Daily Archives: February 20, 2018

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Where Battles Are Won

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Exodus 17:8-13

In today’s reading, we find the nation of Israel engaged in combat with the Amalekites. While Joshua led the troops, Moses went up onto a hill overlooking the battlefield and, in an attitude of prayer, observed the action. The Lord gave the Israelites success as long as Moses’ arms were raised, but whenever he lowered them, the enemy gained the advantage. So Aaron and Hur helped him to maintain the posture that assured victory.

This historical account teaches an important lesson for every believer: Life’s battles are won or lost in the place of prayer. We may think that conflicts are decided on the battlefield, but victory depends on children of God coming before their Father and seeking His face. It is not the size of our army or the strength of our opponents’ forces that ultimately determines the outcome. When we spend time alone with God, we will be equipped by the One who knows the end from the beginning and understands the reality of all circumstances, regardless of appearances.

God foresees every snare and temptation of Satan just as He discerns what people are thinking and plotting. So it is wise to trust His battle plan instead of our own instincts—and we can do so with confidence that we will not suffer defeat.

Faith will allow you to keep your eyes focused on the Lord, even in the midst of frightening circumstances. When you acknowledge Him as the source of everything you need, your sense of direction will become clear. No matter what enemy is facing you, God will reveal what needs to be done.

Bible in One Year: Numbers 33-36

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Great Physician

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Read: Matthew 4:23–5:12

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 26–27; Mark 2

Remain in me, as I also remain in you.—John 15:4

When Dr. Rishi Manchanda asks his patients, “Where do you live?” he’s looking for more than an address. He has seen a pattern. Those who come to him for help often live in conditions of environmental stress. Molds, pests, and toxins are making them sick. So Dr. Manchanda has become an advocate of what he calls Upstream Doctors. These are health care workers who, while providing urgent medical care, are working with patients and communities to get to the source of better health.

As Jesus healed those who came to Him (Matthew 4:23-24), He lifted their eyes beyond the need for urgent physical and material care. With His Sermon on the Mount He offered more than a medical miracle (5:1-12). Seven times Jesus described attitudes of mind and heart that reflect a well-being that begins with a new vision and promise of spiritual well-being (vv. 3-9). Two more times he called blessed those who experience relentless persecution and find their hope and home in Him (vv. 10-12).

Jesus’s words leave me wondering. Where am I living? How aware am I of my need for a well-being that is greater than my urgent need for physical and material relief? As I long for a miracle, do I embrace as enviable the poor, broken, hungry, merciful, peacemaking heart that Jesus calls blessed? —Mart DeHaan

Father in heaven, it’s so hard to see beyond our pain. Please let us sense Your mercy in this moment. Lift our eyes beyond ourselves. Let us find a new vision and source of health in the care of Christ, who heals.

When God is our home, our hope is in Him.

INSIGHT: The end of Matthew 4 implies that people were following Him in the hope of being healed of anything that ailed them. Yet in response to the crowd’s desire to be physically healed, Jesus responds with words that can heal the soul. The Great Physician looks deep into our hearts and heals not just our bodies but our souls as well. J.R. Hudberg

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Nothing Gold Can Stay

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Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leafs a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.(1)

One of my most cherished memories is of the New England landscape in the fall. The vibrant colors from dogwood, sassafras, sumac, red oak, and maples can only be described as the finest artist’s palette of paints—crimsons and scarlets, purples, oranges and yellows splashed across the canvas. Making our pilgrimage each year to the local fair, the route transported my husband and me into that world of color, as the road would bend through picturesque towns and take us deeper and deeper into that fall canvas. Sadly, this beauty was transient. Fall rains and wind would come to fade and to muddle those colors. All that would remain were the dull browns melding and making their home in the dark soil that encompassed them.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Nothing Gold Can Stay →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – There Is Power in God’s Word!

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Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. — Proverbs 4:21-22 (AMPC)

The Bible is no ordinary book. The words within its pages are like medicine to your soul. It has the power to change your life because there is life in the Word!

When you discover the power and truth of God’s Word, you will begin to see changes in your life that only this truth can bring. You will also learn how to recognize the lies that the enemy tries to bring against you.

