Monthly Archives: September 2016

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – It’s No Small Thing

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Today’s Truth

“Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you … to minister to them?”

Numbers 16:9

Friend to Friend

A friend sent this text: “I thought of you when I read Numbers 16:9 today!”

“Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near Him as you serve in the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the people to minister to them?” (Numbers 16:9, NET Bible)

She texted again: “God chose you to serve Him in this tabernacle of flesh, to stand, talk, and to sing before people to minister to them.”

I thanked her and shook my head. No, it’s not a small thing at all. It is an honor: one that I don’t deserve, but for the healing, life-changing, grace of Jesus.

She probably thought of me because I serve on stage, in a visible position. I get it. But I have to tell you this, even though she thought of me, I thought of you.

And you should too.

Why? Because every person who places her faith in Jesus becomes a part of His plan: to know Him intimately and impact others for His glory. No microphone required. No Bible degree needed. You don’t have to be a pastor, ministry director, Sunday school teacher, elder, or deacon.

Several gems rise to the surface of this Scripture as I look it over. As a member of the body of Christ, God’s chosen, I must…

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Mind of Christ

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“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we must have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16, KJV).

The first thing I do when I awaken each morning is to kneel before my Lord in humility, meditate upon His attributes, and praise, worship and adore Him.

The last thing I do before I go to bed at night is to kneel in prayer, to praise, worship and give thanks to Him. Thus, my first thoughts are automatically of Him when I awaken, because all night long my subconscious mind has been meditating on Him.

Every morning of every day, I acknowledge His lordship. I gladly surrender control of my life to Him acknowledging my dependence upon Him. Then, by faith, I claim His mind and His wisdom for direction in every detail of my life. I trust Him to influence and control my attitudes, my motives, my desires, my thoughts and my actions.

In different words and ways, I remind Him that I am a suit of clothes for Him and that He can do anything He wants in and through me. I invite Him to walk around in my body. I ask Him to think with my mind, to love with my heart, to speak with my lips, to lead me wherever He wants me to go, to seek and save the lost through me.

We should study the Word of God daily and diligently, determining as an act of the will to pattern our lives according to His commands and His example. We begin to experience the reality and the availability of the mind of Christ when we literally saturate our minds with His thoughts and spend much time meditating upon His Word.

Bible Reading: I Corinthians 2:9-15

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Consciously and deliberately I will begin each day by inviting Christ to walk around in my body, think with my mind, love with my heart, speak with my lips and continue to “seek and save the lost” through me.

 

http://www.cru.org

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Sinful Morality

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Read: Romans 2:1-11

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Romans 2:1

Here Paul talks about those who pass judgment on others. The apostle makes two points about these people. First, he says that these people know the difference between right and wrong; otherwise they would not presume to be judging. Paul’s second point about these people is that they are guilty because they are doing the same things themselves. The judges are as guilty as the ones they have in the dock.

Whenever moral people, those who pride themselves on a degree of righteousness and a standard of ethics, read a statement like this, they are taken by surprise. What do you mean? How could this be? I will use myself as an example, simply because I am such an excellent example of what the rest of us are like. I see three ways by which I try to elude the fact that I am guilty of the things that I accuse others of doing:

First, I am congenitally blind toward many of my own faults. I do not see that I am doing the same things that others are doing, and yet other people can see that I am. We all have these blind spots. One of the greatest lies of our age is the idea that we can know ourselves. We often argue, Don’t you think I know myself? The answer is, No, you do not know yourself. You are blind to much of your own life. There can be areas that are very hurtful and sinful that you are not aware of.

I caught myself the other day saying to someone, Relax! Take it easy! It was only afterward that I heard my own voice and realized that I was not relaxed, and I was not taking it easy myself. Have you ever lectured your children on the sin of procrastination? Then did you barely get your income tax report in on time, or not get it in at all? How blind we are! We are congenitally blind toward many of our own faults. We are indeed guilty of doing the very things we accuse others of doing.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Sinful Morality →

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Angels’ Age

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Read: Hebrews 12:18-24

Innumerable angels in festal gathering. (v. 22)

That two-word title sounds even stranger than the previous one, “The Church’s Banquet.” Whatever does “Angels’ Age” mean? Nothing, surely, to do with how many years angels live?

