Daily Archives: May 11, 2017

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Telling It Like It Is

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Psalm 126

People love inspiring stories. Biographies of the down-and-out who make great use of a second chance tend to top best-seller lists. But few people have a life of such drama—most of us are quite ordinary. Sadly, some believers think that being a “regular Joe” makes their testimony unexciting and therefore less valuable. Nothing could be further from the truth. What the Lord has done for any of us is just as extraordinary as what He did by redeeming those with a past of more noticeable sin.

A personal testimony is a way of expressing what God has done and is doing in one’s life. It is a powerful tool for getting an unbeliever interested in spiritual matters. No matter how commonplace our words may sound compared to someone else’s, the Lord will see to it that they impact the hearers who need them.

Let me give you an example. Suppose a 6-year-old girl named Tina receives salvation. When she is 18, she will be able to tell her friends of God’s greatness. She can explain that He makes the gospel clear to a child and yet reveals something new to her every day. When Tina is 80, she will have a lifetime of service opportunities to share. Her testimony may not be exciting according to the world’s criteria, but it is spiritual gold.

You have no idea how far-reaching your testimony can be. God says that His words will not return to Him without completing the work He sent them to do (Isa. 55:11). When believers share their faith, they are carrying His gospel to a needy world. And the story of Jesus’ saving grace is always inspiring.

Bible in One Year: 2 Chronicles 1-3

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Singing with Violet

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Read: Philippians 1:21–26

Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 13–14; John 2

I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.—Philippians 1:23–24

An elderly woman named Violet sat on her bed in a Jamaican infirmary and smiled as some teenagers stopped to visit with her. The hot, sticky, midday air came into her little group home unabated, but she didn’t complain. Instead, she began wracking her mind for a song to sing. Then a huge smile appeared and she sang, “I am running, skipping, jumping, praising the Lord!” As she sang, she swung her arms back and forth as if she were running. Tears came to those around her, for Violet had no legs. She was singing because, she said, “Jesus loves me—and in heaven I will have legs to run with.”

Violet’s joy and hopeful anticipation of heaven give new vibrancy to Paul’s words in Philippians 1 when he referred to life-and-death issues. “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me,” he said. “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (vv. 22-23).

Each of us faces tough times that may cause us to long for the promise of heavenly relief. But as Violet showed us joy despite her current circumstances, we too can keep “running, skipping, praising the Lord”—both for the abundant life He gives us here and for the ultimate joy that awaits us. —Dave Branon

Lord, when times are tough, help me to find joy. Help us to live in the tough times of this world with happiness while looking ahead to something “better by far.”

When God gives us a new beginning, we find a joy that’s never ending.

INSIGHT: Paul’s mixed feelings about life didn’t seem to be rooted in a moment of crisis or despair. Ever since his encounter with the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus he’d found a different understanding of what it means to live with purpose and to die with gain. Before he met Christ, his goal had been to inflict pain and suffering on followers of Jesus. But then he learned what it meant to consider it an honor to accept whatever it took to help others discover the mercy and kindness he’d found in Jesus.Describing the love that he now wanted others to know for themselves, Paul wrote, “I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more” (Phil. 1:8-9). Now—whether in life or death—Paul believed he couldn’t lose.  Mart DeHaan

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Unseen

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There is something deeply unsettling about biological threats. The very idea of unseen but deadly toxins or viruses is a modern nightmare. The sad thing is that we have too many actual examples to fuel our fears. For multitudes in the industrial town of Bhopal, India, a normal working day turned into a catastrophe of biblical proportions as people were poisoned and killed by gas leaking from a local factory. Similarly catastrophic, the events surrounding the reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine combined the worst of leftover Soviet era paranoia and secrecy with a calamity of truly mind-boggling proportions. Hundreds of young men were ushered in to fight a fire, knowing nothing of the deadly radiation saturating the area, and as a result, thousands died. And of course, the recent chemical attacks in Syria were heartrending.

The weight and power of these deadly issues grips us. We feel it acutely. There are things in our universe that are invisible, but real and sometimes deadly. And there are few guaranteed fail-safe mechanisms to protect us, in all circumstances, from harm. This feeling of vulnerability, this sense that there are things beyond our control, this notion of powerlessness is something the modern mind finds repulsive. We want security, we demand certainty, and we feel entitled to assurance. But what is this assurance, and where is it to be found?

Several decades ago, Ernest Becker wrote a very challenging book called The Denial of Death. He showed how society works to create hero-systems and elaborate ways of suppressing or altogether avoiding the reality of death. Woody Allen adds degree of humor to the problem: “It’s not that I’m afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

Here the Christian story speaks clearly to the human dilemma. In his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul writes, “As in Adam, all die.” There are no exceptions, no escape routes, and no exits. It is as inclusive as it gets. Death is the great leveler. It respects everyone.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Unseen →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Doing Things God’s Way

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I am the Way.… —John 14:6

Many people are hurting so badly, and they are crying out for help. The problem is, they are not willing to receive the help they need from God. No matter how much we may want or need help, we are never going to receive it until we are willing to do things God’s way. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the Way.” What Jesus meant when He said, “I am the Way,” is that He has a certain way of doing things; and if we will submit to His way, everything will work out for us.

But so often we wrestle and struggle with Him, trying to get Him to do things our way. It just won’t work. How many times have people stood in front of me at the altar and told me all kinds of terrible things that are going on in their lives and how badly they are hurting yet they absolutely refuse to do what they are told to do to receive the help they need. Too often people are trying to find some other way to get help rather than by doing things God’s way.

