Tag Archives: Bible

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Through Still Deeper Darkness

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Professor and theologian James Loder was on vacation with his family when they noticed a motorist off to the side of the road waving for help. In his book The Transforming Moment, he describes kneeling at the front fender of this broken-down car, his head bent to examine the flat tire, when he was startled by the abrupt sound of screeching brakes. A motorist who had fallen asleep at the wheel was jarred awake seconds before his vehicle crashed into the disabled car alongside the road—and the man who knelt beside it. Loder was immediately pinned between two vehicles. The car he knelt to repair was now on his chest, his own vehicle underneath him.

Years after both the incident and the rehabilitation it required, Loder was compelled to describe the impact of that moment so marked by pain and tragedy, which was unexpectedly, something much more. Loder describes the incident: “At the hospital, it was not the medical staff, grateful as I was for them, but the crucifixes—in the lobby and in the patients’ rooms—that provided a total account of my condition. In that cruciform image of Christ, the combination of physical pain and the assurance of a life greater than death gave objective expression and meaning to the sense of promise and transcendence that lived within the midst of my suffering.”(1)

For the Christian, the crucifixion is the center of the whole, the event that gives voice to a broken, dark, and dying world, and the paradoxical suggestion of life somehow within it. The Christian marks steeples and graves in memory of the crucifixion. The death of Christ is the occasion that makes way for the last to be first, the guilty to be pardoned, the creature united again to its creator. The cross of Christ is the mysterious sign that stands in the center of the history of the world and changes everything. “I have been crucified with Christ,” said one of his transformed followers. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Power of a Renewed Heart

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“…For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” — 1 Samuel 16:7 (AMP)

Adapted from the resource Closer to God Each Day Devotional – by Joyce Meyer

God is the God of hearts. He does not look only at the exterior of a person, or even the things a person does, and judge the individual by that criterion. Man judges the flesh, but God judges the heart.

It is possible to do good works and still have a wrong heart attitude. It is also possible to do some things wrong but still have a right heart on the inside. God is much more inclined to use a person with a good heart and a few problems than He is to use a person who seems to have it all together but who has a wicked heart.

It is very important that we get in touch with our inner life and our heart attitude, the way we feel and think about things (what the Bible calls the hidden man of the heart), if we want to hear from God and live in close relationship with Him.

When God seeks to promote someone, He chooses a person after His own heart.

Prayer Starter: Father, help me to be a person after Your heart—to want what You want and view others with love and compassion. I can’t change myself, but with Your help, I can change from the inside out. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Mind of Christ

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“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we must have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16, KJV).

The first thing I do when I awaken each morning is to kneel before my Lord in humility, meditate upon His attributes, and praise, worship and adore Him.

The last thing I do before I go to bed at night is to kneel in prayer, to praise, worship and give thanks to Him. Thus, my first thoughts are automatically of Him when I awaken, because all night long my subconscious mind has been meditating on Him.

Every morning of every day, I acknowledge His lordship. I gladly surrender control of my life to Him acknowledging my dependence upon Him. Then, by faith, I claim His mind and His wisdom for direction in every detail of my life. I trust Him to influence and control my attitudes, my motives, my desires, my thoughts and my actions.

In different words and ways, I remind Him that I am a suit of clothes for Him and that He can do anything He wants in and through me. I invite Him to walk around in my body. I ask Him to think with my mind, to love with my heart, to speak with my lips, to lead me wherever He wants me to go, to seek and save the lost through me.

We should study the Word of God daily and diligently, determining as an act of the will to pattern our lives according to His commands and His example. We begin to experience the reality and the availability of the mind of Christ when we literally saturate our minds with His thoughts and spend much time meditating upon His Word.

Bible Reading:I Corinthians 2:9-15

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Consciously and deliberately I will begin each day by inviting Christ to walk around in my body, think with my mind, love with my heart, speak with my lips and continue to “seek and save the lost” through me

 

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A God of Rest

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

When Christ died on the Cross, “He carried our sins in his body so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right” (1 Peter 2:24). Heaven’s work of redemption was finished.  Whatever barrier that had separated us, or might ever separate us from God was gone. The nagging questions are gone:  Am I good enough?  Will I achieve enough?

