Today’s Scripture: Galatians 3:26-29, Ephesians 5:18

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. – Acts 5:32

I was walking in downtown Colorado Springs when I saw a car going the wrong way on a one-way street. People on the sidewalk were waving and shouting; people in cars were honking their horns. But the most interesting sight of all was the look of wild panic and confusion on the driver’s face.

Many aspects of our walk as disciples can be confusing, especially if we’re heading the wrong way! For instance, there are two words relating to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. One is baptism, and the other is fullness. Is the baptism of the Holy Spirit the same as the fullness of the Holy Spirit? In 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul writes, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body.” And to the Galatians, he wrote, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (3:26-27). The teaching is clear. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a once-for-all event and occurs when a person invites Christ into his or her heart and becomes part of the body of Christ.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is another matter entirely. Paul says in Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk on wine… Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” When a person is drunk with wine, he is under the control of that wine. Paul says to be filled with the Spirit, so we can be controlled by the Spirit. As we walk in obedience to the Word of God–submitting ourselves to the Spirit’s control and yielding our will to Him day by day–we are walking by the Spirit’s power.

Prayer

Lord, I want to honor You by walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

To Ponder

Today, are you walking under your own steam or by the power of the Holy Spirit?

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5

You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet. – Hebrews 2:7

What does the Bible say is the basic nature of man? He was created in the image and likeness of God, God breathed into him the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Put it all together and you find a person with a moral nature, intellect, and the ability to make decisions–a will that enables him to say yes and no.

When God created man, He used both visible and invisible material. He used both dust and the breath of life. The New Testament refers to this in 2 Corinthians 4:16: “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” Earlier in the same chapter, Paul spoke of the glory of God, “a treasure in jars of clay” (4:7). The material part of man–the jars of clay–house the treasure of the life of God. While the body quickly returns to dust, man’s soul and spirit is immortal. The awesome thing about this is that you and I are called upon by the Lord to help bring the immortal souls of others back to God who made them. We are to help direct our friends and neighbors back to the arms of a loving God who, in turn, yearns for their love.

God has done His part. He sent His Son to die on the cross to redeem the lost. Now He turns to us and charges us with the commission to help people find the way home, that their souls might find eternal rest.

Prayer

Lord, help me live with eternity in view by telling as many people as possible how they can live forever in Your presence. Amen.

To Ponder

Who has God impressed on your heart today?

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 6

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:18

The closer we got to the airport in Monrovia,West Africa, the more agitated the man became. He was sitting in the row in front of my wife and me. When we landed in Sierra Leone–the last stop before Monrovia–he went to the flight attendant and asked if she had any rubber bands.

“No,” she said, “we have no use for them.” So during our short stop in Sierra Leone, he went up and down the aisle asking people if they had a rubber band. I had no idea why he wanted one, but I looked in my briefcase, and found two.

When the man returned to his seat, I handed the rubber bands to him. Boy, did that light up his face! He told us that on his trip to Europe he had bought a shirt but had forgotten to check the sleeve length. He feared what his wife would say if he stepped off the plane with shirt sleeves hanging down over his fingers. We watched him take off his suit coat, adjust the sleeves using the rubber band, and put the coat back on with a look of satisfaction on his face.

“Now I am a well-dressed gentleman,” he said in broken English. Amazing! Moments before, the man had been ashamed of himself, standing there as a poorly-dressed klutz. But with a slight “rubber band” adjustment, he was transformed into a well-dressed gentleman.

That’s a picture of what happens when we become Christians. One moment we are lost sinners on our way to hell. The next moment–when we receive Christ and the Holy Spirit comes to live in us–we become a child of God and joint heir with Christ.

Prayer

Lord, thank You for Your amazing transformation in my life, based on my faith in the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ for my sins. Amen.

To Ponder

How has the Holy Spirit living in you transformed your life?

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Today’s Scripture: Acts 10:1-33

To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?” Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? – Hebrews 1:13-14

Before I trusted in Christ, all I knew about heavenly angels was that they were the ornament on top of a Christmas tree! As I study the Scriptures now, I see angels much differently. They can do supernatural things–like scare off entire armies or appear miraculously in bright light. But did you know there is one thing angels aren’t allowed to do that only you and I can do? Angels may not communicate the message of the gospel of Christ. That has been reserved for us alone. Paul said that we–you and I–have been entrusted with the gospel.

