Daily Archives: January 1, 2017

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Keeping Our Eyes on His Goals

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Philippians 3:13-15

Have you ever attempted to walk in a straight line while looking at your feet? Try this on the beach sometime so you can look back at your footprints. You’ll probably be surprised at how crooked the path is. But fix your eyes upon something far away, and each step will point in the desired direction—toward that distant focal point.

Our lives are like this. If we set goals, then our decisions and thoughts will lead toward the desired end. On the other hand, if we bumble along without specific aims, we will wander and waste much precious time and energy.

Goals are crucial to the well-lived life. Why, then, do so many people fail to formulate purposeful aims? Some simply do not see the importance of a plan, while others are too lazy to devise one or don’t know how to go about it. Then there are those who lack faith in God’s ability to help them achieve their aspirations.

Think about the many goals Jesus had—they drove all that He did. His daily aims involved such things as serving others and teaching those who sought righteousness. But more than that, our Savior centered everything on a primary purpose set even before time began: to lay down His life on the cross in order to save mankind from sin and glorify the Father.

We were created to glorify the Lord and be fruitful in His service. Imagine the impact our lives could have if we asked God to guide our goals. Pray, “What do You want to change about my life? What do You want to accomplish through me?” Let Him determine on what and on whom you focus.

Bible in One Year: Genesis 1-3

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Thanks-Living

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Read: Psalm 23

Bible in a Year: Genesis 1–3; Matthew 1

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.—Psalm 23:6

Wanting to mature in her spiritual life and become more thankful, Sue started what she called a Thanks-Living jar. Each evening she wrote on a small piece of paper one thing she thanked God for and dropped it in the jar. Some days she had many praises; other difficult days she struggled to find one. At the end of the year she emptied her jar and read through all of the notes. She found herself thanking God again for everything He had done. He had given simple things like a beautiful sunset or a cool evening for a walk in the park, and other times He had provided grace to handle a difficult situation or had answered a prayer.

Sue’s discovery reminded me of what the psalmist David says he experienced (Ps. 23). God refreshed him with “green pastures” and “quiet waters” (vv. 2-3). He gave him guidance, protection, and comfort (vv. 3-4). David concluded: “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life” (v. 6).

I’m going to make a Thanks-Living jar this year. Maybe you’d like to as well. I think we’ll see we have many reasons to thank God—including His gifts of friends and family and His provisions for our physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. We’ll see that the goodness and love of God follow us all the days of our lives. —Anne Cetas

Dear Lord, You bless me in more ways than I can count. Thank You for Your love for me.

When you think of all that’s good, give thanks to God.

INSIGHT: Psalm 23 is a familiar favorite of many people. Modern believers are unlikely to connect shepherds with sovereigns. Yet in the Bible world, people did think of kings as shepherds. Look up Psalm 78:71-72; 2 Samuel 5:2; Isaiah 44:28; and Jeremiah 3:15. (Amazingly, note that in Revelation 7:17 a Lamb will shepherd His people!) After all, what does a shepherd do? He cares, controls, governs, protects, and so on. Isn’t that what any good king would do? In other words, the job profile for kings and shepherds is not all that different. God’s giving is the trigger for our responsive thanksgiving. And thanksgiving can be packaged as “thanks-living.” Why not take an inventory of ways God has provided for you this week? How might your thanksgiving practically manifest itself in “thanks-living”? Jim Townsend

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Think Again: The Dying Art of Thinking

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Topic: Just Thinking Magazine by Ravi Zacharias on December 2, 2016

The seventeenth-century French philosopher Rene Descartes is best known for his dictum “I think, therefore, I am.” A cynic may well quip that Descartes actually put des cart before des horse, because all he could have legitimately deduced was, “I think, therefore, thinking exists.” I do not intend to defend or counter Cartesian philosophy; I only wish to underscore that thinking has much to do with life and certainty.

One of the tragic casualties of our age has been that of the contemplative life—a life that thinks, thinks things through, and more particularly, thinks God’s thoughts after Him.

A person sitting at his desk and staring out of the window would never be assumed to be working. No! Thinking is not equated with work. Yet, had Newton under his tree or Archimedes in his bathtub bought into that prejudice, some natural laws would still be up in the air or buried under an immovable rock. Pascal’s Pensées, a work that has inspired millions, would have never been penned.

The Bible places supreme value in the thought life. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,” Solomon wrote (Proverbs 23:7). Jesus asserted that sin’s gravity lay in the idea itself, not just the act. The apostle Paul admonished the church at Philippi to have the mind of Christ, and to the same people he wrote, “Whatever is true…whatever is pure…if there be any virtue…think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

The follower of Christ must demonstrate to the world what it is not just to think, but to think justly. But how does one manage this in a culture where progress is determined by pace and defined by quantity?

What is even more destructive is that the greatest demand comes from neither speed nor quantity but rather from the assumption that silence is inimical to life. The radio in the car, music in the elevator, and the symphony entertaining the “on hold” callers add up as impediments to personal reflection. In effect, the mind is denied the privilege of living with itself even briefly and is crowded with outside impulses to cope with aloneness.

Aldous Huxley’s indictment, “Most of one’s life is one prolonged effort to prevent oneself from thinking,” seems frightfully true. The price paid for this scenario has been devastating. Indeed, T.S. Eliot observed in his poem “Choruses from The Rock”:

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Start Your Day Right

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When I said, My foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, held me up.—Psalm 94:18

Some people seem to start their day on the “wrong foot.” They feel all right when they wake up, but as soon as something goes wrong, they lose their footing and walk with a “loser’s limp” the rest of the day. Once they are off to a bad start, it seems they never catch up.

