Turning Point; David Jeremiah – Psalm 5

 

Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies.
Psalm 5:8

Recommended Reading: Psalm 5

Life doesn’t always go our way from the looks of things. Satan attacks us in ways we can hardly discern; problems arise from nowhere; burdens descend in multiples; and sometimes our own emotions work against us, causing layers of sadness, weariness, or discouragement to radiate through us.

That’s when we need Psalm 5! David begins by asking God to hear his voice (verses 1-3). He reminds the Lord of His righteous power (verses 4-6), and offers himself as a worshiper who prays, “Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies” (verses 7-8). David describes his enemies to the Lord, and then he exhorts himself and all of us to rejoice and put our trust in our Almighty God (verses 9-12).

When we find ourselves attacked by the enemies of God, we should remember our Lord is in control. You can do that today by turning Psalm 5 into a personal prayer. Remember God’s character of faithfulness and remind yourself of His constant care. Make up your mind to rejoice today.

In singing these verses, and praying them over, we must engage and stir up ourselves to the duty of prayer, and encourage ourselves in it, because we shall not seek the Lord in vain.
Matthew Henry

 

 

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – Is Anger Ever Justified?

 

 And ‘don’t sin by letting anger control you.’ Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry. 

—Ephesians 4:26

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:26 

The Bible clearly teaches that God is a triune being. He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet, it’s difficult for many of us to grasp such a concept because there’s no real parallel we can point to. Whatever analogy we try to use ultimately breaks down.

For the most part, we can wrap our minds around the idea of God the Father and God the Son. However, God the Holy Spirit is a little tough for us. Yet the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit has a distinct personality.

In fact, Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as a He, not as an it. For example, in John 16:8, Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment” (NLT).

This is evidenced by the fact that we are capable of quenching, resisting, blaspheming, lying to, and grieving the Holy Spirit.

One of the various ways we can grieve the Holy Spirit is by acting out in unjustified anger. The apostle Paul warned the Christians in Ephesus, “And ‘don’t sin by letting anger control you’ ” (Ephesians 4:26 NLT).

There is a difference between unjustified anger and righteous indignation. Jesus, for instance, showed anger. But let’s not misunderstand. When God is angry, His anger is not like ours. When we are upset, we might throw a tantrum. Can you imagine God doing that? I’m so glad that God doesn’t give in to the same things that we would. He isn’t capable of it. It isn’t in His nature.

So, when God does show anger, His anger is always righteous. It is there for a purpose. Jesus felt anger toward the Pharisees who misrepresented God to the people. He was angry with the money changers in the temple, so he overturned their tables and drove them out using a whip.

Of course, there are things we should be righteously indignant about as well. We should be angry when we see our country in a downward spiral, both morally and spiritually. And we should be angry enough to vote for the right policies and the right candidates.

We should be angry when we see too much compromise in the church, thus making our witness ineffective. And we should be angry when we see marriages and families falling apart. This is what we would call righteous indignation.

But then there is unjustified anger in which we lose our temper, say something unkind, or do things that are outright wrong. And when we sin in anger, we need to apologize to the person or people we have offended.

Paul went on to say, “Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry” (verse 26 NLT). If you’re married, you should never go to bed when you’re angry with your husband or wife because you don’t want that anger to turn into bitterness.

We need to learn how to disagree—even argue—and then forgive.

 

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Days of Praise – Setting Up an Ebenezer

 

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12)

Many Christians have joined in the singing of a familiar verse in an old hymn without knowing its great meaning: “Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’ve come.” When the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, the old priest, Eli, and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, all died the same day, as did Phinehas’ wife in childbirth. It was a tragic day for Israel.

But then the people returned to God under Samuel, and 20 years later the Lord gave them a miraculous victory over the superior armies of the Philistines. In commemoration of this deliverance, Samuel set up a stone monument in the same place where the Philistines had captured the Ark 20 years before, calling the stone “Ebenezer,” a name that was always associated thereafter with the site (1 Samuel 4:1; 5:1).

Now “Ebenezer” means “Stone of Help,” and seeing it would always remind the people, whenever they might later come to fear the circumstances around them, that God had been their “help in ages past” and thus could be trusted as their “hope for years to come.” Only God is truly able to help in times of great need, but He is able! “From whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).

It is well to remember those times in our own lives when God has helped us in some special way. We forget so easily, and the sin of ingratitude is cited by God as one of the first harbingers of imminent apostasy (note especially Romans 1:21). A physical token can help us remember, but whatever it takes—remember! God will hear and answer our prayers for future help, too, but “with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). HMM

 

 

 

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

The Greatest Scam in All of Human History 

The Greatest Scam in All of Human History

 

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.  — Ephesians 5: 11

The left-over expression vectors used to manufacture the mRNAs are at contamination levels 100-fold higher than originally proposed and imply trillions of DNA molecules per dose. This has implications for integration into our genome. — Jessica Rose

 

The old saw tells us it takes only one bad apple to spoil the barrel. Unfortunately, one good apple in a barrel of bad apples does not have a corresponding positive effect. There are, be it said, a small number of good apples in a vast Covid-scam barrel of absolutely horrendous and rotting bad apples, but it has taken an inordinately long time for the better influence to be felt.

