Daily Archives: January 19, 2017

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Pitfalls in Seeking God’s Will

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Psalm 25:4-5

As a pastor, I am frequently asked how to make the right decision in challenging circumstances. Sadly, I see many people make mistakes in this area.

For example, some people pray hastily for the Lord to lead them but do not listen for His answer. Instead, they make their own decision and trust that He will bless it. But expecting God to bless what is not of Him will lead to missing out on His best. To avoid disappointment, we must be aware of several pitfalls that interfere with hearing His direction accurately.

First, be mindful of fleshly desires. Wants are not necessarily wrong, but longings become unhealthy when they consume our thoughts. Eventually, we might believe that our desired outcome is God’s will, when in reality, we weren’t really listening to His voice.

Second, watch out for faulty advice. Even well-meaning Christian friends can lead us in the wrong direction. We should carefully seek counsel from those who walk closely with Jesus and are grounded in His Word.

Third, be careful when you are feeling impatient, doubtful, or pressured in any way. These emotions can lead you to make rash decisions apart from the Lord’s best for your life. Patience is hard, but His perfect will is always worth the wait.

Determine to follow God’s leading. Do this by cleansing your heart, asking for guidance, waiting, and listening. When you trusted Christ as Savior, His Holy Spirit came into your heart and sealed you as His child. He will teach you how to live a godly life—direction is yours if you ask and believe.

Bible in One Year: Exodus 10-12

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – A Treasure to be Shared

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Read: 2 Corinthians 4:1–7

Bible in a Year: Genesis 46–48; Matthew 13:1–30

We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.—2 Corinthians 4:7

In March 1974, Chinese farmers were digging a well when they made a surprising discovery: Buried under the dry ground of central China was the Terracotta Army—life-size terracotta sculptures that dated back to the third century bc. In this extraordinary find were some 8,000 soldiers, 150 cavalry horses, and 130 chariots drawn by 520 horses. The Terracotta Army has become one of the most popular tourist sites in China, attracting over a million visitors annually. This amazing treasure lay hidden for centuries but is now being shared with the world.

The apostle Paul wrote that followers of Christ have a treasure inside them that is to be shared with the world: “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure” (2 Cor. 4:7 nlt). The treasure inside us is the message of Christ and His love.

This treasure is not to be hidden but is to be shared so that by God’s love and grace people of every nation can be welcomed into His family. May we, through His Spirit’s working, share that treasure with someone today. —Bill Crowder

The good news of Jesus is too wonderful to keep to myself, Father. May I live the gospel and share it with others throughout my journey with You, Lord.

INSIGHT: God’s story of redemption hinges on the incarnation—from the Latin wording that means “taking on flesh.” Incarnation simply means that God provided the perfect and final rescue for humans by becoming a human Himself. Jesus gave all who would follow Him the mission of carrying His message of life, hope, and rescue to the world. God has chosen to keep the treasure of the gospel, the light of Christ, in common vessels—His followers, the people of God. When we experience His power at work in our lives, we carry His kingdom message of grace, healing, newness, and love. We demonstrate the all-surpassing power of God to the world as He incarnates the treasure of Christ’s life in ours every day (v. 7). Dennis Moles

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – You Are What You Possess

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A shocking story appeared in the Times of India, about a teenager, thirteen years of age, who had taken to prostitution because of her obsessive craze for high-end gadgets and mobile phones. The mother, who runs a grocery shop, did not have any clue of her daughter’s act until the girl spilled the beans abruptly, fearful that she had become pregnant. The shocked mother tried to explain to the teenager that prostitution is illegal and immoral, but the girl refuses to stop or to see anything wrong in the act. She reveals that she had been working independently and booked her clients through a secret secondary phone. The counselor who attended to the teenager noted that she seemed unphased and took quite some time to respond to the counselling, simply repeating in a matter-of-fact tone that, she was strapped for money and unable to buy the latest gizmos and gadgets that her friends used.

This, perhaps, is not an isolated incident but a reflection of a trend among us these days. The young (or, most of us, for that matter), have become so gadget-crazy that they not only draw pleasure, but also their identity from the gadgets that they possess. In his book, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto, Jaron Lanier, one of the pioneers of virtual reality (in fact, the one who first coined the term “virtual reality”), talks about the reductionist tendencies prevalent in the field of Computer Science—for example, reducing thinking to mere “information processing” and prostrating oneself before machines. He points out further, that every software program embodies a personal philosophy: “[I]t is impossible to work with information technology without also engaging in social engineering….People degrade themselves in order to make machines seem smart all the time.”

