Daily Archives: March 27, 2018

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – My Assurance: God Is in Control

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Jeremiah 32:17

During one of the most trying seasons of my life, I would sit by the fire with a dear friend and pour out my heart to him. Since this man was a good listener, he could sense when I felt discouraged, and he would remind me that the Lord is in control. This truth became an anchor in my life—no matter how much the adversity intensified, I found solace in knowing that my heavenly Father is sovereign.

The Lord has supreme and absolute rule, control, and authority over the universe and everything in it. The Scriptures state that there is “one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:6).

Consider the assurances that this truth provides for believers. First, if God created everything and has complete power over all, then nothing can happen apart from His direction and permission. Second, we know from the Bible that He is intimately involved in our personal lives and cares about the details of each day. Third, Romans 8:28 guarantees that He makes something beautiful for His children in every circumstance—even in situations that seem painful and wrong. If our loving Father protects us in this way, we can experience peace in the present and confidence about the future.

In painful times, how do you view the Lord? Especially during hardships and heartbreak, it’s important to remember that He is in control. Focusing on His sovereignty will give you the confidence to carry on. Reread today’s passage, and spend time meditating on the power, love, and ability of your heavenly Father.

Bible in One Year: 1 Samuel 12-14

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Glory to the Grower

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Read: Mark 4:26–29 | Bible in a Year: Judges 1–3; Luke 4:1–30

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:7

One day, I noticed an unexpected splash of yellow to the right of our driveway. Six stalks of daffodils, sandwiched between two large stones, bloomed bright and tall. Because I hadn’t planted, fertilized, or intentionally watered the bulbs, I couldn’t figure out how or why the flowers had sprouted in our yard.

Jesus illustrated a mystery of spiritual growth in the parable of the growing seed. He compares the kingdom of God to a farmer scattering seed on the ground (Mark 4:26). The one who scattered the seed may have done what he could to care for the soil. But Jesus said the seed sprouted whether or not that man slept in, woke up, or even understood the growth process (vv. 27–28). The land owner benefited from the harvest (v. 29), though its development didn’t depend on what he did or his understanding of the workings beneath the surface of the soil.

God deserves the glory for the growth of His people and His kingdom.

The maturing of the seeds in Jesus’s parable, like the blooming of my daffodils, occurred in God’s time and because of God’s growing power. Whether we’re considering personal spiritual growth or God’s plan to expand the church until Jesus returns, the Lord’s mysterious ways aren’t dependent on our abilities or understanding of His works. Still, God invites us to know, serve, and praise the Grower, reaping the benefits of the spiritual maturity He cultivates in and through us.

Lord, thank You for growing us spiritually and using us to serve Your people, as You grow Your kingdom.

God deserves the glory for the growth of His people and His kingdom.

By Xochitl Dixon

INSIGHT

Commenting on the parable found in today’s text, Simon Kistemaker says: “From the moment he has sown the seed the farmer must leave the sprouting, the growing, the pollinating, and the maturing to God. . . . The farmer cannot explain this growth and development. He is only a worker who at the proper time sows and reaps. God holds the secret of life. God is in control” (The Parables: Understanding the Stories Jesus Told).

It isn’t that the farmer isn’t busy and simply relaxes during the growing of the wheat. He is busy weeding, mulching, and watering. But the growth is up to the Lord. We can work to encourage growth, do things that create an environment for growth and for plants to flourish, but ultimately the growth is something we see, not something we produce. The same is true in our spiritual life.

Take a moment to thank God for the growth you’ve seen in your life. How can you prepare the soil of your heart for continued growth in Christlikeness?

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Day Without Hope

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It was a day without hope, March 11, 2011. The 8.9-magnitude earthquake set off a devastating tsunami that washed away coastal cities in Northeastern Japan. Unfolding just 250 miles northeast of Tokyo was unspeakable devastation. Thousands of homes were destroyed. Roads were impassable, trains and buses, if not destroyed, were not running, and power remained down for weeks in the cold temperatures of early spring. Massive cargo ships and boats were swept on top of buildings as if they were miniature model toys and all around were scenes of desperation, as stranded survivors cried for help; buried alive under the rubble of what remained of their cities, communities and homes. Several districts were completely annihilated. Things couldn’t get any worse when the damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor was discovered as radioactive material leaked out into surrounding areas and waterways. The death toll from the tsunami and earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in Japan, was over 18,000 lives. Over 300,000 were left homeless. This was a day without hope.