The legalist finds rest. The atheist finds hope. God is not a god of burdens but a God of rest. He knows we cannot achieve perfection.  Jesus invites, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-30).  What a promise! And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakeable!

Read more Unshakable Hope

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – “Mob rule” as Kavanaugh hearings begin

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“I’ve covered five other Supreme Court confirmation hearings. None of them included anything like the chaos in the opening minutes of the Kavanaugh hearings this morning.”

This was New York Times legal reporter Adam Liptak’s response to the beginning of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s hearings yesterday. Today’s Washington Post reports that dozens of protesters were arrested; one senator complained of “mob rule” as the hearings began.

In other controversial news, Nike announced that former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick will be featured in its new advertising campaign. The company’s stock fell more than 3 percent on the news and some burned their Nike apparel in protest. Others applauded the company for its decision; some are calling Kaepernick “the face of the new civil rights movement.”

“You have wrapped yourself in a cloud”

As our society becomes more divided and divisive, Christians are tempted to withdraw from the acrimonious “culture wars.” The more secular our culture becomes, the more absent God seems.

But this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, like a horoscope that predicts the bad day its reader then expects and thus experiences. The less we look for God, the less we see him. And the less we see him, the less we look for him.

This cycle extends to our prayers as well.

The book of Lamentations describes its author’s grief over the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple in 586 BC. By chapter 3, the author’s mourning for his nation has affected his intercession.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Every Christian Rewarded

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1 Corinthians 3:5-15

Scripture is very clear about the fact that wonderful benefits await believers who obey and bring glory to God. In Psalm 19, David wrote that there is great reward in keeping the Lord’s precepts (Psalm 19:11). What’s more, the promise of heavenly gifts comes straight from Jesus Christ’s mouth in the Sermon on the Mount. (See Matt. 5:12.)

Reread today’s passage, and notice Paul’s assertion that he and Apollos would each receive rewards for their service to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 3:8). God neither offers group prizes nor reserves treasure only for those who work in ministry. We are all ministers of the gospel, whose good works store up heavenly treasure. God sees our Spirit-led decisions and actions as worthy of reward. You may not feel particularly important or essential in this big world, but your every action and word matter to God. What He values is the believer yielding to the Holy Spirit’s direction.

The motivation behind our actions is important too—sometimes good works are done for the wrong reasons. For example, Jesus revealed that some religious leaders were fasting to gain attention, not to please God (Matt. 6:16). When a person seeks the applause of men, their adulation is the sole reward. While this may feel good for a while, flattery is not eternal.

I suspect that one day we’ll all shed tears of regret over the righteous acts we neglected or the work we did for personal glory. We will realize how much more we could have done for the Lord. But then He will dry our tears and make us new, as He promised (Revelation 21:4-5).

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 26-28

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Beyond the Stars

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Read: Psalm 8:1–9 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 143–145; 1 Corinthians 14:21–40

You have set your glory in the heavens. Psalm 8:1

In 2011, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration celebrated thirty years of space research. In those three decades, shuttles carried more than 355 people into space and helped construct the International Space Station. After retiring five shuttles, NASA has now shifted its focus to deep-space exploration.

The human race has invested massive amounts of time and money, with some astronauts even sacrificing their lives, to study the immensity of the universe. Yet the evidence of God’s majesty stretches far beyond what we can measure.

When we consider the Sculptor and Sustainer of the universe who knows each star by name (Isaiah 40:26), we can understand why the psalmist David praises His greatness (Psalm 8:1). The Lord’s fingerprints are on “the moon and the stars, which [He] set in place” (v. 3). The Maker of the heavens and the earth reigns above all, yet He remains near all His beloved children, caring for each intimately and personally (v. 4). In love, God gives us great power, responsibility, and the privilege to care for and explore the world He’s entrusted to us (vv. 5–8).

As we study our star-spattered night skies, our Creator invites us to seek Him with passion and persistence. He hears every prayer and song of praise flowing from our lips.

Loving Creator of the universe, thank You for being mindful of us.

The greatness of God is evident in His awesome vastness and intimate nearness.