Quantitative biologist Alex Washburne, an extremely good apple, has posted a major essay, “Scientists For Science – the “boys will be boys” of science,” in which the tactics, strategies, intentions, and deceptions of the globoid villains are laid out plain to see. The con they have promoted is almost beyond belief, both in its scope and its success. Almost every country in the world, the financial elite, corporate Pharma, and the political class as a whole are implicated, with only a few exceptions like Sweden and Belarus. Professors Fredrik Andersson and Lars Jonung revel in the fact that Sweden, almost unique among nations in its pandemic policy, recognized that “China’s authoritarian government should not have served as a guide for a liberal democracy.” Belarussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko claims that the World Bank and the IMF offered him $940 million to impose “extreme lockdown on his people,” force them to wear face masks, decree strict curfews, establish a police state, and ultimately crash the economy.

 

The sordid affair begins with bum science. A group called Scientists For Science, which Washburne dubs the “pathogenic academic lobby,” includes such prestigious figures, among others, as National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis Collins, Peter Daszak at EcoHealth Alliance and Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust. All have “financial conflicts of interest connecting [them[ to the Wuhan labs” and “ties directly to the researchers of concern [who] may have caused the pandemic.” Washburne is being ginger here, relying on a modal rather than a declarative, but the purport of his 16-page thesis leaves no doubt that such was the case.

In 2018, Washburne writes, Daszak raised the ante “by inserting a furin cleavage site in a bat SARSr-COV infectious clone.” In 2019, he continues, “a bat-related SARSr-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, emerged in Wuhan, walking distance from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, containing a furin cleavage site never before seen in a SARS-CoV, leaving no trace in animal trade networks, emerging with remarkably high affinity for human receptors, and containing unusual stitches in its genome consistent with an infectious clone.” The damage had been done. Despite the standard run of bastard fact-checks to the contrary, something was created not found in nature, which no vaccine could effectively combat.

 

These scientists insisted they were not practicing gain-of-function research, that is, deliberately enhancing a pathogen, and that the virus was of zoonotic origin and not a bioengineered phenomenon. But they lied. “Scientists For Science corrupted scientific power,” Washburne laments, “and used their positions in unethical ways such as prompting, ghostwriting, and promoting the false claim that a lab origin is ‘implausible.’” Fauci brought a network of highly conflicted funders and scientists together “and surgically excluded experts without these conflicts of interest.” These actors “formed research cartels defined by shared beliefs, and they despised the people who tried to regulate them.”

What is actually terrifying is that they “engaged in unfathomable risk-taking and likely caused a pandemic resulting in 20 million deaths without adding anything of industrial value to the world. They admitted there was nothing of known industrial value down this path, but they went down that path anyways…They just wanted to enhance the pathogenicity of pathogens for papers, grants, fame, and an esoteric understanding on the mechanisms of disease without direct application to industry or biodefense.”

Accordingly, they proceeded to mobilize an extensive media and iatric campaign to promote the claim that lab origin theories were conspiracy theories and to denounce their critics as charlatans. They represented themselves as “the science” and their adversaries as “anti-science” when the opposite was the case. They used their “official positions of power to overturn [an earlier] moratorium on this risky research.” History, Washburne concludes, “could even hold Fauci, Collins, and Farrar responsible for this outbreak through a mix of their funding for Daszak and their support of Scientists For Science.”

 

As noted, Washburne accuses these faux scientists of taking so massive a risk under the pretext of discovering antidotes, none of which even remotely existed or were hypothesized. But there is clearly a political aspect to this confidence game as well. As Jeffrey Tucker writes, the Covid virus and the associated pandemic was “an industrial plot to impose a vast censorship regime on the planet.” Tucker’s devastating critique of pandemic science should be studied by everyone with a functioning mind and a responsible stake in the culture. The regulations the authorities imposed on a fearful, ignorant and compliant public were insane and contra real science. “Finally, they said they had a magic potion that would fix the problem. It’s a new thing, a gene therapy that comes wrapped in little capsules that we inject into your skin. It’s been tested as 95 percent effective, and you know that’s true because it is a number with a percent. There are no side effects even though there was no way they could know that regardless.”

Similarly, in the words of Dr. Toby Rogers, the biowarfare industry has captured capital itself. Pandemics, chronic disease, and response is a growth industry—one of the only growth industries on Earth at this point. DNA is the new terra nullius to be conquered and colonized.” What is striking about Covid, he continues, “is that every step was designed to inflict maximum harm. Actual science was always ignored. Every action by government for four years degraded the health of the public.”

 

The partial list he provides of such venal and internecine measures is sobering: Blocking access to hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Respirators that kill 90% of patients. Seeding nursing homes with Covid+ patients. Closing schools for two years. Masks that reduce oxygen. Keeping liquor stores open while closing the churches. Closing hiking trails, beaches, and parks, thus preventing people from getting vitamin D. The application of useless and deadly drugs like Remdesivir and Paxlovid. Firings, censorship, and blacklisting of critical thinkers. And what we might regard as the follow-up strategy to the lab-generated virus, i.e., the most toxic and deadly “vaccines in history—which are not vaccines but gene therapy substances intromitted by an mRNA lipid shell delivery system.

“A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land,” thunders the prophet Jeremiah, when leaders and priests speak falsely, enrich themselves and lead people astray. So it is today. Spurious science, political motives, and vaccine treachery obviously go together in a composite bundle of extortionate artifice: reputations were to be made, increasing control over the public arena to be secured, and immense fortunes to be amassed. The pandemic itself was not what it was made out to be. One wonders how long it will take, if ever, for the public to shed their masks, refuse the boosters, and demand that the bad apples who inflicted this unnecessary catastrophe upon us be brought to justice.

