Monthly Archives: June 2016

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – More Than We Could Hope For

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“Now glory be to God who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes” (Ephesians 3:20).

Few verses describe the supernatural life better than does this powerful promise. On hundreds, if not thousands, of occasions I have meditated upon this truth and have been inspired to claim increasingly great and mighty things for the glory of God because of the inspiration contained in this Word. Think of it, the omnipotent Creator, God who created the heavens and the earth and the vastness of all the hundreds of millions of galaxies, has come to take up residence within us! Our bodies have become His temple. That omnipotnet, divine, supernatural, inexhaustible resource power dwells within every believer.

How much power? Far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of! Let your mind race, your prayers be without limit, and yet, whatever you believe, whatever you think, whatever you pray for, God’s power is infinitely beyond it all.

I have come to the conclusion, after many years of serving our wonderful Lord, that there is nothing too big for us to attempt for the glory of God. If our hearts and motives are pure, if what we do is according to the Word of God, He hears, and is able to do more than we ask or even think.

For example, is it God’s will that the Great Commission be fulfilled? Of course. It is His command. We read further in 2 Peter 3:9 that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and has, according to verse 15 of this chapter, delayed His return in order that more people might have a chance to hear.

Let your mind soar over the vastness of the earth, where there is a continuous population explosion, and each generation is faced with another billion or more souls to pray for. I challenge you to believe God for the entire world to be blanketed with His love and forgiveness.

Continue reading Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – More Than We Could Hope For →

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Prayer’s Practicality

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Read: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain. And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10

At first glance that looks like a self-centered prayer. It sounds like the man who prayed, Bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, us four and no more. But Jabez is really not being selfish. He is praying for something God wanted him to have. That is the difference between being personal and being selfish. Selfish prayers are prayers which ask God for something he does not want us to have, at least not then, demanding prayers that are interested only in our own immediate welfare, for our own satisfaction. But God promises great and mighty things to us personally that we may lay hold of, so to pray in this way is not selfish, but personal.

Look more closely at these four requests. First he asks, Oh, that you would bless me. What do you mean when you pray to be blessed? This is a request for an inner sense of relationship with God. Blessing is drawing near to God, finding him, knowing him personally. He is praying, Lord, first, above all else, let there be this consciousness that you are my God, that I belong to you and you belong to me.

Second, Jabez prays, Enlarge my territory. This is a prayer for opportunity, for the restoration, in his case, of his lost inheritance, for a place to stand in the midst of the culture of his day in which he might gain some sense of status and respect. For us it means to find a way to break out of whatever may be limiting us, hemming us in and enslaving us. You may feel that you are in a situation in which you have no opportunity to grow, to advance, to be fulfilled and satisfied. If that is the case, this is the proper kind of prayer to pray, Lord, give me that opportunity.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Prayer’s Practicality →

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Travel Bravely

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Read: Psalm 112

He will not fear bad news. (v. 7)

“How ya doin’?” I asked the lady who cleans the condo unit next to ours. “Good,” she answered. Then added, “My mom did die last week.” I said, “I’m sorry.” She said, “It’s OK, she’s at peace. My brother and sisters aren’t though. They’re not believers.”

For unbelievers death ends dear relationships. In contrast, when you hope in the Lord, even death is not the end. You anticipate the joyful reunion God promises. Until then, our Good Shepherd provides all we want or need to complete our journey from earth to heaven. Our goal is, like the cleaning lady, to travel with a steadfast heart avoiding a fearful and wavering heart through the grace God gives us.

A suggestion for keeping a steadfast heart: avoid watching much “breaking news” on TV, lest you become a “broken person.” Pictures of floods, fires, killings, and wars—the devil is happy to use all of these to make us fearful. The way to certainty and confidence is to trust in the truth of God’s unfailing Word. Let his promises provide you with a steadfast heart.

When traveling, children ask, “Are we there yet?” You and I have not finished our course. Fix your mind on God. Memorize promises such as “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you” (Isa. 26:3). Refuse to be anxious about anything and pray about everything, and “the peace of God . . . will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).

