Charles Stanley – Developing Patience

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

On any given day, we may encounter frustrating people and situations. We may feel like lashing out, but God wants us to stay calm and be patient with everyone (1 Thess. 5:14). And in fact, there are a number of reasons we should develop patience:

Our Calling. Though once alienated from the Lord, we have been made part of His family through Jesus’ shed blood. As God’s children, we’re called to live a life worthy of Him—one that is characterized by humility, gentleness, and patience (Eph. 4:1-3).

Biblical Teaching. Scripture tells us to be tolerant of one another, bearing each other’s burdens and responding with kindness (Gal. 6:1-2).

Jesus’ Example. The Lord demonstrated patience toward Peter’s impetuous actions, the crowd’s demands, and the leaders’ false accusations. We are to cultivate an attitude of patience and love towards others.

Healthy Relationships. Our impatience can hurt others and close off dialogue. Responding calmly gives room for the other person to confess wrongdoing, explain an attitude, and make changes.

God’s Approval. The apostle Paul wrote that we are to be joyful in hope and patient in affliction (Rom. 12:12 NIV). When we quietly endure our suffering, we find favor with the Lord (1 Pet. 2:20).

The Holy Spirit is conforming us to Christ’s image. As we cooperate with Him, He will develop in us the ability to persevere—without becoming agitated—when waiting or provoked. A calm demeanor in times of delay or adversity can be a powerful witness to the transforming work of God.

Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 12-14

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Shaping Your Thoughts

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Read: Romans 12:1–8 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 84–86; Romans 12

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2

When Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “the medium is the message” in 1964, personal computers were unknown, mobile phones were science fiction, and the Internet didn’t exist. Today we understand what great foresight he had in predicting how our thinking is influenced in this digital age. In Nicholas Carr’s book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, he writes, “[The media] supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I’m online or not, my mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.”

I like J. B. Phillips’s paraphrase of Paul’s message to the Christians in Rome: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity” (Rom. 12:2). How relevant this is today as we find our thoughts and the way our minds process material affected by the world around us.

Let God’s Spirit, not the world, shape your mind.

We cannot stem the tide of information that bombards us, but we can ask God each day to help us focus on Him and to shape our thinking through His presence in our lives.

Father in heaven, still and focus my mind, quiet my heart, and fill me with Your thoughts throughout this day.

Let God’s Spirit, not the world, shape your mind.

INSIGHT:

Tradition has it that the apostle Peter brought the gospel to Rome. This is unlikely as there is no historical evidence that Peter was ever in Rome. The gospel was probably brought into Rome in two ways. First, among the three thousand converted on the day of Pentecost, there were “visitors from Rome” (Acts 2:10). These converted returnees could have brought the gospel back home. Second, because it was the capital city of the Roman Empire, thousands of other believers (visitors, tourists, soldiers, traders, businessmen, and migrants) would have come into Rome. These visiting believers would have brought the gospel with them.

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Faces in the Light

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Master photographer Edward Steichen once remarked that the mission of photography is to explain human to human and each to him or herself. It was a mission he found at once both complicated and naïve, but worth fumbling toward. “Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper,” notes Steichen. “The photographer begins with the finished product.”

It is a thought befitting of a scene from 2001, when the who’s who of the country’s finest photographers volunteered their time for such a mission. What they discovered is that when the “finished products” are the faces of children in foster care systems across the country, photography can offer can explain human to human in a way that offers the chance of new life.

Diane Granito is the founder of the Heart Gallery, a unique program that uses photography to help find homes for older foster children, sibling groups, and other children who are traditionally difficult to place with families.(1) The program started in New Mexico in 2001 at the suggestion of a local photographer. Space was then donated by a prominent gallery in the city, where more than a thousand people came opening night. The photos on exhibit were the end result of the photographers’ attempts to coax out the unique personalities in hundreds of children—a great contrast to the typical photos attached to a child’s file. “They look like mug shots,” said one of the photographers of the typical case photos. “This is an opportunity to just portray them as kids in their environments,” said another involved. “We’re treating this as a living, breathing project.”

Since its inception, the Santa Fe project has inspired 120 more Heart Galleries across the United States. In some places, the adoption rate after an exhibit is more than double the nationwide rate of adoption from foster care. Such photography earns a description worthy of its roots: photography in Greek means “to write in light.”