 

By DAVID SOLWAY

 

 

 

Source: The Greatest Scam in All of Human History – PJ Media

Our Daily Bread — God Our Refuge

Bible in a Year :

The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Proverbs 18:10

Today’s Scripture & Insight :

Proverbs 18:10–12

The remarkable 2019 movie Little Women sent me back to my worn copy of the novel, especially the comforting words of Marmee, the wise and gentle mother. I’m drawn to the novel’s depiction of her steadfast faith, which underlies many of her words of encouragement to her daughters. One that stood out to me was this: “Troubles and temptations . . . may be many, but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your heavenly Father.” 

Marmee’s words echo the truth found in Proverbs that “the name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (18:10). Towers were built in ancient cities to be places of safety during danger, perhaps because of an enemy attack. In the same way, it’s through running to God that believers in Jesus can experience peace in the care of the One who’s “our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1).

Proverbs 18:10 tells us protection comes from God’s “name”—which refers to all of who He is. Scripture describes God as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). God’s protection comes from His mighty strength, as well as His tenderness and love, which causes Him to long to provide refuge to the hurting. For all who are struggling, our heavenly Father offers a place of refuge in His strength and tenderness.

By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced God’s strength in times of trouble? Where have you seen His comforting care?

Heavenly Father, please help me to run to You in both good times and times of struggle.

http://www.odb.org

Grace to You; John MacArthur – Denying Yourself

“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed” (Dan. 9:4).

God will not respond to self-righteous prayers.

In Luke 18 Jesus told a parable to people who were trusting in their own self-righteousness. He said, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

“But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (vv. 10-14).

Apart from God’s mercy we cannot enter into God’s presence. The tax-gatherer knew that and pled for forgiveness. The Pharisee missed the point and went away without forgiveness.

Like the tax-gatherer, Daniel approached God with an attitude of confession and self-denial. He could have reminded God of his years of faithful service while in Babylon, but that didn’t enter his mind. He knew that in himself there was nothing to commend him to God. His only thought was for mercy for himself and his people, that God’s purposes could be realized through them.

As a Christian, you have the wonderful privilege of boldly entering into God’s presence “with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22). That privilege is rooted in God’s grace through Christ’s sacrifice and leaves no room for presumption or self-righteousness. Always guard your attitude in prayer so that you don’t unwittingly slip into a Pharisaic mentality.

Suggestions for Prayer

Memorize Psalm 117:1-118:1 and recite it often as a hymn of praise to the Lord.

For Further Study

Jesus had much to say about the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees of His day. Read Matthew 23, noting His scathing denunciations of their hypocritical attitudes and practices.

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer – Our Responsibility, God’s Responsibility

So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

— Matthew 6:34 (AMPC)

Every believer has the responsibility to live right, to be a doer of the Word, and not just a hearer. Motivated by the reverential fear of the Lord, we can learn to live carefully and begin to make a difference in the world we live in. You and I need to be careful about what we allow into our spirits and how we live our lives. Proverbs 4:23 says to guard our heart with all diligence because out of it flows the springs of life. I believe we should have a careful attitude about how we live not a casual or a careless one. We need to be careful about what we watch, what we listen to, what we think about, and who our friends are.

I’m not saying we need to live according to the strict and demanding dictates of man. I had a very legalistic relationship with God for years and was miserable, so the last thing I want to do is teach legalism. What I am saying is that we shouldn’t compromise. We should recognize our responsibility as Christians to live our lives in such a way that unbelievers will be attracted to God by our behavior.

James 4:17 (AMPC) says, …any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin. In other words, if we are convicted that something is wrong, then we must not do it—even if we see a hundred other people doing it and getting by with it. They may seem to be getting by with it, but sooner or later, we will all reap what we sow.

We know that worry and anxiety are not characteristics of a godly Christian. Yet so many Christians worry. You can choose to worry, or you can reject worry and choose to live with joy and peace. Most people don’t want to hear that message, and they seem to find an odd comfort in thinking that worrying is beyond their control. It is not. Worry is a really is a choice and it is a sin against God.

As long as I’ve been in the church, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone make that statement. But it is sin. It is calling God a liar. It is saying that God is not sufficiently able to take care of you and provide for your needs. Faith says, “God can do it.” Worry says, “God isn’t able to help me.”

When you worry, you not only call God a liar, but you have also allowed the devil to fill your mind with anxious thoughts. The more you focus on the problems, the larger they become. You start to fret and may even end up in despair.

Think of the words of the great apostle: 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). Or think of the words from the psalmist: Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass (Psalm 37:5 AMPC).

Jesus told His disciples not to be anxious and, as quoted above, not to worry about tomorrow. But He did more than teach those words; He lived them out: And Jesus replied to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have lodging places, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head (Matthew 8:20 AMPC). That wasn’t a complaint but a simple fact of life. Jesus trusted His Father’s provision for Him even when He didn’t know where He would sleep or what He would eat.

Jesus taught that we are not to worry about anything in life. He wasn’t speaking about planning and thinking ahead. He was saying that some people never act because fear holds them back. They can always tell you 10 things that can go wrong with every plan. Jesus wants us to live a stress-free life. If you are worrying about what might happen, you’re hindering God from working in your life.

I heard about a couple whose daughter was diagnosed with a serious illness that wasn’t covered by insurance. The parents were struggling to pay all the medical bills. Not knowing what else to do, they both went into their bedroom for a lengthy time of prayer. Afterward the husband said, “It was really quite simple. I am God’s servant. My responsibility is to serve my Master. His responsibility is to take care of me.”

The next day, the doctors told them that their daughter was eligible to be part of an experimental surgery and all expenses would be paid. The wife smiled and said, “God is responsible, isn’t He?” What a testimony to their faith and trust in God who remains faithful and responsible at all times and in all things. God is no respecter of persons. What He does for one, He will do for another (see Romans 2:11). I encourage you to stop worrying and start trusting in Him.

