Daily Archives: April 11, 2017

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Through Troubled Waters

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Psalm 25

In a blizzard, the familiar disappears because swirling snow obscures our vision. Difficulties bring about the same effect in our minds. They create strong emotions that cloud our ability to think. Thankfully, God has given us some promises to help us find our way through trials.

  1. The Lord has committed Himself to instructing us. When we wait on Him, He will give us insight into our situation—since He sees all things, He knows what steps we are to take. We may be surprised at the instruction, though, since His ways are not like our human ones (Isa. 55:8-9). For example, when people hurt us badly, God’s Spirit will remind us that vengeance is the Lord’s; our part is to live at peace with them (Rom. 12:17-19).
  2. God has promised to teach us how to apply the truth He has given us. As we meditate on the Word of God, His Spirit will reveal the relevance of Scripture to our problem. For example, let’s imagine we are faced with someone making a financial request that strikes us as unreasonable. How are we to respond? God may tell us to meet the need or even to give extra in order to bless that person (Matt. 5:40-41).
  3. The Lord provides guidance as He keeps watch over us. When company is present, a parent may use a series of looks to quietly guide a child’s behavior, encourage, instruct, or warn. In a similar way, the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual promptings to guide our actions and decisions.

What troubled waters are you trying to navigate? Find your way by using these promises as guiding lights through dark circumstances.

Bible in One Year: 2 Samuel 20-22

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Why Forgive?

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Read: Luke 23:32–34

Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 17–18; Luke 11:1–28

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.—Luke 23:34

When a friend betrayed me, I knew I would need to forgive her, but I wasn’t sure that I could. Her words pierced deeply inside me, and I felt stunned with pain and anger. Although we talked about it and I told her I forgave her, for a long time whenever I’d see her I felt tinges of hurt, so I knew I still clung to some resentment. One day, however, God answered my prayers and gave me the ability to let go completely. I was finally free.

Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith, with our Savior extending forgiveness even when He was dying on the cross. Jesus loved those who had nailed Him there, uttering a prayer asking His Father to forgive them. He didn’t hang on to bitterness or anger, but showed grace and love to those who had wronged Him.

This is a fitting time to consider before the Lord any people we might need to forgive as we follow Jesus’s example in extending His love to those who hurt us. When we ask God through His Spirit to help us forgive, He will come to our aid—even if we take what we think is a long time to forgive. When we do, we are freed from the prison of unforgiveness. —Amy Boucher Pye

Lord Jesus Christ, through Your grace and power as You dwell in me, help me to forgive, that Your love will set me free.

Even on the cross, Jesus forgave those who hurt Him.

INSIGHT: In the first century, the common attire for a Jewish man included five pieces of clothing—shoes, turban, belt, loincloth, and outer tunic. After crucifying Jesus, the soldiers divided the Savior’s garments as their spoils for performing the task. After each took a portion of clothing, one remained—the tunic. This infers that even the loincloth was taken—and Jesus’s last shred of human dignity with it.In a heartbreaking fulfillment of David’s messianic song, they stripped Jesus naked and then gambled for the tunic. In Psalm 22:17-18, where crucifixion was prophetically described some 600 years before it was invented, David said it would be so: “All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” The soldiers gambled for all they could get, unaware of the fact that mere feet away Christ was freely forgiving and giving all He had out of love for them. Bill Crowder

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The Struggle of Salvation

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For Christians, this week is the holiest of all weeks. And yet, it is holy in a most ironic way. In this week, Christians around the world seek to remember and commemorate the final days and hours of the life of Jesus. Beginning with Maundy Thursday and traversing through the horror of Good Friday and Holy Saturday, Christians seek to comprehend and remember the passion of Jesus in his suffering prior to celebrating his resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday.

His final hours were spent in prayer. Yet the Gospel of Luke tells us that there was nothing unusual about him being in prayer: “And he came out and proceeded as was his custom to the Mount of Olives…and when he arrived at the place…he withdrew from them…and knelt down and began to pray.”(1) As was his custom, he would go to pray. We do not often hear the content of these prayer times, but in this case, in these final hours, we see him gripped with passion. Luke tells us that he was in such agony that his sweat “became like drops of blood.” Jesus had never been in this much distress before—even in his wilderness testing—we have no other portrait of such extreme duress in prayer.

“And being in agony he was praying very fervently,” Luke says. I’ve often wondered about the nature of these agonized prayers. Was Jesus in agony over the physical torture and death he was about to endure? Was he in agony over his disciples; one who would betray him and the others who would all abandon him in his time of need? Certainly, the latter is a real possibility as he exhorts his disciples at least twice to watch and pray that you might not enter into temptation (Luke 22:40; 46). I’m sure he prayed fervently because of both of these reasons.