We regularly use the word “age” in a way that has nothing to do with length of life. You remember Fred and Wilma Flintstone? As the theme song tells us, “They’re a modern Stone Age family.” And the cartoons are concerned neither with historical dates nor with how old these characters are, but with life imagined in a world of Stone Age cars and telephones and pets, in a Stone Age suburb.

The Flintstones lived in a world like, yet unlike, ours. In the same way, the New Testament talks about the “age to come” or the “world to come,” which is sooner or later going to replace this one that we see around us. Just as we could look back on the cartoonist’s view of life in the Stone Age world of the Flintstones, so we can look forward to life in the Angels’ Age world of George Herbert’s poem. In that future world, where everything will at last make sense, we shall see angels everywhere, carrying out God’s purposes. The poet’s point is that prayer can admit us here and now to that Angels’ Age view of things, seeing the invisible God working “all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11).

Continue reading Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Angels’ Age →

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Where Hope Grows

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And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. —Romans 5:3–4

Years ago I had a friend who was very sick and asked me to pray for him. I did. He got worse. He said, “I don’t ever want you to pray for me again.”

In our estimation, sometimes things go the wrong way. We may pray, “Lord, heal this person. Be glorified through this.”

But the Lord might say, “I will be glorified, but I’m not going to do it the way you want Me to. I’m going to do this other thing instead.”

Sometimes God will remove the affliction. Sometimes God will heal the illness. Sometimes God will take away the cancer. But sometimes the person will get worse.

We don’t usually like that. But it is in these times that God can be glorified. Everyone suffers in life. Christians suffer too. When a Christian is suffering and can still glorify God, that is a powerful testimony to a lost world. When non-Christians see us honoring the Lord through our suffering, it shows them how real our faith is. And guess what? It shows us how real our faith is too.

Do you think your faith would get stronger if everything were easy in life? No, your faith will get stronger through hardship. Here’s something that might surprise you: You even will develop more hope through tribulation. Romans 5:3–4 says, “But we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Hope grows in the garden of pain. It doesn’t grow without challenges or difficulty. It grows in hard times. It’s sort of like building muscle. You build it up by breaking it down. Then, as you keep working out, that muscle will get stronger. You develop strength through your weaknesses. This is true of Christians in their spiritual lives as well.

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – Jesus Wants True Disciples

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“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” (John 8:31)

When Jesus was on Earth, He called people to come and follow after Him. You’ve probably heard the stories of how He called different men to be His followers, or disciples. He called Peter, Andrew, James, and John while they were fishing. He called Matthew, who was a tax collector. He even picked Judas, a man who would betray Him, to be His disciple. Twelve men were Jesus’ special followers who traveled with Him throughout His ministry on this Earth.

Women and children followed Jesus, too. Often there were crowds of people around Him wherever He went. But was everyone who followed after Jesus really His true disciple?

The word disciple means “a learner,” or someone who follows the teachings of another. Here are some things Jesus said about His true disciples. First, His disciples have to be people who have believed on Him (John 8:31). His disciples love Him more than anyone or anything else – even themselves (Luke 14:26). His disciples love each other (John 13:35). His disciples keep His Word – not just when they feel like it, but all the time (John 8:31). And His disciples bear fruit (John 15:8). In other words, people can look at them and see that God is changing their lives in good ways. He is making them like Jesus.

Jesus still wants true disciples today. Does it sound hard to be His true disciple? Jesus didn’t say that His true disciples would be perfect people. He did not say they would never fail in their love and obedience to Him. The word disciple means someone who is learning to love, obey, and bear fruit. Even disciples need the Holy Spirit’s help to make good changes in their lives. A disciple is someone who wants more than anything else to become like the perfect Teacher, Jesus Christ.