You may recall the story of Cornelius, a centurion described as a devout man–one who feared God, gave alms, and prayed. One day an angel of God came to him and assured him his prayers had been heard. Now, here was a man who was ready to repent and believe the gospel. Yet the angel didn’t tell him how to trust Christ! The only thing the angel was allowed to do was tell the man how to get in touch with the apostle Peter, who could then tell him what he must do to be saved.

Think of it! The heavenly messengers of God–those beings whose only desire is to do God’s will–are not able to call men and women to follow Christ and turn to Him in repentance and faith. That task has been given to you and me.

Friend, I urge you to share Christ where you live, work, and play, by setting a Christlike example and being willing to talk to others about Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Lord, what a privilege to share in Your plan of redemption for the world! Help me to boldly proclaim the way of salvation. Amen.

To Ponder

Are you carrying out the work God has assigned you?

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Today’s Scripture: Nehemiah 1-2

The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. – Psalm 147:11

God has a way of unexpectedly breaking into our lives. Sometimes it comes as a new revelation of Himself. Or it may come as something He wants us to do.

Such was the case with Nehemiah. Everything in his life was just fine until the day he asked one of his fellow Jews how things were going in Jerusalem. That’s when God set him on an entirely new course and led him to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

When I became a Christian, I got hooked up with The Navigators to learn the basics of the Christian life. One summer at The Navigators’ conference center in Colorado, I had a job buffing and waxing the floors. One day the conference director asked me to preach the next morning on the subject of the quiet time.

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Doing the Impossible →

Today’s Scripture: Job 4-7

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. – 2 Corinthians 4:17

The word correct means “to make something right.” The word discipline conveys the idea of instruction or restraint. When we put those words together, we get a clear picture that God instructs us and disciplines us to help us walk in the right way, within the protective boundaries of His Word.

It’s folly to argue with God, the fountain of all wisdom, and it’s useless to look for a better path than the one He has selected for us. So how should we react when we suffer? We must trust God for the grace to let Him lead us through the dark and difficult times of life.

I have a friend whose young son was diagnosed with leukemia. When he heard the doctor’s report, he went to a park and walked and cried and prayed for hours, seeking to know the mind of God in this devastating situation. He asked God to search his heart and expose any sin or rebellion that might be there. After many days of seeking the Lord, he concluded that he didn’t know why God had allowed this and he might never know. But every day he wanted to trust the Lord and walk with Him and witness of His love.

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – A Severe Mercy →

Today’s Scripture: Job 1-3

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. – 1 Peter 5:10

Thousands of books have been written about human suffering. Most of them grapple with the problem of why good people suffer. Some try to find some meaning in our experience of pain. In their study of suffering, many authors find their way back to the book of Job.

The Bible describes Job as perfect and upright, a man who feared God and shunned evil. He was also well known and wealthy, a man who gave generously to the needs of the less fortunate. Yet neither his godly life nor his great wealth shielded him from the calamities of life.

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – When We Suffer →

Today’s Scripture: Micah 3-5

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” – Luke 24:32

The prophet Micah had a love for God, a burden for the souls of men, and a flaming zeal against sin. And he had the boldness to speak out. Now, where did Micah get that boldness? And where can you and I find the boldness we need to witness to the people with whom we rub shoulders every day? Micah 3:8 gives us the answer: “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.”

Christian, there it is. Micah was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. And if you and I would experience that same power, we must acknowledge our need and pray for boldness to meet the witnessing opportunities we have each day.

In Acts 4:29-31, we find a situation in which the religious leaders and the people opposed the followers of Christ. So the Christians prayed, and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

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Today’s Scripture: Jeremiah 21-25

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. – Colossians 2:8-9

When I was growing up on the farm, we ran grain through a threshing machine. I can remember watching the wind carry the chaff away, and no one cared. Why? Because chaff is worthless.

God says that human opinion is like chaff, while His Word is like grain. The Lord said this because there were false prophets who claimed to have a message from God. In reality, what they spoke was nothing more than their own foolish dreams.

Sounds like today, doesn’t it? People speaking visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. In Jeremiah 23:28, we find these words from God: “‘Let the prophet who Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – The Imperishable Word →