Monthly Archives: January 2017

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – What do the Golden Globes say about us?

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Time magazine calls the Golden Globes “Oscar’s looser, boozier cousin.” Last night’s show, filled with A-list actors and those who want to be, launched the annual awards season that culminates this year with the Academy Awards on February 26.

What do the Golden Globes say about our culture?

Let’s begin with what they don’t say. They don’t predict the Academy Award for Best Picture—Spotlight, last year’s Oscar winner, didn’t win a single Golden Globe. Only once in the last seven years did the Golden Globes and the Oscars choose the same Best Picture winner (Gravity in 2013). (However, from 1999 to 2003, the two were aligned on Best Picture ten out of eleven years.)

La La Land won last night for Best Picture in a musical or comedy; Moonlight won for Best Picture in a drama. We’ll see if either wins the Oscar for Best Picture.

Here’s what the Golden Globes do say.

There is room in our culture for grace. The Golden Globes are decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization composed of ninety international movie and television journalists based in Southern California. The group awarded the first Golden Globes in January 1944. World War II was still raging, but the HFPA thought a January celebration of movie and television achievement was warranted.

Here’s why: the organization uses the event to raise funds for entertainment-related scholarships and nonprofits. In 2015, the group awarded grants totaling $2.1 million, bringing their overall donations to more than $21 million.

We are looking for joy. This year’s host, Jimmy Fallon, promised that the night would be “fun, and friendly, and joyous, and cool.” He delivered on his promise, beginning with the opening number’s spoof of La La Land. While the Academy Awards has an entire segment devoted to movie professionals who died in the previous year, the Golden Globes briefly noted that many celebrities died in 2016 before paying tribute to Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher.

We need hope. Actors who played Wonder Woman, Batman, and Thor all made presentations. Deadpool was the first live-action superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture. Continue reading Denison Forum – What do the Golden Globes say about us? →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Place of Fasting in Prayer

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Matthew 6:16-21

Jesus’ words about fasting represent His invitation to a deeper experience with God. As we place our physical desires under the Spirit’s control, we let go of our grip on the material in order to embrace the spiritual. Reasons for fasting include:

Cleansing from sin. When we let our spiritual guard down, we start thinking as the world does—protecting our rights instead of dying to self, or seeking to accumulate rather than sacrificing. Through these lapses, ungodly attitudes and habits can quietly take up residence in us, and we hardly notice. But God sees. They hinder our fellowship with Him, limit the effectiveness of our service, and erode our joy. Prayer combined with fasting will help us give God our undivided attention as He addresses our areas of sin. We, in turn, will find them grievous and be eager to let them go.

Guidance. God is willing to give us clear direction, but for some things, prayer in conjunction with fasting is more effective. That is how we gain the cleansed mind needed to hear what He is saying and a submitted spirit ready to accept His instructions.

Protection. Through fasting, we gain insight into God’s ways and receive help in identifying unhealthy or dangerous situations. As we submit to His authority and confess our need for protection, the Holy Spirit will give us discernment to make wiser decisions and avoid unnecessary pitfalls.

Fasting coupled with prayer can also bring heightened spiritual awareness and more intimate communion with the Lord. Aren’t these the deepest desires of our heart?

Bible in One Year: Genesis 26-28

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Put Down Your Burdens

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Read: Matthew 11:25–30

Bible in a Year: Genesis 20–22; Matthew 6:19–34

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.—Matthew 11:28

A man driving his pickup truck on a country track saw a woman carrying a heavy load, so he stopped and offered her a lift. The woman expressed her gratitude and climbed into the back of the truck.

A moment later, the man noticed a strange thing: the woman was still holding onto her heavy load despite sitting in the vehicle! Astonished, he pleaded, “Please, Madam, put down your load and take your rest. My truck can carry you and your stuff. Just relax.”

What do we do with the load of fear, worry, and anxiety we often carry as we go through life’s many challenges? Instead of relaxing in the Lord, I sometimes behave like that woman. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28), yet I’ve caught myself carrying burdens I should offload onto Jesus.

We put down our burdens when we bring them to the Lord in prayer. The apostle Peter says, “Cast all your anxiety on [Jesus] because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Because He cares for us, we can rest and relax as we learn to trust Him. Instead of carrying the burdens that weigh us down and weary us, we can give them to the Lord and let Him carry them. —Lawrence Darmani

I’m tired, Lord. I bring You my burdens today. Please keep them and carry them for me.