Prayer:

Lord, I will focus on Christ my Savior.

Author: Chic Broersma

 

https://woh.org/

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Decide Ahead of Time

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But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank.—Daniel 1:8

Phillips Brooks said, “Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.”

We will develop habits in life that can be good or bad, depending on what kind of habits they are. If they are bad habits, that will be troublesome. If they are good habits, that will be beneficial. As a young Christian, I developed the habit of reading my Bible every day, starting the day with the Word of God. That is a good habit. I also developed the habit of biting my fingernails. That is a bad habit.

We develop these habits and patterns that we carry on through life. In the early years, the die is cast. The course is charted. The path is followed.

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel were four young men who were ready to face the big moments later because of decisions they made earlier in life. These Jewish teenagers ended up as captives in Babylon, and they were facing heavy-duty temptation.

Suddenly the world was their oyster. And Nebuchadnezzar was hoping they would be seduced by all the luxuries he placed before them. Yet they had a God to serve and a stand to make. The Bible tells us that “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank” (Daniel 1:8). They made a stand in a relatively small area, and didn’t compromise.

If you compromise now, you will regret it later. You decide the evening of your life by the morning of it. It is not a mystical thing you have nothing to say about. You decide.

Decide now the kind of stand you are going to make then.

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Good

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“For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5)

As a kid I always loved going over to visit my “cousins.” They weren’t really my cousins, but since our families spent so much time together, we called each other cousins. It was fun to be at David’s house because his dad was a police officer and had really cool things to show us…such as real handcuffs! And what made David’s house even more fun was that he had a big swimming pool in his backyard.

Without fail, every time I was ready to go down the street and play at David’s house, my mom would tell me something that you have probably heard before: “Be good!” Why would Mom have to tell me to be good? She told me because she knew that my being good was a choice I had to make.

But no one has to tell God to “be good,” because He just is good. He can’t choose to do wrong.

God’s goodness is seen in His creation. Right after God finished creating the world, He looked at it and saw that He had done something good. Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” God never has to do anything over; everything was good the first time He created it.

God’s goodness is seen in His involvement in our lives. Have you ever read the story of Joseph in the Bible? Joseph’s brothers hated him, so they sold him to a group of people who were going to use Joseph as a slave. But God was being good to Joseph the whole time that all of this was going on.

Eventually God put Joseph in a very high position in a foreign country. Joseph used his high position in the land to prepare for a seven-year famine. Back in his home country, Joseph’s family ran out of food and had to go to the land where Joseph lived so that they could get more food.

When Joseph’s brothers came to him for food, what was his response? He forgave them and gave them as much as they needed. Why did Joseph do that and not try to get even with his brothers for selling him to be a slave? He didn’t try to get even because he understood God’s goodness. In Genesis 50:20, Joseph says, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

Joseph understood that God allowed all those things to happen to him so he would be in a position to help thousands of people during the famine. God is always working in your life, and it is good!

God’s goodness is seen in His gifts. Have you ever wanted to get the perfect gift for someone? Maybe at Christmas time you go up and down the aisles of the store looking for that perfect gift for Mom or Dad. When they open the gift, you are holding your breath with excitement, hoping that they just absolutely love the gift that you picked out.

God is constantly giving us gifts, which the Bible describes as “good gifts.” James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

God doesn’t have to be told to be good, because He is good. And according to Psalm 52:1, His goodness endures forever!

God is always good, and He is only good.

My Response:

» Since God is always good, do I remember that I can totally trust Him to be good in my life?

 

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – The Hostility Gone

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:18

“All this is from God.”

One reason we don’t appreciate the grace of God more is that we either don’t understand or don’t appreciate the radical dimension of the instantaneous act of sanctification which God gives at salvation. If we had a moral lifestyle before conversion, we find it difficult to accept Paul’s description of our attitude toward God: “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8). We don’t think of our former attitude as being hostile to God’s law.