Jesus wants true disciples who are learning more and more to love and obey Him.

My Response:

» Am I a true disciple of Jesus?

 

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Definitive Sanctification

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:11

“You were sanctified.”

Our slavery to the dominion of sin was the result of our guilt incurred by Adam’s sin, further aggravated by our own personal sin. Through our union with Christ in his death, however, our guilt, both from Adam’s and from our own sins, was forever dealt with. Having then died with Christ to the guilt of sin, we died to, or were delivered from, the dominion of sin.

Whether we say we died to the dominion of sin, or we were delivered from the dominion of sin through our death to the guilt of sin, the result is the same. We no longer continue in sin as a dominant lifestyle. Sin no longer has dominion over us.

This death to, or deliverance from, sin’s dominion is often called definitive sanctification. You’re probably more or less familiar with the word sanctification, which historically has been used as a shorthand expression for Christian growth. Its basic meaning, however, is “separation,” and in using the term definitive sanctification we’re speaking of a decisive break—a decisive separation from sin as a ruling power in the believer’s life. It’s a point-in-time event occurring simultaneously with justification. It’s a change wrought in us by the monergistic action of the Holy Spirit as he removes us from the kingdom of darkness and brings us into the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13).

That’s why Paul could write to the Corinthian believers as those who had already been sanctified, even though they were still quite immature in their Christian walk (see 1 Corinthians 1:2,30; 6:11). This definitive break with the dominion of sin, which is solely the work of the Holy Spirit, occurs in the life of everyone who trusts in Christ as savior. There’s no such thing as justification without definitive sanctification.

 

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Temple Builders

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1-6

I write to you…because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. – 1 John 2:14

You are probably familiar with the teaching in 1 Corinthians 3 that every Christian is a living temple of God. But did you know you’re also a temple builder?

The apostle Paul saw himself as a wise master builder who had laid the foundation of Jesus Christ in the lives of the believers in Corinth. He knew that others would continue the spiritual building process in the lives of these new converts, and he had a word of warning and exhortation for them in 1 Corinthians 3:10: “Each one should be careful how he builds.” Why the warning?

When the Old Testament people of God set about to build the temple, did they hurriedly throw something together overnight? Did they put up a building that resembled a little tool shed? A Quonset hut? A pup tent? No, they constructed a building according to God’s blueprint and design. The Bible describes it as exceedingly magnificent because it was a place that would be worthy of the name of God. Paul applies this same divine standard of excellence to what we build in the lives of others.

When I was a very young Christian, a man named Don Rosenberger taught me how to study the Bible, encouraged me in the discipline of Scripture memory, and showed me how to share the gospel of Christ with others. He prayed with me and helped me learn how to obey the Lord in everyday life. This didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen in Don’s free time. He poured the best that he had into helping me become a disciple of Christ who would, in turn, build into the lives of others. That’s what the Lord wants you and me to be doing, too.

Prayer

Lord, I want to faithfully pour my life into helping others become Your disciples. Amen.

To Ponder

Who could benefit from your knowledge of what it means to follow Christ?

 

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Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word –A SEARCH BEGINS

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Read ESTHER 2:1–4

In Montclair, Calif., Melissa Andrade dreamed of being crowned homecoming queen. But Andrade has cerebral palsy, and it seemed unlikely— even impossible. One member of the football team decided to step in and help. He invited Melissa to the dance and led a campaign to name her queen. Her classmates joined in, and, in a fairytale ending, Melissa was crowned homecoming queen and became, in her own words, “the happiest girl in the world.”

The court of King Xerxes needed a new queen, now that Queen Vashti had been deposed. How would the leader of the world’s most powerful empire find a suitable woman? His advisors suggested a thorough search to find the most beautiful young woman to be his bride (v. 2). They combed the empire to find a collection of beautiful women and then pampered them to maximize every attractive feature (v. 3).