Those who work to find foster children adoptive families are used to rubbing up against the public perception that most foster children have serious emotional and behavioral problems. Sometimes, though not always, it is an accurate perception. And a picture offered in a different light does not change the child it portrays. But an image of a troubled child at play does offer the accurate light of hope.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Faces in the Light →

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Keeping the Treasure

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal’” (Matthew 6:19).

Heaven is the only safe place for treasure.

In the Orient during biblical times, wealth was basically preserved in three ways. There was no paper, there were no bank books, there was nothing to match the kind of system we have. Wealth was identified in literal commodities: garments, grain, and gold or precious metals.

Garments in the Bible were always an expression of wealth. In Judges 14:12 Samson told the Philistines that if they could answer his riddle, he would give them “thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.” But there is one problem with garments—moths eat them. Have you ever noticed that moths don’t eat what you wear, only what you store? We tend to hoard, and a lot of our treasure is invested in our garments, waiting for moths to destroy them.

Grain was another source of wealth. The rich fool said he would tear down his barns and build larger ones to store all his grain and goods (Luke 12:18). In Matthew 6:19 the Greek word translated “rust” literally means “eating.” The problem with grain is that mice, rats, worms, and vermin like to eat it.

The third commodity was gold or precious metal. The problem with this one is, where can a person hide it? He might keep it in his house, but a thief could break in and steal it. Therefore, it was common to find a secret place in a field and in the dark of night dig a hole and bury it. But thieves would lurk around at night and watch where men would bury their treasure, then later dig it up.

Nothing you own is completely safe from destruction or theft. And even if you keep your possessions perfectly secure during your entire life, you are certainly separated from them at death. That’s why Jesus said you should lay up treasures in Heaven “where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal” (v. 20). What about you? Are you putting your treasure in a safe place?

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank the Lord for providing a secure and eternal place where you can invest for His glory.

For Further Study

Read James 5:1-3. What happened to the commodities there?

http://www.gty.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Be With Jesus

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach. Mark 3:14

First and foremost, Jesus calls His children to be with Him. A disciple’s devotion to God precedes his or her duty for God. Otherwise, the primary goal becomes executing the mission of the Lord, instead of His first ministering to the heart of the mission-minded disciple. Obedience is critical, but not before receiving the love of Jesus. Intimacy defines compliance to His commands with grace. Solitude with the Savior prepares a disciple to serve for the Savior.

Yes, our primary call is to be with God on earth, before we go to be with Him in heaven. Sweet communion with Christ sustains our public zeal for His great commission of disciple making. We go into the world to make disciples after the Holy Spirit molds us into spirit-filled followers through intimate prayer. Yes, as we experience the Lord’s greatest command to love and be loved by Him, we are ready for His great commission to make disciples. Be with Jesus to share Jesus!

“‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God’” (John 6:67-69).

We are tempted to turn our backs on Jesus when it is too hard or too easy. It may feel too hard because nothing seems to work: our prayers remain unanswered, our relationships teeter on the rocks and our finances are a wreck. We want to give up on God, because He does not give us what we need. Or, life may be really good for now, so we feel the freedom to be free from real faithfulness to God. Our prayers can become perfunctory and our obedience an obligation.

However, whether times are hard or easy, we still need our time with Jesus. We need to be with Jesus because our souls remain needy regardless of our external failures or successes. The Lord loves to walk with us through our valleys and to our mountain tops. And most times the good and the bad things in life happen simultaneously. Thus, we go to be with Jesus for no one else has words of eternal life. We want to be with Him in love, so we can go out and love others for Him!

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).

Prayer

Heavenly Father, my heart longs to be with You so I can love for You.

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Never Alone

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5

Joyce Meyer – At Home in Your Heart

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May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! – Ephesians 3:17

If you are born again Jesus dwells on the inside of you through the power of the Holy Spirit. Your inner life—your attitudes, thoughts, and emotions—is holy ground where the Spirit of God wants to make His home. This inner life is of more serious interest to God than your outer life.

If you want to be a comfortable home for God, you must give up grumbling, complaining, faultfinding, and murmuring. The Bible says God inhabits the praises of His people (see Psalm 22:3). He is comfortable in the midst of your praises. You need to wake up every morning and say, “Oh, good morning Jesus. I want You to be comfortable in me today. Praise You, Father. I love You, Lord.” And you need to go to bed every night and say, “Thank You for all the good things You’ve done today and will be doing tomorrow.” Before you do anything else, invite Jesus to make Himself at home in your heart.

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – Big Goals, Big Life

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.

