John Hagee

Hagee Ministries; John Hagee –  Daily Devotion

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And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’.

1 Peter 4:8

Every relationship suffers seasons of difficulty. All marriages experience wear and tear. It speaks to life and our own humanity.

Circumstances beyond our control set us reeling. The day-to-day chipping away at our relationships can leave us bruised and exposed. Two imperfect people in close proximity, struggling against selfishness, often hurt one another.

Jesus, our Prince of Peace, brings hope to re-establish broken borders in our marriages. The enemy breaches the walls to cause isolation, resentment, and pain, but Jesus raises up a standard against him. He carries the banner of love into battle to vanquish him.

When storms arise – as they inevitably do – we must assess the damage to our relationships. We must determine if we played a role in inflicting the hurt, and we must be quick to repent and restore. Was I kind or seeking my own selfish desire? (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) What action can I take to begin the rebuilding process right away?

When our spouse causes us pain, Ephesians 4:32 encourages us to be compassionate, forgiving one another in the same way that Jesus has forgiven us. Confess your faults to one another, pray for one another, and God will bring healing and harmony (James 5:16).

Most importantly, love one another fervently. Tender devotion pulls up a quilt to generously cover offenses.

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. Make Jesus the center of your marriage. A three-fold cord will not be easily broken. Let love lead!

Today’s Bible Reading: 

Old Testament

Exodus 34:1-35:9

New Testament 

Matthew 27:15-34

Psalms & Proverbs

Psalm 33:12-22

Proverbs 9:1-6

https://www.jhm.org

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – Walk in the Way

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Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
Jeremiah 6:16

 Recommended Reading: Luke 6:46-49

An American Old Testament scholar spent a summer studying in Jerusalem. He once listened to a Jewish rabbi recite the entire book of Psalms in Hebrew from memory. The rabbi didn’t miss a single word. In one sense, the rabbi knew the Bible, but in another sense he didn’t because he couldn’t see the Messiah—Jesus.

Likewise, there is a difference between knowing the way and walking in the way—a common biblical metaphor for the path one chooses to take. Jeremiah encouraged his hearers to seek the old, settled paths and “walk in [them].” And Jesus did the same: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) He went on to illustrate: The one who hears God’s words but doesn’t put them into practice is building a life without a foundation—destined to collapse (Luke 6:46-49).

Know the Bible? Yes! But the purpose of knowing is to discover the way in which to walk.

Apply yourself to the whole text, and apply the whole text to yourself.
J. A. Bengel

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – The Heart of God

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The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 

—2 Peter 3:9

Scripture:

2 Peter 3:9 

The heart of God is for everyone to be saved.

However, some people argue that it’s wrong to say that God loves everyone because if someone isn’t one of God’s elect, then God doesn’t love them and therefore didn’t die for them. This is foolishness.

We ought to take the gospel to every person because we don’t know who the chosen are—or are not. All we know is that God wants everyone to believe.

As Dwight L. Moody pointed out, “The whosoever wills are the elect, and the whosoever won’ts are the non-elect.”

Our responsibility is to bring the gospel to everyone we can. The apostle Paul wrote, “So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ” (Colossians 1:28 NLT).

There is no denying the fact that the Bible appeals to the will of man. Jesus said, “Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die” (John 11:25–26 NLT).

Revelation 22 tells us, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let anyone who hears this say, ‘Come.’ Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life” (verse 17 NLT).

We get hung up on the hows and the whats of predestination, and we miss the whys. Why did God choose us from the foundation of the world? For what did He predestine us? We need to know the answers to these questions.

God chose us so that we could have fellowship and intimacy with Him. God wants us to be His children. Ephesians 1:5 says, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (NLT).

Our sin separated us from God, but God adopted us into His family. That is why the Bible says, “And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father’ ” (Galatians 4:6 nlt). This is the affectionate cry of a child. An English equivalent of “Abba” is “Daddy.”