But remember the story of David’s selection to be anointed king. The Lord instructed Samuel to appoint a new king and sent him to the family of Jesse in Bethlehem. Tall and strong and handsome, Jesse’s sons lined up for scrutiny. But rather than choose someone based on external appearance, God looked at the heart. “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him” (1 Sam. 16:7). God selected David, a young shepherd boy, whom no one considered a candidate for the throne.

In the same way, we see God’s hand at work in the selection of Xerxes’ queen. The king and his advisors were considering only physical beauty. They didn’t realize that God was at work to select a queen who would possess godly character and a beautiful commitment to her people.

APPLY THE WORD

When we choose anything—a college for our children, a new home, a car—we may focus on what we want and what would make us (or those we love) happy. But God knows what is best for us. Ask God today to help you make wise decisions, choices that will bring Him glory and will work His divine will in your life.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – WHY IS ‘LABOR DAY’ AN OXYMORON?

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It’s been a busy holiday weekend. Here are some of the headlines: the Catholic Church declared Mother Teresa a saint. Hermine is ruining holiday plans on the East Coast. College football has seen a weekend of upsets: Wisconsin beat LSU, Houston won over Oklahoma, and Texas defeated Notre Dame in overtime. Serena Williams won her 307th match in a Grand Slam tournament, the most in the history of women’s tennis. And North Korea fired three ballistic missiles this morning.

Now we’ve come to the most oxymoronically named day of the year. According to the United States Department of Labor, Labor Day “is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”

So workers are honored by a day in which we do not work. That’s like a music awards show in which there is no music. The fact that we reward laborers by giving them a day without labor says something important about the way our culture views work.

Many people see work as a means to a better end, a necessity that pays the bills for the things we’d rather be doing. We bifurcate work and the rest of life. Is this how God sees work?

According to the Bible, “God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). “Put” translates a Hebrew word meaning “place, situate, settle down.” This was intended to be his permanent station, not just his temporary location.

God settled Adam in Eden “to work it and keep it.” “Work” translates a word meaning “to cultivate, labor, serve.” “Keep” means “to watch, guard.” The syntax makes clear that this was to be his ongoing lifestyle, not just his occasional activity.

Note that God’s call to work came before the Fall. In the perfect paradise of Eden, men and women were intended to work. This was not just what they did in the Garden—it was their purpose and lifestyle there.

From this fact we can conclude that God’s perfect plan includes a “garden of Eden” for each of us, an assignment we are to “work” and “keep.” We have a calling that makes our lives relevant today and significant eternally. He wants to fill every moment of every day with purpose and fulfillment.

So choose to see your work as your ministry. Know that the division between “clergy” and “laity” is unbiblical. There is no distinction between the “secular” and the “sacred” to the God who made everything and calls it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). The first person you see tomorrow is someone for whom Jesus died. Your work is your service to your Father and your gift to his children.

Labor Day is a great day to make Jesus the Lord of every dimension of your life and ask his Spirit to redeem every hour for God’s glory and our good. Andrew Murray noted, “God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to him.”

Will yours be that life?

 

http://www.denisonforum.org/4iu

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Name Above All Names

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Philippians 2:5-11

In Bible times, naming a child was a major event for a Hebrew family. The household took great pains in selecting a name, sometimes choosing one that had personal meaning for the parents. An example of this is Leah—she chose to call her fourth child Judah, saying, “This time I will praise the Lord” (Gen. 29:35). Occasionally, a perceived or desired personality trait would determine what a baby was called. Genesis 25:26 shows this to be the case with Jacob (“one who supplants”).

Frequently, the name given at birth would symbolize to others who that person was. In the ancient world, this was intentional. Even today people subconsciously associate character traits and experiences with names. We all hope that when others hear ours called, they will have good things come to mind rather than a sense of dread!

Mary and Joseph had a far different experience from that of other Jewish parents. Instead of choosing the name themselves, an angel told them what their child would be called (Matt. 1:21). The heavenly Father selected His Son’s earthly name to represent His purpose in coming. A day will come when the very mention of Jesus will cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that He is Lord (Phil. 2:10).