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Christ Is Our Confidence

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For we [Christians] are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and exult and glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are] in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances. —Philippians 3:3

God is merciful toward us and wants to bless and prosper us. He sees our heart attitude and our faith in Jesus. When we have confidence in God and His love and kindness, we can progress to living confidently and enjoying the life He wants for us. Note that I said confidence in God, not in ourselves. Usually, people think of confidence as self-confidence, such as TV self-help gurus or athletes promote when urging us to “Believe in yourself!”

I beg to differ. I want to make it clear, right from the start, that our confidence must be in Christ alone, not in ourselves, not in other people, not in the world or its systems. The Bible states that we are sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency (see Philippians 4:13), so we might also say that we are confident through Christ’s confidence. Or another way to say it would be, “We have self-confidence only because He lives in us, and it is His confidence that we draw on.”

Lord, I know that far too often I put my confidence in my own abilities, or other people, or the place I work to provide for my needs. I fix my eyes upon You. You alone are worthy of being my confidence. 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 – A New Life to Enjoy

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“The Ten Commandments were given so that all could see the extent of their failure to obey God’s laws. But the more we see our sinfulness, the more we see God’s abounding grace forgiving us. Before, sin ruled over all men and brought them to death, but now God’s kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

“Well, then, shall we keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness? Of course not! Should we keep on sinning when we don’t have to? For sin’s power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through His death the power of your sinful nature was shattered. Your old sin-loving nature was buried with Him by baptism when He died, and when God the Father, with glorious power, brought Him back to life again, you were given His wonderful new life to enjoy” (Romans 5:20-6:4).

“When I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen,” replied the great musician Haydn when asked why his church music was so cheerful. “And since God has given me a cheerful heart it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit.”

A careful reading of 1 John 2 helps us realize that we will not want to sin if we really are children of God, any more than a butterfly would want to crawl on the ground as it once did as a caterpillar. “Someone may say, ‘I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ.’ But if he doesn’t do what Christ tells him to, he is a liar” (1 John 2:4).

“The person who has been born into God’s family does not make a practice of sinning, because now God’s life is in him; so he can’t keep on sinning, for this new life has been born into him and controls him – he has been born again” (1 John 3:9).

Bible Reading: Romans 5:15-19

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will thank God often throughout the day for the fact that I don’t have sin. He has made a way of escape. “For sin’s power over us was broken when we received Christ.” So, I will “resist the devil” and he will flee from me. Today I will enjoy my new life in Christ by demonstrating a joyful spirit.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – How Much is Enough?

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Picture your enemy tied to a whipping post. How many lashes? How much justice is enough? As your foe slumps to the ground you walk away. Are you happy now? But soon another memory will surface, another lash will be needed. . .when does it all stop? It stops when you take seriously the words of Jesus:

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15 NIV).

God will treat you the way you treat others! Would you like some peace? Then quit giving your neighbor such a hassle. Want to enjoy God’s generosity? Then let others enjoy yours. Would you like assurance that God forgives you? I think you know what you need to do.

From God is With You Every Day

 

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – March on Washington excludes pro-life women

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The Women’s March on Washington is this Saturday, the day after the presidential inauguration. As many as 200,000 women are expected to march for “the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families.” Why aren’t pro-life women part of this event?

The March’s values include “open access to safe, legal, affordable abortion and birth control for all people.” The event’s sponsors include Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, and the National Abortion Federation. When news got out that some pro-life groups planned to participate, there was an immediate outcry from pro-choice supporters who claimed that feminism must include support for abortion.

Is this true?

Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Louisa May Alcott were all pioneers of early feminism. All were opposed to abortion. Nonetheless, abortion advocates continue to denigrate the pro-life position as an anti-feminist “war on women.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Pro-life supporters want what is best for all women. They are convinced by the evidence that abortion not only ends the lives of unborn women, it also harms their mothers and the rest of society.

Consider the economic cost of abortion. Of the 58 million abortions in America since Roe v. Wade, more than 12 million were females who would now be of child-bearing age. Thus, we can add at least another 12 million second-generation lives aborted, for a total of 70 million who would be contributing to the American economy.

The US government calculates Gross Domestic Product as $53,000 per capita. This amount multiplied by 70 million leads to a loss to our economy of nearly $3.7 trillion, more than 20 percent of our total GDP.

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