By Xochitl Dixon

INSIGHT

Paul wrote that the sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another, and the stars in their differing sizes and brightness, still another (1 Corinthians 15:40–41). The varying wonders of the night sky, however, are only a hint of the differences we see in the glory of God. While the cosmos stretches our mind with its evidence of unlimited space and power, the heart of God contains a far greater wonder. Beyond the unbounded expanse, colors, and wonders of the cosmos is the hidden glory of the love of God on the cross.

Father, when we consider the universe Your hands have made and the face that bore the spit and fists of those who mocked Jesus, what is man that You are mindful of us?

Mart DeHaan

 

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Ordinary Greatness

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As one who spends a fair bit of time sitting in airports, I have the opportunity to people watch. There are the elite travelers who emerge from airline lounges with their power suits and designer cases, and then there are those who are traveling for leisure, souvenirs and gifts in tow. I love seeing the variety of clothing styles depending on what region I am in, and listening in on conversations betrays regional dialects and phrases. Business deals are made or broken, discussions over the day’s events all done in the parlance of the place.

More often than not, my attention is drawn to those who sit alone, as I do. In the smaller, regional airports I see the elderly gentleman in the wheelchair, alone. I look at the gate agent as she texts on her phone after yet another flight delay, hoping to hide from the ire of the passengers who needed to arrive at their destination hours ago. There is the single mother trying to corral her children, the slouched, sad looking twenty-something with a melancholic and listless gaze. There we all sit waiting. Wondering. Is there anything more than this?

The inherent routine, mundane tasks and waiting for whatever is next on the agenda can fill the days with a deepening ennui and a longing for something greater—something like a sense of finding and fulfilling one’s potential. As one who sits anonymously in airports watching and waiting, what does “potential” even mean? In a world of social media where status is measured by the number of friends or followers, likes or shares there is often a feeling that one’s life just doesn’t measure up. And in a celebrity culture, where success is measured by beauty, wealth, or status how can one ever feel she has reached her potential? If the exceptional is the guide for achievement, how will those of us who live somewhere between the average and the ordinary ever feel we’ve arrived?

Most of us occupy an existence often filled with the mundane or the banal. Never ending housework, constant bills, and running endless errands do not make one feel substantial. These are the daily details that make up often dulling routines. Indeed, for artists and bus drivers, homemakers and neurosurgeons, astronauts and cashiers repetitive motion is more the norm than moments of great challenge or extraordinary success. With endless quotidian tasks, is it any wonder that reaching one’s potential serves as an ideal to free us from the constraints of such ordinary lives?

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – “I Want a Mind Change”

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And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins. — Ephesians 2:1 (AMP)

Adapted from the resource – by Joyce Meyer

I find a great deal of comfort in thinking about who I used to be and who I have become. It helps me not to be discouraged when I make mistakes or find that I still struggle over some issues. I’m greatly encouraged when I consider where I started and where I am now.

In Ephesians 2, Paul described those outside of Christ. He wrote that unbelievers follow the prince of the power of the air, who is Satan, and they follow the way their master leads. In verse 1, he pointed out that all were once dead through their sins, but believers are now alive in Jesus Christ. He tells us we’re not governed or led by our lower nature—the impulses of the flesh.

Many Christians have trouble in this area because they haven’t learned to control their thoughts. A lady once told me, “It simply didn’t occur to me that I needed to direct my mind and keep it healthy and positive. If ministers preached or taught about the control of our thoughts, I never heard it. One day, however, I read an article about the power of thoughts, and God convicted me. That’s when I knew I needed to change my thinking.”

This lady said she drove down the street of a busy city and she spotted a sign, a cartoon of a car with big eyes for the front lights and tears flowing, and the words, “Please help me! I need an oil change.”

As she passed by, she thought, I need a mind change. I don’t like being the way I am, letting my mind go wherever it wants. Part of my responsibility as a child of God is to keep my thoughts healthy and strong.

“I want to make it clear that I went to church,” she said, “and I had been active for years. I knew a lot of Scripture, and I even did some volunteer work at the church. But I didn’t control my thoughts. Even when I sang in church, my mind jumped from subject to subject. We’d be singing about joy and grace, and I’d think about the dishes still in the sink, the unfinished laundry, or what I wanted to eat for lunch.