The Hebrew form of Jesus means “salvation” or “He saves.” Christ is called many things throughout Scripture: Lord, Immanuel, Teacher, Messiah, etc. But His given name tells His story. He came to save the world from sin. No wonder God gave Him a name above all names!

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 26-28

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Doing What He Says

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Read: Deuteronomy 5:28-33

Bible in a Year: Psalms 143-145; 1 Corinthians 14:21-40

Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you.—Deuteronomy 5:33

I needed an underground water tank and knew precisely how I wanted it constructed, so I gave clear instructions to the builder. The next day when I inspected the project, I was annoyed when I realized that he had failed to carry out my instructions. He had changed the plan and therefore the effect. The excuse he gave was as irritating as his failure to follow my directives.

As I watched him redo the concrete work, and as my frustration diminished, a guilty conviction swept over me: How many times have I needed to redo things in my life in obedience to the Lord?

Like the ancient Israelites who frequently failed to do what God asked them to do, we too often go our own way. Yet obedience is a desired result of our deepening relationship with God. Moses told the people, “Be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you . . . . Walk in obedience to all that [he] has commanded you” (Deut. 5:32–33). Long after Moses, Jesus urged His disciples to trust Him and to love one another.

This is still the kind of surrender of our hearts that leads to our well-being. As the Spirit helps us to obey, it is good to remember that He “works in [us] to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil. 2:13). —Lawrence Darmani

Lord, thank You for second and third chances. Please help us to want to follow Your ways and to follow through in obedience.

The closer we walk with God, the clearer we see His guidance.

INSIGHT: The Bible’s overarching story is the loving God reaching down to rescue His broken, rebellious creation and His ultimate expression of love in His Son, Jesus. Jesus Christ came to rescue and restore us to the relationship with the Father we lost in the fall. Deuteronomy, which is part of that story, is the final book of the Pentateuch, the opening five books of the Bible. These books form the platform for the entire Bible, which is God’s instruction to us. They are also known as “the five scrolls” and, in Judaism, as the Torah (the “instruction” of Moses). They cover both a long and short period of human history.

 

http://www.odb.org

Uncategorized

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – The Promised Holy Spirit

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“‘I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth’” (John 14:16-17).

Jesus ministered by the power of the Holy Spirit, and He has promised the same Spirit to all believers.

The fluctuating economy of the 1990s and its changing workplace have left many workers with the sense that they’ll probably have to change jobs several times during their careers.

Even though economies may enter new phases and leave people with uncertainties, God’s promises remain completely reliable. His promise, made through His Son, our Lord and Savior, to send the Holy Spirit is one such pledge. This very important scriptural promise was first given in today’s text, which Jesus gave to the disciples during the first part of His Upper Room discourse. His words, coming on the eve of His death, gave much comfort to the disciples; but the promise is also part of Christ’s rich legacy to Christians today.

This promise consists of four elements. First, Jesus promises a supernatural Helper. He called Him “another” Helper, which means “another who is identical.” He is sending us exactly the sort of Helper He was, except the Spirit lives in us (John 14:17).

Second, the promise means supernatural life for us. When we are saved and have the Holy Spirit, we become sensitive to Christ’s working in the world, and we begin to see things from a divine perspective (John 14:19).

Third, the Spirit comes as a supernatural Teacher (John 14:26). This is one of the most vital aspects of the Spirit’s ministry because it reminds us of our complete dependence on Christ.

Finally, Christ’s promise of the Holy Spirit brings a supernatural peace (John 14:27). This is a peace that aggressively and positively deals with our daily troubles and turns them into joy (Phil. 4:7).

If you know and love the Lord Jesus and are obeying Him, the promise of the Spirit, with all its implications, is available for you to apply and enjoy (John 14:21; 15:5).

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank God for the promise of the Spirit, and pray that you would fully realize every aspect of that promise.

