Daily Archives: November 27, 2015

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Riches of the Grace of God

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Ephesians 1:1-8

What would it take for you to consider yourself rich? Would it require a healthy bank account? A fancy new car in the garage? The freedom to go online, click a few buttons, and have anything you want delivered right to your door?

You may not be so bold as to answer yes to the above questions, but does your life reflect this kind of attitude? Sadly, many believers are completely overtaken by the world’s standard of riches and define wealth by how much they possess.

This happens whether one is wealthy or not. For the well-off, the temptation is to see money as the defining characteristic of their lives; for the poor, money becomes the be-all-end-all goal of comfort and satisfaction. You see, greed is no respecter of persons. It attacks rich and poor alike.

What many believers fail to realize is that in Jesus Christ we are all rich. Sure, you may have a mortgage or rent due each month, a car payment, and credit card bills; however, if you have placed your faith in Jesus, you can boldly acknowledge that almighty God has already poured His richest blessings upon you. Hallelujah!

Ephesians 1:3 says that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Did you notice the tense of the verb there? The past tense—“has blessed”—is used, meaning it’s already happened. And He does not give just a little bit here and there; rather, He lavishly pours out His blessings on us.

Look beyond your finances today, and prayerfully list all of the blessings in your life. Tomorrow, we will take a closer look at some of God’s choicest gifts.

Bible in One Year: 1 Corinthians 1-3

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Help from the Outside

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Read: Jeremiah 17:7-13

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 30-32; 1 Peter 4

God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. —1 John 3:20

On a business trip, my husband had just settled into his hotel room when he heard an unusual noise. He stepped into the hall to investigate and heard someone yelling from a nearby room. With the help of a hotel worker, he discovered that a man had become trapped in the bathroom. The lock on the bathroom door had malfunctioned and the man trapped inside started to panic. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and began yelling for help.

Sometimes in life we feel trapped. We are banging on the door, pulling on the handle, but we can’t get free. We need help from the outside, just like the man in the hotel.

To get that outside assistance, we have to admit that we are helpless on our own. Sometimes we look inward for the answers to our problems, yet the Bible says “the heart is deceitful” (Jer. 17:9). In truth, we are often the source of our problems in life.

Thankfully, “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20). Because of this, He knows exactly how to help us. Lasting heart-level change and real progress with our problems originate with God. Trusting Him and living to please Him means we can flourish and be truly free. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Heavenly Father, I humble myself before You. I can’t solve my problems on my own. Please help me to seek Your help and perspective.

God helps those who know they are helpless.

INSIGHT: The Bible describes the heart as the very basis of our character—the center of who we are and the source of our thoughts, feelings, and actions (see Prov. 4:23; 23:7). “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jer. 17:9) is the consistent verdict of Scripture. This deceitfulness has made humanity incapable of knowing how sinful we really are, for only God knows the true condition of our heart (2 Chron. 6:30; Ps. 139:1-4; Jer. 17:10). We will not admit we are sinners apart from divine intervention, revelation, and conviction (John 6:65; Rom. 8:7-11; 2 Cor. 4:4). But God will redeem and give a new heart to all who humbly come to Him and accept His grace and mercy (Ps. 51:10; 2 Cor. 5:17).

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Unforgettable

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It is tempting to look at the ancients of Israel, as they wandered and grumbled in a desert for forty years, and wonder at their behavior—or else, question the storyline, which leaves a few questions. These people are key participants in mouth-dropping events at the Red Sea, where the God who has chosen them offers a display of all that means. These same people then come to doubt God’s presence among them, God’s power, God’s concern, God’s plan for their lives. Did they really believe they could be as moved and cared for by a golden ornament, molded at their own hands, as they were with the God who split open the Red Sea?

Whether a casual or careful reader of Israel’s story, it is tempting to keep their behavior at a healthy distance, as if in its ancient context, it is wholly un-relatable to our own. But imagining that Israel’s actions are in complete contrast with mine, I repeatedly discover, is a stretch by any imagination. The behavior of the Israelites is still among us; at times, is it frustratingly close to home.

