Daily Archives: August 20, 2016

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Building Muscles of Faith

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1 Kings 18:22-23

“I wish I had great faith.” These are words that almost every Christian has said at one time or another. But faith is like a muscle, which must be exercised in order to become strong; just wishing cannot make it happen.

As Christians, we are to believe God, not only for salvation but for everything in our lives. Rather than a spiritual plateau, faith is actually a process that involves increasing degrees of trust throughout life. Weak faith hopes that God will do what He says, but strong faith knows He is faithful to accomplish all He says He will do.

Elijah was a man of great faith. He saw increased challenges as opportunities for God to do His work—and the prophet believed Him for the supernatural. So can you. The Lord may not do every miraculous thing you ask of Him, but He does some extraordinary work in and through each person who is obedient and willing to trust in Him.

You may be thinking, I am not good enough for the Father to use me. The Scriptures are filled with examples of flawed people whom the Lord used to achieve His purposes. What He’s looking for isn’t perfection but, rather, individuals willing to believe in Him. He doesn’t simply work through people of faith; He transforms them.

Start by reading God’s Word to learn what He wants you to do. Each day’s situations and needs are opportunities to trust Him. Ask the Lord to bring to mind verses that apply to your circumstances. Trust Him and do what He says—your faith muscles will grow, and He will be glorified.

Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 37-40

 

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – The Lord Who Provides

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“Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the Lord it will be provided’” (Genesis 22:13-14).

When God provides for a believer, He’s being true to His name.

The Old Testament gives God many names, but one of the most lovely is Jehovah-Jireh, translated in verse 14 of today’s passage as “The Lord Will Provide.” It is so much a characteristic of God that it’s His name. We would never question that God is love and great and mighty and holy and just and good. But some question whether God provides. They doubt and are afraid that God isn’t going to meet their needs. That is exactly what the Lord speaks to in Matthew 6:25-34 when He says, in summary, “Don’t worry about what to eat, drink, or wear.” The Lord is still Jehovah-Jireh. That is His name, and it is synonymous with one of His attributes.

God is a God who provides, and that is why David said, “I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread” (Ps. 37:25). The world digs and scratches and claws to make sure it has enough. Unlike the world, your Father knows your needs, and He will always give you what you need.

You don’t have to own everything, and you don’t have to control everything to meet your needs. You can receive what God gives you to invest in His eternal kingdom and put away all anxiety about your needs. Worship God with your life, and rest assured in His promise to provide for you.

Suggestions for Prayer

First Timothy 6:8 says, “If [you] have food and covering, with these [you] shall be content.” Does contentment characterize your life? If not, confess that to the Lord, and thank Him for the many ways He so faithfully provides for you every day.

For Further Study

Read the following passages, which show God’s faithfulness to provide: Deuteronomy 2:7; 1 Kings 17:1-16; 2 Kings 4:1-7. In what different ways does He give that provision?

 

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Stubborn Pride 

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I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.    Leviticus 26:19

Stubborn pride creates hardened hearts. It is shortsighted and insecure in its aggressive attempts to control. Stubborn pride acts as if it has everything together and doesn’t need the help of anyone, even God. Its stiff attitude is frustrating when attempting to work out conflicting issues. The demands of stubborn pride are unreasonable and its perspective is skewed toward itself. Stubborn pride resists change and misses out on improvement for the sake of the project, the team, or its family. Everyone has to be careful of stubborn pride sneaking into his or her beliefs and behaviors.

Stubborn pride rejects relational engagement that requires confession and forgiveness. There is an aversion to authenticity because this means admission of mistakes and failures. Stubborn pride will dig itself into a deeper hole of distant living before it takes the risk of being found out. However, in reality, discerning people already understand the charade and the manipulation of a man or a woman who is unable to admit faults. Humility can help someone sucked into the seduction of stubborn pride; that stubborn pride melts under the heat of humility.

God has a way of wresting control away from stubborn pride. He will not stand by and allow stubborn pride to suffocate His servants. His passion is to break the spell of stubborn pride and bring it into relational reality. Humility means you fight fair together. You truly listen to the perspective of your spouse or coworker, without reacting defensively or judging too quickly. You are willing to change for the greater good and for the sake of pleasing your Savior.

