first place. Because the apostle made Christ the Lord of his life (Gal. 2:20), he knew joy amid trials and received the strength to face turmoil and difficulty. These blessings will also be ours when we give highest priority to our relationship with Jesus.

Bible in One Year: Luke 17-19

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Where Is My Focus?

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Read: Hebrews 10:32-39

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 15-17; 2 Timothy 2

You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. —Hebrews 10:34

Early in September 2011, a raging wildfire destroyed 600 homes in and around the city of Bastrop in central Texas. A few weeks later an article in the Austin American-Statesman newspaper carried this headline: “People who lost the most, focus on what wasn’t lost.” The article described the community’s outpouring of generosity and the realization of those who received help that neighbors, friends, and community were worth far more than anything they lost.

The writer of Hebrews reminded first-century followers of Jesus to recall how they had bravely endured persecution early in their life of faith. They stood their ground in the face of insults and oppression, standing side by side with other believers (Heb. 10:32-33). “You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions” (v. 34). Their focus was not on what they had lost but on eternal things that could not be taken from them.

Jesus told His followers, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). As we focus on the Lord and all that we have in Him, even our most precious possessions can be held lightly. —David McCasland

Lord, open our eyes to see You and to embrace what is most important each day. Share this prayer from our Facebook page with your friends. facebook.com/ourdailybread

Where is your focus today?

INSIGHT: The letter to the Hebrews has one dominant theme—the superiority of Christ over everything. This theme is developed as He is described as the ultimate revelation the Father has given of Himself (1:1-3). He is superior to the angels (1:4-14) and He is superior to Moses (3:1-16). Jesus is also portrayed as giving a better rest (ch. 4) and serving as a better high priest (4:14-15). Christ came to be the superior, once-for-all sacrifice for our sin (9:11-10:18). This was an important reminder for the Jewish recipients of this letter, who were apparently in danger of drifting away from the truth of the sufficiency of Christ. Bill Crowder

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry –  Eye of the Kingdom

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The first time I left the United States, I was traveling as a student in the Middle East. Like many who leave home only to learn as much about their own culture as the one they have journeyed to, I quickly found myself a student of much more than language, history, and religion. So often it is in the experience of life outside your familiar world that the first glimpses of your own worldview come into focus. I was soon troubled by the previously unconsidered thought of how much my environment shaped my understanding of the world, life, faith, and God. Everything suddenly seemed so much more complicated than it was before.

Though the questions dredged up within this new world would plague my thought-life for years to come, the experience was eventually eye-opening. But in the midst of it, I was an inconsolable muddle of doubt. Did I really know anything authentically? Could anyone really know that God is real? And if this was the land of Christ’s beginnings, where were all of the Christians? On a particularly despairing day of questions, I went to the library bemoaning my loss of simplicity and hoping for some clarity in the trusted form of words. I gathered a few philosophy books and papers on early Christianity and sat down to read. It was at this library and in the midst of this frustrated morning when I met a monk named Petri.

Petri listened to my troubled doubts about the God I thought I knew and the world that seemed so full of people contradicting this knowledge, seeing other gods, or attesting to contrary information. He responded with gentle questioning: Could God not be a greater mystery than what fills the small places you hold in mind? Did Christ come to bring ease or help or answers? Or was truth the measure, in the form of a person? And then he told me not to despair of a complicated world, but to pray instead to see. “The world of souls is a mysterious place after all. But where you see an eye of the kingdom, rejoice. For God is near.”

At the time, it was a comfort (and a Finnish monk in Jerusalem was an unlikely comforter) to hear a fellow believer remind me that God is beyond my ability to make logical sense of everything, while affirming that God who came near in spirit and truth wills to be known even today. But as I struggled under the weight of a crumbling worldview, I don’t think I fully realized the relief his words offered—like pillars to a faltering house—until I returned to the gospel I had doubted.

Petri was quoting Jesus. To a crowd full of many perspectives, opinions, and creeds, Jesus spoke of eyes and light. He told a group of religious men that outward religion was not enlightening, but the truth and true love of God illumines the whole person. “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness” (Luke 11:34-35).

Into a world of complex religious practices, differing religious philosophies, and intermingling religious beliefs Jesus came and called to those with ears to hear and eyes to see. He gently but completely crumbled worldviews and crushed expectations. Some responded with closed minds and hearts. Others were made to see.

In our complicated world, Jesus is still the light that shines in the darkness, and he is still not overcome. His light shines even in the most unlikely of places and in the darkest corners of life. Even when a worldview is crumbling, he is calling the viewer to a greater kingdom and to eyes that will truly see. Today, wherever you find the light of his truth, a kindred soul, or an eye of the kingdom, rejoice. For God is near.