Though the specific events of Egypt could have similarly been held at a distance by the psalmist who was writing years later, the writer nonetheless stood poised to remember the events of Israel’s past so as to see his present situation more clearly. As if forging it in his own memory, the psalmist speaks bluntly of Israel’s experience in the desert: “Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise” (106:24).

What does it take to come to despise what once seemed promising? What would it take for you to refuse to believe the one thing you want to believe most? When hopes are dashed in trying places, I don’t believe their reaction to the desert is so far removed from our own. The Israelites were not unusually slow in understanding; they were no more stubborn than you or I am. But they were entirely disappointed; all they longed for seemed altogether unreachable. They could not believe that the wilderness was the way to Canaan. They could not see how their current trouble was consistent with a God who loved them; they could not see how their pain could possibly work for good in the end. Who among us cannot at some point relate?

Whether people of faith or not, we long for someone or something or some place that can make right what is wrong in this world, what is wrong in our lives. And yet, carrying ideas of what that someone or something will look like, and not finding it, we end up doubting the promising thought we once held on to with hope. When the route we see in front of us seems irreconcilable with the place we thought we were going, we come to despise what once seemed hopeful, holding in its place shattered expectations, fear, and anger.

When Jesus healed a man who was called Legion because he was possessed with so many demons, the townspeople had a peculiar response. Mark describes the scene and its aftermath as a crowd began to gather. “When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid” (5:15).

This man was someone they were familiar with; the crowd actually recognized him. He was the one they saw dodging in and out of nearby caves, living as a total recluse, cast out of society, an outcast even of his own mind. Yet, seeing the one they were used to avoiding suddenly dressed and in his right mind evoked within them, not delight or amazement, not thanks or hopefulness, but fear. No one suspected that this was a shadow of all they longed for themselves. Seeing Jesus, the instrument of healing—the one who set right what was wrong—they were simply afraid. And they begged him to leave.

As the Israelites beheld the desert and the townspeople beheld Legion, both missed what God was doing because they were troubled by the failures of their imagination. It brings quiet inquiries to mind. Do we not still oscillate between being too uncomfortable to trust and too comfortable to believe? How do we guard against missing our deepest hope, though we fear? And how do we not come to despise what once seemed promising, though we stand broken or disappointed in the wilderness?

Like the psalmist, we might stand poised to remember, seeing God in history, seeing ourselves, seeing today—with imagination, with thanksgiving. Though I am tempted to keep the behavior of those who have gone before me at a distance, I am comforted by the proximity of God throughout their story, continually drawing them nearer, even in the desert. Though they grumbled and failed and begged God to leave, God continued to lead them, in mercy breaking each idol they would have settled for, prying from their hands the things that blocked their view of the promise God would not forget.

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

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Priests and Kings Unto God

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Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. Zechariah 3:1

In Joshua the high priest we see a picture of each and every child of God, who has been brought near by the blood of Christ and has been taught to minister in holy things and enter into that which is within the veil. Jesus has made us priests and kings unto God, and even here upon earth we exercise the priesthood of consecrated living and hallowed service.

But this high priest is said to be “standing before the angel of the LORD,” that is, standing to minister. This should be the perpetual position of every true believer.

Every place is now God’s temple, and His people can serve Him just as truly at work as in His house. They should always be ministering, offering the spiritual sacrifice of prayer and praise, and presenting themselves “a living sacrifice.”1

But notice where Joshua stands to minister-it is before the angel of Jehovah. It is only through a mediator that we poor, defiled ones can ever become priests to God.

I present what I have before the messenger, the angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus; and through Him my prayers find acceptance wrapped up in His prayers; my praises become sweet as they are bound up with bundles of fragrant spices from Christ’s own garden.

If I can bring Him nothing but my tears, He will put them with His own tears in His own bottle, for He once wept; if I can bring Him nothing but my groans and sighs, He will accept these as an acceptable sacrifice, for He once was broken in heart and sighed heavily in spirit. I myself, standing in Him, am accepted in the Beloved; and all my polluted works, though in themselves only objects of divine displeasure, are so received that God smells a sweet savor. He is content, and I am blessed. Consider, then, the position of the Christian-“a priest . . . standing before the angel of the LORD.”