“I attended church and I was faithful, but I was not faithful in attending to the Word. I listened when the preachers quoted Scripture. I usually followed along with my own Bible, but I didn’t really think about what I was hearing or what my eyes were reading. I was doing the right things outwardly, but I wasn’t thinking the right things. My mind was a mess, and I didn’t know what to do about it.”

“I need a mind change,” she suddenly said aloud to herself. Just then, she actually pondered the words she had spoken. She was like the car on the sign—she needed a change—a mind change. She needed to let the Holy Spirit direct her thoughts instead of the devil. As she prayed, she felt confident there would be a positive change.

She thought to herself, Is there anything I am supposed to do? She realized that if she didn’t make lifestyle changes, the devil would soon make the new thinking as muddy and gunky as the old thinking was.

For the next several days, she looked up all the scriptures she could find that used the word study or meditate. She also looked up scriptures that talked about the mind or thoughts. She read those verses, wrote them on slips of paper, and pondered them.

Here are three of them:

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he… (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV).

And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude] (Ephesians 4:23 AMPC).

My hands also will I lift up [in fervent supplication] to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes (Psalm 119:48 AMPC).

The more she meditated on the right things, the less trouble she had with Satan trying to control her thoughts. That’s how it works with all of us: The more we focus on God, the less often the devil can defeat us.

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for the power in Your Word to renew my mind. Please help me to stay focused on You and choose positive, faith-filled thoughts that will propel my life in the right direction. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Blessed are the Humble

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

A young Christian leader, who was probably more impressed with himself than he should have been, shared with me one day how he had difficulty in being humble about all of his talent. He was a better than average speaker and a reasonably gifted singer, he had a good mind and personality, and in his heart of hearts he knew that as a Christian he should be humble.

He said, “I spend many hours on my knees asking God to make me humble.” I responded, “I can save you a lot of prayer time in that regard if you are interested.” He assured me that he was. Whereupon I explained to him that every gift he possessed – personality, good mind, his ability to sing, speak, and other qualities – were all gifts of God and could be taken from him at any moment by a brain tumor or a car accident or plane crash or any of a thousand different things. Furthermore I reminded him that Scripture admonishes us to humble ourselves.

“Humility is perfect quietness of heart,” Andrew Murray said. “It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or irritated or sore or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed hope in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness when all around and above is trouble.”

Few Christians achieve such high standards, nevertheless it is an objective toward which we all should strive as long as we live, following the example of our Lord recorded in Philippians, chapter 2.

To be poor in spirit implies not only that we have a humble opinion of ourselves, but also that we recognize that we are sinners and have no righteousness of our own; that we are willing to be saved only by the grace and mercy of God; that we are willing to serve where God places us, to bear the burdens He allows and to stay in His hands and admit that we deserve no favor from Him.

As commonly interpreted, the word “blessed” means “happy.” You and I are assured of happiness when we are making conscious strides toward humility. All of this becomes possible as we yield to God’s indwelling Holy Spirit.

Bible Reading:Matthew 5:17-20

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: With the help of the Holy Spirit I will consciously humble myself, asking Him to enable me to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and my neighbor as myself as an act of humility and as a major factor in achieving the supernatural life.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Debt Clock

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

If you want to be utterly distraught, spend a few moments in the presence of the U.S. National Debt Clock in New York City. It uses 306 light bulbs to endlessly declare the U.S. debt and each family’s share. As I pondered the clock this question came to me. What if heaven had one of these?  A marquee that measured our spiritual debt?  Does it click at each infraction?  We lie…click.  We gossip…click. We demand our way…click.

A financial liability is one matter, but a spiritual one?  The debt of sin has a serious consequence.  It separates us from God.  What do we do? The apostle Paul said, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).  Paul knew that because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!

Read more Unshakable Hope

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum – The missing Dallas priest

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Father Edmundo Paredes disappeared from Dallas six months ago.

The Roman Catholic priest stands accused of financial theft and sexual abuse. Earlier this summer, his diocese reached a financial settlement with three males who accused him of molesting them when they were teenagers.

Paredes was suspended in June 2017. Earlier this year, church officials lost touch with him. They sent certified letters to him and went to his house but could not find him.

