Daily Archives: December 30, 2016

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –A Realistic View of Life

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2 Timothy 4:6-8

Our culture desperately tries to postpone death. Vitamins, exercise, and diet are ways we attempt to live as long as possible. Not that these things are bad! Motive, however, is key.

For instance, since our bodies are God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16), we should take care of His dwelling. And since He has good works for us to do (Eph. 2:10), we should stay fit to complete His tasks.

On the other hand, prolonging life for fear of dying isn’t of God. Because Jesus died in our place, those who have faith in Him as Lord and Savior need not fear death. Once saved, we have assurance of a real place where we will live eternally in His presence. And according to Scripture, fear itself isn’t from God (2 Tim. 1:7). In fact, the apostle Paul assures us that far from being a dreadful change, physical death actually leads believers home to be with the Lord forever (2 Cor. 5:8).

God already knows the duration of each person’s life. With this in mind, how can we best prepare for what’s next? The first step is to receive Jesus as Savior through faith. Next, we should live a surrendered life and strive to walk according to His will. Furthermore, it is vital that believers fight the tendency to view this world as home. If we become too comfortable here and look for security and worth in earthly success, we won’t be able to maintain an eternal perspective.

It is an inescapable fact that our time on earth is temporary. It would be foolish not to prepare for something inevitable. How can you best live so that you are ready when God decides your life span is complete? (Psalm 139:16).

Bible in One Year: Revelation 13-17

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Time Alone With God

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Read: Matthew 14:13–23

Bible in a Year: Zechariah 13–14; Revelation 21

[Jesus] went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.—Matthew 14:23

It was a busy morning in the church room where I was helping. Nearly a dozen little children were chattering and playing. There was so much activity that the room became warm and I propped the door open. One little boy saw this as his chance to escape so when he thought no one was looking, he tiptoed out the door. Hot on his trail, I wasn’t surprised that he was headed straight for his daddy’s arms.

The little boy did what we need to do when life becomes busy and overwhelming—he slipped away to be with his father. Jesus looked for opportunities to spend time with His heavenly Father in prayer. Some might say this was how He coped with the demands that depleted His human energy. According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus was headed to a solitary place when a crowd of people followed Him. Noticing their needs, Jesus miraculously healed and fed them. After that, however, He “went up on a mountainside by himself to pray” (v. 23).

Jesus repeatedly helped multitudes of people, yet He didn’t allow Himself to become haggard and hurried. He nurtured His connection with God through prayer. How is it with you? Will you take time alone with God to experience His strength and fulfillment? —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Where are you finding greater fulfillment—in meeting the demands of life or in cultivating your relationship with your Creator?

When we draw near to God our minds are refreshed and our strength is renewed!

INSIGHT: The theme of rest is at the heart of the Jewish faith. For example, one of the central practices of Judaism is Shabbat (Sabbath rest). In the first century, however, many Jewish leaders were requiring extra faith practices so burdensome that Jesus openly challenged them regarding the damage they were doing to the lives of the people (see Matt. 23:2-4). The weighty tasks of religious duty had robbed people of the relational rest God desired. That may be why Jesus spoke some of the most comforting words of His public ministry: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (11:28). Bill Crowder

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Real and Unsearchable

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Common is the sentiment among recent college graduates that they went in feeling like they knew something, and leave realizing, in fact, how little they know. I remember what this felt like, walking down the aisle to accept my diploma, wondering at the wondering at the irony. Yet as uncomfortable as that moment of recognition might be, I am convinced that the thought is an important place at which to arrive.

Ravi Zacharias tells of being a graduate student when the new encyclopedia Britannica was released in its fifteenth edition. It was a massive collection that had taken fourteen years to produce, and he remembers being fascinated by the statistics: two hundred advisors, three hundred editors, four thousand contributors, over a hundred thousand entries, thirty-four million dollars, forty-three million words. Even so, in the last pages of that work, one of the editors had the audacity to conclude: “Herein contains the entirety of human knowledge.” The number of outdated encyclopedias lying in thrift stores and recycling bins does not help their point.

In the stories of Scripture where God is encountered, we find men and women who, having come in contact God, find themselves blown away by the notion that they didn’t know all that they didn’t know. As Jacob lay dreaming, he saw God appear above a great ladder where God was introduced as the God of his ancestors. Upon waking, Jacob’s his first words were filled with astonishment: “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”(1) Hagar, the maidservant of Sarah, had a similar reaction after she encountered God in the desert. Having run away from Sarah’s abuse, Hagar was resting beside a spring when God spoke to her and told her to return. We read that she was amazed: “And she gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the one who sees me.’”(2)

Whatever we see—in the midst of uncertainty, for the year ahead, in life, truth, faith, reality—there is almost always more. In fact, it is probably the one thing we can count on—and the one thing we do not. Christian philosopher Esther Lightcap Meek writes, “We labor under the misimpression that we see what we see, that seeing is believing, that either I see it or I don’t.”(3) Perhaps seeing is not always about 20/20, and seeing God is something else altogether.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Love Out Loud

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. . . You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. —Matthew 22:37-39

Loving God, yourself, and other people should be our focus in life. We should be “love-focused” individuals. Receive God’s amazing, unconditional love, then you can love yourself and live to give the love away that God has given to you. It is God’s number one priority, and it should be ours also.

