Category Archives: The Navigators

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Loving the One You Serve

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Today’s Scripture: Song of Songs

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. – 1 John 4:16

There were some great love songs in the forties: vocalists with the Glenn Miller band sang about that gal from Kalamazoo; the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra extolled the virtues of Marie; the Andrews Sisters exhorted the soldier to not sit under the apple tree with anyone else but the girl he left behind. During the war years, one song promised that one day there would again be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover. When the war finally ended, Perry Como sang that we would be together till the end of time.

When my wife and I became Christians and headed off to Northwestern College to study the Bible, I saw an amazing thing. Hundreds of young men and women assembled every morning during chapel hour and sang love songs to God! This opened up a whole new musical world to me. I learned songs like “My Jesus, I Love Thee” and “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Pray or Work?

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:9

“For we are God’s fellow workers.”

Nehemiah understood well the principle that we’re both dependent and responsible. In rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, he faced great opposition from certain enemies of the Jews. When the Jews had rebuilt the wall to half its height, these enemies “all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night” (Nehemiah 4:8-9).

Note Nehemiah’s response to the threatened attack. His people prayed and posted a guard. He recognized his dependence on God, but he also accepted his responsibility to work—to stand guard.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Did You Get That?

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 6-9

Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. – Psalm 106:8

One of the dangers we face as Christians is becoming so familiar with certain words and phrases that we fail to consider their meaning. For example, we know that God is an infinite being who is so powerful and so immense that the heavens cannot contain Him. He is infinitely above and beyond the boundaries of creation. Great! But what does that mean?

Some time ago, a Canadian astronomer working on a mountaintop in Chile sighted a supernova. It was the first such sighting since 1604. A supernova is an exploding star that in one second releases a burst of atomic particles with a force equal to all the energy the sun will give out in its lifetime of ten billion years–multiplied by 100. Did you get that? If this is what the creation can do, then what can God the Creator do?

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Propitiation? What’s That?

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Today’s Scripture: 1 John 2:2

“He is the propitiation for our sins.”

The Bible uses a strange word to describe what Christ did for us when he drank the cup of God’s wrath in our place: propitiation.

What does propitiation mean? I believe that the word exhausted forcefully captures the essence of Jesus’ work of propitiation. Jesus exhausted the wrath of God. He bore the full, unmitigated brunt of it. God’s wrath against sin was unleashed in all its fury on his beloved Son. He held nothing back.

Isaiah foretold this: “We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:4-5). The italicized words describe the pouring out of God’s wrath on his Son. During those awful hours when Jesus hung on the cross, the cup of God’s wrath was turned upside down. Christ exhausted God’s wrath. For all who trust in him, there is nothing more in the cup. It is empty.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – A Picture of Grace

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Today’s Scripture: Ezekiel 12-15

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. – John 1:6-7

Years ago I was asked to lead a daily vacation Bible school program, so I began to look around for some means of making the gospel clear to the kids. One elderly lady suggested I use a flannelgraph, and she showed me how to explain the gospel in pictures. It was a smashing success, as thirteen children and three teachers came to Christ.

Now, the use of visual aids is not a new idea. In fact, God was using the concept in Ezekiel’s time to get people’s attention and communicate His message. In Ezekiel 12:3, the Lord said to Ezekiel, “Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime, as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.” The Lord had him pack his belongings, leave his home, dig through a wall, tremble as he ate his food, and shudder in fear as he drank his water–all to foretell the confusion and fear that was about to come on the people.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Why We Worry

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Today’s Scripture: Matthew 6:25

“Do not be anxious about your life.”

Why do we worry? Because we don’t believe. We’re not really convinced the same Jesus who can keep a sparrow in the air knows where our lost luggage is, or how we’ll pay that car repair bill. Or if we believe he can deliver us through our difficulties, we doubt if he will. We let Satan sow seeds of doubt in our minds about God’s love and care for us.

The great antidote to anxiety is to come to God in prayer about everything. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). Nothing’s too big for him to handle or too small to escape his attention. Paul said we’re to come to God “with thanksgiving.” We should thank him for his past faithfulness in delivering us from troubles. We should thank him for the fact that he’s in control of every circumstance of our lives and that nothing can touch us that he doesn’t allow. We should thank him that in his infinite wisdom he’s able to work in this circumstance for our good. We can thank him that he won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The promised result is not deliverance, but the peace of God. One of the reasons we don’t find this peace is that all too often we won’t settle for anything other than deliverance from the trouble. But God, through Paul, promises us peace, a peace that is unexplainable. It will guard our hearts and minds against the anxiety to which you and I are so prone.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Dispelling the Darkness

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Today’s Scripture: Leviticus 24-27

“Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” – Matthew 5:15

In today’s passage about the tabernacle, we read that the lamps were to burn continually. They were to be tended and supplied with oil so their light would never go out. Throughout the Bible, lamps are used to picture our lives as believers.

Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Where does a lamp do the most good? Outside at high noon or in a dark place where there is no other source of illumination? Yet how many times we complain when God puts us in a situation where we are about the only source of light.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Humility

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Today’s Scripture: Philippians 2:1-11

But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. – Daniel 5:20

We were on our way to Steamboat Springs for a few days of skiing. The road was icy, and the wind was blowing so hard we went gliding right off the road into the snow. Some of us got out and tried to push the car back onto the road. The combination of slickness and a large snow bank was too much resistance for us. The car wouldn’t budge.

Eventually, a good Samaritan in a four-wheel-drive truck came along and pulled us out.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Our Holy God

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Today’s Scripture: Exodus 15:11

“Who is like you, majestic in holiness?”

God has called every Christian to a holy life. There are no exceptions to this call. This call to a holy life is based on the fact that God himself is holy. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.

Holiness in Scripture describes both the majesty of God and the purity and moral perfection of his nature. Holiness is one of his attributes—an essential part of the nature of God. His holiness is as necessary as his existence—as necessary, for example, as his wisdom or omniscience. Just as he cannot but know what is right, so he cannot but do what is right.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Servanthood

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1

Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being. – 1 Corinthians 10:24 (KJV)

Most people would agree that the truly great people of this world are remembered not for what they took out of life but for what they gave. How do you acquire a servant’s heart or help others develop a servant’s heart? I believe the first step is to become sensitive to the needs of other people and then take the initiative to set the whole thing in motion.

The China Inland Mission used the dinner table to train people in servanthood. They had a rule that when the members of the mission gathered for the evening meal, no one was allowed to ask to have any food passed to them. Everyone learned to be alert to the needs of others and to watch for the empty plate.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Wrath Revealed

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 1:18, NIV

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men.”

Some people like to think that although the wrath of God is a reality in the Old Testament era, it disappears in the teaching of Jesus, where God’s love and mercy become the only expressions of his attitude toward his creatures. Jesus clearly refuted that notion: “Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36, NIV). And he frequently referred to hell as the ultimate, eternal expression of God’s wrath. (See, for example, Matthew 5:22; 18:9; Mark 9:47; Luke 12:5.)

In the inspired letters of Paul, we read of God’s wrath being “stored up” for the day of judgment (Romans 2:5) and that God’s wrath is coming because of sin (Colossians 3:6). And the whole tenor of Revelation warns us of the wrath to come.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – To Love Is to Give

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Today’s Scripture: John 17:25-26

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. – Ephesians 5:25

I greeted our youngest boy with, “Son, what did you do in school today?” To my utter surprise, he said the teacher had them write a definition of love.

That sounded more like an assignment for a college-level sociology or philosophy class than a bunch of eight-year-olds. But I controlled my surprise and said, “What did you write?”

“Well, it sure could have been better.”

“But what did you say?”

“Well,” he replied, “it sure could have been longer.”

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Experiencing God’s Grace

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Today’s Scripture: John 10:10

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Why do we not experience more of the endless supply of God’s grace? Why do we so often seem to live in spiritual poverty instead of experiencing life to the full as Jesus promised (John 10:10)? There are several reasons that may or may not apply to a particular believer. One that might apply to most of us is our frequent misperception of God as the divine equivalent of Ebenezer Scrooge, demanding the last ounce of work out of his people and then paying them poorly. That may sound like an overstatement of our perception of God, but I believe it’s a fairly accurate representation of how many Christians think.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – The Plum Assignment

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Today’s Scripture: Mark 8-10

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. – Acts 20:24

For many people, being a servant of Jesus Christ sounds romantic and idealistic. But serving Christ is a demanding proposition, as we see in Mark 10:32-34.

And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him; and the third day he shall rise again.” (KJV)

Before these remarks, Jesus and His disciples had been in Galilee. The people had been friendly and had turned out in large numbers. The ministry had gone well, and the disciples may have begun to think that serving Jesus was a great idea. Friendly people, big crowds. And then one day Jesus dropped the bombshell: “We’re leaving Galilee and going up to Jerusalem!”