But human morality and submission to God’s law are entirely different in principle, though they may appear similar in outward appearance. Human morality arises out of culture and family training and is based on what is proper and expected in society. It has nothing to do with God except to the extent that godly people have influenced that society. Submission to God’s law arises out of a love for God and a grateful response to his grace, and is based on a delight in his law as revealed in Scripture. When society’s standards vary from Scripture, we then see the true nature of human morality: It’s just as hostile to God’s law as is the attitude of the most hardened sinner.

Sanctification changes our attitude. Instead of being hostile to God’s law, we begin to delight in it (Romans 7:22). We find that “his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3), but rather are “holy and righteous and good” (Romans 7:12). This radical and dramatic change in our attitude toward God’s commands is a gift of his grace, brought about solely by the mighty working of his Spirit within us.

 

https://www.navigators.org/Home

The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Christ in You

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Today’s Scripture: Mark 11-13

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” – Luke 6:46

Jesus was a man of action, and His actions never failed to communicate the great desire and heart of God toward His people.

There is no greater example of this than in Mark 11:15-17: On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, He said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Can you picture the scene? The house of God had actually become a hindrance to those seeking God. Jesus came in and started turning over tables and cash registers, and told people to get out. He took drastic action, because anything that would keep people from finding salvation in the true and living God must be dealt with.

This is true of our lives as well. God wants us to be like salt, making people thirsty for God. And He wants us to be channels through which His living water can flow and quench the spiritual thirst of others.

Christian, does your life attract others to Christ, or have you become like the temple of Jesus’ day, full of commerce and religious activity, but void of any spiritual dimension and appeal? If some major housecleaning needs to be done, why not invite the Lord of action to take over and get started on it today?

Prayer

Lord, if there’s anything in my life right now that is hindering Your witness, please sweep it away. Amen.

To Ponder

When was the last time someone sought you out to talk about spiritual things?

 

https://www.navigators.org/Home

BreakPoint

BreakPoint –  Spell-Checking ‘Cisgender’: Neosexual Propaganda

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The sociologist Peter Berger once told a story in First Things about his childhood in Mussolini’s Italy and the ideological use of language.

Italian, like Spanish and French, has one way of addressing someone close to you, “tu,” and another for addressing a stranger, “lei,” which is also Italian for “she.”

As Berger told readers, Mussolini thought using “lei” was “effeminate” and “degenerate.” So instead of using “lei,” the Fascists insisted on substituting “voi,’ which is the second person plural – sort of like “you all.”

Linguistically-speaking, this was nonsense. But it had real-world consequences: “From that moment on,” Berger wrote, “every time you said ‘lei’ in Italy you were making an anti-Fascist gesture, consciously or unconsciously . . . And every time you said ‘voi’ you were making the linguistic equivalent of the Fascist salute.”

Berger’s story comes to mind in this latest encounter with a neo-logism courtesy of the sexual revolution. The new word is “cisgender.” In case you are unfamiliar with this word, it is used to refer to, to quote Wikipedia, “people whose experiences of their own gender agree with the sex they were assigned at birth.”

Now statistically-speaking, that’s virtually everyone. Dare I say, a better word could be “normal.” But note how embedded in the definition itself, gender is chosen and sex is assigned—as if it were not tied to reality at all.

Continue reading BreakPoint –  Spell-Checking ‘Cisgender’: Neosexual Propaganda →

Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – A FATHER’S DISAPPOINTMENT

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Read 1 Samuel 8

Many family counselors have observed that people who grow up in a dysfunctional home are more likely to reproduce the same patterns as adults. But childhood circumstances don’t always determine the future. Growing up in a good home does not guarantee we will share those values. Others who grow up in shocking circumstances transcend their trauma and build a very different life.

Eli had been an indolent and neglectful father. Samuel was a man of integrity. Unfortunately, Samuel was no more successful in parenting than Eli had been. After Samuel had grown old, the leaders of Israel came to him and demanded that he appoint them a king (v. 5). This was a double disappointment for Samuel, who understood their request as a personal rejection.

