Tag Archives: Bible

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — An Enduring Happiness

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Read: Psalm 34:1–14 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 113–115; 1 Corinthians 6

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days . . . . Turn from evil and do good. Psalm 34:12,14

Often we hear that happiness comes from doing things our own way. That, however, is not true. That philosophy leads only to emptiness, anxiety, and heartache.

Poet W. H. Auden observed people as they attempted to find an escape in pleasures. He wrote of such people: “Lost in a haunted wood, / Children afraid of the night / Who have never been happy or good.”

The psalmist David sings of the remedy for our fears and unhappiness. “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). Happiness is doing things God’s way, a fact that can be verified every day. “Those who look to him are radiant,” writes David (v. 5). Just try it and you’ll see. That’s what he means when he says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (v. 8).

We say, “Seeing is believing.” That’s how we know things in this world. Show me proof and I’ll believe it. God puts it the other way around. Believing is seeing. “Taste and then you will see.”

Take the Lord at His word. Do the very next thing He is asking you to do and you will see. He will give you grace to do the right thing and more: He will give you Himself—the only source of goodness—and with it, enduring happiness.

Lord, sometimes we must simply pray: “I believe. Help my unbelief.” Help us trust You by doing what You have given us to do today.

Happiness is doing the right thing.

By David H. Roper

INSIGHT

In Psalm 34:14, David calls us to “turn from evil and do good.” What is good? Micah 6:8 says God has shown us what is good: “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Yet in another psalm, David says, “There is no one who does good” (14:1–3)! So how is good possible? David provides a clue in still another psalm, “Trust in the Lord and do good” (37:3). Doing good is tied to trust in God. In the New Testament we see over and over again that doing good is dependent on a relationship with God through Jesus. Jesus equips us to do good and then produces good in us through the Spirit (Hebrews 13:20–21; Galatians 5:16–25).

What good is God calling you to do in His strength?

Alyson Kieda

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Uncategorized

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Poverty of Words

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I remember the time when my son had to go through a very simple surgery when he was just five years old. He was not able to breathe properly, so the doctors had to remove some extra tissue surrounding his nostril and nasal passages. During the hours and days after his surgery, my once-a-chatterbox son had become completely quiet. Because of the fear of being hurt if he spoke, he quit using words for his way of communication. It was overwhelming to see my boy struggling to express himself in that condition.

As I assisted my son get back to talking, I could not help but think of how unexpectedly Zechariah lost his speech after he questioned the angel who brought him such good news about a long-waited child in his old age.(1) In Zechariah’s case, the temporary loss of words was something of an acknowledgement of the promised child he doubted, a child who would prepare the way for the Messiah. Though he knew why he was made silent, I am sure he felt restless until he held his son in his arms and was finally able to describe his emotions properly.

There are spiritual retreat centers in various locations around the world, which offer “Silent Weeks” to those who are over-exhausted from excessive communication. During these weeks, individuals are banned from verbal communication in order to quiet themselves internally. The goal is simply to bring back the core purpose of real interaction: tending to what is being said in reality.

When the words are taken from us either because of the inability to speak or the lack of verbal direction, we become strangely poor, almost incomplete. There are two sides of this poverty: one is internal, losing the comfort of one’s capability to express oneself fully. The other is external, as one finds no real guidance to turn to for wisdom. In my opinion, the latter has eternal ramifications if not satisfied in a timely manner.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Poverty of Words →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – A Wondering Mind

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In the morning, when they were passing along, they noticed that the fig tree was withered [completely] away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to Him, Master, look! The fig tree which You doomed has withered away! And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]. — Mark 11:20-24 (AMPC)

Adapted from the resource Battlefield of the Mind Devotional – by Joyce Meyer

When you say the words, “I wonder,” they sound innocent and honest. They also represent the way we avoid certainty in making decisions.

Suppose you’re the CEO of a business. Every day twenty people come to your office and ask you to make decisions. Yours is the final answer on everything that goes on in the corporation. Instead of giving decisive answers, you rub your chin, stare out the window, and say, “I wonder. I wonder what we should do about that?”

An indecisive CEO wouldn’t stay in that position very long. The position is much too important to the overall success and well-being of the organization and all who are associated with it. You are not in that position to wonder—you’re there to act.