The Lord loves us too much to stand by while we struggle under the influence of stubborn pride. Like wild stallions with lots of will power and energy, we need brokenness and training. Almighty God is our Master and trainer. He uses whatever means necessary to get our attention. His Holy Spirit is assigned to break our will and align our spirit with His. God is the one trying to get our attention. We may be mad at others, but our case is against Christ.

The Spirit’s conviction is what causes us to cringe and shrink back from stubborn pride’s relational poison. Christ’s brokenness leads us to let go of control and trust Him. He breaks us from the power of ourselves. He breaks us to be bold for Him. He breaks us and molds us into reasonable people who honor the views of others. Do not negotiate with stubborn pride, but break it under the hammer of humility, replacing it with love, respect, and forgiveness. God’s brokenness brings down pride.

“The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11).

Today’s reading is taken from Boyd’s most popular book: Seeking Daily the Heart of God, a 365 day devotional.

 

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Together, Forever, on the Streets of Gold: Heaven on Earth

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Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Revelation 21:1

Christians often ask, Where is heaven? Heaven is mentioned more than 500 times in Scripture, but the only location suggested is “up.” The apostles of Jesus stood “gazing up into heaven” as Jesus ascended (Acts 1:11). The apostle Paul was “caught up” into a “third heaven”—but he doesn’t say any more than “up” about location (2 Corinthians 12:2).

Recommended Reading: 2 Peter 3:10-13

Given the lack of specificity about heaven’s location, Christians by default think it is somewhere overhead, somewhere in the “heavens.” But Scripture seems to suggest that heaven will be on earth, not in the sky. When the apostle John saw the New Jerusalem “coming down out of heaven,” it came to the earth (Revelation 21:2). And Peter described the present heavens and earth being “burned up” and “dissolved” (2 Peter 3:10-11), replaced by “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (verse 13). So it seems that God will renovate and restore His original creation by creating heaven on earth.

You may love where you live now, but you will love your heaven-on-earth home that is coming much more!

Heaven will chiefly consist in the enjoyment of God.

William S. Plummer

Read-Thru-the-Bible: Jeremiah 50 – 52

 

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Reminders

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That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you. . . . For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. – 2 Timothy 1:6-7

It doesn’t matter what kind of problem we have in our lives, we need self-control and discipline to gain and maintain the victory. I believe this is especially true with regard to our thought life and the battle for our mind. What begins in the mind eventually comes out of the mouth, and before we know it, we’re telling anyone who will listen how we feel. We have to discipline our mind, our mouth, our feelings, and our actions so that they are all in agreement with what the Word of God says.

Every quality of God that is in you and me, God Himself planted in us in the form of a seed the day we accepted Christ (see Colossians 2:10). Over time and through life’s experiences, the seeds of Christ’s character begin to grow and produce the fruit of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23). I have found that it is virtually impossible to operate in any of the other eight fruit of the Spirit unless we are exercising self-control. How can you and I remain patient, for example, in the midst of an upsetting situation unless we exercise restraint? Or how can we walk in love and believe the best of someone after they have repeatedly hurt us unless we use the fruit of self-control?

As Christians, we have the fruit of the Spirit in us, but we must purposely choose to exercise them. Not choosing to exercise the fruit of the Spirit is what produces carnal Christians—¬those who are under the control of ordinary im¬pulses and walk after the desires of the flesh (see 1 Corinthians 3:3). Whatever we exercise the most becomes the strongest.

Our thoughts and words are two areas in which the Holy Spirit is constantly prompting us to exercise self-control. The Bible says that . . . as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he, and out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks (Proverbs 23:7; Luke 6:45b). The devil is ¬constantly trying to get us to accept wrong thoughts about everything from God’s love for us (or the lack of it) to what terrible thing is going to happen to us next. Why? Because he knows that once we start accepting and believing his lies, it is just a matter of time until we begin to speak them out of our mouths. And when we speak wrong things, we open the door for wrong things to come into our lives (see Proverbs 18:20-21).

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – Reminders →

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – A New Creature 

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“As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12, KJV).

At the conclusion of one of my messages at a pastor’s conference, a pastor stood to take issue with me concerning a statement that I had made. I had said that there is a great hunger for God throughout the world, and that more people are now hearing the gospel and receiving Christ than at any time since the Great Commission was given almost 2,000 years ago.