If someone offends us early in the morning, our anger can keep us defensive all day. If we start the day rushing, it seems we never slow down. But to¬day our feet can be firmly planted in God’s Word.

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Bible’s No. 1 Promise

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“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, KJV).

As I travel from country to country, I find that millions of people in many countries and cultures are receiving Christ into their lives after hearing about Him for the first time. Millions of others would respond joyfully if they fully understood the truth of John 3:16, the most wonderful promise ever given to man.

Only through His indwelling presence can they live supernaturally. The first prerequisite to supernatural living, of course, is life – eternal life, supernatural life from God. I encourage you to meditate often on the content of this God-inspired promise:

God: The omnipotent Creator – loving, sovereign, holy, all-wise, ever-present, compassionate God who flung a hundred billion or more galaxies into space merely by speaking.

So loved: His love is unconditional and inexhaustible.

He gave: a gift that can never be earned by our good works, but can be received only by faith.

His only begotten Son: the most precious, priceless gift ever given – Jesus.

That whosoever: you and I and every person who inhabits the world.

Believeth in Him: believes that He is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, the one who died on the cross for the sins of all people everywhere and who was raised from the dead.

Should not perish: should not be eternally separated from God. “The Lord…is not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9, KJV).

But have everlasting life: not only in heaven, but also on earth, experiencing the supernatural, everlasting life of the indwelling, risen Savior.

Bible Reading: Romans 5:6-11

Today’s Action Point: If I am not already a believer in Christ, I will receive Him into my life as Savior and Lord today. If I am a believer and have not already done so, I will acknowledge His lordship in my life and begin to draw upon His resurrection power as a way of life. As I continue to claim His promise, I am confident that the result will be a full, abundant and supernatural life.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – FIRST THINGS FIRST

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Suppose I were to drop by your house holding a foil-covered saucer. “Hello, friend,” I say. “A few days back Denalyn made a strawberry cake. It was so good. It came out of the oven hot, moist, and sweet. I wish you could have tasted it. Today, as I was eating the last piece, I thought of you. Just before I took the final bite, I put my fork down and thought, I’m taking these crumbs to my friend.”

How would you feel?

Contrast that emotion with the one you feel if I were to knock at your door holding a cake pan with oven mitts. “Denalyn pulled this out of the oven a few minutes ago. It’s still hot. No one has touched it. I got here as fast as I could. I want you to have the first piece. I want you to have the whole cake (although I did bring my fork in case you want to share).”

How would that invitation make you feel? Or, better asked, how does that make you feel? God offers you the whole cake. You do not receive crumbs or leftovers. You have received his best. Why? Because he loves you based on the “Principle of Firsts.”

Since this is the first day of a new year, it’s appropriate to re-visit the theme of “firsts” in the Bible. Open a concordance to the word and prepare yourself for an avalanche of entries. First. Firstborn. Firstbegotten. Firstfruit. Firstling. First-ripe. My concordance contains seven columns of tiny-fonted words and verses. Apparently, “first” is a big theme in scripture and a big thing to God!

Is it possible, with all these references, to reduce them to a single message? I think so.

God went first. We love because he first loved us (I John. 4:19).

God made the first move. God took the first step. God placed the first call. We did nothing and do nothing that wasn’t and isn’t prompted by God. He went first. He not only went first, he gave his firstborn son. The Bible calls Jesus “the firstborn among the brethren” (Romans 8:29). In the great, expansive, innumerable family of God, there is a firstborn: Jesus Christ. What did God do with his firstborn Son? He sent him as a sacrifice. He didn’t redeem us with apostles, angels, prophets or preachers. He gave the best gift.

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Right Thinking 

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For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8

God’s will does not always make sense. It may not make sense because we factor in our own understanding. If left to our understanding, we would be miserable. There is a greater pool of knowledge reserved for us in Christ. Do not underestimate its value and availability. It is valuable because of the divine direction that can save us from running down paths that waste our time and the time of others. God’s way may not make sense now, but it will later. His thoughts and ways are easily accessible by faith.

Faith is our constant connection to God-thinking, but we struggle with this because we have been programmed differently. Some of us wrongly think we don’t deserve God’s grace, so we don’t feel the need to receive it. We cannot, however, live the Christian life without the grace of God. God’s way is the grace way. We give Him glory and He gives us grace. We give Him praise and He gives us peace. We give Him worship and He gives us confidence. This is the way of God. He created the original “road less traveled.” Avoid the mindless masses and follow God. His ways may not be the most popular, but they are the most productive. His thoughts transcend our thoughts.

God-thinking takes discipline. This temporal world does not necessarily reward eternal thinking. In fact, it may punish you for thinking God-thoughts. You think people outside of Christ are lost in their sins and hell-bound; the world thinks you are narrow in your thinking. Yet these are Jesus’ thoughts. This is not popular thinking, and may be not practical, but it is true. As a follower of Christ, you can think God-thoughts. You can think like God because you have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16).

Your conversion experience infused you with a new worldview. No longer are you limited by what you can do, but by faith, you anticipate what God can do through you. Instead of thinking self-centered thoughts, you focus on God-centric thinking. When you think like Jesus, you do not have to be in control. You trust Him to handle people and circumstances in His timing. This is tapping into the mind of Christ to renew your thinking on a moment-by-moment basis. God-thinking is only a faith-step away.

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