Too many of us forget that this is the way it is with the Christian life, as well. Too often, instead of choosing what we need to do, we avoid facing the situation and say, “I wonder.”

I know because I’ve done it. In times past, when I’ve been invited to a party or to be the featured speaker at a banquet, I’ve said, “I wonder what I should wear.” It’s easy for me to waste a lot of time looking through my closet, considering the color and style, as I try to choose just the right outfit for a particular occasion.

This may seem like such a small thing—and it really is. The problem, however, is that if we allow enough of these “wonderings” in our lives, we not only fail to accomplish the things we need to do, but wondering becomes the normal way our minds function. Being indecisive keeps us from moving forward and can eventually defeat us.

In the verses quoted earlier, the incident started with a fig tree that wasn’t bearing fruit. The disciples could have wasted time wondering about the particulars of why the tree didn’t bear fruit. They could have wondered if it hadn’t received enough sunlight or water. They might have wondered why the owner hadn’t cut it down since it wasn’t productive. But wasting time wondering really wasn’t necessary.

When Jesus spoke and doomed the tree, He put a stop to any mental speculation. He used the incident as an object lesson for the disciples, encouraging them to believe. He wanted them to understand that if they truly believed, they could have whatever they asked of Him.

Sometimes God’s people are reluctant to ask boldly for big things. But Jesus has given us permission to step out in faith and ask boldly. And yet some still waste time just wondering. They wonder what it would be like if God would give them a better job. They wonder what it would be like if God would give them a larger house.

I can tell you that wondering is a waste of time. So, stop wondering and start acting! That’s one of the most important things I’ve learned about the wondering mind. Rather than wondering what I should wear to a banquet, I look at my clothes and I decide. God gave me the ability to make wise choices, so I can just do it instead of wasting my time wondering.

Wondering and indecision can become strongholds in our minds that can leave us feeling confused, insecure, and ineffective. But that’s not God’s plan. He wants us to overcome the wondering thoughts by believing and then receiving the answer to our prayers from God, by faith.

Notice that Jesus did not say, “Whatever things you wonder when you pray, you will have.” Instead, He said, Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].

Prayer Starter: Lord Jesus, help me to overcome any wondering tendencies that keep me from moving forward in Your good plan. In Your name, I ask You to help me reach out in faith, boldly asking for what I need. Then help me to believe it and receive it. Amen.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Does Glorious Things 

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“Thank the Lord for all the glorious things He does; proclaim them to the nations. Sing His praises and tell everyone about His miracles” (Psalm 105:1,2).

How long has it been since you have taken time to meditate upon and list all the glorious things the Lord has done for you and how long has it been since you have shared them with your family, your neighbors or even strangers? Of course, your list may differ from that of your neighbors or of fellow believers in your local church or from mine. But among those glorious things that He has done are: He has, by His Holy Spirit, drawn us all to Himself; He has created within our hearts a hunger for His love; and through faith in Christ we have become His children; our sins have been forgiven and we now have the joy of living every moment of every day in vital union and fellowship with Him – all this with the certainty that we shall spend eternity with Him. Mere human words could never express the gratitude that wells up within one’s heart at the thought of God’s great gifts. The word “alleluia” is universal and is spoken in all languages as an expression of praise to God and no word is more appropriate.

My personal list of blessings also includes a godly, praying mother who lived her Christianity and dedicated me to Christ before I was born, and followed me – as she did all her other children – with her daily prayers; a wonderful father who, I had the privilege of introducing to Christ after I became a Christian and seeing him begin to experience that peace which comes from knowing Christ; a godly wife who loves the Lord Jesus Christ and shares my commitment to serve Him as our Lord and Master whatever the cost, wherever He leads us.

I thank Him for sons who love Him, and who have committed their lives to serving Him wherever He leads; a daughter-in-law who shares the love and conviction of her husband; a marvelous staff of thousands of godly men and women who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and hundreds of thousands of co-laborers who undergird me and this ministry.

The glorious things that He has done are without number. Yes, we must sing His praises and tell everyone about His miracles. We must proclaim the glorious things he has done to all the nations!