Prayer is the place where burdens change shoulders.

INSIGHT: A yoke pairs two animals together to pull a load. Often an older, stronger, well-trained animal is paired with a younger animal so that the younger can learn the proper method of pulling. It is the older, stronger animal that does the majority of the pulling while the younger follows along and mimics the actions of the older. As we set aside our burdens and take on Christ’s, we are not simply swapping one burden for another. It is His yoke. We set aside our lone burdens to pull with Jesus, who is the one responsible for the direction and primary force of moving the burden. Then each of us, as the younger, weaker, less-experienced partner learns from Jesus how to pull the burden, following His actions and mimicking His footsteps. J.R. Hudberg

 

http://www.odb.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Faith to Do It

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For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.—Romans 12:3

When God told Abraham to leave his home and relatives, Abraham first had to go out before God would show him the destination (see Genesis 12:1). As was true of Abraham, God has given each of us “a measure of faith.” For whatever we need to do, we have the faith to do it; but for faith to work, we have to release our faith, and the way we release it is to go in obedience. We have to go with our dreams despite all the “what ifs” and the doubts from the enemy. When we make our step, God shows up.

I cried a swimming pool of tears to get to where I am, and no one was cheering for me, but I am happy and I love my life today. I remember when I woke up in the morning and wished it was time to go to bed, but not anymore.

Don’t live another week where you never follow your dreams and heart.

Remember: God’s rewards are overwhelming.

Lord, You have given me a measure of faith, and I want to live according to it. Help me to follow my heart today and not be hesitant with doubts. 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 – All Your Plans and Paths

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“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at things of God: But They delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on His laws and thinking about ways to follow Him more closely. They are like trees along a river bank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper” (Psalm 1:1-3).

Of all the great promises from God’s Word, I claim none more frequently than these. As I focus on the attributes of God, I truly “delight myself in the Lord” and experience the full, adventuresome life which our Lord promised.

The psalmist expands on what it means to delight ourselves in the Lord. Note these three things: First, we should delight in doing everything God wants us to do; second, day and night we should meditate on His laws; and third, we should always be thinking about ways to follow Him more closely.

Sam had been a loser all of his life, a failure in everything that he attempted. As a result he had developed a very poor self-image and a defeatist attitude.

“Can you help me?” he pleaded. “I really don’t know what to do – I am about ready to give up.”

Together we read and discussed Psalm 1. He agreed to delight himself in the Lord and to follow the three-fold formula for spiritual success found in this psalm. Immediately his life began to change and within six months the results were dramatic.

“I begin every day delighting myself in the Lord,” he said. “I spend special time studying and memorizing God’s Word, telling Him that I want to do everything he wants me to, and I am always thinking about ways to follow Him more closely.

“I am no longer discouraged and defeated. My self-respect and confidence have been restored and I am truly experiencing the fulfillment of God’s promise: ‘All you do shall prosper.'”

The successful, fruitful, joyful Christian who lives a supernatural life is one whose thoughts are focused on our wonderful God and His attributes, who knows and obeys His Word and who delights himself in Him.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 3:1-6

Today’s Action Point: I determine with the help of the Holy Spirit to delight myself daily in the Lord and experience the reality of His promise, “All you do shall prosper.”

 

http://www.cru.org

Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE CALL OF THE FEW: GIDEON AND HIS ARMY

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Read JUDGES 7:1–25

The weapons of warfare have changed dramatically over the millennia. From hand-to-hand combat with crude implements to the development of firearms to nuclear weapons and military drones, humanity continually devises new ways to gain a military advantage against the enemy.

By all accounts, ancient Israel certainly did not have a military advantage. When warfare was conducted by hand-to-hand combat, having fewer people meant the odds would be nearly insurmountable.

The Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern people had an infantry as thick as locusts (v. 12). Israel’s army, whittled by God to a meager 300, was vastly outnumbered (vv. 7–8). More than that, the foreign oppressors had the advantage of a camel cavalry, and every soldier was armed with a sword. By contrast, the Israelite army was a poorly equipped militia, bearing not swords but trumpets, empty jars, and torches.