This is the time of year in which we often look back and look forward. Take time to survey what your life has been like compared to what you want it to be, and work with God to make whatever changes need to be made. I urge you to end this year with a commitment to abide in love, for when we abide in love we abide in God. Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment that you should love one another, just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all (men) know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

Everyone chooses to live for something! What will your choice be? I implore you not to live for yourself, but to choose to live striving to obey the the “new Commandment” that Jesus gave. Now faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love (see 1 Corinthians 13:13).

Today and Every Day…Love God, Love Yourself, and Love Others. And don’t forget to love out loud!

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – God Is a Loving God

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“If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead? If he asks for fish, will he be given a poisonous snake? Of course not! And if you hardhearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask Him for them?” (Matthew 7:9).

Roger interrupted our Bible study on this passage of Scripture to say, “I guess I have trouble believing God is a good God because my earthly father was a tyrant. He hated me, and I hated him. I do not recall a single experience in my life where he encouraged me. I want to believe that God is good, but I have difficulty. Please help me.”

Unfortunately, there are multitudes of men and women who are relatively new Christians and who have come from similar backgrounds where there was no love, no compassion, no concern, and their view of God is therefore distorted. They somehow equate the loving, forgiving God with their own tyrannical fathers. When such is the case, only the Holy Spirit can heal these deep wounds and remove these scars. So, I assigned Roger a special project. I asked him to make a list of all the attributes and qualities of God recorded from Genesis to Revelation. The project lasted several months, but in the process a transformation took place in Roger’s life.

The day came when he exclaimed with great joy, “The Holy Spirit has illumined my mind and taught me that God is truly a loving God, worthy of my trust. Now I can believe Him for anything. I know that even if my father on earth was the best father ever, God’s love, compassion and care for me transcends anything that he could do for me. Therefore, I can ask Him for good gifts, knowing that He will hear and answer me. I want to live only for His glory for the rest of my life.”

Are you having difficulty trusting God because of an unfortunate early relationship with your father or mother? If so, I encourage you to do what Roger did. Saturate your mind with the attributes of God – His love, sovereignty, wisdom, grace, compassion, power and holiness. As you do, the Holy Spirit will use the Word of God to cleanse your mind of all the memories that weigh you down, and you will be able to say with Roger, “I can trust God for anything, because I know He is a loving God who cares for me.”

Bible Reading: 1 John 3:1-3

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will continue to meditate upon the attributes of God, knowing that the more I trust Him, the more sure I can be of His faithfulness to enable me to live a supernatural life for His glory.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A Declaration of Truth

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As our high priest, Jesus offers our prayers to God. His prayers are always heard. John 16:23 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.”

The phrase, “In Jesus’ name” is not an empty motto or talisman. It is a declaration of truth! Cancer is not in charge, Jesus is. The grumpy neighbor doesn’t rule the world— Jesus, you do! Just speak the word, Jesus!  Since God works, prayer works. Since you matter to God, your prayers matter in heaven. You are never without hope, because you’re never without prayer. And on the occasions you can’t find the words to say, pull out this pocket prayer.

Father, you are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me.

They need help. Thank you.

In Jesus’ name, amen!

From Before Amen

 

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – The best way to have your best year

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2016 is ending as unpredictably as it began.

David Bowie died in January; Debbie Reynolds died last Wednesday, one day after her daughter, Carrie Fisher. In between, the Chicago Cubs ended their 108-year drought by winning the World Series. The Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA title, ending forty-five years of frustration. Brexit was the greatest geopolitical surprise of the year until Donald Trump won the presidency.

It’s not shocking that Merriam-Webster named “surreal” its word of the year.

Now the news is filled with predictions for 2017 covering everything from the Nobel Peace Prize to the closing level of the Dow Jones. Meanwhile, most of us just want to live our best lives. We know that the higher our goal, the greater our success. As Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith recently noted, “Hall of Famers think about the Hall of Fame. Pro Bowlers think of going to the Pro Bowl.” Great players make great goals for themselves.

But there’s another side to achievement—we must lose to gain. The best athletes are fanatical about what they eat and how they exercise. Tim Cook routinely emails employees at 4:30 in the morning. Mark Cuban didn’t take a vacation for seven years while starting his first business.

The same principle holds spiritually. To grow in our relationship with the Lord, we must refuse whatever keeps us from him. Scripture calls us to give up everything that does not lead to God (Titus 2:11–12).

But that’s hard to do.

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