Bible Reading:Psalm 113

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Today I will meditate upon the glorious things God has done for me and I will sing His praises and tell everyone about His miracles. I will give my prayer and financial support to helping proclaim His greatness to all the nations of the earth.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Your Prayers Matter to God

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

Do you know that God delights in hearing your prayers!  We can’t even get the plumber to call us back, so why would God listen to our prayers?  Your prayers matter to God because you matter to God.  You aren’t just anybody, you are his child.

When God saved you, he enlisted you.  He gave not only forgiveness for your past but also authority in the present and a role in the future.  This life is on-the-job training for eternity. “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:12).

When you, as God’s child, seek to honor the family business, God hears your requests.  Will God do what you ask?  Perhaps. Or perhaps he will do more than you imagined. Stand firmly on this promise:  “When a believing person prays, great things happen” (James 5:16). 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 – Is the “Big One” coming?

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A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Oregon yesterday.

The earthquake followed an intense week of seismic activity in which the “Ring of Fire” was rocked by sixty-nine quakes in just forty-eight hours. (The “Ring of Fire” stretches 25,000 miles clockwise around the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand to the southern part of South America.)

Whenever such seismic activity occurs in the region, journalists speculate that the “Big One” may be coming. This is a reference to an earthquake of 8-magnitude or higher that is expected to occur along the San Andreas Fault. Such a quake could strike San Francisco, Los Angeles, or other populated areas on the West Coast.

Seismologists say we’re overdue for such a disaster. One states, “There is a 99.9% chance that there will be a damaging quake (magnitude greater than or equal to 6.7) somewhere in California in the next 30 years.”

“The whole world lies in the power of the evil one”

If you don’t live along the California coast and think such warnings are irrelevant to you, consider these facts:

I live in Dallas, Texas, where we are at risk from everything on the list. Are you exempt from natural disasters where you live?

When such tragedies strike, people always want to know why the God who made our planet allows such calamities to afflict his creation. We can respond with the fact that our world is broken as a result of sin (Romans 8:22), remembering that there were no natural disasters in the Garden of Eden. We can also point out that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), an enemy who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).

But the skeptic is likely to counter: Why didn’t the God who calmed the stormy Sea of Galilee prevent the disaster that affected me? If he’s more powerful than Satan, why does he let Satan harm us? If “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), why does he allow tragedies that his omnipotence could prevent?

The bottom line is that God’s ways are higher than my ways, and his thoughts are higher than my thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). If my mind could understand the Lord’s mind, either I would be God or he would not be.

But I do know one way he redeems natural disasters. It’s a life principle we can begin using today, whether the “Big One” is coming tomorrow or not.

“O God, you are my God”

Psalm 63 finds David “in the wilderness of Judah,” according to its inscription. We know of two times he was in this barren area: when he was hiding from King Saul and when he was fleeing from his son Absalom. The fact that David refers to himself as “the king” in verse 11 makes the latter calamity the more likely setting.

Imagine that you are an elderly man, running for your life from your own son. You’re in the desert with no circumstantial reason to believe you will ever return to your throne or even survive the night.

How do you respond to the God who allowed this calamity?

David prays: “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (v. 1). He can seek God in the present because he has experienced his omnipotence in the past: “So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory” (v. 2).

His past experiences with God’s greatness empower him to trust the Lord with his future fears: “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands” (vv. 3-4).

Note the pattern: Seek God in the present by remembering his goodness in the past and trusting him for the future. When we make disaster an invitation to faith and worship, others see our trust in our Father and are drawn to him. Such confidence may be our most powerful witness to a skeptical culture.

Consider an example.

#StandWithTheBible

Evangelist Greg Laurie recently concluded the twenty-ninth annual Southern California Harvest Crusade. This year’s event became controversial when a real estate company removed the campaign’s billboards from two malls, claiming that it received complaints and a “serious threat” about the billboards’ depiction of Laurie holding a Bible.

In response, Laurie staged the #StandWithTheBible campaign, encouraging Christians to take photos or videos of themselves holding a Bible and post them on social media. He also urged attendees to bring Bibles and hold them up each night.

The weekend crusade saw 100,000 people in attendance, 74,300 webcast views, and 267,800 Facebook Live views. More than nine thousand people made professions of faith in Christ.

What the enemy means for evil, God uses for good (Genesis 50:20). This fact doesn’t explain disasters, but it redeems them in ways that far outlive the temporal calamities of this broken planet.

