Daily Archives: March 11, 2017

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – His Empowering Presence

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Psalm 42:1-5

A woman unlocks her front door and walks into an empty house. She drops her purse and bags onto the couch and immediately turns on some music. Have you ever wondered what impulse makes people want to break the silence of a quiet home? The sights and sounds of TVs and radios temporarily meet our need to feel we’re not alone.

God desires an intimate relationship with each person, so He created us with a yearning for His presence. Though He alone can fill that void, people attempt to satisfy their longing with all kinds of relationships and activities. But filling that spot with anything other than the Lord is at best a short-term solution.

The Bible urges us to stop our frenzied search for satisfaction in what the world offers and instead recognize that we should turn to Jesus Christ. Yet so many people pursue substitutes for His presence. Friends, hobbies, and busy schedules provide momentary pleasure while using up precious time that should be spent in quietness before God. And all too often, when the amusement of one good thing wears off, we seek a new activity or person to fill the gap.

Nothing besides the Lord can adequately fill the spot in our life that God has reserved for Himself—noise and busyness will satisfy for just a little while. Our Father’s empowering presence is the only genuine solution. For believers, the Holy Spirit is already present within. What we must do is settle ourselves before God, and He will make Himself known to us.

Bible in One Year: Joshua 20-22

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Mayday!

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Read: Psalm 86:1–13

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 14–16; Mark 12:28–44

When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.—Psalm 86:7

The international distress signal “Mayday” is always repeated three times in a row—“Mayday-Mayday-Mayday”—so the situation will be clearly understood as a life-threatening emergency. The word was created in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer at London’s Croydon Airport. That now-closed facility once had many flights to and from Le Bourget Airport in Paris. According to the National Maritime Museum, Mockford coined Mayday from the French word m’aidez, which means, “help me.”

Throughout King David’s life, he faced life-threatening situations for which there seemed to be no way out. Yet, we read in Psalm 86 that during his darkest hours, David’s confidence was in the Lord. “Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me” (vv. 6-7).

David also saw beyond the immediate danger by asking God to lead his steps: “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (v. 11). When the crisis was past, he wanted to keep walking with God.

The most difficult situations we face can become doorways to a deeper relationship with our Lord. This begins when we call on Him to help us in our trouble, and also to lead us each day in His way. —David McCasland

Lord, even as we call to You for help today, please help us to keep walking with You when this crisis is over.

God hears our cries for help and leads us in His way.

INSIGHT: In today’s psalm, David asks for God’s help in his time of trouble but looks beyond this difficult time. In verse 11, he asks God to teach him His ways, so he can rely on God’s faithfulness. David knew that learning God’s ways would change the way he responded to the situations of life. Spending time with God, learning who He is and what He has done, draws us close to Him and changes us. What situation are you facing for which you need God’s help?  J.R. Hudberg

 

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Don’t Fret—Rejoice!

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Rejoice in the Lord always…again I say, Rejoice!…Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in…everything, by prayer and petition…with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. —Philippians 4:4,6

Twice in this passage the apostle Paul tells us to rejoice. He urges us not to fret or have any anxiety about anything but to pray and give thanks to God in everything—not after everything is over.

If you wait until everything is perfect before rejoicing and giving thanks you won’t have much fun. Learning to enjoy life even in the midst of trying circumstances is one way to develop spiritual maturity.

Live in the fullness of the joy of the Lord by finding something to be glad about besides your current circumstances. You must learn to derive your happiness and joy from the Lord who lives inside you.

Decide you will not fret or have anxiety about anything but will give thanks and praise to God, rejoicing in Him always.

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Thank Him for Answers

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“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6,7).

Some years ago there was an occasion when my world was crumbling. All that my associates and I had worked and planned for in the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ was hanging by a slender thread which was about to break.

Because of a series of unforeseen circumstances, we were facing a financial crisis which could bankrupt the movement and result in the loss of our beautiful facilities at Arrowhead Springs, California, acquired just a few years earlier.

Already thousands of students and laymen from all over the world were receiving training which would influence millions of lives for Christ. Now we were in danger of losing it all.

When the word came to me that everything we had planned and prayed for was in jeopardy and almost certain to be lost, I fell to my knees and began to give thanks to the Lord. Why?

Because many years before I had discovered that thanksgiving demonstrates faith, and faith pleases God. When we demonstrate faith through thanksgiving, as an expression of obedience and gratitude to God, He releases His great power in our behalf so that we can serve Him better. Miraculously, God honored our faith and what could have been disaster and tragedy turned to victory and triumph. The end result was that we were stronger financially than we had ever been.

