Daily Archives: March 25, 2018

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Loving God by the Book

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Psalm 119:105-112

“I just don’t have enough time.” That’s the primary reason people give me for not meditating upon Scripture. But in reality, we all make time for what’s important to us. A few years back, I photocopied the book of Philippians, cut it into sections, and taped it over my local newspaper. It only took up three columns of the front page. This proves that reading the book of Philippians takes about as long as reading our favorite parts of the newspaper or scanning articles on the internet.

In truth, we could probably all find space in our schedules for God’s Word. You could begin by opening to an epistle and asking the Lord to speak to you. As you read, pray over the words the Holy Spirit draws to your attention. As He lifts truths off the page and into your heart, ask Him for deeper understanding and application to your life.

Praying through a book of the Bible will elevate your spiritual life to a new level. You’ll find yourself wanting to progress past an elementary understanding of the faith as you learn to pray the Scriptures like David and Daniel. Moreover, you’ll desire to be obedient to what you’re reading, because you are falling deeper in love with the book’s Author.

As believers, we have been greatly favored by the heavenly Father. He has made us His sons and daughters, given of His divine Word, and promised to bless those who keep His commands. (See John 14:21.) If we’ll draw near to Him through meditation upon His Word, He will become our greatest joy and delight.

Bible in One Year: 1 Samuel 7-9

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Who Is This?

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Read: Luke 19:28–40 | Bible in a Year: Joshua 19–21; Luke 2:25–52

Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Luke 19:38

Imagine standing shoulder to shoulder with onlookers by a dirt road. The woman behind you is on her tiptoes, trying to see who is coming. In the distance, you glimpse a man riding a donkey. As He approaches, people toss their coats onto the road. Suddenly, you hear a tree crack behind you. A man is cutting down palm branches, and people are spreading them out ahead of the donkey.

Jesus’s followers zealously honored Him as He entered Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion. The multitude rejoiced and praised God for “all the miracles they had seen” (Luke 19:37). Jesus’s devotees surrounded Him, calling out, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (v. 38). Their enthusiastic honor affected the people of Jerusalem. When Jesus finally arrived, “the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ ” (Matthew 21:10).

Lord, I want others to see You in me and to know You too.

Today, people are still curious about Jesus. Although we can’t pave His way with palm branches or shout praises to Him in person, we can still honor Him. We can discuss His remarkable works, assist people in need, patiently bear insults, and love each other deeply. Then we must be ready to answer the onlookers who ask, “Who is Jesus?”

Lord, may my life and my words express what I know about who You are. I want others to see You in me and to know You too.

We honor God’s name when we live like His children.

By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

INSIGHT

Do you sometimes struggle with finding the right words and right time to speak about Jesus? Your concern and hesitancy may be from God. There is a time to speak and a time to be quiet (Ecclesiastes 3:7). The Spirit knows the difference. Sometimes He is in the quiet moments and thoughtful actions that prepare the way for words later. Sometimes He enables us to fill a silence so ripe for words that if we don’t gently express our confidence in Jesus, it might feel as if even “the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).

 

http://www.odb.org

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – What Makes a Strong Man Weep

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Read: Luke 19:33-46

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” (vv. 41-42)

The night of Jesus’ birth, angels announce “on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14 KJV). Now, years later, Jesus faces death. He is less than five miles from the place the angels sang when he begins to weep. His tears are for a city—a people of God—who don’t understand that peace.

Jerusalem, literally interpreted, means “city of peace.” Jesus, more than any other man or woman in history, can see the chasm between what God dreamed, and what sin wrought. It’s not hard to imagine that God weeps at the tragedy, too. Tantamount to a soldier sacrificing so deeply on the battlefield, only to come home and find he is neither valued nor celebrated, Jesus feels the overwhelming betrayal that his peace, God’s peace, has been rejected. The people he loves favor cheap substitutes—lies, pride, idols, addictions—whatever can be bought and sold in the temple by the moneychangers, who can turn any sanctuary into a marketplace.

Jesus dies that week to usher in fully the promise of peace between God and humans (Rom. 5:1). The veil is torn from the top, signaling invitation and welcome. The things that make for peace are finished. —Amy Clemens

Prayer: God, help me lay down my incompetent warring and move through the curtain. There is peace between me and the King! Color every corner of life with this good news.

 

 

https://woh.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Get Up and Go Forward with God!

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Jesus said to him, “Get up; pick up your pallet and walk.” — John 5:8

In John 5, there’s a story about a man who I believe represents a lot of people who refuse to change.

During a Jewish feast in Jerusalem, Jesus visited the Bethesda pool where sick people gathered, hoping to get healed. One of the people waiting to get healed was a man who had been crippled for 38 years. When Jesus saw him, He asked if he wanted to be healed.

To me, the man’s answer tells us why he hadn’t been healed in 38 years. He said, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.” Bottom line, the man was avoiding responsibility.

