Daily Archives: April 29, 2016

Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – RESCUED AND RECONCILED

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Read Colossians 1:3-23

Roman emperor Caesar Augustus understood the value of political propaganda. In addition to his military victories that ended a civil war and his extensive public works campaigns, he also commissioned poets to sing his praises. Virgil, who wrote the Aeneid in honor of Augustus, also penned these lines: “He shall have the gift of divine life, shall see heroes mingled with gods, and shall himself be seen by them, and shall rule the world to which his father’s prowess brought peace.”

Despite the lofty attributes ascribed to him by poets, Augustus did not in fact have divine life. But as we see in our passage today, there is One who is truly worthy of such lavish praise. The apostle Paul wrote a magnificent hymn of praise to Jesus, every word of which is true. This text also describes how our identity as blessed in Christ flows from His unique being and nature.

We’ll focus on two parts of our identity mentioned in this passage. First, we have been rescued and redeemed from the power of sin (vv. 13–14). We had no claim based on our own merit or qualifications to enter the kingdom of God, but we have been given this privilege based on the work of salvation that Jesus accomplished for us (v. 12).

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – IS THERE A SPIRITUAL LESSON IN THE NFL DRAFT?

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The first round of the NFL Draft is over. Jared Goff was drafted first by the Rams, followed by Carson Wentz, drafted by the Eagles. (For more on the latter, see Nick Pitts’s The Life and Faith of Carson Wentz.) Both teams gave up a great deal to be in position to choose them. Will they become Pro Bowl quarterbacks, or will they soon be forgotten?

NFL teams do their best to draft the best players for their teams, but no one knows if their best will be good enough. Of the eighty-one players chosen number one, only fourteen have made it to the Hall of Fame so far. No team has drafted number one and won the Super Bowl the same year. Only eight have even made the playoffs that year.

Now consider this miracle in God’s word: When the priests of Israel stepped into the flooded Jordan river, “the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan” (Joshua 3:16). The town of Adam was twenty miles upstream. It took several hours after God stopped the river there for the rest of the water to reach the place where the priests stood.

But the moment they set their foot in the flood, the last of the river reached them. God began this miracle hours before his people knew it or could participate in it. They did their work while trusting God to do his.

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