Joshua 14:11

We hope you are enjoying the Girlfriends in God daily devotions. We (Mary, Sharon, and Gwen) would like to introduce you to some of our special friends. From time-to-time, the Friday devotions will be written by one of our friends in ministry. We call them our “Friday Friends.” So grab your Bible and a fresh cup of coffee and drink in the words from our “Friday Friend,” Arlene Pellicane.

Friend to Friend

Every year, I attend a personal growth conference with some truly inspirational people. Speakers have included greats such as Neil Armstrong, Zig Ziglar, Lou Holtz, Andy Andrews, and Jim Rohn. I know being exposed to this caliber of professionals has pushed me to become a better person, wife, and mom.

Some may wonder about the lasting effects of motivational conferences. You may wonder how many times does one really need to hear “Think positive,” “Never give up” and “Set ambitious goals”?

One of my friends says it’s because we leak. We constantly need to be re-filled, re-inspired, redirected, and reenergized. We need role models to look up to. We need godly mentors to keep us accountable to higher goals and more meaningful living.

Caleb in the Bible was that kind of person. While the ten other spies looked at the Promised Land, all they could see were the giants. They cowered in fear and their unbelief spread like a virus to the Israelites. Caleb saw giants too – giant grapes to be taken!

In the book of Joshua, we read that Caleb at age 85 stood before Joshua, not ready for retirement, but ready for action. He still had big goals. “Now give me this hill country that the Lord has promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said” (Joshua 14:12, NIV).

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Big Goals, Big Life →

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – A Blameless Watchman

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“If you refuse to warn the wicked when I want you to tell them, You are under the penalty of death, therefore repent and save your life – they will die in their sins, but I will punish you. I will demand your blood for theirs. But if you warn them and they keep on sinning, and refuse to repent, they will die in their sins, but you are blameless – you have done all you could” (Ezekiel 3:18-19).

One of the most sobering messages I find in all the words of God is this terrible warning found in the book of Ezekiel. God commanded Ezekiel to warn the people of Israel to turn from their sins. Some would argue that this has no application for the Christian. I would disagree. In principle this is exactly what our Lord commands us to do – to go and make disciples of all nations, to preach the gospel to all men, to follow Jesus and He will make us to become fishers of men.

It is a sobering thing to realize that all around us there are multitudes of men and women, even loved ones, who do not know the Savior. Many of them have never received an intelligent, Spirit-filled, loving witness concerning our Savior. Who will tell them? There are some people whom you and I can reach whom nobody else can influence.

I am writing this day’s devotion while in Amsterdam where I am speaking at an international gathering of Christian evangelists. During the course of my days here I have talked with many taxi drivers, maids, waiters and other employees of the hotel. Only one professed to be a believer and we had good fellowship together. Some were openly defiant, even angry at the name of Jesus. But in each case I have shared the gospel, constrained by the love of Christ out of a deep sense of gratitude for all that He has done for me, and as an act of obedience to His command to be His witness.

I pray that God will give me a greater sense of urgency to warn men that unless they turn to Christ they will die in their sins. I do not want to be responsible because I failed to warn them. They must know that there is a heaven and a hell and that there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 3:15-21

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will ask the Holy Spirit to quicken within my heart, out of a deep sense of gratitude for all He has done for me and from a desire to obey our Lord’s commands, a greater sense of urgency to be His witness and to warn men to turn from their wicked ways and receive Christ, the gift of God’s love.

http://www.cru.org

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – The Truth About Our Heart

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Read: Jeremiah 17:1-18

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

In those two lines you have the explanation of all the misery and heartache and injustice and evil of life. It all stems from that. The heart, the natural life into which we were born, has two things wrong with it. First, it is desperately corrupt. This means it never can function as it originally was designed to do. It can never fulfill all you expect of it. It will never fulfill your ideals, or bring you to the place where you can be what you would like to be. It is corrupt. It is infected with a fatal virus. It cannot be changed. There is nothing you can do about it, ultimately. It is useless and wasted. Therefore there is only one thing it is good for — to be put to death. That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did with it when he died some centuries later. He took that fatal nature, human nature, and he put it to death.

I know that many people have trouble at this point. This is the verse, among others like it in the Scriptures, which divides humanity right down the center. You either believe this verse, and act in these terms for the rest of your life, understanding this fact, or you deny it and say, It is not true; man is basically good. It is either one side or the other. Your whole system of philosophy and of education and of legislation, and everything else, will be determined by which one of those views you take. This is the Great Divide of humanity, right here.