“How can you say that,” he objected, “when the Scripture clearly teaches that no man seeketh after God?”

“That is exactly what the Bible teaches,” I responded, “and I agree with the Word of God 100 percent, but do not forget that – though in his natural inclination man does not have a hunger for God – the Holy Spirit sends conviction and creates within the human heart a desire for the Savior.”

As Jesus put it, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me, draws him” (John 6:44, NAS). There are three things that we can learn about the human race from this passage. First, no one is righteous. Second, no one understands the things of God; and third, no one seeks God. What a contrast between what man is like in his natural state and what man becomes at spiritual birth when he is liberated from the darkness and gloom of Satan’s kingdom and ushered into the light of God’s glorious kingdom through Jesus Christ. That man becomes a new creature. Old things are passed away and behold all things become new.

What a contrast between the natural and the supernatural. The natural man must depend upon his own resources, his own wisdom, to find meaning and purpose in his life, inevitably resulting in a life of conflict, discord and frustration. But the one who trusts in God has the privilege of drawing upon the supernatural resources of God daily; resources of joy, peace, love; resources that provide meaning and purpose, assurance of eternal life.

Most people live lives of quiet desperation in self- imposed poverty because those of us who know the truth of the supernatural are strangely silent. God forgive us.

Bible Reading: Romans 3:13-20

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: With God’s help I refuse to remain silent any longer, but will seek to proclaim “the most joyful news ever announced” (Luke 2:10-11), to all who will listen in order that others may join me in living the supernatural life.

 

 

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Who Knows?

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Read: Jeremiah 29:1-32

For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies — which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:23

The closing words of the chapter are specific prophecies against certain false prophets among the exiles in Babylon. This was a time of terrible uncertainty. People were torn — What shall I believe? There were many conflicting voices, many rival factions. The supreme need of the hour was that someone might know the facts and declare them, and thus give the people an indication of what to do. God says, I am the one who knows. I know what is going on in the inner lives of these people, and I will make it known, I will bring it out. That is the voice you can trust.

God makes known his way and his will and the truth in three ways in the Scriptures. First, in past history. I would commend to you the reading of history. History records all the errors that we see around us today. The solutions are also recorded. No new error is introduced into the world which has not already been answered.

Second, in current events. He is always bringing truth to life. That is why we as a nation go through difficulties. We have seen many times how everything that the most powerful men of our nation think they can keep hidden is forced into the light. That is the way God works in the affairs of men.

And third, God makes the truth known through the direct revelation of his word, the truth as it is in Jesus, coming to the man of God who speaks it out before the people.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Who Knows? →

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Trees Planted by Streams of Water

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Read: Psalm 1

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. (v. 3)

I have never forgotten this tree. Many years ago, while hiking in the mountains of Sequoia National Park, at the end of a long day I stopped near the tree line, above which no trees are able to survive because of the high altitude. I spied a group of four or five stunted trees I couldn’t recall ever seeing before. The trees were about 10 feet high, with reddish brown bark, cones three to five inches long, and short needles in bundles. The trees were contorted, misshapen by the ever-present, unrelenting wind. I looked the tree up in my tree book. It was a foxtail pine, so named because its short bushy branches resemble the tail of a fox.

The ground was rocky, with little soil, but there was a small stream of water gurgling along through the stony soil. These high-altitude trees were alive only because of this humble flow of water.

Those who delight in the law of the Lord, the psalmist tells us, are like trees planted by streams of water. In this opening psalm, which introduces the entire psalter, the author uses a tree to teach a lesson. Those who meditate on God’s Word and ways are like trees that give fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither. In everything they do, they prosper. May it be so with us.

Prayer:

Help us, O Lord, to delight in your law, to be like trees planted by streams of water.

Author: Steven Bouma-Prediger

 

https://woh.org/

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Get to Work

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“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” —Galatians 6:9

Some say they are “burned out” in ministry and can’t go on.

In 40 years of ministry, I have never been tired of service but I have been tired in it. What better thing to be tired from? Time spent serving God is never wasted.

Nowhere in the Bible are we told to “take it easy.” Jesus told the story of the foolish man who said that very thing: “I’ll sit back and say to myself, ‘My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!'” (Luke 12:19 NLT). And that is exactly what people say to us today: “Take it easy, man!”