Whatever the reason for his agony, Jesus’s humanity was on full display in his prayer. He did not want to walk the path that was unfolding before him, and he pleads with God to provide an alternative path, a “plan B” as it were. Matthew’s gospel reveals more of his struggle. He tells his disciples, “I am deeply grieved, to the point of death.” Then he prays to God, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but your will be done” (Matthew 26:38-39). The way of suffering unfolded before him and he would go to his death, despite his anguished prayers for another way.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Overcome Evil with Good

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Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good.—Romans 12:21

We must not use our personal problems as an excuse to be grouchy and unloving with other people. Always remember that we overcome evil with good. This is why it is so important that we trust God, and while we are waiting on a change in our circumstances, we should remember to do good, do good, and do good!

In the Bible, the apostle Paul shares how even in times when he was suffering, he believed that God would take care of those things that he entrusted to Him (see 2 Timothy 1:12-14). We can be grateful that, like Paul, we are called to give our problems to God and refuse to worry.

A simple formula for victory is trust God, don’t worry, do good, and keep meditating on and confessing God’s Word, because God’s Word is the weapon we have been given by which we can overcome evil and do good.

Prayer of Thanks: Thank You, Father, that no matter what I may be going through, You give me opportunities to do good for those around me. I don’t have to focus on myself; I can choose to help others. Let me be an encouragement and a blessing to someone today.

From the book The Power of Being Thankful by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – As Much As We Need 

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“But you should divide with them. Right now you have plenty and can help them; then at some other time they can share with you when you need it. In this way each will have as much as he needs” (2 Corinthians 8:14).

I like Paul’s emphasis on spiritual equality. In his letter to the church at Corinth, this principle is clearly expressed:

“You can help them…they can share with you…each will have as much as he needs.”

Not one of us is a total body within himself; collectively, we are the body of Christ.

The hand can accomplish only certain kinds of functions.

The eyes cannot physically grasp objects, but they can see them.

The ears cannot transport the body like feet can, but ears can hear many sounds.

The hand needs the eye, and the eye needs the hand. All parts of the body need each other in order to function as a healthy body.

Are the parts the same? No. Do they have equality? Yes.

While the Christians at Corinth possessed all the spiritual gifts, they were not glorifying Christ or building up one another. Instead, they were glorifying themselves, glorifying their special gifts, and exercising their gifts in the flesh instead of in the power and control of the Holy Spirit.

Time and again, the apostle Paul stressed to the Corinthians that an atmosphere of godly love, agape, must prevail or the exercising of their gifts would be fruitless.

Bible Reading: II Corinthians 8:7-15

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  I will be content with my place in the Body of Christ, whether it be large or small, realizing that every part of the body is vitally important in God’s kingdom.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – One Good Choice

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Think about the thief on the cross who repented! We know little about him, but we know this: He made some bad mistakes in his life. But is he spending eternity reaping the fruit of all the bad choices he made? No, just the opposite. He is enjoying the fruit of the one good choice he made.

You may look back over your life and say, “If only. . .if only I could make up for those bad choices.” You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth.

How could two thieves see the same Jesus and one choose to mock him and the other choose to pray to him? When one prayed, Jesus loved him enough to save him. When the other mocked, Jesus loved him enough to let him. He allowed him the choice. He does the same for you.

From He Chose the Nails

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – United removes passenger, creates Internet frenzy

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United Airlines Flight 3411 was departing Sunday from Chicago for Louisville, Kentucky. The flight was overbooked, so the airline notified passengers that it would need four people to volunteer for a later flight. None did.

The airline offered passengers $400 and a night in a hotel, but no one accepted. They increased their offer to $800 and a hotel room. Still, no one accepted. A manager then came on board to announce that a computer was going to select four passengers randomly.

A United employee first approached a couple who left the plane without incident. A third person was chosen. He told officials that he was a doctor and was needed in Louisville on Monday morning to see patients. Three security officers confronted the man as he was talking on his cell phone to his lawyer. When he refused to get up, they pulled him from his seat and dragged him from the airplane.

A passenger recorded a video of the incident. It quickly went viral.

United Airline CEO Oscar Munoz said in a statement, “I apologize for having to re-accommodate these passengers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.”

As many on social media have noted, United had a simple solution: keep offering incentives until someone accepts. The airline could have saved itself horrible publicity and a probable lawsuit.

Here’s an interesting fact: United did what all airlines used to do. Randomly removing passengers from overbooked airplanes was airline policy until economist Julian Simon offered a solution. A 2014 article for Fortune explained his proposal: airlines should auction off the right to be bumped by offering vouchers that go up for overbooked flights.

Simon made his suggestion in the 1960s but wasn’t able to get regulators interested until the 1970s. Until that time, airlines deliberately did not fill their planes. As a result, they had to charge customers more to compensate for their empty seats.

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