For Further Study

Read 1 John 5:1-7.

  • What does this passage say about the interrelationship of love for God and obedience to His commands?
  • What are the basic characteristics of love and obedience?

 

http://www.gty.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Nonlinear Route 

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So David inquired of the LORD, and He answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.”  2 Samuel 5:23

God’s will is not always a straight line and often, it requires deviation in direction. It may feel like three steps forward and two steps back. Following Jesus may seem like you tracked down a path that was not a part of His plan.

However, His plan is an adventure that cannot be confined to “point A to point B” thinking. God is so much more creative than to give us a predictable path that we can control. His will keeps us trusting and praying. It keeps us looking to the Lord for direction and discernment. This is why we get confused at times. We strike out in one direction, and then feel led to move in a different direction. Sometimes He leads us down an entirely different path than where we started. The adventurous part of us likes this, while our cautious and security-seeking part grows fearful. Depending on your temperament, you can either become unfocused because you thrive on adventure or you can become afraid because you like things in their place.

So what is God up to? How do we harness the Spirit of the Almighty to lead us into His great adventure? It is imperative that we listen intently to the Lord. We are compelled to follow Christ, thus we desperately need His marching orders.

But the noise of life can easily drown out the Lord’s tender call. His voice will not compete with cluttered living that gets in the way of listening. His voice is pure and plain, and He longs for our undivided attention. He wants us to turn down the racket of modern day conveniences, and come to Him. When we’re stuck in one of life’s traffic jams, and the voice of the Lord is drowned out by the noise around us, He’s right there with us—inviting us to listen.

He knows you can’t handle His entire plan at once, so go with what He gives you. He doesn’t bless a perfect plan; He blesses obedience and trust. Go with what you know today, and trust Him with what you don’t know about tomorrow. God’s work is in the here and now. Reality is where you passionately pursue Him. So don’t be shy to go where God says to go, even when it doesn’t make sense. He is positioning you for success.

Lastly, do not be afraid to engage the enemy as you follow Christ, but confront him in prayer. Fight the unseen forces of evil by faith. The devil will try to distract you from following God’s will. He will tempt you with the allure of wealth, women (or men), and wine. Do not become sidetracked by Satan. Put on the full armor of God. Lean into the Lord, and listen to His trustworthy voice. Dismiss the sultry voice of self-deception. The enemy is the great imposter. He disguises his voice to sound like God’s. Indeed, be so in tune with the voice of Jesus that a counterfeit sounds like a shrill fire alarm you want to avoid.

Above all else, follow the Almighty even when it seems like you are going in a big circle. Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I trust You to lead me on the path that draws me closer to Christ.

Application: In what area of my life do I need to stop striving and rest in the new route of God’s will?

 

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Listen with Your Spirit

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It is the Spirit Who gives life [He is the Life-giver]; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever [there is no profit in it]. The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life.- John 6:63

Sometimes our own minds, wills, or emotions interfere with our ability to hear God’s voice. When we try to hear and obey God, negative thoughts can bombard us to the point that we feel like giving up. But if we quiet out minds and see what is in our hearts, God will give us confirmation of what He is speaking. We will sense His answer rising with peace and confidence from deep within our hearts, where the Holy Spirit dwells.

One time I had finished a meeting—one I had worked very hard to ensure would be helpful to the people who came. Although everyone seemed to enjoy it, I kept hearing in my head, “No one was blessed and most wished they hadn’t even come.”

I felt like a miserable failure, which I knew was not God’s will for me, so I got still and quiet and listened to see what the Holy Spirit would say to me. I instantly heard the still, small voice, the knowing deep inside, say, “If the people did not want to be here, they would not have come. If they were not enjoying it, many would have left. I gave you the message, and I never give anyone bad things to preach, so don’t allow Satan to steal the joy of your labor.” Had I not listened, I would have continued to be miserable, but God’s word brought life to me.

We hear from God through our spirit, not through our mind. Remember that, and always take time to stop and ask God what He is truly saying to you.