1) Romans 12:1

The Family Bible Reading Plan

  • 1 Chronicles 23
  • 1 Peter 4

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

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – A woman’s memorial

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“Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.” Matthew 26:13.

Suggested Further Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

The evangelists are of course the historians of the time of Christ; but what strange historians they are! They leave out just that which worldly ones would write, and they record just that which the worldly would have passed over. What historian would have thought of recording the story of the widow and her two mites? Would a Hume or a Smollet have spared half a page for such an incident? Or think you that even a Macaulay could have found it in his pen to write down a story of an eccentric woman, who broke an alabaster box of precious ointment upon the head of Jesus? But so it is. Jesus values things, not by their glare and glitter, but by their intrinsic value. He bids his historians store up, not the things which shall dazzle men, but those which shall instruct and teach them in their spirits. Christ values a matter, not by its exterior, but by the motive which dictated it, by the love which shines from it. O singular historian! You have passed by much that Herod did; you tell us little of the glories of his temple; you tell us little of Pilate, and that little not to his credit; you treat with neglect the battles that are passing over the face of the earth; the grandeur of Caesar does not entice you from your simple story. But you continue to tell these little things, and wise are you in so doing, for truly these little things, when put into the scales of wisdom, weigh more than those monstrous bubbles of which the world delights to read.

For meditation: God usually bypasses those who look great to the world and in their own eyes; he desires people who are after his own heart, however inconspicuous they are in the world’s sight (1 Samuel 16:7; Luke 3:1-2).

Sermon no. 286

27 November (1859)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Bearing the Reproach of Christ

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Moses considered “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen” (Heb. 11:26-27).

When you suffer for Christ, you bear His reproach.

How could Moses, who lived 1,500 years before Christ, bear His reproach? Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew title Messiah, the Anointed One. Many Old Testament personalities were spoken of as being anointed for special service to the Lord. Some have suggested that Moses was thinking of himself as a type of messiah, for he delivered his people from the Egyptian bondage. They would translate verse 26 as, “Considering the reproach of his own messiahship as God’s deliverer.”

However, it seems best to see this verse as a reference to Jesus Himself, the future great Deliverer. We don’t know how much knowledge Moses had of Jesus, but certainly it was more than Abraham, of whom Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).

The Messiah has always been identified with His people. When they suffer for righteousness’ sake, they suffer in His place. That’s why David said, “The reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me” (Ps. 69:9). Speaking from a New Testament perspective, Paul made a similar statement: “I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17).

There’s also a sense in which Christ suffers with His people. When Jesus confronted Paul, who was heavily persecuting the church, He said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? . . . I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:4-5).

Moses chose to turn his back on Pharaoh’s household and identify with God’s people because he knew that suffering for Christ was far better than enjoying the riches of Egypt. At some point in time you too will be persecuted for Christ’s sake (2 Tim. 3:12), so be prepared. When that time comes, follow Moses’ example of faith and courage, knowing that God will be your shield and your reward (cf. Gen. 15:1).

Suggestions for Prayer

Follow the examples of the apostles by thanking God for the privilege of bearing a small portion of the reproach that the world aims at Christ (Acts 5:27-41).

For Further Study

Memorize Psalm 27:1 as a source of encouragement when facing difficulty.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Becoming God’s Mouthpiece

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She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction].—Proverbs 31:26

Regardless of our specific ministry within the body of Christ, each of us is a mouthpiece for God in some way. Whether you and I have been given a worldwide teaching gift or whether we have been given the ability to witness to our coworkers, God wants us to use our mouth for Him.

A wise man once said to me, “Joyce, God has given you the ear of many. Stay broken and only speak when spoken through.” Obviously this requires intensive training by the Holy Spirit. If we desire the words of our mouth to carry God’s power, then our mouth must belong to Him. Is your mouth God’s mouth? Have you really given it to Him for His purpose?

A person’s heart can become hardened as a result of making excuses for his behavior. For a long time, I excused my “mouth problems” by blaming them on my personality, or on abuse in my past, or on the fact that I felt bad or was so tired. Actually, the list of excuses we make for our failure to conform to the will and Word of God is endless.