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'”

We are told to “press on” and “not be weary in well-doing” and “run the race.” Our greatest recreation and rest will come later in heaven and on the new earth. Oswald Sanders said, “The world is run by tired men.” We will never do great things for God until we have learned to minister when we are tired. In the sports world, you learn how to press on even when injured. God uses people who are willing to work hard and apply themselves.

The apostle Paul understood this, and wrote, “Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you” (1 Thessalonians 2:9 NIV).

  • By the way, you will find whenever God called people, they were busy doing something! Elisha was ploughing a field when Elijah called him.
  • Moses and David were tending sheep when they were called, one to save a nation and the other to lead one.
  • Gideon was threshing wheat when he was called by an angel to lead the armies of Israel.
  • James and John were fishing for fish when they were called by Jesus to start fishing for men.

There is certainly a time to refresh and rest and recharge, but let’s be busy about the work that God has set before us!

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – No One Is Greater Than God

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“When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.” (Hebrews 6:13)

Have you ever heard someone say, “I swear that it’s true!” Maybe your parents have even told you not to say that, because “swear” is used nowadays as another word for “curse,” and we should not curse. Well, your parents are right to forbid you from swearing, too – it really is enough for you just to say, “What I’m saying is true.”

Sometimes it’s important for a person to make a very serious promise. For example, if the bank lends your parents a lot of money to buy a house, your parents sign a contract that promises to pay all the money back to the bank, a little at a time.

In Old Testament times, a lot of agreements weren’t written down; two people would just make spoken promises to each other. So instead of signing a contract, someone who made a promise would say something like, “I swear by the king,” or “I swear by the temple.” When a person did this, he wasn’t using dirty language. Instead, it was strong promise language. The person was saying that he would be as reliable as the thing that he swore by. Kings were expected to be very trustworthy, and the temple was expected to last forever. In the same way, the person making a promise was saying that his promise was trustworthy, and that it would last forever.

There is something else you should notice about these promises. The king and temple are greater than the person making the promise. In fact, Hebrews 6:16 says that when people make these serious promises – when they swear (in the good use of the word) – they always swear by something or someone greater than themselves.

But if God wants to make a solemn promise, by whom or by what would He swear? Would God swear by a human king? Of course not! God is the One Who made the man into a king. Would God swear by the temple? No! God is the One Who designed the temple and gave strength to the builders and supplied all the building materials. Would God swear by the universe? Surely not! God made the universe, and everything in it!

So does God swear by anybody? According to Hebrews 6:13, when God made a promise to Abraham, He did swear by someone. The book of Hebrews says, “When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware [swore] by himself.”

When God makes promises, He bases His promises on His own greatness and reliability. Because no one and nothing is greater than God, no one and nothing can stop God from keeping His promises. Those of us who are God’s children can look for God’s promises in the Bible, and we can know that God will keep them!

God is greater than everything and everyone else, and He will keep all the promises that He makes.

My Response:

» Can I name any promises that God has made me in the Bible? Do I believe that God will keep them?

» Can I think of any promises God has made that would make me live differently if I believed them?

(For example, when Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world with the Gospel, He promised that He would be with them.)

 

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – A Precious Sight

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Today’s Scripture: Psalm 50:5

“Gather to me my faithful ones.”

Sometimes when I focus too much on my own shortcomings—how often I’ve sinned, how little I’ve availed myself of all the blessings of God and opportunities that have come my way—I think I would like to somehow just slip in heaven’s side door unnoticed. But that’s because I focus too much on myself and try to anticipate my welcome on the basis of my performance.

There will be no slipping in the side door of heaven with our head hanging down and our tail between our legs. No, no, a thousand times no! Everyone who has been the object of God’s calling and election will receive a rich welcome into Christ’s eternal kingdom (2 Peter 1:10-11)—not because we deserve it, but because we’ve been clothed with the spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness. Because we are united to him who is the object of the Father’s everlasting love and delight, we also will be received as objects of his love and delight.

We see something of God’s perspective on our entrance into his eternal kingdom in Psalm 116:15: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Why is this true? We think of death as a parting. We think of “losing a loved one” through death. But from God’s perspective, the death of a believer is just the opposite. It’s a homecoming. It is precious in his sight.