God’s Word for you today: God’s Word always brings life.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Blessed are the Humble

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

A young Christian leader, who was probably more impressed with himself than he should have been, shared with me one day how he had difficulty in being humble about all of his talent. He was a better than average speaker and a reasonably gifted singer, he had a good mind and personality, and in his heart of hearts he knew that as a Christian he should be humble.

He said, “I spend many hours on my knees asking God to make me humble.” I responded, “I can save you a lot of prayer time in that regard if you are interested.” He assured me that he was. Whereupon I explained to him that every gift he possessed – personality, good mind, his ability to sing, speak, and other qualities – were all gifts of God and could be taken from him at any moment by a brain tumor or a car accident or plane crash or any of a thousand different things. Furthermore I reminded him that Scripture admonishes us to humble ourselves.

“Humility is perfect quietness of heart,” Andrew Murray said. “It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or irritated or sore or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed hope in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness when all around and above is trouble.”

Few Christians achieve such high standards, nevertheless it is an objective toward which we all should strive as long as we live, following the example of our Lord recorded in Philippians, chapter 2.

To be poor in spirit implies not only that we have a humble opinion of ourselves, but also that we recognize that we are sinners and have no righteousness of our own; that we are willing to be saved only by the grace and mercy of God; that we are willing to serve where God places us, to bear the burdens He allows and to stay in His hands and admit that we deserve no favor from Him.

As commonly interpreted, the word “blessed” means “happy.” You and I are assured of happiness when we are making conscious strides toward humility. All of this becomes possible as we yield to God’s indwelling Holy Spirit.

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:17-20

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: With the help of the Holy Spirit I will consciously humble myself, asking Him to enable me to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and my neighbor as myself as an act of humility and as a major factor in achieving the supernatural life.

 

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – God Gave Them Over

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Read: Romans 1:24-32

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts, to sexual impurity, for the degrading of their bodies with one another. Romans 1:24

The wickedness at work among human beings follows a process which is identified in this passage by the thrice-repeated phrase, God gave them over. This phrase identifies what is going on in our culture. The first mark of wickedness in a godless society is widespread sexual immorality — the degrading, or the dishonoring, of the body. Many people think this account describes all the evil things men do, and then says that God washes his hands of evil people because they are so filthy and dirty. That is not what this says. But because men run after other gods and refuse the testimony of their own hearts and do not glorify or thank the true God, God removes his restraints from society so that what is done in secret is allowed to break out into openness and acceptability. That is the mark of the wrath of God at work. The first sign of wickedness in a civilization is that sexual immorality becomes widely accepted.

You may ask, Why is it that sex always seems to be singled out as the sign of God’s judgment Many Christians have wrongly concluded that sexual sins are the worst kinds of sin. But that is not true. This passage in Romans bears it out. It begins with sexual impurity and proceeds to sexual perversity. But, the final result is not sexual sins, but sins of the spirit. Widespread animosity, hatred of the heart — these are the worst sins. There is good reason why God allows sexual practices to come to the surface. He allows it to show us what is going on in our spiritual lives. It highlights the fact that sex is linked with worship. Sex is a desire to possess another body and to be possessed by another. It is a deep-seated craving inherent in every human being.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – The Church’s Banquet

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Read: 1 Kings 17:8-16

Pray without ceasing. (1 Thess. 5:17)

Some of the words in this poem no longer mean quite what they meant when Herbert wrote it. A modern dictionary definition of “banquet” is “a lavish meal with speeches”! Herbert was a Church of England clergyman, and he would have regarded as very special occasions the Sunday services at which he loved to gather the flock that he pastored, to lead them in times of prayer and praise and the hearing of God’s Word, and (of course) of sharing the bread and wine at the Lord’s Table—a feast of good things.