God predestined us to be adopted into His family. But that is not all. He also predestined us to be holy and without blame. In Ephesians 1:4 we read, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (NLT).

This is the outgrowth of relationship. Realizing that we are children of God and that He has forgiven us causes us to want to live a life that honors Him. Holiness speaks of inward purity. And blamelessness speaks of outward purity. It means that we live it both on the inside and the outside.

As we spend time walking with God, we will want to become more like Him.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie
Days of Praise

Days of Praise – A Bag with Holes

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by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.


“Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” (Haggai 1:6)

This biting description of a frustrating lifestyle, penned by one of the Jewish post-exilic prophets, is both preceded and followed by this appropriate admonition: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways” (Haggai 1:5-7). When a professing believer somehow never seems to have enough, and his money bag seems filled with holes, it is time for him to consider carefully his ways before the Lord.

After all, our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and is well able to supply all our needs. In context, Haggai is rebuking the people of Judah for tending to their own welfare and neglecting the work of God. “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled [paneled] houses, and this house [that is, the unfinished temple in Jerusalem] lie waste?” (Haggai 1:4).

Herein is an eternal principle. Jesus said, “Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things [that is, food and drink and clothing]. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:32-33). If these necessities of life are not being provided, we urgently need to consider our ways. Are God’s kingdom and His righteousness really our first concerns?

We often quote the wonderful promise “my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). But we must remember that this promise was given to a group of Christians whose “deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality,” because they “first gave their own selves to the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8:2, 5). HMM

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

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — God’s Great Love Cycle

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Bible in a Year :

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.

Romans 13:8

Today’s Scripture & Insight :

Romans 13:8–10

As a new believer in Jesus at the age of thirty, I had lots of questions after committing my life to Him. When I started reading the Scriptures, I had even more questions. I reached out to a friend. “How can I possibly obey all God’s commands? I just snapped at my husband this morning!”

“Just keep reading your Bible,” she said, “and ask the Holy Spirit to help you love like Jesus loves you.”

After more than twenty years of living as a child of God, that simple but profound truth still helps me embrace the three steps in His great love cycle: First, the apostle Paul affirmed that love is central in the life of a believer in Jesus. Second, by continuing to pay the “debt to love one another,” followers of Christ will walk in obedience, “for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8). Finally, we fulfill the law because “love does no harm to a neighbor” (v. 10).

When we experience the depth of God’s love for us, demonstrated best through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we can respond with gratitude. Our grateful devotion to Jesus leads to loving others with our words, actions, and attitudes. Genuine love flows from the one true God who is love (1 John 4:16, 19).

Loving God, help us get caught up in Your great love cycle!

By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

When have you struggled to feel loved by Jesus or to love like He loves? How does knowing Christ loves you completely and unconditionally change the way you love others?

Dear Jesus, please help me believe You love me so I can love others through the overflow of Your love for me.

http://www.odb.org

John MacArthur

Grace to You; John MacArthur – God Doesn’t Change

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 “‘Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end’” (Psalm 102:27).

God never changes, so He can be trusted to do what He says.

God alone is unchanging (or as the theologians say, immutable). The psalmist says, “Even [the heavens and earth] will perish, but Thou dost endure. . . . Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end” (Ps. 102:26-27). Though Israel deserved destruction for its sin, God was faithful to His covenant with Abraham, saying, “I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6). James calls God “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow” (1:17).

What about those verses that say God changed His mind (e.g., Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:10)? Let’s look at an example. Jonah warned the wicked city of Nineveh of impending judgment. The city immediately repented, and “when God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it” (3:10). Who changed? The people of Nineveh! God’s nature to punish evil and reward good remained the same, but the object changed.

You can’t blame the sun for melting the wax and hardening the clay. The problem is in the substance of the wax and clay, not in the sun. In a similar way, our standing before God determines how God acts toward us.

What does God’s unchanging character mean? To unbelievers, it means judgment. When God says, “The person who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:20) and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), He means it. When He says Hell is eternal (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 20:10, 13-15), then it is.

