Daily Archives: January 2, 2016

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – A Man After God’s Heart

Leave a comment

Acts 13:13-22

Have you ever visited a cemetery and seen a gravestone with a poignant epitaph of the person buried there? It’s not uncommon to see descriptions like “Devoted Mother” or “Beloved Friend” on these markers. In the distant future, what would you want someone to read etched on your tombstone? What epitaph would summarize the best part of your life?

In the book of Acts, we discover how history remembered mighty King David. In a sermon to a primarily Jewish group, the apostle Paul referred to David, who was well known to the audience. Remembering all of the king’s great accomplishments during his reign, how did Paul choose to describe him? He declared that David was the one person whom God called “a man after His own heart.” (See Acts 13:22; 1 Sam. 13:14.)

Continue reading Charles Stanley – A Man After God’s Heart →

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — He Will Reply

Leave a comment

 

Read: Psalm 91

Bible in a Year: Genesis 4-6; Matthew 2

He will call on me, and I will answer him. —Psalm 91:15

I was elated when I came upon the Twitter page of my favorite Korean movie star, so I decided to drop her a note. I crafted the best message I could and waited for a reply. I knew it was unlikely I would receive a response. A celebrity like her would receive an enormous amount of fan mail every day. Still, I hoped she would reply. But I was disappointed.

Continue reading Our Daily Bread — He Will Reply →

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Becoming What You Are

Leave a comment

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1).

The Christian life is simply becoming what Christ has already made you.

Suppose immediately after you were saved, the Lord stamped your forehead with the words, “Watch me. I’m a child of God.” How would that affect your lifestyle?

We may not have a physical mark like that, but we do bear the name of Christ in this world. When we first put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we became part of His family (Gal. 4:1-7). He “freely bestowed” His grace on us (Eph. 1:6). He “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (1:3). And we have a rich, glorious inheritance in heaven (1:18). As God’s children, we indeed have many rights, honors, and privileges, but He expects us to behave like His children. Just as a child honors his father by obeying him, we honor God by walking worthy of Him. Our actions must be actions He would approve. Our desires must be His desires. Our goals and objectives must be His goals and objectives.

Continue reading John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Becoming What You Are →

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters, Boyd Bailey – The Great Adventure 

Leave a comment

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8

God’s will is a series of discoveries. It is the transition between discoveries that tests the true nature of my faith. I can press forward by faith, or I can analyze the situation until I am paralyzed by uncertainty. Abraham continued toward the unknown because he was certain the Lord was leading him. Great adventure accompanies my obedience to God.

Believers who are bound and determined to obey Christ are not bored. We are compelled by the love for our Lord to conquer the next challenging circumstance and pioneer the unfamiliar in prayer. We become soft and satisfied when we stop seeking the next kingdom opportunity. Our Savior Jesus is our Sherpa (guide) as we traverse in trust.

“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way” (Psalm 25:9).

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters, Boyd Bailey – The Great Adventure  →

Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Strength in Numbers: Noah

Leave a comment

And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth.

Genesis 8:13

Recommended Reading

Hebrews 11:1-7

Imagine 46,000 cups of tea. That’s the count for Queen Elizabeth II. That statistic came to light last fall when she became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, surpassing Queen Victoria’s reign of 63 years, 7 months, and 2 days. Journalists calculated the number based on her two customary daily cups of tea.

Continue reading Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Strength in Numbers: Noah →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Invitation

Leave a comment

…What I have forgiven…has been for your sakes…to keep Satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions. —2 Corinthians 2:10-11

Suppose we receive a package from an overnight carrier. After we open it, we stare at a beautiful, oversized envelope, with our name written on it in exquisite calligraphy. Inside, the invitation starts with these words:

You are invited to enjoy a life filled with misery, worry, and confusion.

Which one of us would say yes to such an outrageous invitation? Don’t we seek the kind of life that keeps us free from such pain and distractions? Yet many of us choose such a life. Not that we blatantly make that choice, but we sometimes surrender—even temporarily—to Satan’s invitation. His attack is ongoing and relentless—the devil is persistent! Our enemy bombards our minds with every weapon at his disposal every day of our lives.

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – The Invitation →

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – Sharon Jaynes – God Sees You

Leave a comment

Today’s Truth

She [Hagar] gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.

Genesis 16:13

Friend to Friend

Let’s face it. People let us down. They disappoint us. And so does God. Often our experiences fall short of our expectations for God to meet all our needs the way we think He should, and like a lover who has been wronged, we tend to guard our hearts against future disappointment by lowering our expectations and trust. But make no mistake about it, God sees. God understands. He is not aloof.