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

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – A Lofty Doctrine

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I chose you out of the world. John 15:19

Here is distinguishing grace and discriminating regard, for some are made the special objects of divine affection. Do not be afraid to dwell upon this lofty doctrine of election. When your mind is heavy and depressed, you will find it to be a spiritual tonic. Those who doubt the doctrines of grace or who throw them into the shadows miss the richest clusters of grapes; they lose the best wines, the choice food.

There is no balm in Gilead comparable to it. If the honey in Jonathan’s wood when simply touched illumined the eyes, this is honey that will illumine your heart as you love and learn the mysteries of the kingdom of God. You must feed on this; live upon this choice provision, and do not be afraid that it will prove too delicate a diet. Meat from the King’s table will hurt none of His servants. Desire to have your mind enlarged, that you may comprehend more and more of the eternal, everlasting, discriminating love of God.

When you have soared as high as election, linger on its twin peak, the covenant of grace. Covenant engagements are the mighty fortresses behind which we lie entrenched; covenant engagements with our Savior, Christ Jesus, are the quiet resting-places of trembling spirits.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,

Support me in the raging flood;

When every earthly prop gives way,

This still is all my strength and stay.

If Jesus undertook to bring me to glory, and if the Father promised that He would give me to the Son to be a part of the infinite reward of the travail of His soul, then, my soul, until God Himself shall be unfaithful, until Jesus shall cease to be the truth, you are safe. When David danced before the ark, he told Michal that election made him do so. Come, my soul, dance before the God of grace, and let your heart leap for joy!

The Family Bible Reading Plan

  • 2 Kings 9
  • 1 Timothy 6

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

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Chastisement

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“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.” Hebrews 12:5

Suggested Further Reading: Deuteronomy 8:1-6

What son is there whom the Father chasteneth not? You ministers of God who preach the gospel, is there amongst your ranks one son whom his Father chastens not? Unanimously they reply, “We all have been chastened.” You holy prophets who testified God’s word with the Holy Ghost from heaven, is there one amongst your number whom God chastened not? Abraham, Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Malachi, answer; and unanimously cry, “There is not one among us whom the Father chasteneth not.” You kings, you chosen ones, you Davids and you Solomons, is there one in your high and lofty ranks who has escaped chastisement? Answer David! Were you not obliged to cross the brook Kedron in the darkness? Answer Hezekiah! Did you not spread the letter before the Lord? Answer Jehoshaphat! Did you not have the cross when the ships were broken that were sent to Tarshish for gold? Oh starry host above, translated out of the reach of the trials of this world, is there one amongst you whom the Father chastened not? Not one; there is not one in heaven whose back was unscarred by the chastening rod, if he attained to the age when he needed it. The infant alone escapes, flying at once from his mother’s breast to heaven. There is one whom I will ask, the Son of God, the Son par excellence, the chief of all the family. Son of God Incarnate, did you escape the rod? Son without sin, were you a Son without punishment? Were you chastised? Hark! The hosts of earth and heaven reply—the church militant and triumphant answer: “The chastisement of our peace was even upon him; he suffered; he bore the cross; he endured the curse as well as any of us; yea, more, he endured ten thousand-fold more chastisement than any of us can by any possibility endure.”

For meditation: Christians have different gifts and different callings, but this is something shared by all. How do you react when God disciplines you? Does the experience leave you dismissive, discouraged or (as God intends) disciplined?

Sermon no. 48

28 October (1855)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Avoiding Spiritual Deception

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“All Scripture is . . . profitable for . . . reproof” (2 Tim. 3:16).

Scripture is the standard by which you must measure all teaching.

In November of 1978, United States Representative Leo Ryan of California visited the People’s Temple (a California- based cult) in Guyana. He went to investigate reports that some of the people were being held there against their will. The world was shocked to learn that the congressman and his party had been ambushed and killed.

Even more shocking was the grim discovery that followed a few days later. Authorities who entered the compound at Jonestown, Guyana were horrified to find the bodies of 780 cult members who had been shot or had committed suicide by drinking cyanide-laced punch. Their leader, the Reverend Jim Jones, was found lying near the altar—dead from a single bullet wound to the head.

For many, it was the first time they had witnessed the deadly effect of satanic teaching. Editorials and articles for months attempted to explain how such appalling deception and genocide could occur in this day and age. But as tragic as the Jonestown deaths were, most observers missed the greatest tragedy of all: the spiritual damnation that Jim Jones and all other false teachers lead their followers into.