March 11, 2011 was a day without hope for me, as well, for in my own way, I was among this community of mourners. On this very day, as I learned of the devastation in Japan, I attended a loved one’s funeral. And while I did not watch my life wash away in a tsunami, I did lose the life I had lived for almost twenty years on this very day. Like the people of Sendai, and Ishinomaki, this day for me was a day without hope.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Don’t Give In to Fear

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Now [in Haran] the LORD had said to Abram, “Go away from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you. — Genesis 12:1

The Bible tells of a man named Abram who trusted God in spite of his own personal fear.

How would you feel if God told you to leave your home, your family and everything that is familiar and comfortable and head out to an unknown destination? Full of fear? That’s exactly what God told Abram to do—and it frightened him. But God’s words to him were “Fear not.”

Many times we think we should wait to do something until we are no longer afraid, but if we did that, we’d probably accomplish very little for God, for others, or even for ourselves. Abram had to step out in faith and obedience to God, despite his fear.

If Abram had bowed his knee to fear, he never would have fulfilled his destiny to become all God created him to be—the father of many nations.

Giving in to fear alters God’s best plan for your life, so do what He wants you to do…even if you have to do it afraid! Like Abram, you’ll find that the rewards are great.

Prayer Starter: God, You were faithful to Abram when he obeyed You in spite of fear, so I also decide to resist fear and do whatever You tell me to do.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – We Are Each a Part

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“Each of us is a part of the one body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves and some are free. But the Holy Spirit has fitted us all together into one body. We have been baptized into Christ’s body by the one Spirit, and have all been given that same Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

I find that most Christians agree that the Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the Body of Christ, as this verse affirms. But the unity of the body is divided here on earth by many differences of interpretation concerning a “second baptism,” speaking in tongues and “Spirit-filling.”

Most believers agree, however, that we are commanded to live holy lives and the Holy Spirit supernaturally makes this human impossibility a reality. He does this when we totally submit ourselves to His indwelling love and power. Or, to use a metaphor of the apostle Paul, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves in Christ” (Galatians 3:27, NAS).

In His high-priestly prayer, our Lord prayed that we who are believers may be one with Him, even as He and the Father were one. We are commanded to love one another. “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35, KJV). No one who criticizes his brother is Spirit-filled. No one who sows discord among his brethren is Spirit-filled. In fact, the test as to whether or not we are controlled by the Holy Spirit is how we love our brothers.

It is my joy and privilege to know most of the famous Christian leaders of our time, men and women whom God is using in a mighty way to help change our nation and some other nations of the world with the gospel. How I rejoice at every good report that comes to me of God’s blessing upon their lives and ministries. In fact, it is one way of checking my own walk with Christ. If I were jealous and critical, fault-finding and sowing discord, I would know that I am not walking in the light as God is in the light.

Bible Reading:I Corinthians 12:14-20

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  I will not allow my interpretation of the Spirit-filled life to separate me from other members of the body of Christ, but will love them and seek to promote unity among believers.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Sign on Christ’s Cross

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

John 19:19 says, “Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews.” Why is a sign placed over the head of Jesus? Could it be that this piece of wood is a picture of God’s devotion? A symbol of his passion to tell the world about his Son? Pilate intended the sign to threaten and mock the Jews. But God had another purpose.

Every passerby could read the sign for every passerby could read Hebrew, Latin or Greek. In the language of culture, Christ was declared King in them all! There is no language he will not speak. Which leads us to the delightful question: What language is he speaking to you? I’m referring to the day-to-day drama of your life. God does speak, you know. He speaks in any language we will understand.

Read more On Calvary’s Hill

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Stormy Daniels: The question no one is asking

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Anderson Cooper’s 60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels drew the highest ratings for the show in ten years. Reaction was divided afterward, with some commentators criticizing her as “not credible” and others using the interview to disparage President Trump.

In the coverage I have seen, attention has been focused on money paid to her by Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and on whether she had an affair with Mr. Trump, a claim he “vehemently” denies.

Here’s the question no one seems to be asking: Should they have had an affair?

“Whatever consenting people choose to do”

The alleged affair would have been between a married man and a porn star who was herself married at the time. I’m old enough to remember when pornography was widely understood to be immoral in all its forms. Sexual relations were to be reserved for heterosexual marriage.

If two married people, one a porn star, were alleged to have had an affair, the immorality of such an act would have been a major part of the story. But as they say, that was then and this is now.

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