To Christians, His immutability means comfort. If He loved me in the past, He loves me now and forever. If He forgave and saved me, He did so forever. If He promised me anything, His promise stands forever. If the Bible says, “My God shall supply all your needs” (Phil. 4:19), we know the power that supplied Paul’s needs is the same power that will supply ours. God told Israel, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3), and His love for us is the same.

Suggestions for Prayer

Praise God for His immutability, and thank Him for the comfort that brings you.

For Further Study

Find some promises God makes to His children in Scripture, and ask for faith to believe them, even when belief is difficult.

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Pay Attention to Your Heart

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Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them….

— Hosea 14:9 (NLT)

more to life than meets the eye—especially the natural eye. Things are not always what they appear to be, so we must learn to be discerning. Simply defined, discernment is spiritual understanding, and developing it takes practice. As we grow in our understanding of God’s Word and in our relationships with Him, we also grow in our ability to discern.

To live by discernment, we have to pay attention to our hearts. We have to know when we do not feel right about something. For example, let’s say a businessman has been looking for a certain kind of business deal for quite some time and an opportunity for such a deal finally presents itself. As he reviews the paperwork, the deal appears to be sound. But when he begins to pray about entering into the deal, he senses he should not do it. Even though everything appears to be in order, he just does not have peace about the deal. The more he prays, the more he feels he should not do business with the people involved in the deal. This man is looking beyond the natural elements of the deal and using his discernment.

The best way for me to help you learn to live by discernment is to offer this simple advice: if you don’t feel right about something in your heart, do not do it. You may discover later why you didn’t feel good about it, but you may not. Either way, you can be at peace knowing you used your discernment instead of making decisions based on your mind, your emotions, or natural circumstances. Discernment is a precious gift from God that will help you avoid a lot of trouble in life if you pay attention to it.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I pray and ask You to develop and increase my discernment as I study Your Word. And when something doesn’t feel right in my heart, help me to trust that it is You telling me it is not Your will for my life, amen.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Alistair Begg

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Praying With Confidence

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Everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened … If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Luke 11:10, Luke 11:13

When a teenager who has just gotten her driver’s license asks her mom or dad for the car keys, it’s not typically a vague, half-hearted request. Instead, her mind is engaged and her will is focused: “Please can I have the car keys? I want the car. I’d like to use the car. I’m asking you for it now.”

Similarly, the verbs that Jesus uses to teach His disciples how to make requests to God in prayer—ask, seek, knock—convey urgency, consistency, and clarity. It’s as if He’s saying, I want you to pray in a way that involves humble, persistent determination. I want you to seek and to go on seeking, and I want you to knock with an urgent sincerity.

He is inviting you and me to come before our heavenly Father and simply to ask.

We must be careful about what we ask for, though. When we present our petitions before the Lord, they need to be tempered by the Spirit through what John Calvin calls the “bridle of the word of God.”[1] In other words, the Bible teaches that we can ask in total confidence for the things that God says are good and right—things like His help so that we can present our bodies as living sacrifices, grow as witnesses to the gospel, or increase our desire to worship. But we must not think that we can manipulate God, demanding that He gives us whatever will make our life easier or wealthier. It is possible to “ask and … not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3).

So we are to ask boldly, but we are also to ask humbly. We are to ask God to do great things, and then we are to accept His answer. There are good reasons why God will not always give us what we ask, even when what we ask is in itself good and godly. Our prayers are not always in accordance with His good and sovereign will. We cannot always determine what’s good for us—but God always knows what’s best for His children. Therefore, when we bring our requests before God, we must look to His word as our roadmap and remember that He is working to bring about His purposes for our lives and to conform us to the image of His Son.

So come before God and just ask. Your requests can be specific, and bold, and shaped by God’s word—and then you can expect, and indeed desire, God to answer them exactly as He sees fit.