Why would God deliberately stack the deck against His people in this way? Didn’t reducing their odds only frighten the already timid Gideon? But of course it was exactly God’s intention to destroy the idea that this battle could be fought or won by human skill or savvy. His complaint that Gideon had “too many men” (v. 4) reminds us that the impossible odds in this story have one purpose: to preserve God’s glory. God will not share His glory with Gideon, nor will He share it with Gideon’s army. It must be clear to them, and indeed to all of the Israelites, that God alone had saved His people.

The final battle cry of Gideon’s regiment reminds us that the odds are never as impossible as they seem. Gideon and his men didn’t need swords, not when God planned to use Midianite ones!

APPLY THE WORD

Where we see impossibility, God sees miracle. This is why the apostle Paul delighted in his weaknesses, claiming that God’s power was made perfect in them. Whether your weakness is a physical limitation, an economic disadvantage, or a paralyzing fear, what would it look like to begin trusting that God could use it to glorify Himself?

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Wise Wealth 

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A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish. Psalm 49:20

Wise wealth sees the small value of riches without God’s redemption. It is otherworldly in its view of wealth. The creation of wealth is for Christ’s purposes and not the world’s ways. This is why the wealthy wise seek to understand God’s game plan for their gold. They prayerfully come up with a plan, and then commit their actions to the Almighty. Then He brings success to their financial plan (Proverbs 16:3).

This is the process in which the Spirit leads and brings about success. Plans without prayer are perturbing and miss God’s best. Actions committed to Christ carry out God’s game plan. To gain understanding is to frame your financial discussions with an eternal backdrop of motivation. Wealth is a stewardship not to be taken lightly. It is a belief that the Lord’s blessing is much larger than life, and is a lever for the Lord today.

Indeed, understand that finances are finite. You have a window of generosity that will close one day. Don’t wait until riches grow wings and fly away (Proverbs 23:5) to some faithful soul who understands the significance of “stuff” to your Savior. Riches are like hailstones; they fall from Heaven in different sizes, garnering our attention while rattling on the tin roof of our trust.

But after a while, after it draws attention to itself, it melts away into the silent ground, gone. So it is with “stuff”. It can be here today and gone tomorrow. It is wise to give aggressively what you have today instead of hoping to give what you may not have tomorrow.

Missionaries need malaria medicine now. Orphans need homes today. Growling stomachs need more than gruel immediately. Churches are waiting to be built, once they receive their necessary start-up capital. Humanitarian work and the spreading of the Gospel will happen exponentially, as the wealthy collaborate with Christ, and obey. Run the risk of liberating your wealth for the Lord. It is His to give.

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – Wise Wealth  →

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Powerful

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“Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.” (Jeremiah 32:17)

Scientists tell us that there are at least 70 sextillion stars in the universe. Wow! That’s the number 7 followed by 22 zeroes!

Scientists also tell us that the Pacific Ocean holds 192 quintillion gallons of water and that the surface of the sun is 16 times hotter than boiling water.

Have you ever stopped to think that there is always enough oxygen for everyone in the world to breathe every day? In fact, by the time you are ten years old, you’ve taken about 74 million breaths.

So what or who could be more powerful than these facts? GOD! Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” God is so powerful that in one week and with one voice He made the world. He made the sextillion stars, the quintillion gallons of water, and the sun that is hotter than you can imagine. Nobody helped Him or told Him how to do it. He just said, Let there be light: and there was light (Genesis 1:3).

God is powerful. He has more power than all the people in the world combined. So who do you go to for help? Why not go to your powerful God! He wants to help you.

God has the power to help you; nothing is too difficult for Him!

My Response:

» In what ways do I need God’s help?

» Do I trust God to help me and answer my prayers?

 

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Moving Mountains

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Mark 11:20-26

Mountain-size obstacles are part of living in a fallen world. They come in all forms—financial struggles, relational frustrations, health issues, and any number of other situations. Jesus said we would have trouble in this life; it’s unavoidable. However, there is hope because He has overcome the world (John 16:33).

When our problems seem overwhelming, Jesus tells us to have faith in God and pray. Today’s passage is well loved because it seems like a blanket promise for whatever we want: Verse 24 sounds as if all we have to do is believe we’ll receive what we request, and it will be granted. However, this scripture cannot stand alone, apart from the rest of the Bible. So let’s consider two qualifications for this promise.