When Samuel expressed his displeasure to God, the Lord told him to go through with it. “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you” (vv. 7–8).

None of us will parent perfectly, and some disappointments result from our own mistakes. But children also make their own choices for which we are not to blame. Samuel and Eli are not the only fathers whose children have rebelled. God the Father has shared the same experience since the Garden of Eden. Who is a better parent than God the Father? If He has children who refuse to follow in His ways, should we be surprised if the same thing sometimes happens to us? Perhaps we can learn to see our disappointment as an opportunity to appreciate the perfect love and faithfulness of God the Father.

APPLY THE WORD

We would like to believe parenting can be reduced to a few principles, a guaranteed formula, or the right perspective. The truth is that human relationships are far more complicated. Whether you have felt disappointment as a parent or neglected as a child, take comfort in the perfect parent, God our Father, who perfectly loves, forgives, and cares for us.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – ‘ANGELS’ BLOCK PROTESTERS AT ORLANDO FUNERAL

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Christopher Andrew Leinonen was one of the victims of the Orlando massacre. As thousands gathered for his funeral last Saturday, a handful of protesters from Westboro Baptist Church arrived. The tiny church has made itself famous over the years by picketing the funerals of military personnel and anyone else with whom it disagrees.

But this time the protesters were met by a group of men and women dressed as angels. Their large wings formed a wall that shielded mourners from the picketers. The tactic worked: one attendee said, “We couldn’t even hear WBC. All you could hear was peace and love.”

As a theologian who is convinced that the Bible forbids same-sex activity, I am saddened by the success of LGBT advocates in promoting their unbiblical agenda in our culture. But as a Christian who is convinced that God loves us all, no matter our sexual orientation or lifestyle, I am also saddened by the response of some Christians to the Orlando tragedy. A pastor in Sacramento said in a sermon, “The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die.” A pastor in Arizona said of the massacre, “I’m not sad about it; I’m not going to cry about it.”

God disagrees.

Do you love anyone enough to send your child to die for them? Does anyone love you that much? The Lord does: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). As a result, “anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).

Continue reading Denison Forum – ‘ANGELS’ BLOCK PROTESTERS AT ORLANDO FUNERAL →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – When We Feel Frustrated

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Philippians 4:10-13

During seasons of frustration, a natural reaction is to blame circumstances or individuals. When we find ourselves hindered from achieving our goals, discontent may be triggered by external forces, even though the root cause often is internal. Then we sometimes make changes—such as quitting a job, ending a friendship, or moving away—in an attempt to spare ourselves further dissatisfaction. But that’s not how to find genuine peace. When frustrated, we must determine the cause. Discontent has three internal roots:

One is the inability to accept ourselves as God created us. The talents, personality, and physical attributes we’ve been given may not be what we desire, but they are exactly what we need to follow God’s will for our life. Dwelling on what we lack or what we’d change distracts us from serving Him.

A second root is a reluctance to deal with our past. We may have painful memories or recall mistakes that brought us heartache. Only when we admit their impact and confront any resulting emotional or psychological issues can we move on in peace.

The final source of frustration is a refusal to deal with behaviors or attitudes that are outside the Lord’s will. Holding on to an ungodly spirit or a bad habit will often lead to the useless practice of repeatedly trying to justify ourselves to our heavenly Father and those around us.

The human solution for frustration—changing our external situations—will fail every single time. The only way to truly uproot our frustration is by relying on God for the strength to grapple with its source.

Bible in a Year: Psalms 50-54

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Hoo-ah!

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Read: Psalm 68:7–10,19–20 | Bible in a Year: Esther 1–2; Acts 5:1–21

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah. Psalm 68:19 nkjv

The US Army’s expression “hoo-ah” is a guttural response barked when troops voice approval. Its original meaning is lost to history, but some say it is derived from an old acronym HUA—Heard, Understood, and Acknowledged. I first heard the word in basic training.