His second problem was that he blamed others. The man said, “While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

How did Jesus respond? He didn’t feel sorry for him. Instead, Jesus said, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

For change to happen in your life, you can’t be a prisoner of your circumstances. Know that God is willing to help you today. You just have to decide to trust Him, get up, and actively pursue the freedom He’s giving you.

Prayer Starter: God, I don’t want to be a victim of my circumstances. I want to change. I receive Your strength and Your freedom today. I believe real change will happen in my life as I walk with You.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – According to Your Faith

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“Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29, KJV).

A poor heathen woman, after receiving Christ as her Savior, was remarkable for her simple faith. She decided to take Him literally at His word.

A few months after her conversion her little child became ill, and recovery was doubtful. Ice was needed for the little one, but in that tropical country, away from the world’s large cities, such a thing was not to be had.

“I’m going to ask God to send ice,” the mother said to a missionary.

“Oh,” came the quick reply, “but you can’t expect that He will do that.”

“Why not?” asked the simple-hearted believer. “He has all the power, and He loves us. You told us so. I’ll ask Him, and I believe He’ll send it.”

She did ask Him, and strange things began to happen. Soon there came up a heavy thunderstorm, accompanied by hail. The woman was able to gather a large quantity of hailstones. The cold application was just what the child needed. Recovery of the sick child soon followed. In our sophistication and intellectualism we, like the missionary and most other Christians, would tend to question the audacity of such a prayer.

Faith as a little child always brings the desired answer. “According to your faith be it unto you.” And where does such faith originate? “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

Bible Reading:Matthew 9:27-31

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  If my storehouse of faith proves insufficient to enable me to live supernaturally or to believe God for a specific need, I will spend time in His Word to build up that storehouse of faith.

 

http://www.cru.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Kind To The Needy 

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He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy. Proverbs 14:21

The needy have unmet needs that cripple their ability to live life to its fullest. It may be the need for food, clothing, or a place to live. They may need a job, a car, or an opportunity to get ahead. The needy may be lost in their sins without Christ, which is the greatest of needs. Wherever their point of need lies is our obligation to kindly care for them. “Give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21).

Evidence of our following Jesus is shown by our caring concern for the poor. Our kindness may require us to give up something so that another can gain something. Perhaps there is a fun trip you give up so a poor person can enjoy food for a month. What financial expenditure can you put on pause? Do you know someone who could benefit from a car repair or a mortgage payment? Sacrifice solicits most when the need of others is highest.

“Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Proverbs 14:31).

Furthermore, the best motivation for reaching out is kindness of heart, not guilt of mind. It is a kind word that lifts another person’s spirit. It is a generous gratuity to a diligent server. It is a gentle response to a demanding spirit. The needy are all around us, especially during economic downturns. Maybe there is a neighbor who is out of work whom you can invite into your home for dinner and  encouragement. Kindness is a culprit of compassion and care.

Lastly, look out for the needy because of the Lord’s great love toward you. Kindness asks, “Where would I be without God’s grace? Where in my life can I extend His grace, love, and mercy?” Blessings await those who give and receive kindness. We are all needy, some more than others, but our provider is the same—Jesus Christ.

“Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail” (Lamentations 3:22).

Prayer: Who in my life is in need that I can show kindness to in Jesus’ name?

Related Readings: Deuteronomy 15:4; Isaiah 58:7–12; Luke 6:30–36; 1 John 3:17–22

 

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Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – A CURSE (AND BLESSING)

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Zechariah 5:1–11

In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer explored the distinction between “cheap” and “costly” grace. Cheap grace requires no real contrition or repentance. It says that people will be forgiven regardless of their desire to be delivered from sin. Costly grace, on the other hand, “is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner.” Such grace cost God the life of His own Son.

Bonhoeffer didn’t want people to simply believe in Christ; he wanted them to follow Him. And this is always what God has intended for His people—not just mental assent to the right doctrines but rather faith expressed as obedient love. As a primary Old Testament example, in Deuteronomy 28 and 29, God’s people are poised to enter the Promised Land after 40 years of wilderness wandering. God tells them to follow Him. He would bless their obedience and curse their sin.

In the first part of today’s reading, we see two specific sins that God will judge and even curse: stealing and swearing falsely (vv. 3–4). Stealing is condemned by the eighth of the Ten Commandments (You shall not steal), and swearing falsely is prohibited by the third of the Ten Commandments (You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God). Each of these commandments reveals the two vital aspects of God’s Law: maintaining a right relationship with God and maintaining a right relationship with our neighbor (see Exodus 20).

Now that Israel had returned home, they were to renew their pledge of obedience to God’s Law. God’s grace is free, but it must not be taken for granted. As a sign of God’s blessing, wickedness, as represented by the woman in the basket, will be removed to the land of Shinar, which is Babylon (vv. 5–11).

APPLY THE WORD

We cheapen grace when we do not take seriously God’s commands to obey Him. We cheapen grace when we persist in sin and think that God’s love excuses our rebellion. If you have been guilty of this, repent. Thank God for His costly grace, which accepts our repentance and offers us forgiveness through the death and resurrection of His Son.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org