Think of a World War II ship steaming into the harbor at war’s end with servicemen lining the rails. That sight was precious in the eyes of the relatives eagerly watching. And this is just a pale picture of how God anticipates the arrival “home” of his sons and daughters from our own spiritual war of this life.

 

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – A New Standing

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 5:1-11

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. – Romans 3:28

On June 21, 1947, my wife and I were married in the Presbyterian Church in Neola, Iowa. Population: 900.

Virginia and her bridesmaids were all decked out in their long flowing gowns, and I was at the front of the church with the best man and the attendants. We repeated our vows, the preacher preached a little sermon, and then he pronounced us man and wife. With that pronouncement, my legal standing was changed. Up until that declaration I had been a single man. But with that declaration, I was now legally married.

In a sense, that is a clear picture of what the apostle Paul said in Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The word justification is not from the field of religion but from the field of law. Justification can best be defined as the legal act of God by which God declares the sinner righteous on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

We are made righteous by a declaration of God. And with that declaration, our legal standing is changed. Before God declared me justified in His sight, and I became clothed in the righteousness of Christ, I was a sinner separated from God. But when I came to Christ, who had died on the cross to pay the penalty for all my sins, I was pronounced righteous in His sight.

Forgiveness is negative–the removal of condemnation. Justification is positive–the bestowing of righteousness based on our standing in Christ.

Prayer

Lord, I rejoice in Your declaration of my right standing with You through Jesus Christ. Amen.

To Ponder

Forgiveness and justification are like two sides of a coin. Forgiveness is the cancellation of sin; justification is the transmittal of righteousness.

 

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Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE TRINITY AND WORSHIP

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Read JOHN 4:19–26

In the article “Love the Lord with All Your Voice,” theology professor Steven R. Guthrie argued that singing should be regarded as a “spiritual discipline— an important practice in Christian spiritual formation, and a means of growing in the life of faith.” Rather than being an act of expression, worshipful singing begins as an act of imitation; for example, by learning to sing the psalms until their words become our own.

Just as the entire Trinity is involved in the gospel and its proclamation, so also is the entire Trinity involved in worship. We see this in today’s reading, which is part of the well-known narrative of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well. She might have raised the topic of where to worship as a distraction, since it was a known bone of contention between Jews and Samaritans. But Jesus, as He always did, took the opportunity to say something worthwhile and redemptive.

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in the Spirit and in truth” (v. 24). God is the only worthy recipient of our worship, including all three Persons of the Trinity. The Spirit Himself enables our worship, which must be coupled with truth, that is, with the revelation of God in Christ. We cannot make God in our image, though many today try.

Interestingly, Jesus identified Himself directly here as the Messiah (v. 26), seemingly the only time He did so prior to Passion Week. This might be because the Samaritans, who accepted only the Pentateuch as Scripture, did not have the same political messianic expectations as the Jews did because they did not know messianic prophecy. Though she lacked both status and access to all the Jewish Scriptures, Jesus revealed more about His identity to this sinful Samaritan woman—and her life was transformed.

APPLY THE WORD

Hopefully tomorrow you will have the opportunity to sing praise to God—but you don’t have to wait for a church service! Even those of us who can’t carry a tune can still bring glory to God through musical praise. In response to the Trinity’s transforming power through the gospel, take time today to worship through song.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert for Kids – High and Low

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Luke 4:1–2

Have you ever noticed that after you’ve had a “high” day like a birthday or passing a test or a vacation, sometimes you have a “low” day? On high days everything seems to be going great and you are happy. On low days nothing seems to go right. You are grumpy and sad and you may not even know why.

Everyone has high days and low days. Jesus had a wonderful day when he was baptized by his cousin John in the Jordan River. The Bible says he was full of the Holy Spirit, and being full of the Holy Spirit makes you feel great. But immediately, the same Holy Spirit led him out into the desert, and there the Devil came to visit him and to tempt him. It was an awful time for Jesus. So how did he get through it? He responded to every temptation by quoting God’s Word, and the Devil finally gave up and left him.

So when a high day comes your way, don’t be surprised if a low day follows. And when the low day comes, believe that it will go away in time. Hide God’s Word in your heart for those low days, and use it to help you resist the temptations that you face.

Dear Lord, I love high days, and I wish they could stay all the time. I hate low days, but help me to realize they won’t last forever. Help me to hide your Word in my heart for those low days. Amen.