It is amazing, but I think one of the greatest confirmations of the truth in this verse is the Constitution of the United States of America. Our founding fathers were so aware of this great fact — that man, by nature, is desperately corrupt — that they never trusted a single man, even the best of them, with ultimate power. They set up checks and balances by which any man in office, even the most admired of men, would have his power scrutinized and examined by others. They did not trust anybody, and rightfully so! No system of philosophy, of psychology, of education, will ever serve to eliminate the wrongful, evil failing of the human heart. It cannot be done. We have to face life on those terms.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – The Truth About Our Heart →

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – God’s Call Helps Others See the Light

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Read: John 9:1-25

One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. (v. 25)

Jesus performed a great miracle in giving sight to a man blind from birth. The healed man could not explain the miracle. All he knew was that where once he was blind, now he could see. This miracle serves as a sign that Jesus is the light of the world. Knowing God the Father is only possible when Jesus lights the way.

The condition of the neighborhood where we constructed the home is very poor. No running water or electricity. Dirt roads are lined with trash. Dust covers everything. The situation of these poverty-stricken families seems hopeless, but God can transform neighborhoods, even in the most dire of situations.

Each day we worked, we found ourselves surrounded not only by the family needing a home, but by neighbors and extended family members. During work breaks, I was amazed to see dozens of children quickly surround my wife as she passed out candy, shoes, or school supplies. Where there had been one child moments earlier there were now dozens. The scene reminded me of moths drawn to a light.

Then it struck me. We were drawing these families to God through our gifts. They were seeing Jesus through us. When we love others in Jesus’ name, this helps them see that he is the light of the world.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world. May your light shine through us to draw others to the Father in love.

Author: Rob Donoho

https://woh.org/

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Missing the Point

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Then the LORD said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”—Jonah 4:10–11

Have you ever been angry with God? Be honest. Maybe you were hoping something would happen in your life, and it didn’t happen. Or maybe you prayed for something, and God didn’t answer your prayer in the way you wanted Him to answer it. Then again, maybe God blessed someone else when you thought you were more deserving of that blessing.

Jonah was angry with God. While he was sitting outside Nineveh, waiting for it to be judged, the Bible tells us, “The LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant” (Jonah 4:6). Then the Bible says the Lord brought a worm that ate the plant, causing it to die. So Jonah said, “Death is certainly better than living like this!” (verse 8).

Jonah seemed to be more concerned about losing his shade than he was about the people of Nineveh. He missed his comfort. He missed the whole picture. The people of Nineveh repented of their sins. They called it what it was, and God sent His healing.

The problem with Jonah was that he was preoccupied with himself. While God had spared thousands of lives, Jonah missed his shade. Here was a man who survived three days and three nights in a fish’s stomach, a man who repented, prayed, and preached the truth to the people of Nineveh, a man whom God used to bring about a spiritual awakening. Yet he fell into sin.

It’s a reminder that no matter how long we have known the Lord, we can still mess up. No matter how long we have known the Lord, we still may need to be revived again.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God’s Law Teaches Us That We Need Christ

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“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24)

Are you looking forward to the day when you receive your driver’s license? If so, you will need a driving teacher to show you how to get it.

When Suzanne was fifteen, she enrolled in a driver’s training school. There were two parts to the school. One was the in-class work; the other was the in-car training. Suzanne did very well at the in-class work. She passed all her quizzes and tests because she studied hard and knew the rules of the road.

But the driving part was a little different. Suzanne did not feel very confident when it came to driving in a busy city. Thankfully, the teacher sat right next to her – right in the passenger’s seat – and the teacher had a special tool to help ensure nobody would get hurt. On the teacher’s side, near his feet, he had his own brake pedal.

One day Suzanne and her teacher were in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a fairly large city. One of the things Suzanne was learning to do that day was to merge into traffic. “Merging” is when your car comes off a ramp onto a highway and joins the fast-moving traffic. One key to successfully merging is to speed up and match the speed of the other cars.

Suzanne did not do well at merging. She sped all the way up to about 35 miles per hour, but she should have sped up to about 60 miles per hour! If she had merged onto the highway, the cars coming up behind her would have had to slam on their brakes. It was a good thing that the instructor slammed on his brake and prevented Suzanne from putting the car in a very bad position. After the instructor yelled at Suzanne for a bit, they changed drivers, and another student took the wheel. Suzanne got into the back seat and considered her mistake.