God fights the battles for those who trust and obey Him.

Bible Reading: I Timothy 2:1-6

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  With God’s help, my life will be characterized by praise and thanksgiving to God as an expression of my faith in Him and obedience to His commands. Today I will share the goodness and trustworthiness of God with at least one other person.

 

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – God Interruption 

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The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”   Jonah 1:1-2

God may be interrupting your plans. He does this from time to time according to His will. You were going in one direction, and He stopped you in your tracks and led you in an about-face. It can be disconcerting and more than a little scary. But do not be surprised if this happens to you. Your current path may be the opposite of what He intended. Maybe you got in a hurry and ran ahead without Him or maybe you have been reluctant to move forward and missed Him.

Either way, the Holy Spirit has now arrested your attention and is leading you into uncharted waters. Like Phillip, you are an agent of God (Acts 8:29). You may be uncomfortable with the assignment because of the novelty in its nuances.  God is moving you out of your comfort zone and into His arena of obedience. If you disobey and stay put, you jeopardize proclaiming Jesus to the fullest.

“What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:23).

The consequences of disobedience are not isolated to you alone. They ripple throughout your relationships. Don’t wait for people to be hurt before you say yes to heaven’s directive. God interrupts for a reason and for a season. The reason may be to protect you from a convergence of bad decision-making. You don’t know what’s around the corner in your life, but He does. He is watching out for you, so this severe turn in His will may be to protect you from a pattern of bad behavior.

Do not allow pride to keep you from changing your mind. Promptings from the Holy Spirit make pride uncomfortable because it means giving up control and submitting in humility. If you continue to drive forward in pride, you are destined for unnecessary pain. Take this interruption as a sign from God to slow down, reevaluate, and recalibrate.

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – God Interruption  →

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert for Kids – Not Talking

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Job 34:29–30, The Message

In the Old Testament there is a story about Daniel. Daniel was praying to God for help, but none came. God was silent—so it seemed. Daniel prayed and went without food for three weeks. Still nothing. Then one day he was standing on the bank of the Tigris River when an angel named Michael appeared before him. Daniel was scared nearly to death, and fell on his hands and knees. Then the angel spoke to him. “Daniel … consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have been sent to you.” Daniel obeyed, standing but trembling like a leaf in the wind. Then the angel said, “Since the first day … your words were heard.”

God heard Daniel the first time he called out to God in prayer. Even though God didn’t respond right away, God heard Daniel. God hears us in the very same way, always listening to our prayers. He’ll answer when the time is right.

Dear Lord, I’m not always patient when I’m asking you for something I need. Help me to learn that you always hear me—even when there seems to be no answer. Amen.

Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – DESIGNED TO WORK

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Read Genesis 3:15-18

Michelangelo, the Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet, is remembered for his masterpieces, including the frescoes that cover the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. But his admirers might forget that his art required an incredible amount of painstaking work. Michelangelo said, “If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful after all.”

Work can be rewarding, but it can also be just plain hard! The story of creation reveals God’s design for work. God Himself worked at Creation. The text says that God “finished the work he had been doing” (Gen. 2:2). And God also designed that man, created in His image, would work. He placed man in the Garden to care for it (2:15). Adam’s task would be one of caretaking for the garden and he would rule over, or care for, the animals (1:26).

In today’s passage, we see the fall out from the decision of Adam and Eve to disobey God and His design for their lives. Eve would endure the pain of childbirth (3:16). Adam’s curse would transform his work into “toil” (v. 17).

Bearing children and working were both a part of God’s original design. Both of these are intended to be good, intrinsic elements of human flourishing. But now those activities were affected by the Fall. Childbirth became laborious. Work became toil. The ground would be thorny instead of fruitful (vv. 18–19).

After God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, they would need to “work the ground from which he had been taken” (v. 23). Life would no longer be simple and pleasurable but strenuous and often difficult. Work, like childbearing, remained part of God’s design for humanity, but sin made it backbreaking.

APPLY THE WORD

You may work a 9-to-5 job, be part of the new “gig economy,” or be retired. Nonetheless, we are all called to work as unto God (Col. 3:23). Whether or not we have an earthly boss, our ultimate responsibility is to serve God well with everything we undertake. That raises the bar, doesn’t it? Whatever you do today, do it for God Himself.

 

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