One church member said of the now-missing priest, “Let’s say he avoids man’s law. He can’t avoid God’s.”

Is the pope facing a “watershed moment”?

Father Paredes is just one example of the sexual abuse scandal enveloping the Roman Catholic Church. This morning’s Washington Post carries a headline asking if Pope Francis is facing a “watershed moment” for his handling of the crisis.

Princeton legal scholar Robert George, who is Catholic, asked recently in the Wall Street Journal, “Is it time for Pope Francis to resign?” The Journal reports that US bishops are deeply divided over the pope’s handling of the crisis.

Whatever our view of the pope’s response, we would all agree that abusing even one child is an unspeakable sin that deeply grieves the One who loves and welcomes children (Matthew 19:13-15) and denounces all who harm them (Matthew 18:5-6).

There is another issue at work here as well. To the degree that Catholic officials protected the institution of the church rather than those it is called to serve, they committed the sin of idolatry.

Tragically, they are not the first to commit this sin. Nor is this sin limited to Catholic officials.

“He burned the house of the Lord”

“In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month–that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon–Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down” (Jeremiah 52:12-13).

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Setting Boundaries Against Temptation

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2 Timothy 2:20-22

Do you have a sin that you simultaneously hate and love? You really want to overcome it, but as soon as you’re tempted, the anticipated pleasure erases all your willpower. These love/hate temptations are what cause us the greatest struggle, but sometimes part of the problem is our lack of boundaries.

Although we’ll never be totally free from temptation, we can take steps to protect ourselves—namely, we can establish practices and boundaries to guard us from wandering into a danger zone. When Scripture addresses this topic, it presents two contrasting instructions.

Flee lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace (2 Tim. 2:22). The goal isn’t simply to resist temptation, but to move as far as possible in the opposite direction, toward godliness.

Submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7). Trying to withstand temptation is futile unless we first commit to living obediently before God. With submission comes the power to resist.

Don’t conform to the world, but be transformed by renewing your mind (Rom. 12:2). If we fill our head with the ideas and priorities of the culture, we’ll be easy targets for temptation. But Ephesians 6:17 calls God’s Word our “sword of the Spirit”—a weapon we can use for defense against the enemy’s attacks.

God showed us the boundaries behind which we are safe. He’s warned that if we toy with our cravings and place ourselves in the way of temptation, we will fall. So draw near to God (James 4:8) and the protection of His Word, wisdom, and power.

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 23-25

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Finding the Way Home

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Read: 2 Corinthians 1:3–11 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 140–142; 1 Corinthians 14:1–20

[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:4

Sometimes this journey through life can be so difficult that we’re simply overwhelmed, and it seems there’s no end to the darkness. During such a time in our own family’s life, my wife emerged one morning from her quiet time with a new lesson learned. “I think God wants us not to forget in the light what we’re learning in this darkness.”

Paul writes this same thought to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 1), after describing the terrible difficulties he and his team endured in Asia. Paul wants the Corinthians to understand how God can redeem even our darkest moments. We’re comforted, he says, so we may learn how to comfort others (v. 4). Paul and his team were learning things from God during their trials that they could use to comfort and advise the Corinthians when they faced similar difficulties. And God does that for us as well, if we’re willing to listen. He will redeem our trials by teaching us how to use what we’ve learned in them to minister to others.

Are you in the darkness now? Be encouraged by Paul’s words and experience. Trust that God is right now directing your steps and that He’s also stamping His truths on your heart so you can share them with others who are in similar circumstances. You’ve been there before, and you know the way home.

Father, help those who are hurting today so they may see and know Your loving presence in their darkest hours.

Never forget in the light what you learn in the darkness.

By Randy Kilgore

INSIGHT

The Greek word for comfort (paraklesis) means “to come alongside and help.” Jesus is called our parakletos (advocate) in 1 John 2:1. The Holy Spirit is another advocate or comforter (John 14:16–17). Paul asserts that God is “the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). The triune Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is there with us in our pain. By saying God is the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 2–3), Paul reminds us that coming alongside to help each other is a family duty and privilege (v. 4).

To whom can you be a parakletos—a comforter—this coming week?

