Category Archives: The Navigators

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Generosity Beyond Compare

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 8:32

“How will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

The fact that God deals with his children on the basis of grace without regard to merit or demerit is a staggering concept. It’s opposed to almost everything we’ve been taught about life. We’ve been generally conditioned to think that if we work hard and “pay our dues,” we’ll be rewarded in proportion to our work: “you do so much, you deserve so much.”

But God’s grace doesn’t operate on a reward-for-works basis. It’s much better than that. God is generous beyond all measure or comparison. The Scripture says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son”; and Paul spoke of this as God’s “inexpressible gift” (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 9:15).

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Words of Welfare

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Today’s Scripture: Job 35-37

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. – James 3:10

Years ago, my cousins Eva and Dean raised large hunting dogs. Most nights these dogs would bark at the moon, protesting its appearance. I suppose dogs were doing the same around the world. Quite possibly, the moon was being barked at twenty-four hours a day. But I noticed something about the moon. It was totally unaffected by it all.

That is what Elihu is saying about God in Job 35:5: “Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him?” Our good deeds and our bad deeds have no effect on our unchanging God. He is not added to or diminished by our successes or failures.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Grace Teaches Us

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Today’s Scripture: Titus 2:11-12

“For the grace of God has appeared . . . training us.”

When I first became a Christian, I regarded the Bible largely as a rulebook. The Bible would tell me what to do or not do, and I would simply obey. It was as easy as that—so I thought.

The practical precepts of the Bible were to me no more than statements of the law of God. They commanded but gave no ability to obey. Furthermore, they condemned me for my failure to obey them as I knew I ought. It seemed the more I tried, the more I failed. I knew nothing of God’s grace in enabling me to live the Christian life. I thought it was all by sheer grit and willpower. And just as importantly, I understood little of his forgiving grace through the blood of Christ. I felt both guilty and helpless—guilty because of recurring sin patterns in my life and helpless to do anything about them.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Pure Eyes

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Today’s Scripture: Job 29-31

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. – 1 John 2:15-16

I had a Christian friend who contracted polio during the late 1950s and was confined to an iron lung. I remember visiting him when he had wasted away to nothing but skin and bones. I asked him what was the most difficult thing he faced in his ordeal, and he said, “The lust of the flesh.”

I was stunned. Here was this guy on his deathbed, still fighting the same thing you and I struggle with. You see, the lust of the flesh is a battle fought in our minds. And one of the ways the enemy launches his attacks is through what we see.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Our Perfect Life

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 5:19

“By the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

How can Jesus take our place both in obeying God’s law and in suffering the consequences of our disobeying it? How can the innocent suffer for the guilty?

Because God appointed Adam as the federal head or legal representative of the entire human race (except for Jesus, of course), we all suffered the consequences of Adam’s disobedience. In the same manner, Jesus was appointed as the legal representative of all who would ever trust in him.

This legal representation is the basis on which Christ’s life and death become effective for us. There would be absolutely no benefit to us if Jesus lived and died merely as a private person. His work brings us benefit only because he lived and died as our representative.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Standing with the Lord

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Kings 20-22

He who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. – 1 Corinthians 6:17

In the record of 1 Kings 22, when King Ahab assembled his four hundred prophets and asked if he should go to war, the prophets all said yes and predicted victory. But Ahab’s ally, King Jehoshaphat, wanted a second opinion, and he called for Micaiah, prophet of the Lord.

The messenger who summoned Micaiah urged him to agree with the other prophets, but Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me” (1 Kings 22:14). When Micaiah prophesied defeat and ruin for Israel, he was beaten and ridiculed by the other prophets, then sent to prison with nothing but bread and water. But his prophecy came true, and King Ahab was killed in battle.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Grace to Others

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Today’s Scripture: Matthew 18:33

“Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”

We’re brought into God’s kingdom by grace; we’re sanctified by grace; we receive both temporal and spiritual blessings by grace; we’re motivated to obedience by grace; we’re called to serve and enabled to serve by grace; we receive strength to endure trials by grace; and we’re glorified by grace. The entire Christian life is lived under the reign of God’s grace.

