Daily Archives: December 29, 2016

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Eternal Security: Can We Be Sure?

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1 John 5:1-13

Our loving heavenly Father wants us to know with certainty that we have eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. What assurances do we have that we are permanently secure?

God’s love. One reason we can be sure of never-ending salvation is our heavenly Father’s unconditional love. At the cross, He demonstrated just how much we mean to Him: He sent His Son to die so that we might have eternal life (1 John 4:9-10).

Christ’s life and death. Because Jesus was without sin, He qualified to serve as our substitute and take our place on the cross. By dying for us, He paid for all our sins and finished the work necessary to secure our salvation (John 19:30).

Jesus’ promise. We have our Lord’s assurance that we will spend eternity with Him. He promised that we can never be separated from Him and that no one can snatch us from His hand (John 10:28). He has gone ahead to prepare a place for us and will return to bring us there (John 14:2-3).

The indwelling Holy Spirit. Another assurance of eternal security is the presence of God’s Spirit within each believer. The Holy Spirit acts as a seal, guaranteeing that we belong to the Lord and serving as a pledge of our future in heaven with Him (2 Cor. 1:21-22).

The Word of God is filled with His promises that those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior will spend eternity with Him. If you struggle with doubt, then meditate on Scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into a biblical understanding of your salvation.

Bible in One Year: Revelation 9-12

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Signet Ring

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Read: Haggai 2:15–23

Bible in a Year: Zechariah 9–12; Revelation 20

“I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,” declares the Lord.—Haggai 2:23

When I first made the acquaintance of a new friend from abroad, I noticed his posh English accent and that he wore a ring on his little finger. Later I learned that this wasn’t just jewelry; it revealed his family’s history through the family crest engraved on it.

It was a bit like a signet ring—perhaps like the one in Haggai. In this short Old Testament book, the prophet Haggai calls for the people of God to restart the rebuilding of the temple. They had been exiled and had now returned to their homeland and begun rebuilding, but enemy opposition to their project had stalled them. Haggai’s message includes God’s promise to Zerubbabel, Judah’s leader, that he had been chosen and set apart as their leader, like a signet ring.

In ancient times, a signet ring was used as a means of identification. Instead of signing their name, people would press their ring into hot wax or soft clay to make their mark. As God’s children, we too make a mark on the world as we spread the gospel, share His grace through loving our neighbors, and work to end oppression.

Each of us has our own unique stamp that reveals how we’re created in God’s image and expresses our particular mix of gifts, passions, and wisdom. It’s our call and privilege to act as this signet ring in God’s world. —Amy Boucher Pye

Father God, may I know my true identity as Your heir this day. (See Luke 15.)

We are God’s heirs and ambassadors, sharing His love in the world.

INSIGHT: Just as Zerubbabel is likened to a signet ring, each Christian is marked by God’s authorized acceptance in Christ (Eph. 1:4-5, 11). As such, we are identified as Christians (Acts 11:26; 1 Pet. 4:14-16) and authorized as envoys or carriers of the most important information in the entire world (Matt. 28:18-20). How can we be more effective disseminators of that truth this week? How could we have a more valuable New Year’s resolution than to act like God’s signet rings in this upcoming year? Jim Townsend

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Christianity Without Christ?

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Paul Tillich, the noted existentialist theologian, traveled to Asia to hold conferences with various Buddhist thinkers. He was studying the significance of religious leaders to the movements they had engendered. Tillich asked a simple question. “What if by some fluke, the Buddha had never lived and turned out to be some sort of fabrication? What would be the implications for Buddhism?” Mind you, Tillich was concerned with the indispensability of the Buddha—not his authenticity.

The scholars did not hesitate to answer. If the Buddha was a myth, they said, it did not matter at all. Why? Because Buddhism should be judged as an abstract philosophy—as a system of living. Whether its concepts originated with the Buddha is irrelevant. As an aside, I think the Buddha himself would have concurred. Knowing that his death was imminent, he beseeched his followers not to focus on him but to remember his teachings. Not his life but his way of life was to be attended to and propagated.

So, what of other world religions? Hinduism, as a conglomeration of thinkers and philosophies and gods, can certainly do without many of its deities. Some other major religions face the same predicament.