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

Colossians 1:9–12

Topics: God’s Will God’s Word Prayer

FOOTNOTES

1 Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, trans. William Pringle (Calvin Translation Society, 1846), Vol. 3, p 19.

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

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids 4 Truth

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God Gives Good Gifts

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“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m so lucky?” Have you ever said it yourself? The truth is, there is no such thing as luck. Whenever something good comes your way, it’s not luck; it’s a gift from God.

God delights to give His children good gifts. What kind of good gifts has the Lord given you? A warm house? A spot on the basketball team? A family vacation or a trip to camp? I’m sure you can think of many good gifts that God has given you, but maybe you hadn’t thought about the fact that those things came from Him.

When you are playing outside on a sunny day, it may seem to you that the sun is changing its position throughout the day, because your shadow will fall in different directions at different times. But it hasn’t – the earth is what’s moving, not the sun.

God, the “Father of lights,” doesn’t move or change, either. He’s always the same. He’s constant, and we can depend on Him – not on good luck – to gives us many good gifts.

All good gifts come from God.

My Response:
» Do I give God the credit for the good things in my life?

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Christians in Super Bowl LVIII: What Brock Purdy and Harrison Butker have in common

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My favorite NFL team is the Dallas Cowboys. My second favorite team is whoever is playing the Philadelphia Eagles. After that, I tend not to care too much who wins any particular game, and that includes this Sunday’s Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

I’m still going to gather with family to watch the game—for more on how to use the Super Bowl to cultivate community, see Christian Englert’s recent article—but the outcome isn’t nearly as important to me as the competitiveness of the game, the quality of the commercials, and how much I can eat before a new champion is crowned.

Given that relative degree of apathy regarding the teams on the field, I find myself focusing more on the players, particularly those who seem to have a strong relationship with the Lord.

And, it turns out, there are quite a few players and team personnel on both sidelines who are Christians.

A great cloud of witnesses

Paul Bond has a great article up at Newsweek that profiles several of the Christians in Super Bowl LVIII as well as the efforts of groups like He Gets Us to once again use the Super Bowl as a platform for sharing the gospel.

For today, though, I’d like to focus on two in particular:

  • Brock Purdy, QB for the 49ers
  • Harrison Butker, K for the Chiefs

They are far from the only Christians playing on Sunday. For example, I read about:

Learning more about these men will encourage your faith as well.

But the stories of these players in particular stuck out to me this week.

The faith of Brock Purdy

In a recent interview with Hall of Fame QB Steve Young, Brock Purdy discussed the role of faith in his life and the impact it’s had on his career.

Purdy was the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft—granting him the ignominious title of “Mr. Irrelevant”—and only became the 49ers starting quarterback after a litany of injuries to the players ahead of him last season. Despite that beginning, though, he’s become one of the game’s most promising young players and would have been the starter in last week’s Pro Bowl if he hadn’t had a slightly more important game to prepare for this Sunday.

Yet, Purdy is clear on who gets the credit for his quick rise toward stardom:

“That’s all God,” adding that the Lord’s plan is “bigger and more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I’m just going to show up every day, work hard and see where he takes me. So I’m very thankful for it, man, but did I ever expect all this kind of stuff? I didn’t. I had no idea, so (I) just try to show up, do my job every day and it falls in the place it needs to.”

Elsewhere in the interview, he stated, “I know who I am, and ‘God, if you want me to do great with (football), great. If not, all right, let’s go do something else, wherever you need me.’”

And that perspective is something Harrison Butker talked about also.

The resilience of Harrison Butker

Like Purdy, Chief’s kicker Harrison Butker also experienced a great deal of success early in his career, winning his first of two Super Bowls in his third season in the league.

But, as he told Sports Spectrum, “If I didn’t have faith in God, I don’t think I’d be the father I am, the husband I am, the kicker I am. That kind of sets the tone for everything else and everything falls under that, but that gives me the strength to go do everything I need to do.”