What was the instructor doing? He was teaching students how to drive. Without him and his instruction, Suzanne would never be able to receive her license.

The Bible teaches us that God’s Law is the schoolmaster (or tutor) that brings us to Christ. Just like Suzanne’s driving instructor was bringing her to the point of receiving her own license, so God’s Law is an instructor that shows us how badly we need Jesus Christ. When we see how we have failed to live up to God’s Law, it points us to the only One Who has perfectly fulfilled that Law. And Who is that? It is Jesus Christ! God’s Law guides us to forgiveness in Christ.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God’s Law Teaches Us That We Need Christ →

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Grace and Gifts

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:4

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.”

In his comments on 1 Corinthians 1:4, Dr. Gordon Fee has helpful insight on the connection of grace and gifts: “The specific basis of Paul’s thanksgiving in their case is God’s ‘grace given you in Christ Jesus.’ Commonly this is viewed as a thanksgiving for grace as such, i.e., the gracious outpouring of God’s mercy in Christ toward the undeserving. However, for Paul charis (?race’) very often is closely associated with charisma/ charismata (‘gift/ gifts’) and in such instances refers to concrete expressions of God’s gracious activity in his people. Indeed, the word ‘grace’ itself sometimes denoted these concrete manifestations, the ‘graces’ (gifts), of God’s grace.”

Peter wrote, “as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10). Peter and Paul are saying the same thing. Our spiritual gifts and the ministries we perform are gifts of God’s grace. None of us deserves the gifts he or she has been given by God’s undeserved favor to us through Christ.

This means that both the most “worthy” and the most “unworthy” of Christians receive their gifts and their ministries on the same basis. The “unworthy” person surely doesn’t deserve his gift, but neither does the most “worthy.” They both receive them as unmerited favors from God.

In reality there is no such distinction in God’s sight between “worthy” and “unworthy.” In his sight, we’re all totally and permanently bankrupt spiritually. Paul’s statement is just as true for believers as for unbelievers: “There is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22-23).

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – The Life of the Prayer

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Today’s Scripture: Micah 6-7

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. – James 5:16

In Micah 6:6-8, the prophet asks this penetrating question about prayer:

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings?…Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression?…He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah was convinced that true prayer is more than just words. The Bible is clear that God pays as much attention to the life of the one who is praying as He does to the words of the prayer. And He also urges us to persevere in prayer.

One evening I was in a prayer meeting in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I asked for prayer for my father, who never darkened the door of a church. I had prayed for him every day for seven-and-a-half years. After the meeting, two men asked if they could visit my dad and share the gospel with him. On their first visit, my dad threw them out of the house, but a few weeks later they tried again. My dad invited them in and went over to the sofa and knelt down, weeping his way to the foot of the cross. Six weeks later, he died.

Christian, God is not reluctant to answer our prayers. He simply asks that we walk humbly with Him, pray without ceasing, and never lose heart.

Prayer

Lord, purify my heart, and that will purify my life. Amen.

To Ponder

To be effective, our prayers must be accompanied by a God-honoring life.

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint – A Flood of Evidence: Chronological Snobbery and Archaeology

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

In his conversion story, “Surprised by Joy,” C. S. Lewis explains how his close friend, Owen Barfield, demolished his “chronological snobbery.” Lewis defined chronological snobbery as “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited.”

In Lewis’s time, much of academia was already convinced that every past generation formed a staircase of progress, leading (of course) to enlightened modernity. And since Lewis’s death, many intellectuals have only become more convinced of their own perch at the pinnacle of history. These days, we barely even notice the snobbery.

But it’s time to notice, especially in archaeology. An article last week in The New York Times describes new evidence for the Chinese great flood, an event which ancient records say coincided with the rise of China’s first imperial dynasty. For many years, Western academics have considered this flood a myth—on par with Noah’s Flood in Genesis which, unsurprisingly, they also dismiss as fiction.

But several new dig sites have unearthed inscriptions that refer to just such a flood along the Yellow River, almost 4,000 years ago. And a team of geologists led by Qinglog Wu of Peking University in Beijing says they’ve found evidence in the rocks of a natural dam that trapped several cubic miles of water. When the dam collapsed, it sent a deluge downriver large enough to wipe out a civilization—just as the Chinese legends suggest.

Western experts were less than enthused at the news. The Times quotes several prominent archaeologists who scoff at the discoveries as attempts to read too much into Chinese myths. Dr. Paul Goldin of the University of Pennsylvania derides what he sees as a “fixation” among Chinese archaeologists with “[proving] that all the ancient texts and legends have some fundamental truth…It shouldn’t be every archaeologist’s first instinct,” he says, “to see if their findings are matched in the historical sources.”

