Daily Archives: June 1, 2017

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Our Protector

Leave a comment

Psalm 121:1-3

Psalm 121 describes the safety that is found in the Lord. Today and tomorrow, let’s look at several verses to better understand our security.

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord” (vv. 1-2). When this psalm was written, robbers dwelled in the mountains, waiting for innocent travelers to become their unsuspecting victims. Not only that, but wild animals also posed a threat. Needless to say, journeying on these remote hilly roads must have caused anxiety and fear.

Our lives can be like mountainous territory. Do you look to the future and wonder what dangers lurk? The Lord is our helper; He alone is able to protect us, regardless of what lies ahead. Friends and relatives can offer limited assistance, but God knows everything and has all the power necessary to rescue us.

“He will not allow your foot to slip” (v. 3). God has provided everything we need in order to avoid sin. The Holy Spirit directs and empowers us; the Word lights our path so we do not slip. Yet at times, we choose to sin. Almighty God could stop us from disobeying, but He doesn’t interfere with our free will. Instead, He upholds us, enabling us to walk in His way.

These opening verses focus on the Lord’s ability to protect us in treacherous times. Whether trouble originates with others, external circumstances, or our own sin, we can find ourselves in danger and afraid. Thankfully, we have a loving Father who leads us to safety.

Bible in One Year: Job 1-4

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread –Everything We Need

Leave a comment

Read: 2 Peter 1:1–11

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 15–16; John 12:27–50

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness.—2 Peter 1:3

I often feel completely inadequate for the tasks I face. Whether it’s teaching Sunday school, advising a friend, or writing articles for this publication, the challenge often seems to be larger than my ability. Like Peter, I have a lot to learn.

The New Testament reveals Peter’s shortcomings as he tried to follow the Lord. While walking on water to Jesus, Peter began to sink (Matt. 14:25-31). When Jesus was arrested, Peter swore he didn’t know him (Mark 14:66-72). But Peter’s encounter with the risen Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit changed his life.

Peter came to understand that God’s “divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). An amazing statement from a man who had many flaws!

“[God] has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (v. 4).

Our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is the source of the wisdom, patience, and power we need to honor God, help others, and meet the challenges of today. Through Him, we can overcome our hesitations and feelings of inadequacy.

In every situation, He has given us everything we need to serve and honor Him. —David C. McCasland

Thank You, Father, for giving me everything I need to serve You and encourage others today. May I honor You in all I do.

God promises to provide everything we need to honor Him with our lives.

INSIGHT: As Peter conveys God’s provision for godly living (2 Peter 1:3), he refers to Jesus’s transfiguration. Peter, James, and John were “eyewitnesses of his majesty” and “earwitnesses” of the Father’s words (vv. 16-18). Peter notes the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power” (v. 16). While the Lord’s coming is our hope of ultimate rescue, the power of Jesus equips us for everyday living. Has God called you to do something for which you feel inadequate? Ask for God’s help to rely on His divine power. Bill Crowder

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Collaborative Creativity

Leave a comment

They gathered every Thursday around nine in the evening with pipes and pints in hand. At any given meeting there was likely to have been at least one historian, a philosopher, a physician, several poets, and a number of professors. The Inklings, as they called themselves, were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of good narrative and gathered to encourage, challenge, and better one another in their various attempts at creating it. Out of these spirited meetings, in which it is said that “praise for good work was unstinted, but censure for bad work, or even not-so-good work, was often brutally frank,” there arose the final drafts of The Lord of the Rings, Out of the Silent Planet, All Hallows’ Eve, and The Great Divorce to name a few.(1)

Contrary to the many critics who insist these writers had little influence on one another (the Inklings’ themselves said of Tolkien that it was easier to influence a “bandersnatch” than the creator of Middle Earth), Diane Pavlac Glyer avers they would not have been the same writers had they not written within the community of the Inklings. “[E]ach author’s work is embedded in the work of others,” writes Gyler, “and each author’s life is intertwined with the lives of others.”(2) Influence, after all, is far from imitation. While it is true that these authors came to their meetings with determined ideas, their reflective and challenging interactions sharpened thoughts, minds, and lives. J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams, as well as C.S. Lewis, would likely have imagined far different worlds had they not participated in the regular reading and criticism of their works in progress.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Collaborative Creativity →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – You’re an Everything/Nothing…and So Am I!