He went on to say:

“I may have fears about it — I might have pressure — but I know I’m a child of God and He’s gonna protect me. And maybe that protection comes with some suffering, but that’s what’s best for me and I gotta accept that suffering and grow as best I can with that. . . . You miss some kicks and you realize, ‘OK, my identity can’t be all as a football player.’ So I grew a lot in my prayer life knowing that I’m nothing without Him and I gotta lean on Him, and if He wants to take anything away from me, He can. And if He wants to add anything, He can. It’s all up to Him.”

How to find peace in chaos

What stuck out to me about the testimonies of Brock Purdy and Harrison Butker was the way both talked about the importance of finding their identity in Christ rather than in football. Moreover, they point to that identity as a key part of their success. They aren’t great players in spite of their faith but because of their faith.

That’s not to say you have to be a Christian to be a great athlete or a success in any other walk of life. Examples abound of people who have achieved the highest levels of earthly success without giving a second thought to the Lord.

Yet, it’s interesting how both Purdy and Butker credit their faith with helping them stay level headed in the midst of the chaos that surrounds them each game. They find peace in the knowledge that their worth is not tied up in the outcome of any given play, regardless of the stakes.

And there’s a lot we can learn from their example.

Ground your identity in God

Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount by cautioning his disciples that the only way to weather the storms of life successfully is by building on the foundation of his word. Those “words” to which he refers point back to the holistic teachings he’d delivered across the previous three chapters.

The best way to approach life is by grounding our identity in who God says we are and making sure that he is Lord over every facet of our lives. It won’t keep the storms from coming, but it will ensure that we can weather them well.

Purdy said, “I know who I am.” Butker said, “I know I’m a child of God.”

Do you know who and whose you are today?

Denison Forum

John Hagee

Hagee Ministries; John Hagee –  Daily Devotion

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But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

Mark 10:6-8

God built all of civilization upon one relationship — marriage between a man and a woman. By His design, the family unit is the foundation of society.

At creation, God fashioned the male and female. The only marriage relationship that God endorses in Scripture is the union between a man and a woman. A man separates himself from his parents to be joined to a wife, and the two become one flesh.

Marriage and virtue are to be respected by all (Hebrews 13:4). Paul goes on to correlate the marriage between a man and a woman with the relationship that Christ enjoys with the church – a “great mystery” ( Ephesians 5:32).

Jesus calls each of us to honor one another. Wives should submit to and support their husbands…in the same way that they defer to Christ. Husbands must submit to and go all out in love for their wives…in the same way that Christ loved the church.

Submitting, nourishing, cherishing, respecting, loving – are these the words that describe our relationships? Do our marriages reflect the monumental love that compelled Jesus to lay down His life for His bride?

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. As you submit to God first and then to your spouse, may your relationship be marked by the deep love of our Lord. May you reflect His goodness and grace always. Amen and Amen.

Today’s Bible Reading: 

Old Testament

Exodus 29:1-30:10

New Testament 

Matthew 26:14-46

Psalms & Proverbs

Psalm 31:19-24

Proverbs 8:14-26

https://www.jhm.org

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – Come to Me

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Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29

 Recommended Reading: 1 John 5:1-3

When the prophet Jeremiah warned Judah and Jerusalem that God was about to submit them to the “yoke” of Babylon in judgment, he actually wore a heavy wooden yoke around his own neck to illustrate his words (Jeremiah 28:10-13). A yoke connected two oxen for plowing, but it came to symbolize submission and oppression.

Jesus pictured the religious oppression of the Jews as “heavy burdens, hard to bear, [laid] on men’s shoulders” like a yoke laid on the shoulders of oxen (Matthew 23:4). God’s commandments “are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3), but the religious leaders had made them a burden by adding their own traditions to them (Mark 7:13). So Jesus invited people to come to Him and take His yoke upon them and learn the ways of God and “find rest for [their] souls,” for His yoke—His way—is easy and light (Matthew 11:29-30). 