I don’t know if the “Big One” will hit tomorrow or ten generations from tomorrow. But I do know that we have only this day to be ready. And I know that the best way to be ready is to say with David, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you.”

Are you “earnestly” seeking God today?

 

NOTE:  In a world growing more openly hostile toward Christian values and beliefs, we must know how to “make a defense to anyone who asks.”

My prayer is that the new and just released volume 2 of Biblical Insight to Tough Questions can help with that. I’d like to send it to you to thank you for your gift and to help you “speak the truth in love” to tough questions.

I hope volume 2 will help you grow your faith and encourage you to engage culture with truth. To receive your copy, please click here.

 

Denison Forum

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – God’s View of Mankind

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Hebrews 2:16-18

To understand the ways of the Lord, we need to comprehend His perspective of mankind. Oftentimes, we rely on our human viewpoint instead of trying to see ourselves through His eyes. All that He does on earth is guided by His care and love for the human race. Consider three elements of God’s perspective of humanity:

Created in God’s image. Of all the creatures that the Lord fashioned, only the man and woman were made in His image (Gen. 1:26-27). They had a mind, will, and emotions as well as a spirit, which enabled them to worship and relate to God. Being sinless and perfect, they were designed to live forever in intimate relationship with their Creator.

Corrupted by sin. However, an act of disobedience broke their relationship with the Lord (Isa. 59:2). The divine image was marred by sin, which infiltrated human nature and corrupted every person born thereafter. Mankind stood spiritually dead, without hope, and condemned before a holy God.

Worthy of redemption. Yet the Lord considered them worthy of restoration. Through the redemptive work of His Son, all who believe in Jesus are made spiritually alive again, and the broken relationship between God and man is repaired (Col. 1:13-14). One day—in heaven—sin will be no more, and a perfect environment will be reinstated.

Between life’s pace and trials, losing sight of divine viewpoint is all too easy. When we’re overwhelmed by criticism, trouble, or suffering, it’s vital to recognize our worth in the Lord’s eyes. That realization can energize our service and renew our love for the One who gave Himself to bring us back to God.

Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 46-48

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — God’s Care for Us

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Read: Genesis 3:1–13 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 110–112; 1 Corinthians 5

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Genesis 3:21

My young grandsons enjoy dressing themselves. Sometimes they pull their shirts on backwards and often the younger one puts his shoes on the wrong feet. I usually don’t have the heart to tell them; besides, I find their innocence endearing.

I love seeing the world through their eyes. To them, everything is an adventure, whether walking the length of a fallen tree, spying a turtle sunning itself on a log, or excitedly watching a fire truck roar by. But I know that even my little grandsons are not truly innocent. They can make up a dozen excuses about why they can’t stay in their beds at night and are quick to yank a wanted toy from the other. Yet I love them dearly.

I picture Adam and Eve, God’s first people, as being in some ways like my grandchildren. Everything they saw in the garden must have been a marvel as they walked with God. But one day they willfully disobeyed. They ate of the one tree they were forbidden to eat (Genesis 2:15–17; 3:6). And that disobedience immediately led to lies and blame-shifting (3:8–13).

Still, God loved and cared for them. He sacrificed animals in order to clothe them (v. 21)—and later He provided a way of salvation for all sinners through the sacrifice of His Son (John 3:16). He loves us that much!

Dear Lord, thank You for loving us, despite our sin, and for making a way for us to be with You forever!

For help in your spiritual growth, see this course: christianuniversity.org/spiritual-life-basics.

Jesus loves us so much He sacrificed Himself for our sins.

By Alyson Kieda

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Consider the Lilies

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Wendell Berry has written a poem that haunts me frequently. As a creative writer, the act of paying attention is both a spiritual and professional discipline. But far too often my aspirations for paying quality attention to everything dissolves into something more like attention deficit disorder. As it turns out, it is quite possible to see and not really see, to hear and not really hear. And this is all the more ironic when my very attempts to capture what I am seeing and hearing are the thing that prevent me from truly being present. Berry’s poem is about a man on holiday, who, trying to seize the sights and sounds of his vacation by video camera, manages to miss the entire thing.