Leave a comment

What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him? Yet You have made him but a little lower than God [or heavenly beings], and You have crowned him with glory and honor.—Psalm 8:4-5 AMPC

Pride is a terrible sin, and we are instructed in God’s Word not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to (see Romans 12:3). That doesn’t mean that we need to have a bad opinion of or look down on ourselves. It does mean that we are to remember that we are no better than anyone else and that whatever God has enabled us to do is a gift from Him. We have no more right to claim credit for a special ability we have than we do for blue eyes or brown hair. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and asked them what they had that did not come as a gift from God (see 1 Corinthians 4:7).

When we are warned not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, it means we are to realize that we are nothing apart from Jesus and without Him we can do nothing. The value we have is found in Him, and we can celebrate who we are only because of Him. Actually, when we celebrate who we are in Jesus, it is a way of celebrating Jesus Himself.

We make this a lot more difficult than it needs to be. It is simple—we are everything in Jesus and nothing in ourselves. I like to say, “I am an everything/nothing!” We celebrate because of the amazing work God does in us, and not because of any worth we have in ourselves. As long as we continue giving God the glory for anything good that we manifest, we are on a safe and right track.

For some reason religion has taught people that to be godly they must have a low, or even bad, opinion of themselves, and I believe this kind of thinking has done incalculable damage to the plan of God. As long as we know we are lower than God and He is always our Chief and Head, then we are safe.

Trust in Him: Say out loud daily, “I am nothing without Jesus, but in and through Him I am valuable and I can do great things.”

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 – Life-giving Fruit

Leave a comment

“Godly men are growing a tree that bears life-giving fruit, and all who win souls are wise” (Proverbs 11-30).

“The monument I want after I am dead,” said Dwight L. Moody, “is a monument with two legs going around the world – a saved sinner telling about the salvation of Jesus Christ.”

When a young minister asked the Duke of Wellington whether he did not consider it useless to attempt to evangelize India, the Iron Duke sternly replied:

“What are your marching orders, sir?”

No doubt one of Satan’s greatest weapons of deceit in the world today is that of procrastination. Tomorrow I am going to become a soul-winner. Next month, after an evangelistic training program, I will become a great witness. As soon as I finish seminary or Bible college, I’ll begin sharing the good news of the gospel.

But “today is the day of salvation, now is the accepted time,” declares the Word of God. Sensitivity to God’s Holy Spirit – dwelling within to give me supernatural ability – will enable me to tell others what Christ means to me, and what He has done for me.

In God’s economy, the truly wise person, is that one who is redeeming the time, buying up every opportunity to share his faith, refusing to put off that which he knows should become a natural, every-day, moment-by-moment part of his life. Wonder of wonders, God even promises to put the very words in our mouths, if we ask Him, as we go in His name.

Bible Reading: II Corinthians 5:11-17

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will do what God leads me to do this day to bear life-giving fruit.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Never Give Up!

Leave a comment

How do we flourish in the midst of tragedy? Remember Joseph? Genesis records his story. It says his brothers “hated him.” They put him into a pit, leaving him for dead. And then they covered up what they’d done. And Joseph’s story got worse before it got better. Abandonment led to enslavement, then entrapment, and finally imprisonment. He was sold out. Mistreated. Yet he never gave up. His heart never hardened; his resolve never vanished. He not only survived—he thrived!

Speaking years later to the brothers who’d betrayed him Joseph said, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result” (Genesis 50:20).  In God’s hands intended evil becomes eventual good!

From You’ll Get Through This

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

 

Home

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – CNN fires Kathy Griffin over Trump photo

Leave a comment

Oscar Wilde claimed that “there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” I’m not sure Kathy Griffin would agree.

The comedienne has made headlines with a photo in which she proudly held up a model of the decapitated head of Donald Trump. Widespread criticism ensued. She responded by tweeting, “OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever! I’m merely mocking the mocker in chief.”

Outrage continued to escalate. President Trump tweeted, “Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!” Chelsea Clinton called the picture “vile and wrong.” CNN‘s Anderson Cooper, who hosted the network’s New Year’s Eve broadcast with her, called the photo “clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.” CNN fired her as co-host of the program.

Griffin eventually posted another tweet saying, “I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong.” She added that she would ask the photographer to take down the image, although it has already spread across the Internet.

Continue reading Denison Forum – CNN fires Kathy Griffin over Trump photo →