Spiritual deception is a very serious issue to God. That’s why in Scripture He lays down the truth and reproves anything contrary to it. The Greek word translated “reproof” in 2 Timothy 3:16 means to rebuke or confront someone regarding misconduct or false teaching.

If you have a thorough grasp of Scripture, you have a standard by which to measure all teaching. Then you can easily recognize false doctrine and avoid spiritual deception. That’s what John had in mind when he said, “I have written to you, [spiritual] young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (1 John 2:14).

False religions will always attempt to distort Scripture because they must eliminate God’s truth before they can justify their own lies. Beware of their subtleties, and be strong in God’s Word.

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Thank the Lord for protecting you from spiritual deception.
  • Pray for anyone you may know who has fallen victim to false teaching. Take every opportunity to impart God’s truth to them.

For Further Study

Read 2 Corinthians 11:1-4, 13-15. How did Paul describe false teachers?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Fill Up Your Love Tank

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May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love. – Ephesians 3:17

Each one of us is born with a “love tank,” and if our tank is empty, we are in trouble. We need to start receiving love from the moment we are born and continue receiving it—and giving it out—until the day we die. Sometimes Satan manages to arrange things so that instead of receiving love, we receive abuse. If that abuse continues, we become love starved and warped, so that we are unable to maintain healthy relationships.

Many people develop addictive behaviors of different types. If they can’t get good feelings from within themselves, they look for them on the outside. One of the things we must understand is that people have to have a certain number of good feelings. We are all created to have good feelings about ourselves. We cannot go around hurting, being wounded, and feeling bad all the time. We are just not designed to live that way.

To find those good feelings, many people turn to sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, food, money, power, gambling, work, television, sports, and many other addictive things. They are simply trying to get those good feelings they are missing from within themselves and their relationships.

The good news is that whatever may have happened to us in the past, whatever we may have been deprived of, we can get it from the Lord. He is our Shepherd, so we shall not want (see Psalm 23:1). He has promised not to withhold any good thing from us (see Psalm 84:11).

If we did not get enough love when we were growing up, or if we are not getting enough love now, we don’t have to go through the rest of our lives with an empty “love tank.” Even if there is not one other human being on this earth who loves us, we are still loved by God, and we can become rooted and grounded in His love.

From the book New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – More Than You Need

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“God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more, so that there will not only be enough for your own needs, but plenty left over to give joyfully to others” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

One of the greatest discoveries that I have ever made in the Christian life is the law of sowing and reaping. Paul explains, beginning in his second letter to the Corinthians with the sixth verse of Chapter 9, “If you give little, you’ll get little. A farmer who plants just a few seeds will harvest only a small crop, but if he plants much, he will reap much. Everyone must make up his own mind as to how much he should give. Don’t force anyone to give more than he really wants to, for cheerful givers are the ones God prizes” (2 Corinthians 9:6,7).

I have several friends and colleagues who have joined with me in claiming this marvelous promise of God and in every case the blessings are abundant. People with modest incomes are able not only to give large sums of money, but also enjoy a life-style that one could hardly expect even from individuals whose salaries were much more than theirs. It is a “loaves and fishes” kind of demonstration of God’s faithfulness. You cannot outgive God. As someone put it, “I give to God by the spoonsful and He returns to me shovelsful.”

Most believers have never discovered the joy and excitement of Christian stewardship. Always remember that God’s graces are bestowed upon us, not that we may hoard them, but that we may pass them on to others.

The same principle of giving also applies to the giving of our time and our talent to the proclamation of the gospel. The more we give, the more we receive. Was God giving you an extra portion of love today, of joy, of patience, of encouragement, or peace? Pass it on. Has something happened to you? He may have given that extra supply for you to pass it on to others in need. By the same token, if your supply in any of these things is lacking, you need only ask. With your motivation of wanting to share with others, God will not delay in responding to your request.

Bible Reading: II Corinthians 9:6-11

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: In order to be a faithful steward of that which God has entrusted to me, I shall seek to share with others a generous portion of all that He gives to me, with special emphasis on the good news concerning our Lord Jesus Christ and the supernatural life which He gives.

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; A.W. – A Reason to Doubt

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Paul Tillich, one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century, said, “Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it’s an element of faith.” Everyone struggles with doubt, but maybe that’s not a bad thing. Doubt helps grow your faith. If you are never placed in difficult circumstances, your faith doesn’t get tested or stretched.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…I live by faith in the Son of God.