  1. T. Sim

 

 

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Ravi Zacharias Ministry – We Must Play

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In August of 1963, due to his ailing health and increasing responsibilities, C.S. Lewis announced his retirement from Cambridge. His stepson Douglas Gresham and friend Walter Hooper were sent to the university to sort out his affairs and bring home the two thousand or so books that lined the walls of his Magdalene College office. Knowing the house was already filled to its bursting point with books, the pair wondered all the way home where on earth they would find the space to put them. But Lewis had already contrived an intricate plan for their use.

A nurse named Alec had been hired to stay up nights in case Lewis fell ill and needed his assistance. As the men returned with the enormous load of books, Alec was asleep in his room on the ground floor. As the truck pulled into the driveway, Lewis appeared, cautioning them to silence. “Where’ll we store the books?” Hooper whispered, to which Lewis responded with a wink. Carrying each stack with tedious concern so as not to wake the sleeping victim, the three men piled the works around the nurse’s bed, sealing him in a cocoon of manuscript and literature. When they were finished, the books were stacked nearly to the ceiling, filling every square inch of the room where the snoring nurse still slept.

Much to the relief of the anxious culprits who were waiting outside, Alex finally awoke. From within the insulated tomb, first came sounds of bellowing, and finally the tumbling of the great literary wall. An amused nurse emerged from within the wreckage.

The characters in this story are every bit as spirited as some of the playful personalities from Lewis’s imaginary worlds. These are the whimsical scenes—fiction and non-fiction—that seal in my mind the many weighty lessons I have wrought from him. But perhaps namely: Christianity is a religion with room—and reason—for life and laughter.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Diligent

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Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble. — 2 Peter 1:10 (NKJV)

Adapted from the resource – by Joyce Meyer

To be diligent means to be constant in effort or exertion to accomplish what is undertaken.

Many people are unhappy because they only want to do things that are easy or convenient. This saddens me because these people often cheat themselves out of the rewards God has for them simply because they want to avoid difficulty. However, if we are willing to let God help us do our best, we will reap great benefits.

God wants to bless you in many ways. Sometimes you may go through difficulties first, but there is always blessing on the other side. Remember, you never have to do it in your own strength—you can always rely on His strength to see you through. If you refuse to give up, you’ll overcome every challenge and receive God’s best for your life.

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for the power of Your Holy Spirit in my life to help me stick with things and follow through. Help me to not give up when life gets tough, but to stay diligent to the very end. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado -Jesus Lives to Intercede for You

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

When Tyler Sullivan was 11-years-old he skipped school so he could meet the president of the United States. Barack Obama was visiting Tyler’s hometown of Golden Valley, Minnesota, and Tyler’s father had introduced the president at an event.  When Tyler met him, President Obama realized Tyler was missing school. The president asked an aide to bring him a card with presidential letterhead. He then wrote a note to Tyler’s teacher. It said,  Please excuse Tyler. He was with me. (signed) Barack Obama, the president.

It’s not every day the president speaks up on behalf of a kid. But every day Jesus speaks up for you. Hebrews 7:25 says, “He always lives to intercede for us.” Jesus is praying. He is praying for you! This is a promise from God.  And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!

Read more Unshakable Hope

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

 

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Why Labor Day isn’t a four-day weekend

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Labor Day is filled with paradoxes.

Begin with the name. We honor America’s 160 million laborers by giving them a day free from labor, then we call their holiday “Labor Day.”

However, the name is unfortunately appropriate for our largest labor group: retail employees. They will have one of their longest workdays today as Americans flood into stores for Labor Day sales.

Labor Day could have led to a four-day weekend, but Congress intervened. The first Labor Day was on a Tuesday in 1882. In 1894, Congress moved the holiday to the first Monday in September. When you go back to work tomorrow, blame them.

God “will neither slumber nor sleep”

The good news is that the Lord doesn’t need a Labor Day. Scripture consistently proclaims the omnipotence of the One who “will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).

We can respond to God’s work in the world in three ways.

We can ignore him. We can separate Sunday from Monday, the “spiritual” from “secular,” religion from the “real world.” This is what millions of people who attended church services yesterday will do tomorrow. They see no overlap between their worship and their work. Of course, they forfeit the guidance and empowering of our omniscient, omnipotent Lord.