Is Christianity similar? Could God the Father have sent another instead of Jesus? May I say to you, and please hear me, that the answer is most categorically No. Jesus did not merely claim to be a prophet in a continuum of prophets. He is the unique and human Son of God, part of the very godhead that Christianity calls the Trinity. The apostle Paul says it this way:

“[Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible… He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together… For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”(1)

Moreover, Jesus himself prayed, “[Father] you have given [me] authority over all people to give eternal life to all whom you have given [me]. And this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”(2)

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Celebrate the Positive

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For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature. —James 3:2

Our thoughts and words about ourselves are tremendously important. In order to overcome the negative thinking and speaking that have been such a natural part of our lifestyle for so long, we must make a conscious effort to meditate on and speak positive things about ourselves. We need to get our mouth in line with what the Word of God says about us.

Positive confession of the Word of God should be an ingrained habit of every believer. If you have not yet begun to develop this important habit, start today. Begin thinking and saying good things about yourself: “I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. I prosper in everything I lay my hand to. I have gifts and talents, and God is using me. I operate in the fruit of the Spirit. I walk in love. Joy flows through me.”

We can appropriate the blessings of God in our lives if we will continually and purposefully speak about ourselves what the Word of God says about us. We will receive positive results.

Lord, I will make the positive confession of Your Word an ingrained habit of my life. Help me to get my mouth in line with the truth of what You have done for me. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Tempted Like We Are

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“For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, KJV).

“In your opinion, who is the greatest person who ever lived, and who has done more good for mankind than anyone else who ever lived?” I asked a student who was both an atheist and a card-carrying Communist.

There was an awkward silence. Then finally came this reluctant reply, “I guess I would have to say Jesus of Nazareth.”

How could an atheist and a Communist, who had been reared in another religion, give such an answer?

Jesus has done more good for mankind than anyone else who has ever lived. He is the greatest person of the centuries, because it is a fact. Compare Jesus, even as a man, with any other person – Muhammad, Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, anyone else in any country at any time in history – and it would be like comparing a giant with a midget.

Though he lived 2,000 years ago and changed the course of history, though He was the greatest leader, the greatest teacher, the greatest example the world has ever known, He is infinitely more than these. He is God.

The omnipotent Creator God visited this little planet earth and became a man, the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth. He was perfect God and perfect man, and as perfect man He understands our weaknesses, since He had the same temptations we do – though He never once gave way to them and sinned.

Do you believe that Jesus ever had the temptation to lie, to lust, to steal or to be immoral? Make a list of your temptations, all your weaknesses, all your failures, and then, as suggested in the verse following our reference, “Let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive His mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Bible Reading: Hebrews 2:14-18

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Since Jesus is my high priest and knows everything about me, having been tempted as I am and yet without sin, I will come boldly into His presence today and every day. I will come to receive His mercy and grace to live a supernatural life, which will enable me to live victoriously and to be fruitful for the glory and praise of His matchless name.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A Hope-Filled Heart

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You and I live in a trashy world. Unwanted garbage comes our way on a regular basis. Haven’t you been handed a trash sack of mishaps and heartaches? Sure you have. May I ask, what are you going to do with it? You could hide it; pretend it isn’t there. But sooner or later it will start to stink. So what will you do?

If you follow the example of Christ, you will learn to see tough times differently. He wants you to have a hope-filled heart…just like Jesus.  Wouldn’t you want that? Jesus saw his Father’s presence in the problem. Sure, Max, but Jesus was God. I can’t see the way he saw. Not yet, maybe. But don’t underestimate God’s  power. He can change the way you look at life.

From Lucado Inspirational Reader

 

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Cowboys in Super Bowl? Predictions are not promises

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There’s good news in the news. Forbes predicts that the economy will be better in 2017 than it was in 2016. Fortune tells us that artificial intelligence will power medical research, driverless cars, and our daily interaction with technology. And Dallas Cowboys fans take note: Troy Aikman predicts that our team will play in the Super Bowl next February.

I could go on. But as Janet Denison notes in her latest blog, predictions aren’t promises. The best way to face the future is to depend not on what might happen but on what will. So here’s a promise for the new year: God is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

However, if you’re like me, you’re wondering in the silence of your heart: Why would the King of the universe care about me? He knows my sins and failures better than anyone else does. Why would he love me so?

Abraham Kuyper, the great Dutch statesman and theologian, noted that God loves us because he made us. That’s a familiar thought, of course, but consider how Kuyper explains it: “There is subtle charm about the thing that we have made, and this is by no means always because of its intrinsic value, but rather because we have made it ourselves.”

Kuyper illustrates by describing a writer who values his article over others published in the same periodical, a florist who values the bouquet gathered from her garden over those available in the store, and a mother who revels in her child in a way no one else can. This is how our Father feels about every one of us.

Is this how you feel about yourself? Do you seek God’s best for your life, or are you settling for what our culture offers?

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