But that is probably not what he had in mind. In those days the term “banquet” was actually used for a lighter meal, something to keep you going between the big special events. Herbert expected his people to come together on Sundays (lots of prayer there: he would lead worship using the Book of Common Prayer, with services that were actually called Morning and Evening Prayer). But it was prayer between times, prayer at all times, prayer at work and at home and on the journey, that I think he had in mind here; the church praying when it was not “at church.” Of course we should look for, and should prayerfully ask for, special blessings when we converge on the place where our fellowship gathers on the weekend. But I find increasingly as the years go by that the weekday “snacks” and the packed “lunches” of prayer are also quite remarkably sustaining.

 

The prayer is printed below in its entirety.

Prayer (I)

BY GEORGE HERBERT

Prayer the Church’s banquet, Angels’ age,

God’s breath in man returning to his birth,

The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,

The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth;

Engine against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tower,

Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,

The six-days-world transposing in an hour,

A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;

Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,

Exalted Manna, gladness of the best,

Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,

The milky way, the bird of Paradise,

Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood.

The land of spices; something understood.

Prayer:

Thank you for today’s “bread,” Lord. Quality stuff, and never fails.

Author: Michael Wilcock

 

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Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Opens Hearts

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“And a certain woman named Lydia…heard us: whose heart the Lord opened.” (Acts 16:14)

When Paul received a call from God to go to Macedonia and preach the gospel, he and his missionary companions immediately set sail. One of the first major cities they came to was Philippi. After spending some time in the city, they decided one day to go out into the country to tell people about Christ. They found a group of women meeting beside a river, so they sat down with them to tell them the good news about the true God.

One of these women was named Lydia. Lydia lived in the city of Thyatira, and she made her living by selling purple cloth. The Bible tells us that Lydia “worshiped God.” She was interested in the Jewish God and tried to worship Him in her own way, but she had not yet become a believer in Christ. Acts 16:14 says that Lydia heard Paul’s preaching because the Lord had opened her heart. Lydia’s heart was not hard and cold, nor was it doubtful and questioning. She had a heart that was open and ready to receive God’s Word because of a work that He had done inside of her. After hearing Paul’s preaching, she and her entire household were willing to show the world publicly, through baptism, that they were believers in Christ.

Is there someone that you would like to share the gospel with? Pray for that person, asking God to open his heart. Maybe you have a neighbor that you have tried several times to witness to, but she has never been willing to listen. Ask God to open her heart. Perhaps you have a family member that is not saved, but you feel a little fearful to talk to him about the Lord. God can open his heart too!

God wants us to share the gospel with the unsaved people around us, but salvation is His work, not ours. The story of Lydia reminds us that God is the one who makes people ready and willing to receive the good news of Jesus Christ. Each time you hand someone a tract, write someone a letter explaining how to be saved, or talk to an unsaved person about the gospel, remember to ask for help from the God who opens hearts.

In salvation, God does a special work of opening hearts and making people ready to accept Jesus Christ.

My Response:

» Am I making an effort to tell unsaved people the good news of Jesus Christ?

» When I do that, am I depending on the power of God to open their hearts?

 

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Accepted Through Christ

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:20

“It is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”

Even the good works we bring to God are in themselves defective, both in motive and performance. It is virtually impossible to purge our motives completely of pride and self-gratification. And we can never perfectly perform those good works. The best we can do falls short of what God requires, but the truth is, we never actually do the best we can, let alone what would meet God’s perfect standard.

That is why Peter wrote, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Our best works are acceptable to God only because they are made acceptable by the merit of Jesus Christ. But God does accept them through Christ; he accepts them on the basis of his grace.

Ernest Kevan quoted one of the Puritans on the imperfection of our works as follows: “We do not do all that is commanded but come short of our duty, and that which we do is imperfect and defective in respect of manner and measure; and therefore in justice deserves punishment, rather than reward: and consequently the reward, when it is given, is to be ascribed to God’s undeserved mercy and not to our merit.”

So the entire Christian life is a life lived under grace from first to last, from beginning to end, all “to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves” (Ephesians 1:6). (Excerpt taken from Transforming Grace)

 

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