We can oppose him. We can actively reject his word and will, choosing to be our own God (Genesis 3:5) and working against his kingdom on earth. Of course, no one, from the devil (Revelation 12:7-9) to the most depraved human (Matthew 8:28-32), can defeat the only King of the universe.

We can work as he works. We can join him as he extends his kingdom on earth, using our influence and resources as his Spirit leads and empowers us. This is the only way to redeem our work for eternity and leave a legacy that matters.

How do we join God at work?

“Something greater than ourselves” Continue reading Denison Forum – Why Labor Day isn’t a four-day weekend →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Limits on Temptation

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1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Despite what we may feel, Christians aren’t powerless against temptation. Nor are we alone in this struggle—it is common to the human experience. Even Jesus was tempted—but unlike everyone else, He never sinned (Heb. 4:15). Since our Savior understands our struggle, we can approach Him for help in every temptation.

Christ’s help comes in a variety of ways. First, we can learn a positive lesson from how He used scriptural truths to refute Satan’s lies (Matt. 4:1-11). Next, we can also be instructed by the negative example of the Israelites, who “crave[d] evil things” and suffered the consequences (1 Corinthians 10:6). The Bible admonishes us not to become complacent and think we couldn’t possibly fall when tempted by either Satan or the world (1 Corinthians 10:12). Lastly, it’s encouraging to know God has put limits on the temptations He allows to come our way (1 Corinthians 10:13). Consider what this promise reveals about Him:

He is faithful. As our loving Father, He watches over us. He knows exactly what allurements we face and provides a way for us to be victorious.

He is powerful. Satan does not have free rein to attack and tempt us. Every enticement that comes our way is controlled by the Lord, who will not let us be tempted beyond what we are able to bear.

He is sufficient. He provides a way of escape—often through His Word, His Spirit, and prayer-—so we can endure the temptation without falling.

Whenever you’re tempted and feel as if you can’t resist, remember whose you are, what He has promised, and what He’s provided for your victory.

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 20-22

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Strength for Your Journey

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Read: Habakkuk 3:16–19 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 137–139; 1 Corinthians 13

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. Habakkuk 3:19

Hinds Feet on High Places, a classic allegory of the Christian life, is based on Habakkuk 3:19. The story follows the character Much-Afraid as she goes on a journey with the Shepherd. But Much-Afraid is scared so she asks the Shepherd to carry her.

The Shepherd kindly replies, “I could carry you all the way up to the High Places myself, instead of leaving you to climb there. But if I did, you would never be able to develop hinds’ feet, and become my companion and go where I go.”

Much-Afraid echoes the questions of the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk (and if I’m honest, my questions too): “Why must I experience suffering?” “Why is my journey difficult?”

Habakkuk lived in Judah in the late seventh century bc before the Israelites were taken into exile. The prophet found himself in a society that overlooked social injustice and was immobilized by the fear of imminent invasion by the Babylonians (Habakkuk 1:2–11). He asked the Lord to intervene and remove suffering (1:13). God replied that He would act justly but in His timing (2:3).

In faith, Habakkuk chose to trust the Lord. Even if the suffering did not end, the prophet believed that God would continue to be his strength.

We too can take comfort that the Lord is our strength to help us endure suffering and will also use the most challenging of life’s journeys to deepen our fellowship with Christ.

God, sometimes my suffering seems too much to bear. Help me to trust You and continue to walk with You on this journey.

We can trust the Lord to be our strength in tough times.

By Lisa Samra

INSIGHT

Because the culture we live in differs from that of the biblical writers, our understanding of the significance of the pictures they paint can be limited. Today’s passage expresses deep and foundational hope in the midst of great suffering.

Verse 17 lists six things that constituted their major sources of food and clothing—figs, grapes, olives, fields, sheep, and cattle. In essence, Habakkuk is painting a picture of being starving and naked. He is suggesting that even at death’s door—without food or clothing (vv. 18–19)—we can still experience deep joy and trust in the Lord.

Have you experienced a time when all your resources were depleted? How did God teach you to trust in Him?

J.R. Hudberg

 

 

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