Many years later it found its way into my vocabulary again when I began to meet on Wednesday mornings with a group of men to study the Scriptures. One morning one of the men—a former member of the 82nd Airborne Division—was reading one of the psalms and came to the notation selah that occurs throughout the psalms. Instead of reading “selah,” however, he growled hoo-ah, and that became our word for selah ever after.

Every single morning God loads us up on His shoulders and carries us through the day.

No one knows for certain what selah actually means. Some say it is only a musical notation. It often appears after a truth that calls for a deep-seated, emotional response. In that sense hoo-ah works for me.

This morning I read Psalm 68:19: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily [day to day] loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah” (nkjv).

Imagine that! Every single morning God loads us up on His shoulders and carries us through the day. He is our salvation. Thus safe and secure in Him, we’ve no cause for worry or for fear. “Hoo-ah!” I say.

Day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here. Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.  Lina Sandell Berg

Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Oswald Chambers

INSIGHT:

Psalm 68 is written from the historical context of the Hebrew worshipers. The psalmist declares the awesome power of God by calling Him the “One of Sinai” and the “God of Israel” (v. 8). By doing this he reminds the Hebrews of God’s faithfulness. Who is this God who goes out before the people? (v. 7). He is the God of Israel who spoke to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron saying, “Let my people go” (Ex. 5:1), and He is the One of Sinai who gave them the Ten Commandments (Ex. 19–20). The psalmist reminds Israel that the God who heard their cries in Egypt still hears, and the One who provided in the desert still provides.

By David Roper

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Into the Story

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Science fiction novelist Kurt Vonnegut once said of one of his most recurrent characters, “Trout was the only character I ever created who had enough imagination to suspect that he might be the creation of another human being. He had spoken of this possibility several times to his parakeet. He had said, for instance, ‘Honest to God, Bill, the way things are going, all I can think of is that I’m a character in a book by somebody who wants to write about somebody who suffers all the time.”(1) In this scene from the book Breakfast of Champions, Kilgore Trout’s haunting suspicion is unveiled before him. Sitting content at a bar, Kilgore is suddenly overwhelmed by someone or something that has entered the room. Beginning to sweat, he becomes uncomfortably aware of a presence disturbingly greater than himself.

The author himself, Kurt Vonnegut, has stepped beyond the role of narrator and into the book itself, and the effect is as bizarre for Kilgore as it is for the readers. When the author of the book steps into the novel, fiction is lost within a higher reality, and Kilgore senses the world as he knows it collapsing. In fact, this was the author’s intent. Vonnegut has placed himself in Kilgore’s world for no other reason than to explain the meaninglessness of Kilgore’s life. He came to explain to Kilgore face to face that the very tiresome life he has led was, in fact, all due to the pen and whims of an author who made it all up for his own sake. In this twisted ending, no doubt illustrative of Vonnegut’s own humanism, Kilgore is forced to conclude that apart from the imagination of the author he does not actually exist. Ironically, he also must come to terms with the fact that it is because of the author that his very existence has been ridiculous.

The gospel writers tell a story that is perhaps as fantastic as Vonnegut’s tale, though one with consequences in stark contrast. The Gospel of John, too, begins with a story that is interrupted by the presence of the author: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and that life was the light of all people… And the word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a Father’s only son, full of grace and truth… From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.”(2) As Eugene Peterson aptly translates, “The word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” But in this story, the presence of the author is not our demise but our inherent good.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Into the Story →

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Integrity Is a Powerful Witness

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“Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!’ Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them” (Daniel 3:26-27).

A righteous life attracts people to God.

When Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven” (Matt. 5:16; compare v. 14), He was teaching that what we believe as Christians must be evident in the way we live. When it is, others will be drawn to God and honor Him.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were powerful witnesses for God because they lived according to their convictions. Nebuchadnezzar had done everything he could to intimidate them into compromise, and when that failed he called for their death. But God’s protection of them was so thorough that the intense flames didn’t even singe their hair or scorch their clothing. In fact, they emerged from the furnace without so much as the smell of smoke on them.