This grace is not only to be received by us; it is, in a sense, to be extended to others. I say “in a sense” because our relationship to other people is different from God’s relationship to us. He is the infinitely superior Judge and moral Governor of the universe. We are all sinners and are on an equal plane with one another. So we cannot exercise grace as God does, but we can relate to one another as those who have received grace and who wish to operate on the principles of grace.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Spiritual Health

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Today’s Scripture: Leviticus 11-15

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written; “Be holy, because I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:15-16

Today, through the research of medical scientists, we are well aware of the fact that some foods are good for us and some are not. For the health and welfare of the Israelites out there in the burning desert, with no refrigeration or other means of keeping food from spoiling, God gave certain laws that were designed to help them remain healthy and free of disease.

I suppose that among those ancient people were some who questioned God’s wisdom. Why can’t I eat a vulture or a mouse or a lizard? Well, it seems to me the best answer is simply that God said not to. But it was much more than just what was on the menu. God told them, “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44).

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Humility Before God

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Today’s Scripture: Philippians 2:8

“He humbled himself.”

Humility toward God is akin to the fear of God: It begins with a high view of God’s person. As we see God in his majesty, awesomeness, and holiness, we are humbled before him. In every occasion in the Scriptures in which man was privileged to view God in his glory, he was brought low or humbled in his presence. Moses bowed to the ground and worshipped; Isaiah cried, “Woe is me!”; Ezekiel fell face down; John fell at his feet as though dead. Even the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders in heaven of Revelation fell down before the throne of the glorified lamb.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – His Yoke Is Easy

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Today’s Scripture: James 1-5

Read it online:  NIV  ESV  KJV  The Message

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. – John 8:32

Whenever I’m driving an automobile and I see a law enforcement officer, I slow down. It’s an automatic reaction. I may be going twenty miles per hour under the speed limit, but the sight of a cop always causes me to touch the brakes and make a quick mental inventory of any driving laws I might be breaking.

This is a strange reaction because I’m a very cautious driver. I haven’t had a traffic ticket in years. In fact, my kids call me the world’s greatest yielder. Nevertheless, the sight of a police car makes me nervous.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Leaving the Path

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Samuel 11-14

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. – Psalm 51:4

Every time I read the story of David and Bathsheba, I watch in horror as David, the man of God, falls into immorality and murder. What prompted this godly man to fall into such sin? I believe the Bible gives us a number of reasons.

First of all, he was not where he was supposed to be. This was the time of year when kings went forth to battle. David, as commander in chief, should have been with his soldiers, leading the army on the field. When we wander away from our duty, we can easily fall into sin.

Second, it appears that David was indulging a slothful spirit. Why do I suspect that? Because the record tells us that David arose from his bed at eventide. He had dozed away the whole afternoon! David’s bed of sloth soon turned into a bed of lust.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Practical Christian Living

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Today’s Scripture: Matthew 5:16

“Let your light shine before others.”

In a series of moral exhortations in Titus 2:1?:2 we find three instances where Paul emphasized the importance of our Christian testimony before unbelievers. In verse 5, he said, “that the word of God may not be reviled.” In verse 8: “so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” And in verse 10: “so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our savior.”

Paul was obviously concerned about the witness by life of the believers. In Romans he said to the Jews, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (2:24, NIV), and he must have had a similar concern about the Cretan Christians to whom Titus ministered.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – A Suffering Life

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Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 5:8

“He learned obedience through what he suffered.”

The suffering of Christ was not limited to the hours he hung on the cross. It actually began at his incarnation when he laid aside his divine glory and assumed a human nature subject to the same physical weaknesses and infirmities we are exposed to.

He was born into a poor family in a nation under the heel of a foreign empire. His first crib was an animal’s feed trough. During his three years of public ministry, his brothers did not believe in him and on at least one occasion mocked him (John 7:1-5). He was misunderstood, criticized, and harassed by the Jewish religious leaders. In the words of Isaiah, “he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3, NIV).

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Today’s Walk

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Today’s Scripture: Deuteronomy 8-11

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” – John 15:4

The key to making it over the long haul in the Christian life is to make it over the short haul. Today is all we have. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow never comes. When you go to bed tonight and then wake up, what day will it be? Not tomorrow, but today.