Continue reading BreakPoint – A Flood of Evidence: Chronological Snobbery and Archaeology →

Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE AUTHORITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Read JOHN 5:16–30

When God spoke to Moses in the burning bush and called him to liberate His people, Moses had some doubts and questions: “What is your name?” The Lord responded, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you’” (Ex. 3:14).

“I AM” is God’s name. Anyone using that name is declaring that he or she is God. In today’s reading, Jesus infuriated the Jewish religious leaders by claiming equality with God (v. 18). Though they refused to acknowledge His identity or the source of His authority, Jesus embraced their “accusation” as true and explained the all-encompassing authority and perfect unity existing between Himself and His Father.

The Father and Son are unified in will (vv. 19, 30), in love (v. 20), in power (vv. 21, 25–26), and in authority (vv. 22, 27).

The Son does not act as a maverick but does just as the Father does. The Father loves the Son and has fully revealed to Him His plan of salvation. God alone holds power over life and death, but that power belongs equally to the Father and the Son, revealing both to be God. Similarly, God alone has the authority to judge, but He has entrusted that prerogative to the Son, and expects everyone to honor and worship the Son equally with Himself (v. 23).

One result of this relationship is that it’s the Father’s will that all people should look to the Son for eternal life (v. 24; see John 6:40). The idea that God holds life and death in His hands includes not just power but also essence. That is, God is “life in himself” (v. 26)—a quality that the Father has granted to and shares with His only begotten Son.

APPLY THE WORD

We can rejoice in our certain hope of resurrection! We who trust in His name—the name of the One with resurrection power and all authority to judge eternal destinies—will rise to life, not through any merit of our own, but thanks to Christ’s redemptive sacrifice. Sing or listen to music that celebrates the resurrection today.

http://www.todayintheword.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – THE MOST ASTONISHING STORY I’VE SEEN LATELY

August 12, 2016 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

It was an amazing day for the US at the Rio Olympics. Michael Phelps won his fourth gold medal, his twenty-second in his career. Simone Biles won the all-around gold in women’s gymnastics. And Simone Manuel became the first African-American swimmer to win gold.

We can always use some good news. That’s why I’ve just published a new booklet, Half-full or Hopeful? Five reasons for optimism in a pessimistic day, which I hope you’ll order from our website.

But this morning I must tell you about a story that seems too appalling to be true, but it is. According to USA Today, a mother in New Mexico gave her son up for adoption when he was a baby. He is now nineteen years old. They found each other on Facebook last year and began a sexual relationship.

They have been arrested for incest and now want to bring attention to something called “Genetic Sexual Attraction,” defined as “intense sexual desire that can arise between genetically related people who are united in Adulthood, after having been denied the opportunity to form proper emotional bonds.” Advocates want to “eliminate the irresponsible stigma associated with such relationships.”

You and I live in a culture which no longer has the tools necessary to determine right from wrong. We read stories daily about increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage, abortion, euthanasia, pornography, and cohabitation. Across the moral spectrum it seems America is becoming less biblical than ever before.

That’s why, more than ever before, it is critical that the church be the church. Before we can counter unbiblical cultural trends, we must first recognize that they are unbiblical. Then we must decide that the Bible is right, no matter how unpopular its teachings might be today.

Continue reading Denison Forum – THE MOST ASTONISHING STORY I’VE SEEN LATELY →

DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION

Daily Archives: August 12, 2016

Charles Stanley – Developing Patience

Our Daily Bread — Shaping Your Thoughts

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Faces in the Light

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Keeping the Treasure

Wisdom Hunters – Be With Jesus

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Never Alone

Joyce Meyer – At Home in Your Heart

Girlfriends in God – Big Goals, Big Life

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – A Blameless Watchman

Ray Stedman – The Truth About Our Heart

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – God’s Call Helps Others See the Light

Greg Laurie – Missing the Point

Kids 4 Truth International – God’s Law Teaches Us That We Need Christ

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Grace and Gifts

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – The Life of the Prayer

BreakPoint – A Flood of Evidence: Chronological Snobbery and Archaeology

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE AUTHORITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON

Denison Forum – THE MOST ASTONISHING STORY I’VE SEEN LATELY

Scriptures, Lessons, News and Links to help you survive.