God is committed to removing only those obstacles that are hindrances to His will. Jesus is our primary example for this truth. When He faced the prospect of dying on a cross as the sin-bearer for mankind, it could have seemed like a mountain that needed to be removed, but His prayers were governed by these words: “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

We must also make sure that we are not the obstacle standing in God’s way. Jesus points out in Mark 11:25-26 that an unforgiving spirit breaks our fellowship with God, thereby hindering our prayers. In fact, any sin we tolerate becomes a barrier between us and the Lord.

Our first reaction to obstacles should be self-examination. Ask God, “Is there sin in my life? Do my requests align with Your will?” Only then can we confidently ask Him to move our mountains.

Bible in One Year: Genesis 24-25

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Our Source of Provision

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Read: Matthew 6:9–15

Bible in a Year: Genesis 18–19; Matthew 6:1–18

The Lord is near to all who call on him.—Psalm 145:18

In August 2010, the attention of the world was focused on a mine shaft near Copiapó, Chile. Thirty-three miners huddled in the dark, trapped 2,300 feet underground. They had no idea if help would ever arrive. After seventeen days of waiting, they heard drilling. Rescuers produced a small hole in the mine shaft ceiling, and that hole was followed by three more, establishing a delivery path for water, food, and medicine. The miners depended on those conduits to the surface above ground, where rescuers had the provisions they would need to survive. On day sixty-nine, rescuers pulled the last miner to safety.

None of us can survive in this world apart from provisions that are outside of ourselves. God, the Creator of the universe, is the one who provides us with everything we need. Like the drill holes for those miners, prayer connects us to the God of all supply.

Jesus encouraged us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). In His day, bread was the basic staple of life and pictured all the daily needs of the people. Jesus was teaching us to pray not only for our physical needs but also for everything we need—comfort, healing, courage, wisdom.

Through prayer we have access to Him at any moment, and He knows what we need before we even ask (v. 8). What might you be struggling with today? “The Lord is near to all who call on him” (Ps. 145:18). —Bill Crowder

To learn more about prayer, read Let’s Pray at discoveryseries.org/hp135.

Prayer is the voice of faith, trusting that God knows and cares.

INSIGHT: Notice the basic themes Jesus teaches us to address when we pray. The prayer begins with worship on several different levels. First, we celebrate our relationship with our Creator that allows us to call Him “our Father.” His exalted nature is brought to mind as we remember that He is in heaven and bears a holy name. When we understand His character and wisdom, it should drive us to long for His purposes and rule to be realized here on earth, in the same way it is in heaven. We are then challenged to look to Him for all our needs. His daily, faithful provision is a source of great comfort and assurance for the child of God. Bill Crowder

 

http://www.odb.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Be Friendly

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Practice hospitality to one another (those of the household of faith). [Be hospitable, be a lover of strangers, with brotherly affection for the unknown guests, the foreigners, the poor, and all others who come your way who are of Christ’s body.]…—1 Peter 4:9

I encourage you to show love for others by simply being friendly. Some people go through life with a lot on their minds—and they can appear to be rather unfriendly, intense, or even rude. I know; I’m one of those people, and maybe you are too. You aren’t unfriendly; you’re simply focused on other things and not always mindful to smile and greet peo¬ple when you see them.

Relationships—casual ones, intimate ones, and all the ones in between—are a large part of life. In fact, the Bible is a book about relation¬ships: our relationships with God, with ourselves, and with others. As I’ve studied the Bible, one of the lessons I’ve learned is to take the time to smile at people, ask how they are, and find something friendly to say to them.

If we’re too busy to be friendly, then we are out of balance and headed for relational disaster. But being appropriately warm and open toward others can put people at ease and is often the first step toward a good relationship.

It’s easy to wonder how we will feel if we smile at people and they don’t smile back; we don’t want to be rejected or ignored. Most of us spend more time in life trying to avoid rejection than we do trying to develop good, healthy relationships. When this happens, we are missing the opportunity to touch people with the love of God through a smile or friendly word. When we give our smiles or a happy hello, we can make someone else smile, and that is one of the best gifts we can give.

Love Others Today: “Lord, please help me be kind and friendly to everyone I meet as a way of showing Your love to them.”

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – An Open Line to God

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“And we are sure of this, that He will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will. And if we really know He is listening when we talk to Him and make our requests, then we can be sure that He will answer us” (John 5:14,15).

John, chairman of the board of deacons in a large, successful church, refused to respond – though hundreds of others did – to my invitation to be filled with the Holy Spirit by faith.

Following the meeting, he came to me in tears.