…he stood with his camera

preserving his vacation even as he was having it

so that after he had had it he would still

have it. It would be there. With a flick

of a switch, there it would be. But he

would not be in it. He would never be in it.(1)

I sometimes wonder if one of the most quoted sayings of Jesus is not often employed with a similar irony. “Consider the lilies,” Jesus said, “how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field…will he not much more clothe you? Therefore, do not worry.“(2) Typically, Jesus is quoted here as giving a helpful word against worry. And he is. But worry is not the only command he articulates. Consider the lilies, he said. We hear the first instruction peripherally, hurriedly, as mere set up for the final instruction of the saying. And in so doing, we miss something great, perhaps even something vital, both in the means and in the end. With our rationalistic sensibilities, we gloss over consideration of the lilies; ironically, in an attempt to consider the real work Jesus is asking us to do.

But what if considering the lilies is the work, the antidote to anxious, preoccupied lives? What if attending to this short-lived beauty, to the fleeting details of a distracted world is a command Jesus wants us to take seriously in and of itself?

It is with such a conviction that artist Makoto Fujimura not only paints, but elsewhere comments on Mary and her costly pouring of perfume on the feet of Jesus. The anger of Judas and the disgust of the others are all given in rational terms, the cacophony of their reaction attempting to drown out her quiet act of attention: That bottle would have cost over a year’s wages. The poor could have used that money. This sinful woman clings to a holy man’s feet. Does he not see who it is who touches him? Their response to her and her act of beauty exposes their own inattention to a world beyond the one they see—to their own peril. As Fujimura writes, “Pragmatism, legalism, and greed cannot comprehend the power of ephemeral beauty. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness; the opposite of beauty is legalism. Legalism is hard determinism that slowly strangles the soul. Legalism injures by giving pragmatic answers to our suffering.”(3) The corollary, of course, is that beauty can offer healing; that paying attention, even to fleeting glimpses of the mere suggestion of new creation, is deeply restorative.

When Jesus asks the world to consider the lilies, to consider beauty in the midst of all the ashes around us, his request is full of promise, for he is both the Source of beauty and its Subject. His own history is one that takes so seriously the goodness of the created world that he joins us within it, taking even our profound wounds upon himself, and presenting in his body the hope of a creation made new. Paying attention to the ephemeral, being willing like Mary to risk and to recognize beauty, is in and of itself restorative because it is paying attention to him. Here, both the anxiety-addicted and the attention-overloaded can find solace in a different sort of kingdom: one in which there is room for the paradox of a fleeting world with eternity in its heart.

But perhaps Jesus also instructs the world to consider the lilies because it is the very characteristic of God’s concern for us. The daily liturgy of lilies comes with unceasing care and attention for all who will see it, the gift of a God who revels in the creation of yet another flower, the details of another sunset, the discovery of even one lost soul. Consider the lilies; how they grow. They neither toil, nor spin.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Wendell Berry, “The Vacation,” Selected Poems, (Berkeley: Counterpoint, 1998), 157.

(2) Matthew 6:28-31.

(3) Makoto Fujimura, “The Beautiful Tears,” Tabletalk, September, 2010.

 

 

http://www.rzim.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Good

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…how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! — Matthew 7:11

Adapted from the resource Wake Up to the Word Devotional – by Joyce Meyer

The word good means, “useful; valuable; having qualities or a tendency to produce a beneficial effect.”

God is good, without respect to persons. In other words, He is good to all, all the time. His goodness radiates from Him.

Not everything in our life is good, but God can work it out for good if we will trust Him. Joseph suffered much abuse at the hands of his brothers as a young boy, but later in life when he had an opportunity to get revenge against them, he said: You thought evil against me, but God meant it for good (see Genesis 50:20). Joseph could have been bitter, but he searched for the good in his painful situation.

God’s entire motive and purpose is to do good to everyone who will receive it from Him. It is impossible for God not to be good, because it is His character. Don’t think that God is like people, because His ways and thoughts are far above ours (see Isaiah 55:8–9).

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for being good…all the time. Help me to expect Your goodness throughout my day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Put God to the Test 

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“Oh, put God to the test and see how kind He is! See for yourself the way His mercies shower down on all who trust in Him” (Psalm 34:8).

