Daily Archives: July 25, 2024

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Really Live

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Bible in a Year :

Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

Hebrews 13:5

 

Today’s Scripture & Insight :

Hebrews 13:5-8

Thousands of people prayed for pastor Ed Dobson when he was diagnosed with ALS in 2000. Many believed that when they prayed in faith for healing, God would answer immediately. After twelve years of struggling with the disease that caused Ed’s muscles to atrophy little by little (and three years before he died), someone asked him why he thought God hadn’t healed him yet. “There’s no good answer, so I don’t ask,” he replied. His wife, Lorna, added, “If you’re always obsessed about having to have answers, you can’t really live.”

Can you hear the respect for God in Ed and Lorna’s words? They knew that His wisdom is above their own. Yet Ed admitted, “I find it nearly impossible not to worry about tomorrow.” He understood that the disease would cause increasing disability, and he didn’t know what new problem the next day might bring.

To help himself focus on the present, Ed placed these verses in his car, on the bathroom mirror, and next to his bed: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). Whenever he started to worry, he would repeat the verses to help him refocus his thoughts on the truth.

No one knows what the next day will bring. Maybe Ed’s practice could help us turn our worries into opportunities to trust.

By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray

What Scriptures help you to focus on today and not worry about tomorrow? Where might you place them to help your faith grow?

Help me to remember, Father, that You’re God, and I am not. Please teach me to trust You.

 

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – You Can Do All Things Through Christ

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I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].

Philippians 4:13 (AMPC)

One thought that has the power to transform your life is simple: I can do whatever I need to do in life through Christ. In other words, I can handle whatever life hands me. I wonder—do you believe you can do whatever you need to do in life? Or are there certain things that trigger dread, fear, or cause you to say, “I could never do that!” when you think about them?

Whether it’s suddenly losing a loved one, facing a serious unexpected illness, having your adult child with two toddlers move into your clean and quiet house after you’ve had an “empty nest” for years, going on a strict diet because your life depends on it, putting yourself on a budget to avoid foreclosure on your home, or suddenly having to care for a disabled elderly parent—most people have some kind of circumstance that truly seems impossible to them, something they aren’t sure they can or could handle.

The fact of the matter is, while some situations may be intensely undesirable or difficult for you, you can do whatever you need to do in life. I know this because God tells us in His Word that we have the strength to do all things because Christ empowers us to do so. He doesn’t say everything will be easy for us, He doesn’t promise we will enjoy every little thing we do, but we can enjoy life in the midst of doing them.

We must understand that Philippians 4:13 does not say we can do anything we want to do because we are strong enough, smart enough, or hardworking enough. No, in fact, it leaves no room at all for human effort or striving of any kind. The secret to being able to do what we need to do is realizing that we cannot do it alone; we can only do it in Christ.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, please help me to trust that I can handle anything life throws at me through Christ’s strength. Help me to always remember that I am never alone during hard times, because You are always with me, amen.

 

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addresses Congress and President Biden addresses the nation

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How to win the most critical battle of our time

It has been famously said, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” This is one of the latter.

It was just last Sunday when President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, explaining in an Oval Office address last night that he had decided to “pass the torch to a new generation.” By Monday evening, Vice President Kamala Harris had secured enough delegates to win their party’s nomination. By Tuesday, Democrats had raised more than $250 million.

In the midst of such unprecedented political news, you might have overlooked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s record fourth address to a joint meeting of Congress yesterday afternoon. He forcefully portrayed the Gaza war as a “clash between barbarism and civilization” and claimed, “Our enemies are your enemies. Our fight is your fight. And our victory will be your victory.”

Thousands of protesters against the war in Gaza converged on Washington to condemn his visit, while roughly half of House and Senate Democrats skipped his address. Mr. Netanyahu will meet today with President Biden and Vice President Harris, and tomorrow with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

A war with Hezbollah would dwarf the Gaza conflict

Mr. Netanyahu’s visit comes at a fraught time for Israel:

  • Houthis have claimed responsibility for a drone strike on Tel Aviv that killed one person.
  • This successful attack highlights Israel’s problem in defending against such strikes.
  • Two more hostages have been killed in Gaza, possibly from Israeli fire.
  • Rival Palestinian factions signed a declaration aimed at building unity following talks in Beijing.
  • In a landmark opinion, the United Nation’s top court declared that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is against international law.
  • Israel appears closer than ever to a war with Hezbollah that would dwarf the conflict in Gaza.

As I have written often, these conflicts are ideological and spiritual at their core. Israel claims land given by God to Abraham’s Jewish descendants (cf. Genesis 12:1–3), while Muslims are equally convinced that Allah intended this land for Ishmael’s Arab descendants and that the Jews have stolen it. The leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah see this “theft” as an attack on Islam, requiring a response that would annihilate the Jewish state.