“I have dedicated and rededicated my life to Christ many, many times, always to no avail,” he said. “I didn’t dare respond to your invitation, because I knew I would fail again.”

I explained that my invitation was different. “God’s power to live a holy life and be a fruitful witness is released by faith, based on His faithfulness and the authority of God’s Word.”

When John understood this, he responded enthusiastically and prayed, asking God to fill him with His Spirit. His life was changed, as have been thousands of others as they have come to understand how to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit by faith moment by moment, day by day.

On the basis of His command to be filled (Ephesians 5:18) and His promise that if we ask for anything in accordance with God’s will, He will hear and answer us (1 John 5:14,15), we know that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit – as a way of life.

Bible Reading: Matthew 7:7-11

Today’s Action Point: I will humble myself before the Lord and tell Him that I want to live a holy life, that I want to be a man/woman of God. I will surrender the control of my life to Christ, turn from all known sin, and by faith on the basis of His command and His promise, receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. By faith, I expect to live the supernatural, Spirit-empowered life in a moment-by-moment, day-by-day dependence on the Holy Spirit.

 

http://www.cru.org

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Seed Thoughts

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Read: Mark 4:1-29

He also said, This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how (Mark 4:26-27).

This is a secret of the kingdom of God, and to me it is one of the most encouraging of all the parables Jesus ever uttered. He is speaking of how this rule of God increases, how it grows in a life. He explains it as a coming to harvest by a patient expectation that God will work. The key of this whole passage is, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. That is, there are forces at work that will be faithful to perform their work—whether a farmer stews and frets about it or not. Farmers do what they can do, what is expected of them. But then God must work. And God will work. And in the confidence of that, this farmer rests secure. As Jesus draws the picture this farmer goes out to sow. It is hard work as he sows the field, but this is what he can do. But then he goes home and goes to bed. He does not sit up all night biting his fingernails, wondering if the seed fell in the right places or whether it will take root. Nor does he rise the next morning and go out and dig it up to see whether or not it has sprouted yet. He rests secure in the fact that God is at work, that He has a part in this process, and He must do it; no one can do it for Him. But he will faithfully perform it. So the farmer rests secure, knowing that as the seed grows there are stages that are observable: first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. It is only as the grain is ripe that he is called into action again. When the harvest is ready, then he is to act once more.

This is exactly what Paul describes for us in that passage in 1 Corinthians 3:9a: For we are God’s fellow workers. This is the way we ought to expect Him to work. It involves a witness first, perhaps a word of teaching or exhortation to someone—or to ourselves. And then an inevitable process begins, one that takes time and patience and allows God to work. One of the most destructive forces at work in the church today is our insistent demand for instant results. We want to have immediate conversions, immediate responses every time we speak. We tend not to allow time for the Word to take root and grow and come to harvest.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Seed Thoughts →

Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Resolve to Worry Less

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Do not fret—it only causes harm.

Psalm 37:8b

Motivational writer Dale Carnegie asked Captain Eddie Rickenbacker what was the biggest lesson he learned from 21 days in a lifeboat, hopelessly adrift in the Pacific. Rickenbacker said, “The biggest lesson I learned from the experience was that if you have all the fresh water you want to drink and all the food you want to eat, you ought never to complain about anything.”1

Recommended Reading: Psalm 37:1-8

The Bible says something similar: “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content” (1 Timothy 6:8).

We so easily fret about a thousand things every day, tying ourselves into knots of worry. But we have a heavenly Father who knows our needs, and Psalm 37 says, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart… Trust also in Him… Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him…. Do not fret—it only causes harm.”

This year, resolve by God’s grace to worry less, trust Him more, and live with joy and thankfulness for all He gives us.

The habit of looking on the best side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a year.

Samuel Johnson

Read-Thru-the-Bible: Genesis 24 – 28

1 Dale Carnegie, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1948), 116.

 

http://www.davidjeremiah.org/

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Dessert for Kids – Finding God’s Help

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Mark 11:24

Have you ever wanted something so much that you kept begging and begging your parents to get it for you? Perhaps they think you are not quite ready for whatever it is. But you want it so much you keep on bugging them for it. Finally, after a long while, you give up and figure you are never going to get it. You have lost hope. You have lost faith that what you want will ever be yours.