The key to taking Jesus’ yoke is “come to Me.” Rest is not in religious requirements but in a relationship with Jesus.

Faith is reason at rest in God. 
Charles Spurgeon

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – Two-Realm Living

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All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 

—Ephesians 1:3

Scripture:

Ephesians 1:3 

A Christian is someone who lives in two dimensions. There is the spiritual dimension, and as we walk in the Spirit, we know God in the Spirit. Yet we live on the earth. And we need to transfer what we have in the spiritual realm to the earthly realm.

The apostle Paul wanted believers to know what was waiting for them in the spiritual realm. He wrote, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ” (Ephesians 1:3 NLT).

When Paul spoke of the heavenly realms, he wasn’t talking about something that is merely waiting for us in Heaven. He was talking about the supernatural realm.

For example, when I travel outside the United States, I still maintain my citizenship as an American, but I am living in the culture of the country I’m visiting. There are things that I need to adapt to. I need to exchange dollars for the currency of that nation. And I need to be aware of the exchange rate so that I know how much I’m spending.

Spiritual resources are waiting for the believer who is walking with God. Although there are treasures in the heavenly realms, there are resources that God wants us to start using here.

As Christians, we often don’t know all that God has given to us. We don’t know the resources that He has placed into our spiritual bank accounts.

For example, we sometimes pray for things that God has already given to us. We might say, “Lord, give me more love,” when the Bible says that God “has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 5:5 nlt).

We might pray for more power, yet 2 Peter 1:3 tells us that “by his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (NLT).

Maybe we have prayed for peace, but Jesus already has said, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27 NLT).

It is not a matter of needing more; we need to use what we already have. We need to stop living like spiritual paupers and start laying hold of what God has given to us. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we have God’s approval. He has adopted us, loves us, has chosen us, and has called us.

Therefore, we don’t have to sit around doubting our salvation every other day, feeling defeated and unworthy. We never were worthy and never will be worthy. It is not about worthiness; it is about Jesus and what He has done for us.

You and I don’t have to do X, Y, and Z to gain the approval of God. Rather, we need to understand what God has done for us and let it impact the way that we live.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie
Days of Praise

Days of Praise – An Early Christian Hymn

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by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)

Some scholars have concluded that the four verses following our text were set to music and sung by the early Christian church. The hymn constitutes a praise of Christ for His nature and work. Let us look at it, with insights from the Greek not always apparent in the English.

Stanza One: His character. “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (v. 22). The words “no, neither, found” imply a careful scrutiny, with no sin or guile (i.e., craftiness) found. Total perfection.

Stanza Two: His life. “Who, when he was reviled [i.e., a bitter, heart-rending wound], reviled not again; when he [continually] suffered, he threatened not [even though He had great resources at His disposal]; but [continually] committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (v. 23).

Stanza Three: His sacrifice. “Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree [carried up the cross and offered Himself as on an altar], that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes [literally, one bleeding stripe. Christ was so brutalized by His tormentors that He was simply one big wound] ye were healed” (v. 24). Our healing is past tense, at the point of salvation. It does not refer primarily to physical healing, for in this context, and in Isaiah 53, from which the hymn is quoted, spiritual healing is stressed.

Stanza Four: His mission. “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned [have been turned back] unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (v. 25).

He has done it all! He lived a sinless life and died as a worthy sacrifice, just so He could turn us back into His blessed fold. JDM

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

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Brought Low

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Bible in a Year :

Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor.

Proverbs 29:23

Today’s Scripture & Insight :

Proverbs 29:18–27

Pride precedes and often leads to humiliation—something a man in Norway found out. Not even dressed in running clothes, the individual arrogantly challenged Karsten Warholm—the world record holder in the 400-meter hurdles—to a race. Warholm, training in an indoor public facility, obliged the challenger and left him in his dust. At the finish line, the two-time world champion smiled when the man insisted that he’d had a bad start and wanted to race again!