Finally the Holy Spirit got my full attention so that I began to become accountable for my words. I still have a long way to go, but I feel I have made much progress because I have reached the stage of true repentance.

Those who desire to be used by God need to allow Him to deal with them concerning their mouth and what comes out of it.

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

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Saved From Trouble

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“Yes, the Lord hears the good man when he calls to Him for help, and saves him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:17).

You and I have one of the greatest privileges ever known to mankind – that of calling on God with the assurance that He will hear and answer us.

No trouble we face today will be too great for us to bring God, who has promised to save us out of all our troubles.

True, He suggests certain conditions that must be met for such praying to be effective, but these conditions are not grievous. They are attainable by “whosoever will.”

One of these conditions is referred to by the psalmist, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18, KJV). According to God’s Word, that means I must not even allow wrong feelings and critical attitudes against others to fester in my heart and mind, but rather I must confess them the moment they arise and then trust God for the forgiveness He promises.

Another condition is suggested in the well-known verse on revival: “If my people…will humble themselves, and pray…” (2 Chronicles 7:14, KJV). Even before that time of intercession with the Lord, I must be sure to humble myself, to recognize God as my Lord and Master, and His Holy Spirit as one who sits and rules and reigns on the throne of my life.

As a result, God will produce in my life those qualities of the supernatural life.

Bible Reading: Psalm 35:1-9

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Confession and humbling will precede prayer in my life this day, so that I may be sure God hears and will answer

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Measuring Man

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There is a good chance you are reading this on your smartphone, waiting in line at a cash register as you participate in the great frenzy that is called Black Friday. It might be a good moment, then, to reflect on the importance of measurement and moderation.

I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand!  Zechariah 2:1

What is the meaning of this curious verse in Zechariah – the vision of a man with a measuring line in his hand? The scene was recorded 500 years before the birth of Christ. The prophet was forecasting the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem…a task that would require careful planning, prayer, measurement, collaboration and strategic deployment of resources. That’s a sharp contrast to the characteristics of Black Friday shopping, which is marked by heavy doses of impulse, chaos and hyperextension of credit lines.

As you enjoy the kickoff to the Christmas season and all of the wonderful things surrounding it, be sure to thank God for the freedoms He has given to you in this nation. And may you, and America’s leaders, use each resource in a strategic, measured, Godly way…for His glory.

Recommended Reading: Romans 12:3-13

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – A Prerequisite for Giving Thanks

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For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!—2 Corinthians 4:17

To give thanks, we must realize as Christians that God is in control of all circumstances that surround our lives, both good and bad.

In 2 Corinthians 4:17–18 we are told, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

The apostle Paul also wrote, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38). God loves you, and He is always looking for your eternal benefit. God is wiser than we are. And if He tells us to not do something, He does so for good reason.

Now, the Devil doesn’t want you to believe that. He would whisper in your ear, “God hates you. God wants to ruin your life. All those rules in the Bible are just there to make life miserable. You Christians serve an oppressive God who doesn’t want you to have any fun.”

What a bunch of nonsense. I’ve lived apart from Christ. I’ve had the so-called fun this world has to offer, and it wasn’t fun at all. I’ve also found that a life with Christ is a life of fulfillment and purpose.

We must realize that God loves us and is always looking out for our eternal benefit, even if what we are presently going through is difficult.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God Does What He Says He Will Do

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Faith is a choice. It is! And Promised Land people risk the choice. When forced to stand at the crossroads of belief and unbelief, they choose belief. They place one determined step after the other on the pathway of faith. Seldom with a skip, usually with a limp. They make a conscious decision to step toward God, to lean into hope, to heed the call of heaven. They press into the promises of God.

Joshua 21:43-45 urges us to do likewise. In fact, one might argue that the central message of the book is this headline: God keeps his promises. Trust him. “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.”

Don’t miss this! Attention everyone. God keeps his word! God does what he says he will do!

From Glory Days

Night Light - James & Shirley Dobson

Night Light for Couples – Dear Daddy

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by Gary Smalley and John Trent

Largely unused in marriages, homes, friendships, and businesses is a tool called emotional word pictures that can supercharge communication and change lives. This concept is as old as ancient kings but so timeless that it has been used throughout the ages in every society. It has the capacity to capture people’s attention by simultaneously engaging their thoughts and feelings. Along with its ability to move us to deeper levels of intimacy, it has the staying power to make a lasting impression.

