Daily Archives: January 21, 2017

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –The Holy Spirit, Our Guide

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John 16:12-15

All of God’s children are on a journey. And as we travel through life en route to our eternal home, every one of us will face a multitude of choices. Forks in the road and unmarked intersections challenge and frustrate us. In such circumstances, how can we know which way to go?

Jesus promised to give us an internal and ever-present Guide. Starting at the moment of salvation, everyone who trusts in the Savior is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who promises to lead believers into all the truth. Like a built-in compass, He will direct us exactly the right way, regardless of the choice. He never makes a mistake.

So you may be thinking, If He is living in me and never makes a wrong choice, why do I keep messing up? His leadership is always right, but our reception isn’t always clear. Yielding to the Lord is an essential part of receiving His direction. We cannot tolerate sin and go our own way in one area and expect to receive His guidance in another.

Sin does to our understanding of the Lord’s clear direction what a magnet does to the needle of a compass. If a magnet is placed next to a compass, the needle will point in a multitude of directions. In the same way, sin will mislead us.

When a decision is unclear, ask yourself these questions: Will Christ be glorified in this choice? Can I do this in Jesus’ name? If either answer is no, then don’t follow that path, because the Holy Spirit is not guiding you there. His leading always aligns with Scripture and brings glory to Christ.

Bible in One Year: Exodus 16-18

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Abandon It All

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Read: Romans 12:1–8

Bible in a Year: Exodus 1–3; Matthew 14:1–21

I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.—Romans 12:1

When I played college basketball, I made a conscious decision at the beginning of each season to walk into that gym and dedicate myself totally to my coach—doing whatever he might ask me to do.

It would not have benefited my team for me to announce, “Hey, Coach! Here I am. I want to shoot baskets and dribble the ball, but don’t ask me to run laps, play defense, and get all sweaty!”

Every successful athlete has to trust the coach enough to do whatever the coach asks them to do for the good of the team.

In Christ, we are to become God’s “living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1). We say to our Savior and Lord: “I trust You. Whatever You want me to do, I am willing.” Then He “transforms” us by renewing our minds to focus on the things that please Him.

It’s helpful to know that God will never call on us to do something for which He has not already equipped us. As Paul reminds us, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (v. 6).

Knowing that we can trust God with our lives, we can abandon ourselves to Him, strengthened by the knowledge that He created us and is helping us to make this effort in Him. —Dave Branon

Heavenly Father, no one deserves our sacrifice and dedication more than You. Help us to realize the joy that comes from abandoning ourselves to You.

There is no risk in abandoning ourselves to God.

INSIGHT: In many ways, Paul’s letter to the Romans is the most theological of his epistles. Yet it is also intensely personal and wonderfully practical. The first eleven chapters of Romans describe God’s grace and how it relates to our rescue from sin and restoration to God. This is the heavily doctrinal portion of the letter, but it is also marked by encouraging and comforting words of the depth of God’s care for us. Chapters 12-15 bring us the practical implications of the teaching of Romans 1-11. The call to be living sacrifices, exercise spiritual gifts, and so on, all find their basis in the work of Christ that has brought us back to God.  Bill Crowder

 

http://www.odb.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Enjoy Your Everyday Life

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Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is for one to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun all the days which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] part. Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, and the power to enjoy them and to accept his appointed lot and to rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God [to him]. —Ecclesiastes 5:18-19

I want you to notice the words allotted part and appointed lot in the above passage. What King Solomon is basically communicating here is this message: enjoy your life. Take your “appointed lot” in life and enjoy it. In other words, embrace the life—the personality, the strengths and weaknesses, the family, the resources, the opportunities, the physical qualities, the abilities, the gifts, and the uniqueness—God has given you.

The only life you can enjoy is your own. That statement may seem so obvious that it’s unnecessary, but think about it. One of the primary reasons many people do not enjoy their lives is because they are not happy with the lives they have. When I speak to them about enjoying their lives, the first thought they often have is, I would enjoy my life if I had your life, Joyce! Instead of embracing the realities of their lives, these people spend their time thinking, I wish I looked like So-and-So. I wish I had So-and-So’s job. I wish I were married. I wish my marriage weren’t so difficult. I wish I had children. I wish my children would grow up. I wish I had a new house. I wish I didn’t have such a big house to clean. I wish I had a big ministry . . .

The truth of the matter is, the first step to enjoying our everyday lives is to be grateful for the lives we’ve been given. We must not allow jealousy to cause us to be absent from our own lives because we want what someone else has. You have to take what you have and decide you are going to do the best you can with it. What are you doing with what you have been given?

Trust in Him: God is asking you to be faithful with your life, not with someone else’s. Trust that God knew what He was doing when He gave your life to you.

From the book Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Sure Road to Faith

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“So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17, KJV).

Martin Luther said he studied his Bible in the same way he gathered apples. First, he shook the whole tree, that the ripest might fall; then he shook each limb, and when he had shaken each limb, he shook each branch, and after each branch, every twig; and then he looked under every leaf. He admonishes us:

“Search the Bible as a whole, shaking the whole tree. Read it rapidly, as you would any book. Then shake every limb – study book after book.