Prayer Starter: Lord God, I know that worry is a sin against You. In the name of Jesus, help me overcome all anxieties and worry, and enable me to trust You to provide for every need I have.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Jesus Throughout Scripture

The eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

Acts 8:34–35

As we journey through the Bible, we recognize that Jesus did not arrive out of nowhere. From start to finish, the Bible is a book about Him. Indeed, even the Old Testament prophets, under the inspiration of the Spirit, wrote about Jesus. If we take our eyes off Christ, then, however well we know Scripture, we will have missed its center, its key, and its hero.

In the Gospels, Jesus pointed people to the Old Testament to help them understand who He was. Early in His ministry, He was once at the synagogue reading from the scroll of Isaiah. As He finished, Luke tells us, He “began to say” to His listeners, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Later, speaking to people who were especially interested and versed in the Old Testament Scriptures, Jesus warned them, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). After His death and resurrection, when He encountered some of His dejected followers on the road to Emmaus, Jesus, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets … interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).

In other words, Jesus clearly taught that every part of the Old Testament finds its focus and fulfillment in Him.

When you read the Scriptures, you meet Jesus, because this book testifies to Him. Even if our studies and understanding of Old Testament passages provide us with good, important ethical truths about life, there’s great danger of us missing the Truth, Jesus. The purpose of every page of your Bible is for you to meet Jesus, to come to know Him, and to proclaim His great name, all for His glory.

In every sermon you hear, every lesson you study, and every passage of God’s word that you read, be asking yourself, “Did it bring me to Christ? Did I discover Jesus in it?” And do not stop listening, studying, and reading until you can answer yes, for it is in Him that the treasures of salvation, truth, wisdom, and comfort are to be found.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Psalm 119:17–32

Topics: Jesus Christ Studying the Bible

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

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God Created Languages

“Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” ( Genesis 11:9)

Wouldn’t it be easier if everyone spoke the same language? Then we could all understand one another! Missionaries wouldn’t have to learn a foreign language when they left for the mission field, businessmen wouldn’t have to use interpreters when they had a business meeting overseas, and we could travel the world and be able to talk to anyone we wanted!

That may sound like a great plan to us, but God had even better plans. It was God Who created languages, and He did it for a purpose. For hundreds of years after God first created the world, everyone spoke the same language, and everyone could understand everyone else. The people became very wicked, though, and did what was right in their own eyes instead of loving and obeying God. To judge them, God sent a great flood to destroy the whole world. After God rescued Noah and his family from the flood, God gave them a command. They were supposed to multiply (grow the family) and spread out all over the world. In other words, they were supposed to scatter around and fill up the world with their children and grandchildren. Earth would be filled again with people who would know and worship the one true God.

Over the next years, Noah’s family did grow, but they did not move to different parts of the earth like God had commanded. In fact, instead of worshipping God the way He wanted them to worship Him (by obeying his commands, for example), they decided it would be a better idea to worship God by building a tower so high it would reach Him up in heaven. Have you ever heard of “The Tower of Babel”? The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Noah’s family started building this tower and a city of worship around it.

God was angry at their plans to worship Him however they pleased while disobeying His other commands. They had not scattered around and replenished (re-filled) the different parts of the world. They had not taught their children and grandchildren the right things about God and how He expected to be worshipped.

In the middle of this huge construction project, God brought judgment down on it. He decided to mix up the languages. Can you imagine? Maybe you are on a ladder, working on the tower. You ask your second cousin to pass the hammer and some nails over…and he acts confused. He is not joking, either. He really has no clue what you are saying! He tries to answer you, but his words sound really funny to you, and you don’t know what he means. Now, you have known this guy all your life! He is related to you! And suddenly neither of you can understand what the other is saying?

It did not take long for the people to realize something very different was happening, and that God must have been the One doing it. God confused the languages of the people to help them stop doing things their own way and to help them fulfill his command to go out and replenish all the world. As people walked aimlessly around, trying to find someone who could understand them, they naturally divided into smaller groups according to language. These groups gradually split off from the others and moved to different parts of the world. They finally scattered and became the different nations of people we have today.

Wow! Did you know that God had such a specific purpose in creating languages? God has a purpose for everything He does, even in confusing a bunch of disobedient people thousands of years ago. A God Who can create languages is a powerful God! God’s plans are always designed to work things out for His glory and for His people’s best good. If only we would follow His plans instead of doing things our own way!

God is the sovereign Creator, and He can carry out what He wants done, even if people try to do the opposite.

My Response: » Am I disobeying what God has shown me He wants me to do? » Am I tempted to honor God my own way rather than how He wants to be honored? » Do I need to do a better job remembering that God has a specific purpose in everything He does?

Denison Forum – Is it true that “the State of the Union is strong”?

The US Constitution states that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union” (Article II Section 3). President Biden will likely begin tonight’s address with the declaration, “The State of the Union is strong,” an assertion made by nearly every president in this setting since Ronald Reagan began the practice in 1983.

In tonight’s case, some commentators will agree with the president’s claim, while others will disagree. Each will try to convince us that their version of reality is our reality. This is because our “post-truth” culture believes that truth is perception. If we believe something to be true, it is therefore true for us, or so we think.

This viewpoint is becoming more dangerous now than at any time in human history.

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“I am talking about apocalypse now”

Iain McGilchrist is a neuroscience researcher whose lecture at the 2022 World Summit AI in Amsterdam was adapted into an urgent essay in the current issue of First Things. He warns that artificial intelligence is quickly progressing in ways that make people more expendable and less significant:

Consider the impact of the loss of daily contact with human beings as more and more jobs become automated. What happens to those who are rendered unemployed? . . .

