Daily Archives: May 27, 2018

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Eliminating Doubt

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Matthew 21:20-22

As we mature spiritually, we become more solidly rooted in the confidence that God is faithful. But sometimes doubt will creep in and wither our trust. In order not to lose ground, we must act decisively to reduce misgivings. Here are three steps we should take:

  1. Recall God’s past faithfulness, and remember His promises. When we devote time to thanking the Lord for His intervention in prior situations, we are reminded of His love and provision. Meditating on promises from Scripture also reassures us that He will continue to meet every need. For example, Psalm 41:12 says that the Father is always present with His children, and His Holy Spirit was given to us for strength and direction (John 16:13; Eph. 3:16).
  2. Water your growing faith with God’s Word. When you ask for scriptural guidance, the Lord will direct you to passages that relate to your situation and offer needed emotional and spiritual assurance. Spend time meditating on these verses, prayerfully considering how to apply them to your circumstances.
  3. Choose to believe God and His promises. He has proven Himself faithful from the first moment of creation to the present. We are wise to place our confidence in Him.

Developing a sturdy, well-rooted faith requires that we cooperate with the heavenly Father. Our human nature complicates matters by making us vulnerable to doubt. But when we choose to trust God, uncertainty cannot shrink our faith.

Bible in One Year: Nehemiah 4-7

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — God with Skin On

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Read: Romans 12:9–18 | Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 1–3; John 10:1–23

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:13

My husband left for a month-long trip, and almost immediately I was overwhelmed by the needs of my job, our house, and our children. A writing deadline loomed. The lawn mower broke. My children were on school break and bored. How would I take care of all of these things on my own?

I soon realized I wasn’t on my own. Friends from church showed up to help. Josh came over to fix my lawn mower. John brought me lunch. Cassidy helped with the laundry. Abi invited my kids over to play with hers so I could get my work done. God worked through each of these friends to provide for me. They were a living picture of the kind of community Paul describes in Romans 12. They loved sincerely (v. 9), considered the needs of others rather than just their own (v. 10), shared with me when I was in need, and showed hospitality (v. 13).

God, thank You for placing us in communities. Help me to look out for others’ needs and to show hospitality.

Because of the love my friends showed to me, I remained “joyful in hope” and “patient in affliction” (v. 12), even the mild affliction of solo parenting for a month. My brothers and sisters in Christ became what one friend calls “God with skin on” for me. They showed me the kind of sincere love we ought to show to everyone, especially those in our community of faith (Galatians 6:10). I hope to be more like them.

God, thank You for placing us in communities. Help me to look out for others’ needs and to show hospitality.

To whom do I need to be “God with skin on” today?

By Amy Peterson INSIGHT

The practice of hospitality is a key teaching in the New Testament. Jesus told His disciples to depend on the hospitality of those they ministered to (Matthew 10:11; Luke 10:7–8). Jesus also received hospitality from others (Mark 2:15; 14:3; Luke 7:36). Mary and Martha opened their home to Jesus (Luke 10:38), and this is probably where He stayed each time He came to Jerusalem (see Matthew 21:17). Luke mentioned a group of women who “were helping to support [Jesus and the twelve disciples] out of their own means” (Luke 8:3). The apostle John commended Gaius for his cheerful generosity and loving hospitality because he provided itinerant Bible teachers a place to stay (3 John 1:5–8).

When we lovingly support ministry workers in practical ways, we are their partners in ministry (v. 8). Therefore, Paul urges us, “When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality” (Romans 12:13 nlt). Peter echoed the same sentiment: “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other . . . . Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay” (1 Peter 4:8–9 nlt).

  1. T. Sim

 

http://www.odb.org

Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE ARRIVAL OF THE KING OF KINGS

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Revelation 19:11–21

Many people gather at Christmas or Easter to hear a performance of the oratorio Messiah by George Frideric Handel. A highlight of the piece is the “Hallelujah” chorus, which acclaims Jesus as “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” Anyone who has heard the work cannot read today’s verses without hearing Handel’s resounding music.

Now that the invitation has been issued, the bridegroom appears. But He does not come to take the hand of His bride but rather to make war on the beast. He will overthrow him with “the breath of his mouth” and destroy him “by the splendor of his coming” (2 Thess. 2:8). Jesus does not come alone: “The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean” (v. 14). Their clothing identifies them as the redeemed. Did you notice that when Jesus finally comes, His bride is already with Him?

Once Jesus appears, an angel issues an invitation to a different kind of wedding feast. This one is addressed to the birds, pictured like carrion circling above the battlefield expecting to feast on the corpses below: “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small” (vv. 17–18).

Like the invitation to the wedding of the Lamb, this invitation is issued before the final blow falls. Indeed everything we have read in the past few chapters has been prelude to this announcement of Christ’s victory, the celebration over Babylon’s fall, and the invitation to the Lamb’s wedding. In other words, the victory dance is done before the battle has even been fought.

APPLY THE WORD

The enemies of God gather against Christ to no avail. The beast and the false prophet are thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur and their followers are killed. Notice that no details of the battle are given. That is because there were none. Jesus defeats them with glory of His presence and His word. What an honor to be part of His redeemed people!