Sam wanted to receive Christ, but he was reluctant. Somehow, he just could not bring himself to make that necessary commitment of the will to exercise his faith and receive Christ. Because of unfortunate experiences in his youth, he had a distorted view of the goodness of God.

I encouraged Him to make his commitment, but he still hesitated. Finally, I turned to that wonderful promise of our Scripture for today and asked him to read it. As he read, the Holy Spirit gave him the faith to believe that he could trust God.

Put God to the test. Taste and see how good and kind He is. Sam discovered that day, and for the rest of his life, the faithfulness and the goodness and the kindness of God.

Do you have reservations, uncertainties, fears about the trustworthiness of God? If so, I encourage you to place your trust in Him, and you will find, as millions have found, and as I have found, that God is good, faithful, and true.

Similarly, you and I can put God to the test and find a friendly haven in the midst of enemy territory. More important, perhaps, is the certainty we can have that God does hear and answer our prayers – in situations where He and He alone knows the end from the beginning and can provide deliverance.

How vital to the supernatural life to know that we have immediate access to the God of the universe, the very one who alone can guarantee victory and deliverance.

Bible Reading:I Peter 2:1-5

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Realizing that, as a believer, I am constantly in “enemy territory,” I will trust God and encourage others to trust Him moment by moment for deliverance, for I know that He is just and kind and good. He is a loving, heavenly Father whom I can trust. I will encourage others to put God to the test and see how kind He is, to discover for themselves His mercies that He showers on all who place their trust in Him

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Facing a Wall of Fear?

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

Perhaps standing before you is a wall of fear.  Brick upon brick of anxiety and dread. Haunting you are the kings of confusion.  Thanks to them, you’ve struggled with your identity and destiny. You’ve bought the lie that life has no purpose…that life has no absolutes. As a child of God, it comes down to a simple decision to believe and receive your position as an heir of God and coheir with Christ.

The Scriptures say in 1 John 4:17, “In this world we are like Jesus.”  Our inheritance is every bit as abundant as that of Jesus himself. What he receives, we receive. What message are you carving on that wall of fear?  What words are you writing? Choose hope, not despair. Choose life, not death. Choose God’s promises. You are a new person. Live like one! 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 – Plane makes emergency landing with no front wheels

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A plane landed without front wheels after gear failure. Flames ignited on contact. However, the pilot was able to bring the plane safely to a stop. All fifty-nine passengers and five crew members were unharmed.

This incident last Sunday in Peru underscores the intrinsic value of human beings. If the plane had been a test drone, its emergency landing would have generated little interest. But when a passenger plane nearly kills scores of humans, other humans instinctively take notice.

Meanwhile, the body of twenty-year-old missing Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts was discovered yesterday. An illegal immigrant has confessed to killing her. We grieve viscerally the tragic death of one so young.

In other news, Paul Manafort was found guilty yesterday on eight counts in his fraud trial. Whatever we think of the verdict, we should note that a system of jury trial by our peers reflects an intrinsic belief in the value of our peers.

“America’s birth certificate”

Each summer, my wife and I try to visit an area with a unique history. This year, we chose Philadelphia.

We visited the Liberty Bell and noted its iconic message from Leviticus 25:10, “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof.” We stood inside Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were ratified.

We visited the home of Betsy Ross and museums dedicated to aspects of colonial history. We stood at the grave of Benjamin Franklin, one of the most brilliant of a generation of truly brilliant men and women.

But the most moving experience for me personally was one few tourists shared with us.

We made our way to Declaration House, where we climbed the stairs to the second floor. There we stood outside the parlor that Thomas Jefferson rented in 1776. It was here that he wrote the Declaration of Independence.

This iconic document has been called “America’s birth certificate.”

“The only nation founded on a creed”

Jefferson declared: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” As a result, he added, governments “are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – What Disciples Need

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Colossians 1:25-29

We’re all familiar with Jesus’ last instructions to His followers: Matthew 28:19 says to make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But the next verse contains a second aspect of the directive: “Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” The Great Commission is usually associated with world evangelism, but baptism and obedience to Christ are also important because they are outward signs of a disciple’s inward faith.

In today’s passage, Paul explains the reason for proclaiming Christ and admonishing and teaching believers: “That we may present every man complete in Christ” (Col. 1:28). To simply lead someone to salvation without teaching him God’s Word is equivalent to leaving a newborn baby to fend for himself. Salvation begins the lifelong process of learning obedience and growing into spiritual maturity.

Furthermore, we can’t limit the task of teaching to pastors and missionaries any more than we can say that they alone are called to evangelize the lost. The entire church is given the assignment of making disciples and teaching them to obey the Lord. Instead of simply sitting in church services, Sunday schools, and Bible studies to soak up more truth for our own benefit, let’s pass on to others what we have learned.

Teaching isn’t the exclusive role of those who stand at podiums in front of large groups. It’s something that can be done one-on-one over coffee. Think about all that you have learned since you were saved. What can you share with someone else that will help him or her grow in Christ?

Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 41-45

 

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — A Prayer to Point Us Home

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Read: Luke 23:44–48 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 107–109; 1 Corinthians 4

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

One of the first prayers I learned as a little boy was “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep . . .” It was a prayer I learned from my parents, and I taught it to my son and daughter when they were little. As a child, I found great comfort in placing myself in God’s hands with those words before I fell asleep.

There’s a similar prayer neatly tucked away in the “prayer book” of the Bible, the Psalms. Some biblical scholars suggest that the phrase “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Psalm 31:5) was a “bedtime” prayer taught to children in Jesus’s day.

You may recognize that prayer as Jesus’s final cry from the cross. But Jesus added one more word to it: Father (Luke 23:46). By praying that word in the moments before His death, Jesus demonstrated His intimate relationship with the Father and pointed believers toward their home with Him (John 14:3).

Jesus died on the cross so we could live in the wonder of a relationship with God as our heavenly Father. How comforting it is to know that because of Jesus’s sacrificial love for us, we can rest in God’s care as His children! We can close our eyes without fear because our Father watches over us and has promised to wake us up to life with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:14).

Lord Jesus, I receive the gift of forgiveness You offer me through the cross. Help me to turn from my sins and follow You, all the way home.

A bright new morning awaits us in Jesus.

By James Banks

INSIGHT

In Luke’s account of Christ’s death, we see several dramatic events. A seemingly inexplicable darkness was present over the entire earth—not just over Jerusalem where the crucifixion took place (vv. 44–45). Inside the temple in Jerusalem the curtain that separated worshipers from the holy of holies was torn in two, symbolizing that through Christ our access to God has been opened (v. 45). After Christ died, a Roman soldier who had participated in His execution declared, “Surely this was a righteous man” (v. 47). And others watching lamented and beat their breasts (v. 48).

The witness in the sky, within the temple, and by people at the foot of the cross demonstrate that this was no ordinary death. It was the death of the loving God-Man who shed His blood to redeem all who would believe in Him.

For further study, see The Passion of Christ at discoveryseries.org/q0210.

Dennis Fisher

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Black Swan

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Actuarial science is the discipline that applies statistical methods to assess risk of disability, morbidity, mortality, fertility, and other life-contingencies. Generally, actuaries are employed by insurance companies or risk management firms to calculate the “risks” associated with insuring individuals against life’s catastrophes. Actuarial science offers accurate and razor-sharp predictive power in order to prevent capital loss for those very companies.

There are always exceptions, of course, that confound even actuaries. These “outlier” events come unannounced. So rare are these exceptions that a theory was developed to explain their occurrence. The Black Swan Theory developed by Nassim Nicolas Taleb suggests that surprise events have major and long-lasting impact.(1) The 2001 terrorist attacks; the Pacific tsunami in 2004; the stock-market crash of 1987; not even a seasoned actuary could have predicted these events with any level of confidence.

The result of the unexpected can be a deep and pervading fear. In my own life, for example, I have come to fear airplane travel—particularly, I fear the worst possible scenarios regarding airplane travel—despite the fact that the odds are much higher for my getting in a car accident when I go to the grocery store. When I swim in the ocean, I fear a shark-attack more than I fear the more likely event of drowning. These are the “black swan” events that haunt me. They are rare and infrequent outliers but their impact on me is as significant as the potential sighting of a real black swan in my front yard, an unlikely but extraordinary occurrence, indeed.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – A Natural Expression of Thanksgiving

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Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! — Psalm 107:1

Adapted from the resource The Power of Being Thankful Devotional – by Joyce Meyer

Thanksgiving can be a part of who we are deep down in our hearts; it is a type of prayer and it should flow out of us in a natural way that is simple and genuine.

Being thankful does not mean merely sitting down at the end of a day, trying to remember everything we need to be thankful for because we think we have to thank God in order to make Him happy, or to satisfy some spiritual requirement, or try to get Him to do something else for us.

Instead, it means having a heart that is sensitive to God’s presence in our everyday lives, and just breathing out grateful prayers of thanksgiving every time we see Him working in our lives or blessing us.

Prayer Starter: Father, I am thankful that prayer is not some ritual or formula that I am required to follow. I am grateful that prayer is a comfortable, ongoing conversation with You based on an intimate relationship with You. I love You, Father, and I am excited to give You thanks all day long. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – His Ways Will Satisfy 

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“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how His ways will really satisfy you” (Romans 12:2).

“The trouble with living sacrifices,” someone has well said, “is that they keep crawling off the altar.” That may be true. We “crawl off the altar” when we sin, and the only way to put ourselves back on the altar is to breathe spiritually – confess our known sins in accordance with the promise of 1 John 1:9 and appropriate the fullness of the Holy Spirit as we are commanded to do by faith (Ephesians 5:18).

When we do this, we will be living supernaturally and our lives will produce the fruit of the Spirit in great abundance.

Only by being filled with the Spirit, and thus realizing the fruit of the Spirit, can spiritual gifts be effectively utilized in witnessing and building up the Body of Christ.

We begin by totally yielding ourselves by faith to Christ in a full irrevocable surrender to His lordship.

“He died once for all to end sin’s power, but now He lives forever in unbroken fellowship with God. So look upon your old sin-nature as dead and unresponsive to sin, and instead be alive to God, alert to Him, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

“Do not let sin control your puny body any longer; do not give in to its sinful desires. Do not let any part of your bodies become tools of wickedness, to be used for sinning; but give yourselves completely to God – every part of you -for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for His good purposes” (Romans 6:10-13).

Bible Reading:Romans 12:3-18

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Knowing that God’s ways will really satisfy me, I will seek first His kingdom, resist the devil at his every appearance and watch with joy as he flees.

 

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Choose Your Inheritance

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

One of the most famous stories in the Bible has to do with inheritance.  The Hebrews had just been delivered from Egyptian captivity.  God led them and Moses to the edge of the promised land and made this offer.  “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders” (Numbers 13:1-2).

God didn’t tell the Israelites to conquer, invade, or secure the land.  He told them he was giving it to them.  Their choice was clear:  promises or circumstances?  The circumstances said, No way.  Stay out. There are giants in the land. God’s promise said, The land is yours. The victory is yours.  Take it.

Circumstances say, cower to your fears.  Your inheritance says otherwise:  You are a child of the King.  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 – Is All the News Fake?

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Last week it was reported that Malaysia repealed its “fake news” law.

This Asian nation is one of the first countries in the world to reconsider how to control this societal nemesis. But, aren’t you already wondering whether that story is also fake news?

Since Missourians live in the Show-Me State, I wonder how they’re dealing with this dilemma. Is seeing believing?

There’s a scam going around currently where people are called by someone claiming to be an official with the IRS. That “official” claims that the victim owes a bogus tax bill. Often, the victim is conned into sending cash through wire transfers or prepaid debit cards to settle a fake debt. The IRS has told the public time and again that they will not use this kind of tactic.

In an age when pictures are photoshopped, stories are spun, and anonymous slander is rampant, who or what can you believe?

Last week I received a notice by email that a well-known bank had sent over $1,000 out of my account to a named payee. The email asked me to verify the transaction by replying to the email.

Trouble is, I don’t have any accounts at that particular bank. Upon closer inspection of the email, the bank’s logo was not authentic, and the email address of the sender was in no way connected to that bank.

Now, more than ever, caveat emptor: buyer beware. Fake news is everywhere.

Fake news is not new

But, fake news is NOT new. In 1981, Janet Leslie Cooke won a Pulitzer Prize for an article titled “Jimmy’s World” written for the Washington Post. It was later discovered to be fake. After admitting she had fabricated the story, she returned the prize.

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