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Forgiven Much, Loving Much

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Today’s Scripture: Isaiah 1:18

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”

Jesus said, “he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Luke 7:47). In the context of that statement he essentially said the converse is also true: Those who are forgiven much, love much. The extent to which we realize and acknowledge our own sinfulness, and the extent to which we realize the total forgiveness and cleansing from those sins, will determine the measure of our love to God.

Charles Hodge said, “The great difficulty with many Christians is that they cannot persuade themselves that Christ (or God) loves them; and the reason they cannot feel confident of the love of God, is, that they know they do not deserve his love, on the contrary, that they are in the highest degree unlovely. How can the infinitely pure God love those who are defiled with sin, who are proud, selfish, discontented, ungrateful, disobedient? This, indeed, is hard to believe.”

But when our sense of guilt is taken away because our consciences are cleansed by the blood of Christ, we’re freed up to love him with all our hearts and souls and minds. We’re motivated in a positive sense to love him in this wholehearted way. Our love will be spontaneous in an outpouring of gratitude to him and fervent desire to obey him.

So if we want to grow in our love for God and in the acceptable obedience that flows out of that love, we must keep coming back to the cross and the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. That is why it is so important that we keep the Gospel before us every day. Because we sin every day, and our consciences condemn us every day, we need the Gospel every day.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – The Road to Greatness

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Today’s Scripture: Matthew 20-23

“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” – John 12:26

Here are the words of Jesus to His disciples about greatness in His kingdom: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave–just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28).

I remember a week of meetings in Arizona with the Wycliffe Bible Translators. One day we were going through the food line for dinner when I noticed that Kenneth Pike was serving the beans. Now, Dr. Kenneth Pike, Ph.D., is recognized as one of the world leaders in the field of linguistics. This man is a genius, one of a kind. He could have easily been at the head table because of his position and prestige. Instead, he had chosen to serve others.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – God’s Necessary Wrath

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Today’s Scripture: Colossians 3:6

“The wrath of God is coming.”

The wrath of God is a subject ignored by most believers. Perhaps we shy away from it because of the violent emotions and behavior we frequently associate with the word wrath when used of sinful human beings. We’re reluctant, rightly so, to attribute that same attitude and activity to God.

I suspect, however, that the more basic reason we avoid or ignore the subject is that we simply don’t think of our sinfulness as warranting that degree of judgment. Frankly, most people don’t think they’re that bad. A divine reprimand or an occasional slap on the wrist may be needed—but an outpouring of divine wrath? That’s much too severe. Perhaps another reason we avoid the subject is that we don’t want to think of our nice, decent, but unbelieving neighbors and relatives as subject to God’s wrath.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – The Good Seed

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Today’s Scripture: Matthew 12-15

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. – 2 Corinthians 2:15

I am convinced that lay men and women need to recapture a biblical view of their role in the kingdom of God. In Matthew 13, Jesus uses a parable about sowing seed to introduce a tremendous concept concerning the kingdom of God. “The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom” (13:38).

Here Jesus points out the magnitude of the job: “The field is the world”–a world of people who need the message of the gospel. And what is the Lord’s plan for accomplishing this? Planting good seed that will be fruitful and multiply throughout that needy world.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Joy’s Stepping Stones

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:6

“You received the word . . . with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”

Joy is a fruit of the spirit, the effect of his ministry in our hearts. Paul wrote, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13, NIV). It’s by the power of the Holy Spirit that we experience the joy of salvation and are enabled to rejoice even in the midst of trials.

The Spirit uses his Word to create joy in our hearts. Romans 15:4 speaks of the endurance and encouragement that come from the Scriptures; the next verse says that God gives endurance and encouragement. God is the source; the Scriptures are the means. The same truth applies to joy. Verse 13 speaks of God filling us with joy and peace as we trust him. How would we expect God to do this? The reasonable answer is by means of the Scriptures.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Leading with Heart

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 29-32

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. – Romans 12:11

Isn’t it good to see people give it all they’ve got, whatever they’re doing? That’s what we see in today’s section of Scripture concerning King Hezekiah. Second Chronicles 31:21 tells us, “And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered” (KJV).

This is God’s evaluation of Hezekiah’s life: he sought the Lord and served Him with all his heart.

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