Galatians 2:20

If anyone had reason to doubt, it was Paul. He suffered health problems, beatings, imprisonment, riots, hunger and thirst, sleepless nights, being lied about, robbed and shipwrecked. Yet amazingly his faith grew stronger. He could not have done this in his own power. His secret was today’s verse. Paul said he lived through Christ in Him.

Are trials and hardships causing you to doubt? Instead of dealing with situations on your own, allow Jesus to live through you. He will help you see your circumstances as a way to increase your faith instead of your doubt. Pray, too, for the unrest and disorder in America to raise the faith of Christians throughout the nation.

Recommended Reading: II Corinthians 6:1-12

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Victory Shout

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Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.—Hebrews 2:14

Some people think it’s a joke to play with Ouija boards or read their horoscopes. They think it’s only fun and games to play around with demonic forces and ideas. But it’s no joke. Occultism and astrology are doorways to darkness, and people really push it when they start dabbling in the Devil’s world.

Nonbelievers have no defense against the Devil, who can pretty much do whatever he wants to do in their lives. However, he can do nothing in the life of a Christian without God’s permission. The only thing he fears is the power of Jesus Christ.

A classic example of this is the story of Job. Interestingly, the Lord allowed Satan a certain leeway, which resulted in many horrible afflictions on God’s servant, including the loss of his health, the loss of his property, and, worst of all, the loss of his children. There were limitations to what the Devil was allowed to do, but Job was tested severely. He came through it all, and God blessed him in the end.

You may think you can’t make it through a hardship of some kind, but if God is letting you go through it, He has a reason. God knows how much you can take. He will never give you more than you can handle.

The Devil was soundly defeated at the cross of Calvary. Prior to His crucifixion, Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31). As believers, we share in the victory of Jesus Christ. He dealt a decisive blow against the Devil and his minions at the cross. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” it reverberated through the corridors of Heaven and the hallways of hell. It was a victory shout.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God’s Love Never Fails

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One stumble does not define or break a person. Though you failed, God’s love does not. Face your failures with faith in God’s goodness. Like Joshua, when he stood on the eastern side of the Jordan, God could see the upcoming mishap. Still, he tells you what he told Joshua: “Arise, go. . .you and all this people, to the land which I am giving” (Joshua 1:2).

There’s no condition in that covenant. God’s Promise Land offer does not depend on your perfection. It depends on his. In God’s hands no defeat is a crushing defeat. Psalm 37:23-24 reminds us the steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take. If they fall, it isn’t fatal, for the Lord holds them with his hand.  It’s essential you understand this— God’s grace is greater than your failures!

From Glory Days

Night Light - James & Shirley Dobson

Night Light for Couples – The Pride Roadblock

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“I hate pride and arrogance.” Proverbs 8:13

In the middle of your highway to forgiveness there may be a giant roadblock called pride. You know in your heart that you offended your wife with that comment about her body, or her intelligence, or her family. You realize you hurt your husband with that remark about his selfishness or his waste of money. But something is keeping you from admitting wrong and seeking forgiveness. Even though you know you’re guilty, you can’t get the words out of your mouth. At best you can mumble, “I’m sorry,” but you don’t really want to know if your partner heard you.

Pride is terribly destructive to human relationships. It may be the sin that God hates most, because there are more than one hundred references to it in Scripture. Proverbs 6:17–19 describes seven things that God finds detestable, and the first one on the list is “a proud look.” If you or your mate have a haughty attitude that prevents you from seeking forgiveness and reconciling, it will damage your marriage. We encourage you to swallow your pride and talk to your spouse. Once you’ve done that, why not clear one more roadblock and seek the Lord’s forgiveness for your prideful heart?

Just between us…

  • Has my pride kept us apart in the past? How?
  • In what ways has swallowing our pride blessed us in the past?
  • How can we break down the roadblock of pride on our way to a stronger relationship?

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for Your example of humility and mercy. Forgive us for our stubborn, prideful treatment of each other. We want to change. Help us to lay aside pride, admit wrongs, and humbly ask for forgiveness. Amen.

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

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis Daily – Today’s Reading

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Though Christian charity sounds a very cold thing to people whose heads are full of sentimentality, and though it is quite distinct from affection, yet it leads to affection. The difference between a Christian and a worldly man is not that the worldly man has only affections or ‘likings’ and the Christian has only ‘charity’. The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he ‘likes’ them: the Christian, trying to treat every one kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on—including people he could not even have imagined him- self liking at the beginning.

This same spiritual law works terribly in the opposite direction. The Germans, perhaps, at first ill-treated the Jews because they hated them: afterwards they hated them much more because they had ill-treated them. The more cruel you are, the more you will hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become — and so on in a vicious circle for ever.

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.

From Mere Christianity

Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis