Tag Archives: Bible

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God Understands You

Leave a comment

 

Listen to Today’s Devotion

Jesus was undiluted deity. No wonder no one argued when he declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). He has authority over everything. And he has it forever! Yet in spite of this lofty position, Jesus was willing for a time to forgo the privileges of divinity and enter humanity.

Are you troubled in spirit?  He was too. (John 12:27)

Are you so anxious you could die?  He was too. (Matthew 26:38)

Are you overwhelmed with grief?  He was too. (John 11:35)

So human he could touch people. So mighty he could heal people. So heavenly he spoke with authority. So human he could blend in unnoticed for thirty years. So mighty he could change history and be unforgotten for two thousand years. Because Jesus was human, He understands you. And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!

Read more Unshakable Hope

 

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Wife of pastor who committed suicide posts message to him

Leave a comment

Andrew Stoecklein was married to Kayla and father of their three small boys. He was also pastor of a thriving megachurch in California.

Last Saturday, he took his own life.

His wife has now posted a remarkable tribute to her husband. I hope you’ll read it in its entirety. She closes: “Until we meet again I will cling to my Father in heaven. He will carry me through every second, every minute, every hour of every day.” She continues to say of God, “He has got this.”

Why do you need to trust your Father’s sovereignty today?

A message from a 120-year-old chapel

I was walking in our neighborhood recently and passed a wooden chapel built in the 1890s. A nearby cemetery houses the remains of Civil War veterans. Over the chapel stood the moon, estimated by scientists to be 4.53 billion years old. In front of me was the morning sunrise.

This thought occurred to me: God is sovereign over all of this.

He was sovereign when this chapel was constructed 120 years ago. It witnessed World War I, in which my grandfather fought and during which his family despaired of his life. It witnessed World War II, in which my father fought and during which his family despaired of his life.

It witnessed the Cold War, during which I participated as a child in bomb drills in case we were attacked. It witnessed the Vietnam War, during which I had friends whose brothers fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

It witnessed 9/11, the most horrific terror attack in American history. It witnessed the Great Depression and the Great Recession. During each period of great calamity, Christians came to worship in that wooden chapel in the belief that their God was sovereign. And they were right.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Wife of pastor who committed suicide posts message to him →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Practices of Maturity

Leave a comment

 

Hebrews 5:12-14

Believers are on a continual growth track that ascends higher and higher. This side of heaven, none of us ever “arrive,” but we each have a responsibility to press on to maturity. Though many people think those who know a lot about the Bible are the spiritually mature ones, Hebrews 5:14 adds the element of practice to the growth equation. This word means a custom or habit. Christian growth requires the discipline of godly habits carried out daily.

The most important practice to cultivate is a personal devotional time. Since God is the source of all spiritual development, you can’t neglect Him and expect to become mature. Transformation begins with time in His Word and prayer.

Obedience is another essential element for advancement. When our desire to obey the Lord is stronger than our attraction to sin, we’ll know we are making progress in our spiritual life.

In terms of physical development, the goal is to become more independent and self-sufficient as we age. But in the spiritual realm, the opposite is true. Those who are mature in Christ recognize their own inadequacy and rely on the Holy Spirit within them. It’s His job to transform our character and empower us to accomplish everything the Lord calls us to do.

In God’s eyes, maturity isn’t the same as getting older. By digging into Scripture and developing God-pleasing habits, we can use our years to grow stronger in the Lord instead of wasting time with passivity. No one becomes mature accidentally. Spiritual growth requires a diligent pursuit of God.

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 7-9

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — You Love Me?

Leave a comment

 

Read: Malachi 1:1–5 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 126–128; 1 Corinthians 10:19–33

How have you loved us? Malachi 1:2

As a teenager, I went through the typical season of rebellion against my mother’s authority. My father died before I entered adolescence, so my mom had to navigate these turbulent parenting waters without his help.

I recall thinking that Mom didn’t want me to ever have any fun—and maybe didn’t even love me—because she frequently said no. I see now that she said no to activities that weren’t good for me precisely because she loves me.

The Israelites questioned how much God loved them because of their time in captivity in Babylon. But that captivity was God’s correction for their continued rebellion against Him. So now, God sent the prophet Malachi to them. His opening words from the Lord were, “I have loved you” (Malachi 1:2). Israel replied skeptically, inquiring as to how God has loved them, as if to say, “Really?” But God, through Malachi, reminded them of the way He had demonstrated that love: He had chosen them over the Edomites.

We all go through difficult seasons in life. We may be tempted to question God’s love for us during those times. Let’s recall the many ways He’s shown us His unfailing love. When we stop to consider His goodness, we find that He is indeed a loving Father.

Lord, You have shown tender care for me over the course of my life. You’ve been present with me in difficult seasons. Help me to always remember Your love.

Our heavenly Father corrects us and comforts us.

By Kirsten Holmberg

INSIGHT

Malachi, though a short book, is a very important one. Malachi ministered as the last prophet sent to the remnant that had returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity. The prophet’s central theme is the coming of the Messiah. The prophet preaches about God’s righteous judgment as well as His love. It’s only in the overwhelming sacrifice of the Messiah, His victory over death, and coming back to earth to make all things right, that the love of God can be fully understood.

The unmerited offer of redeeming grace made known through Jesus Christ is the central theme of the Bible. Certainly our Lord’s life and ministry are a marvelous picture of God’s declaration “I have loved you” (1:2).

Why not take a few minutes to prayerfully reflect on Christ coming to redeem you and the future hope of His coming again.

Dennis Fisher

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Into the Story

Leave a comment

 

Science fiction novelist Kurt Vonnegut once said of one of his most recurrent characters, “Trout was the only character I ever created who had enough imagination to suspect that he might be the creation of another human being. He had spoken of this possibility several times to his parakeet. He had said, for instance, ‘Honest to God, Bill, the way things are going, all I can think of is that I’m a character in a book by somebody who wants to write about somebody who suffers all the time.”(1) In this scene from the book Breakfast of Champions, Kilgore Trout’s haunting suspicion is unveiled before him. Sitting content at a bar, Kilgore is suddenly overwhelmed by someone or something that has entered the room. Beginning to sweat, he becomes uncomfortably aware of a presence disturbingly greater than himself.

The author himself, Kurt Vonnegut, has stepped beyond the role of narrator and into the book itself, and the effect is as bizarre for Kilgore as it is for the readers. When the author of the book steps into the novel, fiction is lost within a new reality. Kilgore senses the world as he knows it collapsing. In fact, this was the author’s intent. Vonnegut has placed himself in Kilgore’s world for no other reason than to explain the meaninglessness of Kilgore’s life. He came to explain to Kilgore face to face that the very tiresome life he has led was, in fact, all due to the pen and whims of an author who made it all up for his own sake. In this twisted ending, no doubt illustrative of Vonnegut’s own humanism, Kilgore is forced to conclude that apart from the imagination of the author he does not actually exist. Ironically, he also must come to terms with the fact that it is because of the author that his very existence has been ridiculous.

The testifying voices of the gospel tell a story that is perhaps as fantastic as Vonnegut’s tale, though one with consequences in stark contrast. The Gospel of John, too, begins with a story that is interrupted by the presence of the author: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and that life was the light of all people… And the word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a Father’s only son, full of grace and truth… From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.”(2) The word became one of us and moved into the neighborhood. But in this story, the presence of the author is not our demise but our inherent good.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Into the Story →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Our Number One Goal in Life

Leave a comment

 

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. — Romans 8:29

Adapted from the resource New Day, New You Devotional – by Joyce Meyer

Our number one goal in life as Christians should be Christlikeness. Jesus is the express image of the Father, and we are to follow in His footsteps. He came as the pioneer of our faith to show us by example how we should live and conduct ourselves. We should seek to behave with people the way Jesus did.

Our goal is not to see how successful we can be in business or how famous we can be. It is not prosperity, popularity, or even building a big ministry, but to be Christ-like.

The world doesn’t only need a sermon preached to them; they also need to see actions backing up what we say we believe as Christians. Our lives should make other people hungry and thirsty for what we have in Christ. The Bible refers to us as salt, which makes people thirsty, and light, which exposes darkness.

Many Christians have bumper stickers on their cars, or they wear some kind of jewelry that indicates they are believers in Jesus Christ. The world is not impressed by our bumper stickers and Christian jewelry; they want to see fruit of godly behavior. They want to see people who claim to be Christians living what they preach, not just preaching to others while it doesn’t seem to be working in their own lives.

Prayer Starter: Lord, help me today to be a good witness for You and truly show people what You are like. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – No Abuse Tolerated

Leave a comment

 

“So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19, KJV).

A prominent secular columnist and a businessman were united in their efforts to destroy a well-known godly Christian leader. It seemed that they would stoop to whatever mischief was necessary to accomplish their goal: Discredit this man of God.

One day they were warned of the danger of attacking God’s anointed. They were shown that they were not simply attacking an individual, but they were actually tempting God, because this man was His servant and it was God’s responsibility to take care of him. The warning was given in these words, “If I were you, I’d be petrified with fear because you are not attacking a man, but a servant of God. I’d be afraid of what God would do to me to punish me if I were guilty of doing what you are doing.”

They laughed at such a warning, but only a few hours later one of them was killed in a tragic accident. The other was very sobered by this dramatic demonstration of how God protects His own.

I agree with the man who gave the warning. In fact, I would hate to be a critic or an enemy, not just of a godly Christian leader, but of any child of God who seeks to live a holy life because that individual can be assured that God will fight for Him. Whenever a person who desires to please the Lord with all of his attitudes and actions and desires and motives is attacked, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against the adversary.

If you are a man or woman of God, I would be scared to death to criticize you, or to find fault with you, or to attack you in any way. All who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ have been purchased with His own precious blood, and he will not tolerate the abuse of His blood-purchased followers.

Bible Reading:Isaiah 59:16-21

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: With God’s help, I will guard my tongue, my attitudes and actions concerning other believers, following the admonition, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). I will seek to love all men as an expression of the supernatural life-style.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Mercy and Grace

Leave a comment

 

Listen to Today’s Devotion

You and I have stumbled in life.  We’ve done our best, only to trip and fall.  The distance between where we are and where we want to be is impassable. Where do we turn? I suggest we look to one of God’s sweetest promises:

“For our high priest [Jesus] is able to understand our weaknesses.  He was tempted in every way that we are, but he did not sin.  Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne where there is grace.  There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it”  (Hebrews 4:15-16).

When we stumble we aren’t abandoned. The stunning idea is simply this: God, for a time, became one of us.  God became flesh in the form of Jesus Christ.  Neither his humanity nor deity were compromised.  Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!

Read more Unshakable Hope

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Three facts explain John McCain’s popularity

Leave a comment

 

Today is John Sidney McCain III’s birthday. The war hero, longtime senator, and presidential candidate would have been eighty-two years old.

His body is lying in state in the Arizona state capitol today. A private service will be held at 10 a.m., then the public can pay their respects beginning at 2 p.m. local time.

Tomorrow, a memorial service will be held at North Phoenix Baptist Church, his home congregation. The event will be livestreamed on McCain’s website.

Friday, McCain’s body will lie in state inside the US Capitol Rotunda. Only thirty other people in US history have been so honored. His Senate colleagues and staff will honor him in an 11:00 a.m. ceremony, then members of the public will pay their respects from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

On Saturday, a televised funeral service will begin at 10 a.m. in the Washington National Cathedral. At McCain’s request, former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama will deliver eulogies. On Sunday, McCain’s family will hold a private service at the US Naval Academy before laying his body to rest at the academy’s cemetery.

What explains John McCain’s abiding popularity across our land?

One: He put principles before politics

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called McCain “a great American patriot, a statesman who put his country first and enriched this institution through many years of service.” Such praise from a leader of his own political party is unsurprising.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Three facts explain John McCain’s popularity →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – A Barometer for Spiritual Growth

Leave a comment

 

1 Corinthians 13:11-13

Since our Father wants us to mature in the faith, we should stop periodically and examine our life to see if we’re making progress in this area. Physical growth is fairly easy to evaluate—all you need is a tape measure. But how can you tell if you’re growing spiritually? Let’s begin by considering how children develop.

Desires. Have you noticed that your childhood toys no longer interest you? The maturing process changes our desires in the spiritual realm, too. When we’re growing, the world’s pleasures lose their appeal, while our hunger for God and His Word increases. We are eager to be with Him and share with others how He’s working in our life.

Understanding. When you were young, your perception of the world was very limited. In the same way, we lack spiritual understanding when we’re new believers. But in time, we begin to see life from God’s perspective. Trials and temptations become opportunities for growth, and service for the Lord becomes an honor instead of a burden.

Selflessness. The most obvious sign of a toddler’s immaturity is his selfishness. He wants his way, and he wants it now! Hopefully that is no longer characteristic of you. A mature believer is submissive to the Lord, willing to wait, and more concerned about others than himself.

How are you doing in these three areas of growth? Maybe it’s time to let go of a few childish ways in order to grow into a mature believer. The greatest evidence of maturity is love. When the Lord and other people have first place in our heart, it’s then that we’re most like Jesus.

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 4-6

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Learning to Trust

Leave a comment

 

Read: Matthew 6:25–34 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 123–125; 1 Corinthians 10:1–18

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

When I was a teenager I sometimes challenged my mother when she tried to encourage me to have faith. “Trust God. He will take care of you,” she would tell me. “It’s not that simple, Mom!” I would bark back. “God helps those who help themselves!”

But those words, “God helps those who help themselves” are nowhere to be found in Scripture. Instead, God’s Word teaches us to depend on Him for our daily needs. Jesus tells us, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:26–27).

Everything we enjoy—even the strength to earn a living and “help ourselves”—are gifts from a heavenly Father who loves us and values us beyond our ability to fathom.

As Mom neared the end of her life, Alzheimer’s disease robbed her of her creative mind and memories, but her trust in God remained. She lived in our home for a season, where I was given a “front-row seat” to observe God’s provision for her needs in unexpected ways—ways that helped me see she had been right all along. Instead of worrying, she entrusted herself to the One who promised to take care of her. And He showed Himself faithful.

Loving Lord, please help me to trust You to take care of me today, tomorrow, and forever!

Don’t worry about tomorrow—God is already there.

By James Banks

INSIGHT

The teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6:25–34 emphasizes the fatherly care of God for those who follow Jesus, making worry about the basic things of life unnecessary. The main idea in the word translated “worry” is “distracting or anxious care.” In Luke 10:41, Jesus said Martha was “worried and upset about many things.” Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything.” Six times the word worryappears in Matthew 6:25–34. For those who call God “Father,” worry is unreasonable (vv. 25–30), uncharacteristic (vv. 30–32), unproductive (v. 33), and unprofitable (v. 34).

What might you be doing or not doing that indicates a lack of trust in God as our faithful heavenly Father?

Arthur Jackson

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Uncategorized

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Sure Stay

Leave a comment

I used to be a faithful listener to the national news. But it seems that more and more news reporting delivers more and more bad news. Not wanting to begin each day already down in the dumps, I’ve become more of a sporadic listener. Of course, I recognize that this is not a recent trend. Most news has rarely, if ever, been uplifting. The events deemed “newsworthy” are generally traumatic or catastrophic events. Since there are more than enough examples of ‘bad news’ each day those ‘good’ newsworthy items rarely get reported.

These “bad news” stories are even more difficult to deal with because they are not simply news stories affecting someone else; they are real stories of the everyday realities of people all around me, and including me. Close friends have loved ones in global conflict zones. Colleagues struggle to make ends meet, or are coping with their own traumatic events and struggles. For many, their own lives comprise the “bad news” stories of struggling to survive in extraordinarily dark times.

Trouble is part of every human experience, and every human will experience days of “bad news.” No one is immune. Even the greatest of leaders in the ancient world did not escape trouble and despair. Those who might critique religious faith as a flight from reality or an escape from trouble might be surprised to see the exact opposite detailed in the pages of the bible. Even those who claimed direct experience of God, did not escape the hard realities of life in this world.

Described as a “man after God’s own heart,” David, the great king of Israel, experienced many difficulties throughout his life just as he was the recipient of bad news. And when he experienced trouble, he turned to poetry. Psalm 18, as one example, appears to have been a poem written after the experience of deliverance from national enemies and the current king of Israel, King Saul.

The poetry composed by David expresses his grief and distress in the midst his trials. The imagery he uses is of a near death experience: “The waves of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me; the cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord.”(1)  His distress felt like drowning; being swallowed up by the mighty waves of the sea.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Sure Stay →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Set Your Mind

Leave a comment

 

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. — Colossians 3:2

Adapted from the resource My Time with God Devotional – by Joyce Meyer

I have learned over the years the value of purposely setting my mind on things I want to happen throughout the day, instead of passively waiting to see what kind of thoughts I happen to have.

Just as we choose our clothes and purposely put them on, we can and should choose our thoughts, because what we meditate on often becomes our reality (see Proverbs 23:7). “Where the mind goes, the man follows” is one of my favorite sayings!

Today I set my mind to be strong, energetic, and joyful. I have decided to enjoy this day and to be a blessing everywhere I go. The more I think positive things, the more excited and empowered I feel! God is waiting to bless His children, but we need to expect Him to do so. What are you expecting from God today? Nothing? A little? A lot?

I taught this in our office chapel, and an employee came to work the next day and said, “I have lots of problems at home, especially with my teenage son who argues with me constantly. After hearing Joyce speak on expecting good things, I decided to try it. Instead of driving home dreading the evening, I went home expecting something good. My son looked at me when I got home and told me that he loved me, something I hadn’t heard in a long, long time.”

Aggressive expectation is faith in action! Release your faith for God’s best in your life and get ready for an upgrade in blessings.

Prayer Starter: Father, I am sorry I have been so passive about my thoughts. Forgive me, and help me learn to think in a way that will release Your best in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

–

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – To Be Approved

Leave a comment

 

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV).

Most of all of my adult life has been centered around the university world – as a student, a teacher, and one who works with students, professors and administrators in the intellectual realm. I count many of the leading scholars of our time as beloved friends, yet if I had to choose between a Ph.D. from the most prestigious university in the world and a thorough knowledge of and comprehension of the Word of God, I would gladly choose the latter. Fortunately, it is not necessary to choose because one can have both academic training and a knowledge of God’s Word.

A recommendation which I have made to our two sons and to thousands of our staff and students with whom we work is that degrees are very important in today’s world, but they will not only be meaningless and worthless in terms of eternity, but can contribute to one’s moral and spiritual disintegration unless at the same time one is studying to show himself approved unto God. In all of our academic pursuits and in our commitment to excellence in the business and professional realms, we must be careful to give God and His Holy inspired Word their rightful place in our daily schedule. Ultimately, it is our knowledge of God learned through the study of Scripture and our response to Him that makes all the difference in our life-style. It makes the difference in the choosing of our mate, in the rearing of our children, in the choosing of our friends, our business or professional career, in all of our attitudes and actions and in the contribution which we make to society. Let us give priority to priorities, the highest of which is to seek after God through the diligent study of His holy revelation to man and to encourage others to join with us in rightly dividing the word of truth.

Bible Reading:II Timothy 2:19-25

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: With God’s help I will seek not only to be a student of God’s Word but also to acquire the ability to teach His word to others.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Repentance From Arrogance

Leave a comment

 

Listen to Today’s Devotion

I’m wondering if you’d be willing to join me in a prayer of repentance—repentance from arrogance.  What have we done that God did not first do?  What do we have that God didn’t first give us?  Have any of us ever built anything that God could not destroy? Have we created any monument that the Master of the stars can’t reduce to dust? God asks this question through the prophet Isaiah:

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?  says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:  Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing”  (Isaiah 40:25-26).

Let’s humble ourselves before the hand of God. Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!

Read more Unshakable Hope

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – How J. J. Watt continues to change Houston

Leave a comment

 

  1. J. Watt has been named NFL Player of the Year and voted numerous times to the Pro Bowl. He is one of the most dominant defensive players in professional football.

But what he’s done off the field in response to the devastation of Hurricane Harvey has made the greatest impact. It all started with an Instagram video he posted on August 27, 2017:

“I want to start a fundraiser. Because I know that these recovery efforts are going to be massive. I know that there’s going to be a whole bunch of people that we need to help get back on their feet. Whatever you can donate, please donate to help these people out.”

Watt set up a page on YouCaring.com with a $200,000 goal, then donated $100,000 to start the effort. To this point, $41.6 million has been given, making it the largest crowd-sourced fundraiser in history.

On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, the funds raised by J. J. Watt are continuing to rebuild the city and help the people he loves.

Good news in the news

President Trump announced yesterday that a bilateral trade deal has been reached with Mexico. The Dow Jones gained 259 points and the Nasdaq closed above 8,000. And NASA determined that an asteroid the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza will miss our planet by three million miles.

That’s the good news in the news.

Meanwhile, the Jacksonville shooting victims have been identified as a father and an ex-high school football player. The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office announced yesterday that actor Jackson Odell, who passed away two months ago at the age of twenty, died of an accidental drug overdose. And the pope continues to face questions about the ongoing clergy abuse scandal.

The persistence of bad news calls for persistence from those who would make good news. As J. J. Watt reminds us, the need goes on long after the headlines stop.

There are three life principles here for followers of Jesus.

One: If God has called you to do something, do it until it is done.

Watt provided an update yesterday on his relief efforts in Houston. More than six hundred homes and 420 childhood centers have been rebuilt. More than twenty-six million meals have been distributed to families affected by the tragedy, and more than ten thousand patients have received medication.

Watt stated: “While a great deal has been accomplished in the past 12 months, there is still much work to be done. Moving forward, there will be more of the same, as we continue to work with our incredible nonprofit partners to provide as much help and support as we possibly can for those affected by Harvey.”

God’s word instructs us: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). In my pastoral experience, those who need help the most are often suspicious of those who offer to provide it, assuming they will fail to follow through on their promises.

It’s the second month which proves that commitments made in the first month were sincere. And it’s the ongoing commitment to service that often leads people to trust the Lord we serve.

Where is God calling you to persevere in serving others today?

Two: To maximize your impact, maximize your influence.

  1. J. Watt’s salary for 2018 is $11 million. Obviously, he could donate a significant amount to hurricane recovery efforts. But by maximizing his cultural influence as an NFL star, he was able to raise much more money and mobilize much more engagement.

The Lord chose Paul, who grew up in a Gentile city, to be his apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). He chose Peter, Jesus’ lead disciple, to lead the church to admit Gentiles (Acts 11:1–18).

God has entrusted you with a platform of influence as well. What are your spiritual gifts? What education, experience, and other resources do you bring to your Kingdom assignment?
How can you maximize your relationships and influence for Jesus?

Three: Seek the Spirit’s direction, then follow his lead.

Your Father wants you to be with him in heaven so much that he sent his Son to die for your sins (Romans 5:8). And yet, he has left you on this broken, fallen planet for at least another morning. The reason is simple: he has more for you to do.

His word is clear: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10). There are people you can influence uniquely. Every sunrise is God’s invitation to a life of significance through service.

In his statement on the anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, J. J. Watt noted: “The memories of destruction and devastation remain, but they are accompanied by memories of hope, selflessness and the beauty of the human spirit.”

What memories will you make for someone in need today?

 

Denison Forum

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Wisdom for Good Health

Leave a comment

 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Early in my college days, I studied and worked excessively, as I wanted to offer the Lord my all. Eventually, I realized that neglecting my health could hinder my serving Him, so I therefore had a responsibility to take care of my physical body. Since then, I have tried to use wisdom with regard to health. I believe that includes having the proper motivation and a commitment to practice discipline.

When we understand our worth in the Father’s sight, we will be motivated to pursue good health. Our bodies are the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Holy Spirit lives in us and carries out the Lord’s work through us. When we are taking care of our health, we position ourselves to be able to serve when God calls. Our heavenly Father knows many of us have infirmities, but He wants us to take care of ourselves so we do not make our condition worse.

Discipline is the other component of a health-conscious attitude. Many of us approach exercise and weight loss in a “fits and starts” manner. While that may offer some value at the time, a more lasting method is of greater benefit. We need to develop new routines, within the structure of our family and work, for our bodies to thrive. Consistency over the long term is necessary if we are to stay in good condition.

A desire to eat right and exercise regularly does not guarantee we’ll avoid disease or live a long life. But it does mean we will have done our part to keep God’s temple in good shape for Him. Our calling as God’s children is best fulfilled when we seek physical as well as spiritual vitality.

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 1-3

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Serve Continually

Leave a comment

 

Read: Daniel 6:10–22 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 120–122; 1 Corinthians 9

Has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you? Daniel 6:20

When educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom, researching how to develop talent in young people, examined the childhoods of 120 elite performers—athletes, artists, scholars—he found that all of them had one thing in common: they had practiced intensively for long periods of time.

Bloom’s research suggests that growing in any area of our lives requires discipline. In our walk with God, too, cultivating the spiritual discipline of regularly spending time with Him is one way we can grow in our trust in Him.

Daniel is a good example of someone who prioritized a disciplined walk with God. As a young person, Daniel started making careful and wise decisions (1:8). He also was committed to praying regularly, “giving thanks to God” (6:10). His frequent seeking of God resulted in a life in which his faith was easily recognized by those around him. In fact, King Darius described Daniel as a “servant of the living God” (v. 20) and twice described him as a person who served God “continually” (vv. 16, 20).

Like Daniel, we desperately need God. How good to know that God works in us so that we long to spend time with Him! (Philippians 2:13). So let us come every day before God, trusting that our time with Him will result in a love that will overflow more and more and in a growing knowledge and understanding of our Savior (1:9–11).

Father, I thank You for the privilege of serving You. Help me to spend regular time with You in order to grow in my knowledge of You.

Time with God transforms us.

By Keila Ochoa

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Uncategorized

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Rebellion or Resignation

Leave a comment

I have always loved that theologian David Wells refers to prayer as “rebelling against the status quo.”(1) No doubt the feisty among us have eyes that light up at the thought. To rebel against the status quo in this light is to challenge life where it has resigned itself to something less, to bring about rebirth and reformation where life or faith have grown stale.

Others may wonder what Christianity, and specifically Christian prayer, has to do with rebellion at all. The candid lyrics of a haunting song speak of Jesus Christ as a man of love and strength, but a man very much separated from everything we see and experience today. The lyrics sing of his living only inside our prayers, and come to the conclusion that while what Christ was may have indeed been beautiful, a man of the past can offer nothing at all for the here and now of real and wearying pain. The sentiment reflects a sorely honest philosophy that many have of the world today: It is what it is. And it won’t change anything to worry about it. Prayer, within such an imagination, is useless. The here and now of suffering is untouchable.

From headline to headline we find the weariness of life and the problem of a dark world screaming at us. Many have grown to see it as an unchangeable reality. But if we have come to terms with the world as it is, it is only because we have come to refuse thinking about how it could be, or how it was supposed to be, or how we could even have an idea that something is wrong in the first place. It is not that we are unconscious of the injustice, suffering, and even evil around us, but that we feel utterly powerless to do anything about it. Still others among us optimistically call for the abolishing of poverty or the end of trafficking or the stopping of whatever cause they are presently championing. While their efforts are needed, the end they call for doesn’t seem to ever occur.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Rebellion or Resignation →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Sit Down

Leave a comment

 

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. — Ephesians 2:4-6 (NKJV)

Adapted from the resource Love Out Loud Devotional – by Joyce Meyer

Today’s Scripture says that we are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. I read past that passage one day, and the Holy Spirit stopped me. I noticed that after His resurrection and ascension, Jesus is often depicted as being seated at the right hand of the Father.

Do you know what people do when they sit? They rest. To be seated in heavenly places with Jesus is to enter an “inner rest.”

Sometimes when you start to get nervous and upset, anxious or worried, tell yourself, “Sit down.” That does not mean just your physical body; it also means your soul—your mind, will, and emotions. It is important to let your entire being rest and just wait on God. Wait expectantly for God to do what you cannot do.

Don’t worry, get frustrated, or become fearful while you rest. We often feel that we should always be “doing” something. The promise of God’s peace is not made to those who work, struggle, and strive in their own strength, but to those who enter God’s rest.

Prayer Starter: Lord, teach me how to sit down in Your holy rest. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org