Like Israel, Christians are locked in a spiritual battle with an enemy who seeks to destroy us.

Scripture warns us: “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He is “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44) who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). He attacks our Father by attacking his children (cf. Luke 22:31).

We are therefore told:

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

We cannot win this battle on our own—we need a power greater than the power that opposes us.

Here’s the good news: that power is not only for us and with us—he lives in us.

Imagine two billion Christs in the world

I have been focusing this week on the fact that Jesus lives in every Christian by his indwelling Spirit (Colossians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 3:16) and now wants to continue his ministry through us. Dr. Mark Turman, executive director of Denison Forum, responded to my article yesterday:

All people want to live eternally and with eternal significance now. God has put “eternity in our hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Only God and that which is filled with the essence of God endures and flourishes eternally. All truth is God’s truth; therefore, truth flourishes now and eternally. God is love; therefore, all that is truly loving flourishes eternally. People can by faith and grace be crucified to sin and filled with the fullness of Christ; therefore, those who have Christ in them (imparted not imitated) have “the hope of glory” and will flourish now and eternally.

Mark is right, both theologically and practically:

  • We have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). If your mind is his, what will you think today? What will you refuse to think? How much time will you spend studying Scripture, praying, and worshiping your Father?
  • We are the voice of Christ (Romans 10:14–15). If your voice is his, what will you say today? What will you choose not to say?
  • We are the “body” of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). If your body is his, how will you treat it? What will you feed it? What will you do with it? What will you refuse to do with it?
  • If Christ is present in others (cf. Matthew 25:40), how will you treat them?

Imagine two billion Christs in the world. When Jesus said we would do “greater things” than he did (John 14:12), this was his vision.

Three transforming questions

So, let’s ask three transforming questions:

  1. Will you ask Jesus to continue his earthly ministry through you today?
  2. Will you then surrender your life and day to his empowering Holy Spirit?
  3. Will you then measure success by the degree to which others see Christ in you?

Scripture teaches that “Christ in you” is “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

For whose “glory” will you “hope” today?

Thursday news to know:

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.

Quote for the day:

“I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help him to do his work through me.” —Hudson Taylor

 

Denison Forum

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – All the People

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by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD commanded to Israel.” (Nehemiah 8:1)

That was an amazing congregation there in the street of Jerusalem that came together that day just to hear Ezra read the Bible and explain its teachings. Nehemiah’s previous chapter had just enumerated over 42,000 people who had returned from Babylon to rebuild the city.

Even if “all the people” is not meant to be understood literally but representatively, this was still a very large assemblage. It even included all but the smallest children (Nehemiah 8:2), and they all stood up (!) throughout the reading and exposition (Nehemiah 8:5-7), from morning to noon (Nehemiah 8:3).

Presumably all they had was the Pentateuch (tradition says that Ezra, who was doing the reading, eventually compiled the rest of the books with it into the Old Testament canon), but this was enough, and “all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law” (Nehemiah 8:9). Ezra not only read the actual words but also “gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8). He further explained that, although they had been guilty in breaking God’s laws, they had been redeemed, and God was fulfilling all His gracious promises in restoring them to their land. Thus, they had joy as well as grief over their sins.

So should it be today. That is, when God’s Word is simply read and explained, that should be enough to generate both sadness and repentance over sin and also true joy in salvation. Then, as it was to the returning Jewish exiles long ago, “the joy of the LORD” becomes our “strength” for true worship and obedience (Nehemiah 8:10). HMM

 

 

 

 

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

My Utmost for His Highest

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers – Am I Blessed Like This?

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Blessed are… —Matthew 5:3

When we first encounter the statements of Jesus, they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling. They sink, unnoticed, into our unconscious minds. Take the Beatitudes, the teachings which open the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit. . . . Blessed are the meek . . .” (Matthew 5:3, 5). At first these seem like nothing more than nice principles: mild and beautiful. We like them, but we aren’t roused by them, because we find them completely impractical. Unworldly, daydreamy people might be able to apply them, we think, but for those who live in the workaday world, they have no value.

We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the dynamite of the Holy Spirit; they explode when the circumstances of our lives align. We’ll be going steadily along, when suddenly the Spirit will cause us to remember one of the Beatitudes. We see how startling a statement it truly is, and what obeying it would mean. Then we have to decide if we’re willing to accept the tremendous upheaval of our circumstances that will occur if we do what the Spirit is telling us to do.