 

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Sacrifice of Praise

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Therefore know and understand today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below; there is no other.  — Deuteronomy 4:39

Praising God starts your day right. Start thanking God as soon as you get out of bed in the morning. Hebrews 13:15 says, Let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name (AMPC).

Jesus said, Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within them (John 7:38 NIV). Acknowledge the Lord, and drink that living water.

Prayer Starter: Father, I take a moment right now to thank and praise You for how wonderful You are! Thank You for sending Jesus to die for our sins, and thank You for every good thing You do for me each and every day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Wisdom Brings Peace

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“Wisdom gives a good, long life, riches, honor, pleasure, peace” (Proverbs 3:16,17).

High up in the Andes Mountains stands a bronze statue of Christ – the base of granite, the figure fashioned from old cannons – marking the boundary between Argentina and Chile.

“Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust,” reads the Spanish engraving, “than Argentines and Chileans break the peace sworn at the feet of Christ the Redeemer.”

Peoples of these two countries had been quarreling about their boundaries for many years, and suffering from the resultant mistrust.

In 1900, with the conflict at its highest, citizens begged King Edward VII of Great Britain to mediate the dispute. On May 28, 1903, the two governments signed a treaty ending the conflict.

During the celebration that followed, Senora de Costa, a noble lady of Argentina who had done much to bring about the peace, conceived the idea of a monument. She had the statue of Christ shaped from the cannons that had been used to strike terror into Chilean hearts.

At the dedication ceremony, the statue was presented to the world as a sign of the victory of good will. “Protect, Oh Lord, our native land,” prayed Senora de Costa. “Ever give us faith and hope. May fruitful peace be our first patrimony and good example its greatest glory.”

The monument stands today as a reminder that only Christ – the Prince of Peace – can bring real peace to the world. And that refers as much to individual peace as it does to national and international peace.

Bible Reading:Proverbs 3:18-23

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Like Solomon of old, I shall seek the wisdom that brings a good, long life, riches, honor, pleasure and the lasting peace that comes from God’s indwelling Holy Spirit.

 

 

http://www.cru.org

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Believe and Confess

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Read: Romans 10:1-10

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (v. 9)

The good news of the gospel shows us several facts about our situation: sin has consequences, we cannot solve our sin problem on our own, and God chooses to offer us a second chance. When we realize this truth, what must we do?

The Bible speaks often of our need to repent and have faith. Repentance is the act of acknowledging our sin and feeling truly sorry for it. Faith, or “believing,” is placing our trust and hope in Jesus Christ as the only one who can save us from our sin and offer us new life. I can look at a chair and believe that it is a chair. I can also believe that if I sit in the chair, it will keep me from falling to the floor. However, to truly exercise my faith, I myself must sit in the chair. In other words, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17 NIV).

There are many people who believe that God exists. The apostle James says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:19 NIV). Read Romans 10:9 again. Have you taken that step of faith? It’s a step I’ve taken and I hope you will, too. It’s the most important decision you will ever make! —Steve Petroelje

Prayer: Everlasting Father, move in my heart so that I act upon my faith. Help me to repent and believe. Amen.

 

https://woh.org/

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Meaningful Memorial Days 

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Cornelius stared at him in fear. ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked. The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God’.  Acts 10:4

Meaningful Memorial Days are meant to remember someone or something we hold in high esteem. We pause to reflect and honor their value to our lives and to our country. It is the memory of sacrifice, suffering, industriousness, and integrity that instills a humbling heritage. Men and women gave their lives in battle that we might gain our lives of freedom.

Memorial Days are the most meaningful when we take time to pause and pray. We thank God in sincere supplication for His favor in our engagement with the enemy, past and present. On our knees we acknowledge almighty God as the genesis for our great country. He led His people here to establish a nation founded on faith in Christ. If we fail to memorialize our Founding Fathers as figures of faith, then we fail as Christian citizens.

Moreover, your gifts to the poor and to all people are a memorial offering before God. Every gift is to be given in the name of Jesus. You give for the cause of Christ because of the great gift of salvation He has given you. Gifts given as a memorial to God gain His glory. You honor the Lord when you give on His behalf.

Lastly, His abundant grace is reason enough for righteous reflection. Is your salvation in Jesus still sweet and savory to your soul? Do you recount often the Lord’s tender mercy toward you and your family? Remember how ecstatic you felt when Sovereign God engaged your soul with faith and forgiveness? Keep fresh your conversion experience.

Your testimony of trust in Jesus Christ—now and at your conversion—is a memorial to your Master’s faithfulness. The death of Jesus for our soul’s freedom and the death of men and women for our nation’s soul are the most meaningful Memorial Days. Honor Him and honor them by promoting our liberties as a gift from almighty God and our faithful soldiers.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Prayer: Thank you Lord for those who have given their life, so I might enjoy my life of freedom and faith in Jesus, in His name I pray.

Application: How can I make Memorial Days meaningful?  Do I pray and give as a memorial to Jesus?

Related Readings: Exodus 20:8; Leviticus 2:9; Psalm 77:11; John 15:20–27

Worship Resource: 4-minute music video- Austin French: Freedom Hymn

Taken from Seeking Daily the Heart of God v.2

 

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