Daily Archives: January 7, 2023

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Who Are You, Lord?

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Bible in a Year:

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

Acts 9:5

Today’s Scripture & Insight:

Acts 9:1–9

At age sixteen, Luis Rodriguez had already been in jail for selling crack. But now, arrested for attempted murder, he was in prison again—looking at a life sentence. But God spoke into his guilty circumstances. Behind bars, young Luis remembered his early years when his mother had faithfully taken him to church. He now felt God tugging at his heart. Luis eventually repented of his sins and came to Jesus.

In the book of Acts, we meet a zealous Jewish man named Saul, who was also called Paul. He was guilty of aggravated assault on believers in Jesus and had murder in his heart (Acts 9:1). There’s evidence he was a kind of gang leader, and part of the mob at the execution of Stephen (7:58). But God spoke into Saul’s guilty circumstances—literally. On the street leading into Damascus, Saul was blinded by a light, and Jesus said to him, “Why do you persecute me?” (9:4). Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” (v. 5), and that was the beginning of his new life. He came to Jesus.

Luis Rodriguez served time but eventually was granted parole. Since then, he’s served God, devoting his life to prison ministry in the United States and Central America.

God specializes in redeeming the worst of us. He tugs at our hearts and speaks into our guilt-drenched lives. Maybe it’s time we repent of our sins and come to Jesus.

By:  Kenneth Petersen

Reflect & Pray

What guilt are you experiencing or have experienced? How do you sense God is calling or has called you back to Himself? 

Jesus, I’ve strayed from You, but I feel You tugging at my heart. Forgive me of my sins, I pray.

http://www.odb.org

John MacArthur

Grace to You; John MacArthur – Avoiding a Spiritual Identity Crisis

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God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

A true sense of identity comes from knowing that God Himself personally selected you to be His child.

Many people in our society are on a seemingly endless and often frantic quest for personal identity and self-worth. Identity crises are common at almost every age level. Superficial love and fractured relationships are but symptoms of our failure to resolve the fundamental issues of who we are, why we exist, and where we’re going. Sadly, most people will live and die without ever understanding God’s purpose for their lives.

That is tragic, yet understandable. God created man to bear His image and enjoy His fellowship forever. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they violated that purpose and plunged the human race into sin. That created within man a spiritual void and an identity crisis of unimaginable proportions.

Throughout the ages ungodly people have tried to fill that void with a myriad of substitutes but ultimately all is lost to death and despair.

Despite that bleak picture, a true sense of identity is available to every Christian. It comes from knowing that God Himself personally selected you to be His child. Before the world began, God set his love upon you and according to His plan Christ died for you (1 Pet. 1:20). That’s why you responded in faith to the gospel (2 Thess. 2:13). Also, that’s why you can never lose your salvation. The same God who drew you to Himself will hold you there securely (John 10:29).

Don’t allow sin, Satan, or circumstances to rob your sense of identity in Christ. Make it the focus of everything you do. Remember who you are: God’s child; why you are here: to serve and glorify Him; and where you are going: to spend eternity in His presence.

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Thank God for choosing you to be His child and for drawing you to Himself in saving faith.
  • Praise Him for His promise never to let you go.

For Further Study

Read John 6:35-44; 10:27-30; Romans 8:31-39.

  • According to Jesus, how many believers will lose their salvation? What was his reasoning?
  • What did Paul base his certainty on?

From Drawing Near by John MacArthur 

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Jesus Was Perfect FOR You

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If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

— 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Perfectionism is fueled with the tyranny of the should and oughts. It is the constant nagging feeling of never being good enough. We think things like, I should pray better, read the Bible more, and be kinder. We instinctively want to be pleasing to God, and we are deeply afraid we aren’t. As a result, we believe God is disappointed with us because we don’t measure up.

But the pathway to God is not perfection. Some people in a crowd asked what they needed to do to please God, and the answer Jesus gave was, …Believe in the One Whom He has sent… (John 6:29 AMPC). More than anything, God wants us to trust Him and believe His Word. You can stop struggling to attain perfection and be thankful that you are righteous before God because of Jesus. You don’t have to buy or earn God’s love. It isn’t for sale—it’s free!

Prayer of the Day: Father, help me to realize that I don’t have to earn Your love or approval. I thank You that I am acceptable in Your sight because the sacrifice of Jesus has given me Your righteousness. I will live my life to please You today, not because I have to earn Your love, but because I want to show my love for You.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Alistair Begg

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Truth You Can Trust

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Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:17

Post-Enlightenment, rationalist, materialist culture has cooked up all sorts of enticing solutions to mankind’s greatest questions and dilemmas. We’re told that science has already delivered a deathblow to religion, and any talk of God or the Bible is dismissed as a superstition of a bygone age. Christian faith is regarded as a leap into the dark—a leap into intellectual oblivion.

One of the great challenges to faith in Christ, then, is whether we will take God at His word and be satisfied with what He says. In our cultural milieu, it’s good for us to periodically ask ourselves: “Do I believe the Bible? Am I actually prepared to trust what it says?”

We can have confidence in the testimony of Scripture for all kinds of reasons. We can consider the undeniable integrity of its manuscripts, its historical reliability down to the details of its claims, or even the way it has engendered faith across cultures for nearly two thousand years. But there’s actually a reason that’s even more fundamental than these or other defenses we could muster: the most essential reason we submit ourselves to the authority of Scripture is because it is a necessary consequence of our submission to the lordship of Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ believed the Bible; therefore, so do we. He acknowledged the authority of God’s word; therefore, so do we.

In His High Priestly Prayer on the night before He died, Jesus prayed to His Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Notice that there are no qualifications here. According to Jesus, God’s word simply is truth. So then, the pressing question becomes, Do I believe Jesus? And if I believe Jesus, then I believe the words Jesus spoke. Therefore, I accept what He taught about the Scriptures. Therefore, I embrace the Bible, just as He did.