So powerful was the integrity of these young men and the hand of God upon their lives that within just a few short verses Nebuchadnezzar went from defying God to exulting Him as “the Most High God.” That phrase doesn’t mean he had abandoned his traditional worship of many gods (apparently that comes in Daniel 4), but he was placing the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego at the top of the list.

So it is when your life impacts others for Christ. They may not yet fully believe, but God uses your faithfulness as a foundation for His future work in their lives.

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask the Lord to use you to witness to someone today.

For Further Study

We have seen the impact of a consistently godly life, but according to Romans 2:17-24, what is the impact of a hypocritical life?

 

http://www.gty.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Leave Everything in God’s Hands 

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I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:9-10

Leave everything in God’s hands and eventually you’ll see God’s hand in everything. I have seen this truth work itself out over the years in my marriage, parenting teenagers (four all at once!), career transitions, health challenges, relational issues and financial struggles. As my grandmother told me as a young man, “Son, I’m good at leaving things in God’s hands, but I struggle not to take it back into my hands.” I’ve never regretted giving anything to the Lord, but I have regretted taking it back. I’m learning to trust the hands—of the One whose handiwork declares His glory!

Isaiah poetically and beautifully describes us as servants of the Lord chosen and accepted by Him. No need to fear or be dismayed, because the presence of God is pronounced and personal. He strengthens and helps His children by His Spirit and upholds those He loves by His totally trustworthy right hand. Jesus died and committed His spirit to His Father so He might fulfill the promises of God—salvation for all who believe and the sufficiency of His grace to name two. Faith unfolds by leaving everything in God’s hands and by beholding His hands in all things.

“My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken! “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word” (Isaiah 66:2, NLT).

What do you hold—even loosely—that you need to place in the hands of your heavenly Father? A child, a hurt or an opportunity that is slipping away? Place your fear in the hands of the One whose hand calmed the sea, and He will calm your heart. Leave your hurt in the hands of the One whose hand gave sight to the the blind, and He will heal your wounded heart. Put your financial desires in the hands of the One who owns everything, and He will give you peace and security. Put your personal view in the hands of the One whose perspective is perfect and He will give you clarity.

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – Leave Everything in God’s Hands  →

Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – No Place for the Devil

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Ephesians 4:27

Recommended Reading

Luke 4:13

Boy Scouts, infantry soldiers, and wilderness explorers are required to have a working knowledge of topography. The key root in “topography” is the Greek word topos, or “place.” So topography is the science of place—as in the places laid out on a map. In the New Testament topos is translated “place,” “locale,” or “opportunity.” When it occurs in Ephesians 4:27, it means not to give the devil a place or opportunity. The New International Version translates that verse as “Do not give the devil a foothold.” That works—a “foothold” being a “place” where a climber can insert his foot when scaling a cliff. A foothold was needed by soldiers seeking to gain entrance to an enemy stronghold or fort.

So what gives the devil this place, opportunity, or foothold? Sinful anger, Paul writes in Ephesians 4:26. The longer anger remains in the human heart, the greater an opportunity, the more secure a foothold, it becomes. All the devil needs to get his foot in the door of the human heart is for us to nurture our hurt feelings, anger, or resentment.

Keep short accounts; fill in the footholds; erase the sinful places from the map of your heart. Give the devil no opportunity. If the emotion of anger appears, make sure it has a godly purpose.

Anger is just one letter short of danger.

Unknown

Read-Thru-the-Bible

Psalms 81 – 88

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God Will Help You

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Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. . . . Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear not, I will help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,” says the Lord and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.—Isaiah 41:10-14 NKJV

When we start reading today’s Scripture, we might think, Wow. God must be talking to people who really have their act together, but the good news is that He is talking to ordinary people just like you and me. He helps us because He is good, not because we are. Fear comes against all of us, and God wants us to know that we don’t have to let the feelings of fear defeat us. We can keep moving forward in the presence of fear because He is with us.

If someone has hurt you or treated you unjustly, remember that God promises to deal with them and make them as nothing at all… nonexistent!! When we read that God will strengthen us that means He will enable us to do whatever we need to do today and everyday. God is with you, and that makes you equal to anything that comes against you. Because God is with you, that makes you greater than any problem you have.