“Then shake every branch, giving attention to the chapters when they do not break the sense. Then shake each twig, by careful study of the paragraphs and sentences. And you will be rewarded if you will look under each leaf, by searching the meaning of the words.”

Seek to know the Lord with all your heart. While you may have no difficulty in worshiping the omnipotent God, you cannot really know God unless you study His Word. The one who spoke and caused the worlds to be framed is waiting to reveal Himself to you personally.

Faith is not given to those who are either undisciplined or disobedient. Faith is a gift of God which is given to those who trust and obey Him. As we master His Word and obey His commands, our faith continues to grow.

It is my strong conviction that it is impossible to ask God for too much if our hearts and motives are pure and if we pray according to the Word and will of God.

Every time you and I open and read God’s Word carefully, we are building up our storehouse of faith. When we memorize the Word, our faith is being increased. When we study or teach a Sunday school lesson, or hear a sermon faithfully expounding the Word, we are growing in faith.

Bible Reading: Hebrews 11:1-6

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will read, study, memorize and meditate upon God’s Word daily, knowing that in the process my faith will grow, for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

 

http://www.cru.org

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Sees Everything

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“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)

Seven-year-old Natalie had just won a special prize at school: a spy kit. “It’s got glasses with mirrors in them,” she said. “I can see things in front of me and behind me at the same time!” Natalie’s spy glasses allowed her to do something humans normally can’t do: see more than one place at a time.

Unlike humans, God can always see everything in every place, all at the same time. He can see you sitting at your computer, and at the same time He can see another child lying down to sleep on the other side of the world. He sees you when you’re doing things that please Him, even if no one else notices. He also sees you when you’re doing wrong. He can even look inside your heart and know the reasons for what you do.

You can never be out of God’s sight. Does that thought make you feel scared or comforted? A heart that is right with God never wants to hide from Him.

God sees everything, in every place, all the time.

My Response:

» Is God pleased with what I do when no one else is watching?

 

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Divine Direction 

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I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Jeremiah 10:23

We do not own our lives.  We have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20).  Jesus’ sacrificial blood purchased our freedom from the fire of hell, sin, and death.  By faith, He owns us.  A great exchange took place when you first believed in Jesus.  What’s yours became His, and what’s His became yours.  The life of Christ became your life. It is not your life to define, but His.  He has wrapped a wonderful definition around whose you are in Him.  You are a child of God.  You are secure because your Savior keeps you.  You are valuable because the Lord values you.  You are protected because the Almighty owns you.

The Bible is God’s glossary of how to define yourself.  Scripture gives you a family tree of faith for you to trace your religious roots.  It is a mirror of how God sees you.  He sees you as accepted in His Son, though you suffer rejection from others.  Cherish and enjoy daily the acceptance of Jesus. Moreover, your mistakes are His opportunity to affirm His acceptance.  There are still consequences to your sin, but He is always available to receive you back because you are His.  He accepts and receives His own.

Furthermore, He directs His own (Isaiah 48:17).  God’s desire for you is to understand and follow His plan for your life.  Praise God it’s a step-by-step process and He directs your steps!  Some days you may feel like it is three steps forward and two steps back, but do not be discouraged or dismayed.  God is still directing your steps, though at times they seem tedious and laborious. The Lord leads you in lockstep with His steps.  In His steps is the wise way to walk.  Do not run ahead thinking you have to set a record for speed or quickness.

In fact, fast steps may cause you to backtrack and have to re-learn what God is trying to teach you.  Walk patiently with Him, and watch Him work.  The Holy Spirit is your step director.  You are in His step class for instruction in His word and exercise in faith.  Learn how to let the Lord direct your steps.  Prayerfully listen to the quiet prompting from His Spirit.  Stop when you need to stop.  Speed up when you need to speed up.  Slow down when you need to slow down.  God directs the steps of a submitted and surrendered man or woman.

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – Divine Direction  →

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert for Kids – Go Where?

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Acts 16:7

Have you ever played a game where you were blindfolded and your friends shouted directions about which way you should go? If you have, you know it’s scary. It’s hard to trust that your friend will keep you safe. They might let you walk into a wall. They might not see a curb you could trip over. You might not understand their directions and ram into something. Often when we are trying to figure out what God wants us to do, we might feel blindfolded. We may have to just listen to his directions and keep walking even though we can’t see where we are going. Is it scary? You bet!

But God will guide us and keep us safe in his care. He’s promised. Our job is to pray, trust in God’s wisdom, and listen for his direction. So if we have to change schools or don’t make a team we tried out for, it doesn’t have to discourage us. Often God closes doors to lead us in a different direction, meet a new person, or offer us a new opportunity that will help us to grow and change. It might be scary at first, but we’re never alone.

Dear Lord, Help me believe that you will guide me even when I can’t see anything ahead. Help me to keep walking and listening until you show me the next path to take. Amen.