If you are just starting to study the Bible or feel intimidated by it, don’t think you have to read it all at once or understand everything right away. Be patient with yourself. The important thing is that you start somewhere and stay determined to stick with it. Because every time you study the Bible and pay attention to what you’re reading, you’re learning something.

Proverbs 4:20 (AMPC) says, My son attend to my words… This is important to understand because attending is more than just reading—it means to meditate on the Scripture or roll it around over and over in your mind.

As we spend time reading and meditating on the Word of God and learn to agree with it above all else, we will be filled with the life and healing power of God.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Exalting a Nation

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“Godliness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

God’s Word (1 Timothy 2:2) reminds us that we are to pray for those in authority over us, so that we can live in peace and quietness, spending our time in godly living and thinking much about the Lord.

We should pray daily for all those in authority over us, from the precinct to the White House, and we should seek through the writing of letters and personal appointments to communicate God’s love to each one of them, so that they may contribute to those qualities of godliness that will cause the blessing of God to continue to be poured out upon this nation.

One day I walked into a senator’s office in Washington, D.C. I had never met the man before, but a mutual friend had suggested that I drop by to see him.

Within a few minutes it seemed as if we had known each other for a lifetime. A natural opportunity arose for me to ask him if he were a Christian, and I was able to share the good news of the gospel with him through the Four Spiritual Laws. Before I left his office, the senator said he would like to receive Christ.

Another time, I spoke at a congressman’s home, to which several other congressmen and their wives had been invited. After the meeting, several individuals requested personal appointments.

I went by the office of one of the congressmen the next day.

“Did what I said last night make sense to you?” I asked him.

“It surely did,” he replied.

“Would you like to receive Christ?” I asked. He said that he would and knelt beside his couch to pray.

Down the hall, I shared Christ with still another congressman who had been present the night before. He too said he would like to receive Christ. All three of these men and many others continue to walk with God, seeking His wisdom to help them lead our nation wisely.

Because “godliness exalts a nation,” we feel it is important for every Christian to pray for and witness to all of our nation’s elected officials. Supernatural enablement of the Holy spirit is available to assist us in our communication.

Bible Reading: Psalm 33:12-16

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will pray today for one or more of our nation’s leaders, and I will seek opportunities to witness to them and other governmental leaders personally or through correspondence.

 

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Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Prayers Don’t Get Graded

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

Jesus downplayed the importance of words in prayers. We tend to do the opposite. The more words the better! We emphasize the appropriate prayer language, the latest prayer trend, the holiest prayer terminology. Against all this emphasis on syllables and rituals, Jesus says in Matthew 6:7, “Don’t ramble like heathens who talk a lot.” There’s no panel of angelic judges with numbered cards.

Wow, Lucado, that prayer was a ten. God will certainly hear you! or

Oh, Lucado, you scored a two this morning. Go home and practice!

Prayers aren’t graded according to style. If prayer depends on how I pray, I’m sunk. But if the power of prayer depends on the One who hears the prayer, then I have hope.

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For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

 

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Senate chaplain explains why “The View” insulted Mike Pence’s faith

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By now you’ve probably heard about the controversy: Participants on The View were discussing reports that Vice President Mike Pence converses with Jesus, and Joy Behar said, “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you. That’s called mental illness, if I’m not correct, hearing voices.”

Mr. Pence responded that her insult is “evidence of how out of touch some in the mainstream media are with the faith and values of the American people.”

As an example of such “faith and values,” consider David Wise. He is a Team USA skier who won a gold medal in the freeski halfpipe event at the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 X Games. He skied last night in the Men’s Qualifying, falling on his first run but still qualifying for tomorrow’s final.

But no matter what he does in South Korea, he knows what matters most in life.

Wise has sustained two injuries and three concussions. In recent years, his sister lost a leg in a boating accident; his father-in-law died; his wife suffered serious postpartum depression; and his son had a health crisis he almost didn’t survive. His skiing suffered, and some of his sponsors abandoned him.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Senate chaplain explains why “The View” insulted Mike Pence’s faith →