And what about our dignity as free individuals? Can we escape the appalling prospect—already realized in China—that wherever we go, whatever we buy, whomever we are seen with, our every word, every action, the very thoughts we express on our faces, all is monitored, potentially marked down against us, and whatever freedom is left to us is curtailed accordingly?

Then he moves to the theme I’ve been exploring this week:

There is much to fear if we leave important decisions in the hands of AI. All decisions affecting humans are moral decisions. And morality is not purely utilitarian; it cannot be reduced to calculation. Every human situation is unique, its uniqueness arising from personal history, consciousness, memory, intention, all that is not explicit, all that we mean by the deceptively simple word “emotion,” all the experience and understanding gained through and stored in the body, all that makes us humans and not machines. Goodness requires virtuous minds, not merely following rules.

McGilchrist concludes:

If we are not to become ever more diminished as humans, we need to remain in control of machines, not come under their control. I am not talking about an apocalyptic future; I am talking about apocalypse now. We are already calmly and quietly surrendering our liberty, our privacy, our dignity, our time, our values, and our talents to the machine. Machines serve us well when they relieve us of drudgery, but we must leave human affairs to humans. If not, we sign our own death warrant.

“Catching rather than pitching”

We might dismiss McGilchrist’s concerns as hyperbole, but he is not alone: leaders from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, and other AI labs are also warning that the technology they are building could pose an existential threat to humanity on a par with pandemics and nuclear war.

Clearly, humans should not assume that because we created artificial intelligence, we will always be its master and AI our servant. Our perceived superiority may soon bear no resemblance to reality, a point from which we may not be able to return.

What can you and I do about this frightening scenario?

Unless you’re a technologist working in the field of artificial intelligence, you’ll be affected by AI rather than effecting its direction. Like the millions listening to the president’s State of the Union address tonight, you have no ability to impact his decisions, even though many of them impact your life.

Upon reflection, most of life works like this. There are few parts of the world over which any of us have any direct influence. Unless we return to the frontier days of harvesting and hunting our own food, making our own clothes, and building our own houses, we are “catching rather than pitching” in nearly every dimension of our lives.

How to be “trusting children”

This is where the Christian worldview saves us from the paranoia of victimhood. Max Lucado is right:

“God has proven himself as a faithful father. Now it falls to us to be trusting children.”

We become such “children” when we embrace these biblical assertions not as mere perceptions but as facts:

  • Our Father is the sovereign King of the universe whose providential provision and protection we can trust today (Psalm 91:1–2).
  • When we pray for those who do what we cannot do, our Lord hears us and does whatever is best (Matthew 7:7–11).
  • When we ask his Spirit to empower us (Ephesians 5:18) and then fulfill our calling for his glory (1 Chronicles 16:24), we partner with our Lord for eternal significance (Romans 8:28).
  • When we name our fears and surrender them to our Father, we experience “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).

Accordingly, we can make this intercession from the Book of Common Prayer ours today:

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves. Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversaries which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Thursday news to know

Quote for the day

“It is one thing to believe in God; it is quite another to believe God.” —R. C. Sproul

Denison Forum

Hagee Ministries; John Hagee –  Daily Devotion

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Hope is rooted in substance and evidence – not wishful thinking. For the believer, hope is based on the evidence found in the Word of God. Hope is based on the substance of what God has done in the past – knowing that if He has done it before, He can do it again in our lives.

Our hope is anchored in the never-failing promises of God because His provision is in the promise. His Word is lassoed lightning when prayed out of our mouths under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

We do not hope that God answers prayer; we know that He does. When Moses prayed, the Red Sea parted. When Daniel prayed, God muzzled the mouths of hungry lions. Prayer is not preparing God to do our will; prayer is preparing us to do God’s will.

We do not hope God heals; we know that He does. He is the Great Physician – yesterday, today, and forever. We do not hope that God delivers; we know that He does. Three Hebrew children walked through the fiery furnace without a whiff of smoke on them.

Hope in God! We are fully confident of the things for which we hope, and we are completely convinced of the reality of the things that we cannot see – substance and evidence.

Blessing

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. Be of good cheer; be bold and strong; keep the faith, and fight the good fight. Nothing is impossible to those whose hope is in Him!

Today’s Bible Reading: 

Old Testament

Numbers 8:1-9:23

New Testament 

Mark 13:14-37

Psalms & Proverbs

Psalm 50:1-23

Proverbs 10:29-30

https://www.jhm.org

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – Grace

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you.”
2 Corinthians 12:9

 Recommended Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:1-9

A nineteenth-century book of illustrations and quotes says: “Look to Him as the Divine and only Redeemer, as an all-sufficient and ever-present Friend, as your wisdom, your righteousness, your sanctification, your complete, and full, and everlasting redemption.”1

When the apostle Paul asked God to relieve an area of suffering in his life, the Lord left the suffering in place. But He wrapped it in soothing layers of grace—sufficient and more than sufficient. He’ll do the same for you. One day we’ll be free of suffering, but in this earthly life God doesn’t always take away our pains. Instead, He wraps them in His grace. He wraps Himself around us, and His grace is sufficient because He is more than sufficient. He abundantly satisfies us (Psalm 36:8), abundantly pardons us (Isaiah 55:7), and is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

Ask God to help you appropriate His grace, learning you need no resource but Him. When you are weakest, His grace is strongest—for He Himself is our strength.

Do not despise your weakness, for it leads you to trust in God’s strength.
Henry Blackaby

  1. “‘Looking Into Jesus’: A Motto for the New Year,” The Quiver (London: Cassell & Company, 1891), 235.