Fear is not God’s will for you. He wants you to be bold, courageous, and confident, and you can be if you remind yourself often that you are not alone. God is with you!!

Love Yourself Today: Remember that God is with you at all times and you can do whatever you need to do.

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – Jump Into Abba’s Arms

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“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,”

Hebrews 11:1

Friend to Friend

One night a family was startled from sleep by the piercing blare of their smoke detector. The house was on fire and smoke swirled up the wooden staircase. The father bolted from his bed and ran to his children’s room. He grabbed his eighteen-month-old baby out of his crib, and dragged his four-year-old son by the hand. They were half-way down the stairs when the little boy remembered his favorite teddy bear in his room and broke away to go back and get it. In the mayhem and confusion, the father didn’t realize his son wasn’t with him until he reached the front yard.

By the time the little boy found his teddy bear, the flames had filled his room and trapped him inside. Smoke burned his lungs as he coughed and cried out the open window.

“Daddy! Daddy!” he cried. “Help me!

His dad called up to the lad, “I’m right here, son. Jump and I’ll catch you.”

“But Daddy,” the boy cried, “I can’t see you!”

“That’s OK, son,” he called. “I can see you! Now jump!”

The boy blindly jumped from the open window and landed safely in his father’s arms.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Jump Into Abba’s Arms →

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Not in Vain

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“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58, KJV).

“Do not let your belief of these truths be shaken,” the apostle Paul was saying to the Corinthian believers. “They are most certain, and of the utmost importance.”

In the context, you will remember that Paul had just been talking about the resurrection, and now he wanted them to be steadfast believers of this great truth. The person who has no belief in the afterlife – the resurrection – is of all men most miserable. His motto is: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

Paul also exhorts believers to be immovable in their expectation of being raised incorruptible and immortal. Christians should never lose sight of this hope of the gospel:

“The only condition is that you fully believe the Truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting Him to save you. This is the wonderful news that came to each of you and is now spreading all over the world. And I, Paul, have the joy of telling it to others” (Colossians 1:23).

Having determined to remain steadfast and unmovable for the rest of their lives, believers then are ready with God’s help to labor faithfully for the Lord, knowing that such labor is not in vain.

Bible Reading: I Corinthians 15:51-57

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Drawing by faith upon the supernatural resources of the Holy Spirit, I will keep my expectation and my hope steadfast and unmovable, continuing my service for the Lord with the confident assurance that it will not be in vain.

 

http://www.cru.org

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Travel Light (Part 2)

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Read: Psalm 32

You forgave the iniquity of my sin. (v. 5)

A man came to his doctor with a variety of symptoms: headaches, insomnia, upset stomach. No physical cause was found. The doctor said, “Unless you tell me what’s on your conscience, I can’t help you.” The man confessed as executor of his father’s estate, he had been defrauding his brother of his inheritance. The wise doctor made the man write to his brother asking forgiveness, plus enclosing a check as the first step in repayment. The doctor then walked him to the mail chute in the hallway. As the letter disappeared, the man broke into tears and said, “Thank you, I think I’m cured.” And he was.

King David would understand. After his awful sin with Bathsheba, he later wrote, “I acknowledged my sin to you” (v. 5). David did not seek out a medical doctor, a chiropractor, a massage specialist, a psychologist or psychiatrist. Surely there were forerunners of all these professional helpers in David’s day, only the titles have changed. This is not to say Christians never need professional help. It is to say, when we struggle through days carrying heavy loads in body and spirit, our first step should be to examine ourselves. Have we committed serious wrongs and not confessed them to the Lord? If so, like David, we will experience the Lord’s hand not as lifting us up but crushing us. When we do confess, we, like David, will experience the blessing of sins forgiven and joy returning (v. 11).

Prayer:

Lord, because you forgive my sins I rejoice in you.

Author: Chic Broersma

 

https://woh.org/