One day I was sitting on the patio with my friend Beth and her stepfather, Sam, waiting for the grill to heat up before placing steaks on to cook. Beth’s mom opened the door and gave Sam his orders — telling him what to do and how to do it. When she went back inside, Sam made a hand signal, pointing in one ear and out the other. We all three laughed. Then he placed his ruddy hand on Beth’s arm, a hand worn by years of working under the hood of cars of every make and model.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Sharon Jaynes – God Sees You →

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – You Can Know the Spirit’s Fullness

Leave a comment

 

“Be filled…with the Holy Spirit and controlled by Him” (Ephesians 5:18).

An enthusiastic, attractive couple traveled from their home in Chicago to Arrowhead Springs to share with me an idea about which they were very excited.

“We heard one of your filmed lectures on ‘How to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit.’ Our lives have been dramatically changed as a result of what you shared,” they said. “We have come all this way to encourage you to go on nationwide television and tell Christians how they can know the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit and experience His revolutionary impact in and through their lives.”

I am humbly grateful to God for the privilege of sharing these great truths concerning the Holy Spirit with tens of millions of people throughout the world, often with the same dramatic results experienced by this remarkable couple.

Continue reading Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – You Can Know the Spirit’s Fullness →

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman -Born of God

Leave a comment

Read: John 1:5-13

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)

John’s gospel, in chapter 1, immediately confronts us with the world’s darkness, and with men’s blindness that cannot see the Creator’s power when demonstrated in their midst, and cannot see the Messiah when he fulfills all the Old Testament prophecies. But John never calls this a failure, and we must never read it as such. God did what he set out to do—some believed and some received, as we read in verses 12 and 13.

Continue reading Ray Stedman -Born of God →

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team;  J.K. – Spirit-filled Consequences

Leave a comment

Men feverishly rushed to California in the l840s looking for gold and silver. They sacrificed their lives to search for the precious metals. Miners discovered copper in the mountains of Arizona, and today companies run 24-7 to bring it out of the ground.

Seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures.

Proverbs 2:4

Continue reading Presidential Prayer Team;  J.K. – Spirit-filled Consequences →

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Don’t Blame the Paper Boy When You Don’t Like the News

Leave a comment

 

“How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” —Romans 10:15

When I was a boy, I used to deliver newspapers for the Orange County Daily Pilot in Southern California.

I had the bags mounted on my cool Schwinn Stingray bicycle. (I still remember that bike well: large slick tire in the back, smaller tire up front, banana seat, and best of all—a stick shift! Sort of a chopper-style bicycle.)

I got pretty good at hitting my targets with those papers. There were often obstacles in the way—a hedge here, a wall there. The goal was to get that paper as close to the front porch as I could.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – Don’t Blame the Paper Boy When You Don’t Like the News →

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Forgiving

Leave a comment

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)

How far is the east from the west? Let’s suppose you decide you want to measure the distance between east and west. If you were to get into an airplane and start traveling east, you could circle the earth for the rest of your life and never find the end of east. You could fly west around our planet a zillion times and never find a point where west meets east. The fact is, neither east nor west has an end, and the space between east and west is infinite.

When you trust in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made on Calvary, He forgives your sins and removes them from you as far as the east is from west. In other words, God will not judge you for the sins you have committed. He erases the penalty of those sins completely.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Forgiving →

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Going Our Own Way

Leave a comment

Today’s Scripture: 1 Peter 2:25

“You were straying like sheep.”

One of the most damning indictments of mankind is found in Isaiah 53:6: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (NIV). Going our own way is the very essence, the very core, of sin. Your way may be to give money to charity; another person’s way may be to rob a bank. But neither is done with reference to God; both of you have gone your own way. And in a world governed by a sovereign Creator, that is rebellion.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Going Our Own Way →

The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional –  Called-Out Ones

Leave a comment

Today’s Scripture: Exodus 19:1-6

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. – Acts 2:42

Shortly after I became a Christian, I heard a famous preacher speak on “churchianity.” He said, “Don’t confuse churchianity with Christianity. They are not the same. Churchianity will not save you, because the church can’t save. Only Christ can save. And Christianity is Christ.”

Of course, I knew what he was saying. All the same, I grew a bit suspicious of the value of the church and the place of the church in daily life. After that night the church intrigued me, and I wanted to find its proper place in my Christian life.

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional –  Called-Out Ones →

Moody Global Ministries, Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – Shame Uncovered

Leave a comment

 

Read Genesis 3:1-13

You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17

A child playing hide-and-seek will often cover her eyes with her hands, thinking that the rest of her body is then also hidden. An adult learns to hide his secrets more effectively, avoiding eye contact in order to disguise his thoughts and feelings.

As we saw yesterday, Adam and Eve were created by God, and they were innocent and guileless in the way they related to God and to others. When Eve encountered the serpent, she was not guarded or discreet in her interaction with him. Like a child, she took his questions at face value. She did not have knowledge of good and evil—though she did know God’s command (see Gen. 2:17).

Continue reading Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – Shame Uncovered →