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – Growing Up Spiritually

Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind. 

—1 Corinthians 14:20

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 14:20 

You can’t be a kid again. But in one sense, you can because the Bible teaches that, as Christians, we should be childlike in our faith. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3 NLT).

When I became a Christian, it was like a new world to me. I realized that I had so much to learn. I also realized that I really didn’t even know what I thought about so many issues in life, what really mattered, and what my priorities were.

The apostle Paul urged the believers in Corinth, “Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind” (1 Corinthians 14:20 NLT).

There are some areas of the Christian life in which we should be childlike, in which we should be simple. We don’t need to know all the intricacies of evil and the way this world works. We need to maintain our dependence on God and be childlike in that way.

On the other hand, there are areas in which we need to mature and grow. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being spiritual babies when we’re new in the faith. But as the years pass, we need to become spiritually mature.

When we begin as Christians, when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, when we are born again, we start out as spiritual infants. This is true of every person, regardless of age. Everyone starts out this way in the faith.

Some people were raised in the church and have always been familiar with the Bible, with worship, and with prayer. But at some point, they realized their walk with God needed to be their own, so they made their own personal commitment to the Lord.

Others came in cold from the world. I was one of those people. I had no background in the church. I had no understanding of the Bible. And I had never worshipped God before. I knew nothing about prayer. I knew relatively nothing about Jesus.

When we’re new in the faith, it’s all so different. It’s a bit of a mystery. That’s why we need people to help us acclimate. We need to learn how to start growing up spiritually.

I like the questions that new believers ask. I like the statements they make. But best of all, I like their zeal. They’re excited about what Christ has done for them.

A church that does not have a constant flow of new believers coming in will be a church that is stagnating spiritually. New believers need more mature believers to help them get grounded. And mature believers need new believers to help remind them of what really matters in life.

We need to remain childlike with our excitement about our faith, but we also need to mature and grow spiritually.

Days of Praise – The Christian Rest

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:9-10)

This is an important New Testament affirmation that God’s work of creation was “finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3). The reference is to Genesis 2:1-3, where the writer has told us that God had “rested from all his work which God created and made,” thus completely denying the contention of theistic evolutionists that the processes of “creation” (that is, evolution) are still going on.

In addition, it makes a significant comparison between the believer’s rest and God’s rest. The word “rest” here is not the usual word for “rest” and is used only this once in the New Testament. It means, literally, “sabbath rest” or “keeping of the Sabbath.” In the context of chapters 2 and 3 of Hebrews, the concept of rest is being expounded with several meanings. The original warning was in Psalm 95:11, where it referred both to the Israelites entering into the promised land under Joshua and to God’s own rest after His work of creation. Psalm 95 is repeatedly quoted in Hebrews, where other meanings are also implied: the keeping of a weekly Sabbath in commemoration of God’s rest after creation; the promised future rest to the world and its believing inhabitants—possibly in the millennium but certainly in the new earth; and the believer’s present spiritual rest after he puts his faith in Christ, no longer trusting in his works for salvation.

With such a rich investiture of meaning in the fact of God’s past rest and the promise of our future rest, it is appropriate that there should be a perpetual weekly commemoration and expression of faith in that rest in every generation until its ultimate fulfillment in the eternal rest in the New Jerusalem.

In the meantime, we are urged to “labour” to “enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:11). HMM

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

Our Daily Bread — Doing Good for God

 

Bible in a Year :

Remind the people . . . to be ready to do whatever is good.

Titus 3:1

Today’s Scripture & Insight :

Titus 3:4–8

Though he didn’t normally carry money with him, Patrick sensed God was leading him to tuck a five-dollar bill in his pocket before leaving home. During the lunch hour at the school where he worked, he understood how God had prepared him to meet an urgent need. In the midst of the lunchroom buzz, he heard these words: “Scotty [a child in need] needs $5 to put on his account so he can eat lunch for the rest of the week.” Imagine the emotions Patrick experienced as he gave his money to help Scotty!

In Titus, Paul reminded believers in Jesus that they weren’t saved “because of righteous things [they] had done” (3:5), but they should “be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good” (v. 8; see v. 14). Life can be full, extremely busy, and hectic. Attending to our own well-being can be overwhelming. Yet, as believers in Jesus, we’re to be “good-works ready.” Rather than being overwhelmed by what we don’t have and can’t do, let’s think about what we do have and can do as God helps us. In doing so, we get to help others at the point of their needs, and God is honored. “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

What can hinder good-works readiness in your life? How can you reorder your life to be available for helping people who are in need?

Dear Father, please forgive me for the times I’ve ignored opportunities to do good. Help me to be more available to help others.

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Grace to You; John MacArthur – Cleansing Our Hands and Hearts

 “Cleanse your hands . . . and purify your hearts” (James 4:8).

Clean hands and a pure heart will always characterize the humble.

Hands represent our behavior, the pattern of our outward actions. Scripture uses that symbol when it encourages people to abandon their sinful behavior: “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of bloodshed” (Isa. 1:15).

Today’s verse uses “hands” in reference to the Jewish ceremonial requirements. The priests were required to wash their hands before they entered the presence of God in the tabernacle and temple (Ex. 30:19-21). Therefore, a call to have clean hands was not just a strange figure of speech for James’s audience. As Jews, they would know that a person needed to go through a cleansing process and have a clean life if he wanted to be close to the Lord.