The Bible plainly teaches that if we will learn and act on the Word, God will bless our lives. Let me give you an example. The Bible teaches that we are to live in harmony and peace with others and to forgive those who have done us wrong. If we refuse to do that, what hope do we have of receiving what we need?

I remember how difficult it was for me the first time the Lord told me I had to go to my husband and tell him I was sorry for being rebellious against him. I thought I would die on the spot! I realize that one reason we don’t always do what we are told to do in the Word of God is because it is hard.

If we don’t do what we can do, then God won’t do what we can’t do. If we will do what we can do, God will do what we can’t do. It’s just that simple.

From the book New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Recognizing False Teachers

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“Beware of false teachers who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are wolves and will tear you apart. You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You need never confuse grapevines with thorn bushes or figs with thistles” (Matthew 7:15,16). 

The secular press frequently quoted a famous professor in one of the most prestigious theological seminaries in the world, referring to him as the Protestant theologian of our time. As I talked with two of his students, whom I had the privilege of introducing to Christ, I asked, “What is your impression of Professor So-and-so?” They replied, “If the Bible is true, he is not a Christian.”

They went on to explain that he denied the deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture and all the basic tenets of the Christian faith. Yet he was so subtle, so brilliant and profound, that many pastors and Christian leaders who were not biblically oriented were deceived and looked upon him as a great scholar and theologian.

However, after he died, his wife wrote a highly revealing book in which she described his many sexual exploits as well as his other wrongdoings that were inconsistent with what the Bible teaches.

There are many false teachers in the seminaries and pulpits of the world, who represent another master, not our Lord Jesus Christ. They do not preach the inspired Word of God. Often brilliant, loving, gracious, considerate people, they are, nevertheless, well-described by our Lord as false teachers, wolves disguised as harmless sheep.

How can you recognize false teachers? The test is threefold: (1) What is their view of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He truly the Son of God? Did He die on the cross for our sins? Was He raised from the dead? (2) Do they profess that the Bible is the authority of God, divinely inspired? (3) Do they live lives that are consistent with the teachings of Scripture? Or do they condone practices that are contrary to the Word of God? If they do the latter, beware, for they will rob you of the supernatural resources of God that are available to you.

As you meditate upon the entire passage of scripture for today, ask God to give you a discerning spirit that you may not be deceived by false teachers.

Bible Reading: Matthew 7:13-23

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I shall meditate upon God’s Word and weigh those who profess to be His followers in light of their view of the Lord Jesus Christ, His holy, inspired Word, and how their lives are a witness to what God’s Word commands us to be I will instruct other believers and non-believers alike to be alert to the influence of false teachers.

 

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Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Cure for Jealousy

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What’s the cure for jealousy? Trust. The cause of jealousy? Distrust!

In a cemetery in England stands a grave marker with the inscription: She died for want of things. Alongside that marker is another: He died trying to give them to her. Let me ask you, have you seen such envy? Have you seen red-faced jealousy? Are you acquainted with the crimson forehead and the bulging veins of jealousy? Solomon says, “Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood, but no one can put up with jealousy!” (Proverbs 27:4).

The sons of Jacob didn’t trust God to meet their needs. The Pharisees didn’t trust God to solve their problems. What were the consequences of their envy? Loneliness! Who wants to hang out with a jealous fool? Stop focusing on what you want, and start trusting God to provide what you need. Replace your jealousy with gratitude.

From A Love Worth Giving

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

 

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – The James Comey firing and media bias today

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I still remember my first time on a carousel. Before the ride began, my father put me on a ceramic, multicolored horse. Then the platform started spinning and the horse began going up and down. It was all very exciting. But when it was over, I got off the ride where I got on it.

A carousel seems to me an apt metaphor for today’s headlines. What people think about political or cultural figures before they make the day’s news is usually what they think about them after they read the day’s news.

Take the James Comey firing, for example. According to today’s New York Times, the decision “deepened the sense of crisis swirling around the White House.” CNN‘s senior legal analyst went further, calling the move a “grotesque abuse of power.”

But Speaker of the House Paul Ryan supported the move, stating that “people had lost confidence” in Mr. Comey prior to his dismissal. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham agreed: “Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well.”

Did the news about the Comey firing change your opinion about the president? If you’re like most people, the answer is no. Those who oppose Mr. Trump oppose his decision; those who support him support his decision.

This should not surprise us. The American media have become increasingly polarized in recent years. Gone are the days when a television news anchor was known primarily for objectivity. Now we have progressive TV stations and conservative TV stations, progressive radio talk shows and conservative radio talk shows, progressive print media and conservative print media.

Each knows the market it seeks to reach on behalf of advertisers who pay its bills. Pickup trucks are advertised during football games while luxury cars are advertised during golf tournaments. It’s the same with nearly all products today—they know their specific market and the media that enables them to reach that market. In turn, the media knows who their advertisers want to reach and how to reach them.

It’s no longer about telling the truth. It’s about telling the version of the truth that agrees with our opinion and advances the bottom line.

I often remind audiences that in the Bible, God is a king (Revelation 19:16); in our culture, he is a hobby. A hobby is inherently subjective while a kingdom is inherently objective. You cannot make me like your hobbies, but a king can make me submit to his authority.

The book of Judges ends with this cryptic statement: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Sound familiar?

 

Denison Forum