Sometimes the same thing happens when we pray to God. We want something so much that we beg him for it. When God doesn’t grant us our request, we think he’s not listening. We think he doesn’t care. We pray so long and so hard that we pray ourselves right out of faith. But the Bible teaches that God always hears our prayers. Like your parents, he may not think you’re ready for whatever you are asking. Or maybe he knows it would not be best for you. Or maybe he fully intends to answer your prayer, but it just isn’t the right time.

Now is the time to simply trust God and believe he knows what he’s doing. We have to let our prayer rest with him until he is ready to make it happen.

Dear Lord, I believe that you will answer my prayers in your way and your time. Help me to learn what it means to let my prayer rest in your hands. Amen.

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Refusing to Wait on God

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Psalm 27:7-14

It’s always best to follow God’s timing. But if we run ahead of God or lag behind Him, that decision will often be costly.

Self-sufficiency moves us outside of the Lord’s will. The right thing done at the wrong time may leave us vulnerable to Satan’s schemes and can delay or even derail blessings God has planned for us. Acting on our own timetable can also bring confusion to us and others, as situations are likely to turn out differently from how we envisioned them. Then we may be facing not only unanticipated results but also problems.

By refusing to wait on God, we often cause ourselves unnecessary grief. For example, if we use credit cards to purchase unneeded clothes, electronic devices, and other indulgences, debt could pile up beyond our ability to pay. Then our credit rating would plummet, with little financial relief in sight. But when we manage money in accordance with biblical principles, our lifestyle will be less lavish, but we’ll have freedom and peace of mind.

And here’s another example: Quitting a job before the Lord has released us from it can short-circuit what He planned to teach us through it. We might subsequently discover that, had we held on a while longer, God might have changed either our circumstances or our attitude about the situation.

Certain character qualities are necessary if we are to develop a lifestyle of waiting on the Lord. We need patience to endure our present situation, steadfastness to carry out current responsibilities, and courage to trust the Lord as we await His solution in the midst of our discomfort. How good are you at waiting?

Bible in One Year: Genesis 20-23

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Someone to Celebrate

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Read: Matthew 2:1–12

Bible in a Year: Genesis 16–17; Matthew 5:27–48

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.—Psalm 95:6

Many manger scenes depict the wise men, or magi, visiting Jesus in Bethlehem at the same time as the shepherds. But according to the gospel of Matthew, the only place in Scripture where their story is found, the magi showed up later. Jesus was no longer in the manger in a stable at the inn, but in a house. Matthew 2:11 tells us, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

Realizing that the magi’s visit happened later than we may think provides a helpful reminder as we begin a new year. Jesus is always worthy of worship. When the holidays are past and we head back to life’s everyday routines, we still have Someone to celebrate.

Jesus Christ is Immanuel, “God with us” (Matt. 1:23), in every season. He has promised to be with us “always” (28:20). Because He is always with us, we can worship Him in our hearts every day and trust that He will show Himself faithful in the years to come. Just as the magi sought Him, may we seek Him too and worship Him wherever we are. —James Banks

Lord Jesus, just as the magi sought You and bowed before You as the coming King, help me to yield my will to You and to follow where You lead.

When we find Christ we offer our worship.

INSIGHT: The magi were considered wise, not because they were people of great learning but because they searched for Jesus and—having found Him—they worshiped Him as God. That’s what wise people do. The wise are those who fear God and worship Him! Sim Kay Tee

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Mathoms and Myrrh

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The ethics of regifting is always a hot discussion at Christmastime and the weeks that follow various office parties and family exchanges. Apparently, there are those who insist that regifting is a tawdry practice, and there are those who have practiced it for years and see no harm. For those who might not be familiar with the concept, Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary offers a helpful definition: To regift is “to give an unwanted gift to someone else” or “to give as a gift something one previously received as a gift.” In any case, two out of three people say they have either regifted or are considering regifting. And while there are no doubt many successful regifters among us, there are also unfortunate stories to show for the less successful, which make the discussion entertaining. Imagine opening the very gift you had given your mother-in-law a year earlier.

The concept of regifting is similar to a word coined by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit. “Anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a mathom,” writes Tolkien. “Their dwellings were apt to become rather crowded with mathoms, and many of the presents that passed from hand to hand were of that sort.” Whether Hobbit or human, regifting is evidently nothing new.