This cleansing process, however, includes more than correcting the outward behavior and lifestyle represented by the hands. The inward dimension of the heart must also be involved, which is why James 4:8 says, “Purify your hearts.” The heart is what’s inside a person—his thoughts, motives, and desires—the essence of his being. The apostle James is telling anyone who would be genuinely humble and want to be right with God that he must deal with his real self, the heart that is so corrupted and deceived by sin. The humble sinner will hear and obey words such as Ezekiel’s: “Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” (Ezek. 18:31).

Clean hands and a pure heart are essential traits for anyone who would be counted among the humble. If you have not submitted yourself to God, you won’t have these traits, and you need to heed James’s commands. If you are one of the humble, you will want to maintain a close relationship with the Lord. For you, therefore, it is crucial to remember what the apostle John promises in 1 John 1:9—“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray that all your thoughts and actions today would be pure and pleasing to the Lord.

For Further Study

Read Isaiah 55.

  • What does it say about the transformed heart and life?
  • Commit verses 6-7 to memory.

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur

 

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer – Our Impenetrable Shield

 

The Lord is my strength and my [impenetrable] shield; my heart trusts [with unwavering confidence] in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I shall thank Him and praise Him.

— Psalm 28:7 (AMP)

Obedience to God is a vital part of the Christian life, and as I have said many times, when we obey God, we are blessed, and when we don’t obey, we should not expect to be blessed. The more we love God and the more we receive His love, the more we are able to obey Him promptly and reverently. Everything God instructs us to do is motivated by His love for us and is designed to bless us and benefit our lives. When God tells us to not do something, He is never trying to take something away from us. Instead, often He is protecting us as our impenetrable shield from something harmful. The idea that He is an impenetrable shield is powerful, meaning that He protects us so strongly and so completely that absolutely nothing can get to us unless He allows it.

Jesus says in John 14:15 that if we love Him, we will keep His commands, meaning that we will obey Him. If we love Him, we will trust Him and His direction in our lives. Next time you struggle to obey, especially if you really want to do something and know in your heart that you are not supposed to do it, remember that God’s impenetrable shield is around you, and He may be protecting you from things you cannot imagine.

Prayer Starter: Help me, Lord, to show my love for You by obeying You in every situation and trusting in Your love for me and Your protection over my life.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Where Are You?

 

The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God … But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:8–9

Across ethnic, linguistic, and geographical boundaries, children everywhere enjoy the fun of playing hide-and-seek. It is a universal and innocent game. But the first game of hide-and-seek in this world was neither fun nor innocent. It was something deadly serious.

After Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the garden, they hid from each other behind fig leaves and from their Creator behind the trees of the garden. They attempted a cover-up—and God came seeking them with a simple question: “Where are you?”

This question turns on its head the common assumption that man is looking for God, who is hiding somewhere in or beyond the universe. Instead, we discover the opposite: we are the ones who are hiding, and God is the one who comes seeking.

The question may seem like a strange one for God to ask these first humans. After all, doesn’t God know everything already? But God asked where Adam and Eve were not so He could gain new information but because He wanted to help them understand their situation. God came to draw them out more than to drive them out.

Imagine the many ways God could have reacted in response to Adam and Eve’s rebellion. If He had responded strictly in judgment, He could have instantaneously brought about the sentence of death that He had warned them of (Genesis 2:16-17). But it is in God’s nature always to have mercy; so He came instead with a single question. This is the first glimpse of God’s grace after humanity turned their backs on Him. God did not immediately give them what they justly deserved; rather, out of His immense kindness, He granted what was not deserved: an opportunity to respond and return.

None of us would feel comfortable if those closest to us could see all of our deepest thoughts and previous actions. We may hide the truth from each other, and perhaps even from ourselves. But to hide from God is futile. There is simply no way to hide and nowhere to shift the blame to.

We must not believe the lie that God won’t see the “little” sins we keep hidden from others. He sees. Ultimately, He sees into our souls and knows exactly what we have done and where we stand. Wonderfully, we do not need to pretend that we can hide. He comes to us in mercy, not in judgment, for “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). Are you burdened by some besetting sin or secret shame? Are you seeking to hide from God what you have been hiding from others? There’s never been a better time to stop hiding from Him. Step into the light. Uncover what cannot remain hidden before Him—so that He might cover it with His blood and so that you might know you are both known and forgiven. He is a kind and saving God who desires a relationship with us.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

1 John 1:8–10, 1 John 2:1–2

Topics: Grace Mercy Sin

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

 

 

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God’s Powerful Love

 

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17)

We hear many people talk about how much God loves us. Have you ever stop to think about how powerful God is? Joshua 10 tells a great story of God’s power! Take the time today and read verses 1-15.

In the Old Testament, we can read about how God specially chose a group of people called the “Israelites” to be His children. When God stood with Joshua and the children of Israel, there was no kingdom on Earth that could stand against His people. We know how powerful God is. God controls the weather. He can send hailstorms, hurricanes, tornados, and floods. He created the whole planet, and His power is greater than earthquakes and tidal waves and glaciers. God controls history, too. He has helped some armies win battles that were impossible for humans to win. In the Bible, there are stories about many miracles that God did that we humans could never do! God has proved over and over again how powerful He is.

But what if God only ever showed His power, but not His love? But do you know what else we learn about God from His Word? God loves His people and He wants to deliver them. God is powerful, and God loves perfectly, so He must be just as powerful in His loving as He is in everything else He does. God’s love is powerful.

Because He was their loving and powerful God and Father, God taught His people by disciplining them. When the Israelites obeyed God, then God would bless them with victory. They were small armies and had not been trained how to fight, but God helped them win, over and over again. But when the Israelites disobeyed God, then God would have to punish them for their sin. The Israelites suffered whenever they disobeyed God. One time, the Earth opened up and swallowed some of them. One time, God sent poisonous snakes. One time, they lost many of their men in a battle. But through it all, God loved them and He helped them when they turned to Him for help.