In Proverbs 29:23 we read, “Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor.” God’s dealings with the proud is one of Solomon’s favorite themes in the book (11:2; 16:18; 18:12). The word pride or haughty in these verses means “swelling” or “puffed up”—taking credit for what rightfully belongs to God. When we’re filled with pride, we think more highly of ourselves than we should. Jesus once said, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). Both He and Solomon direct us to pursue humility and lowliness. This isn’t false modesty, but rightsizing oneself and acknowledging that all that we have comes from God. It’s being wise and not saying things arrogantly “in haste” (Proverbs 29:20).   

Let’s ask God to give us the heart and wisdom to humble ourselves to honor Him and avoid humiliation.

By:  Marvin Williams

Reflect & Pray

When have you experienced humility that brought honor? How can you humble yourself before God?

Dear God, remind me that humility is the pathway to honor in Your sight.

http://www.odb.org

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Angels on the Walls

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Bible in a Year :

We prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

Nehemiah 4:9

Today’s Scripture & Insight :

Nehemiah 4:6–9

When Wallace and Mary Brown moved to an impoverished part of Birmingham, England, to pastor a dying church, they didn’t know that a gang had made the grounds of their church and home its headquarters. The Browns had bricks thrown through their windows, their fences set on fire, and their children threatened. The abuse continued for months; the police were unable to stop it.

The book of Nehemiah recounts how the Israelites rebuilt Jerusalem’s broken walls. When locals set out to “stir up trouble,” threatening them with violence (Nehemiah 4:8), the Israelites “prayed to . . . God and posted a guard” (v. 9). Feeling God used this passage to direct them, the Browns, their children, and a few others walked around their church’s walls, praying that He would install angels as guards to protect them. The gang jeered, but the next day, only half of them showed up. The day after that, only five were there, and the day after, no one came. The Browns later heard the gang had given up terrorizing people.

This miraculous answer to prayer isn’t a formula for our own protection, but it’s a reminder that opposition to God’s work will come and must be fought with the weapon of prayer. “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome,” Nehemiah told the Israelites (v. 14). He can even set violent hearts free.

By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

What would you have done in the Browns’ situation? Who needs your prayers for deliverance today?

Awesome God, protect Your people by Your powerful angels, and set the hearts of Your enemies free.

http://www.odb.org

John MacArthur

Grace to You; John MacArthur – God’s Holiness Revealed

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 “The Lord is righteous in all His ways” (Psalm 145:17).

God’s holiness is evident in everything He does, particularly in creation, the law, judgment, and salvation.

The whole purpose of the Old Testament is to reveal the holiness and righteousness of God, who is utterly perfect and pure. In fact, the Hebrew word for “holy” is used more than 600 times in the Old Testament to indicate moral perfection.

What are some areas in which we see God’s holiness? First, we see it in the original perfection of His creation: “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). All of creation was in tune with God’s holy character.

Later God laid down His righteous, moral law for Israel. In it He gave rules about worship and society. He prescribed penalties for murder, adultery, and stealing. He condemned lying, coveting, and many other sins. There were many rules, but they revealed a God who is infinitely right and without error, flaw, or tolerance for sin. The law showed God’s character: “The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12).

God’s holiness will ultimately be demonstrated “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:7-9). His judgment on sin is a reflection of His holiness; He must punish it.

Perhaps the supreme expression of God’s holiness is seen in sending His Son to die on the cross (cf. Rom. 8:3-4). God paid the highest price, but it was the only price that could satisfy His holiness. Jesus Christ is Himself “the Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14); so only He could “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26). God’s holiness is so infinite, and our unholiness is so great, that only the sacrifice of the God-man could pay for the enormity of our sin.

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank God that He sent His Son to die for our sins, so we could be “holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4).

For Further Study

Some of God’s laws for the Israelites are given in Exodus 21—23. Note in particular the penalties for breaking these laws. What does this passage teach you about God’s character?

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur 

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God Will Help You

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The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.