We don’t need to be born again to apply the Beatitudes literally; a literal interpretation is child’s play. Obeying the Spirit of God as he applies the Beatitudes to our specific circumstances is the hard work of the disciple. Jesus’s statements are entirely at odds with our natural way of looking at things. When we first begin to obey his words, it produces astonishing discomfort.

The Sermon on the Mount isn’t a set of rules and regulations. It’s a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting his way with us. We can’t rush our understanding; we have to follow the Spirit as he applies Jesus’s teachings to our circumstances, allowing him to slowly form our walk with him.

Psalms 37-39; Acts 26

 

 

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.Biblical Psychology, 199 R

 

 

https://utmost.org/

Billy Graham

How I need your help, especially in my own home . . . —Psalm 101:2 (TLB)

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In the marriage ceremony, after the vows are said, the minister solemnly and reverently remarks, “What God hath joined together let no man put asunder.” Is not God the third part in a marriage? Should He not be taken into account in the marriage, and in the home that emerges from that marriage? If God joins the couple together at the outset, should not His presence be recognized in the home continually? Many homes are on the rocks today because God has been left out of the domestic picture.

With the clash of personalities in a domestic pattern, there must be an integrating force, and the living God is that Force! Many couples think that if they have a better home, get a better job, or live in a different neighborhood, their domestic life will be happier. No! The secret of domestic happiness is to let God, the party of the third part in the marriage contract, have His rightful place in the home. Make peace with Him, and then you can be a real peacemaker in the home.

Have you made peace with God? You can do that now.

No one is perfect. Here are 8 ways to appreciate an imperfect spouse.

Lea este devocional en español en es.billygraham.org.

Prayer for the day

In my relationships with those I love, help me to be a peacemaker, Lord. May I always look to You, the Prince of Peace.

Billy Graham – Sanctity of Marriage

 

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GuidePosts

Guideposts – Devotions for Women – The Best Companion

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A time is coming and, in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.—John 16:32 (NIV)

Are you comfortable doing things alone? This verse reminds us that fear should not stop you from experiencing life to the fullest. If you want to do something—rather than waiting to find someone who will go with you—recognize that any adventure can be possible with God as your companion.

Lord, thank You for being my closest friend—or encouraging me to explore new places and things and for going with me when I fear going alone.

 

 

https://guideposts.org/daily-devotions/devotions-for-women/devotions-for-faith-prayer-devotions-for-women/

Every Man Ministry

Every Man Ministry – Kenny Luck – Disqualified?

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Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”  ––Exodus 4:10-12

 

In the Old Testament, lots of seeming “losers” (as the world would define them) find themselves in God’s spotlight. It’s theorized that Moses had a speech impediment that caused Aaron to speak for him. Jacob was a mama’s boy, hanging around the tents and cooking for his family. (Not uncommon male tasks today, but then? No.)

 

Here’s a quick hit list of what our culture would call “disqualified”: Abraham – liar/coward. Joseph – narcissistic (at least until he was imprisoned in Egypt). David – murderer. Noah – drunk. Elijah – suicidal. Rahab and Mary Magdalene – prostitutes. Samson – womanizer. Jonah – slacker. Gideon – coward. Paul – terrorizer (before His conversion). And so on.

 

Of course, we know that many of the folks above also make God’s hall of faith in

Hebrews 11. So what does that tell us as God’s men? First, our past doesn’t define who we are today. Second, when our past is submitted to God and we are forgiven and redeemed, He can use us. Third, though bad decisions can carry lifelong consequences, when we are surrendered to Christ, He takes those failures—and the lessons we learned from them—and can use them in mighty ways to help others. From tragedy to testimony.

 

In the quiet of deep evening—for me it’s around 4am when I get up for nature call—my past failings seem to organize a flash mob in my midbrain. And even if you’ve been growing in the Lord and in a great season, these doom waves can hit as suddenly and hard as an Arrakis sandstorm. Think you are alone in that? That’s just what the devil wants all of us to think: “Sure, you follow Jesus and do all these great things, but remember when you committed that sin?” Like a knock-off film, the circumstances shift a little, but the main plot is always the same. Satan’s hack script reads like this: 1. You really screwed up. 2. Don’t tell anybody because then you will lose status. 3. You’re such a loser and if people find out, they will reject you.

 

Lie. Lie. Lie. Look at the list above again. Here’s the takeaway: What you do doesn’t define who you are in God’s eyes. He loves you, period. No comma, semi-colon, or modifier. We are all “losers” in that we all fail. But as God’s men submitted to the cross of Christ, when we stay the course we are victors in His hall of faith.

 

Father, thank You for taking this “unlovable” person and giving me worth and freedom. 

 

 

Every Man Ministries