If you have tasted and seen the goodness of Jesus Christ, then refresh your resolve to cherish God’s word daily. In our confused and conflicted world, nothing will steady your life like the truth of the Scriptures. Doubtless, some will try to convince you that embracing the Bible is equivalent to taking a blind leap into the dark. But the truth is that when you read the Scriptures in faith that it is God’s word and that every word is therefore true, you’ll find it to be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Psalm 119:105).

GOING DEEPER

Psalm 12

Topics: Authority of the Bible God’s Word Truth

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids 4 Truth

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God Loads Us with Benefits

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“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.” (Psalm 68:19)

In Amy’s family, when someone is grumpy or complaining, another family member will suggest playing “the thankfulness game.” When playing this simple game, each family member takes turns naming one thing he or she is thankful for. Amy’s family always starts with the big things: “I’m thankful for my salvation,” for example, or “I’m thankful to have parents.” The only rule of the game is that everyone has to say something new; no one is allowed to name something someone else has already said.

After Amy and her family think they’ve run out of new ideas, they start thinking of silly things. They say things like this: “I’m thankful I don’t have fleas,” or “I’m thankful for toothpaste.” By the end of the game, not only is Amy’s family laughing, but everyone is thinking about the enormous number of ways God has loaded them with blessings – from the smallest things in life (things they take for granted), to the greatest blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ. God is a generous God. He doesn’t give His children just a few pleasures in life. He loads them with benefits every day.

So when you’re feeling grumpy or full of complaints, take out a piece of paper and start writing a list of one hundred things you’re thankful for. It won’t be long before you realize that God has loaded you with benefits.

God loads His children with benefits.

My Response:
» Do I have a complaining spirit or do I realize that God has loaded me with benefits?

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News and Info

Louie Giglio warns against TikTok, social media 

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Passion 2023: Louie Giglio warns against TikTok, social media

Church & Ministries News

 

Louie Giglio warned those gathered at the Passion 2023 Christian conference this week about the dangers of society operating “an economy of attention” through social media platforms and sites that “absorb” Christians by distracting them and taking their money.

The 64-year-old pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta told the mostly Gen Z audience at the three-day conference that social media is “absolutely pointless.” And he called out the $4.6 billion company TikTok as a platform that is profiting off viewers’ and users’ time.

“People are getting paid and they’re counting on you to pay them. … We wake up and start paying people because we are caught up in this economy of attention,” Giglio said at the annual event held Jan. 3-5.

Giglio explained that social media is designed to make it hard for people to stop watching and clicking while companies are benefiting financially.

“If you have an addiction and you end up on certain sites, you [are] literally paying people. It’s going out of your bank account into their bank account,” he said.

“And you’re thinking that you’re getting a desire, the flesh, gratified. And really, they’re just getting paid. They couldn’t care less about you, except that you’re paying them.”

Giglio proposed the idea that rather than dedicating long portions of time to social media platforms, Christians should begin to “guard their time” by devoting more time to God.

“The way the economy works is based on your attention. And multiple lifestyles now are emerging of people of all kinds with all different messages, all different lanes, all different purposes,” Giglio warned.

“But they’re banking on you giving them your attention. And if you will give them your attention for five seconds, they get paid,” he continued.

“If you click on that link for five seconds, they get paid. If you watch 100 TikToks in a row, 100 people get paid. If they’re monetizing — and a lot of people are — all they’re trying to do is get five seconds of your attention. If you give them 15, then that’s even better for them. But they’ll take five.”

 

“When I give [God] my attention, He gets paid. Not that He needs more money, but He gets the glory that He deserves. But when He gets my attention, I also get paid because I get Him, and so it works out great for God because He gets the glory He should be getting from my life because He created my life by and for Him,” Giglio preached.

“But I also get God. And when I get God, I get the very best thing that there is on the planet. And you and I need to heighten our desire to guard our attention.”

The Spirit of the Lord, Giglio said, is “trying to break into [the] mindset” that Christians have that leads them to devote more time to online sites and social media platforms than they spend with the Lord.

God wants Christians to “behold Him” by being in “awe” of Him, Giglio added.

“Join David, the Psalmist, when he said, ‘One thing I asked the Lord and that will I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple,’ to lock onto true glory, and true beauty and true fame and to stay there,” Giglio said, reciting part of Psalm 27.

Giglio pointed out that far too many Christians need to “recalibrate our willingness to give our attention away easily.”

“I’m not knocking any TikToker or YouTuber who has got their little phone and microphone out on a college campus. But apparently, a lot of them do. …  I’m just saying that you and I have the choice where we want to aim our attention,” he said.

Every human is a mirror, Giglio added, because each one reflects whatever their main focus is.

“You don’t have to believe in Jesus to be a mirror. You’re a human being. You’re going to be a mirror. You’re going to reflect something to the world. You’re going to say to the world: ‘this is what my attention is focused on. … This is what I want the world to hear from my life.’”

“I just pray that God will give us an awakening, a spirit of revelation of the glory of God, something that is bigger and something that is better, so that we cannot just opt into a slogan of ‘passion,’ but really believe it deep in our heart.”

The Passion movement was launched in 1995 by Giglio. This year’s conference featured a number of Christian leaders and pastors, including Jackie Hill Perry, Pastor David Platt, Tim Tebow and others.

Passion movement’s ministry statement declares: “For us, what matters most is the name and renown of Jesus. We believe in this generation and are watching God use them to change the climate of faith around the globe.”

 

 

by – Nicole Alcindor is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: nicole.alcindor@christianpost.com.

 

 

Source: Passion 2023: Louie Giglio warns against TikTok, social media | Church & Ministries News