When faced with the breakup of her parents’ marriage, a hurting teenager named Kimberly used the following word picture in this letter to her father:

Dear Daddy, It’s late at night, and I’m sitting in the middle of my bed writing to you. I’ve wanted to talk with you so many times during the past few weeks. But there never seems to be any time when we’re alone.

Dad, I realize you’re dating someone else. And I know you and Mom may never get back together. That’s terribly hard to accept—especially knowing that you may never come back home or be an “everyday” dad to me and Brian again. But I want you at least to understand what’s going on in our lives.

Don’t think that Mom asked me to write this. She didn’t. She doesn’t know I’m writing, and neither does Brian. I just want to share with you what I’ve been thinking.

Dad, I feel like our family has been riding in a nice car for a long time. You know, the kind you always like to have as a company car. It’s the kind that has every extra inside and not a scratch on the outside.

But over the years, the car has developed some problems. It’s smoking a lot, the wheels wobble, and the seat covers are ripped. The car’s been really hard to drive or ride in because of all the shaking and squeaking. But it’s still a great automobile—or at least it could be. With a little work, I know it could run for years.

Since we got the car, Brian and I have been in the backseat while you and Mom have been up front. We feel really secure with you driving and Mom beside you. But last month, Mom was at the wheel.

It was nighttime, and we had just turned the corner near our house. Suddenly, we all looked up and saw another car, out of control, heading straight for us. Mom tried to swerve out of the way, but the other car smashed into us. The impact sent us flying off the road and crashing into a lamppost.

The thing is, Dad, just before we were hit, we could see that you were driving the other car. And we saw something else: Sitting next to you was another woman.

It was such a terrible accident that we were all rushed to the emergency ward. But when we asked where you were, no one knew. We’re still not really sure where you are or if you were hurt or if you need help.

Mom was really hurt. She was thrown into the steering wheel and broke several ribs. One of them punctured her lungs and almost pierced her heart.

When the car wrecked, the back door smashed into Brian. He was covered with cuts from the broken glass, and he shattered his arm, which is now in a cast. But that’s not the worst. He’s still in so much pain and shock that he doesn’t want to talk or play with anyone.

As for me, I was thrown from the car. I was stuck out in the cold for a long time with my right leg broken. As I lay there, I couldn’t move and didn’t know what was wrong with Mom and Brian. I was hurting so much myself that I couldn’t help them.

There have been times since that night when I wondered if any of us would make it. Even though we’re getting a little better, we’re all still in the hospital. The doctors say I’ll need a lot of therapy on my leg, and I know they can help me get better. But I wish it were you who was helping me, instead of them.

The pain is so bad, but what’s even worse is that we all miss you so much. Every day we wait to see if you’re going to visit us in the hospital, and every day you don’t come. I know it’s over. But my heart would explode with joy if somehow I could look up and see you walk into my room.

At night when the hospital is really quiet, they push Brian and me into Mom’s room, and we all talk about you. We talk about how much we loved driving with you and how we wish you were with us now.

Are you all right? Are you hurting from the wreck? Do you need us like we need you? If you need me, I’m here and I love you.

Your daughter, Kimberly

LOOKING AHEAD …

More than two months before writing this letter, Kimberly had watched her father, Steve, walk out of his family’s life with plans to divorce his wife and pursue a relationship with another woman. The heartache that Kimberly, her mother, and her brother felt was indescribable. But the anguish also extended to Steve. Only a few weeks after leaving, he began to second‐guess his decision.

That’s the impact of divorce. It appears to be a solution when in fact it brings only pain and new difficulties. A few days after receiving Kimberly’s letter, Steve appeared on his family’s doorstep and asked to come back. He realized that divorce wasn’t the answer to his family’s problems. Would you ever consider it an answer to yours? Has your marriage ever been on the brink of breaking up? This week, we’re going to take a candid look at the divorce “solution.”

– James C Dobson

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