In the New Testament, we can read about when God came to Earth Himself. When Jesus Christ, Who is God, came to be born as a human being, He invited all people to be His children. He came to do the impossible. He was powerful enough to live a life without sin. He was powerful enough to bear the sins of men and the rejection of His Father when He died on the cross. He was powerful enough to raise up from the grave. None of us could have done any of those things!

Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is powerful proof that God loves powerfully. He loved the world so much that He sent His Son into it–not to condemn it and wreck it and make a mess of it, but to redeem and rescue and deliver and save anyone who comes to Him and trusts Him to help.

God’s love is powerful enough to deliver us from our sins through Jesus Christ.

My Response:
» Have I asked God to deliver me from my sin?
» When was the last time I told someone about God’s love for him or her?

 

 

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Denison Forum – Nikki Haley will exit Republican presidential race after Super Tuesday results: Politics, AI, and the path to our best future

 

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nikki Haley plans to suspend her Republican presidential primary bid in a speech later this morning. She won Vermont yesterday and the District of Columbia last Sunday, but former President Donald Trump has won every other primary so far. He could clinch the Republican nomination next Tuesday.

President Joe Biden has won every Democratic delegate awarded thus far (except for American Samoa, where Jason Palmer won three of its six delegates last night) and is poised to clinch his party’s nomination on March 19, setting up a rematch of their 2020 contest.

Your view of these results likely aligns with your larger political beliefs. You want our nation to elect the person who will most likely advance what you consider to be our best future. If you’re like many Americans, however, you view our collective good through the prism of your personal good.

In one sense, this arrangement is as it should be. In another, it contains the seeds of our national demise.

When politics become religion

Americans don’t believe in the “divine right of kings,” the age-old claim that monarchs derive their powers from God or the gods and thus have the right to rule us regardless of our wishes. To the contrary, as our Declaration of Independence states, “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

John Locke, whose views were enormously influential for the Founders, claimed that in a state of nature, no one would have the right to rule over you, nor would you have the right to govern anyone else. Thus, our leaders derive their just right to govern only by the consent of those they govern.

Conversely, by choosing to live in a particular country, we consent to live by its rules. In Plato’s dialogue Crito, Socrates states that he knew the laws of his city-state; though he was free to leave, he chose to reside there and thus took upon himself an obligation to obey these laws.

However, there’s an innate problem with our system of governance: its success depends on the choice of its citizens and leaders to advance the common good even if it conflicts with their personal biases and interests.

When our nation was founded, a consensual sense of objective morality derived from the Judeo-Christian worldview served to forge and guide our national character. Now that our culture has jettisoned objective truth and biblical morality, we have no means whereby to identify, much less choose, the collective good over our personal agendas.

As a result, our politics have become a “zero-sum game” whereby some win while others lose. Compromise is viewed as weakness. Allegiance to partisan agendas takes on a religious fervor since these agendas are invested with securing our preferred future. All things and people are commodified as means to our consumptive personal ends.

Here we find yet another reason to be gravely concerned about the evolution of artificial intelligence, for reasons we’ll explore next.

“Our technology has exceeded our humanity”

As we noted yesterday, AI tools are being weaponized to advance the social and ideological agendas of their developers and users. As we saw Monday, the weaponizing of AI is occurring literally with the advent of lethal autonomous weapons.

Our national and cultural future therefore depend to a significant degree on using AI to advance the common good even at the cost of personal gain. Otherwise Albert Einstein’s warning will become even more accurate: “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”

Here’s the good news: when God’s Spirit converts us (John 3:3), he changes us (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus calls and empowers us to serve others as he serves us (John 13:14–15). Exhibit A is the apostle Paul, willing to be cursed (Romans 9:3) for the sake of the very people who cursed him and sought his death (cf. Acts 23:12–15).

Jesus calls us, like Paul, to take up our cross “daily” (Luke 9:23), to be “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice” to our Lord (Romans 12:1). As Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously stated, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

But here’s the rest of the story: When we submit our will to God’s Spirit each day (Ephesians 5:18), loving our Lord and our neighbor as our highest priorities (Matthew 22:37–39), we then experience our Father’s “good, pleasing, and perfect will” (Romans 12:2 HCSB). When we pay any price to serve God and others, his Spirit makes our service eternally significant in ways we cannot begin to measure today.

“A banquet, full of gladness and tranquility”

St. Ambrose of Milan (c. 340–397) said of his fellow Christians:

We have died with Christ. We carry about in our bodies the sign of his death, so that the living Christ may also be revealed in us. The life we live is not now our ordinary life but the life of Christ: a life of sinlessness, of chastity, of simplicity and every other virtue. We have risen with Christ. Let us live in Christ, let us ascend to Christ.

How do we do this? Ambrose explained:

Let us take refuge from this world. You can do this in spirit, even if you are kept here in the body. You can at the same time be here and present to the Lord. Your soul must hold fast to him, you must follow after him in your thoughts, you must tread his ways by faith, not in outward show. You must take refuge in him. He is your refuge and your strength.

When we do this, Ambrose assured us,

To rest in the Lord and to see his joy is like a banquet, full of gladness and tranquility.

Will you take your seat at this spiritual feast today?

Wednesday news to know

Quote for the day

“One of the principal rules of religion is, to lose no occasion of serving God. And, since he is invisible to our eyes, we are to serve him in our neighbor; which he receives as if done to himself in person, standing visibly before us.” —John Wesley

 

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