Even so, when a colleague of mine referred to Christmas as the “season of regifting,” I was certain he had been the victim of too many unfortunate gift exchanges. Except he wasn’t talking about unwanted scarves or random gift-cards. He was talking about the mysterious gift that is resurrected each Christmas and presented again as if new. Year after year, we reopen the story of Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the magi, and the star. “God is a regifter,” he said. The child is the gift.

The season of Advent leading through Christmas to the feast day of Epiphany we celebrate today is a journey the church sets before the world to meet the Christ child… again. Each year the same story is recalled and the same expectant hope is given time to grow. Each Christmas is an opportunity to unwrap the same gift we were given last year and the year before and the year before and the year before. Once more we have before us the choice to set it on a shelf like an unwanted present or to receive the child—the gift of the Father—again as if new. Unlike the many mathoms that fill a Hobbit’s house with purposeless treasure, this gift is not useless; neither is it sent out from hands that let go lightly or half-heartedly.

In a Christmas episode of The Simpsons, the character who was playing one of the three wise men in a nativity scene admits to regifting the myrrh he’s brought for baby Jesus. “Because,” he pleads. “Nobody needs myrrh!” There is actually some truth to this. The uses of myrrh are few, and it is, by far, a strange and unlikely gift to receive. Myrrh is a rare and expensive spice, most notably used in embalming the dead. But this myrrh, as the magi knew and the prophecies foreshadowed, was something this child would use.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God Wants to Take You to a New Level

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Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man (one upright and in right standing with God) and he will increase in learning. —Proverbs 9:9

Even though God wants us to live joyful, contented lives, He sometimes causes a discontent or a feeling that something is not right because He does not want us to continue doing the same old things anymore. He wants to prod us to seek Him so He can take us to new levels.

God always wants us to grow stronger, to go deeper, and to increase in intimacy with Him. Most of the time, He leads us into that process of maturity by leading us out of places where we have been comfortable in the past. Too much comfort for too long can mean that we are not growing. If you feel something stirring in your heart that you don’t quite understand, just ask God what is happening and take time to wait on Him to answer.

Our time with God is vitally important to our growth and maturity, but we cannot do the same things all the time and experience all that God has for us. I have had times when reading the Bible became laborious and God simply led me to read a different translation for a few months. Just that little change brought new growth because I saw things in a different way. Satan tried to condemn me because I did not want to read the Bible, but God was just trying to get me to make a change in the translation I was reading. One day I felt a bit bored as I tried to read and pray so I moved to another chair in my office and suddenly I saw things that had been in my office for years, but I had not noticed them. A little adjustment caused me to see things from a whole new perspective and God taught me a spiritual lesson just because I sat in a different chair.

God’s Word for You Today: Don’t be afraid to move your chair.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Strong Love Is the Proof

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“And so I am giving a new commandment to you now – love each other just as much as I love you. Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are My disciples” (John 13:34,35).

A Navajo Indian woman who had been healed of a serious ailment by a missionary doctor was greatly impressed by the love he manifested.

“If Jesus is anything like the doctor,” she said, “I can trust Him forever.”

The doctor was a living example of the above promise. When Jesus spoke these words, the entire known world was filled with hate, war and fear. The Jews and the Gentiles hated each other. The Greeks and the Romans hated each other.

But with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the day of Pentecost came a breath of heavenly love. Those who received Jesus, the incarnation of love, into their lives and who chose to obey His command began to love one another. The pagan world looked on in amazement and said of the believers, “How they love one another!”

Within a few years following this command to love one another, the gospel had spread like a prairie fire throughout the known world. The miracle of God’s love, His supernatural agape, had captivated multitudes throughout the decadent, wicked Roman Empire.

Tragically, today one seldom hears “How they love one another!” about Christians. Instead there is far too much suspicion, jealousy, criticism and conflict between Christians, churches and denominations. The unbelieving world often laughs at our publicized conflicts.

But those individuals who do demonstrate this supernatural love are usually warmly received by nonbelievers as well as believers. The churches that obey our Lord’s command to “love one another” usually are filled to overflowing and are making a great impact for good and for the glory of God. They represent a highly desirable alternative to secular society.

How does one love supernaturally? By faith. God’s Word commands us to love (John 13:34,35). God’s Word promises that He will enable us to do what He commands us to do (John 5:14,15).

Bible Reading: 1 John 3:14-19

Today’s Action Point: Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, I will by faith love others and thus prove that I am a true disciple of the Lord Jesus.

 

http://www.cru.org