— Psalm 29:11 (AMPC)

God has been showing me that we need to be aware of His present provisions now, and not in the future. In Psalm 28:7 (AMPC) David said of God, I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him. He did not say, “I will be helped.”

Wait on God, because God’s help will strengthen you to behave in a godly way all day long, if you trust in Him. Even while you wait on God to manifest His plan, your heart can greatly rejoice in His presence. Tell someone something good that God has done for you, and then watch Him move in the presence of your praise.

Prayer of the Day: Father, please help me recognize Your blessings and provision and always find joy in Your presence. Please strengthen my trust as I wait on You, amen.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Alistair Begg

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Victory Over Temptation

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Lead us not into temptation.

Luke 11:4

The Bible clearly teaches that God is not the author of sin and temptation: He does not tempt anyone (James 1:13). That being the case, why would we pray and ask God not to lead us into temptation? What exactly are we asking God to do, or not to do?

We find our answer in the subtle distinction between testing and tempting. When we pray “Lord, lead us not into temptation,” what we’re really saying is “God, help us so that we do not let the testing which comes from you become a temptation from Satan to do evil.” We are likewise asking Him not to lead us into trials without His presence and power, which are what will keep us walking through them in faith and joy instead of sinking in despair or faithlessness.

This phrase from the Lord’s Prayer is therefore important because it reminds us, and necessarily so, of temptation’s reality and proximity. In Genesis 4 God warns Cain, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but”—and here comes the exhortation—“you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7, NIV). Sadly, Cain did not respond by asking God to give him all he needed to rule over it instead of letting it rule, and ruin, him. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us not to make the same mistake.

Given sin’s propensity to consume us, we cannot simply ask God not to lead us into temptation and then believe the issue is handled. No, our actions must correspond with our prayers. If we are genuinely asking the Lord for help not to violate His holy commands, then we must not put ourselves heedlessly, needlessly, or willfully within sin’s reach.

God is both willing and perfectly able to help us battle temptation. He is fully committed in His covenant of love to ensuring that none of His children will fall into sin’s grip. There will never be an occasion in our lives when the temptation to sin is so strong that God’s grace and power cannot enable us to bear it; as Scripture reminds us, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Nor will there ever be a failure to resist temptation that cannot be covered over by the blood of Christ. Therefore, in every situation and in the face of every temptation, remember this: in Christ we’re “on the victory side.”[1] You can resist, for you have the Spirit to guide and guard you. What regular temptations to disobedience are you facing at the moment? At what places or in what moments do your trials turn to temptations? Ask God for His help right now—for you need it, and He stands ready to supply it.

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

Luke 4:1–13

Topics: Temptation Victory

FOOTNOTES

1 Fanny Crosby, “On the Victory Side” (1894).

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

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids 4 Truth

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God Never Makes Mistakes

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“As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.” (Psalm 18:30)

Have you ever tried to make it through a whole day without making a mistake, a wrong decision? When I was little I used to try so hard not to do anything wrong – not to sin – all day long. Of course, it didn’t take long before I did something wrong and sinned. Don’t you wish you could just decide to be perfect – and then not mess up? Well, you and I can’t do that, but there’s Someone that never messes up.

God never makes a mistake; He never sins! The verse I quoted above tells us that God’s words can be trusted. What God says has been “tried.” That means His word has been tested and proved. Isn’t it nice to know that we can trust what God says because He never makes a mistake? He has never made a mistake in the past and will never make one in the future. Even though we make mistakes, we know that God never will and that He can help us make fewer mistakes in the future.

When you mess up, just ask God to help you not make the same mistake twice. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” That includes doing the right thing. With God’s help you can make changes in your own life. Just trust the One who never makes a mistake!

God is perfect: He never sins, and He never makes mistakes.

My Response:
» Do I trust God to help me obey Him, or do I try to do right on my own?
» Do I trust that God will do what’s best, or do I sometimes think that He’s planned things badly?

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