In 1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul says, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” That’s a warning about not walking with God today.

Some time ago, I was speaking at a Christian college and a student asked me if working too hard was the cause of burnout. My response was that hard work is not the cause of burnout. Burnout occurs when we become so occupied with our work that we don’t have time for God.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Amazing for All

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Today’s Scripture: Revelation 22:21

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”

John Newton, the debauched and dissolute slave trader, after his conversion, wrote the wonderful old hymn “Amazing Grace.” He never tired of contemplating with awed amazement the wonder of a grace that would reach even to him. But the person who grew up in a godly Christian family, who trusted Christ at an early age, and who never indulged in any so-called “gross” sins should be just as amazed at the grace of God as was John Newton.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Lord of Your Heart

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Today’s Scripture: Exodus 7-10

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” – 1 Samuel 3:10

Have you ever tried to reason with someone and had them mock you and turn you down flat? When Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh with the message from God: “Let my people go,” the demand was met with scorn and ridicule. Pharaoh said he didn’t know the Lord, wouldn’t obey His voice, and wouldn’t let Israel go.

Pride. Defiance. Self-confidence. Arrogant spirit. I’m sure it was beneath Pharaoh’s dignity to enter into a contest with this Lord who claimed to be the God of a rag-tag gang of slaves who were under Pharaoh’s absolute control. Pharaoh was certain that if push came to shove, he would be the victor. He had wealth in abundance. He had a standing army of thousands of well-trained warriors and hundreds of chariots. And what did this Lord, about whom Moses spoke, have going for Him? Nothing. No money. No army. Nothing. Or so it appeared.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Say Yes

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Today’s Scripture: Titus 2:11-12

“The grace of God has appeared . . . training us . . . to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.”

In Titus 2:11-12, Paul expressed both the negative and positive aspects of what grace accomplishes in the Christian life: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to [negatively] renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to [positively] live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”

Those three words—self-controlled, upright, and godly—are considered by most Bible commentators to refer to actions with regard to one’s self, one’s neighbor, and God.

Self-control expresses the self-restraint we need to practice toward the good and legitimate things of life, as well as the outright denial of things clearly sinful.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Out of the Ordinary

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Today’s Scripture: Genesis 12-14

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. – Exodus 19:5

Abraham was a most remarkable man. From Genesis 12 to the end of the Bible, he and his descendants are almost the only subject of the divinely inspired Word of God.

Here is a man whom both Christian and Jew claim as the father of their faith. He is even mentioned in the Koran, the holy book of the Muslim religion, in 188 verses. What was it that made Abraham so remarkable? He simply did what God said to do.

As Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Abraham’s willingness to pack up his family and all his belongings to move to an unknown land is one of the first indications of his commitment to the Lord.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Put Off, Put On

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Today’s Scripture: Ephesians 4:22,24

“Put off your old self . . . and . . . put on the new self.”

Sometimes we get the impression that the Christian life consists mainly of negative prohibitions. These are definitely an important part of our spiritual discipline, as attested by the fact that eight of the Ten Commandments are prohibitions (Exodus 20:1-19). We need the prohibitions set forth not just in the Ten Commandments but in all the life-application sections of the New Testament. Indwelling sin needs the constant restraint of being denied its gratification.

The Christian life, however, should also be directed toward positive expressions of Christian character. All of Paul’s ethical teaching is characterized by this twofold approach of putting off the old self and putting on the new self (as in Ephesians 4:21-24).

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Who’s Steering?

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Today’s Scripture: Genesis 10-11

“Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12

In early biblical records, we find man doing exactly what he’s doing today–making plans based on his egotistical pride and rebellious heart. In Genesis 11 we find man determined to construct a world without God, and so he began a massive effort to build a tower–the tower of Babel–to make himself a name, to take his future into his own hands, to grab the steering wheel of history so that the kingdom of human reason replaces the kingdom of God.

I know a young man who had a careful Christian upbringing. He was involved in Bible classes during the week, Sunday school, and all the right things. But during his junior high days, he decided to go his own way. And he’s been doing that for years. Some time ago, I went to visit him in jail and sat by his mother. Tears were running down her cheeks, and her heart was broken for this son who had committed robbery and was now serving time.

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